The NTT IndyCar Series heads back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Gallagher Grand Prix this weekend. The 85-lap race of the 14-turn 2.439 mile road course gets underway on Saturday 30 July at 12:30 local time (4:30am Sunday NZ time)
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Ericsson 403, Power 395, Newgarden 369, Dixon 369, O’Ward 367, Palou 359, McLaughlin 317, Herta 278, Rosenqvist 275, Rossi 265, Pagenaud 257, VeeKay 254, Rahal 248, Grosjean 245, Daly 223, Lundgaard 208, Malukas 204, Castroneves 196, Sato 184, Johnson 158, Ilott 150, Harvey 148, DeFrancesco 139, Kirkwood 126, Kellett 94, Tony Kanaan 78, Santino Ferrucci 71, Carpenter 67, Tatiana Calderon 58, JR Hildebrand 53, Juan Pablo Montoya 44, Simona De Silvestro 21, Marco Andretti 17, Sage Karam 14, Stefan Wilson 10.
Here are the Fast Facts
Marcus Ericsson leads the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with five races to go for the first time in his INDYCAR SERIES career. Ericsson, who took the points lead at Road America in June, has led the point standings after six of the 12 races this season.
Since the first INDYCAR SERIES race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course, the winning driver has won the INDYCAR SERIES championship twice: Simon Pagenaud in 2016 and Scott Dixon (2020-Race 1).
Key championship point statistic: Since 2008, the championship leader with five races to go has gone on to win the championship eight times. Those drivers were: Scott Dixon (2008, 2018 and 2020), Dario Franchitti (2011), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012), Simon Pagenaud (2016), Josef Newgarden (2019) and Alex Palou (2021).
The Gallagher Grand Prix will be the 13th INDYCAR SERIES event conducted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course. Active race winners who are expected to compete are: Colton Herta, Rinus VeeKay, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power.
Five NTT P1 Award winners have won on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course from the pole: Will Power won the 2015, 2017 and 2018 GMR Grand Prix and second Harvest GP race in 2020 from pole. Simon Pagenaud also won the GMR Grand Prix from pole in 2016.
Six drivers have competed in every INDYCAR SERIES race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato. All are entered this year.
Team Penske has eight wins on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020-Race 2, 2020-Race 3, 2021-Race 2). Andretti Autosport, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing and Arrow McLaren SP are the only other teams to win at the track. Andretti Autosport won the GMR Grand Prix with Colton Herta in May, while Ed Carpenter Racing won in 2021-Race 1 with Rinus VeeKay. Chip Ganassi Racing won with Scott Dixon in 2020-Race 1, and Arrow McLaren SP won the inaugural race in 2014 with Simon Pagenaud when it was known as Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Five NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year contenders – Devlin DeFrancesco, Callum Ilott, Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas – are entered. All five raced in the GMR Grand Prix in May.
Milestones: Helio Castroneves will attempt to make his 370th INDYCAR SERIES start, which would break a tie with A. J. Foyt and give him sole possession of third on the INDYCAR SERIES all-time starts list … Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 301st consecutive start, the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history … With his next win, Dixon will break a tie with Mario Andretti and take sole possession of second on the INDYCAR SERIES all-time victory list with 53 wins … With his next pole position, Will Power will tie Mario Andretti for the INDYCAR SERIES record for most career poles with 67 … With his next win, Power will tie Michael Andretti for fourth on the INDYCAR SERIES all-time victory list.
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