{"id":31423,"date":"2020-10-01T12:58:34","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T17:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=31423"},"modified":"2020-10-01T13:06:31","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T18:06:31","slug":"indycar-harvest-gp-presented-by-gmr-fast-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/01\/indycar-harvest-gp-presented-by-gmr-fast-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"INDYCAR Harvest GP presented by GMR Fast Facts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Race weekend:&nbsp;<\/strong>Thursday, Oct. 1 &#8211; Saturday, Oct. 3<\/p>\n<p><strong>Track:<\/strong>&nbsp;Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course (clockwise)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Media Links:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/click.email.brickyard.com\/?qs=ab71141cbc06d2ddc8d27a7ef82e8dee499b3cf8d2c8d1d2bc773dcb13d3e68306f4a86d3881513dfb4980c715a89014\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Race 1 Entry List<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/click.email.brickyard.com\/?qs=ab71141cbc06d2dd2ce4e2747722fde58fb0304e88d8411ddd17cd8009411c60daaf70e705d99dad50156e0ac33d2ba0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Race 2 Entry List<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/click.email.brickyard.com\/?qs=ab71141cbc06d2ddf22b955641acc36a607d0f00fdebb262a7a0c94e81bc15574e2555f4ee1404432446669945aa8656\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Trackside Book<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Race distance:<\/strong>&nbsp;85 laps \/ 207.35 miles (Race 1); 75 laps \/ 182.925 miles (Race 2)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Push-to-pass parameters:<\/strong>&nbsp;200 seconds of total time, with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Firestone tire allotment:<\/strong>&nbsp;Nine sets primary, five sets alternate (Note: An extra (10th) set of primary tires is available to any car fielding a rookie driver.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Twitter:<\/strong>&nbsp;@IMS, @IndyCar, #HarvestGP, #IndyCar<\/p>\n<p><strong>Event website:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/click.email.brickyard.com\/?qs=ab71141cbc06d2dd10750344423d3764e0b878b019a04fd7bef983d5706a8bdd10276beea34c69b2df4ceadba419ed44\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">www.ims.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>INDYCAR website:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/click.email.brickyard.com\/?qs=ab71141cbc06d2dddb7baf063586ca87e2c70d749b2f28474defac1e4dd00fb5b32e40833c05b98057fb871bee14e1ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">www.IndyCar.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>2019 race winner:<\/strong>&nbsp;Inaugural event<\/p>\n<p><strong>2019 NTT P1 Award winner:&nbsp;<\/strong>Inaugural event<\/p>\n<p><strong>Qualifying lap record:<\/strong>&nbsp;Will Power, 1:07.7044, 129.687 mph, May 12, 2017 (Set in Round 3 of knockout qualifying)<\/p>\n<p><strong>NBC Sports telecasts:<\/strong>&nbsp;Race 1, 3:30 p.m. ET Friday, USA Network (live); Race 2, 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, NBC (live). Leigh Diffey will be the play-by-play announcer for NBC Sports&#8217;&nbsp;telecasts of the INDYCAR Harvest GP doubleheader alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NBC Sports Gold livestreaming:<\/strong>&nbsp;Thursday\u2019s NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice session (2:25 p.m. ET Thursday) and NTT P1 Award qualifying (Race 1, 6:20 p.m. ET Thursday; Race 2, 10:20 a.m. ET Saturday) will stream live on INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold, NBC Sports\u2019 direct-to-consumer live streaming product.<\/p>\n<p><strong>INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts:<\/strong>&nbsp;Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. The INDYCAR Harvest GP doubleheader airs live on network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205,&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/click.email.brickyard.com\/?qs=ab71141cbc06d2dde48167a2bc6b687214876cb6e6d59dab9ba2039bdb12ed2ec29305c62c9ba2357e7b429e32ffa143\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">IndyCar.com<\/a>&nbsp;and the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying are available on&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/click.email.brickyard.com\/?qs=ab71141cbc06d2dde48167a2bc6b687214876cb6e6d59dab9ba2039bdb12ed2ec29305c62c9ba2357e7b429e32ffa143\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">IndyCar.com<\/a>&nbsp;and the INDYCAR Mobile app.<\/p>\n<p><strong>At-track schedule (all times local):<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Thursday, Oct. 1<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>2:25-3:40 p.m. \u2013 NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice, NBC Sports Gold<\/p>\n<p>6:20 p.m. \u2013 Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (two groups\/12 minutes each), NBC Sports Gold (Live)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Friday, Oct. 2<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>3:30 p.m. \u2013 USA Network on air<\/p>\n<p>3:53 p.m. \u2013 \u201cDrivers, start your engines\u201d<\/p>\n<p>4 p.m. \u2013 INDYCAR Harvest GP Race 1 (85 laps \/ 207.35 miles), USA Network (Live)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Saturday, Oct. 