Palou, Daly, Rowe, Avedisian, Actor Keanu Reeves among Competitors Oct. 4-6
Seven series featuring some of the most evocative sports cars and an interesting mix of competitors from North America and the world will compete on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Friday, Oct. 4 through Sunday, Oct. 6 during the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS.
The Intercontinental GT Challenge and Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS will share the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course for the premier event of the weekend, an eight-hour endurance sports car race for GT sports cars starting at 12:15 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 5 and finishing with headlights on in dusk – a unique sight at IMS – at 8:15 p.m. This round is the season finale for both series.
These GT sports cars from prestigious manufacturers such as Acura, BMW, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, which resemble their road-going counterparts, will compete in the longest race of the year at the Racing Capital of the World.
Other series racing this weekend in a fall festival of sports car and touring car racing include GT America powered by AWS, Pirelli GT4 America, TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School, Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Cup North America and Mustang Challenge. Those series are conducting doubleheader sprint races Friday through Sunday.
Tickets are available at IMS.com.
There are familiar names and faces in many of the series racing this weekend at IMS.
The Indianapolis 8 Hour driver lineup includes reigning and three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou making a rare foray into sports car racing, along with popular INDYCAR SERIES driver and local hero Conor Daly, and former INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone drivers Zach Veach and Gabby Chaves.
Palou is teaming with Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz in the No. 4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. This is Palou’s first GT3 start outside of Japan, where he raced in 2019 before joining the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2020.
Spaniard Palou already has a victory this season on the IMS road course, as he won the Sonsio Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES race that kicked off the Month of May.
Daly, from nearby Noblesville, Indiana, will share the No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW with Connor De Phillippi and Kenton Koch in the Indianapolis 8 Hour. De Phillippi finished second in the BMW M Team prototype team fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the GTP class and overall race in the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Sept. 22 at IMS.
Veach and 2015 Indianapolis 500 and INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year Chaves will serve as co-drivers with Luca Mars in the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 in the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
In the pair of Pirelli GT4 America sprint races, INDY NXT by Firestone standout Myles Rowe will make his sports car racing debut by sharing the No. 098 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 with Isaac Sherman. African American driver Rowe will represent Indianapolis-based NXG Youth Motorsports, a program that uses experiential learning through motorsports to teach science, technology, engineering, applied arts and mathematics (STEAM) concepts and develop life skills, with a focus on increased African American participation and inclusion in auto racing.
Former INDYCAR SERIES driver Matheus Leist will share the No. 89 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes AMG-GT4 with Michael Auriemma in Pirelli GT4.
The single-make Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Cup North America series features an interesting mix of familiar motorsports names and celebrities this weekend at IMS.
USAC standout Jade Avedisian, who electrified the crowd with a runner-up finish last Sunday in the Driven2SaveLives BC39 presented by Avanti Windows & Doors, will drive the No. 24 Nitro Motorsports Toyota GR86. Jaxon Bell, the son of Indianapolis 500 veteran and INDYCAR SERIES television analyst Townsend Bell, is driving the No. 99 Copeland Motorsports Toyota.
Plenty of Hollywood star power can be found in the No. 92 Eagles Canyon Racing powered by Fast Track Toyota driven by actor Keanu Reeves, star of such blockbusters as “The Matrix,” “Speed” and the “John Wick” franchise.
YouTube star Cody Jones, a member of the “Dude Perfect” sports and comedy group, will drive the No. 29 Toyota GR86 also fielded by Eagles Canyon Racing powered by Fast Track.
Spectators are admitted Friday through Sunday at IMS, with gates opening at 7:30 a.m. ET Friday, 8 a.m. Saturday and 7:30 a.m. Sunday. Among the schedule highlights besides the 8 Hour race is 8 Hour qualifying at 3:05 p.m. Friday and the pole shootout for that event at 5:45 p.m. that day.
Click here for the complete schedule and more event and fan information.
