IndyCar: Friday Morning Report from Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix

Good afternoon from Indianapolis, IN.  This weekend many races will be run at the Brickyard,  NTT IndyCar series Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix,   Xfinity series The Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard and NASCAR series Verizon 200.  The weather is not looking good later this afternoon when the action gets started.  Thunderstorms might put a damper on the IndyCar qualifying and the Xfinity practice session.

AR1 spoke with Rinus VeeKay, driver of the Ed Carpenter Racing entry number 21.  VeeKay earned his top five finish on the road course here in July of 2020.  In October of 2020, he won his first pole position for the Harvest Grand Prix,  led his first laps of his IndyCar career and earned his first podium.  Then in May of 2021, he won the GMR Grand Prix.

‘It is pretty cool that we finally come back again to Indianapolis.  Normally the is just one Indy Grand Prix and now there is two.  It would be nice if I could win the second one.  I am excited that we have a doubleheader weekend with NASCAR.”

AR1 also spoke with the Christian Lundgaard, the driver of the Rahal, Letterman, Lanigan entry number 45 this weekend,  The confident Danish F2 Championship driver commented on his first IndyCar race.  “I thought my test at Barber was productive.   I think the team and myself were happy with my pace.  And it did not take long for the pace to be there.”

‘I am looking forward to this weekend.  I have only done one day of testing and drove many laps, but I haven’t seen the red (Alternative) tires yet.   We do pitstops in F2 but not refueling so I think it will make the biggest difference.  The rolling start will definitely be something new as well.  I think the car in general is very close to an F2 car.  The power and the weight are close to each other, so that made is easier for me to jump in the car.”

IndyCar Practice one is scheduled for 3 pm EST today for one hour.   Qualifying is scheduled for 7 pm EST.

Stay tuned for more details.

Lucille Dust reporting live from Indianapolis