Milwaukee notes: Beatriz in at Coyne, other news from paddock - MotorSportsTalk

Although it has yet to be confirmed directly by the team, Ana Beatriz will return to the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda for this weekend’s IZOD IndyCar Series race at Milwaukee.

The eponymous team owner is not yet on the premises here at The Milwaukee Mile, but Beatriz’s name is on the driver cockpit, helmet on site and her hero flag banner out but not yet unfurled in the paddock.

Beatriz raced the first five events of the 2013 season, with a best finish of 14th at Long Beach and the most spots gained at the Indianapolis 500 (29th to 15th). The car is back in the yellow, red and blue colors last piloted by Mike Conway at Detroit, after the red and white Cyclops Gear car came out at Texas last week for Pippa Mann.

Here are some other news and notes from the paddock:

The Firestone Indy Lights Series’ remaining TBA for this race, the second Team Moore Racing entry (No. 22), is unlikely to be filled for Milwaukee. It has had four different drivers in as many races to start the year (Ethan Ringel, Victor Carbone, Mikael Grenier, Jimmy Simpson). If it does not run, that would leave the field at a year-low of just eight cars for the 100-lap race.
The infield at the Milwaukee Mile is packed. A mix of festival events, carnival rides, vendors, and the IndyCar Fan Village should offer a bevy of options for fans and families when they arrive at the track.
The backstraight signage, which had been adorned with GoDaddy sponsorship last year, is now dark blue to feature RC Cola, sponsor of Marco Andretti’s No. 25 Andretti Autosport entry.

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”