Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden team up again in Race of Champions

By Jan 4, 2019, 5:00 PM EST
Race of Champions
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The Race of Champions announced Friday that past IndyCar champions Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden will reunite as teammates for the second straight year for the January 19-20 ROC in Mexico City.

Hunter-Reay (2012 IndyCar champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner)) and Newgarden (2017 IndyCar champ) are the most recent American drivers to win IndyCar championships. They will once again make up the Team USA entry in the event.

Josef Newgarden (Getty Images)

They will be joined by three-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves (now racing in IMSA for Team Penske) and previously announced 2019 Harding Steinbrenner Racing IndyCar rookie and defending 2018 Indy Lights champion Pato O’Ward, who hails from Mexico.

Another Mexican native who should be a fan favorite is 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champ Daniel Suarez.

Other drivers already announced include Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel and sports car legend Tom Kristensen.

But perhaps one of the most notable entries likely to draw more spectators to the event in-person as well as those watching on TV is FIA Formula 3 champ Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher.

The ROC will take place inside the Foro Sol amphitheater, which abuts part of the annual F1 Mexican Grand Prix course at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Getty Images)

All contestants will compete in several types of identically prepared vehicles.

The two-day event will be broken down into a team or region competition on Jan. 19.

Then all drivers will go head-to-head and on their own on Jan. 20 to determine who will be the individual ROC champion.

Hunter-Reay will be making his sixth consecutive appearance in the ROC.

“It is a spectacular event and a unique challenge to jump in and out of all the different cars as you go head-to-head with some of the best drivers in the world,” Hunter-Reay said. “So it is a tremendous honor to be invited to compete again.

“I’m proud to represent America, IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500, and I look forward to hearing the noise of the crowds in Mexico City, where the passion for motorsport is huge.”

As for Newgarden, this will be his second ROC, having competed in last year’s event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“I’m excited about it,” Newgarden said. “It’s a fun event and it will be fun having it in North America.

“Ryan and I are trying to represent America but there’s some really tough competition again this year.

“There’s a strong Mexican contingent this time around and I’m sure their fans will be really pumped to cheer them on.”

No American driver has ever won the individual title in the ROC. However, NASCAR stars Jimmie Johnson and now-retired Jeff Gordon and now-retired motorcycle racer Colin Edwards won the Nation’s Cup title in 2002.

The ROC has been held since 1988 and has visited numerous venues around the globe including Beijing’s Bird’s Nest, London’s Wembley and Olympic stadiums, Miami’s Marlins Park and Paris’ Stade de France.

While other drivers may still be added before the event, drivers confirmed thus far are:

* 2017 IndyCar champ Josef Newgarden
* 2012 IndyCar champ Ryan Hunter-Reay
* 3-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves
* 4-time F1 champ Sebastian Vettel
* 13-time F1 race winner David Coulthard
* European Formula 3 champion Mick Schumacher
* 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champ Daniel Suarez
* 3-time Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona winner Memo Rojas
* 2018 Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward
* FIA PWRC champ Benito Guerra
* 9-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen
* 2-time World Rallycross champ Johan Kristoffersson
* 2016-17 Formula E champ Lucas di Grassi

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With throaty roar, NASCAR Next Gen Camaro is taking Le Mans by storm on global stage

Associated PressJun 8, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT
Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
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LE MANS, France — The V8 engine of the NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro has a distinct growl that cannot go unnoticed even among the most elite sports cars in the world at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

When the Hendrick Motorsports crew fired up the car inside Garage 56, NASCAR chairman Jim France broke into a huge grin and gave a thumbs up.

“The only guy who didn’t cover his ears,” laughed seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.

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France has been waiting since 1962 – the year his father, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., brought him to his first 24 Hours of Le Mans – to hear the roar of a stock car at the most prestigious endurance race in the world.

A path finally opened when NASCAR developed its Next Gen car, which debuted last year. France worked out a deal to enter a car in a specialized “Innovative Car” class designed to showcase technology and development. The effort would be part of NASCAR’s 75th celebration and it comes as Le Mans marks its 100th.

Once he had the approval, France persuaded Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear – NASCAR’s winningest team, manufacturer and tire supplier – to build a car capable of running the twice-around-the-clock race.

