IndyCar: New Orleans race confirmed with April 12 date (UPDATED)

By Aug 27, 2014, 4:00 PM EDT
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UPDATED, 4:00 p.m. ET: It’s official. The inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana will run April 10-12, 2015.

The event will be held April 10-12 and organized by Andretti Sports Marketing on a newly-configured 13-turn, 2.67-mile permanent road course layout.

The Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana will feature a three-day festival combining Louisiana’s culture – including live musical acts, entertainment and local cuisine – with the excitement of a Verizon IndyCar Series event.

“We’re delighted about the opportunity to showcase the Verizon IndyCar Series at NOLA Motorsports Park and to INDYCAR fans in the greater New Orleans area,” Mark Miles, CEO of Hulman & Co., the parent of INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said in a release. “The commitment from track owner Laney Chouest and his associates, combined with the support we received from the state of Louisiana, was the catalyst in making this come to fruition. New Orleans has a history of hosting successful major sporting events and we’re thrilled to be able to add the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana to the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule.”

10:45 a.m. ET: The Verizon IndyCar Series will have at least one new domestic race on its 2015 race schedule. The inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana, which was tentatively announced earlier this year, will be officially confirmed later Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. CT at a press conference at the NOLA Motorsports Park track.

The date is expected to be April 12, revealed earlier Wednesday in an Associated Press report. A source confirmed that date on condition of anonymity as it had not been publicly revealed.

Those scheduled to be in attendance include President of the Louisiana State Senate, State Senator – John A. Alario, Jr., Jefferson Parish President – John F. Young, Jr., President of NOLA Motorsports Park & NOLA Motor Host Committee, Inc. – Kristen Engeron, NOLA Motorsports Park Founder and Owner- Laney Chouest, CEO, Hulman & Company – Mark Miles and Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana General Manager – Tim Ramsberger, plus other Andretti Sports Marketing officials.

Ramsberger, the former Grand Prix of St. Petersburg president, joined Andretti Sports Marketing last month.

Andretti Sports Marketing has promoted the Milwaukee IndyFest race for three years since 2012, and New Orleans replaces Baltimore as the second IndyCar race it will promote (Baltimore ended in 2013).

As for what this does to the 2015 schedule projection, IndyCar will now either open with four domestic races in as many weekends, or run three in a row in April before a single off weekend.

It all depends on the Barber Motorsports Park date in Birmingham, Ala., which has not yet been revealed.

It will either go: March 29 St. Petersburg, April 5 Barber, April 12 NOLA, April 19 Long Beach, or, March 29 St. Petersburg, off weekend, April 12 NOLA, April 19 Long Beach, April 26 Barber.

This year, March 30 was the St. Petersburg date, followed by an off weekend before Long Beach April 13 and another off weekend before Barber April 27.

The Grand Prix of Indianapolis is scheduled for Saturday, May 9, to kick off the month in Indianapolis. Teams are expected to have a weekend off before the GPI weekend.

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).