Today’s iRacing IndyCar race at virtual Watkins Glen: Start time, more

By Mar 28, 2020, 7:00 AM EDT
0 Comments

The NTT IndyCar Series will return to Watkins Glen International to begin a new era this afternoon, kicking off the six-race IndyCar iRacing Challenge online racing series.

The 4 p.m. ET race will feature a lineup chock full of IndyCar stars such as Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi and Simon Pagenaud.

It also will feature seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who has talked openly about wanting to race real-world IndyCar once his full-time NASCAR career has ended.

RESULTS: Where everyone finished at Watkins Glen

WHAT THEY SAID: IndyCar drivers react to their iRacing Challenge debuts

Scott McLaughlin, the two-time Supercars champion in the race, has 497 victories in 1,189 iRacing starts (which leads the field) and 178 wins on road courses.

Power (156 wins in 1,145 road-course starts in iRacing) also is a driver to watch with Scott Speed (71 wins in 160 iRacing road-course starts) and Sage Karam (143 wins in 532 starts).

Here is the information on today’s virtual race:

GREEN FLAG: Shortly after 4 p.m. ET

HOW TO WATCH: Stream the race via http://www.IndyCar.com or via IndyCar’s Facebook and YouTube platforms. It also can be seen on iRacing’s Twitch and YouTube platforms. The IndyCar on NBC booth of Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy will have the call of the race, and Katie Hargitt will interview the race winner on IndyCar’s Instagram Live postrace.

NATIONAL ANTHEM: Iconic singer Jim Cornelison, who has sung “Back Home Again in Indiana” at the past three Indianapolis 500s, will handle the honors.

DISTANCE: The American Red Cross Grand Prix is 45 laps (151.65 miles) around the virtual 11-turn, 3.37-mile road course.

PUSH TO PASS: There are 10 activations for a 10-second duration.

PIT STOPS: Two. Cars will be allowed two “Fast Repairs” during the race.

SETUPS: Fixed; no changes allowed for drivers

QUALIFYING: The starting lineup for the American Red Cross Grand Prix will be set through a 10-minute qualifying session prior to the event.

CHARITY: The opening event was named the American Red Cross Grand Prix to bring awareness to the organization and the efforts to encourage blood donations amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The American Red Cross faces a severe blood shortage due to an unprecedented number of blood drive cancellations during this period. Make an appointment to give blood by visiting https://sleevesup.redcrossblood.org/campaign/sleeves-up-with-indycar/ or visit www.redcross.org.

NEXT: The American Red Cross Grand Prix will be the first of six events to be held weekly each Saturday through May 2. The opening event will be followed by Barber Motorsports Park (April 4), a “Driver’s Choice” track (April 11), a “Random Draw” track (April 18), Circuit of The Americas (April 25) and a non-INDYCAR “Dream” track (May 2).

ENTRY LIST: Click here for the most recent entry list for the opener of the IndyCar iRacing Challenge. There are currently 25 drivers in the race, but there could be a well-known 26th addition.

SPOTTERS GUIDE: Click here to view the paint schemes being used in today’s race at Watkins Glen.

Texas starting lineup: Felix Rosenqvist back on pole; Scott Dixon qualifies second

By Apr 1, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT
0 Comments

FORT WORTH, Texas — For the second consecutive year, Felix Rosenqvist will lead the NTT IndyCar Series starting lineup to the green flag at Texas Motor Speedway.

The Arrow McLaren driver is hoping the third time will be the charm at the 1.5-mile oval, where he has run extremely well but has only a career-best 12th in five starts.

“We’ve always been good here, but this is a whole different confidence level compared to last year,” Rosenqvist told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “Let’s try to wrap it up (Sunday).”

In 2020, Rosenqvist was competing for a podium when he crashed with 10 laps remaining at Texas.

