IndyCar: Q&A for Paretta 3-race IndyCar announcement

Participants:

• Mark Miles
• Beth Paretta
• Ed Carpenter
• Katie Soo
• Simona de Silvestro

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. INDYCAR president Jay Frye is here. Jay, thank you. Certainly it’s an honor to have Bud Denker, as well. Bud is president of Penske Corporation.

You’ll remember a year ago last January now, a special announcement involving Penske Entertainment’s Race for Equality and Change. Today is the next step in the team’s exciting journey.

Joining us on the dais, the president and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corporation, Mark Miles is here. Owner of Ed Carpenter Racing, Ed joins us. She is the chief marketing officer of KiwiCo, great to have Katie Soo joining us this afternoon. We’ll have a special guest joining us via Zoom in just a bit.

Let’s begin with team principal of Paretta Autosport, Beth Paretta.

BETH PARETTA: Thank you to everyone being here, people virtually and here in the media center. Thank you to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for hosting us today.

This obviously is a very special place for us. It’s where we announced the launch of our team and where we had an exciting start to our 2021 season where we qualified and ran in the Indy 500 with Team Penske.

The support and training of our crew of women, how we did that last year, was working closely with Team Penske and the support they gave us was invaluable. The momentum that we built was critical to us telling our story.

But it brings us to where we are today. We have a lot of exciting updates that we want to share with you. So let’s get started.

First, we are so happy to welcome our new sponsor KiwiCo, our official hands-on learning crate partner. Our mission with Paretta Autosport has been to grow the sport of racing, in the paddocks, in the stands, and viewers at home. We want to capture the imagination of kids by connecting what we do on track to learning off the track, knowing this interest could be the foundation to STEM-based careers.

With that we are so happy to welcome Katie Soo to our team and INDYCAR.

Katie.

KATIE SOO: Thanks, Beth. So excited to be here. Just a little personal note. Huge fan of Indy. My husband has been coming to the race since ’96. It is a big part of our tradition.

We are very excited at KiwiCo to be a part of supporting something that’s so mission oriented, mission focused. A lot of our business is really about giving creative confidence for kids, preparing them for STEM careers. What better way to do that than to partner with Paretta to bring that to life.

We talk a lot about different types of engineering skills, different types of aerodynamic skills that you can learn. There’s really no better way to do that than to partner with Indy and Paretta, bring those components to life, help the next generation with learning and development.

Very excited to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Got to look at the car, too.

BETH PARETTA: Do we have an image of the car? Here it is. Let’s see it. You’ll notice the engine cover. It’s not that one (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: That looks pretty good, though.

BETH PARETTA: That’s pretty slick. There we go. Excellent. That’s a great image there.

THE MODERATOR: Great to have a brand-new partner to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Katie, welcome. Great to have you here.

That takes us from the partnership side to the operations side. They’ve come supporting en masse here this afternoon. Tell us about your engine partner.

BETH PARETTA: Well, again, after our momentum last year, I am proud to announce that we will continue to work with Chevrolet. I am so proud of the association personally because I live in Detroit, but Chevrolet specifically has valued, supported and championed our efforts to diversity and inclusion from the very beginning.

This alignment has helped us amplify our message in a meaningful way and we can’t wait to work together again and have Chevy power on track.

I’m so honored to have Mark Reuss, president of General Motors, and his team here today with us. I can’t thank you guys enough for believing in our team, Simona and me. Truly, thank you.

THE MODERATOR: Few more aspects to get to that involves the technical partnership for 2022. That’s where the aforementioned Ed Carpenter comes into play.

BETH PARETTA: That’s right. The big reveal. This speculation online, none of you are right (smiling).

I am over the moon about this. I’m excited and honored to announce we’ll be working with Ed Carpenter Racing. Ed’s team will support us with technical knowledge, race operation support and added manpower. His team has had success in the INDYCAR SERIES. We are looking forward to collaborating.

So with that, thank you for being here, Ed, adding to this announcement. I’m really looking forward to working together.

ED CARPENTER: Likewise. It’s a pleasure to be here. Beth and I have discussed varieties of ways of trying to collaborate on her dreams and Paretta Autosport over the past couple years. Took us awhile to find the right fit, but we’re finally there.

Very excited to be part of this partnership and help Paretta Autosport continue on its journey, making it a full reality to get to where you want to go. It’s a pleasure to be a part of, to extend our relationship with you and with Chevrolet, something that we’re proud of, as well.

