IndyCar: Power secures pivotal third pole of season in Milwaukee

By Aug 16, 2014, 9:00 PM EDT
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WEST ALLIS, Wis. – Verizon IndyCar Series points leader Will Power captured an important and pivotal third pole of the season for Sunday’s ABC Supply Co. Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by the Metro Milwaukee Honda Dealers (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN).

The driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet laid down the only two-lap average north of 169 mph, with a 169.262 enough to secure the pole position.

Power went out ninth in the 22-car field and like a handful of others, just caught the cloud cover over the Milwaukee Mile at just the right time.

“Yeah, I definitely wasn’t expecting those sort of speeds,” Power said. “Based on practice, we were expecting 22-second laps. Yeah, the car was very solid. Obviously had the information of my two teammates before me of which direction the balance went.

“Didn’t have to adjust the car much. Yeah, just good laps. I didn’t expect to be on pole, but I thought I’d be somewhere at the front.”

Behind him, Tony Kanaan qualified second in the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, as he seeks his third Milwaukee win (2006, 2007) and first win this season. If Kanaan breaks through, he’d become the 11th different winner of 2014, which would tie a North American open-wheel record (2000, 2001 in CART).

“I think we have a pretty good chance. Like you said, the four cars are extremely strong,” Kanaan said. “We’re in the front row. We’ve been showing how quick we’ve been, how good we’ve been everywhere. We’ve just really got to get a little bit of luck on our side sometime. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll challenge Will and some of the guys.

“I think we have a good car and a chance to win.”

The pair of Chevrolets lead a Chevy-dominated top 10, where only three Hondas broke in after pacing most of practice.

Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Briscoe are on Row 2 – both are prior Milwaukee winners (2000, CART and 2008, IndyCar, respectively).

Josef Newgarden was the best-qualifying Honda in the No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda, now featuring Direct Supply primary sponsorship this weekend, in P5. Charlie Kimball posted a Milwaukee-best sixth on the grid.

Ed Carpenter and Power’s Team Penske teammate, Helio Castroneves make up Row 4 with Marco Andretti and Takuma Sato, the latter of whom has his primary sponsor ABC Supply Co. as the race sponsor, completing the top 10.

James Hinchcliffe, who led both practice sessions, qualified 13th in his repaired No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda, which required an all-hands-on-deck effort from the Andretti Autosport crew. Andretti’s team collectively missed the setup in qualifying with none of their cars making the top eight.

Other title hopefuls Simon Pagenaud and Ryan Hunter-Reay struggled, clocking in at 16th and 19th on the grid respectively. They’ll have an uphill battle to stay in the championship frame from those grid positions; Pagenaud is now 65, Hunter-Reay 64 points behind Power heading into Sunday.

WEST ALLIS, Wis. – Qualifying Saturday for the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 1.015-mile Milwaukee Mile, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, and speed:

1. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 169.262
2. (10) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 168.662
3. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 168.579
4. (8) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 168.266
5. (67) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 168.233
6. (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 168.123
7. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy, 167.775
8. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 167.561
9. (25) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 167.079
10. (14) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 166.915
11. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 166.742
12. (19) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 166.501
13. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 166.195
14. (15) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 166.032
15. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 165.851
16. (77) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 165.818
17. (98) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 165.614
18. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 164.421
19. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 164.211
20. (34) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 164.013
21. (17) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 162.535
22. (18) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 159.787

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).