Ed Jones Comes Back Home To Dale Coyne Racing With Vasser Sullivan & SealMaster

Ed Jones discusses the finer points of tackling the oval track at IMS during the INDY500 session activity in 2018. Ed qualified his Ganassi Racing No. 10 NTT Data Honda at P29 and ended his run on Lap 57 when he lost control in Turn 2 having him listed as finishing P30. Image Credit: EJR Facebook Page (2018)

Ed Jones Comes Back Home To Dale Coyne Racing With Vasser Sullivan & SealMaster

People love to speculate, "What would it have been like if ..." when looking over the arch of a driving career and the relationships garnered along the way.

Well, with British/UAE driver Ed Jones back on the Dale Coyne Racing paddock with Jimmy Vasser calling signals in the box, in 2021 fans may see the culmination of experiences in the side trips to Ganassi Racing with Dario Franchitti in the team coaching role, and Ed Carpenter and his long association with the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. One can not wait for what the second chapter in this Coyne/Jones union, sponsored through SealMaster, will garner to this 17 race season.

All on the team believe that Podiums are the intended goal and all believe they have the experience to deliver on this goal.

NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Dale Coyne - Dale Coyne Racing

Jimmy Vasser - Vasser Sullivan Racing

Ed Jones - Driver, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan, No. 18 SealMaster Honda

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning to everyone, first and foremost. Certainly glad you could join us for a huge announcement from Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan. We'll begin with some introductions.

Dale Coyne is set to begin, we did the math, his 38th year in INDYCAR competition. The former driver, now long time owner of Dale Coyne Racing. Jimmy Vasser is on the phone, former INDYCAR Series champ, turned team owner, winner of the 2013 Indianapolis with than Tony Kanaan as a driver. Fourth season in his partnership with Dale Coyne. Great to see Ed Jones returning to the NTT INDYCAR Series, announcing earlier this morning that Ed will be the driver of the No. 18 Team SealMaster Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan Honda during the 2021 season. Ed, of course, 2017 Rookie of the Year in the series, 2016 Indy Lights champion, a total of 47 starts in the NTT INDYCAR Series with 14 top-10 finishes.

We'll begin with Dale. Congratulations. A reunion of sorts. How good is it to have Ed back?

DALE COYNE: We're very happy to have Ed back. We were happy with him a couple years ago when he drove for us. He didn't put an asterisk by that third at Indy. He had a hole in the nose of his car. He touched somebody's gearbox, put a hole in the nose of his car. We couldn't figure out why he was so quick in the corners and slow in the straights. It turned out it was a drag penalty for that hole, otherwise he might have been two positions higher, which really would have been something.

But, no, Ed is a great friend of the team. My wife, myself, we all get along really well. So we're very happy to have him back. As I told Ed when we were talking about all this, we both have unfinished business. We're very much looking forward to a competitive year.

THE MODERATOR: That might be the theme for you in 2021 for sure.

We'll move to Ed right now. 2020, as you know, was different for all of us in so many ways. Different for you, too, without a ride. How did you pass the time last year and how excited are you to be back in the NTT INDYCAR Series?

ED JONES: First of all, it's great to be back. As you said, 2020 was different for everyone. Unfortunately the ride that I had fell through with COVID there. So it was a different year for me a year where I didn't do very much driving.

One side of that was a negative, on the other it was a good time to reflect on things, get recharged. I actually did a lot of sim racing.

I've been back not in the INDYCAR but in some other cars the last few weeks. Feel as good as ever. It's really been fantastic to join up with Dale again, with Vasser Sullivan this time. As Dale said, we have unfinished business. Had a really strong rookie year. Just really looking forward to hitting the floor running, getting back to the standard that we were at.

THE MODERATOR: Do you care to get into how all this came about?

ED JONES: I've always kept in contact with Dale. I've been fortunate where I have a good relationship with pretty much everyone in the paddock, and I'm able to talk to people quite often.

After the year out, I knew I really wanted to be back in INDYCAR. I was talking to Dale, seeing what we could figure out. Things took quite a bit of time. It all came through in the end. That's what's important.

As Dale said, we've had a great relationship. I know a lot of the guys at the team already. Having that extra partnership of Vasser Sullivan, continuing their success, is something I'm really excited to get going with.

THE MODERATOR: Jimmy, what could Ed do for your race team during 2021?

JIMMY VASSER: He's going to jump back where he left off with his consistency. You look at his numbers, 30% of his INDYCAR starts have been in the top 10. So he's a finisher, and he's consistent.

I think also he gives us a chance to fight for the Indy 500. Three starts, third and a sixth. In my opinion, should have been Rookie of the Year at the 500, but that's a whole 'nother story.

DALE COYNE: Co-rookie.

JIMMY VASSER: Right.

We're excited and energized for the 500, what he can bring. Again, just echo what I said about his consistency. I can tell you all our stakeholders and partners are really stoked to have Ed coming onboard. This is going to be good.

Dale, you might have mentioned there's some unfinished business there. The cars particularly on the ovals have proven to be very quick, so we're excited.

THE MODERATOR: Let's open it up for questions.

Q. Ed, they talked about your experience, your expertise, your engineering background. Also returning to this team there's got to be the comfort level. You've worked with these guys before. How important is that comfort level coming back to the team?

ED JONES: Yeah, for sure. Although I had two full seasons in INDYCAR, it was with different teams every year. It's always hard to keep some consistency there. So it's really nice to go back to Dale. As I said, I'm familiar with the team and all the guys there. It should help a lot getting back into things. I've already been in contact with everyone. I'm just really looking forward to that.

It's a different dynamic to what I've had in the past, as I said. Changing teams every year hasn't been ideal, something which I think should be positive going forward.

Q. According to the release today, it said that last year there were issues with traveling because of the COVID situation. Was that from the Dubai standpoint or in Europe?

ED JONES: Well, last year I was meant to race in DTM. Every series in the world, everything in the world, got delayed. The partners I had there weren't so keen after what was going on, so that was the reason why I didn't participate in that last year.

That was the time when I started thinking about INDYCAR, how we could get back into that. Yeah, it was frustrating. As I said, it was frustrating for everyone. You had to deal with it, work on yourself, see how you can make yourself better to be racing again in INDYCAR.

Q. Dale, I'll spin the comfort level question around from your end. How comforting is it to get a guy back like Ed that you've worked with before because you already have an idea what he can do, how he interacts with the team?

DALE COYNE: We're very happy about him. He has a new engineer this year, Ross Bunnell, who has been with us, worked with him before. They like each other, know each other from the past.

Ross was actually ready to move up as an engineer last year. We held him for one more year. He's really ready for the challenge. He is a diamond in the rough. He's going to be a great engineer.

What Ed is really going to enjoy is having Jimmy Vasser in his ear on the radio. Jimmy keeps you pretty pumped up there, so it will be good.

Q. What can you tell us about the status of the 19?

DALE COYNE: We hope to announce our other driver next week.

Q. Ed, after the DTM ride fell through, what did you do all year?

ED JONES: Yeah, I didn't race. I did a few different things. Actually went back to studying, did some MIT courses, which was a bit different for me (smiling).

Otherwise, the only racing I did last year was at Goodwood, racing in the Goodwood Revival, in an AC Cobra. Very different to an INDYCAR. What I also was doing was a lot of sim racing. Although it's not the same, a lot of the drivers are very competitive on there. It was good to keep sharp.

As I said, once I got back in the car finally, I felt like I was right back there. I didn't feel like I'd been away. Although it wasn't ideal, I did the most I could to keep ready and keep fit. I think it will put me in good stead for when I get back in the INDYCAR next month.

Q. Can you tell me more about the studying you did.

ED JONES: Yeah, so I did artificial intelligence, digital business management. It was different. I hadn't studied for 10 years, so it was just something I wanted to do to keep myself busy and learn something new. Probably not what other drivers did, but yeah.

Q. Did you say you did this through MIT?

ED JONES: Yeah, I did. It was online courses.

Q. What did you learn?

ED JONES: Artificial intelligence, about how businesses and companies use it to take advantage of big data. Yeah, very different to what I need for racing, but something I was always interested in, how things are evolving.

On one thing with the data, it's something you can use into motorsport, maybe not from a driver perspective, but with data on handling how you use testing the car and things like that. Through simulation, as well.

It's something which can be beneficial in the future, and something which maybe isn't really important for me now, but something I could use in times to come.

Q. Ed, you mentioned from being almost out of the car entirely, in any car entirely in 2020, to going to kind of a leadership role or presumed leadership role with Dale Coyne Racing this year. Do you feel there are any adjustments or a learning curve you'll have to make specifically with a little bit new car with the Aeroscreen that we have, just a somewhat new role, similar to what you had been doing earlier in your career, hopping from team to team previously?

ED JONES: Yeah, it is different. But I'm fortunate that I have the team around me which is going to allow me to make everything work. I don't feel fazed at all by what is going to happen. I feel confident we're going to be strong from the get-go.

Although it's different circumstances in '17 when Seb had his injury, I had to kind of take lead of the team for a while then. Obviously it's different now, but not something which I haven't done in the past. Even in junior categories, I had to take the lead role quite often.

No, I'm looking forward to it. A new challenge. As I said, I'm happy that I have the Dale Coyne guys. Jimmy Vasser there will be a great addition. The experience from him will help me fast track everything I need to do. Yeah, hope that we can get it done.

Q. Beyond the familiarity you have with this team, with Dale specifically, what excites you the most or what helped push you toward saying yes to this? Obviously a racing driver wants to be in the car as much as possible, and this was an opportunity to do that. Beyond the ability to get back to the INDYCAR Series, the familiarity you already have, what is the biggest excitement for you?

