1. Drivers band together for 'Celebrity Family Feud' appearance2. INDYCAR trio awed by tour of NASA's Johnson Space Center3. Mann returns to Dale Coyne Racing for Indy 500 bid4. Rookie, manufacturer battles heat up
1. Drivers band together for 'Celebrity Family Feud' appearance: They may not always agree on the racetrack, but Verizon IndyCar Series drivers bear many resemblances to a family. They travel together, see each other all the time, argue, laugh. So why not make it official on national television?
Five Verizon IndyCar Series drivers - Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe, Will Power and Conor Daly - will join forces to represent INDYCAR on ABC's popular game show "Celebrity Family Feud," hosted by Emmy Award-winning TV personality Steve Harvey. The show's second season premieres at 8 p.m. ET June 26, with specific episode air dates to be released soon.
The drivers will compete against Sports Illustrated swimsuit models Nina Agdal, Samantha Hoopes, Tanya Mityushina, Robyn Lawley and Hannah Ferguson.
In each episode of "Celebrity Family Feud," teams of five compete to win money for charity. Each team is made up of a celebrity captain, with four relatives or friends playing along. The winning celebrity team is given a chance to win up to $25,000 to donate to a charity of its choice.
The Verizon IndyCar Series team will play for the Indy Family Foundation, a fund intended to aid those in the motorsports community (regardless of the sanctioning body) who find themselves in financial need due to hardship caused by illness, injury or death.
"The Indy Family Foundation is a huge part of our series," said Daly, rookie driver for Dale Coyne Racing. "It's really important to get everyone involved, so it's awesome to be able to compete to raise money for them."
"Celebrity Family Feud" returned to the air in 2015 and was ABC's highest-rated summer show. ABC is one of INDYCAR's television partners, broadcasting five Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2016, including the Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 14 and the historic 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on May 29.
Castroneves, the three-time Indy 500 champion from Team Penske, is no stranger to the national television spotlight and has been chosen as team captain. With his experience on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," (Season 5 champion, Season 15 competitor) and more recently, NBC's "American Ninja Warrior," the choice is natural.
"Being the team captain, it doesn't mean I'm going to be the best player, but I think we'll put the right people in the right place," Castroneves said. "I think we have a good strategy, and anytime we have competition, when you're talking about drivers, we're going for it. So it's going to be fun.
"We know our competitors, they're very tough and smart, but we feel we can beat them."
2. INDYCAR trio awed by tour of NASA's Johnson Space Center: The day-long tour of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston was barely an hour old and Dale Coyne Racing driver Conor Daly was already in awe. The Verizon IndyCar Series rookie had experienced only the first stop of his visit - a guided tour of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory with astronaut Drew Feustel - but it was enough for Daly to ponder a career change.
"Man," he said quietly. "I wanna go to space."
The sentiment was shared by fellow INDYCAR driver JR Hildebrand and KVSH Racing team co-owner James "Sulli" Sullivan, who joined Daly as they made multiple stops around JSC - NASA's hub for human space flight for the last 50 years. The trio spent May 2 bouncing around JSC's robust campus on a behind-the-scenes tour that left all of its attendees abuzz.
"Ultimately," Hildebrand concluded at the end of the tour, "you end the day feeling overwhelmed about how much amazing stuff you got to see."
They experienced the International Space Station, albeit in virtual reality, in the Hybrid Reality Laboratory and got up close and personal with Robonaut 2 - a dexterous humanoid robot built and designed at JSC as part of a collaboration project between NASA and General Motors. NASA Flight Director Matt Abbott took the trio on a tour inside the floor of the Apollo-era Mission Operations Control Room - the room from which a bulk of the most extraordinary aerospace history was orchestrated - and astronaut Doug Hurley took them through the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, which housed real-world replicas of the International Space Station and space shuttles.
While touring the floor of the current NASA Mission Control center, the three INDYCAR guests got much closer to space than any had planned. Abbott handed over a phone and told the group they'd be making a live call with astronauts Tim Kopra, Jeff Williams and Tim Peake, who are stationed aboard the real International Space Station orbiting some 250 miles above the earth.
Daly mustered a single question to kick off the call, but was unable to contain his enthusiasm while listening to the astronauts discuss their daily routine aboard the ISS.
