Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh driver Alex Palou was hoping for a better result for his maiden NTT IndyCar Series road course qualifying session on Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but the rookie had to settle for 21st on the starting grid for Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix.

Despite the end result, Palou impressed on his initial three-lap qualifying outing by placing third quickest with a lap time of 1:11.57 set on the primary Firestone ‘black’ tire. However, he was unable to get his alternate Firestone tires up to temperature for his final run in the 10-minute session. His fastest lap time of 1:11.1815 placed him 11th in his qualifying group.

“I’m disappointed with my qualifying result today,” expressed Palou. “When we first went out on the primary Firestone tire we were really good and were sitting P3 before going back out on the reds for our final lap. I had traffic on the out lap, like everybody, but I was not able to get the tires up to where they needed to be, so I didn’t have enough grip on my final lap and that’s why our result wasn’t so good. It’s all part of the learning experience, I guess. However, I’m happy with the first run we did, and I’m also encouraged for tomorrow because I believe we have a strong car for the race and that’s when it counts the most.”

Palou and his fellow NTT IndyCar Series drivers will get a final 30-minute warm up session tomorrow morning at 9:00am. The GMR Grand Prix will be broadcast live on NBC starting at Noon ET on Saturday, July 4.

Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou sees this weekend’s GMR Grand Prix, the second round on the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series schedule, as the true start to his rookie season.

Palou made his official series debut at Texas Motor Speedway last month, where he gained valuable experience around the high-speed oval, despite a short lived race, through no fault of his own.

However, with this weekend’s event being held on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Spaniard will find himself in a familiar environment having competed his entire career on that style of race track.

“I’m really excited to get back to racing this weekend at the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Texas was my first official NTT IndyCar Series race, but it was on an oval, after three months off and I had never raced on an oval before, so this weekend feels more like an ‘unofficial’ first race for me,” shared Palou.

“I’m very happy to be heading to a road course, which is the type of track that I’m used to racing on in Europe and Japan. It’s an environment that I’m much more comfortable with so I’m looking forward to a good weekend in my Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh Honda. The team had good cars there last season and I’m confident we can be quick there this year. Hopefully we can come out of the weekend with a good result.”

Drivers will get 90 minutes of practice starting at 11:30am ET on Friday, July 3 ahead of that afternoon’s qualifying session. Practice from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be streamed live on the NBC Gold App with qualifying being broadcast live on NBCSN from 4:30pm ET.

The GMR Grand Prix will go green at 12:08pm ET on Saturday, July 4 and will be broadcast live on NBC starting at Noon ET.

Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou’s NTT IndyCar Series debut was short lived when he got caught up in an on-track incident on Lap 37 of the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday evening.

Earlier in the day, Palou had done a good job by qualifying 16th in his first ever oval qualifying session after only two hours of practice on the 1.5-mile track.

Palou was looking forward to gaining as much experience as possible in what was his first oval race and was running 15^th when he entered pit lane on Lap 35 for his first pit stop.

Unfortunately, the Spaniard only got one more lap under his belt before he was collected by fellow rookie Rinus Veekay, who made contact with the wall and shot back down the track, clipping the left rear tire on the #55 Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh entry.

“I don’t think there was much I could have done. In hindsight, I should have gone high instead of going low, but that’s easy to say now. I have to watch the replay. Maybe I could have done something different, but not with the oval experience I have right now,” shared Palou.

“It’s a shame because the car was really good. I was getting comfortable and getting up to speed. Every lap I was getting better and better and keeping up with the cars in front. I was trying to get the car balanced right for the last stints. Unfortunately, we were not able to do that.”

Next up for Palou and the Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh team will be the GMR Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 4, 2020.

The NTT IndyCar Series is getting back on track this weekend and Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou will be facing a day of firsts on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway as he, finally, makes his official series debut.

Palou will not only be taking part in his first NTT IndyCar Series event, but it will also mark his first oval race and night race, all in a condensed one-day schedule on the high-speed oval that is the 1.5-mile track in Fort Worth, Texas. While Palou will be the only driver on the grid having never raced on an oval, in any category, he won’t be going in completely blind having at least tested at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year.

“These last few weeks I was really worried about just getting back to the United States and now that I’m here, I’m even happier and more excited to go racing at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. Not only did I make it, but I made it with enough time to prepare properly with the team and the engineers and to prepare myself. To be able to focus on racing and not always thinking about if I’m going to make it or not is a huge relief,” expressed Palou.

“This weekend will be my NTT IndyCar Series debut, which has been a dream of mine. It will also be my first oval, first night race and it’s in Texas. Everything to make it a difficult and challenging debut, but I’m looking forward to it. The team has had good cars there in the past so it’s going to be up to me to get up to speed and get comfortable with the car again after three months away. We have limited track time, so it won’t be easy for me and the other rookies, but we’ll try to make the best of it. I’ll be the only driver in the field that has never raced on an oval, in any type of car, but I’m ready for the challenge. It would be awesome for Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh if we could come out with a good result as we finally get the season started.”