QUALIFYING RESULTS: Click here for speeds from Saturday’s time trials

INDYCAR AT TEXAS: Schedule, start times, how to watch on NBC, Peacock

Last year, he started first on an oval for the first time in his career but finished 21st because of a broken halfshaft.

“It’s definitely one of my favorite tracks, and naturally, I’ve always been OK here,” Rosenqvist said. “It was the first oval that made sense to me. Every year I’m building on that. But looking at the results, they don’t represent the speed I normally have.

“I don’t want to jinx anything, but I hope tomorrow is going to go a bit better and some luck our way would be nice. It’s been feeling super good. Arrow McLaren has been mega every session, so just keep it rolling.”

Arrow McLaren qualified all three of its Chevrolets in the top five, building on a second for Pato O’Ward and fourth for Alexander Rossi in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

The March 5 season opener was a disappointing start for Rosenqvist who was squeezed into the wall by Scott Dixon on the first lap.

Dixon, a five-time winner at Texas, will start second Sunday, followed by Rossi and Josef Newgarden. O’Ward will start fifth alongside Takuma Sato, who will start on the outside of the third row in his Chip Ganassi Racing debut.

During nearly four hours of practice and qualifying (including a special high-line session), Saturday’s lone incident involved Conor Daly.

The Ed Carpenter Racing driver spun three times but stayed off the wall and in the frontstretch grass. Aside from a front wing change and new tires, there was no damage to his No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet during the incident midway through the 30-minute session in which drivers were limited to the high line.

“I hadn’t really had a moment before, but it snapped really aggressively,” Daly told NBC Sports after final practice. “Not ideal, but I do know my way around correcting a spin it seems like. I drove NASCAR last weekend and that seemed to help a little bit. I drove in the dirt a lot in USAC Midgets and seemed to be able to save something but not ideal or what we wanted to have happen.”

Daly will start 25th of 28 cars alongside teammate Rinus VeeKay in Row 13. Carpenter qualified 18th.

“Our three of our cars were clearly looking for something. Mechanical grip is for sure what we need. Qualifying we actually expected to be a lot better, but we found an issue there. We’ll see what happens. This race can change a lot. I’m confident in the team to hopefully figure some things out for tomorrow.”

Here’s the IndyCar starting lineup for Sunday’s PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway (qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine and speed):

ROW 1

1. (6) Felix Rosenqvist, Dallara-Chevy, 220.264 mph
2. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 219.972

ROW 2

3. (7) Alexander Rossi, Dallara-Chevy, 219.960
4. (2) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Chevy, 219.801

ROW 3

5. (5) Pato O’Ward, Dallara-Chevy, 219.619
6. (11) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 219.508

ROW 4

7. (10) Alex Palou, Dallara-Honda, 219.480
8. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 219.355

ROW 5

9. (18) David Malukas, Dallara-Honda, 219.256
10. (26) Colton Herta, Dallara-Honda, 219.184

ROW 6

11. (28) Romain Grosjean, Dallara-Honda, 219.165
12. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Dallara-Honda, 219.146

ROW 7 

13. (55) Benjamin Pedersen, Dallara-Chevy, 219.100
14. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Dallara-Chevy, 218.892

ROW 8

15. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Dallara-Chevy, 218.765
16. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Dallara-Honda, 218.698

ROW 9

17. (77) Callum Ilott, Dallara-Chevy, 218.427
18. (33) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy, 218.375

ROW 10

19. (78) Agustin Canapino, Dallara-Chevy, 218.367
20. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Dallara-Honda, 218.227

ROW 11

21. (06) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 218.196
22. (60) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 218.103

ROW 12

23. (51) Sting Ray Robb, Dallara-Honda, 217.676
24. (15) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 217.611

ROW 13

25. (20) Conor Daly, Dallara-Chevy, 217.457
26. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Dallara-Chevy, 216.880

ROW 14

27. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Dallara-Honda, 216.210
28. (30) Jack Harvey, Dallara-Honda, 216.103