Mikhail Aleshin is relishing the opportunity to return to racing with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the Verizon IndyCar Series at this weekend’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma.
Aleshin raced full-time for SPM in 2014, picking up a podium finish in Houston en route to 16th place in the final standings.
The Russian did not return for 2015, but did race for SMP Racing – a similarly-named but unrelated Russian-backed sportscar team – at the 24 Hours of Le Mans back in June.
After telling MotorSportsTalk that he wanted to return to IndyCar someday and “kick some ass”, Aleshin’s return with SPM was confirmed three weeks ago, which also incorporated a test at Sonoma.
With his return to racing in IndyCar now just days away, Aleshin is geared up for the weekend ahead.
“I’m very happy to be back in IndyCar for the Sonoma race with a great team like Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and SMP Racing,” Aleshin said.
“I had such an interesting season here last year with this team. I enjoyed all the new tracks and it was very different from racing in Europe.
“It was a long journey to make it up here again and I will use this opportunity to give it 100 per cent of my effort.”
Aleshin is dedicating his appearance in this weekend’s race to Justin Wilson, who died on Monday after sustaining severe head injuries in last Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.
“I would like to dedicate this race to the memory of Justin Wilson, who was a great race driver, man and father,” Aleshin said. “I will miss him a lot.”
The GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma is live on NBCSN from 4pm on Sunday.
Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports
Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.
Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.
Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.
The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.
In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.
Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.
Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.
Last Five Seattle Winners
450s 2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto
