The NTT IndyCar Series has announced the plans for the Carb Day Pit-stop Challenge which takes place on Carb Day this Friday ahead of Sunday’s 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
The competition is returning this year following a two-year hiatus. The winning crew will take home $100,000.
First Round (Team listed first has lane choice)
#12 Team Penske (Will Power) vs. #10 Chip Ganassi Racing (Alex Palou)
#5 Arrow McLaren SP (Pato O’Ward) vs. #23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (Santino Ferrucci)
#26 Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian (Colton Herta) vs. #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (Jack Harvey)
#24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (Sage Karam) vs. #7 Arrow McLaren SP (Felix Rosenqvist)
#20 Ed Carpenter Racing (Conor Daly) vs. #28 Andretti Autosport (Romain Grosjean)
Quarterfinals (Team listed first has lane choice unless noted)
Q1: #2 Team Penske (Josef Newgarden) vs. Power/Palou winner
Q2: O’Ward/Ferrucci winner vs. Herta/Harvey winner (Fastest first-round time has lane choice)
Q3: #9 Chip Ganassi Racing (Scott Dixon) vs. Karam/Rosenqvist winner
Q4: #15 Rahal Letterman Racing (Graham Rahal) vs. Daly/Grosjean winner
Semifinals (Fastest quarterfinal time has lane choice)
S1: Q1 winner vs. Q2 winner
S2: Q3 winner vs. Q4 winners
Finals (Best-of-Three Series)
S1 winner vs. S2 winner
Team Penske leads the Challenge with a combined 17 wins. Helio Castroneves is the winningest driver in the competition with eight titles.
Coverage of the Ruoff Mortgage Pit Stop Challenge begins at 2:30 p.m. (ET) and will be available on Peacock Premium.
Speaking about the pit-stop challenge, President of IndyCar Jay Frye said:
“What better way to welcome back fans to Miller Lite Carb Day than to bring back the Ruoff Mortgage Pit Stop Challenge. “NTT INDYCAR SERIES racing is a team sport, and this contest showcases how important pit stops are to helping their team win the Indy 500 on Sunday.”
Participating pit crews – representing seven different teams – qualified for this year’s Ruoff Mortgage Pit Stop Challenge via pit stop performance in NTT INDYCAR SERIES races since the 2021 Indy 500, their ranking in the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES entrant standings or as a one-off Indianapolis 500 entrant.
Crews will compete head-to-head in single-round eliminations for the first three rounds of the competition in which they are required to change four tires and simulate refueling.
The top three ranked squads – top-seeded No. 2 Team Penske, second seed No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing and third seed No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – earned byes to the quarterfinals.
In the championship round, the last two teams will meet in a best-of-three series, with teams alternating lanes in the first two races.
The winning crew and driver will share a $50,000 bonus, custom-designed rings from Jostens and a variety of other prizes.
Coverage of the Ruoff Mortgage Pit Stop Challenge begins at 2:30 p.m. (ET) and will be available on Peacock Premium.