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>10:20 a.m. \u2013 Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (two groups\/12 minutes each), NBC Sports Gold (Live)<\/p>\n<p>2:24 p.m. \u2013 \u201cDrivers, start your engines\u201d<\/p>\n<p>2:30 p.m. \u2013 NBC Sports on air<\/p>\n<p>2:31 p.m. \u2013 INDYCAR Harvest GP Race 2 (75 laps \/ 182.925 miles), NBC (Live)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Race Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Scott Dixon<\/b>&nbsp;leads the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with three races to go for the third time since 2008. He also led the championship with three to go when he won the title in 2008 and 2018. Dixon has led the championship after every round this season. Since 2008, the driver who has led the championship with three races to go has won the championship seven times \u2013Dixon in 2008 and 2018,&nbsp;<b>Dario Franchitti<\/b>&nbsp;in 2011,&nbsp;<b>Will Power<\/b>&nbsp;in 2014,&nbsp;<b>Simon Pagenaud<\/b>&nbsp;in 2016, and&nbsp;<b>Josef Newgarden<\/b>&nbsp;in 2017 and 2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>CHAMPIONSHIP WITH 3 TO GO (2008-2020)<\/strong><\/p>\n<table width=\"521\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\"><strong>YEAR<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"135\"><strong>LEADER<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"113\"><strong>SECOND<\/strong><\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\"><strong>&nbsp;LEAD<\/strong><\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\"><strong>CHAMPION<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2008<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Scott Dixon<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Helio Castroneves<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">78<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Scott Dixon<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2009<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Ryan Briscoe<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Dario Franchitti<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">4<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Dario Franchitti<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2010<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Will Power<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Dario Franchitti<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">23<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Dario Franchitti<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2011<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Dario Franchitti<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Will Power<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">26<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Dario Franchitti<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2012<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Will Power<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Ryan Hunter-Reay<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">5<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Ryan Hunter-Reay<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2013<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Helio Castroneves<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Scott Dixon<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">49<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Scott Dixon<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2014<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Will Power<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Helio Castroneves<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">4<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Will Power<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2015<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Juan Pablo Montoya<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Graham Rahal<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">42<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Scott Dixon<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2016<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Simon Pagenaud<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Will Power<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">27<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Simon Pagenaud<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2017<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Josef Newgarden<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Scott Dixon<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">18<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Josef Newgarden<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2018<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Scott Dixon<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Alexander Rossi<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">29<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Scott Dixon<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2019<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Josef Newgarden<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Alexander Rossi<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">35<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">Josef Newgarden<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"64\">2020<\/td>\n<td width=\"135\">Scott Dixon<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"125\">Josef Newgarden<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"64\">72<\/td>\n<td colspan=\"2\" width=\"133\">???