| RACE NEWS & VIEWS |
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| September 2023 News |
| Article Index |
09/02 - USF2000 Champs Crowned at Portland
09/10 - Rasmussen Won IndyNXT Championship
09/17 - Battle on the Bricks Race
09/22 - IndyCar 2023 Victory Awards
09/30 - BC39 Midget Races at Indy Speedway
09/10 - Rasmussen Won IndyNXT Championship
09/17 - Battle on the Bricks Race
09/22 - IndyCar 2023 Victory Awards
09/30 - BC39 Midget Races at Indy Speedway
USF2000 Champions Crowned at
Portland
Sept 2 - Rookie Myles Rowe, from Brooklyn,
N.Y., clinched the USF Pro 2000 championship
with a third-place finish at Portland Int'l Raceway.
He had four wins this year.
As series champion, Rowe will receive a scholar-
ship valued at $664,500 to ensure graduation to
INDY NXT in 2024.
Last year in USF 2000, Rowe finished 2nd in the
championship in his rookie year. He had three
wins and seven straight podiums.
Simon Sikes, from Augusta, Ga., cruised home
in third at Portland to secure the USF2000
championship.
As series champion, Sikes will receive a Scholar-
ship valued at $433,200 to guarantee graduation
next year into USF Pro 2000.
Sikes finished 14th in the USF 2000 championship
the past two years.
Both champions drive for Pabst Racing which is
based out of Wisconsin. The team has won the
USF2000 team championship four times and
earned more than 60 wins, 150+ podiums and 50+
pole awards in the USF Pro Championships ladder
system.
Portland
Sept 2 - Rookie Myles Rowe, from Brooklyn,
N.Y., clinched the USF Pro 2000 championship
with a third-place finish at Portland Int'l Raceway.
He had four wins this year.
As series champion, Rowe will receive a scholar-
ship valued at $664,500 to ensure graduation to
INDY NXT in 2024.
Last year in USF 2000, Rowe finished 2nd in the
championship in his rookie year. He had three
wins and seven straight podiums.
Simon Sikes, from Augusta, Ga., cruised home
in third at Portland to secure the USF2000
championship.
As series champion, Sikes will receive a Scholar-
ship valued at $433,200 to guarantee graduation
next year into USF Pro 2000.
Sikes finished 14th in the USF 2000 championship
the past two years.
Both champions drive for Pabst Racing which is
based out of Wisconsin. The team has won the
USF2000 team championship four times and
earned more than 60 wins, 150+ podiums and 50+
pole awards in the USF Pro Championships ladder
system.
| Myles Rowe |
| Simon Sikes |
09/03 - Max Verstappen has won 12 of the 14 Formula 1 races so far this year.
(His Red Bull teammate won the other two.) By winning at Monza today, Verstappen
has won 10 races in a row, which is a new Formula 1 record.
(His Red Bull teammate won the other two.) By winning at Monza today, Verstappen
has won 10 races in a row, which is a new Formula 1 record.
09/03 - Alex Palou Won the Firestone GP of Portland. Race Results
With one race yet to run, Alex Palou clinched the IndyCar Championship.
With one race yet to run, Alex Palou clinched the IndyCar Championship.
09/05 - The Andretti Autosport team is changing their name to Andretti Global.
The team currently competes in 8 series and won the Formula E championship
this year.
The team currently competes in 8 series and won the Formula E championship
this year.
09/16 - Pato O'Ward will again drive for McLaren F1 during the first practice session
at Abu Dhabi this November. He will also drive in a test at the track a few days later.
McLaren F1 also said they were checking with the FIA to see if O'Ward has the 40
super license points required to race and become a reserve driver.
at Abu Dhabi this November. He will also drive in a test at the track a few days later.
McLaren F1 also said they were checking with the FIA to see if O'Ward has the 40
super license points required to race and become a reserve driver.
| Christian Rasmussen |
2023 Indy NXT Champion
Sept 10 - Christian Rasmussen only needed 1 point
today in the last race of the season at Laguna Seca
to clinch the 2023 Indy NXT Championship.