ED JONES: Yeah, so for me there was many options in different categories to race in this year. The way 2019 went for me was really disappointing, my last year in INDYCAR at the moment. It bugged me. I knew it didn't reflect what level I could compete at. There's a lot of young guys in there doing well, and I beat most of them in junior categories, things like that. I know what level I'm at. I know it didn't reflect that. I knew I needed to get back to INDYCAR, prove what I can do.

That's exactly the reason why I pursued this so hard. In a way I was very frustrated about it. For that reason I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity to get back and really give it everything.

As you said in 2017 we had a good run going, but you can't just think of it like that, that it's going to be all great again. You've got to put in the work. I'm going to make sure I get the team around me and do everything we can to make that happen.

Q. Dale, after the 2017 season you left the season finale feeling like you were going to be returning and working with Ed for at least another year, had a handshake agreement that fell apart. You said you always stayed in touch. Doesn't sound like there was necessarily any bad blood or anything you had to work out in order to make this deal possible for this year.

DALE COYNE: No, I mean, we lost Ed to Ganassi. Last year we lost Alex to Ganassi. That's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. People come to our team and want to prove themselves. Obviously everybody wants to drive for Penske or Ganassi. If they can do a nice job with us and move up, that's good for us. That's not bad for us. That's good for us.

We understood what he did, why he did it. It's business. Like I say, we did remain friends through all that. Here we are back together again.

Q. Dale, obviously the guy who Ed is replacing, Santino, one of his strengths was ovals, probably his main strength. Ed has not raced ovals other than the 500 since 2018. Are you confident that you can get Ed performing as well as you did Santino?

DALE COYNE: Yes. I think Santino was a very good racer on the ovals, maybe not as good a qualifier. I think Ed is the same way. I think Ed is a very good racer on the ovals.

We have worked very hard on our 500 cars every year. We've arguably been the fastest Honda the last four years, given a couple situations here or there. I think we've got a good car for Indy. Ed showed he can qualify well with Carpenter there and race well. I think Indy, very much looking forward to Indianapolis.

Q. Ed, are you confident about getting back into the swing of it, especially now that this is your first time with the Aeroscreen on an oval?

ED JONES: Yeah. I feel like I've always been strong on ovals, short ovals especially. To be honest, if I could race INDYCAR ovals every weekend, that would be my dream thing (smiling). It's something which I love to do.

Although the windscreen is different, it's just one of the things you've got to get used to. I changed from old aero kits to the new aero kit. It's not a problem. Just something you have to adapt to and it won't be an issue.

Q. Lack of testing available isn't a worry for you?

ED JONES: Well, I'm pretty sure everyone else gets the same amount. I should be fine. Although I didn't drive last year, I still feel sharp. People came out from longer breaks in the past and get back on it. Yeah, I have no worries about that.

The most important thing is we work well together as a team. I'm confident we can do that. As long as we have that sorted, two days, three days, it will be enough.

DALE COYNE: The other teams went out to Barber for a day and Sebring for a day. I think we've got our three days. INDYCAR moved the window a little later so we're able to do those three days now with the drivers that drive for us. We'll get our second driver done, then we'll get out testing three days February and get our testing done in a hurry.

Wheels up across the rumble strips that define the inside of Turn 5 of the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. Here in his first year in IndyCar, he is driving the Dale Coyne No. 19 Boy Scouts Of America sponsored Dallara Honda where he qualified 13th and finished the race at P6. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

Q. Ed, you came in 2017 as a 20-year-old. How have you grown since that point and how do you think that will help you this year?

ED JONES: Yeah, I think, as you said, when I came in in 2017, I was still very new to everything in America. I had two years in Indy Lights which went well. But, yeah, you learn so much through the early years in INDYCAR.

As I was saying, yeah, as a rookie in the first two years you can always put in some very good results, but it's very hard to be consistently at the front. That comes with experience.

Yeah, I had seasons where maybe the success/reward didn't go so well and it didn't work out. Now I've learned from that. I feel like that although the year out isn't ideal, I feel I've also progressed in many ways. I think that I can come back stronger and have a better shot at racing.

Q. Jimmy, this is your third or fourth season now with Dale. What is it about partnering up with him that you guys enjoy?

JIMMY VASSER: We're like minded. This will be our fourth year, by the way. Dale has been in for 38 years I guess is the number, right? We like that Dale is always going to be here.

I think we really complement each other as two organizations. It takes a village. It's so difficult to try to fight the Penskes and Ganassis and Andrettis of the world, all the way down through the paddock these days, it's so hard. We're able to pool all of our resources and pull against the rope together.

I think we've shown going into our fourth season that it has given success.

British race team Carlin's United Arab Emirates driver Ed Jones negotiates Turn 4 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Jones was currently sitting at P3 in the IndyLights season points championship where he ended the 2015 season - he did lead the most laps and won the 2015 TGPLB IndyLights race ahead of the Pole Award winner, Jack Harvey. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Q. Ed, obviously you know the team from the past. I guess you kind of know INDYCAR well enough now. What kind of expectations do you go in with this year specifically? Have you set specific goals for yourself in terms of wins, podiums, top 10s or anything like that? What would you be happy with at the end of 2021?

ED JONES: We haven't set targets exactly. But you always go out there because you want to win. The competition is very tough. I think the driver level is the toughest it's ever been. The level of the teams is extremely high. I'm really confident that we'll put things together, we can finish on the podium. Ultimately we want to win the Indy 500.

Again, INDYCAR is so tough now that to get a win, you've got to have everything right. It's all about pulling up all those different aspects. The team has had some great success in the SealMaster car.

I remember the first year they ran that livery in 2018, I had just left the team, Seb was running at St. Pete, they won the race. I thought that is the (indiscernible) car and something I want to drive in the future.

The addition of the guys with Jimmy there, the experience he brings, I really want to target to get back up to speed immediately. As I said, it's very tough. Top 10s from the beginning would be great, but then you want to progress up to the podium again, ultimately fight for wins.

I know it's a tough path, a tough ask, but I really believe that as a team, together we can challenge for that.

Q. Dale, I've got to be the unpopular guy and ask the difficult question. There's a lot of talk about Romain Grosjean being linked to your team for next season. You said you're hoping to announce your driver next week. Can you say if there's any mutual interest there or if you're speaking to Romain, if you're interested in him for this season?

DALE COYNE: You all could make a list of a hundred drivers, we've talked to probably every one of them this winter. Employed, unemployed, America, Europe, every country. It's been kind of amazing.

Obviously Romain is a good driver. We'd love to have him. We're working on a few other ones as well. Hopefully we get all that buttoned up and make an announcement next week and then get out to testing in February.

Q. Ed, it's been sort of talked about briefly within this chat, but your relationship with Jimmy Vasser, how far back does that go? How did it kind of come about? How do you two work together so well?

ED JONES: Yeah, so I haven't worked with Jimmy in the past. Ever since my rookie year, Jimmy was always there. We would have a chat here and there.

It's great when you have a lot of respect for the past champions and guys that have done amazing in INDYCAR before. So I've always respected him, always tried to learn little things here and there, what I can.

I'm really excited to take it to the next level, really draw from that experience. He will be a great addition to have on the stand for me.

Q. Jimmy, Ed had kind of mentioned getting up to speed. What are you going to have to do to help Ed get back up to the speed, especially on ovals?

JIMMY VASSER: I don't expect any real delay. Watching Ed while we were around a bit in '17, then competing against him the following two years, just being a driver and knowing he hasn't been out of the car not that long for a young man like that. I fully expect him to jump in and find his pace pretty much immediately. There's no concerns on my end it's going to take him any time to get back up to speed.

As far as the ovals go, we're going to have a doubleheader at Texas. Some of these tracks, Indianapolis, we're going to be there for so long. Looking at St. Louis. It's really not an oval-centric series like it used to be.

I don't have any concerns either on the ovals or the road, street circuits, there's not going to be any more learning curves.

@29:11

Q. Ed, you're coming into a whole new series, new ownership, new ownership of the IMS track, new car. You've been through an interesting road. What do you think you've learned over the past couple years at INDYCAR, the types of people that you've met, that you can bring forward to 2021?

ED JONES: Yeah, as you said, it's been an interesting ride so far. Probably not the most ideal. Because of that I've learned a huge amount. I've had some great experiences with teams and some not-so-great.

What I learned the most is it's all about who you have around you in the team. That is the most critical part. The most important part I've learned so far is having people around you which you can really trust, people that are there trying to back you. If you don't have that in a team, it's going to be really hard for you to succeed.

Yeah, I feel really comfortable with the guys that we have on the 18 car, which gives you confidence. The experience I learned. Also it's key to find the right people. The engineers we have, Ross, a great addition to the team, somebody I'm really confident in. All those people around you, it's going to make this work. That's probably the biggest thing I've taken from the few years I've had.

Again, you learn so many things in the racing. Everyone keeps on bringing up the oval aspect, getting up to speed. For me, it's not about that this year. I'm not here to try and take time to get up to speed, I've not come back for that reason, or have any excuse like that. I want to be there and be straight on it from the get-go and back like I've never left. That's really important for me. That's my target. I'm looking forward to getting after it.

Q. Jimmy Vasser, he's good at ovals, so on. Is there anything specific you see in Ed that you can bring forward talking to him from the box?

JIMMY VASSER: We're going to find out, right? As I mentioned earlier, Ed has shown consistency. He's a finisher. That's the most important thing. From there, hopefully working with Ross and Michael Cox as a junior engineer that was on the team last year, who is a very bright kid, with Isaac Townsend being promoted in the team up to crew chief working real close with Todd, we got to put together a nice, tight little group, keep it in the box, give Ed a good car that he has shown what he can do good.

He's a pretty methodical driver. If we can be there and then put ourselves in a position to take opportunities, try to make the right calls strategically, then I think we can, like Ed said, just find ourself in the top 10, then let's kind of put ourselves to get in a position to get on the podium, then who knows. From there, things can happen and you can win a race.