Palou and his fellow rookies will get an additional 30 minutes of practice  prior to the full field taking to the track for the official practice session.

The season opening Genesys 300 will go green at 7:10pm local time and will be broadcast live on GAORA in Japan  from 8:30pm JP time.

An updated 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule was released today, displaying calendar adjustments implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway remains the season opener with a night race on the 1.5-mile oval Saturday, June 6. The next race on the INDYCAR calendar will be the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Saturday, July 4.

“Our teams and athletes are ready to get back on track and will deliver world-class action at Texas Motor Speedway and the Racing Capital of the World,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President & CEO Mark Miles said. “We appreciate the opportunity to begin our season during these unprecedented times, and I’m confident we’ll put on a great show.”

The REV Group Grand Prix at Road America has been rescheduled from June 21 to July 11-12, becoming a double-header with championship points races Saturday and Sunday on the iconic, 4-mile road course.

Two events have been canceled for 2020 due to local restrictions surrounding the pandemic: the Indy Richmond 300 on Saturday, June 27 at Richmond Raceway and the Honda Indy Toronto on Sunday, July 12 on the streets of Toronto.

The season finale will be the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, Oct. 25, a new date recently announced after the originally scheduled season opener March 15 in St. Pete was postponed due to the global health crisis.

The 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season will begin Saturday, June 6 with the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. INDYCAR’s stars will take the green flag at 8:45 p.m. (ET).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, INDYCAR will run a condensed schedule with practice, qualifying and the race taking place on the same day. The event also will be conducted without fans in attendance. This will be the 24th consecutive year in which INDYCAR has raced at the 1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth, Texas.

To accommodate the one-day schedule, the length for the race at Texas Motor Speedway has been adjusted to 200 laps rather than the previously announced 248 laps.

The remainder of the updated, 15-race INDYCAR calendar for 2020, announced April 6, remains on schedule for competition.

The Indianapolis 500 has been rescheduled for Sunday, Aug. 23 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials from INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) announced today.  The official green flag timethe of the 104^th edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” will be announced at a later date.

The GMR Grand Prix will transition to Saturday, July 4 on the IMS road course as part of a historic double-header featuring the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and NASCAR. This first-of-its-kind racing event also will be televised by NBC on Independence Day.

It was announced by INDYCAR that they had made decision to cancel all NTT INDYCAR SERIES events through April, from St. Petersburg Street Circuit through COTA (Circuit of The America) in Austin.

We are all disappointed very much because of Team Goh’s 1^st time challenge in open-wheel racing, but it was quite right decision since the safety of INDYCAR’s fans, participants, staff, partners, and media is the top priority.

GMR Grand Prix to take place on 9 May is supposed to be the season-opening race of NTT INDYCAR SERIES 2020 at this point of time.

It was announced that Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will be closed to spectator and limited to essential personnel only.  On-track session will be limited on  Saturday and Sunday.  Detailed schedule  will be announced later.

Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou’s long-time dream is becoming reality this weekend at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Round 1 of the 2020 season.

Since he first started racing single-seater race cars, Palou had one vision in mind, that of racing in the NTT IndyCar Series. Now, about six years later, the 22-year-old Spaniard will be making his official series debut at the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street course in St. Petersburg.

“To be honest, I’ve never been this excited for the start of a race season. As I’ve said before, it’s a dream for me to be part of the NTT IndyCar Series and this weekend it officially comes true,” expressed Palou. “I’m ready for the season to start. It’s just a shame that we had a limited amount of time to test with the aeroscreen, but it’s the same for everyone as we head into this first race.”

“I can’t wait to discover the St. Petersburg track. I think it’s a good track to start the season at and I’m very much looking forward to getting in the car Friday morning.”

While this will be his first trip to the St. Petersburg event, Palou has some experience racing on street circuits having competed at Norising (Nuremburg, Germany), Pau (Southwestern France) and Macau (China).

Palou will be on track for the first official practice session of the season on Friday, March 13 at 10:45am ET. A second practice session will follow in the afternoon at 3:00pm ET. On Saturday, March 14, the rookie will have one final practice session ahead of that afternoon’s qualifying session which takes place at 2:40pm ET.

The 100-lap season opening round will go green at 3:30pm ET on Sunday, March 15 and will be broadcast live on NBCSN starting at 2:30pm ET.

All practice sessions and qualifying will be streamed live on the NBC Gold app with qualifying also being broadcast on tape delay on NBCSN Saturday, March 14 at 10:00pn ET.

In Japan, Sunday race will be lively broadcasted by GAORA, from 4:00am on Monday, 16 March, JP time.

The 1st round of NTT INDYCAR SERIES 2020 will be held at St.Petersburg’s street circuit in Florida on this weekend, and it will be the 1st race as Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh as well.

Since 2009 the season-opner race of INDYCAR SERIES has taken place here with the exception of 2010.