MADISON, Illinois – Alexander Rossi returns to IndyCar competition this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway.
He hopes this will be a memorable end to his time at Arrow McLaren.
Rossi has been sidelined since breaking his thumb in a practice crash on the streets of Toronto last month, but he has now been given the green light to return to the car for Saturday night’s oval race at the track near St. Louis.
North America’s premier open-wheel track has not seen any racing since July 21 in Toronto as NBC Sports focused on the Paris Olympics. But this is the start of a sprint to the end of the season, with four events remaining after that: August 25 at Portland International Raceway in Oregon, back-to-back races on August 31 and September 1 at the Milwaukee Mile and September 15 at Nashville Superspeedway.
“It’s been a long summer break but it obviously came at the right time for me after my injury in Toronto,” said Rossi, who started Friday’s race in 15th place but is moving up the grid due to penalties affecting other teams. “I’m excited to be back in the car in St. Louis and I’m looking forward to starting this final stage on a positive note.”
By a strange coincidence, Rossi was busy testing for Arrow McLaren at World Wide Technology Raceway last month when news leaked that the former Indy 500 winner would be replaced by Christian Lundgaard next season. Rossi moved to Arrow McLaren last season but struggled greatly, finishing on the podium just twice while driving for the team.
“We are delighted that Alexander has been given the green light to return to racing this weekend,” said Gavin Ward, Team Principal of Arrow McLaren. “Let’s hope that this streak of good fortune is the gateway to further success.”
Scott McLaughlin qualified on the pole position at this track for the second consecutive year and posted a two-lap average of 179.972 mph on Friday, while Team Penske put its three cars in the top six on the grid. Josef Newgarden was fourth and Will Power fifth.
“The guys gave me a great car right off the truck today,” McLaughlin said.
Felix Rosenqvist was second before a grid penalty dropped him out of the top 10, leaving his Meyer Shank Racing teammate David Malukas in second. The penalty also means Newgarden and Power will start side by side on the second row.
“We’ve been fast on the ovals this year, which is great,” said Mike Shank, co-owner of Meyer Shank Racing. “I’m super proud of our result today.”
Rosenqvist, Alex Palou, Scott Dixon and Katherine Legge were demoted nine places on the grid on Friday because they had exceeded the number of engines allowed this season. Teams are allowed to use four engines per participant. The four Honda teams swapped their engines after Toronto in order to have fresh engines available for the last five races.
AP Photo by Charlie Neibergall/Scott McLaughlin, front center, leads at the start of an IndyCar race July 14 at Iowa Speedway in Newton.With three wins and three other podium finishes this season, Palou has a comfortable lead in the points race. This puts him in a position to win his second consecutive IndyCar title and the third in four years for Chip Ganassi Racing. But the standings behind him are much closer: 12 points separate second-placed Power from fourth-placed Colton Herta.
After reversing into the wall during qualifying, Herta’s team had to repair his car.
“It just broke free. Too bad,” he said. “It just let go.”
Herta just won in Toronto, but the best driver in the series is probably Dixon, who is third in the points standings. The six-time IndyCar Series champion has finished in the top five in three consecutive races and led in Toronto before finishing third.
Meanwhile, IndyCar veteran Conor Daly will drive the No. 78 car for Juncos Hollinger Racing for the remainder of the season, taking over for Augustin Canapino, who parted ways with the team last week following a series of social media outcry.
It’s the third team Daly has driven for this season. He finished 10th at the Indianapolis 500 for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and last month at Iowa he replaced the injured Jack Harvey at Dale Coyne Racing. But there’s also a familiarity, as Daly drove in the Star Mazda Championship Series for team owner Ricardo Juncos in 2010.
“I think we have a great chance to compete,” Daly said. “I think this team is viewed as an underdog, but I think there’s a lot of great things happening in this racing stable and with this group. It’s a very exciting opportunity.”
Malukas, who will move to AJ Foyt Racing next year, led opening practice for Meyer Shank Racing on Friday before posting the third-fastest qualifying average.
Linus Lundqvist stopped on the back straight when his Ganassi car had a hybrid problem in early practice.
“I was happy that we were able to complete the second half of training,” said Lundqvist.