So I hate to be cliché about it, but you got to take it one race at a time, one session at a time, really just hone in on keeping it as simple as you can really, not make mistakes.

I'm going to say it again, Ed said it, I don't anticipate any getting used to the new car, the Aeroscreen. We've seen with the other drivers just jumping in. Ed is going to be right on the pace, at least match the pace of the car, what it's capable of, in my mind the first days.

Q. Dale Coyne, it seems like you almost have a potential tiger by the tail with Jones and Vasser together. How do you see it? Where do you involve yourself?

DALE COYNE: Jimmy and Sulli, Sulli is in the air right now or he'd been on here, he's flying from Texas to Daytona. We talked about drivers. Santino has gone off in the NASCAR or Xfinity. Ed was a natural choice for both of us. We looked at who was out there, who was available. My relationship with Ed, we knew his background, what he could do.

I think Ed is going to have a really nice environment there, with the people around him, chief mechanic, Jimmy in his ear. I think it's all going to gel very nicely.

This is all about making that team work. It's not just the driver. The driver is the most important cog for sure. But giving him a good car, having a good team around him, trying to get podiums. Wins are hard to get, but we can get them. That's the goal.

Q. Jimmy, the Rolex is this weekend. How do you feel going into the Rolex? You and Sulli have sort of branched out, doing your own thing this year. What are Lexus' expectations for you? If you can talk about Zach Veach, the enjoyment he's had so far.

JIMMY VASSER: Expectations are we're here to win the 24. Sorry to say, that, Ed. We're competing against Ed in the GTD class. We're going to kick your butt, Ed.

We have branched out, but the team very much looks and feels the same as it had last year with our past partners. But we've stepped it up in our minds with some personnel, engineering, and the driver lineup.

Having said that, it leads me to Zach Veach. He's done three test days in the car. He's really embraced working on the simulator and kind of trying to adapt to the ABS system in the car. I haven't driven it, but it seems to be something that is tough to get used to for drivers.

On the radio, on the in-lap from the qualifier race, he came on the radio and said that was the most fun he's ever had. He's really looking forward to the series. He seems really enlightened and extremely happy. That kind of energy, you know, it trickles down through the whole team. It's infectious. Hopefully that will help keep things light around here and we can deliver not only for the team but Lexus and all the stakeholders in the team.

Q. Jimmy, do you think both your entries are championship contenders?

JIMMY VASSER: Yeah, I do. I do. Although the 14 is very, very strong. We're going to see how Zach, leading the full season as the professional in the 12 car. With Frankie I think he's shown that he's able to win races and get podiums.

We expect between the two cars they should vie for the championship and more importantly we're well positioned with the two cars to get the manufacturers championship for Lexus.

Q. Just wanted to ask about SealMaster. Everyone who watches the races on TV appreciate having such an eye-catching design amongst all the red, whites and blues out there. How do you feel they have kept faith in terms of what they get out of it? You started a relationship with a huge bang with the win at St. Pete. What have they seen has been the value for INDYCAR racing over subsequent seasons?

JIMMY VASSER: First of all, they're a great partner, a very successful program for them. It's based around the franchisees. They get a tremendous amount of value from our media partners in Spectrum. They also activate, although they couldn't, they a few of the franchisees were able to come at Road America.

They understood while last year was the pandemic and they weren't able to do as much, but they're looking forward to things lightening up a bit this year and resuming what they did in prior years.

I think Dale will remember and a lot of people would, there were 110 franchisees that came to St. Pete when we won that first race. When you can give that kind of an experience for them, it's in their blood, you could probably ask anyone, when you bring somebody to an INDYCAR race, you can smell it and feel it and hear it, you get hooked.

They are a great partner, but they're very, very happy with how things are going. Their leadership ironically, too, a bit of an Ed Jones fan. We were really happy about that. Double thumbs up when we let them know who our new driver was going to be. We're really, really looking forward to getting this thing rolling and getting back to business, as usual.

DALE COYNE: There's a lot of nice parking lots and Sonny's Barbecue in Florida (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Our buddy Asher has chimed in. He has one question for Ed. Go ahead, Asher.

Q. Ed, you were champion in the SealMaster car after some great drivers including Sebastien Bourdais and Santino Ferrucci. How excited are you to be driving that car after all those good drivers?

ED JONES: Yeah, well. First of all, thanks for the question.

It's fantastic to be driving that car. As I said, the first time I saw it was the year after I left Dale the first time. Sebastien had won that race at St. Petersburg. The car looked awesome then. It's looked amazing ever since.

It's always one of the cars when you're on track, you see it. You're like, That looks good. I'm really excited to be there. They've had some great success over four years. Really hoping I can add to that.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations to everyone. Good to see good people return to the NTT INDYCAR Series. Dale, Jimmy, Ed. Our congratulations to Sulli, as well. Looking forward to seeing the No. 18 team's SealMaster Honda at the opener April 18th, Barber Motorsports Park.

Thanks to everyone. Have a great day.

[ht - FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

... notes from The EDJE

TAGS: SealMaster, No.18 SealMaster Honda, Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing, Vasser Sullivan Racing, 2021, NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Dale Coyne, Jimmy Vasser, Ed Jones, The EDJE

Mayor Of Hinchtown Brings Andretti Autosport & Genesys Back To The City Council

Mayor Of Hinchtown, James Hinchcliffe presses the accelerator pedal to the floor of his then No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Petersen Honda out of the Turn 11 Hairpin on to Shoreline Drive straightaway. James Hinchcliffe leads Andretti Autosport teammates Alexander Rossi and Marco Andretti early in the 2017 Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach race before all Andretti Autosport cars retire with problems by the race's end. The Mayor went on to win the 43rd Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach . Image Credit: Myles Regan (2017)

Mayor Of Hinchtown Brings Andretti Autosport & Genesys Back To The City Council

For 2021, James Hinchcliffe, the Mayor of Hinchtown, has agreed to have Andretti Autosport and Genesys support his quest of another NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship season ... he has decided to place them on the city council for 2021.

Genesys will be the primary sponsor for 10 of the 17 races of the 2021 season that begins April 18th at the road course of Barber Motorsports Park and ends, unusually, at Long Beach, California for the Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach, September 26th, 2021.

Welcome to the world of Hinchtown. 

NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Michael Andretti - Andretti Autosport

James Hinchcliffe - Driver, No. 29 Genesys Honda

Joyce Kim - Genesys

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Great to see everyone here this afternoon. A very special announcement for Andretti Autosport.

Let's start with some introductions, shall we? Joining us today is Michael Andretti, CEO and chairman of Andretti Autosport. Joyce Kim is here, as well, the chief marketing officer of Genesys. Set to begin his 11th season in the NTT INDYCAR Series, great to see James Hinchcliffe here today as well.

In case you missed it, announced just moments ago, James will be back with Andretti Autosport driving the No. 29 Honda with Genesys orange on the car for 10 races throughout the upcoming 2021 season, including the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. You may remember Hinch and Genesys were on one of four Andretti Autosport entries to get into the Firestone Fast Nine during qualifying for the Indy 500 last year. They are back in a big, big way in 2021.

We'll start with Michael. Congratulations. How satisfying is it to get Hinch locked up for the upcoming season?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, we're really excited. Having Hinch back in the family has been great. He did a few races for us last year. It was like having him come back home. Just gets along with everybody performs really well. We're excited to get to be able to announce this deal.

We're happy to have Genesys back with us as well. They've been great to work with. It's so fun to work with a company that is so excited about the sport and is getting behind it. We thank them.

It's really a great announcement today. We're really happy.

THE MODERATOR: We welcome in Joyce Kim, chief marketing officer for Genesys. Anyone that was in Indy last August saw the commitment that was made for James in the 500, signage at every turn, all sorts of activation. Genesys is a global leader in cloud customer experience and contact solutions.

Joyce, how did your experience last summer lead to this?

JOYCE KIM: Yeah, thank you. We're so excited to continue our partnership with James and Andretti Autosport. I mean, as you guys know, last year, sort of our first time into the racing arena, and I think the only thing that would have made it better than it was if we could be there in person instead of virtually cheering the team on.

We're really proud to continue this and deepen our roots in the Indy community, which for those who don't know is the largest footprint of our employee base around the world. Given Indianapolis and racing are sort of synonymous, we're really happy to continue this partnership again.

I think a lot of people have asked me why are you guys doing Indy 500. It sort of ties back to our business. We are in awe of sort of the amount of data and real-time things that are required, the split-second decisions that the drivers and the pit crews and everyone has to make. I kind of liken it to what we do for our customers at Genesys with customer experience, the data, the artificial intelligence, predictive capabilities.

It's all about the team, empowering with technology and data. We're really just honored to be a part of this. I can't wait to watch James and Andretti Autosport flying around the track in our Genesys orange No. 29 Honda. Hopefully this year we'll be able to be in person.

Thank you again. We're really glad to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Joyce, you mentioned it, deep ties to Indianapolis. This is a global brand, though. You threw it all into one pot that makes this partnership all the more stronger really. Very high level for your company.

JOYCE KIM: Absolutely. Like we said, I think Indianapolis continues to grow for us. It's not only our employees, but a lot of our customer base is there, as well. We're all in sort of continuing to activate and so forth.

We'll see sort of how we do it this year, given where the pandemic and so forth is. But, yeah, it's a very strong partnership. We couldn't be happier.

THE MODERATOR: James, full-time program with a team that you're certainly very familiar with, a sponsor you've become familiar with over the last year. How special is this day for you?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: I mean, it's a dream come true in so many ways. It's a culmination of a lot of hard work from a lot of people certainly. I love telling the story, we talked a lot about this last year when we did our three-race deal. It was two months from an Instagram message to signing a deal with Genesys. For a company to move that quickly in this kind of program was unbelievable. They took it a step further by sponsoring the race in Texas. You talked about all the activation on the 500. Now to jump up with a 10-race deal, it's incredible.

