Indy Lights: 8Star officially confirms Hargrove for St. Pete opener - MotorSportsTalk

8Star Motorsports has officially confirmed Scott Hargrove will race for the team in the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires opener, as both driver and team make their respective series debuts.

Hargrove is confirmed, for the moment, for the St. Petersburg race weekend only. Enzo Potolicchio’s team has two chassis but is only racing one at St. Petersburg.

“This partnership with BC Pit Crew and 8Star Motorsports is a very exciting opportunity that I can not wait to make the most of,” Hargrove said in a release.

“It has been great to work with the team and the new Dallara IL-15. Our pace is very promising and we have no other intentions but to run up front and go for the win. The St. Petersburg Grand Prix is one of my favorite races of the year, the atmosphere is great and the track is a blast to drive. The Indy Lights series looks to be on a real high and I hope to be in the car for the remainder of the season.”

Potolicchio added, “We don’t expect St. Pete’s to be easy but we are confident in this partnership and excited about the state-of-the-art Indy Lights cars this year. Scott (Hargrove) has proven to be the real deal winning 2014 Rookie of the Year and series runner-up in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires Championship. We have a strong belief that he is ready to take on this new challenge and hopefully we can have him for the rest season.”

The Canadian is a two-time champion of other series, having won the USF2000 championship in 2013 and the Porsche GT3 Canada title a year ago. He came up just shy of the Pro Mazda title to Spencer Pigot a year ago.

The Indy Lights field for St. Petersburg figures to include the 12 cars that have tested at a single time this year, plus Matthew Brabham’s second Andretti Autosport entry (confirmed earlier this week) and at least one Team Moore Racing entry. Carlin Racing is yet to name a second driver for its team, alongside Ed Jones.

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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.”