He won the race. His 5th win of the year.
Rasmussen drives for HDM Motorsports.
Sept 10 - Christian Rasmussen only needed 1 point
today in the last race of the season at Laguna Seca
to clinch the 2023 Indy NXT Championship.
He won the race. His 5th win of the year.
Rasmussen drives for HDM Motorsports.
IndyCar 2023 Victory Awards
Sep 22 - Alex Palou was honored for his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship
during the Victory Lap Celebration last night at IMS.
Palou won his 2nd title for Chip Ganassi Racing. He won a series-high five races in the No.
10 The American Legion Honda, with a total of 10 podium finishes in 17 races. Palou
finished eighth or better in all 17 races this season and became the first INDYCAR SERIES
driver to clinch the championship at least one race early since Sebastien Bourdais in 2007.
Spanish driver Palou won the Astor Challenge Cup for the title by 78 points over teammate
and six-time series champion Scott Dixon, earning the 15th INDYCAR SERIES
championship for Chip Ganassi Racing and the organization’s third in the last four seasons.
Marcus Armstrong of New Zealand received the Rookie of the Year Award, scoring five
top-10 finishes in just 12 starts in the No. 11 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda to surpass full-time
rookie Agustin Canapino of Juncos Hollinger Racing by 34 points in the standings.
Team owner Chip Ganassi accepted the Championship Owner Award, and Palou’s chief
mechanic, Ricky Davis, was presented the Pennzoil Chief Mechanic Award. Additional
season honors for the Ganassi team included the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Team Manager
award to Barry Wanser and Blair Julian.
While Palou’s winning margin in the driver standings was the largest since 2016, the
Manufacturers Award race came down to the final laps at the season finale Sept. 10 at
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Chevrolet edged Honda by just 16 points to win its
second consecutive engine manufacturer title and eighth overall since it returned to the
series in 2012.
Sep 22 - Alex Palou was honored for his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship
during the Victory Lap Celebration last night at IMS.
Palou won his 2nd title for Chip Ganassi Racing. He won a series-high five races in the No.
10 The American Legion Honda, with a total of 10 podium finishes in 17 races. Palou
finished eighth or better in all 17 races this season and became the first INDYCAR SERIES
driver to clinch the championship at least one race early since Sebastien Bourdais in 2007.
Spanish driver Palou won the Astor Challenge Cup for the title by 78 points over teammate
and six-time series champion Scott Dixon, earning the 15th INDYCAR SERIES
championship for Chip Ganassi Racing and the organization’s third in the last four seasons.
Marcus Armstrong of New Zealand received the Rookie of the Year Award, scoring five
top-10 finishes in just 12 starts in the No. 11 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda to surpass full-time
rookie Agustin Canapino of Juncos Hollinger Racing by 34 points in the standings.
Team owner Chip Ganassi accepted the Championship Owner Award, and Palou’s chief
mechanic, Ricky Davis, was presented the Pennzoil Chief Mechanic Award. Additional
season honors for the Ganassi team included the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Team Manager
award to Barry Wanser and Blair Julian.
While Palou’s winning margin in the driver standings was the largest since 2016, the
Manufacturers Award race came down to the final laps at the season finale Sept. 10 at
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Chevrolet edged Honda by just 16 points to win its
second consecutive engine manufacturer title and eighth overall since it returned to the
series in 2012.
| 2023 IndyCar Champion Alex Palou & Chip Ganassi |
Battle On The Bricks Race
Sep 17 - IMSA returned to the Brickyard for the first time since 2014 to compete in a new
annual race called "Battle on the Bricks." The 2hr40min race was for IMSA's WeatherTech
Sportscar series. IMSA's Michelin Pilot series also held a 4-hour race the night before on
the IMS road course, which finished in the dark. Two other series also competed over the
weekend: The Lamborghini Super Trofeo series and the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup series.