It just shows the commitment they're willing to give, the faith they have in us and this program. We're so proud to be partnered with them.

To be back full-time, as Michael said earlier, it's kind of like a homecoming. This team has been like family to me since I joined the first time back in 2012. We always said we'd get the band back together.

We did like a little reunion tour last year, but now we're fully back together. For me with Genesys onboard, being with Andretti Autosport, it's just incredible.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take some questions.

Q. James, your expectations coming in. Obviously last year was a little bit of a weird year for you in terms of stepping back from full-time competition, refocusing, different kind of goals than what you would have had if you had a full-time schedule. What are you aiming for this year? If we transform to the end of the year, what would you be happy with? Race wins, podiums, fighting for the championship?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah, certainly it's a little bit different than 2020. At the same time all the races in 2020, you go in with the same mindset. You trying to win, you're trying to go there and help the team be better throughout the weekend, then in the race itself, trying to take that victory.

That mindset continues whether you're doing three races, 13 race, 17 race, whatever it is. You have to go in there every weekend and do what you can to, like I said, help the team Friday through Saturday, then on Sunday do the best job you can.

For us, I think if you look back at the way Andretti Autosport improved over the 2020 season, it's no secret that it was a little bit of a struggle the first part of the year, but the last half of that season the team really came on strong and the cars were really competitive. I think that gave us a lot of positive momentum going into the off-season.

There's nothing stopping us from saying we should be running up front right from the drop of the green flag at Barber. Podium, race wins, I'd love to see all the cars up there running with a shot at the championship with three or four rounds to go.

Q. Michael, can you talk about the kind of lineup for this season, how you've come to that lineup. You go into this thinking you're going in with a bit more focus in those four cars to fight at the front, kind of a refocusing of the organization maybe.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, a little bit. Obviously having four instead of five can make it a little bit easier in terms of focus, for sure. Yeah, we're real happy with the way things have gone. We're real happy with our driver lineup. I think we have four great full-timers that are going to help each other to hopefully have four of them fighting at the end of the year for the championship. That's our goal. We'll have to wait and see.

I'm real happy with the way it all came together. Can't wait to get to the first race and see how we go.

Q. James, I have to imagine how tough it was to be in the car for six races last year but have to be on the sidelines for those other eight. What stands out to you? What do you remember most of those eight races where you were not in the car?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: It's funny. Every time something like that happens, I think in an athlete's career you can take it one of two ways. You can look at the negative, we're not doing this, I couldn't do this, not that, or you try to focus on the positives that come out of it.

I learned a lot in those eight races. It's been a while since I sort of got to see a race unfold from the pit lane or broadcast booth. You see a whole lot more of a race from up there than you do from inside the cockpit. You only see one show when you're driving.

I still was able to connect with the team obviously throughout the season, having those couple races, staying in touch with how they were working, kind of sort of build up a little bit towards what we were hoping was going to be a full-time ride this year. Obviously that all came together.

I definitely had a different program in 2020 than I was hoping for, but really enjoyed my time working with NBC and all the talent there. Everybody was phenomenal to work with.

I definitely did learn some things that I think we can apply for next year and definitely helped me continue my growth pattern with the team and just being able to hit the ground running in the first race.

Q. Michael, I remember both you and James said back in February that you both had goals of this turning into a full-time program in 2021. It seems like it might have at least taken a little while to announce. Was there ever any doubt, sponsorship side or otherwise, that this would eventually come together over the last 10 months or so?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: We felt very confident. I think we felt Genesys was very excited about it. We started talking about extending their program. Then obviously we had to talk to some others to try to be able to fill in the rest of the way, which we're just about there. Hopefully we'll have something to announce there soon.

Yeah, but we always felt confident that we were going to be able to get it together. I got to say it's always nice when you fulfill a goal, and we reached it. So now we're on to the next goal, which is win the championship.

Q. With Hinch having not taken part in the Sebring test, how much is it transferrable from what was learned there over to Hinch's driving style? Question for Michael, but Hinch's view on it as well.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I mean, I think when you're testing, you're testing basic stuff. It's not just stuff based on the driver's style, it's more like things we're testing overall for the team. I believe that we did learn quite a few things during the test.

I think the things that we did learn, not just from Marco and James' car, but also the other drivers, it should definitely translate into a better car for James, as well.

Q. James, how do you feel your driving style meshes with your teammates'?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Honestly, quite well. I think for me, there were definitely some differences coming into the Andretti camp, sort of the general philosophy with the car and certain elements. Those first few races, especially on the road courses, took a little bit of time to get used to a certain element.

But I think we got there. Certainly by St. Pete you saw all those cars were quick, we were right up there with them in the Fast Six. That was for me a big indicator that Colton, Alex, Ryan, myself, we can all run pretty similar cars. I think that's really going to be a huge strength of ours over this season.

Q. Michael and James, the way you guys have been together in the past, now you're back together, you almost kind of seem to wonder sometimes what would have happened if you stuck together the first time.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, unfortunately things didn't work out. We had to go our separate ways there for a little bit. Yeah, it would have been fun to keep James within the team.

It is what it is. We're just happy to be back together. Hopefully we still have some more, bunch of more wins together.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah, I mean, to steal a line from Ross: We were on a break. But we're back together now, and that's what matters. I still think there's a lot of opportunity. As Michael said, I still certainly feel like I got a lot of racing left in me. This is a team that can get it done with championships and with wins and 500s. We just want to see that orange 29 Genesys car covered in milk in May, hopefully covered in confetti at the end of the season.

Q. Michael, as a businessman, after what we've all been through in 2020, the uncertainty of 2021, how surprised are you to see the driver car lineup and the sponsorship interest as high as it is?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, I think that says something about the momentum of the series itself. I think it's quite good. But you start to imagine, what if the stupid COVID wasn't there, where would we be?

I think it's at least a positive. We didn't go backwards, we're still going forwards, even though we had this hiccup with COVID. It makes me even more bullish about the future of INDYCAR.

Q. Hinch, given that you only had a partial program last season, is there anything you can take from last year going into this season? If so, what is it in terms of your technical feedback and stuff?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah, for sure. I mean, any time you're in the race car with the team, there's items that you can learn from, certainly take into the following year. There's no major changes to the cars. Every lap I turned in 2020 is going to be valuable, just going to add to the database of knowledge for 2021.

I'll be working with a different engineering staff now that we're a full-time program. It's people I had the chance to work alongside, some people I've worked with in the past on the car.

Yeah, I think a lot of the experience from last year is going to translate well. I don't think we should start behind the eight ball really compared to anybody. I think we should be right there.

Q. Michael, how beneficial is it to you to have James back on the team given his experience with you guys?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: It's great having James back. Again, he's very quick. He's really a big help in developing a car. Also he fits in very well with all the other teammates, which is an important element when you have a team the size of ours. We have to make sure that personalities all work together. James fits in like a glove, perfect, with everybody. So, yeah, it's really great to have him back.

Q. James, I wanted to get your feeling on what it was like at the end of 2020 not knowing whether or not you'd be racing in 2021. Now that you've got your answer, is there a sense of relief at all?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: I think, sure. I mean, obviously, yeah. Once the pieces all came together, there was a sense of relief. We had some challenges over the off-season certainly, partners move around that we thought were going to be there but weren't.

I was so focused in my whole team, Don, everybody over there, worked so hard on cultivating the relationship with Genesys. They were just so awesome to work with. We're so happy that they're in for 10 races. That was really the backbone of this program.

I was very confident that no matter what happened, we were going to fight, we were going to scrap our way, do whatever we had to do. We had obviously a ton of support from everybody at Andretti and what they brought to the table.

I was confident all along. Even though we hit some roadblocks along the way, I knew that's what we wanted to do, I knew that's what the team wanted, it's what Genesys wanted. We were just going to keep fighting till we made it happen.

Yeah, a little bit of relief certainly. But I wasn't too worried about the uncertainty at the end of '20.

Q. You were saying this is kind of like getting the band back together. Some of your most successful seasons were with Andretti. Can you speak to why that is.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: The culture in the team is just phenomenal. It's something that I just really took to when I first started driving there in 2012. That starts at the top with Michael. He's built an incredible organization. The record speaks for itself.

Just the atmosphere in the shop, the way we go racing, it just suits me I think as a person. I've had the opportunity to work with some incredible teammates there. I certainly think the bigger team, having four cars, these limited race weekends, and they're getting smaller, thanks, COVID, another thing that's made for us, less track time on race weekends. That program really does help.

I love working with other drivers, trying to make the whole team better. The atmosphere there really promotes that. I just put it down to team culture. I'm excited just to get back to work full-time with them.

Q. Michael, what has been your biggest challenge during this global pandemic? Is it working with sponsors or something else?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I think there's a little bit of everything. But I think obviously it's about trying to keep our partners happy because unfortunately because of COVID we weren't able to be able to deliver all the deliverables for them. We were lucky enough to have great partners that worked with us. We were able to get through it.

It was a challenge for us like it is for everybody I think out there in their own way. But we got through it. I think we actually got through it, coming through it, we're going to be a better team for it. I think we learned a lot of other little things that just make it stronger, bring us more together as a team.

Yeah, it was tough. I'm sure every single one of us have some sort of story like that.

Q. Michael, just wondering with Marco scaling back his INDYCAR racing this year, tell me what your initial reaction was when you discussed that, what that's going to entail. What happens to the 98 car after Indianapolis with your team?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, it was an interesting time there when we were discussing where we were at, what we should do. Marco, we actually threw a scenario out that it may come down to only doing Indy only, a few other races. I think when we put that out to him, he started thinking about, You know what, this time in my career, where I am, maybe it's time for me to try some other things as well, just focus mainly on Indy because that's the big one he still wants to win. He knows deep down inside that he can still win it.

