BROWNSBURG, Ind. (September 1, 2021) – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) announced today that Oliver Askew, 24, will compete in the No. 45 Hy-Vee entry at the final three races in the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in Portland, Ore., Monterey and Long Beach, Calif. Hy-Vee, Inc. – an employee-owned supermarket chain that operates more than 280 retail stores across eight Midwestern states – was the primary sponsor of Graham Rahal’s entry for two races this season as well as a full season associate and was the primary sponsor of the No. 45 Hy-Vee-sponsored entry at the Indy 500, doubleheader races in Detroit, Mid-Ohio and Nashville.

“It’s fantastic opportunity to run the final three races of the season with such a capable team in Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing,” said Oliver Askew. “We had a very productive test together a few weeks ago at Barber and I’m excited to drive the team’s car again, this time in Hy-Vee colors in one of the most competitive racing environments the world has ever seen. I believe we can put together a great string of results and I’m excited to get to work.” 

Askew is a graduate of the Road to Indy ladder system with championships in Indy Lights (2019) and Cooper Tires USF2000 (2017). He made his debut in the INDYCAR SERIES with Arrow McLaren SP in 2020 completing a rise from go-karts to Indy cars in four seasons. In 2020, he had a best start of fifth place in the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a best finish of third at Iowa Speedway in Race 1 of the doubleheader. In 2021, he has competed in two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, one each for Arrow McLaren SP (Detroit, Race 2) and Ed Carpenter Racing (Road America) as the replacement for their injured drivers Felix Rosenqvist and Rinus VeeKay, respectively. Also in 2021, he made his sports car racing debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and won the LMP3 class with Riley Motorsports.

Hy-Vee first joined the team as the primary sponsor of Graham Rahal’s entry for Race 2 at the Iowa Speedway in 2020 where he finished third. The company was also the primary sponsor of the team’s entry for Spencer Pigot at the Indy 500 and an associate sponsor of Rahal’s entry for the legendary race. In 2021, they have been a primary sponsor at seven races to date: the Indy 500, Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader, Mid-Ohio and Nashville races with Ferrucci and at Road America and St. Louis with Rahal.

The 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season continues with the Portland Grand Prix which will be broadcast live on NBC on September 12 at 3 p.m. EDT. The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey will air live on NBC at 3 p.m. EDT on September 19 and the season-finale Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will air live on NBC Sports at 3 p.m. EDT on September 26. All on-track action can be seen on NBC, NBCSN or NBC’s Peacock Premium streaming service. For more information about the series or team, visit www.indycar.com and www.rahal.com.

About Hy-Vee, Inc.
Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating more than 280 retail stores across eight Midwestern states with sales of $11 billion annually. The supermarket chain is synonymous with quality, variety, convenience, healthy lifestyles, culinary expertise and superior customer service. Hy-Vee ranks in the Top 10 Most Trusted Brands and has been named one of America’s Top 5 favorite grocery stores. The company’s more than 85,000 employees provide “A Helpful Smile in Every Aisle” to customers every day. For additional information, visit www.hy-vee.com.

About Oliver Askew
Askew, 24, began karting at age seven in Florida. He won numerous Florida Winter Tour titles and represented the United States at the Rotax MAX World Finals in multiple classes. In 2015, he won the U.S. Senior MAX Championship and European BNL Rotax Challenge Senior MAX Championship and made his car racing debut in the Formula Masters China Series, earning four top-10 finishes in six races. In 2016, he was a recipient of the Team USA Scholarship, finishing second in the Walter Hayes Trophy Grand Final at Silverstone. He also finished on the podium in two of the three races at the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch and won the Road to Indy USF2000 Scholarship Shootout at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to earn a ride in the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. Keeping his skills sharp in the off season, he won the Florida Winter Tour championship in Sr. Karting. In 2017, he won the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship for Cape Motorsports with seven wins, including six in the first seven races and had a total of 13 podiums finishes in 16 starts en route to being named the Hyperco Rookie of the Year. He also won eight pole positions and set four track records. In 2018, he finished third in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship for Cape Motorsports after four podiums in the final six races, including a win in Portland, where he was given the series’ Tilton Hard Charger Award. He also won three poles, set three track records and was the only driver to complete every lap of the season (432 laps). In 2019, he won the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires championship for Andretti Autosport with seven wins and moved up to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Arrow McLaren SP for 2020. He competed in 12 of the 14 races with a best start of fifth on the road course at the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) and best finish of third at Iowa Speedway, Race 1. He was not able to follow up his best series start of fifth at the IMS road course in the fall doubleheader at IMS due to concussion-like symptoms from a previous crash. In 2021, he made his sports car racing debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and won the LMP3 class with Riley Motorsports. He made his return to the INDYCAR SERIES in Round 8 in Detroit when he filled in mid-weekend at Arrow McLaren SP for Felix Rosenqvist who was injured in Race 1 of the doubleheader. And then filled in for the injured Rinus Veekay at Road America the following weekend. Despite the lack of time to prepare, he led two laps at Road America en route to a 12th place finish. Askew tested with RLL on July 26 at Barber Motorsports Park.

About Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, based in Hilliard, Ohio and Brownsburg, Ind., is co-owned by three-time
IndyCar Champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, former CBS Late Show host David Letterman and Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan. In 2021, the team is in the midst of its 30th year of competition and will attempt to add to its 29 Indy car wins – including the 2004 Indy 500 from pole with Buddy Rice and the 2020 Indy 500 with Takuma Sato — their 33 poles, 107 podium finishes and 1992 series championship.  The team also competed in the American Le Mans Series from 2009-2013 as BMW Team RLL where they won both the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category in 2010 and swept all three GT titles in 2011 – Manufacturer, Team and Driver. In 2012, the team finished second in the Team Championship and third in the Manufacturer Championship and in 2013, the team finished second in the Driver, Team and Manufacturer Championship. Since 2014, BMW Team RLL has competed in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a two-car program and has brought their total to 22 wins – including the 2019 and 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance races, 28 poles and 91 podium finishes as well as a second-place finish in the Manufacturer, Team and Driver championships in 2015 and 2017. The team was also the 2020 Michelin Endurance Champions. For 2021, the team will compete for back-to-back Michelin Endurance Championships.