The seventh round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season will be the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. This marks the final of five consecutive weekends at the racetrack for the teams from the Grand Prix of Indianapolis through Indianapolis 500 qualifying and the Indianapolis 500 itself to Detroit last week and now up to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. This will be the 35th time IndyCar has raced at Road America and the tenth race since IndyCar returned in 2016. In three of the last four seasons, a Road America winner has gone on to win the IndyCar championship.
Coverage
Time: Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday June 9 with green flag scheduled for 3:45 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Georgia Henneberry will work pit lane.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Georgia Henneberry will work pit lane.
IndyCar Weekend Schedule
Friday:
First Practice: 4:15 p.m. ET (75 minutes)
Saturday:
Second Practice: 10:45 a.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 1:45 p.m. ET
Sunday:
Warm-up: 10:15 a.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 3:45 p.m. ET (55 laps)
Qualifying: 1:45 p.m. ET
Sunday:
Warm-up: 10:15 a.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 3:45 p.m. ET (55 laps)
* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock
Ganassi's Playground
Chip Ganassi Racing is already entering Road America on a high note. It is fresh off its third victory through six races this season after Scott Dixon stretched his fuel tank again to win in Detroit. Marcus Armstrong went from 19th to third for his first career podium finish. It was the team's second double-podium day this season and the team has had a representative on the podium after five consecutive races. Dixon leads the championship with Álex Palou in second, and Ganassi rides this wave of momentum into a track it has commanded in recent seasons.
Ganassi has won four of the last five Road America races. It has won five of nine Road America races since 2016. It has had a driver on the podium here in eight of the last nine races. Ganassi's seven victories at this circuit are second only to Newman/Haas Racing's ten Road America victories.
In the last nine Road America races, Dixon and Palou have each won twice. Josef Newgarden is the only other multi-time winner during that span. Dixon has finished in the top ten in seven of those nine races, and he has completed every lap at the track since 2017, one year after he retired five laps into the Road America return due to an engine failure. Last year, Dixon went from 23rd to fourth.
Palou has won two of the last three Road America races. In five starts, he has two victories, three podium finishes and four top ten finishes. He was caught in an accident in 2022, which left him 27th.
Both drivers could match the record for most Road America victories this weekend. It is currently a three-way tie for the most between Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Michael Andretti on three victories. Dixon has won three times at eight different circuits in his career. Road America is one of three circuits Palou has won at multiple times. The others are the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Portland.
While Dixon and Palou look to add to their legacies, 60% of the Ganassi team would like to add their name to history at Road America, a place that is somewhat known for first-time winners.
Eight times has a driver had their first career occur at Road America. Two of those drivers were Ganassi drivers at the time of their first career victory. Bruno Junqueira won a shortened race in 2001. Felix Rosenqvist won the second race of the 2020 doubleheader after chasing down Patricio O'Ward on primary tires.
Marcus Armstrong has two top five finishes in the last three races. Armstrong had no top five finishes in his first 15 IndyCar starts. Last year, Armstrong started eighth and led five laps, but a questionable pit decision cost him spots and an additional pit stop relegated him to 24th in the final results.
Rookies Linus Lundqvist and Kyffin Simpson are separated by only five points in the championship through six races. While Lundqvist was third at Barber Motorsports Park, he has finished outside the top twenty in four of six races this season. Simpson has finished outside the top twenty in the last two events.
Lundqvist never finished on the podium in three Indy Lights starts at Road America. Simpson started on pole position in last year's Indy Lights race but dropped back to eighth. He won twice at the circuit in Formula Regional Americas in 2021.
Despite Ganassi's success, it has led only 77 of the 490 laps run at Road America since 2016. In Ganassi's last four victories at the circuit, none of those Ganassi drivers led the most laps in that race, and on three of the four occasions, the driver has led ten laps or fewer.
Penske's Reality Check
It might have received redemption between its victories at Barber Motorsports Park and the Indianapolis 500, but Team Penske is on the back foot through six races.
The team has six combined top five finishes through six races, which actually better than last year. In 2023, Penske had only four top five finishes through the six races, but this feels different in 2024. Will Power might be third in the championship and have three runner-up finishes this season, but Scott McLaughlin is still in eighth. Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden is tenth. This is Newgarden's worst championship position through six races since 2014 when he was 17th in the championship driving for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing. Eleven races remain this season.