<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>There are seven drivers still mathematically eligible for the 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship:&nbsp;<b>Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Pato O\u2019Ward, Colton Herta, Will Power, Graham Rahal&nbsp;<\/b>and&nbsp;<b>Takuma Sato<\/b>. Any driver who trails the points leader by 108 points or more following this event will be eliminated from contention.<\/li>\n<li>The INDYCAR Harvest GP will be the second and third NTT INDYCAR SERIES races conducted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway\u2019s road course this year and the eighth and ninth races, overall.&nbsp;<strong>Scott Dixon<\/strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Simon Pagenaud<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Will Power<\/strong>&nbsp;are the only drivers to win on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Pagenaud won the inaugural race in 2014, 2016 and 2019, Power won the race in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Dixon won the GMR Grand Prix earlier this season.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Felix Rosenqvist&nbsp;<\/strong>and&nbsp;<strong>Sebastian Saavedra<\/strong>&nbsp;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, 2018 and 2020, Pagenaud in 2016 and Rosenqvist in 2019.<\/li>\n<li>Nine drivers have competed in every NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course \u2013&nbsp;<strong>Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Graham Rahal<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Takuma Sato<\/strong>. All are entered this weekend.<\/li>\n<li>Four NTT P1 Award winners have won the race from the pole:&nbsp;<strong>Will Power<\/strong>&nbsp;in 2015, 2017 and 2018 and&nbsp;<strong>Simon Pagenaud<\/strong>&nbsp;in 2016.<\/li>\n<li>Every driver entered in the event have competed in INDYCAR races on the IMS road course. Eleven entered drivers have led laps:&nbsp;<strong>Will Power<\/strong>&nbsp;210,&nbsp;<strong>Simon Pagenaud<\/strong>&nbsp;68,&nbsp;<strong>Scott Dixon<\/strong>&nbsp;66,&nbsp;<strong>Graham Rahal<\/strong>&nbsp;36,&nbsp;<strong>Josef Newgarden<\/strong>&nbsp;25,&nbsp;<strong>Ryan Hunter-Reay<\/strong>&nbsp;18,&nbsp;<strong>Felix Rosenqvist<\/strong>&nbsp;15,&nbsp;<strong>James Hinchcliffe<\/strong>&nbsp;4,&nbsp;<strong>Alexander Rossi<\/strong>&nbsp;2,&nbsp;<strong>Marcus Ericsson<\/strong>&nbsp;1 and&nbsp;<strong>Jack Harvey<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>INDYCAR HARVEST GP PRE-EVENT QUOTES:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s a really important weekend for us at Indianapolis. We\u2019re running second in championship points and have some ground to make up to Scott (Dixon), so every point is really going to count. With this being a doubleheader weekend, the pressure is on to perform at our best in the Hitachi Chevy and really maximize the points that we get. With two opportunities to race this weekend, we still feel we have a good shot at the title since my entire team has been working so hard and have a really great plan put together. Execution will be key, especially since doubleheader weekends can be so intense and anything could happen. As a sport, we are probably most excited to have fans there this weekend. That\u2019s going to be great, so we want to put on a good show and give them a good battle up until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 4 Tresiba \/ AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet):<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cAny time you get to race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it\u2019s a good time. And getting both a doubleheader on the Indianapolis road course plus the fall weather that has descended on Indy means that it will live up to its Harvest Grand Prix name. Partnering with both Dalton Kellett and Sebastien Bourdais means we\u2019re all focused on a great result for AJ Foyt Racing this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>PATO O\u2019WARD (No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cIt&#8217;s crazy to think that the year is almost over. The entire team and I know that if there&#8217;s a time to push, it&#8217;s now, so we are all very motivated to build on what we have accomplished so far this season and keep racking up championship points. We are in the fight, so that&#8217;s what we will be pushing for. I know that the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet will be good, so if we execute, we will have a couple of good races.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cFirst and foremost, we want to make sure that Oliver (Askew) gets better. He&#8217;s a young man with a bright future ahead of him. For me, I&#8217;m coming off of a big win at Mid-Ohio in IMSA and carrying momentum into this weekend at Indianapolis. It&#8217;s great to be back in a place where I have so many memories. It&#8217;s even more exciting this time, coming back with a new team and getting new experiences. I already have a taste of the great group of people at Arrow McLaren SP, and I&#8217;m looking forward to this weekend. Hopefully I can add a little bit of my experience to a great team and brand. I also want to thank Roger Penske and Tim Cindric for allowing me to race this weekend for a different team. My biggest fear is to not enter the wrong garage after 20 years! I&#8217;m looking forward to a good race.