Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward is racing with a heavy heart this weekend in Toronto after his spotter, Bob Jeffrey, lost his battle with cancer Thursday night.
“We lost a good one yesterday,” Arrow McLaren said via a statement at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. “Bob Jeffrey, Spotter for Pato O’ward and our No. 5 Team, passed away after a battle with cancer. Bob was a favorite in the paddock with his contagious laugh and brilliant personality. He is renowned as one of the greatest spotters in motorsport, having won championships in INDYCAR, NASCAR and IMSA as the ‘eye in the sky’ for a number of first-rate racers, including Tony Stewart, Dale Jarrett and Josef Newgarden. Most of all, Bob will be remembered as a fun-loving family man who always greeted his teammates with a smile. We miss you, Bob, forever our eye in the sky.”
Jeffrey boasted an impressive resume. Getting his start as a spotter in the NASCAR Cup Series Jeffrey was the eyes in the sky for Jarrett, Stewart and Danica Patrick, among other drivers through the years.
Jeffrey was Jarrett’s spotter until he retired in 2008. The highlight of the relationship was NASCAR’s 1999 Cup Series championship. Once Jarrett retired, Jeffrey moved to Stewart-Haas Racing, heling guide Stewart to his 2011 Cup title.
In 2019, Jeffrey was hired by Team Penske to work in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES as Newgarden’s spotter. They won the championship the first season together. Jeffrey teamed up with O’Ward the last two seasons.
"Bobster, thank you for being a part of my journey," O'Ward wrote on Instagram. "I'm so glad I had a chance to say my goodbyes this morning. I know I'll have an angel riding alongside me forever. See you on the other side."
Arrow McLaren will race with a special sticker on all three of its cars this weekend.
Rasmussen Returns To Seat In Hopes Of Continuing Momentum
A ninth-place finish in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by 2025 Civic Hybrid brought forth an innate amount of confidence for Christian Rasmussen, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie driving for Ed Carpenter Racing driver. He said between circumstances out of his or the teams’ control, mixed with rookie mistakes, he came into the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 with an average finish of 24th through the first four races.
Over the next five races, that has improved his finishing rate to 16.2. Team owner Ed Carpenter said he never lost faith in the ability of No. 20 Guy Care Chevrolet.
Rasmussen, who competes in the car on all road and street events while Carpenter handles the ovals, is back this weekend to continue the found momentum.
“We are definitely heading in a good direction,” he said.
The streets of Toronto hold a special place in Rasmussen’s racing career. Returning to the track for the first-time since 2019, Toronto is where he won his first pole position and first ever junior category victory in the USF2000 event weekend.
“I have good memories,” he said. “A place that I am excited to go back to.”
Rasmussen had the 21st-quickest lap in Friday’s practice. However, that doesn’t put his car’s strength in perspective since he didn’t get a lap on the faster Firestone alternate tire in the second group of practice with a pair of red flags for Alexander Rossi and Linus Lundqvist hitting the tire barriers.
VeeKay Also Boasts Momentum With ECR
The driver of the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet also possesses an upswing of confidence. Rinus VeeKay earned as many top-10 finishes in the pair of 250-lap races at Iowa Speedway as he did in the previous nine races on the season.
Last Saturday, VeeKay climbed from 13th at the start to fifth to earn his first top-five finish since July 2022. Sunday’s race saw him move up from 15th to finish ninth.
“It feels very good to be getting back in the car so soon after we had such a strong weekend in Iowa, he said. “We are ready to continue the good results in Toronto.”
VeeKay is set for his third NTT INDYCAR SERIES race weekend on the streets of Toronto. He qualified 12th and finished 13th last year. Also, in six INDYCAR ladder series starts, he earned five podium finishes.
Marmon Wasp Finds New Home While IMS Museum Furthers Renovations
The National Historic Vehicle Register's (NHVR) display in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation will feature a new vehicle starting this month as part of The Henry Ford's partnership with the Hagerty Drivers Foundation. The 1911 Marmon Wasp is on display in the NHVR exhibition space now through November.
Typically, “The Wasp” winner of the inaugural Indianapolis 500-mile race in 1911 is on display at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Hall of Fame museum. However, the museum is closed for a major renovation project and will reopen in April 2025.
The Wasp is one of America's most significant race cars. Ray Harroun, an engineer, airplane pilot and race car driver custom-built and drove the single-seat Marmon to victory. It is believed to be among the first cars to utilize a rearview mirror which allowed Harroun a slight advantage in that he did not have a passenger "riding mechanic" watching traffic behind him.
The NHVR rotating exhibit is part of a partnership between The Henry Ford and the Hagerty Drivers Foundation to display cars from the National Historic Vehicle Register that tell the story of the automobile in American history. The yellow #32 1911 Marmon Wasp, owned by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, was added to the National Historic Vehicle Register in 2016.
Odds and Ends
· Colton Herta finished on the podium in the last two races at Toronto. The Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian driver was quickest in Friday’s practice and said his car feels the same as it did in those two trophy-awarding races.
· Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist has qualified on the front row for two of the three street events this season at St. Petersburg and Long Beach. He was second fastest in Friday’s practice.
· Chip Ganassi Racing had three cars in the top-seven of the combined speed chart Friday but among the top six in times were represented by five different teams (Andretti Global, Meyer Shank Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, AJ Foyt Racing).
· The 2024 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto will mark the first race at the Exhibition Place circuit for Pietro Fittipaldi. His grandfather, Emerson Fittipaldi, won the race in 1987 and earned two, second-place finishes (1989, 1993) and a third (1994) and his while Christian Fittipaldi, son of Pietro’s grand uncle Wilson Fittipaldi, finished third in 1999 and 2002 here. He is looking to put his recent simulator experience for Toronto last week into practical knowledge.
· Nolan Siegel is the third different driver in four street races for the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Callum Ilott finished 11th in the car in the season-opener on the streets of St. Petersburg. Theo Pourchaire then finished 11th at Long Beach and 10th in Detroit.
· O’Ward is the only driver to complete all 1,390 possible race laps this season. Kyle Kirkwood was the only other driver who completed 100-percent of the laps but was collected in the final-lap crash of last Sunday’s race at Iowa Speedway leaving him with 1,389 of 1,390 laps completed.
· Both Meyer Shank Racing machines spot new looks this weekend at Toronto. The No. 60 SiriusXM Honda for Felix Rosenqvist has a bit more blue and black on the livery while David Malukas’ No. 66 SiriusXM Honda features a special livery in collaboration with SiriusXM Canada to showcase Canadian rock bank, The Tragically Hip (SiriusXM channel 757).
· According to Trackside Online, Toronto is actually not the most northern race on the 2024 INDYCAR calendar. Portland, at 45.5152 latitude, is the furthest north. Road America (43.8055) is the second most northern track followed by Toronto (43.6532) and Detroit (42.3314).