Honda PR

Honda IndyCar message points for World Wide Technology Raceway

Posted on by Patrick Stephan

Bommarito Automotive Group 500

World Wide Technology Raceway

8 p.m. EDT Saturday, August 21

NBCSN and NBC Peacock

IndyCar Radio Network and SiriusXM

Honda at World Wide Technology Raceway

  • Defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon scored a milestone 50th career victory last year at World Wide Technology Raceway, in the opening race of a double-header weekend.  Earlier this year, he scored his 51st win at Texas Motor Speedway. Dixon’s next victory will tie the six-time champion with Mario Andretti for second on the career win list.
  • This weekend’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will mark the 13th Indy car race to be held in the St. Louis area, and will be the fifth year at the repaved and updated World Wide Technology Raceway.  The track also hosted a seven-season run of Indy car events, under both Championship Auto Racing Team and Indy Racing League sanction, from 1997-2003 at what was then known as Gateway International Raceway.
  • Previous Honda winners at WWT Raceway include Takuma Sato in 2019; and Alex Zanardi, who recorded Honda’s first victory in St. Louis in 1998, driving a Reynard-Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Manufacturer Competition

  • Honda continues to hold the lead in the 2021 INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship, with seven victories from 12 races this season.  Returning to St. Louis, Honda holds a 68-point advantage (1,034-966) over rival Chevrolet. The company is seeking its fourth consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers’ Championship in 2021.
  • In addition to Helio Castroneves’ historic win at the Indianapolis 500 in May, Honda race winners this year include championship leader Alex Palou at Road America in June and at the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama; Marcus Ericsson last weekend in Nashville and at the first race of the Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader weekend; defending and six-time champion Scott Dixon (Texas Race 1); and Colton Herta (Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg).
  • Palou comes to Indianapolis leading the Drivers’ Championship with two victories and 415 points to 394 for Pato O’Ward.  Dixon, Palou’s teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing is ranked third with 381 points. A third Ganassi Honda driver, two-time winner Ericsson rounds out the top five in the drivers’ championship with 353 points.
  • Other Honda drivers in the top 10 include Graham Rahal, sixth with 312 points; and Colton Herta, seventh with 311 points.
  • In a tightening battle for series Rookie of the Year honors, Honda’s Romain Grosjean has moved to within seven points of current rookie leader, Scott McLaughlin (213-206).  This weekend’s race will be the first for Grosjean on an oval.  He did not run the events earlier this year at Texas Motor Speedway or in the Indianapolis 500.
  • Seven wins in 2020 brought Honda the company’s ninth INDYCAR Manufacturers’ Championship, and third consecutive title, with Honda driver Dixon prevailing to win his sixth Drivers’ Championship.  Dixon’s championship total is highest among active drivers in the series, and second all-time behind only A.J. Foyt’s seven titles.
  • Honda’s Indy car win total of 259 in 25 years of North American open-wheel racing – including 14 Indianapolis 500 victories since 2003 – is unmatched by any other manufacturer in the same period.

Where to Watch

  • Television coverage from the World Wide Technology Raceway on NBC Peacock begins with the opening practice Saturday at a p.m. EDT, and continues through qualifying at 5 p.m. EDT.
  • Live network television coverage Saturday night’s 200-lap race starts at 8 p.m. EDT on the NBC Sports Network.  Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on NBC Peacock, the INDYCAR Radio Network, and carried by SiriusXM satellite radio.