By Luis Torres, Staff Writer
The final race of a busy July heads home to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for its second visit at the road course. Last time around, weather plagued the race but it certainly created excitement all across the board. Weather will be much ideal as there’s no sign of rain, but mostly sunny conditions is expected.
Track conditions aside, the news going into the Gallagher Grand Prix once again focuses on the drama involving Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing. This Wednesday, the team sued their driver who won last year’s NTT IndyCar Series champion as the team rest assure that Palou will still be their driver in 2023.
While the rumors of Palou may be out of a ride for the rest of the year were running rampant, the Spaniard is still slated to drive for the No. 10 team.
One other driver’s future is sealed as Juncos Hollinger Racing announced Thursday that Callum Ilott will be with the No. 77 team in a long-term deal.
“After seeing the results that we have been able to put forward at JHR for most of the year and the work that has been going on in the background by Ricardo and Brad to improve for the years beyond, made sense to continue with the team and keep building,” said Ilott in a press release.
“The potential that we have shown as a one car team can only get better as we grow and expand this program. I am super happy to continue working with all the team members at JHR, we have created a great foundation together this season. The effort that everyone puts in and the working environment that they have is amazing. From where we started at a year ago, to where we are now, I am confident that we will find more success together.”
The other headline is the status of Josef Newgarden, who won the opening race at Iowa but crashed out in the second race while leading.
While Newgarden was heartbroken and was uninjured, he had a frightening moment after the race when he fell outside of his transporter. He sustained head abrasion and was airlifted to a local hospital in Des Moines, where he stayed overnight for observation.
While the scans came out negative, Team Penske announced on Monday that Santino Ferrucci will be on standby. Ferrucci is slated to drive in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race for Sam Hunt Racing hours after the grand prix.
On Thursday, INDYCAR cleared Newgarden to run practice and will be re-evaluated to see if he’ll be race ready and conquer the 85-lap challenge that lies…
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