The race doesn’t start until Saturday, but NASCAR’s arrival has already been wildly embraced and France could not be more thrilled.

“Dad’s vision, to be able to follow it, it took awhile to follow it up, and my goal was to outdo what he accomplished,” France told The Associated Press. “I just hope we don’t fall on our ass.”

The car is in a class of its own and not racing anyone else in the 62-car field. But the lineup of 2010 Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller, 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button and Johnson has been fast enough; Rockenfeller put down a qualifying lap that was faster than every car in the GTE AM class by a full three seconds.

The Hendrick Motorsports crew won its class in the pit stop competition and finished fifth overall as the only team using a manual jack against teams exclusively using air jacks. Rick Hendrick said he could not be prouder of the showing his organization has made even before race day.

“When we said we’re gonna do it, I said, ‘Look, we can’t do this half-assed. I want to be as sharp as anybody out there,” Hendrick told AP. “I don’t want to be any less than any other team here. And just to see the reaction from the crowd, people are so excited about this car. My granddaughter has been sending me all these TikTok things that fans are making about NASCAR being at Le Mans.”

This isn’t NASCAR’s first attempt to run Le Mans. The late France Sr. brokered a deal in 1976, as America celebrated its bicentennial, to bring two cars to compete in the Grand International class and NASCAR selected the teams. Herschel McGriff and his son, Doug, drove a Wedge-powered, Olympia Beer-sponsored Dodge Charger, and Junie Donlavey piloted a Ford Torino shared by Richard Brooks and Dick Hutcherson.

Neither car came close to finishing the race. McGriff, now 95 and inducted into NASCAR’s Hall of Fame in January, is in Le Mans as France’s guest, clad head-to-toe in the noticeable Garage 56 uniforms.

“I threw a lot of hints that I would like to come. And I’ve been treated as royalty,” McGriff said. “This is unbelievable to me. I recognize nothing but I’m anxious to see everything. I’ve been watching and seeing pictures and I can certainly see the fans love their NASCAR.”

The goal is to finish the full race Sunday and, just maybe, beat cars from other classes. Should they pull off the feat, the driver trio wants its own podium celebration.

“I think people will talk about this car for a long, long time,” said Rockenfeller, who along with sports car driver Jordan Taylor did much of the development alongside crew chief Chad Knaus and Greg Ives, a former crew chief who stepped into a projects role at Hendrick this year.

“When we started with the Cup car, we felt already there was so much potential,” Rockenfeller said. “And then we tweaked it. And we go faster, and faster, at Le Mans on the SIM. But you never know until you hit the real track, and to be actually faster than the SIM. Everybody in the paddock, all the drivers, they come up and they are, ‘Wow, this is so cool,’ and they were impressed by the pit stops. We’ve overachieved, almost, and now of course the goal is to run for 24 hours.”

The car completed a full 24-hour test at Sebring, Florida, earlier this year, Knaus said, and is capable of finishing the race. Button believes NASCAR will leave a lasting impression no matter what happens.

“If you haven’t seen this car live yet, it’s an absolute beast,” Button said. “When you see and hear it go by, it just puts a massive smile on your face.”

For Hendrick, the effort is the first in his newfound embrace of racing outside NASCAR, the stock car series founded long ago in the American South. Aside from the Le Mans project, he will own the Indy car that Kyle Larson drives for Arrow McLaren in next year’s Indianapolis 500 and it will be sponsored by his automotive company.

“If you’d have told me I’d be racing at Le Mans and Indianapolis within the same year, I’d never have believed you,” Hendrick told AP. “But we’re doing both and we’re going to do it right.”

Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
Fans gather around the NASCAR Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that is the Garage 56 entry for the 100th 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe (Chris Graythen/Getty Images).

General Motors is celebrating the achievement with a 2024 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 Edition and only 56 will be available to collectors later this year.

“Even though Chevrolet has been racing since its inception in 1911, we’ve never done anything quite like Garage 56,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “A NASCAR stock car running at Le Mans is something fans doubted they would see again.”

The race hasn’t even started yet, but Hendrick has enjoyed it so much that he doesn’t want the project to end.

“It’s like a shame to go through all this and do all this, and then Sunday it’s done,” Hendrick said. “It’s just really special to be here.”