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>MARCUS ERICSSON (No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Hond<\/strong><b>a):&nbsp;<\/b>\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to getting back to the Indy road course. I think we had a good weekend there at the Indy GP earlier this season with Scott winning, and I finished sixth and had really good pace during the race. I think we\u2019re going to have a good car there. I have a good feeling in the car at the moment. We had a strong run at Mid-Ohio, our last time out, with a fifth-place finish there. It\u2019s something to build on, and I\u2019m still looking for my first podium of the year. We have two chances for that this weekend, and I\u2019m excited. Weather will play a huge part in the results this weekend, and it\u2019s going to be a big difference between the hot and warm temperatures we had earlier in the year for the GP. Let\u2019s see what that does for the balance of the cars. I\u2019m confident, and I\u2019m looking forward to the race.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leade<\/strong><b>r):&nbsp;<\/b>\u201cI think for the No. 9 PNC Bank team, we just have to treat it like any other race weekend and try to get maximum points. The obvious goal is to go out there and try to win, but unfortunately, there are 23, 24 others that have the same goal. We\u2019ll try to do better than we did at the last doubleheader at Mid-Ohio, where I definitely made a very large mistake that gave away some pretty easy points there. I\u2019m really looking forward to it. I think it&#8217;s going to be fantastic to have up to 10,000 fans on each day. It&#8217;s definitely been a different dynamic, I think, for a lot of us this season, especially the Indianapolis 500 that ran without fans. We welcome the fans greatly. Hopefully, the weather cooperates and we can have a fantastic weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>FELIX ROSENQVIST (No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda):<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cI think the Harvest GP will be a really tough race. It\u2019s a track we have all been to, and it\u2019s the second time this year. It\u2019s all going to be in the details. However, I think Chip Ganassi Racing has always been strong there, especially in recent years. Scott won the Indy GP this year, and I had the pole there last year. It\u2019s a good place for us, for sure. The cold temperatures may throw things around a little, but it actually may be to our benefit. I\u2019m really pumped for the chance to get up on the top spot before the season ends.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cEverything about Indianapolis is so special, and the road course is no different. My Verizon Chevy team and I have had some success there, so we\u2019re trying to pull from our experience to perform well. We didn\u2019t run as well as we wanted to there back in July, but we feel we have a strong plan going into this race weekend. We\u2019re pretty much out of contention for the championship, so we\u2019re really racing for wins. With it being a doubleheader, it\u2019s great to have two chances to win, but it won\u2019t be easy. I\u2019m happy we\u2019ll have fans back at Indianapolis with us. I can\u2019t wait to see them back in the grandstands there because they bring such a great energy. It\u2019s going to be an exciting weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 14<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;AJ Foyt Racing<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;Chevrolet):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s time finally to get that 2020 INDYCAR season started for us. It\u2019s been a long time coming but really happy to finally get this show on the road and see what we\u2019ve got. Obviously, there was a lot of anticipation at the beginning of the year, and many months have gone by and many races, so we\u2019re not taking it the easy way by getting in the seat at the tail end of the season. There\u2019s a lot of things to learn for me with the team, the team to validate a few things that they think they need answers on for this season and, more importantly, the next. I\u2019m very much looking forward to the Indy GP. It\u2019s a track that I\u2019ve had good success on and very much enjoyed the layout, but it\u2019s not going to be easy because we\u2019re jumping straight into the thick of it: one practice, then qualify, race, qualify, race. Hopefully, we hit the ground running with a happy setup and can have a good weekend. If that\u2019s not the case, we\u2019ll dig deep and learn a few things and see what we get results-wise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 United Rentals Honda):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cThe team has done a great job so far in improvements for the road courses over 2019. Our package has been extremely strong. Allen (McDonald; race engineer), Eddie (Jones, Takuma\u2019s engineer) and all the guys did a great job coming up with some setups for this