Power is the one bright spot. His winless streak might be up to 33 races, but he has finished sixth or better in five races this year. His 24th in the Indianapolis 500 after his accident is the lone blemish on what has otherwise been a strong season. McLaughlin and Newgarden are another story.
McLaughlin won at Barber and was sixth in the two Indianapolis races, but he has been classified 20th or worse in the other three events this season. Newgarden has been classified outside the top fifteen in four of six races, including two results of 26th.
Power is 31 points behind Dixon for the championship lead. McLaughlin is 75 points back while Newgarden is 88 points behind. Through six races last year, Newgarden was 37 points behind the championship leader, McLaughlin was 70 points back and Power was 88 points off the top spot.
This is all occurring despite the Team Penske drivers ranking first, second and third in average starting position through six races. Newgarden has an average of 3.667 while Power's average is 4.1667 and McLaughlin has an average at 6.5. While Power has the third-best average finish at seventh, McLaughlin and Newgarden rank 13th and 15th respectively with averages of 14.333 and 15.0.
Team Penske is renowned for its consistency, but the only race this season where it has had multiple top five finishers was McLaughlin and Power's 1-2 finish at Barber. It has not had all three cars finish in the top ten since Nashville last year, a ten-race drought. This is the longest stretch Penske has gone without having three top ten finishes in a single race since the team returned to three full-time teams in 2014. The team's previous longest drought during this time occurred over the final seven races in 2014.
If there is any reason for optimism it is Team Penske has been almost equally as good as Chip Ganassi Racing at Road America. Since its return to the schedule in 2016, Team Penske has had at least one car on the podium in eight of nine races. In three of the nine races, Penske has had at least three top ten finishers. Team Penske has led 235 of 490 laps run at Road America since 2016. It is one of only three teams to win at the circuit in the last eight seasons, and Penske has won three times during that span.
Giving Lundgaard Some Love
It might be 11th in the championship, but Christian Lundgaard is quietly off to another good season through the first six races.
Lundgaard was third in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and he was sixth at Barber Motorsports Park. He is coming off his best career finish in the Indianapolis 500 in 13th, and after starting the season with two consecutive results of 18th or worse, he has finished no worse than 13th in the last four races. Lundgaard is tied for the third-most laps led this season. The Dane and Álex Palou have each led 53 laps this season, behind only Scott McLaughlin and Scott Dixon. Along with Dixon and Palou, Lundgaard is tied for most races led this season having led in four of the first six events. Coincidentally, Lundgaard, Dixon and Palou have all led in three consecutive races.
Though he will head to Road America having not finished in the top ten in his last two starts, Lundgaard has not gone three consecutive races without a top ten result since the first five starts of his IndyCar career over 2021 and 2022. This is also a good track for Lundgaard.
In his first two visits to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Lundgaard has finished tenth and seventh. He went forward in 2022, moving up from 13th, and he started seventh in last year's race. Lundgaard has finished in the top ten in eight of the last nine permanent road course races, with the lone exception being 11th at Portland last year. He has finished in the top ten in 11 of the last 14 road course races, which includes a 21st at Portland and 11th at Mid-Ohio in 2022. Road America is one of six tracks where Lundgaard has multiple top ten finishes along with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Barber, Toronto, Nashville and Laguna Seca.
Not only is Lundgaard strong at Road America, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has been strong at Road America.
In ten Road America starts, Graham Rahal has two podium finishes, three top five finishes and seven top ten finishes with another two 11th-place finishes. Rahal's average finish at the track is 8.4, his third-best circuit (with a minimum of three starts) behind Motegi and the IMS road course. Despite good finishes, Rahal has led only five laps in his career at Road America.
For Pietro Fittipaldi, it will be his first visit to Road America. Fittipaldi has one top ten finish in 14 career starts, five of which have been on permanent road courses. Road America is a great location for the Fittipaldi family. Emerson Fittipaldi won three times at the circuit, tied for the most in IndyCar. In 11 starts, Emerson had eight top five finishes and nine top ten finishes with an average finish of 5.636. Christian Fittipaldi scored his first career victory at Road America in 1999 and he had three top five finishes at the circuit with an average finish of 8.875.
