IndyCar at IMS Saturday: How to watch, start times, live streaming info

By Oct 2, 2020, 10:00 PM EDT
IndyCar Indianapolis start times
Joe Skibinski/IndyCar
0 Comments

With two races remaining in the NTT IndyCar Series season, Scott Dixon’s once-commanding lead is seeming a little shakier after Josef Newgarden’s victory in Friday’s opener of the Harvest GP at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Dixon, who is seeking his sixth title, still leads defending series champ Josef Newgarden by 40 points after starting the weekend with a 72-point bulge.

Since 2014, the points leader with three races left has won the championship in five of the past six years, including Dixon in ’18.

INDYCAR AT IMS THIS WEEKEND: Harvest GP schedule, entry lists

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has led the championship standings following every round after opening 2020 with three consecutive victories.

Anyone outside 108 points of the lead after Indy will be eliminated heading into the Oct. 25 season finale at St. Petersburg, Florida.

Here is the IndyCar Harvest GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course schedule for Saturday (all times are ET), including details and start times:

Indianapolis Motor Speedway TV schedule for Saturday

—IndyCar Harvest GP Race 2: 2:30 p.m., NBC, NBC Sports Gold and streaming on the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com); Leigh Diffey is the lead announcer for IndyCar on NBCSN this weekend with analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy.

IndyCar Harvest GP, Race 2 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway start times, information

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 2:24 p.m.

GREEN FLAG: 2:31 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 75 laps (182.925 miles) around Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course in Indianapolis.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Nine sets primary, five sets alternate for the weekend (a 10th set of primary tires is available to any car fielding a rookie.) Teams must use one set of primary and one set of alternate tires in the race.

PUSH TO PASS: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 60 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the green flag.

QUALIFYING: 10:20 a.m. ET Saturday (NBC Sports Gold)

RACE 1: Newgarden broke through to win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

RACE 1 RESULTS: Full stats package from Race 1 of the Harvest GP

ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 25 drivers racing this weekend at Indianapolis

After Will Power extension, Marcus Ericsson among IndyCar drivers awaiting new deals

By Apr 1, 2023, 7:00 AM EDT
IndyCar free agents
Chris Owens, Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
0 Comments

FORT WORTH, Texas – Defending series champion Will Power’s name is off the board of potential IndyCar free agents, but there’s still much to be settled in the field – starting with the reigning Indy 500 winner.

Marcus Ericsson is waiting on a contract offer to remain with Chip Ganassi Racing beyond the 2023 season (his fourth with the team). The Swede said he’s made it clear to car owner Chip Ganassi that he wants to stay in the No. 8 Dallara-Honda, which has four victories since June 2021.

“Yeah, it’s up to him, basically,” Ericsson said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “He needs to give me an offer for ’24 onward. The ball is in his corner. I really enjoy it at Ganassi, and we’ve done a lot of great things together and would love to continue, but the ball is in his corner. He knows very well what I want.”

Two days before Ericsson won the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg season opener March 5, Ganassi sang the praises of the emerging star driver to a small group of reporters.

“I want him here beyond this year,” Ganassi said of Ericsson. “He seems to have gotten more out of winning the Indy 500 than anyone else has of recent time, which is a good thing. He did a good job. He’s been everywhere. It’s been a really positive thing for Marcus, the team, the series. He’s grown with that as well.”

Ericsson didn’t sew up his current deal until late in his breakthrough 2021 season (after a memorable victory in the inaugural Music City Grand Prix). So he isn’t necessarily anxious about it but conceded he “was thinking a bit about it over the winner in the offseason and talking about it

“But now that the season has started, I told my managers and everyone I want to focus on the driving. They focus on those things. Now the season is on, and I want to try to win races, win another 500 and championship. That’s where my focus is. (A new contract) is one of those things that happens when it happens. But I’m happy where I am, and I want to do well.”

IndyCar’s two best teams, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, tend to be very tight-lipped about their drivers’ contract status.

Power confirmed Friday to journalist Bruce Martin that his new deal was for multiple seasons. That means all three of Penske’s drivers are in multiple-year contracts (unlike Power’s deal, Scott McLaughlin’s extension was announced by the team last year).

But there is more uncertainty at Ganassi’s four cars aside from Ericsson. While Scott Dixon has a ride for as long as he wants (and the six-time champion has given no indication of retiring), Ganassi’s other two other seats have yet to be solidified beyond 2023.

The No. 11 is being split this year by rookie Marcus Armstrong and veteran Takuma Sato this season. In  the No. 10, Alex Palou is believed to be in his final year at Ganassi before heading to Arrow McLaren.

That expected move would cast doubt on the future of Felix Rosenqvist, who returned to Arrow McLaren when the team was unable to bring in Palou (who was embroiled in a contract dispute with Ganassi).

Aside from Penske, virtually every other IndyCar team (including Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Meyer Shank Racing, which has Helio Castroneves in a contract year) has seats that potentially could open for next season, and even drivers who appear to be under contract for next year still could be on the move (via buyouts and option years).

Though Juncos Hollinger Racing announced a “long-term, multiyear contract partnership” last July with Callum Ilott, but the second-year driver was cagey Friday when asked about how long the extension ran.

“It’s for whatever I want it to be,” said Ilott, who finished a career-best fifth at St. Petersburg. “I’ll say that.”

Before returning to JHR, Ilott turned enough heads as a rookie to draw interest from several teams, and he indicated Friday that he still would be listening.

“I’d love to talk to some other big teams,” Ilott said. “Nothing stops me from talking. Look, you’ve got to be fair. I agreed to (the deal), but it’s pretty obvious that I’m quite interested as people are interested in me as a driver, but I need to focus on the job I’ve got here.

“I’m confident whether it’s in one year, two years, three years, four years, that if I’m wanted now, I’ll always be wanted. I’m a good enough driver that I don’t need to lack confidence in that side. … I’m not worried.”