Both series ran two races each, one yesterday and one today.
Battle on the Bricks Race Review:
Ganassi’s Sebastien Bourdais, who started fourth (#01 Cadillac), jumped to the
outside and immediately made it a three-wide fight for the lead entering Turn 1 with the two
Penske GTP cars. Matt Campbell (#7 Porsche) on the inside of both cars, locked up and
missed the apex, which allowed teammate Mathieu Jaminet (#6 Porsche) entry to grab the
lead. Consequently, it squeezed Bourdais, who was hit and spun around by MSR’s Tom
Blomqvist (#60 Acura), who was then hit by RLL’s Phillip Eng (#24 BMW). This brought
out the first caution. Bourdais pit for a new nose and finished in 6th. Eng’s damage required
several pit stops and and he finished 10 laps down.
The second caution came out when an LMP2 car collided with a GTD car coming out of the
last corner.
A run of driver changes followed, with Nick Tandy replacing Jaminet and Felipe Nasr
swapping with Campbell. At this time, Blomqvist remained in, but was serviced with a nose
change from the earlier contact.
During the GTD split sequence under the caution, the Penske cars failed to yield
appropriately, according to race control, allowing Whelen's Pipo Derani (#31 Cadillac) to
bizarrely sprint to first place, despite running under yellow, ahead of Penske Porsches.
Nasr jumped ahead of Tandy on the restart going into Turn 1 with 1h35m to go, while
Derani sped off in the lead.
It took 25 minutes for Nasr to close on Derani, who overshot the Turn 1 corner after
struggling with lapped traffic. As a result, Nasr grabbed the lead and brought Tandy through
as well. Derani fell to third and immediately began to lose time to the Porsches.
With one hour remaining, teammates Nasr and Tandy made slight contact while weaving
through traffic, which let Tandy close.
The moment of the race came with 46 minutes left: Nasr pitted as Tandy inherited the lead
and stayed out an additional lap. On his out-lap, Nasr locked up going into Turn 7 and lost
time on the grass, while Tandy kept it clean and came away 7-seconds ahead.
From there, Tandy maintained the lead and gapped his team-mate to win by 17.4 seconds.
The LMP2 battle was won by TDS Racing's Mikkel Jensen (#11), co-driven by Steven
Thomas. The winning move came with 25 minutes left in the race, with Jensen driving by
the Tower Motorsports machine of Louis Deletraz (#31), who had led the majority of the
way in the category.
Anthony Mantella and Wayne Boyd guided the #17 Tower Motorsports to victory in the
LMP3 class. They finished 12 seconds ahead of the #74 Riley team.
GTD Pro was won by the #79 Mercedes AMG GT3 co-driven by the WeatherTech Racing
duo of Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon. They finished 3.5 seconds ahead of the
#23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Heart of Racing Team.
Winward Racing's Philip Ellis pulled off the GTD class-winning move with four minutes to
go in Turns 8-9. Ellis (#57 Mercedes AMG GT3) passed Forte Racing's Loris Spinelli
(#78 Lamborghini Huracan) for the lead, finishing 1.3 seconds ahead at the finish.
Sep 17 - IMSA returned to the Brickyard for the first time since 2014 to compete in a new
annual race called "Battle on the Bricks." The 2hr40min race was for IMSA's WeatherTech
Sportscar series. IMSA's Michelin Pilot series also held a 4-hour race the night before on
the IMS road course, which finished in the dark. Two other series also competed over the
weekend: The Lamborghini Super Trofeo series and the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup series.
Both series ran two races each, one yesterday and one today.
