Paretta Autosport will make its return to the NTT IndyCar Series at Road America. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Paretta Autosport will make its NTT IndyCar Series return with Simona de Silvestro back behind the wheel of the No. 16 Chevrolet. STEM-based company KiwiCo will be the primary sponsor of this season’s effort.
The organization made history last May when it became the first woman-owned, woman-driven, and women-forward INDYCAR effort. Most of the crew will indeed be back as Paretta announced Tuesday they will run at least three races with those being Road America (June 12), Mid-Ohio (July 3), and the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville (August 7).
Additional races will be determined pending how scheduling permits the organization.
With those confirmed events slated for de Silvestro, it will mark the first time since 2013 that an INDYCAR grid will have more than one female racer outside of the Indianapolis 500. AJ Foyt Racing’s Tatiana Calderon will also run those races.
Paretta commented it has been a long time since seeing such an occurrence and met Calderon at Long Beach.
“Excited to be racing against Tatiana, who I met at Long Beach,” said Paretta. “We were at the same restaurant. I said, She looks familiar. I went over and introduced myself.
“It’s fantastic. It’s great for the fans, great for growing the sport. I mean, there’s room for more. Jump on it. The water’s fine,” Paretta smiled.
In terms of how the program will go about its business, it will have a technical partnership with Ed Carpenter Racing. The driver-owner will supply a car and crew members that will join the Paretta crew that were a part of last year’s 500.
In addition to having two full-time cars, Carpenter will supply a car and crew members to Paretta Autosport. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“Beth and I have discussed varieties of ways of trying to collaborate on her dreams and Paretta Autosport over the past couple years. Took us a while to find the right fit, but we’re finally there,” said Carpenter.
“Very excited to be part of this partnership and help Paretta Autosport continue on its journey, making it a full reality to get to where you want to go. It’s a pleasure to be a part of, to extend our relationship with you and with Chevrolet, something that we’re proud of, as well,” Carpenter continued.
“It’s something that for our team, being one of two teams, us and Team Penske, that have been with Chevy since your return in 2012 is something we’re very proud of. It’s going to be fun,” Carpenter concluded.
All smiles from the female crew prior to the 105th Indy 500. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
This season’s plans began to unfold last August with Paretta saying her main goal was to become a full-time program. This is still the goal. Considering all the partnerships jumping on board, it’s a step closer to that goal.
“I looked at a few things. My intention was always 500 plus. If we were going to do the 500, it was not just the 500. In talking to Ed (Carpenter), obviously knowing where is the constraint? We know there are some challenges with how many people are available, how many cars are available,” Paretta explained.
“I said, ‘Okay, let’s look at an alternate way to do this.’ Honestly, it was a conversation with some of the folks at Chevrolet. I said, This is what I’m thinking of doing, but I’m not sure what is the best.
“They said, We really think Ed Carpenter would be a great partner for you. We would encourage you to kind of call him back, even we talked a couple months before. I said, ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking.’ It kind of validated where I was. Then Ed gratefully answered the phone. That’s how it came to be. It’s been a long time coming. Ed and I talked years ago,” Paretta continued.
“Everybody knows, there are so many moving parts to all of these working agreements because there are so many elements. Sometimes you want to work together, but the timing isn’t right. It really all came together that the people, the timing, and everything has come together now.”
Tuesday’s announcement will mark de Silvestro’s first year running multiple road and street course races since 2013, her last full season. The last time she ran multiple races as a whole was 2015 when she competed in three races, two of them being ovals.
Simona de Silvestro last May at Indianapolis. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“Really looking forward to these opportunities. We’re really hoping to grow with Ed Carpenter Racing. It’s definitely the way to go to achieve, to have a full-time seat,” said de Silvestro.
“Personally, I think it’s amazing the places we’re going back to. They’re tracks that I’ve been quite quick in the past. From that point of view, yeah, I’m super motivated, looking forward to working with everyone at Ed Carpenter Racing, having some pretty good teammates there.
“I think we can really push each other. Yeah, I think Mid-Ohio is a place that I’ve been pretty fast, so I look forward to it. I think it’s really an important step for us to grow this team and get it in the right direction.”
One race they won’t be competing in will be next month’s 106th Indianapolis 500, a race the team made its debut last season. The Beth Paretta-owned entry was able to make the 33-car field with de Silvestro, finishing 31st after completing 169 laps.
Therefore, the current entry list for this year’s 500 remains at 32. Should there not be a traditional 33-car field, it will be the first time since 1997 when 35 drivers took the green flag. The last 500 to have less than 33 cars was in 1947 with 30.
President and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corporation Mark Miles remains confident it’ll be a full field in spite of being one car short.
“I think we can pretty much guarantee there will be 33 cars in the field. I wouldn’t rule out maybe even one more beyond that,” said Miles. “I think it’s going to be a full field and I think it’s going to be a hugely exciting race.”
Paretta’s vision will certainly continue in 2022 (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish).
However, both Paretta and de Silvestro will be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as well as the Detroit Grand Prix. The latter being a big race for Chevrolet as they’re the title sponsor of the race in Belle Isle.
Their objective is to build the program after working together for the first time last May.
“We really support each other in that sense. We were really great teammates. She had trust in me, my capabilities, to give me this opportunity. It’s amazing,” de Silvestro on working with Paretta.
“Without Chevy behind us, really helping this journey… I think it’s quite cool. Having the women as well that were on the team, that are going to come back, I think it just motivates us to be pushy and make it happy.
“She can be really proud of this effort, all the work she’s put in. I know we’ve been on the phone, I know how much she’s been working on it. Yeah, it’s quite exciting.”
