Chip Ganassi Racing returning to course where wins have been plentiful as of late
Located between Milwaukee and Green Bay, Elkhart Lake’s Road America road course is a four-mile, 14-turn circuit and has been in operation for 69 years.
And it’s a course that’s been particularly good to Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) cars and drivers. CGR has won seven times on the course, including four times since 2020. The most recent was a year ago, when Alex Palou captured the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America in the No. 10 American Legion Honda last June.
Ganassi, Palou and the rest of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES are headed back to Elkhart Lake this weekend for the 55-lap, 220.55-mile XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. Palou, second in the INDYCAR points standings to CGR teammate Scott Dixon, will be behind the wheel of the No. 10 DHL Honda, which features American Legion branding.
And Linus Lundqvist, who leads the INDYCAR Rookie of the Year standings, will again drive the No. 10 American Legion, which highlights the Legion’s Be the One veteran suicide prevention program.
This weekend’s broadcast schedule (all times ET):
· Friday, June 7 – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1, 4-5:15 p.m. (Peacock).
· Saturday, June 8 – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2, 11:10 a.m.-12:10 p.m.; NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifications, 3:25-4:55 p.m. (both Peacock).
· Sunday, June 9 – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, 12:15-12:45 p.m. (Peacock); INDY NXT race, 1:05-2:20 p.m. (Peacock); XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, 3:30-6 p.m. (NBC and Peacock).
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Notes:
· There have been five winners in six NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in the 2024 season. Pato O’Ward (Streets of St. Petersburg), Scott Dixon (Streets of Long Beach and Streets of Detroit), Scott McLaughlin (Barber Motorsports Park), Alex Palou (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course) and Josef Newgarden (Indianapolis 500) have all won in this season. The record for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
· There have been five winners in the last 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races: Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin and Pato O’Ward. Dixon (Indianapolis Motor Speedway GP-2 2023, World Wide Technology Raceway 2023, Laguna Seca 2023, Long Beach 2024 and Detroit 2024), Palou (Portland 2023 and Indianapolis GP 2024) are the only drivers to have won multiple races over that stretch.
· The XPEL Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR will be the 35th INDYCAR SERIES event conducted at Road America since it hosted its first INDYCAR event in 1982. Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi have three wins, the most by an INDYCAR SERIES driver at the track.
· Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden and Alex Palou have won twice at Road America – most among active drivers. Other previous Road America winners entered include Will Power, Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist.
· Eight drivers have won the Road America race from the pole: Mario Andretti (1983, 1984,1987), Danny Sullivan (1989), Paul Tracy (1993), Jacques Villeneuve (1995), Bruno Junqueira (2003), Sebastien Bourdais (2007), Will Power (2016) and Josef Newgarden (2018).
· The driver who has gone on to win the championship has won at Road America seven times: Mario Andretti (1984), Michael Andretti (1991), Jacques Villeneuve (1995), Alex Zanardi (1997), Cristiano da Matta (2002), Sebastien Bourdais (2007), Scott Dixon (2020) and Alex Palou (2023).
· Scott Dixon and Will Power have competed in 11 previous races at Road America, most of any driver. Fourteen entered drivers have led laps at the track: Josef Newgarden 149, Alexander Rossi 70, Will Power 67, Pato O’Ward 43, Scott Dixon 43, Colton Herta 33, Helio Castroneves 41, Felix Rosenqvist 15, Alex Palou 15, Marcus Armstrong 5, Graham Rahal 5, Marcus Ericsson 4, Romain Grosjean 1 and Christian Lundgaard 1.
· Chip Ganassi Racing has won seven times at Road America (1997, 2001, 2017, a sweep of the 2020 doubleheader, 2021 and 2023), including four of the last five INDYCAR SERIES races at “America’s National Park of Speed.” CGR is one of three current teams with wins at the track. Team Penske has won six times at Road America (1989, 1992, 1993, 2016, 2018 and 2022) while Andretti Autosport won in 2019.
· Rookies Luca Ghiotto, Linus Lundqvist, Théo Pourchaire, Christian Rasmussen and Kyffin Simpson along with veteran driver Pietro Fittipaldi will race an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car at Road America for the first time this weekend. Rasmussen has won at Road America in each division that leads to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, including his first INDY NXT by Firestone win in 2022.
· Milestones: Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 329th consecutive start, extending his record streak.
To learn more about The American Legion’s Be the One program, click here.