year that have worked. And we feel that it will work again at IMS this weekend. I thought we were phenomenal in Race 1 (GMR Grand Prix at IMS), and I think that Race 2 and 3 (INDYCAR Harvest GP) will be just as good for us. It\u2019s just that people learned from the strategy and other things we did in the first race, and it will be interesting to see how we all respond this time around. It will be different this time because you\u2019ve got 85 laps in the first race, which is longer than we did in July, and 75 laps is obviously shorter so the Saturday race will be a little different. Seventy-five laps is a pretty easy two-stop race based on what we did before. And 85 laps is a whole different ballgame. It will be interesting to see how it works out for everybody, but we definitely hope to put the United Rentals Honda up front. I would still like to get into third place (in the championship), and I think we can. I feel that we have had a tremendous season. On average, I feel like we have had the second-best, or third-best season of anybody. The problem is that we had two really poor races. Obviously, we missed points at Texas and Race 2 at Road America and St. Louis was not good for us, but I do expect us to be pretty strong to finish this off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>SANTINO FERRUCCI (No. 18 SealMaster Honda):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cSuper excited to get back on track in the No. 18 SealMaster Honda and be racing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course again. Obviously, there is some history to be made with the first-ever Harvest GP in the fall at IMS. It will be nice to have another doubleheader weekend. I think we have made a lot of progress since Mid-Ohio working on our cold-weather race car on the simulator, but it will be fun working with the crew again. I am confident we have a lot of good things to come and am looking forward to ending the season on a high note.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>CONOR DALY (No. 20 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet):<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cWe had a great qualifying performance last time we were at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. I am really excited about being back for the Harvest GP since we already have experience together as a team at this track. We can look back on what we learned in July, build on that and progress from there. Hopefully, we will qualify again very strong and have an even better race this time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RINUS VEEKAY (No. 21 SONAX Chevrolet):<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cI am very excited to get going again after a few weeks off. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course was great for me earlier this year. Having two more races here makes me twice as happy. And fans this time for the Harvest Grand Prix will make it even better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cIndianapolis is such a special place to me. It\u2019s meant so much for my career between the road course and Indy 500 success we\u2019ve had there. We are going to approach the end of the season aiming to race hard for more wins. I will proudly represent DXC Technology and Chevy in the usual black\/white\/chrome paint scheme. We will be facing a very demanding race weekend that\u2019s a doubleheader. It will be very physical, and this format also requires a different approach on the technical decisions. The 22 team is up for the challenge. I look forward to seeing race fans back in Indianapolis, the heart of INDYCAR racing!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>SAGE KARAM (No. 24 Dreyer &amp; Reinbold Racing Chevrolet):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cThis weekend at the Harvest GP will be special since we get to return to the greatest racetrack in the world. Usually, we are only there in May. In this strange 2020, we will be at IMS in July, August and October. So that is quite a treat for all of the drivers and teams. For DRR, we are anxious to get back to the IMS road course, too. In July, it was the team\u2019s first road race in seven years. So we had a lot to learn in trying to catch up with the other teams. Plus the heat was a factor. That won\u2019t be the case this weekend. We did get our setups going in the right direction. We were sixth in warmup, and I think we had a top-10 race lap, too. Now, we have a good starting point when we hit the track this Thursday. We don\u2019t have much time on track, so we want to be ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>TAKUMA SATO (No. 30 ABeam Consulting (Race 1)\/Keihin (Race 2) Honda):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cI think our road course setup has been very competitive as a team, but we had a couple of issues, too, so hopefully I will have a trouble-free weekend and get back on a good pace. Mid-Ohio was a tough one for us. Little things made a significant difference, and strategy-wise we weren\u2019t able to do much, so we couldn\u2019t recover well in the race, but I hope we will turn that around at IMS. I think everyone will have beneficial data from July. The field will be even more tight. However, we studied hard, and the preparation will boost us more, so I will expect a competitive weekend for us. The cooler temperatures will make a difference and usually make the car faster by itself as there is more downforce and consistent mechanical grips from the tires. The setup won\u2019t be dramatically different from that, but we will need some adjustments. We have had both cold \u2013 and I mean even winter-jacket cold &#8211; and warm races at the Indy GP historically, so we should able to respond well. We want to finish as high at the end of the season as everyone else does. We just need to do the best possible job for the rest of season, too, and see where we will land.