Veteran motorsports executive and longtime race team engineer Mike O\u2019Gara has been named vice president of competition, race engineering, INDYCAR officials announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Gara will serve as the senior technical authority for INDYCAR, leading all aspects of vehicle performance strategy, race engineering and technical governance across the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone. He also will be charged to define and drive INDYCAR\u2019s long-term technical roadmap, research and development initiatives and the development of next-generation technologies, including the new 2028 NTT INDYCAR SERIES race car.<\/p>\n
Indiana native O\u2019Gara, 54, assumes his new role after over 30 years of experience leading championship-winning programs across INDYCAR, IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, including the last 12 years in executive leadership at Chip Ganassi Racing. During that time, O\u2019Gara established the team\u2019s Cadillac endurance program after helping win the 12 Hours of Sebring (2014), the Rolex 24 At Daytona (2015) and a class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2016).<\/p>\n
During his involvement in Ganassi\u2019s INDYCAR SERIES program, O\u2019Gara contributed to the team\u2019s NTT INDYCAR SERIES championships with Scott Dixon and Alex Palou, and 2022 and 2025 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge victories with Marcus Ericsson and Palou.<\/p>\n
Prior INDYCAR SERIES team experience includes roles as the director of operations at Sarah Fisher Racing (2010-14) and as a race engineer at Chip Ganassi Racing (2004-10) and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (2000-04).<\/p>\n
\u201cI am thrilled to take this next step in my career and honored to join INDYCAR in this critical role for the series,\u201d O\u2019Gara said. \u201cThis is truly an exciting time for the sport with a new car on the horizon and the opportunity to build on a growing focus and interest in INDY NXT.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know my prior experience has set me up to successfully contribute and help mold the future of North America\u2019s premier open-wheel racing series. I cannot wait to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Gara\u2019s role at INDYCAR also will include:<\/p>\n
Overseeing all technical rulemaking, providing objective, engineering-driven leadership in the development of regulations and technical bulletins to ensure fairness, innovation and cost control.Working closely with teams, manufacturers and suppliers to align technical direction with the broader goals of the series while fostering transparency and collaboration through technical working groups.Leading ongoing safety advancements, maintaining a strong and proactive focus on the development and implementation of enhanced safety technologies.Serving as the central technical voice of INDYCAR, ensuring that engineering strategy, regulatory direction and on-track performance remain aligned as the series continues to evolve.<\/p>\n
\u201cMike\u2019s vast experience in motorsports will make a substantial impact to INDYCAR\u2019s competition and engineering team,\u201d INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. \u201cIt is clear that his impressive list of accomplishments, engineering acumen and proven knowledge of building high-performance teams and operations have the respect of the INDYCAR paddock and will continue be a real asset for our sport in this new role. We look forward to working with Mike as we look toward building competition, innovation, safety initiatives and INDYCAR\u2019s world-class racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to his experience with race teams, the Purdue engineering graduate served as the technical director at PI Research, USA and a quality engineer for Honda of America manufacturing.<\/p>\n
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Sunday, April 19 on the famous streets of Long Beach, California. Coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.<\/p>\n
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