It’s something that for our team, being one of two teams, us and Team Penske, that have been with Chevy since your return in 2012 is something we’re very proud of.

It’s going to be fun.

BETH PARETTA: Yes.

THE MODERATOR: We have partnership, we have operations, technical alliance. It all now begs the question about where we’re going to see Paretta Autosport on the racetrack in 2022.

BETH PARETTA: As we said last year our intention is to grow to be a full-time team. We’re excited about these partnerships that are going to allow us to do that.

This pivot and what we’re doing for 2022 is an investment in our future. I’m proud to announce that we are going to be back with Simona de Silvestro in the No. 16 Paretta Autosport Chevrolet.

The majority of our women on the team last year will be back with us, you’ll see familiar faces. For 2022, we are announcing that we will be racing at Road America on June 12th, Mid-Ohio on July 3rd, and the Streets of Nashville on August 7th. Possible added events as our schedules allow.

We cannot wait to get back on track and see fans at each of these new venues. It was important to me that we were going to get our team to new places, give Simona the opportunity to showcase her skills.

We are excited and can’t wait to get out there.

THE MODERATOR: The countdown is on now to Road America.

BETH PARETTA: Yes, it is.

THE MODERATOR: As mentioned, just over a year ago now the team announcement, launch of Paretta Autosport as part of Penske Entertainment’s Race for Equality and Change.

Mark Miles, president and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corporation. This is an important day, Mark.

MARK MILES: It is. Both Beth and Katie have talked about this as a mission. I was given a mission when I left home this morning. My wife reminded us that we have six granddaughters. I’m to bring home with autographs from Simona and the team and six KiwiCos for the girls. Looking forward to fulfilling that mission.

This is a great time to be out here. It’s a little chilly. Otherwise you look around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, obviously May is coming. You see the tents being erected out there, transporters coming in and getting ready for the tests tomorrow and Thursday, weather permitting. Hundreds of school children out there combing the place. I wish we could have all the school girls in here to learn and hear about this news.

May is coming fast, we’re going to be ready. We’re looking forward to a sensational May.

All that said, this is exciting news for the series. As has been said, Penske Entertainment announced what we coined our Campaign For Equality and change I think in July of 2020. We said this was a long-term, never-ending journey. It’s about diversity in every form in the sport and the way we are as an organization and sport.

Really key part of that last year, Beth, was Paretta Autosport being part of the 500. You managed to make it very exciting, but also very, very encouraging.

In fact, we have fan research and data that shows that generally, as I think everybody understands INDYCAR’s fandom is growing, but one of the fastest growing segments is women who are learning about and getting connected to INDYCAR racing. That’s true not just for our races generally but also our television audiences. The team has made a real impact. I know your ongoing involvement as a team will continue to grow that. Just really pleased that you’re taking this next step.

I heard you, I think everybody heard you, say three and perhaps more race, even plural. We hope it’s the stretch goal that gets achieved this year. We certainly want to be there to help in every way we can.

We want to thank Chevrolet for continuing your support. We all share this view, it’s really important. It’s the right thing to do, but it’s also smart business.

I want to thank you, Katie, for being here. You made a special effort to get here from the West Coast under interesting personal circumstances.

I want to thank Ed Carpenter and everybody at Ed Carpenter Racing for what I know will be a great partnership with that.

Big day for us, big day for you. We’re delighted to be part of it.

THE MODERATOR: Dialing in from Zurich, Switzerland, we say good afternoon or perhaps good evening to the aforementioned Simona de Silvestro, back in the No. 16 Paretta Autosport Chevrolet.

Hi, Simona, what an exciting day.

SIMONA de SILVESTRO: Yeah, really looking forward to these opportunities. Like Beth said, something we started last year. We’re really hoping to grow with Ed Carpenter Racing. It’s definitely the way to go to achieve, to have a full-time seat.

Personally I think it’s amazing the places we’re going back to. They’re tracks that I’ve been quite quick in the past. From that point of view, yeah, I’m super motivated, looking forward to work with everyone at Ed Carpenter Racing, having some pretty good teammates there. I think we can really push each other. Yeah, I think Mid-Ohio is a place that I’ve been pretty fast, so I look forward to it. I think it’s really an important step for us to grow this team and get it in the right direction.

THE MODERATOR: The general feeling that you had, the team had, last May was palpable. It was excitement from the opening day of practice through the 500. How do you build on that now here in 2022?