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>DALTON KELLETT (No. 41&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>K-Line USA \/ AJ Foyt Racing<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;Chevrolet):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cIt&#8217;s come down to the last race of the season (for me anyway)! This first year in INDYCAR has been fast-paced and full of unknowns, so I am looking forward to returning to a track that I have experience at. Compared to the heat of July, the cooler temps this weekend will be refreshing. Who knows? It might even get a little chilly in the car! We made good strides at Mid-Ohio, and the car had better pace than our results showed. If we continue on that path and put everything together, we will have a good shot at a solid finish for the #41 K-Line Insulators USA Chevy. That&#8217;s the approach to this event. I&#8217;m also looking forward to the chance to work with Sebastien (Bourdais). His experience and insight will be a great asset to the program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALEX PALOU (No. 55 Guaranteed Rate Honda<\/strong><b>):&nbsp;<\/b>\u201cI\u2019m super excited for the Harvest GP at Indy, especially after coming from a difficult weekend at Mid-Ohio. We had good pace, which was good for us, to show that we have a good car and to show what we can do, but unfortunately we had some bad luck and were not able to get the results we should have. Looking forward to Indy. We\u2019ve been there earlier this year, but it will be very different mainly because of the temperature difference from July. I think that will make it a bit easier because tire degradation will be less, and when the temperature is lower, every car handles better. I also think that it won\u2019t be as tough physically just because it won\u2019t be so hot. It\u2019s our last doubleheader weekend and our last road course for the season, so hopefully we can have a couple of good races with our Guaranteed Rate Honda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>MAX CHILTON (No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet):<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cI\u2019m excited to get back on track this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet, especially for a new event like the Harvest GP. There\u2019s nowhere like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so the fact that we get to go back now for our third race weekend of the season at IMS is great. We had a strong qualifying on the IMS road course back at the beginning of the season in early July, so I\u2019m hoping we can build on that momentum and start and finish even stronger this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>JACK HARVEY (No. 60 AutoNation\/Sirius XM Honda):&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cI think it\u2019s really cool that INDYCAR is bringing back a race with some history to it. IMS is of course such a special track that we get to race at, and this year we are lucky to be here three times in one year. We\u2019ve had a good record on the road course in the past. Unfortunately, earlier this year we had a strong run, but a yellow flag once again put us back in the field. Going into the weekend knowing that we have the speed is confidence-inspiring, so myself and the guys are ready to get a good result.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 98 AutoNation \/ Curb Honda):<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cWe need to close the year on a strong note, and we have two chances at it this weekend. I&#8217;m excited to welcome and represent AutoNation this weekend and &#8216;Drive Pink&#8217; to help kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We had pace in the 98 machine at the Indy GP earlier this year before dealing with other issues, so hoping to capitalize on that speed.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series Race weekend:&nbsp;Thursday, Oct. 1 &#8211; Saturday, Oct. 3 Track:&nbsp;Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course (clockwise) Media Links:&nbsp;Race 1 Entry List&nbsp;|&nbsp;Race 2 Entry List&nbsp;|&nbsp;Trackside Book Race distance:&nbsp;85 laps \/ 207.35 miles (Race 1); 75 laps \/ 182.925 miles (Race 2) Push-to-pass parameters:&nbsp;200 seconds of total time, with a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":17205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[22,672],"class_list":["post-31423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indycar","tag-indycar","tag-ntt-indycar-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/2018WK4109K-1.jpg?fit=5568%2C3712","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-8aP","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31424,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31423\/revisions\/31424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}