The call continued for the better part of 10 minutes, as everybody took turns asking questions and telling the astronauts about the Verizon IndyCar Series and the upcoming 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. The conversation flowed unexpectedly well as the similarities between drivers and astronauts were evident. Abbott, who's been a NASA flight director since 2000, said it was one of the best calls he's experienced.
"The interaction with the crew was great," he said. "There was a rapport there and that's what made it kind of special."
Abbott wasn't alone in noticing the camaraderie.
"Right away we were able to find common ground on things that we do compared to things that they do," said Hildebrand, entered in both May races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Ed Carpenter Racing. "Coming from the motorsports community, there is so much crossover in terms of the way that things happen at NASA."
"This is probably one of the greatest experiences of my life," Daly, visibly at a loss for words, told the astronauts. "Thanks for taking the time."
The admiration was reciprocated.
"That says a lot coming from a race car driver," astronaut Kopra replied from the ISS. "This is pretty darn cool."
3. Mann returns to Dale Coyne Racing for Indy 500 bid: For a fourth consecutive year, Pippa Mann is returning to Dale Coyne Racing as part of the team's effort at this year's 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500. Mann will once again be promoting her 2016 Pink #GetInvolved campaign, raising funds for Susan G. Komen, the world's largest nonprofit source of funding for the fight against breast cancer.
"This cause is something very personal to me and to Dale Coyne Racing," said Mann, who will drive the No. 63 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. "While racing a pink car the past two years certainly attracts attention and awareness for Susan G. Komen, the most important part of our partnership is taking this amazing stage that is the Indianapolis 500 and using it to raise money that can actually go towards care and research.
"Over the past two years, we've raised over $100,000 through activities surrounding the racing program that support Komen's mission, including the 2015 campaign, and we're hoping to double last year's goal this year."
The 2016 campaign looks to raise $100,000. A variety of support packs is available for interested donors. They include new artwork from Doug Garrison, the return of the "Turn the Cockpit Pink" option, a total run of 300 "Pippa" Bell mini-helmets - 100 of which will be signed and available via the campaign - as well as her signed helmet and suit that she'll be wearing during this year's event.
"Pippa has been a tireless advocate for our mission to end breast cancer and the funds she has raised are helping to fund research and serve women facing this disease," said Dr. Judy Salerno, Komen president and CEO. "We are grateful to her and the Indy 500 family for their life-saving support."
To learn more or donate to the #GetInvolved campaign, visit https://igg.me/at/getinvolved2016.
In addition to representing Komen, Mann has recently welcomed new partner Genetic Technologies Limited, a molecular diagnostics company specializing in women's health, and provider of BREVAGenplus, a first-in-class, clinically validated risk assessment test for sporadic breast cancer.
Mann drove in six Verizon IndyCar Series races for Coyne in 2015, posting career-best finishes of 13th at Auto Club Speedway and Pocono Raceway. She will again team with Rob Ridgely, who engineered those 13th-place efforts. Her best Indianapolis 500 finish came as a rookie in 2011, when she placed 20th for Conquest Racing.
4. Rookie, manufacturer battles heat up: The three full-time rookies in the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series are locked in a competition as tight as the normal on-track battles during a race.
Max Chilton of Chip Ganassi Racing Teams heads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year competition with 64 points earned through four races. Alexander Rossi (Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian) and Conor Daly (Dale Coyne Racing) both sit just five points behind.
Spencer Pigot, whose only Verizon IndyCar Series race to date came in the season opener at St. Petersburg, returns to competition this month for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing at the Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. Matthew Brabham (PIRTEK Team Murray) will make his series debut at the grand prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and will then attempt to become just the third third-generation driver to race in the Indy 500.
Meanwhile, following its fourth victory in as many races to start the season, Chevrolet increased its lead in the 2016 manufacturers' championship to 142 points over rival Honda.
Points are earned by the top three finishers for each manufacturer in a race, with an additional two points available for the manufacturer that leads the most laps at each race. Chevrolet earned 120 points at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on April 24 while Honda totaled 87 points. Chevrolet had accumulated 461 points for the season compared to 319 for Honda.
