NTT IndyCar Series drivers will be back at the track this weekend for the first time since early June for the GMR Grand Prix. Following the season opener at Texas Motor Speedway, teams had almost a month off before the open-wheel series’ return at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Although the Indy 500 was pushed to later in the year by the coronavirus pandemic, IndyCar will run on the track’s infield road course this coming Saturday in a historic occasion. This weekend marks the first time IndyCar and NASCAR have had a doubleheader weekend, with the open-wheel cars and NASCAR’s Xfinity Series running back-to-back on Saturday, followed by the Cup Series on Sunday. The former two will both run the road course. Simon Pagenaud is the defending IndyCar winner, sweeping both races at Indianapolis last year.
Dalton Kellett is scheduled for the A.J. Foyt-owned No. 14, as he and Tony Kanaan are splitting the 2020 schedule in Kanaan’s final year.
Conor Daly ran for Carlin at Texas, but makes the switch to Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 this weekend. Ed Carpenter himself will not be running as he did at Texas.
Making his first start of 2020 is Sage Karam with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Ditto for Spencer Pigot, who will be making his first start with Citrone Buhl Autosport with RLL. Pigot was released from Ed Carpenter Racing after 2019 and four seasons with the team.
Full IndyCar Entry List
The GMR Grand Prix is set to get underway shortly after noon ET on Saturday, July 4, with the Xfinity Series race scheduled immediately afterward at 3 p.m.
Adam Cheek joined Frontstretch as a contributing writer in January 2019. A 2020 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, he covered sports there and later spent a year and a half as a sports host on 910 the Fan in Richmond, VA. He's freelanced for Richmond Magazine and the Richmond Times-Dispatch and also hosts the Adam Cheek's Sports Week podcast. Adam has followed racing since the age of three, inheriting the passion from his grandfather, who raced in amateur events up and down the East Coast in the 1950s.