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RACE PREVIEW: Honda Indy Toronto

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FRIDAY, JULY 15 – SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2022

TRACK: Streets of Toronto
LOCATION: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TRACK LAYOUT:
1.786-mile, 11-turn street circuit
RACE LENGTH: 85 laps/151.81 miles

PRACTICE: Friday – 2:30-3:45 p.m. ET (Peacock Premium)
Saturday – 10-11 a.m. ET (Peacock Premium)
Sunday – 10:55-11:25 a.m. ET (Peacock Premium)
QUALIFYING: Saturday – 2-3:15 p.m. ET (Peacock Premium)
RACE: Sunday – 3 p.m. ET (Peacock Premium)

ED CARPENTER RACING

After a two-year hiatus, the only international stop on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES calendar returns with the Honda Indy Toronto. Ed Carpenter Racing is familiar with success at the Canadian street circuit, winning back to back races in 2014 and 2015. The team’s first 1-2 finish occurred at the 2015 event, when Josef Newgarden held off teammate Luca Filippi to take the win. Mike Conway brought home the win in 2014 for ECR. Conor Daly and Rinus VeeKay, who joined ECR prior to the 2020 season, will be competing in their first Honda Indy Toronto with the team. The popular event uses the streets surrounding Exhibition Place near Lake Ontario and last ran in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET

CONOR DALY, No. 20 BitNile Chevrolet: “It’s always wonderful going back to Toronto! It’s a great track and Canadian race fans are so passionate and really just incredible people. It’s been far too many years since INDYCAR has been there. I’ve not raced there for even longer, so I am very much looking forward to getting back on track and continuing our strong season. ECR has done well there in the past so I am very excited and hopefully we will leave with more trophies!”

OF NOTE: 

• Though Conor Daly will be making his first start with ECR in the Honda Indy Toronto this weekend, he is no stranger to the circuit and has competed in four Indy car races in the streets of Toronto. In 2015 and 2018, Daly stepped in last-minute as a substitute driver and excelled under the circumstances both times. His 2015 performance yielded a 12th place finish; in 2018, he advanced to the second round of qualifying and started 11th. 

• Daly’s first season as full-time driver of ECR’s No. 20 BitNile Chevrolet has featured a stretch of solid results. Daly advanced through all rounds of qualifying and started 4th in the first race of May, the GMR Grand Prix. Battling both wet and dry conditions during the race, he earned a Top 5 finish. Two weeks later, he paced the Indianapolis 500 field for several laps before finishing 6th. Additional strong results followed in Detroit and Road America. In the most recent race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Daly brought home another solid finish after gaining nine positions of the course of the race.

• BitNile Holdings, Inc. is the primary partner of the No. 20 Chevrolet as part of a multi-year deal. BitNile is a diversified holding company that specializes in disruptive technologies, including cryptocurrency and innovations in the field of Decentralized Finance (“DeFi”). They focus on large-scale crypto mining with energy efficient, powerful operations located in North America and operate their own high-density data center. BitNile invests in technology platforms that provide crypto holders a vehicle to earn interest on their crypto assets. 

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITCOIN RACING TEAM POWERED BY BITNILE CHEVROLET

RINUS VEEKAY, No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team Powered By BitNile Chevrolet: “I am very excited for my first Indy car race in Toronto! I had a few wins there in my Road to Indy career and I always loved the track. In the past, ECR has had quite a few good results at Toronto as well so I can’t wait to see how we do at that track! I think we will have a great car and I hope to go for a podium or a win!”

OF NOTE: 

• Rinus VeeKay was set to make his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES start in the streets of Toronto in 2020, but the event was not contested the past two years. Although 2022 will be the first time he takes to the track in an Indy car, VeeKay has ample experience in Toronto. In his three-year Road To Indy career prior to joining ECR, he raced on the street circuit six times and earned five podium finishes. In 2018, he swept the Indy Pro 2000 weekend (formerly known as Pro Mazda), starting from the pole position and winning both races. 

• VeeKay put on a show two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with smart driving and impressive passes. His performance propelled him to a 4th-place finish, his best result since a podium at Barber Motorsports Park in early May when he started from the pole position. A few weeks later, he qualified on the front row of the Indianapolis 500 for the second year in a row and started third. With his qualifying performance, he was the fastest Chevrolet-powered driver in the 33-car field for the third consecutive year.

• Through the generosity of BitNile Holdings, Inc. (BitNile), ECR’s Bitcoin Racing Team will continue to grow in 2022. VeeKay is back in the No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team Powered by BitNile Chevrolet, the same design he campaigned in this year’s Indy 500. Any individual who scans the unique QR code on the side of the No. 21 car and completes the registration will receive free Bitcoin from Earnity, a community-based crypto platform of which BitNile is a significant investor. 

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