IndyCar: Firestone 600 at Texas entry notes - MotorSportsTalk

Not too many entry notes and changes ahead of this weekend’s Firestone 600 for the Verizon IndyCar Series at Texas Motor Speedway (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN) but here they are:

Helio Castroneves and Sebastien Bourdais return to liveries they last raced at Barber Motorsports Park. Castroneves will be in the blue-and-white No. 3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet – same colors he won with last year at Texas – while Bourdais will be in the No. 11 Hydroxycut KVSH Racing Chevrolet black-and-green this weekend.
Tony Kanaan will carry Suave for Men gray colors on his No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet this weekend, the first time that livery has run since Detroit last year (pictured). Difference is, TK’s got a shaved head and his predecessor, Dario Franchitti, was a more fitting livery ambassador given his full, flowing head of hair…
Josef Newgarden returns to the Strike livery last seen at Houston last year aboard his No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda. Meanwhile Simon Pagenaud will be back from orange to white for Lucas Oil signage adorning his No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda. Pagenaud has not had the same livery in consecutive race weekends yet this year.
Carlos Huertas will be in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda for Texas, which isn’t too much of a surprise but does more or less confirm he’ll be in that car for the foreseeable future this season. Huertas, the fourth rookie and fourth Colombian in this year’s field, had initially been in for the first four road and street races and the Indianapolis 500. But thus far he’s completed every race lap in seven races, in what’s been a very solid debut stretch.

Follow @TonyDiZinno

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.”