Linus Lundqvist to make debut in No. 8 American Legion Honda this weekend
NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie Linus Lundqvist will make his debut in the No. 8 American Legion Honda this weekend when he hits the streets of Florida for this weekend’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, Lundqvist will be carrying The American Legion’s Be the One messaging on his livery as he raises awareness about the organization’s veteran suicide prevention program. Lundqvist spoke about representing the Legion during a Q&A earlier this year.
"I'm very happy and excited to be heading to St. Pete, as it feels like it's been a long offseason,” Lundqvist said. “It's my first race with Chip Ganassi Racing, so it will be a special one. I know that the team has done a great job; the boys and girls here at the shop have been flat-out in their preparation. Excited to put the No. 8 American Legion Honda on the track and see how competitive we can be."
Lundqvist competed in three races last year, posting the fastest lap among all drivers in two of those races. He won the 2022 INDY NXT by Firestone championship by a margin of 92 points after earning five wins, nine podiums and seven pole positions, and finished third in the same series the previous year.
In three starts on the St. Petersburg road course during the 2021 and 2022 INDY NXT seasons, Lundqvist recorded two third-place finishes.
Defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champ Alex Palou also will carry American Legion branding while driving the No. 10 DHL Honda. Palou has won the INDYCAR SERIES points championship two of the past three seasons.
"St. Pete will mark a new year with new challenges, but also a new livery and a new partner with DHL,” Palou said. “We're very excited about that, and we just rolled it out in Sebring, where it looked amazing on track. I've never won at St. Pete, and this is a great opportunity to start the year strong by winning the opener and checking that racetrack off our list.
“We've worked very hard this offseason, and we feel prepared to continue on the path that we started creating in 2023. We want to defend the title, and the best way to do it is to start things off by winning this week."
This weekend’s 100-lap, 180-mile race takes incorporates the streets of downtown St. Petersburg and a section of runway of Albert Whitted Airport. After the long frontstretch, there's a tight right-hander into Turn 1 and then a quick left-hand turn. There are two other long straights with heavy braking zones that afford opportunities to overtake. Overall, the course features 14-turns.The weekend broadcast schedule (all times ET):
· Friday, March 8: 2:45-4 p.m., NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1 (Peacock).
· Saturday, March 9: 9:35-10:35 a.m., NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1; 2-3:30 p.m., NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice qualifications (all PEACOCK)
· Sunday, March 10: 9:10-9:40 a.m., NTT INDYCAR SERIES warm-up (Peacock); 10 a.m.-11:11 a.m., INDY NXT race (Peacock); noon-2:30 p.m., NTT INDYCAR SERIES race (NBC and Peacock).
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Notes (via INDYCAR):
· The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding will be the 21st INDYCAR SERIES race on the streets of St. Petersburg, dating to 2003 and the 20th race promoted by Green Savoree Promotions. Marcus Ericsson won the 2023 race, while Romain Grosjean won the NTT P1 Award. Paul Tracy won the inaugural race on Feb. 23, 2003, under CART sanction, while Sebastien Bourdais started from the pole that year.
· The St. Petersburg INDYCAR SERIES race has been run every year since 2003 except for 2004. No driver has competed in every St. Petersburg race, but Scott Dixon has started 19 consecutive races.
· Will Power (2010 and 2014) and Josef Newgarden (2019-2020) are the only entered drivers to win at St. Petersburg more than once. Six past winners are entered: Power, Newgarden, Graham Rahal (2008), Colton Herta (2021), Scott McLaughlin (2022) and Ericsson.
· Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou arrives at the season opener as the defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion for the second time in three seasons. The two-time series champion will look to make history by becoming the first repeat champion since Dario Franchitti won three in a row for Chip Ganassi Racing from 2009-11.
· Team Penske has won at St. Petersburg 11 times, including seven of the last 12 races with Castroneves (2012), Power (2014), Juan Pablo Montoya (2015-16), Newgarden (2019-2020) and McLaughlin (2022).
· The 2024 season marks the 20th season of the Firestone Fast Six qualifying format. Since the format debuted at the 2005 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, 65 drivers have participated in Firestone Fast Six qualifying at 20 road and street circuits. Not surprisingly, NTT INDYCAR SERIES all-time pole record holder Will Power leads all drivers with 96 career Firestone Fast Six appearances, only one ahead of six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon.
· Four drivers have won the race from the pole – Castroneves (2007), Power (2010), Herta (2021) and McLaughlin (2022). The St. Petersburg winner has qualified fourth in five of the last 20 races.
· Dixon is expected to make his 386th INDYCAR SERIES start, which is fourth on the all-time list. Dixon has made 322 consecutive starts heading into the weekend, which is the longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history.
· Rookies Colin Braun, Christian Rasmussen and Kyffin Simpson will make their NTT INDYCAR SERIES debuts at St. Petersburg. Veteran Pietro Fittipaldi is slated to race on the streets of St. Petersburg for the first time. The two other NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookies entered, Tom Blomqvist and Linus Lundqvist, debuted in 2023.