Lundgaard has been the top RLLR finisher in the last four races after Fittipaldi and Rahal split the opening two rounds.
Ending Spring on a High Note
It might be June, but Road America is the final IndyCar in spring 2024. Few drivers, it has been an impressive spring, and they will want to enter summer remaining on that high. For others, they are hoping for a pick up before the summer heat settles over the second half of the season.
Arrow McLaren has turned it around. After failing to have a car finish in the top twenty at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, the team has had multiple top ten finishers in the last two races, including having all three cars finish in the top ten at Detroit, the first time the team has had all its cars crack the top ten this season.
Patricio O'Ward and Alexander Rossi are both in the top five of the championship. With finishes of second at the Indianapolis 500 and seventh at Detroit, O'Ward is fourth in the championship on 160 points, ten points more than Rossi, who has three consecutive top ten finishes and top five finishes in the last two races.
O'Ward has two podium finishes and four top ten finishes in six Road America appearances. His first career pole position was at Road America in the second race of the 2020 doubleheader. O'Ward led 43 laps but finished second after being overtaken on the penultimate lap when O'Ward did not have the tires to hold off Felix Rosenqvist.
Rossi famously dominated the 2019 Road America race, leading 54 of 55 laps. He has finished in the top ten in his last four Road America starts, which includes two podium finishes. This is the location of Rossi's most recent pole position. In 2022, Rossi led 16 laps from first on the grid, but finished third.
Théo Pourchaire heads into Road America off his first career top ten finish. Pourchaire was tenth at Detroit, the top rookie finisher in the race. The Frenchman started a career-best seventh in the last race. Though he has only run four of six races, Pourchaire has 58 points, 23 points behind Linus Lundqvist for the top rookie in the championship.
Kyle Kirkwood is the lead Andretti Global driver in the championship, sitting in sixth on 148 points, one point ahead of teammate Colton Herta. Kirkwood has finished more worse than 11th through six races this season. He was fourth at Detroit, his third career top five finish, and his best finish since he won at Nashville last summer. Kirkwood was ninth in last year's Road America race.
Colton Herta had a good start to the season. With two podium finishes and four top ten finishes through the first four events, Herta was tied for third in the championship, 25 points off the championship lead. After finishes of 23rd and 19th after two accidents, Herta has dropped to sixth and is 69 points behind Scott Dixon. Herta has not had three consecutive results outside the top ten since 2022 between the Iowa doubleheader and the July IMS road course race. He has not had three consecutive results outside the top fifteen since a four-race run in 2019 from Barber through the Indianapolis 500, the fourth through seventh starts of his career.
Marcus Ericsson and Marcus Armstrong both bounced back from early retirements in the Indianapolis 500 to the podium in Detroit. For Ericsson, his runner-up finish ended a three-race skid where his best finish was 16th. For Armstrong, third in Detroit marked the second time in three races he has reset his career best finish.
Ericsson has finished outside the top fifteen in four of six races this season. He is 14th in the championship on 108 points. Armstrong is 13th on 116 points.
Road to Indy
It is a busy weekend for the Road to Indy as well with six races spread across the three support series, including a triple-header.
Jacob Abel was off the podium for the first time this season at Detroit, but Abel's fifth-place finish allowed him to extend his championship lead. Abel heads to Road America up 25 points on Louis Foster, who is riding a two-race winning streak into Wisconsin. Nolan Siegel suffered a mechanical issue before the start of the Detroit race and the best he could do was 18th, dropping him to third in the championship and 44 points behind Abel.
Caio Collet was on the podium in the last two races and takes fourth in the championship, 72 points back. Myles Rowe was fourth in Detroit, his best finish of the season, and he is 81 points off the top. Callum Hedge was third in Detroit, but he is 93 points from Abel.
Michael d'Orlando and Reece Gold are tied on 124 points, ten points ahead of Jonathan Browne in ninth. James Roe, Jr. rounds out the top ten on 110 points, one point ahead of Salvador de Alba.
Siegel and Abel went 1-2 last year at Road America. Foster was sixth. D'Orlando won the first USF Pro 2000 race last year but was knocked out of the second race on the pace lap. Rowe was second and fourth.
Indy Lights will hold its 20-lap race on Sunday June 9 at 12:10 p.m. ET.