I was completely behind him on his decision. I respected it. That's not to say he's not going to be back full-time again in INDYCAR in the future. But I think right now, for what he needed for his head and everything, I think in the end it was a smart decision on his part, mature decision. We'll see what happens.

I totally respected his decision and was behind him.

Q. The one word that I haven't heard mentioned yet today is 'fans'. That pandemic really screwed things up in 2020. What was your reaction to seeing an empty Indianapolis Motor Speedway on race day, and what is it going to be like just to have fans back?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Well, I mean, I think it was the strangest year ever in every way. I think the strangest part of the year was obviously seeing the start of the Indy 500 with nobody in the stands. It felt naked. It felt like it wasn't right, you know?

I just hope there's no way that will ever happen again, for sure. I'm excited about getting back there and having those 300 some thousand fans right down there on the track when you're getting ready for the start of the race. There's nothing like it. In the end, it's the fans that give it that electricity. You feel it inside when you're down there on the grid right before the start.

That was something that was duly missed last year. Hopefully that was just a one-off thing and it will never happen again. Looking forward to, again, like I say, getting back there. I'm happy we were at least able to finish the year with fans in the stands at St. Petersburg. I think that sort of was a nice way to finish the year, at least we had some of that feeling back again.

@26:57

Q. James, you haven't had the amount of laps in the new Aeroscreen car as the other drivers have. What are the things you can learn from with the experience the team has going forward, competing a whole season in an Aeroscreen car? What do you think you need to pick up?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: To learn how to stay a bit cooler is the number one thing. That's the biggest challenge we've had with the Aeroscreen (laughter).

Again, it speaks to the strength of having a four-car team. You have so much experience now (indiscernible) equipment on the car, I guess we could say. Sure, I may have a few fewer laps, but the data has prepared me. I can take all the lessons they've learned. We've developed the setups as we've had to at each track. Luckily it was less of an impact on the setups than we thought it would be. That helped a bit. Pretty much could run the same car you ran last year with only a few minor adjustments.

I have to kind of lean on my teammates and on my team a little bit. I'm with the best team to do it.

Q. You mentioned a different mix to the team going forward into this season. You have experience with most of the people in the team. Who do you think will be your greatest ally with the team?

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: In terms of my teammates?

Q. Yes. There will be some more supportive than others always.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: You know what, I think again that's what's so great with the culture there, is everybody is pretty supportive. We have an engineering trailer that everybody sits in, everybody can hear all the conversations. It's a very open book. Sometimes there's debates and healthy arguing and debating going on about maybe what to do or what the right move is. It's all very open, all very healthy in that sense.

I've had the most experience working with Ryan certainly. But I know Alex personally very well. Colton is probably the one I spend the least time around. Even of the races we did, he's a great help. He's quiet, to the point, kind of gets in and gets the job done. He knows a lot about racecars and how to make them go fast.

I think on any given weekend that could shift who your best ally is, whoever is hitting it the best on that weekend.

Q. Michael, this is pretty interesting going forward without Marco as a full-time driver. You've built a tremendous organization. Some might say as good of a driver as you were, as a team owner you're equal to anybody in the paddock. Do you see Marco coming forward and being integrated more this season into dealing with the issues of owning a team and event organizations?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Good question. I'm not sure yet. I'm not sure. I haven't really talked to Marco. I'm not sure he'll be going to the races he's not driving at. In fact, I know he's looking to do other series, other types of driving.

There probably won't be a lot of that. I don't think we'll see him a lot at the INDYCAR races. He's going to be doing a lot of other stuff, which is part of the reason why he took this decision. He thinks it's a great opportunity to see what it's like to drive different types of racecars and things like that.

Probably to answer your question, probably not much of that from Marco this year.

Q. There was an announcement last week with Simona De Silvestro. In a kind of way you have a ghost driver on the track because of the relationships in the past. What is your reaction to their chances going forward?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I'm real happy for Beth. I know she's worked hard to get there. We talked to her in the past, were close to doing some things together. Obviously with Simona who has driven for us in INDYCARS as well as Formula E, we have a great relationship with her. I have a ton of respect for her.

I think it's awesome for the sport to have them come in as a team. They should do well. They have the support of the Penske organization, which obviously helps them on their learning curve. I'm real happy for them. I hope they have a successful program.

Q. Michael, you lost your uncle, your cousin, your mother. How has that been for your family? Have you been able to recover well or is it still there making you sad?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: It's hasn't been great, I can tell you that. It's been a tough couple years, especially for my father. He lost his sister, as well. Yeah, it's been a tough time.

Unfortunately, it's part of life. We're all going to go through it. It's been tough to go through as much as we have in a short period of time. But it is the way it is. Life goes on. We have to march forward and be happy with the memories that we have of all the loved ones that we've lost.

Q. How is your dad doing? Is he taking it hard?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: He's hanging in there. He's taking it hard. It's been really difficult on him, for sure. This COVID thing hasn't helped any. Being at home by yourself, not being out on the road. If you know my dad, he lives on the road. Not being able to travel I think has made things a little worse for him, for sure.

Q. Hopefully getting him back at the track will make him feel better.

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I hope so. Hopefully getting him back in the two-seater, as well, because that's helped keep him young, as well.

Q. What has been the focus in the off-season for development of the team? Your cars were fast, but in traffic have seemed to struggle. Has that been one of your focuses for the off-season?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I don't think I'd agree with that. I think we had strong cars all the way through the field. If you watched James, the way we came up through the field after the mistake in the pit stop. We had four cars capable of winning the race and we shot ourselves in the race in the pits. Every single car that we had had a problem in the pits. That was the difference. Had that not happened, I think we would have won with one of them. James was one of them as well.

From that standpoint, I don't agree with that. Hopefully we are still going to have strong cars again next year. We've been focusing more on the tracks where we've been weak. There's tracks like St. Louis that I think we can do a better job at, a few others. Those are the ones we're really focusing on. Hopefully our guys have come up with the answer to be more competitive at the places we were weak.

Q. Genesys, is it a sponsorship deal only or is there any kind of technology exchange? Is Genesys with their technology helping the team at all?

MICHAEL ANDRETTI: At the moment it's just sponsorship. But we're always looking to see if there's ways that we can use our partners to make this a better team. Our guys are always thinking about that.

We still haven't figured out a way yet to do it with Genesys, but...

THE MODERATOR: We'll segue back to Joyce Kim. Outside of maybe the Indy 500, is there another track you're looking forward to seeing the 29?

JOYCE KIM: Well, I mean, certainly we'll work on the activation of the brand again this year. Again, we're all sort of waiting to see what happens with the COVID, how that all turns out.

Yeah, I mean, we may not do airports again, but you'll see us all over Indy, no question.

THE MODERATOR: I heard you say you have twin boys that were excited about this opportunity to get involved in racing in a family kind of way.

JOYCE KIM: Yeah, I have nine-year-old twin boys ha were introduced to Indy racing last year. They hear the name Andretti, they hear Hinch, it's pandemonium at my house, so (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Hinch, you have a few more autographs to sign.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: That's fine. I think I have a go-kart race I have to set up (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Done.

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Absolutely. Any time.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations to everybody. What a huge opportunity it is for Genesys, James Hinchcliffe back for a full-time ride, 10 races with Genesys in 2021. Michael, congratulations to you as well. Season opening April 18th at beautiful Barber Motorsports Park. Thank you for being with us today.

[ht - FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

... notes from The EDJE

TAGS: James Hinchcliffe, Mayor Of Hinchtown, Andretti Autosport, Michael Andretti, Genesys, 2021, The EDJE

Longtime motor culture business and competition executive, Beth Paretta takes the plunge and opportunity to make a difference in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES paddock and forms a team to compete in the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. This effort is designed to make the most out of preparing those of the female gender at having a serious shot of a full-time career at the highest levels of professional motorsports. Image Credit: Joe Skibrinski via NICS (2021)

Paretta Autosport Launches Team Bid With Simona de Silvestro For 105th Running Of The Indy 500  

From support given through a longtime professional relationship between Roger Penske and Beth Paretta, IndyCar's Race For Equality & Change announcement provides another element at establishing a serious developmental step into a top-level racing series for the fairer gender. Penske, Chevrolet, and even Porsche Motorsport are pleased with the possibilities of this breakthrough agreement and formation of Paretta Autosport. 

Past Indianapolis 500 "Rookie Of The Year" Simona de Silvestro is tapped to be the tip-of-the-spear giving great promise for the success of this union and agenda.

#Indy500 - #Porsche works driver and five-time #Indianapolis500 competitor @simdesilvestro will start for Paretta Autosport at this year's 500-mile race. The new #IndyCar squad will integrate women in the team to ensure that it provides various job opportunities. All details ⬇️ https://t.co/uE3V0s04Uy

— Porsche Motorsport (@PorscheRaces) January 19, 2021

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Media Conference

Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Jimmie McMillian - Chief Diversity Officer, Penske Entertainment

J. Douglas Boles - President, Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Beth Paretta - Team Principle, Paretta Autosport

Simona de Silvestro - Driver, Paretta Autosport
(video feed from Switzerland)

Press Conference Begin
(truncated video of ZOOM Call begins later in the transcript)

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Great so see some familiar faces back here at the world's greatest race course. It's a good day here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Before we introduce everyone up on stage we do want to recognize Roger Penske. Good morning to you, sir. Chairman of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is here. Up on stage, on the far right, we say good morning to Jimmie McMillian who is the chief diversity officer of Penske Entertainment. In the middle, Beth Paretta, long time automotive and motor sports executive and certainly no stranger to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Another no stranger to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, J. Douglas Boles is here, the president of IMS. And joining us via Zoom all the way from Switzerland, we say good morning and/or good afternoon to Simona de Silvestro, a veteran of the NTT IndyCar Series, who appeared in five Indianapolis 500s after being named the rookie of the year back in 2010.