SIMONA de SILVESTRO: Yeah, I think even me and Beth, last year was the first time we worked together. We really support each other in that sense. We were really great teammates. She had trust in me, my capabilities, to give me this opportunity. It’s amazing.

Without Chevy behind us, really helping this journey… I think it’s quite cool. Having the women as well that were on the team, that are going to come back, I think it just motivates us to being pushy and making it happy.

She can be really proud of this effort, all the work she’s put in. I know we’ve been on the phone, I know how much she’s been working on it.

Yeah, it’s quite exciting.

THE MODERATOR: To have two women involved in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in one event, you have to go back to 2013 to have that. Nine years ago Simona was there. You think about it big picture.

BETH PARETTA: Absolutely, it’s a long time, nine years. Excited to be racing against Tatiana Calderon, who I met at Long Beach. We were at the same restaurant. I said, She looks familiar. I went over and introduced myself.

It’s fantastic. It’s great for the fans, great for growing the sport. I mean, there’s room for more. Jump on it. The water’s fine (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. How did this come about in terms of coming to this agreement?

BETH PARETTA: So I’ve been working on it probably since like August 1st of last year. Took a little bit of time after the 500 ended. A lot of things to do. Said, Okay, what about next year?

I looked at a few things. My intention was always 500 plus. If we were going to do the 500, it was not just the 500. In talking to Ed, obviously knowing where is the constraint? We know there’s some challenges with how many people are available, how many cars are available.

I said, Okay, let’s look at an alternate way to do this. Honestly, it was a conversation with some of the folks at Chevrolet. I said, This is what I’m thinking of doing, but I’m not sure what is the best.

They said, We really think Ed Carpenter would be a great partner for you. We would encourage you to kind of call him back, even we talked a couple months before.

I said, That’s exactly what I was thinking.

It kind of validated where I was. Then Ed gratefully answered the phone. That’s how it came to be. It’s been a long time coming. Ed and I talked years ago.

Everybody knows, there’s so many moving parts to all of these working agreements because there are so many elements. Sometimes you want to work together, but the timing isn’t right. It really all came together that the people, the timing and everything has come together now.

Q. Ed, over the winter there was some talk about teams around you, some of your competitors, like Foyt, Rahal Letterman Racing, expanding the team. You weren’t doing it at the time. Now with this collaboration, you are expanding. Can you elaborate a little bit more how this fits into your growth plans?

ED CARPENTER: Yeah, we haven’t expanded at the same rate as some of our peers. We have expanded somewhat. Conor Daly went from a part-time role to a full-time role. We’re adding a third car for more races than we’ve ever done before. It will be extended with this partnership to a certain degree. We’re working our way that direction.

I think we’ve been pretty disciplined in our growth, making sure anything we do that we feel we can do to the standards that we’ve set for ourselves and our partners.

I’m happy with where we are. We’re always pushing for more. We want to do it in a way that we can still go out and compete for wins and get results for ourselves and our partners.

Q. Beth, the elephant in the room is what happened to the plans for Indianapolis? Why are you not in the 500 this year?

BETH PARETTA: So, as I said, I started working on this realistically right after the 500 ended last year. I knew that my arrangement I had with Team Penske was not going to be the same, which Roger and I, we’ve talked about that from the beginning.

The people that we worked with last year have been redeployed to a different racing program. Literally the people are doing something else. I didn’t have the availability to work with them.

Because we knew that, we had to figure out what else would be the best fit for us. Again, it comes down to if Ed is going to be running three cars at the 500, it wasn’t as appealing for us to be a fourth car for Ed’s system because, again, it’s about that pragmatic growth.

If we’re sitting across the table crafting this together, there’s two things at play here: it’s a smart competition decision and business decision. Both of those things are weighed equally, especially if you’re in Ed’s or my chair.

The decision was they’re going to do the three cars for the 500, but this allows us to have room to do these races later in the year. I’ve known that answer for months.

Listen, I have had people approach me in the past two months asking me to reconsider the 500. I will say that I said, I will think about this, let’s talk about this. But I was unwilling to not do the road and street courses that we were planning to do. This for me was not an either/or, it had to be an and. It just wasn’t a good fit.

To me, what we’re doing is growth for my team. It’s getting women and Simona to new places. If our intention is to be a full-time team, this is a better investment in us.

Q. Mark, what is the status of the field in terms of 33?

MARK MILES: Let me just say a lot has been written about having secured 32 cars. I think we can pretty much guarantee there will be 33 cars in the field. I wouldn’t rule out maybe even one more beyond that.

