• Former Indy 500, series champion makes debut piloting two-seat Indy Car
• Will lead INDYCAR field Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway event
• Kerry Robinson of the St. Louis Cardinals will receive the ride of a lifetime

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MADISON, Ill. (August 28, 2020) – Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and four-time series champion Dario Franchitti will return to the cockpit this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway, as the former Indy car star takes the controls of Honda’s “Fastest Seat in Sports” two-seat Indy car prior to the start of Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the 1.25-mile oval.

            St. Louis native Kerry Robinson, former left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and now a scout for the organization, will ride in the custom-built, Honda-powered, two-seat Indy car piloted by Franchitti at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, located across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri.

            “I’m excited to get back behind the wheel of an Indy car, especially one with Honda power, although I certainly didn’t expect to have a passenger!” said Franchitti, who scored all of his 31 Indy car wins with Honda power.  “It will be fun to return to the track here at St. Louis, since I believe this is the place where I led an Indy car race for the first time, back in 1997.” 

            Since his retirement in 2013, Franchitti has remained active in Indy car racing, serving as a driving coach and advisor at the Honda-powered Chip Ganassi Racing team, working with team drivers Scott Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Ericsson.

            Now in its 11th consecutive year, Honda’s Fastest Seat in Sports helps to kick off each NTT IndyCar Series® race throughout the season, giving athletes, celebrities and notable influencers an opportunity to experience the thrill of the Honda-powered two-seat Indy car. Recent participants include Nick Cannon, Lady Gaga, Channing Tatum, Kawhi Leonard and Julian Edelman. 

            At last weekend’s Indianapolis 500, the guest passenger was Honda-powered team owner and former Indy car champion Michael Andretti, who was driven by his father, Mario, while his son Marco led the 33-car starting field from the pole.

            Honda also continues its commitment to IndyCar® this year as the automaker celebrates its 27^th consecutive year as a manufacturer to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES® and seeks the Manufacturers’ Championship for the third year in a row.

            Live race coverage of the WWT Raceway INDYCAR doubleheader race weekend can be viewed on the NBC Sports Network, starting at 3 p.m. EDT both Saturday and Sunday. For more information about Honda’s racing programming, please visit http://hpd.honda.com.

About Honda 

Honda offers a full line of clean, safe, fun and connected vehicles sold through over 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. Honda has the highest fleet average fuel economy and lowest CO₂ emissions of any major full-line automaker in America, according to the latest data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Honda lineup includes the Fit, Civic, Insight Accord and Clarity series passenger cars, along with the HR-V, CR-V, Passport and Pilot sport utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan. Honda’s electrified vehicle lineup includes the Accord Hybrid, CR-V Hybrid, Insight hybrid-electric sedan, and the Clarity Fuel Cell and Clarity Plug-In Hybrid.

Honda has been producing automobiles in America for 38 years and currently operates 19 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2019, more than 90 percent of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.