Nikita Johnson's USF Pro 2000 championship lead is down to a single-point. After being caught in an accident at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Johnson's 17th has him on 178 points while Lochie Hughes was third and heads to Road America on 177 points. Jace Denmark was runner-up at IRP and he is 17 points back.
Liam Sceats is 24 points off the top and Hunter Yeany, who was not entered for IRP and is not entered for Road America, rounds out the top five on 148 points. Christian Brooks has 139 points while IRP winner Braden Eves is up to seventh on 129 points. Simon Sikes is on 123 points. Nicolás Baptitse is ninth on 118 points with Danny Dyszleski on 173 points.
Sikes and Hughes split the U.S. F2000 races at Road America last year while Johnson was third and fifth.
The first USF Pro 2000 race will be at 9:00 a.m. ET on Saturday June 8. The second race will be at 5:10 p.m. ET later that afternoon. The third USF Pro 2000 race will take place at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday June 9. All three races are scheduled for 15 laps or 50 minutes.
Max Garcia holds a 28-point advantage in the U.S. F2000 championship over Evagoras Papasavvas. Garcia was seventh at IRP but Papasavvas was third. Sam Corry is 50 points back in third. Max Taylor fell to 78 points off the championship lead after ending up 17th at IRP. Elliot Cox rounds out the top five on 122 points, 83 points behind Garcia.
Joey Brienza sits on 113 points with Quinn Armstrong on 97 points after his best finish of the season of fourth at IRP. Nicolas Giaffone was second at IRP and he is on 96 points, a point ahead of Hudson Schwartz. Tanner DeFabis won at IRP and that moved DeFabis up to tenth in the championship on 93 points.
Both U.S. F2000 races will take place on Saturday June 8. The first race will be at 1:30 p.m. ET and the second will be at 6:05 p.m. ET. Both races will be 12 laps or 40 minutes.
Fast Facts
This will be the 14th IndyCar race to take place on June 9 and the first since Scott Dixon won at Texas in 2018.
This will be the fifth IndyCar race to take place on June 9 in the state of Wisconsin. The first four were all at the Milwaukee Mile. The most recent was in 1974. Johnny Rutherford won that race.
For two of the last three winners on June 9, it was the final victory of their careers. Sam Hornish, Jr. won on June 9, 2007 at Texas, the final victory of Hornish, Jr.'s IndyCar career. Justin Wilson won on June 9, 2012 at Texas, the final victory of Wilson's career.
Only three times has a driver won consecutive Road America races (Mario Andretti 1983-84, Michael Andretti 1990-91, Jacques Villeneuve 1994-95).
Nine times has a Road America winner gone on to win the championship.
Eighteen times has the Road America winner not led the most laps.
Twice has the Road America winner led only the final lap (Héctor Rebaque 1982, Michael Andretti 1996).
The average starting position for a Road America winner is 3.764 with a median of third.
Five of the six worst starting positions for Road America winners were first-time winners.
Four of the six Road America races won from a starting position outside the top six positions were first-time winners.
Only one Road America race has been won from outside the top ten. Alex Tagliani won from 13th in 2004.
The average number of lead changes in a Road America race is 4.705 with a median of four.
Since IndyCar returned to Road America in 2016, the average number of lead changes has been 6.444 with a median of six.
There have been three Road America races without a lead change (1987, 1993, 2003).
The average number of cautions in a Road America race is 2.272 with a median of two. The average number of caution laps is 6.667 with a median of six.
There have been at least four cautions in the last three Road America races. Only six of the previous 30 Road America races had seen at least four cautions.
The most cautions in a Road America race is six (1995, 1997, 2001, 2006).
Eleven Road America races have gone caution-free (31.428%). There were consecutive caution-free races in 2018 and 2019.
Predictions
Alexander Rossi wins the race and leads the most laps. Honda puts two cars on the podium. Team Penske has all three cars finish in the top ten. Marcus Armstrong does not run a questionable strategy. There are no incidents involving Santino Ferrucci and Agustín Canapino, but someone will get abuse online afterward anyway. The Dale Coyne Racing drivers will finish 16th and 21st. There will be at least seven positions between Felix Rosenqvist and Hélio Castroneves. Théo Pourchaire will gain ground in the rookie of the year battle. Sleeper: Kyle Kirkwood.