I think it’s going to be a full field and I think it’s going to be a hugely exciting race.

Q. Beth, Simona so far is the only Swiss driver in the American racing, especially in INDYCAR. Was there not the possibility of looking to the Swiss market to secure sponsorship from Switzerland?

BETH PARETTA: Absolutely. I mean, I do work with a partner agency. We do look at things that are strategic fits because, of course, anything that is authentic is just an easier fit commercially. So, yes, I mean, there’s many Swiss companies that we could reach out to.

Also Simona has some personal sponsors that are personal based that you’ll see are part of the endeavor. You always look for things that are an important fit.

Q. Ed, I think Simona is still connected in Germany to run the ADAC GT Cup. When will you start to work with her personally technically? Maybe testing is very limited. Will you prepare her car identical to your other two cars or three cars in your team?

ED CARPENTER: Yeah, that goes without saying. But we’re already working on plans. You’re right, testing is somewhat limited and challenging at that point in the schedule.

You’ll see Simona with us at Detroit just getting integrated into the team the weekend prior to showing up at Road America. We’re going to do everything we can. I’m sure there will be at least one test day that gets added into the mix that we iron all the details out.

Yeah, we’re already starting that process now.

Q. Beth, this is a logistic question. Last year when you were involved with Team Penske, did you own a lot of that equipment or were you leasing it?

BETH PARETTA: No, it was all rented, some of it borrowed.

The car we ran last year, put this to rest, the car we ran last year was from Juncos. When we intended to do the 500 and a few more races, Juncos’ plans changed where they wanted to run the car later in the year. So as soon as the race was over, literally I think about a week after, I think I still had it. It was on display at the Detroit Grand Prix from the race. Then it went right back. When you saw that car later in the year that Juncos was running, that was what was the 16 car.

No, everything else was either leased from Juncos or borrowed from Team Penske.

Q. How much time did you spend preparation-wise in North Carolina leading into the 500? How much easier will it be now that Ed is right down the street?

BETH PARETTA: He’s right down the street for the 500, but not right down the street for the others.

It will be the same. One thing that Team Penske is doing very graciously because it’s part of the Race for Equality and Change, the women we hired, many of them live near Team Penske in Mooresville. They are going to go through some pit training there because it’s easier, they can do a couple weeks of it to get their legs back under them.

Also, creatively, they need to learn what it’s like for a car come in from left to right because you’re changing your economies of motion doing a pit stop. They’re actually going to train and go through Team Penske’s pit training school.

As a reminder, last year the women we hired for our pit crew, you can pull this up on Peacock to watch, last year’s 500, those women we hired February 1st. They had never pitted an INDYCAR before. From February 1st to the end of May they learned from scratch. If you look to see the pit stops they pitted a car cleanly in the Indy 500. They did that all by being trained by Shaun Rinaman and the team at Team Penske.

Q. Katie, how does this fit in with what you guys do as an organization? What kind of activation do you plan on doing along with it?

KATIE SOO: So KiwiCo, at the core of our mission, is preparing kids through learning and development, and we want to make science and engineering accessible to all.

If you think about our crate lines, we actually service every single age group from baby, toddler, all the way to 18 up. We on our website say it’s all the way up to 104.

The idea is it’s a lifelong journey of learning, it’s a lifelong journey of tinkering. Beth said it best, when we connected, so much of our ethos matched. The idea we could give creative confidence to kids so they could realize all the different careers that they could have in racing, they could have in sports, probably wasn’t available to them before.

I mean, just the story about the pit crew, that is something we want to be a part of, we want to be able to enable more people to discover these career paths.

KiwiCo’s mission is always making that accessible. This was naturally just the right kind of partnership for us to do.

BETH PARETTA: All INDYCAR fans, INDYCAR paddock, you can use the promo code INDYCAR2022 on KiwiCo.com and get yourself your own learning crates.

Q. Simona, you’re still running in Europe. Do you have any conflict going farther into the season where it will interfere with what you’re currently doing?

SIMONA de SILVESTRO: No. According to all the schedules I have, yeah (indiscernible) the 500 all the way to Road America, I don’t have anything. I’ll be spending time with the team, yeah, kind of spending time with the engineers as well to prepare as much as I can, to be as ready as I can, to go to Road America.

THE MODERATOR: When do you head this way, Simona?

SIMONA de SILVESTRO: For the 500.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll leave it there. Thank you.