Oliver Askew will return to Arrow McLaren SP for Detroit Race 2 in place of Felix Rosenqvist

By Jun 12, 2021, 10:00 PM EDT
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Oliver Askew will return to the NTT IndyCar Series ride he lost after the 2020 season with Arrow McLaren SP, substituting Sunday for Felix Rosenqvist in Race 2 of the Chevrolet Grand Prix.

Rosenqvist was hospitalized at DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital and held overnight for advanced imaging and evaluation by the trauma and neurological teams after a violent crash Saturday at the Belle Isle Raceway. The throttle apparently stuck on Rosenqvist’s No. 7 Dallara-Chevrolet entering Turn 6.

Askew made 12 starts last season for Arrow McLaren SP as an IndyCar rookie, finishing a career-best third at Iowa Speedway. He missed two races because of concussion-like symptoms after an Aug. 23 crash at the Indy 500.

The team announced his departure last October before the season finale. “We believe that Oliver has a great deal of talent and potential for the future. He has had an incredibly difficult rookie year, with a lack of overall track time and recent medical issues,” Arrow McLaren SP co-owner Sam Schmidt said in a statement about Askew, who won the 2019 Indy Lights championship with seven victories and 15 podiums in 18 starts.

Qualifying for Race 2 of the Chevrolet Grand Prix will begin at 9 a.m. ET Sunday, and the green flag will be shortly after noon ET on NBC.

This will Askew’s first IndyCar start at Detroit, which was canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Askew tweeted Saturday night that he would be borrowing a pair of Alex Palou’s shoes to race Sunday.

The team said in a statement that it would share updates when available on Rosenqvist’s recovery and his status for the next race at Road America on June 20.

Saturday’s race was stopped for more than an hour after 28 of 70 laps because of the violent crash in Turn 6. Safety workers needed about 10 minutes to extricate Rosenqvist after his car impacted the wall at full speed, scattering tires and knocking over concrete barriers while collapsing the front end.

In an update shortly after 10 p.m., Arrow McLaren SP said the No. 7 underwent a detailed examination that ruled out driver error, software problems or a stuck throttle for the crash.

The team blamed a “single, non-recurrent mechanical fault” for the wreck and said a remedy had been implemented for Sunday’s race.

Kyle Larson wins third consecutive High Limit Sprint race at Eagle Raceway, Rico Abreu second again

By Jun 7, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
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It took four attempts for Kyle Larson to win his first High Limit Sprint Car Series race in the series he co-owns with brother-in-law Brad Sweet, but once he found victory lane, he has been undefeated with his win at Eagle (Nebraska) Raceway. For the second week, Abreu led early only to fall prey to Larson.

The win was Larson’s third straight victory and the fifth consecutive top-five, giving him a perfect sweep of the season after finishing 10th in last year’s inaugural race at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana.

Larson started third behind Abreu and Brent Marks but was embroiled in a fierce battle with Anthony Macri for third during the first dozen laps. Larson slipped by Macri in traffic until a red flag waved for a flip by Lachlan McHugh.

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Marks retook the lead from Abreu on Lap 18. Larson followed one lap later and then caution waved again. Tyler Courtney lost power and fell to 24th after starting eighth.

Marks scooted away on the restart but tragedy struck in Lap 26. Leading the race, Marks hit a pothole in Turn 1, bicycled and then flipped, handing the lead to Larson.

Abreu caught Larson again during the final laps and in a reprise of their battle at Tri-City Speedway, the two threw sliders at one another for several laps until Larson built some separation and ran away to the checkers.

“I didn’t feel like my pace in [Turns] 1 & 2 slowed down a ton,” Larson said from victory lane. “I missed it once there and then I saw his nose in 3 & 4. I didn’t know if he nailed the bottom that well behind me and I think he might have slid me in the next corner, so he was definitely on the top.

“I was nervous to move up there because my car was really pogoing up in the entry of 1. I got up just in time, made a few mistakes and he threw a couple more sliders at me but he was just a little too far back and I was able to squirt around him. Then I really had to commit to hitting my marks – back my effort down a bit to avoid mistakes.”

After leading early, Abreu fell back as far as sixth, but faith in his car kept hope alive.

“I just needed to do a few things a few laps before I did and fix some angles, then my car got a whole lot better,” Abreu said. “I’m thankful for this team; they do an amazing job. They don’t give up on me. I know my car is going to be there right at the end of these races, so it’s just the discipline of being patient.”

For Abreu, it was his third near-miss this season. He was leading at Lakeside in the 2023 opener until a tire went flat in the closing laps and he lost the lead to Larson late in the Tri-City Speedway race. Abreu has finished sixth or better in his last three High Limit races with each result being progressively better until his pair of runner-up results.

Third-place finisher Scelzi was the hard charger, advancing from 17th.

“I had a very specific plan; don’t go near [the hole in Turn 1],” Scelzi said. “It worked out. No one wanted to start on the top. I think I gained a couple of rows there on the choose cone and ran the middle, which seemed to be better than right around the bottom.”

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid in fourth and Macri rounded out the top five.

World of Outlaws star and former NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne was one of 41 entrants, but he was not among the 26 starters. He failed to advance to the Main after finishing eighth in the B Main and seventh in his heat.

Feature Results

A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[17]; 4. 71-Michael Kofoid[5]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 6. 9-Chase Randall[9]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise[14]; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak[15]; 9. 8-Aaron Reutzel[10]; 10. 14D-Corey Day[18]; 11. 11-Cory Eliason[12]; 12. 5T-Ryan Timms[11]; 13. 88-Austin McCarl[13]; 14. 21H-Brady Bacon[22]; 15. 48-Danny Dietrich[16]; 16. 7S-Robbie Price[19]; 17. 21-Brian Brown[23]; 18. 22-Riley Goodno[26]; 19. 52-Blake Hahn[25]; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[21]; 21. 3J-Dusty Zomer[6]; 22. 14-Cole Macedo[7]; 23. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 24. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]; 25. 25-Lachlan McHugh[20]; 26. 53-Jack Dover[24]

2023 High Limit Sprint Car Series

Race 1: Giovanni Scelzi wins at Lakeside Speedway
Race2: Anthony Macri wins at 34 Raceway
Race 3: Kyle Larson wins at Wayne County Speedway
Race 4: Kyle Larson wins at Tri-City Speedway

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