We are here this morning to witness the launch of a brand new race team in the NTT IndyCar Series, which will begin its journey at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 500, the 105th running this coming May. And this team will only grow from that exciting race, perhaps with an eye on a full-time ride. We'll see what, we'll get Beth's thoughts on that, the 2022 season of the NTT IndyCar Series. It will be known as Paretta Autosport, with Beth Paretta as the team owner, part of the female-owned and managed race team integrating female members to ensure opportunities on the competition side of the team, along with operations and administrative roles.

Team Penske will provide technical support, with Simona returning to the NTT IndyCar Series to drive the No. 16 Chevrolet-powered entry. All told, it becomes yet another initiative of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar's Race For Equality & Change announced last July. If you've been following this, it's the latest step in a series of really groundbreaking events over the last several months covering any number of sports around the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, first things first, turn your attention towards the monitors for a brief first look at Paretta Autosport.

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with Beth. Congratulations. What an awesome day. A long time coming for you. There was a similar announcement some five years ago for a team that was entitled Grace Autosport, but it's all coming to fruition now. What a journey for you, Beth.

BETH PARETTA: Thank you, Dave. Thanks to everyone here and thanks to everyone on Zoom. Yeah, first, I am grateful for the opportunity to officially announce the start of this program. It has been a long time coming, a lot of hours, a lot of flights, a lot of meetings, but we are here. There's been a lot of talk lately about representation and that is a very real thing. We hear about the importance of role models, examples, mentors, for people to have the opportunity to see themselves in the women on the grid and in pit lane.

Just a bit of background about why I'm doing this, why we feel it's necessary, why I have been driven to put this together. I've worked with women engineers who only decided to follow the engineering path after they saw another woman in that role. I'm guilty of that myself. I only pursued the job as an automotive executive after I saw another woman in a role that I thought that maybe I could do one day. And -- even though I've seen examples of men in those roles for years.

But change is happening and there is some momentum by we're sort of able to create opportunities for women by shining the spotlight on their stories, because the way that people identify and feel a connection to what they see is innate and we can't change that, but we can change the focus and we can shine that spotlight on the members of this team and their stories, and what will that mean, what will that do.

Maybe some of those girls watching from home can become fans that might not have ever thought that something like this was possible for them. Maybe some of them will be inspired to join us. Others might be captivated by the idea of racing and perhaps pursue education in STEM and ultimately choose a career in a related field. All of those outcomes would be success. Let's be clear. There are women in racing. We all know each other. And in the past several years there have been, there's been some progress with programs to get more female racing drivers on the grid, from all female driving lineups in sports cars, the W Series, these are all great strides.

But we believe that there's a lot more to do and even more opportunity. A race team is just that, a team. Many people with varied roles, all critical to getting the car on the grid and running at its best. When the Race For Equality & Change was announced, I was so pleased. I hoped that it meant that there was a real commitment and investment in our collective future, as race fans, as racers, and as a series.

IndyCar is competitive, exciting racing, with a talented field and great venues and a very loyal fan base. But it should also be said that the IndyCar paddock has the most women working in all levels, on teams, in the series itself, and at the track, and that should be celebrated. This has always been a welcoming paddock, to me and to other women.

But now, under the stewardship of Roger Penske and the management here, it is just getting stronger. So, after the announcement for Race For Equality & Change, I called Roger, as you do, and asked if we could talk. But the reality is we started talking about this years ago. I've had the good fortune, having worked with Mr. Penske since 2007, first on the automotive side of things with Aston Martin, and then when I was at FCA as the director of SRT and motor sports. We were partners with Team Penske and won the NASCAR Cup Championship in 2012, which was actually the first Cup Championship for team Penske in NASCAR.

So last year, we sat down and he described the great work that they have been doing here at IMS and with the IndyCar series. I talked about the foundational work that I've been doing these past several years and how I would like to now, the work I've been do you think is off the track, with schools, educational partners, museums, working on curriculum to tie what we do at the track to what kids are learning and to inspire them to pursue educational pathways in STEM that could lead to robust career tracks.

When we sat down, I said that I would like to now bring it full circle and get back to the track to promote gender equality. So with that, I'm proud to say that Paretta Autosport will have a technical alliance with Team Penske, will start with the 2021 Indy 500 with plans to grow from there.

I also reached out, soon after, to Simona de Silvestro, and learned quickly that she was aligned with my goals, our goals. And with her remarkable talent and experience here at Indy, it was an easy choice to invite her on board. What's different here is this is a full program. 

We will strive to incorporate more women into the team. I've always believed that with aptitude, interest, and the right attitude, the rest can be learned. We all started somewhere. We want Paretta Autosport to be the place to welcome, train, and support professional growth in all facets of the team. Eventually we hope it will be a team of women running the car, and that can and will inspire others to become mechanics, to become engineers, to become drivers, to become team owners. Racing is for all of us, and working together we all win.

Before I hand it back to Dave, I need to thank a few people. First and foremost, I want to thank Roger Penske, Mark Miles, and Jimmie McMillian for their vision and commitment to IndyCar and the Race For Equality & Change. To Bud Danker and Jonathan Gibson for their support in the business side to help put this all together. Thank you to Doug Boles. You've always offered support to me and this program and I thank you for that. And your tie matches the color palette.

A special thank you to Chevrolet, Mark Reuss and Jim Campbell. They have valued this mission from the start and I can't wait to hear our Chevy-powered IndyCar power up for the first time at testing.

I want to also thank Porsche for allowing Simona to join us for the month of May and more.

And one last thing, I'm sitting here, and that's my name right there, but I'm forever grateful to Stacy, Christian, Paul, John, Ron, Linda, Heather, and Barbara. You've helped me so much and I can't thank you enough. So it is my name, but there's a lot of people standing behind me and with me today.

THE MODERATOR: Great. Awesome. We do have a shot of the car, if I'm not mistaken. If we can go ahead and put that up again up on the monitors. Tell us a little bit about that, Beth.

BETH PARETTA: Well, you see the logo. I have to say that the person that has helped me with the graphics is my very best friend from my whole life, and she did a lot of the work that you see, kind of with the branding, and that, we always do a livery. In fairness, as we grow and add sponsors, that livery will change. But that shows you a little bit of sort of the look and feel and where, how we're starting out.

The 2013 Shell-Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston was the third and final doubleheader of the 2013 IndyCar Series season. Simona de Silvestro, coming off a fifth place at Baltimore, posted her best finish [Podium @ P2 with Scott Dixon P1 & Justin Wilson @ P3] in the KV Racing Technology-prepared [Chevrolet] car and was her IZOD IndyCar Series high. “Finally. We’ve been waiting for this for a long time," De Silvestro said. "It seemed like a pretty good car the whole weekend.  I qualified up there and then the race went actually pretty good. Hopefully tomorrow we can even better it. (The circuit is) definitely tough because you don’t have that much time to relax. The straightaways are really bumpy so you really have to be on top of the car every time. I think to finish P2 , I think you want to do it again anytime.” Image Credit: #WachsServices (2013)

THE MODERATOR: Awesome. Once again, joining us via Zoom, again, we say hello to Simona de Silvestro.

Simona, another shot now at the Indy 500 in a much different way. How exciting is this for you?

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Oh, well, yeah, thank you. And, yeah, Hi from cold Switzerland. For me, it's quite special to be back at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, especially virtually, and I can't wait to come during the month of May.

I'm very happy, actually, that today is the day that I'm finally able to announce that I'm joining Paretta Autosport. It's quite a special day. I think it's something that I've worked for my entire life, to get a proper shot at this race, and I think it's super exciting that it's finally happening. And when Beth actually called me a few months ago and told me about this opportunity, and I think literally an hour later, I was on a Zoom call with Roger Penske and Bud Danker. It was quite surreal, that it all happened so quickly, and for me to really come back to the Speedway with a constellation like this, with the association with Team Penske, it's really, to be honest, as a driver, a dream come true and I think it's something that is really special.

I think it's going to be the best opportunity yet with everyone involved believing in the same goals. So I think we can be really successful when we come in May. And I really hope that along this journey we will inspire more women to follow their dreams and also create some pretty cool opportunities for them to join and for them to follow this pretty amazing journey.

I would really want to thank, actually, Beth, Roger Penske, Bud Danker, for choosing me to steer this entry, and I know it will be successful. And also from my part, I really have to thank Porsche for giving me the green light to participate in this iconic race. So, yeah, I'm super excited, and, yeah, I can't wait to actually be for real back on the starting grid soon enough.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Great stuff. Let's also bring in Jimmie McMillian now. And it's certainly an important day, none more so than IndyCar and IMS Race For Equality & Change that was announced last July.

Jimmie, what does this day mean?

JIMMIE MCMILLIAN: Thank you, Dave. First of all, I want to congratulate Beth, and I want to congratulate Simona on this very important day. Just sitting here, I can't help but stop smiling and feeling the buzz and the excitement. We have always had women in our sport. We have had a long history of successful drivers, nine women, who have raced at the Indianapolis 500. We have had women who owned cars.

But I've also seen the disappointment from years that we have not had women that competed and I can tell that you this is super exciting as I look out amongst what I know and see every day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the NTT IndyCar Series, which is not just women in the sport, but leaders. We are led by superstar phenomenal women every single day. It's one of the things that I probably hear the most. When people come in the building they think is a male-dominated support. I take orders from women all the time around here, as many of us do, right, Doug? And so, I think that needs to be reflected on the track and this is a powerful moment that matches our goals for the Race For Equality & Change when we're talking about not just walking it, but actually walking what we talk, living what we preach, and creating the opportunity for people to actually be able to see something and know that they can be it.

And that's what I think Beth and Paretta Autosport represents. We know that what we did with Force Indy was create a pipeline for folks to come in as engineers, as drivers, as an owner, but also in other areas, from HR to marketing, to sales, to learn how to run and operate a team under the very best in Roger Penske and under his tutelage and the tutelage of Tim Cindric and the folks at Penske Motorsports.