Battle on the Bricks Race Review:
Ganassi’s Sebastien Bourdais, who started fourth (#01 Cadillac), jumped to the
outside and immediately made it a three-wide fight for the lead entering Turn 1 with the two
Penske GTP cars. Matt Campbell (#7 Porsche) on the inside of both cars, locked up and
missed the apex, which allowed teammate Mathieu Jaminet (#6 Porsche) entry to grab the
lead. Consequently, it squeezed Bourdais, who was hit and spun around by MSR’s Tom
Blomqvist (#60 Acura), who was then hit by RLL’s Phillip Eng (#24 BMW). This brought
out the first caution. Bourdais pit for a new nose and finished in 6th. Eng’s damage required
several pit stops and and he finished 10 laps down.
The second caution came out when an LMP2 car collided with a GTD car coming out of the
last corner.
A run of driver changes followed, with Nick Tandy replacing Jaminet and Felipe Nasr
swapping with Campbell. At this time, Blomqvist remained in, but was serviced with a nose
change from the earlier contact.
During the GTD split sequence under the caution, the Penske cars failed to yield
appropriately, according to race control, allowing Whelen's Pipo Derani (#31 Cadillac) to
bizarrely sprint to first place, despite running under yellow, ahead of Penske Porsches.
Nasr jumped ahead of Tandy on the restart going into Turn 1 with 1h35m to go, while
Derani sped off in the lead.
It took 25 minutes for Nasr to close on Derani, who overshot the Turn 1 corner after
struggling with lapped traffic. As a result, Nasr grabbed the lead and brought Tandy through
as well. Derani fell to third and immediately began to lose time to the Porsches.
With one hour remaining, teammates Nasr and Tandy made slight contact while weaving
through traffic, which let Tandy close.
The moment of the race came with 46 minutes left: Nasr pitted as Tandy inherited the lead
and stayed out an additional lap. On his out-lap, Nasr locked up going into Turn 7 and lost
time on the grass, while Tandy kept it clean and came away 7-seconds ahead.
From there, Tandy maintained the lead and gapped his team-mate to win by 17.4 seconds.
The LMP2 battle was won by TDS Racing's Mikkel Jensen (#11), co-driven by Steven
Thomas. The winning move came with 25 minutes left in the race, with Jensen driving by
the Tower Motorsports machine of Louis Deletraz (#31), who had led the majority of the
way in the category.
Anthony Mantella and Wayne Boyd guided the #17 Tower Motorsports to victory in the
LMP3 class. They finished 12 seconds ahead of the #74 Riley team.
GTD Pro was won by the #79 Mercedes AMG GT3 co-driven by the WeatherTech Racing
duo of Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon. They finished 3.5 seconds ahead of the
#23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Heart of Racing Team.
Winward Racing's Philip Ellis pulled off the GTD class-winning move with four minutes to
go in Turns 8-9. Ellis (#57 Mercedes AMG GT3) passed Forte Racing's Loris Spinelli
(#78 Lamborghini Huracan) for the lead, finishing 1.3 seconds ahead at the finish.
09/28 - The Brickyard 400 race returns in 2024, after a 2-year hiatus when Nascar
raced on Indy's road course instead of the oval track.
raced on Indy's road course instead of the oval track.
BC39 Midget Races at Indy Speedway
Sept 27 - Due to rain, the Stoops Pursuit race was
postponed.
Sept 28 - Thomas Meseraull (aka T-Mez) and
RMS Racing had their season breakthrough finally
on Thursday during the opening night of the BC39.
They have been developing a new engine for a
year.
The San Jose, Calif. native started from the
outside of the front row and raced into the lead on
the opening lap of the feature, leading the entire
30-lap distance while enduring intermittent spurts
of heavy lapped traffic and a late surge from
Taylor Reimer to earn his first feature victory of
the 2023 campaign. This was his 10th career
USAC National Midget victory.
Meseraull was followed to the stripe by Taylor
Reimer in second and Chase McDermand in
third, all three of whom are locked into Saturday
night’s BC39 final night feature by virtue of their
finishing positions in this race.
Sept 27 - Due to rain, the Stoops Pursuit race was
postponed.
