INDYCAR Grand Prix Race Preview

“Despite our first-round mechanical failure (at St. Petersburg in March), we’ve fought hard to climb to fifth in the championship standings in just three races. The DHL team is really looking forward to keeping that momentum rolling in early May at the (INDYCAR) GP. This is our favorite time of year and no better way to kick it off than with the Indy GP on the road course inside the greatest track in the world.”

Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course (clockwise)

Race distance: 85 laps / 207.315 miles

Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.

Firestone tire allotment: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate (Note: An eighth set of primary tires is available to any car fielding a rookie driver.)

Twitter: @IMS @IndyCar, #INDYCARGP, #IndyCar

Event website: www.ims.com

INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com

2018 race winner: Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet)

2018 NTT P1 Award winner: Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet), 1:09.8182, 125.761 mph

Qualifying lap record: Will Power, 1:07.7044, 129.687 mph, May 12, 2017 (Set in Round 3 of knockout qualifying)

NBC Sports telecasts: Qualifying, 4:30 p.m. ET Friday, May 10, NBCSN (live); Race, 3 p.m. ET Saturday, May 11, NBC (live). Leigh Diffey will be the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s telecast of the INDYCAR Grand Prix alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee, Kelli Stavast and Robin Miller are the pit reporters.

Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Anders Krohn. Jake Query, Nick Yeoman and Michael Young are the turn announcers with Dave Furst, Rob Howden and Ryan Myrehn reporting from the pits. The INDYCAR Grand Prix race airs live on network affiliates, Sirius 113, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. All NTT IndyCar Series practices and qualifying are available on IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app, with qualifying also airing on Sirius 113 and XM 209.

NBC Sports Gold livestreaming: All NTT IndyCar Series practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold, NBC Sports’ direct-to-consumer livestreaming product that will put more INDYCAR programming content at viewers’ fingertips than ever before. In addition, full-broadcast, same-day replays of NTT IndyCar Series races, live streams of Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires races, edited cutdowns of NTT IndyCar Series and Indy Lights races and more will be available.

At-track schedule (all times local):

Friday, May 10
9:10-9:55 a.m. – NTT IndyCar Series practice #1, NBC Sports Gold
12:30-1:15 p.m. – NTT IndyCar Series practice #2, NBC Sports Gold
4:30 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (three rounds of NTT IndyCar Series knockout qualifications), NBCSN (Live)

Saturday, May 11
11:15-11:45 a.m. – NTT IndyCar Series warmup, NBC Sports Gold
3 p.m. – NBC on air
3:43 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines”
3:50 p.m. – INDYCAR Grand Prix (85 laps/207.315 miles), NBC (Live)

Race Notes:

• The first four NTT IndyCar Series races of 2019 have been won by four different drivers – Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta, Takuma Sato and Alexander Rossi – representing four different teams – Team Penske, Harding Steinbrenner Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Andretti Autosport. In 2017, there were seven winners in the first seven races. The record for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
• There have been seven different winners in the last 10 NTT IndyCar Series races (Scott Dixon, Alexander Rossi, Will Power, Takuma Sato, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta) The only repeat winners in that stretch are Rossi (3 wins – Mid Ohio, Pocono in 2018 and Long Beach 2019) and Sato (2 wins – Portland 2018 and Barber 2019).
• The top 10 in the NTT IndyCar Series point standings – Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Scott Dixon, Takuma Sato, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, James Hinchcliffe, Sébastien Bourdais, Graham Rahal and Colton Herta – are represented by seven different teams – Team Penske, Andretti Autosport, Chip Ganassi Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan and Harding Steinbrenner Racing.
• The INDYCAR Grand Prix will be the sixth Indy car event conducted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course. Simon Pagenaud and Will Power are the only drivers to win on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Pagenaud won the inaugural race in 2014 and again in 2016, Power won the race in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
• Simon Pagenaud, Will Power and Sebastian Saavedra are the only drivers to have won the pole position on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Saavedra claimed the pole in 2014, Power in 2015, 2017 and 2018 and Pagenaud in 2016.
• Four NTT P1 Award winners have won the race from the pole: Will Power in 2015, 2017 and 2018 and Simon Pagenaud in 2016.
• Competition reigns in qualifying for the NTT P1 Award, too, with 13 drivers earning a spot in a Firestone Fast Six qualifying round thus far in 2019: Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Felix Rosenqvist, Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi, Colton Herta, Takuma Sato, Graham Rahal, James Hinchcliffe, Sebastien Bourdais, Spencer Pigot and Simon Pagenaud. Only Dixon has earned a Firestone Fast Six spot in each of the first four races.
• Thirteen drivers have competed in every Indy car race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – Marco Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Charlie Kimball, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato. All but Kimball are entered this year.
• Helio Castroneves will make his 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season debut at Indianapolis for Team Penske. He is the only driver to finish in the top 10 in every race held on the IMS road course.
• Rookies Marcus Ericsson, Santino Ferrucci, Colton Herta, Patricio O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist along with veteran Jack Harvey will race NTT IndyCar Series cars on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course for the first time this weekend. Harvey, Herta and O’Ward have won on the track in the Road to Indy series. Herta (swept 2018 races) and Harvey (2015 – Race 1) won in Indy Lights, while O’Ward swept the Indy Pro 2000 races in 2016.
• Eighteen of the drivers entered in the event have competed in Indy car races on the IMS road course. Ten entered drivers have led laps: Will Power 182, Simon Pagenaud 63, Helio Castroneves 46, Ryan Hunter-Reay 18, Graham Rahal 14, James Hinchcliffe 4, Sebastien Bourdais 2, Alexander Rossi 2, Scott Dixon 1 and Josef Newgarden 1.
• Tony Kanaan seeks to start his 305th consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Kanaan will attempt to make his 365th Indy car start, which ranks third on the all-time list.
• Scott Dixon has made 245 consecutive starts heading into the weekend, which is the second-longest streak in Indy car racing. Marco Andretti has made 221 consecutive starts, which is the third-longest streak in Indy car racing.
• Scott Dixon, the longest-tenured driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, is third on the all-time Indy car victory list with 44 wins. Sebastien Bourdais is sixth on the all-time list with 37 wins and Will Power is tied with Bobby Unser for seventh on the all-time list with 35 wins.