We're going to create that same opportunity now for women in the sport with Paretta Autosport. That's very important because once we get that pipeline flowing, I think we won't be able to stop it. I'm looking forward to not only seeing a team on the grid, but seeing the team compete. I think this sends a message. When we see Simona go out and try to qualify, there will be a buzz, there will be an excitement, there will be a part of all of us, whether you're a man or a woman, that will want her to win, that will want her to be successful because of what it represents. I have a mother, I have cousins, I have a number of women in my life that I look up to and I know the strong person they are, I know some of them can drive better than me, and I know some -- I believe that Simona's going to prove that she can win the Indianapolis 500, and I'm going to be there cheering for her.

So this is a super special moment and I want to thank Roger Penske again. I want to thank Bud Danker and john than and the entire team, Mark Miles, Doug Boles. This Race For Equality & Change, this journey that we have all been on has been made all the better by the fact that our leadership is 1000 percent supportive and energized and moving towards that every single day. This is a real diversity initiative. This is not pretend or fake. This is something we can all believe in and cheer for.

THE MODERATOR: Quick reminder for our reporters. We're going to take questions here. Please head to the standing microphone to do that.

J. Douglas Boles, Roger Penske, Beth Paretta, & Jimmie McMillian (L to R) at IMS to unveil the addition of Paretta Autosport to the rarified paddocks of the IMS. Image Credit: Joe Skibrinski via NICS (2021)

First things first though, bring in Doug Boles. And of course, women have been racing here since the great Janet Guthrie in 1977. To own a team certainly is a different level. You can't underscore the importance of something like that.

J. DOUGLAS BOLES: No, you can't. And congratulations, Beth, again, and Simona. You know, I sit here and I'm, like Jimmie, I have a huge smile on my face. I love days like this when you get to be surrounded by really passionate people who love our sport and in particular, passionate people who love our sport who are trailblazing, and this is a trailblazing day and I'm really excited to be part of it. Women have been involved at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as Beth alluded to, for a long time. In fact, we have had an owner, female owner, dating back to the '20s. And then the last 25 years, it's really been the rule, not the exception, that a female's competed in the Indianapolis 500.

But this takes it to another level. Here we're talking about not just a driver, but we're talking about a driver and owner, but we're not just talking about a driver and owner. Beth's vision, and I think our vision, is this gives folks an opportunity, women an opportunity to get involved in the sport beyond the driver and beyond the owner piece and I can't wait to watch that come to fruition.

As I sat here today, and even yesterday, thinking about this announcement this morning, it's the beginning of a new year, it's an opportunity to reflect on what happened last year, and anticipate what's coming up in the new year. A lot of things have happened over the last year. Roger Penske took stewardship of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on January 6th. Shortly thereafter, we had an Xfinity car testing on our road course and we made a announcement that the Pennzoil 150 was going to be held on the road course. That's turned into now the Cup cars and the IndyCar weekend in August.

We talked about Force Indy announcement, which has been an awful lot of fun to watch since last July. The Force Indy team now is testing, testing before Christmas, they have tested after Christmas, getting ready to compete here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Beth and Jimmie both talked about this. It's important for our fan base to grow it, that if we're going to be more diverse as a fan base, we need to be more diverse as a series and as a race. We want people to know that when they come to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, that they see people like them competing and owning cars here at the race, and that's one of the really, really exciting things about this opportunity.

What I'm looking forward to this year is just that passion that you see from Beth and you see from Jimmie, but that really starts with Roger Penske and the entire Penske Entertainment organization. This is going to be an awful lot of fun. I can't wait to watch you guys compete on the racetrack. I can't wait to see Simona back here, our Rookie of the Year from 2010. Those of you that followed the NTT IndyCar Series over the last several years, you're very familiar with Simona de Silvestro. There is nobody better in a race car than Simona. She's a fierce competitor, and with the right equipment, she can win the Indianapolis 500.

THE MODERATOR: With that, we'll turn things over to the reporters that are in person here at the Speedway. If have you a question, go ahead and make your way over to the standing microphone located to the right.

FLASHBACK - HVM's Simona de Silvestro has finished only three of nine races this season and was black-flagged after 10 laps in the Indianapolis 500 because her Lotus/Judd powered DW12 was too slow. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

While we wait for that to happen. Simona, just back to you quickly. 2015 was your last 500, how much have you been ready to get going again here at IMS?

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, I'm really excited. You know, I've, the Indy 500 has always been the race that, if it was possible, that I wanted to do. And to be honest, to come back, yeah, how we are now, with this team, with Beth making this happen, I think it's really cool and I really think we have all the ingredients to be super successful. And to be honest, I can't wait for the next few months to go by so we can get started.

THE MODERATOR: The count down is on. There's no question about that. Let's go ahead for questions.

Q. Congratulations, Beth. This is quite the script already and we await a huge finale, if not this year, in the coming years, so great work.

In the beginning when you had this vision, how high of a mountain did it seem? Bring us back to the early days of this goal.

BETH PARETTA: Yeah, it was quite a mountain. You have an idea you set forward, and in fairness, it's definitely a story of just not giving up, not taking no for an answer. Sometimes you have, back in 2016, so in '15, I announced the intention to run in 2016 and after announcement set off on putting everything together, and we actually were very, very close. I had an engine deal from Chevrolet. I had a partner, a team partner, that we were going to run with. In fairness, Roger and his team were offering some support on, some logistic support, and ultimately the team that I was going to work with, the terms of the deal changed, and so then I had to set out to then find somebody else to work with and then look for different other equipment.

And it came down to the wire and it was four weeks before the Indy 500 and I had to take the tough decision to pull the entry because it wasn't right. The vehicle, the car that we had was not raceworthy, really. I mean, could we have maybe put it together down to the wire? Maybe. But I wasn't willing to do that because there's extra scrutiny on a program like this. Everybody's watching, and you bear that responsibility.

Although I had to take that tough decision, that's what happens in racing. And if you're doing it the right way, you make those tough decisions and make those calls.

So once that was done, I took a little bit of time off and then really was right back in it within six months on the educational side of things because that really was the driver of: How do we tie what we do every day to create this sort of pipeline of fans and make the most of it? It's such a wonderful platform. Racing is applied STEM. It's STEM in action, so there's so many things that we can do with it. And that's a thing that I'm sure many other racing teams are finding, that's very appealing to partners. Sponsor partners really like that connection and so that's what I was working on, sort of -- and the funny thing is, it's very, to put a car on a grid as a one-off, sure, you can do that. It's not easy, but people can do that. But to build a program takes a lot more time and I was more interested in a program that was sustainable than an entry.

Q. A follow-up to that: Was there something, then, that made this click? Was there something that just said, yes, now it's time, now is the time to do this?

BETH PARETTA: Yeah, I mean, seeing the commitment from the Series and from Roger and his team, it was, maybe we were early six years ago, because I had conversations with many people, people, some people instantly got it. It clicked. Some people, it didn't. It clicked with Roger from the beginning. It clicked with Mark Miles. It clicked with everybody that's, honestly, in this room.

But I think seeing the momentum last year, last year was such a difficult year with everything, with COVID, so that kind of put a monkey wrench into a lot of things for everybody. But when I saw these sort of announcements happening, it was thinking, like, okay, maybe this is definitely the place where we would fit best, and also, in fairness, be able to elevate the programs the other programs that they have, like the announcement with Force Indy. These are all real. It's, they're not a slogan. They're real change, so I think it was really seeing that and seeing the momentum.

And in fairness too, these are the things that are visible, but when I sat down and talked with Roger and the rest of the team, they're doing so much here at IMS and throughout the Series that you don't see, that has to do with diversity and equality, and they're very real things. And that should be applauded too. So when you see that somebody's approaching something so holistically and making, and having real action items, there's nothing better than that.

Q. How would you describe the importance of inclusion to little boys and little girls who are watching what you're doing right now?

BETH PARETTA: Well, I think, it's funny, I mean, I didn't grow up in a racing family. I grew up as a racing fan and I could not have dreamed this for myself. I'm at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway right now. I didn't grow up with parents that took me here every May. But it's that idea that if you find something that you are, that you love and that you work hard at, there are -- and maybe the result isn't a race team, but there's somewhere that you can fit. There's somewhere for you. And from the very beginning, and yes, is, my focus is on that sort of 10-year-old girl because you can affect a kid's trajectory of what they want to be when they grow up from 10 to 12. And even though I work, we'll have female engineers, the reality is young boys are still going to get the same lesson. The girls will see that it's a female engineer; the boys will get the lesson. So it's really for all kids.

But the idea of working hard and sort of following your passion can lead really in amazing -- if you're open to the opportunity, your life can take turns that you wouldn't have ever scripted for yourself and I think that's sort of the end story here.

But I do, I have always had this idea of the opening ceremonies of the Indy 500 are some of the most, it's, the rich pageantry of the 500 is amazing. The energy here, if you ever have the opportunity to be here in person, it's like nothing else. There are 300,000 people here. There's just this energy. And when you think about, so I grew up watching it on TV, right, and so there's those iconic things that we all are familiar with and there's that lineup of the starting grid and that when the teams are out there early on and there's that sort of swooping crane shot and the idea of seeing a line of women with matching uniforms, okay, you might say that's cool, but to a 10-year-old girl watching that from home, it hits differently.

Q. I know it's early, but I'm sure you've talked to potential partners, sponsors. What has been the response so far?

BETH PARETTA: We have had some amazing conversations already. Obviously, it's a little tough before you announce because your conversations are a little bit more brief, so we're grateful for today because now the cat is out of the bag. But we have had some great conversations and we will announce sort of where that's going. But yeah, it's already, already happening, which is great.

Q. This is absolutely fantastic news for you guys and for the sport in general. How beneficial do you think it's going to be for you to have the likes of Team Penske kind of behind you in terms of this entry with their kind of success at Indy and that kind of thing?