Sept 28 - Thomas Meseraull (aka T-Mez) and
RMS Racing had their season breakthrough finally
on Thursday during the opening night of the BC39.
They have been developing a new engine for a
year.
The San Jose, Calif. native started from the
outside of the front row and raced into the lead on
the opening lap of the feature, leading the entire
30-lap distance while enduring intermittent spurts
of heavy lapped traffic and a late surge from
Taylor Reimer to earn his first feature victory of
the 2023 campaign. This was his 10th career
USAC National Midget victory.
Meseraull was followed to the stripe by Taylor
Reimer in second and Chase McDermand in
third, all three of whom are locked into Saturday
night’s BC39 final night feature by virtue of their
finishing positions in this race.
Sept 29 - RMS Racing won the feature race
again, but this time with Californian Justin Grant.
Grant started fifth in the field as outside front row
starter Emerson Axsom raced to the lead on the
opening lap.
Just after the halfway point of the 30-lap race,
Grant turned up the wick, moving to second past
McIntosh, who started on pole. With no room to
spare, McIntosh wound up bouncing off the turn
four wall as Grant scooted by into second.
Now, Grant’s mission was to track down Axsom
for the race lead, and it took him just four more
laps to erase a half second deficit before clamping
down on the top spot.
On lap 20, Grant made the move successful,
sliding across the nose of Axsom in turns one and
two to overtake the position.
The 15th career series victory for Grant was his
first since last November.
Following the feature event, the special annual
Stoops Pursuit race was held. Zach Daum from
Ilinois prevailed in the 25-lap event.
Daum and Ethan Mitchell slugged it out for much
of the affair, exchanging the lead three times
during the final 16 laps before the 10th starting
Daum made the winning move under Mitchell with
four laps remaining.
Mitchell led the most laps (19) before slotting into
second with Cannon McIntosh third and Emerson
Axsom fourth.
again, but this time with Californian Justin Grant.
Grant started fifth in the field as outside front row
starter Emerson Axsom raced to the lead on the
opening lap.
Just after the halfway point of the 30-lap race,
Grant turned up the wick, moving to second past
McIntosh, who started on pole. With no room to
spare, McIntosh wound up bouncing off the turn
four wall as Grant scooted by into second.
Now, Grant’s mission was to track down Axsom
for the race lead, and it took him just four more
laps to erase a half second deficit before clamping
down on the top spot.
On lap 20, Grant made the move successful,
sliding across the nose of Axsom in turns one and
two to overtake the position.
The 15th career series victory for Grant was his
first since last November.
Following the feature event, the special annual
Stoops Pursuit race was held. Zach Daum from
Ilinois prevailed in the 25-lap event.
Daum and Ethan Mitchell slugged it out for much
of the affair, exchanging the lead three times
during the final 16 laps before the 10th starting
Daum made the winning move under Mitchell with
four laps remaining.
Mitchell led the most laps (19) before slotting into
second with Cannon McIntosh third and Emerson
Axsom fourth.
Sept 30 - The BC39 victory purse of $20,000 is
the richest paying midget race.
Saturday night’s finale capped a phenomenal
comeback story for RMS Racing, who were
winless in 2023 until this week.
The Western Springs, Ill. based team’s two-car
effort swept all three nights of the BC39, including
Thursday and Friday’s prelims with Thomas
Meseraull and Justin Grant, before those same
two drivers duked it out in a masterful display of
high stakes racing who were chasing a crown
jewel on the big stage.
The 39-lap affair saw both Grant and Meseraull
exchange the lead three times during the latter half
of the race, before Grant took the lead with just
eight laps to go. The win was Grant's first BC39
final night victory and the 16th of his USAC
National Midget career.
Grant began his quest from the fourth spot,
directly behind front row starters Emerson
Axsom and Meseraull. Axsom, celebrating his
19th birthday on this night, blew out the candles
early by leading the opening two laps. However,
Meseraull made his intentions abundantly clear to
get to the front ASAP as he worked the high side
past Axsom to control the pace by lap three.
