Arrow McLaren Racing SP expected to name drivers O’Ward, Askew

By Oct 29, 2019, 8:16 AM EDT
INDYCAR Photo by Stephen King
INDYCAR Photo by Stephen King
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When Arrow McLaren SP announces its two drivers in the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series, youth will not only be served, it will be showcased.

In an expected announcement later this week, Arrow McLaren Racing SP will introduce the last two Indy Lights Series champions as its IndyCar lineup for next season.

That is expected to include Pato O’Ward, the 2018 Indy Lights champion, and last year’s Indy Lights title winner, Oliver Askew.

It also will be announced that popular veteran driver James Hinchcliffe has been released from the team.

Hinchcliffe has a close working relationship with Honda, including commercials for Honda Canada and American Honda. He was expected to be retained by the Chevrolet-backed Arrow McLaren Racing SP for 2020 when the team’s merger was announced on Aug. 9.

RACER.com reported the impending news Monday night. NBCSports.com made several calls very early Tuesday morning to see how the new arrangement takes shape.

With Askew and O’Ward, Arrow McLaren Racing SP is doubling down on its youth movement. It’s similar to the move McLaren’s Formula One team made by hiring teenager Lando Norris to drive one of its two F1 entries this season.

The original plan was to pair a young driver with a veteran, such as Hinchcliffe. Arrow McLaren Racing SP originally pursued 19-year-old Colton Herta, who won two races and three poles in 2019 as a rookie for Harding Steinbrenner Racing. Andretti Autosport successfully put together a deal to make him the team’s fifth full-time driver.

Pato O’Ward

McLaren Chief Executive Officer Zak Brown has kept an open dialogue with O’Ward since shortly after the 20-year-old Mexican’s deal collapsed with Harding Steinbrenner Racing before the 2019 season.

O’Ward struck a deal with Carlin for a few IndyCar races, but when he was named as one of the Red Bull drivers in May, O’Ward focused on making it to Formula One.

O’Ward left Red Bull earlier this month but was confident he had a path to a great ride in IndyCar.

Askew dominated the 2019 Indy Lights Series after successfully climbing the Road to Indy Ladder system. Askew won the championship in his only Indy Lights season with Andretti Autosport, winning seven of 18 races (including seven poles and 15 podiums).

Askew (pictured at the top) turns 23 on December 12. McLaren officials have had interest in him all season.

Askew tested with Chip Ganassi Racing during the summer and was under consideration for a third seat with the Honda-backed team before it chose to sign former Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver Marcus Ericsson of Sweden.

Hinchcliffe was told he was off the team Sunday night, according to RACER.

The 32-year-old driver from Oakville, Ontario is among the most popular drivers in IndyCar because of his engaging personality, which landed him an appearance on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2016. He finished second to Olympic Gold Medal gymnast Laurie Hernandez.

Hinchcliffe also was featured in ESPN “The Magazine” in its “Body Issue.”

He has also triumphed over adversity, including a near-fatal crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis 500 practice on May 18, 2015. Hinchcliffe nearly bled to death when his left leg was pierced by parts from the car.

He returned to win the pole for the 100th Indianapolis 500 in 2016 but failed to make the 33-car starting lineup for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 in 2018.

Out of a ride at the beginning of November, there aren’t any options currently available on any of the Honda teams in IndyCar for Hinchcliffe.

Team owner Bobby Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has cooled on adding a third car unless a significant amount of sponsorship can be arranged. Dale Coyne Racing is expected to retain Santino Ferrucci as its second driver, paired with four-time Champ Car Series champion Sebastien Bourdais.

Last week, Ferrucci’s engineer, Michael Cannon, left Coyne’s team to join Chip Ganassi Racing, where he likely will be paired with five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon.

Hinchcliffe has overcome much bigger personal adversity than this but to be hunting a ride entering November creates a massive career challenge.

Much more remains to this story, and NBCSports.com will continue to follow it.

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500 

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.”