BETH PARETTA: Well, they have won 18 times. It goes beyond just the technical support. I mean, even just in the past few months just sort of, in fairness, Mr. Penske has always been a bit of a mentor and I think a lot of people will say that, those who know him. And he's been very generous with just ideas and thoughts, and that is sort of that intangible stuff that I am extremely grateful for.

But the technical partnership, to just be able to not come in completely cold and have that, sort of that shared understanding of, and of course, it's great for Indy, but as you expand, to understand how to approach races at other tracks too. It's invaluable.

Q. First question, Beth, since you're going to be involved with Team Penske will your shop initially be down here in North Carolina?

BETH PARETTA: That's a great question. Yes, we are starting out close to Team Penske in North Carolina for the sake of logistics, yes.

Q. And also, the benefit of having, I mean, Simona's kind of been part of this package for so long that you know that you could always depend on her when you finally got this deal together, granted there were probably some obstacles you had to overcome, but how valuable is that to know that she was on board from the very beginning?

BETH PARETTA: Well, that makes it a lot, certainly a lot easier. It also helps it when we're talking to partners because we can point to her experience here. And in fairness, too, beyond IndyCar, she's been racing full-time in other series and, again, as a factory Porsche driver. So she's certainly a very accomplished driver behind the wheel, and so whenever have you that story to tell it makes things a lot easier.

In fairness, too, like I say, the alignment to what we're doing here, that's key. When you have the privilege to build a team, I always say that you're lucky if you can find -- really the first goal is to find people who have sort of the same approach to things, the same attitude, and that makes for winning combinations. I think that as Simona and I have gotten to know each other, it works really well, and I think that that's, that always, that will contribute to our success on the track.

Q. A question for Simona. Welcome back. You've been out of site, but never out of mind. You talk to a lot of the race fans every year around Indy 500 time. And on social media and everywhere else when they talk about drivers that could run Indy, your name is always one of the big names that's always talked about. Just how important has that been to you, because you really made quite an impression during your time that you did run over here full time.

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, it's quite special, and like you mentioned, I've seen those Tweets about my name getting put in there and I think it feels really special in the sense because that means people really saw what I was able to do on the racetrack and I think that's pretty cool, for sure.

Maybe now it took a bit of time to come back, but I think 10 years ago when I was there and kind of making my stride, I think I've grown quite a lot as a driver, and especially IMS I think has really built me especially from my character side as well. I've had lots of highs and pretty big lows at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

So I think to come back like this, I think it's something I think that is all coming together. To get the right opportunity, I think this is the one, to be honest. And yeah, I'm super excited and I think that I'm pretty grateful that the fans are welcoming me back with open arms and hopefully we can put on a really good show when we're on track out there.

Q. Question for Beth. Congratulations. Had a question, if you were to go all the way back to like your Dodge SRT the marketing days of the racing program and all of that, would you ever have thought that you would be here at IMS announcing your own IndyCar team that will be racing in the Indy 500?

BETH PARETTA: Yes and no. I think that I'm a racing fan and I have been -- I was that kid like in the grandstands -- and finding a place for myself in racing is sort of always seemed to be where I would go, maybe what my destiny would be. You talk to anybody that's known me for a long time and none of this is surprising to them. They might have seen it even before I did.

But, yeah, I mean when I had my responsibility at FCA what's important there is, although the racing was very high profile I also was working on the brand side and running sort of the business and marketing for the performance brand SRT.

And working for a car company I saw in realtime that there were, there was a phenomenon that was happening where engineers were retiring at a faster rate than they were being backfilled -- and regardless of gender. So there was a critical need to get more engineers and such and people in technical careers in the pipeline.

And so seeing that in realtime and then on the racing side being on the business side of racing, I saw the business model as it has been and it's evolved in a few different ways over the years, but realistically I saw that in a lot of ways the business model needed some more, needed to evolve even more and that partners, to have, in order to have long-term partners, you need to have something very compelling and it's more than a sticker on the side of a car.

We have gone through phases, we can all look at if you're race historians, we all know how the business side has evolved and it looked very much like it needed to evolve again. And partners were leaving, racing sponsors were leaving the sport and how do you solve that.

And maybe I think, although I'm a racer, I'm also a business person at my core and it was sort of like that business problem to solve, it was like a business case. And I thought, okay, we need to do more with it, there is more here, there is more content here, there are more stories to tell and they're very interesting stories. I'm biased because I find them interesting, but I thought, well if I find them interesting then maybe other people can too.

And by telling those stories and by then also connecting it to education, you can then talk to a whole different category of sponsors that might not have ever considered being part of the IndyCar grid or any race grid for that matter.

So I think that the impetus behind it was, let's get more women involved and let's do more with racing.

Q. And just a follow-up, so you have this season running the Indy 500, are there plans to do more in 2022?

BETH PARETTA: Yeah, I mean I would like to, selfishly, I would like to see if we could do even do another race or two this year, but it has to do with scheduling and what sponsors may or may not want. But I know that there's already interest from some to do a few more races even this year, so we'll look at that.

But my hope is that we could maybe even run a full season next year. But always pushing forward, but we'll see how it pans out.

Q. I had a question for Simona. Simona, congratulations this, is great news. Would you say that this would be one of the biggest opportunities of your life?

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Well, you know I think I've been really lucky in my career so far, especially now the last few years with getting good opportunities. Also at the end of last year for me to join Porsche as a works driver I think it's quite special, but I think for sure in my IndyCar career, especially as a driver being associated with Team Penske, with having Beth putting really this program together, I think it's, yeah, my best shot at it, I would say.

I'm really excited about it and I think that throughout my career I worked really hard to get to this point. I think that it's finally time that it's here and, to be honest, I'm super excited that it's happening while I'm still racing and I'm still as competitive as I can be.

So I can't wait and, yeah, you know, it's definitely all the stars are aligned at the moment, so I'm really excited about it.

Q. Welcome to a first-time owner in the paddock, that's quite rarified air. But from a culture standpoint, you bake a cake and all the ingredients are important and you, one looks at this from a third person where I am out here in Los Angeles and it looks like an absolutely wonderful looking cake. You've got so many decades of dedicated and focused motor culture participation. You mentioned, Beth, that you were hoping to get a race or two and of course I'm out here near Long Beach and we didn't get to see any IndyCar out here on the West Coast. When are we going to see cake by the ocean?

BETH PARETTA: Oh, I like what you did there. I love Long Beach, I have been fortunate to be with teams that have raced at Long Beach many times. It's one of my favorite races on the calendar. And I love that they, it's later in the year this year, right? So kudos to the city of Long Beach because obviously moving any city race is a, that's a mountain to climb in and of itself.

Q. Season finale as well.

BETH PARETTA: Yes. Yes. And in fairness, later in the season, timing might work, but we'll push for that, believe me. I'll push for any race. I mean, I'll race in a parking lot outside of a Kroger, I'll show up to.

Q. For Simona, of course cake by the ocean is one of your main characteristics, having won at Long Beach Grand Prix. Now it's the Acura Long Beach Grand Prix, but you won it when it was the Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix and also you were Rookie of the Year in Indy 500. So how would you like to see at least a minimum of two races this year?

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Well, if you know me, you know as many times I can get into a race car I will take the opportunity. I think this is just the beginning of this program and I think right now I think we will really focus on the 500 and, yeah, we never know what the future brings. Three years ago would I have said that I was going to be back at the 500 so quickly? Maybe not. So we never know what happens, but the thought is always here and me as a driver I will always be ready for any opportunity that comes up.

Q. Well you were in an odd way a stand out with the Lotus effort and it was, again, something that was ushered in as a first of and now you're on a second wave of a first of and we look forward to seeing you out on the track with such a great assortment of ingredients that will bring you to the track.

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Thank you.

Q. One question for both Beth, so people may be wondering, what kind of ultimately led to Simona getting the ride and what do you see from her that maybe others don't, for those who might be into the sport over the past few years since she last ran in 2015?

BETH PARETTA: Sure, that's a great question, because you haven't seen her in a couple of years. But if you look at her total combined experience at IMS, but also, like I said, she, the broad experience she has in other series, she's been racing full-time even though we haven't seen her here in some very competitive series. Including NV 8 Super Cars against Team Penske and that, they were also comfortable with her capabilities. And I think she's just a great fit, she's done really well here and I think it's a really great opportunity and we could have a shot to have some good results.

Like I said, honestly, the fact that it's a really good fit for the mission. So beyond just behind the wheel, I think we're very aligned and that means a lot to me.

Q. Simona, you brought it up earlier, that you feel more prepared, more focused. What has the time period between 2015 to now made you better as far as a competitor? Is this more or less being versatile or just more or less getting the experience all across the world?

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, I think it is a lot of factors. I think I'm a bit older as well. I think I see the picture a little bit differently and know as well really what I need in the car to be quick and, yeah, for sure I think the experience as well. I've been so lucky to be racing in so many different cars at the end of the day and I think that that can help a lot. But I'm super excited to get back into an IndyCar. I think from a driving style point of view I think it's definitely so far the one that has fitted the best to me. So, yeah, just getting to, getting the chance to get back into an IndyCar I think I'm really happy about it.

And, yeah, I think I've grown. I think the time I've grown quite a lot, the things that I've experienced are I think going to be really good for my future and, yeah, I can't wait to get going.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you very much Kate. By the way, September 26th is the date of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and I'm also interested in cake right now, I don't know about you guys. But for now we're going to break here, join us for a socially-distanced photo op at victory podium here at the speed way. Thank you.

[ht: FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]

... notes from The EDJE

TAGS: NTT INDYCAR SERIES, 2021, 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500, Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Cake By The Ocean, Beth Paretta, Simona de Silvestro, Chevrolet, Race For Equality & Change, Team Penske, The EDJE