The biggest incident of the evening occurred on
lap five when Daniel Whitley soared high into the
turn one catchfence, which required extensive
repairs before racing could continue.
The ever-changing track conditions pushed the line
closer and closer to fence, forcing Grant,
Meseraull and Axsom to put on a show.
“After about the first 10 laps, (the curb) got to
where you couldn’t run under it anymore, then you
were up in that curb and pounding the wall coming
off,” Grant explained. “You had to pound the wall
one last time to finish it and get a good shot down
the straightaway. It was really hard when you got
to lapped traffic and you couldn’t get in at the rate
you needed to get in, so your car was unloaded
behind those guys.”
With eight laps to go, Meseraull shot straight up
into the outside wall in turns three and four while
leading and fell back to fifth. That allowed his
team-mate to take the lead.
“I was hustling as hard as I could there and I know
T-Mez was hustling hard too,” Grant started. “It
was really, really tricky down there and it felt like
we got to pushing each other harder and harder
and harder and that’s how you force a mistake out
of somebody.”
Grant lead the final eight laps to score the win by
2 seconds over Emerson Axsom, Logan Seavey,
Tanner Thorson and Meseraull.
the richest paying midget race.
Saturday night’s finale capped a phenomenal
comeback story for RMS Racing, who were
winless in 2023 until this week.
The Western Springs, Ill. based team’s two-car
effort swept all three nights of the BC39, including
Thursday and Friday’s prelims with Thomas
Meseraull and Justin Grant, before those same
two drivers duked it out in a masterful display of
high stakes racing who were chasing a crown
jewel on the big stage.
The 39-lap affair saw both Grant and Meseraull
exchange the lead three times during the latter half
of the race, before Grant took the lead with just
eight laps to go. The win was Grant's first BC39
final night victory and the 16th of his USAC
National Midget career.
Grant began his quest from the fourth spot,
directly behind front row starters Emerson
Axsom and Meseraull. Axsom, celebrating his
19th birthday on this night, blew out the candles
early by leading the opening two laps. However,
Meseraull made his intentions abundantly clear to
get to the front ASAP as he worked the high side
past Axsom to control the pace by lap three.
The biggest incident of the evening occurred on
lap five when Daniel Whitley soared high into the
turn one catchfence, which required extensive
repairs before racing could continue.
The ever-changing track conditions pushed the line
closer and closer to fence, forcing Grant,
Meseraull and Axsom to put on a show.
“After about the first 10 laps, (the curb) got to
where you couldn’t run under it anymore, then you
were up in that curb and pounding the wall coming
off,” Grant explained. “You had to pound the wall
one last time to finish it and get a good shot down
the straightaway. It was really hard when you got
to lapped traffic and you couldn’t get in at the rate
you needed to get in, so your car was unloaded
behind those guys.”
With eight laps to go, Meseraull shot straight up
into the outside wall in turns three and four while
leading and fell back to fifth. That allowed his
team-mate to take the lead.
“I was hustling as hard as I could there and I know
T-Mez was hustling hard too,” Grant started. “It
was really, really tricky down there and it felt like
we got to pushing each other harder and harder
and harder and that’s how you force a mistake out
of somebody.”
Grant lead the final eight laps to score the win by
2 seconds over Emerson Axsom, Logan Seavey,
Tanner Thorson and Meseraull.
| Friday Feature Winner Justin Grant |
| Saturday Feature Winner - Justin Grant |
| Stoops Pursuit Winner - Zach Daum |
| Thursday Feature Winner - Tom Meseraull |
| Tim Clauson Attended with Wife and Daughter |
| Indy Speedway owner Roger Penske and IMS President Doug Boles |
| Mario Andretti's nephew Adam Andretti |
Continental Tire has signed a contract with the USF to
provide tires for all three of their series beginning in 2024.
provide tires for all three of their series beginning in 2024.