IndyCar: Pippa Mann to drive for Clauson-Marshall Racing in 2019 Indianapolis 500

Pippa Mann is set to attempt to qualify for her seventh Indianapolis 500, and she is set to do so driving for new IndyCar team Clauson-Marshall Racing.

Clauson-Marshall Racing have never competed in an IndyCar race before, but they are set to attempt to change that this May. Indianapolis 500 veteran Pippa Mann is set to attempt to qualify for this year’s running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” driving the #39 Chevrolet for the team. Her can is set to be sponsored by Driven2SaveLives.

Clauson-Marshall Racing have formed a partnership with Ross Motorsports and Indiana Donor Network to make fielding the #39 Chevrolet for Mann in this year’s Indy 500 possible.

Driven2SaveLives is a racing campaign that was launched by Indiana Donor Network and IndyCar driver Stefan Wilson in April 2016 as a way to promote organ, tissue and eye donation and transplantation. Justin Wilson, the late brother of Stefan, was killed in an IndyCar crash back in August of 2015 at the age of 37. Justin, an organ donor, saved the lives of six people after he passed away.

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Tim Clauson and Richard Marshall are the two co-owners of Clauson-Marshall Racing, and Tim is the father of the late Bryan Clauson.

Bryan, who was primarily a dirt track open-wheel racing driver who competed USAC Silver Crown, Midget and Sprint cars, competed in the Indy 500 in 2012, 2015 and 2016 before he was killed in a sprint car crash in August of 2016 at the age of 27. He was also a registered organ and tissue donor, and after he was killed, he helped save the lives of five other people and heal the lives of many more.

In last year’s Indy 500, Driven2SaveLives sponsored the #25 Andretti Autosport Honda that Stefan Wilson nearly drove to victory lane before having to make a pit stop for fuel with just over four laps remaining in the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana, causing him to relinquish the lead to eventual race winner Will Power.

Here is what Mann had to say about the opportunity to drive for Clauson-Marshall Racing in an attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 for the seventh time in her career this year, according to IndyStar.

"“This is more than just a car entry to me. The journey has been an emotional one. Carrying the No. 39, and the Driven2SaveLives campaign on my Chevy entry is an honor that I don’t take lightly. I’m grateful to Tim Clauson, Richard Marshall and [Ross Motorsports team owner] Stanley Ross for believing in me.”"

Here is what Tim Clauson had to say about fielding an entry for Mann for this race, according to IndyStar.

"“In 2012, it was a privilege to come to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a dad to a driver who was competing in his first Indy 500. Now, we are honored to have an entry in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. We are especially honored to partner with Driven2SaveLives, after organ and tissue donation became an important part of our lives in 2016.“Merging our dirt programs with the Indy 500 program is very important to our future, and we are fortunate to have Pippa Mann behind the wheel. After watching the way she handled the circumstances of last year with such grace, we were sure that if we could help her return to the Speedway, we would.”"

Clauson-Marshall Racing have been rumored to form technical alliance with A.J. Foyt Enterprises, which are one of the four full-time Chevrolet-powered teams in IndyCar, for this race, but this has not yet been confirmed.

Mann has attempted to qualify for the Indy 500 a total of seven times in her IndyCar career, all within the last eight seasons, and she has successfully done so six times. She has attempted to do so in each of the last six seasons after attempting to do so for the first time in 2011. In her seven attempts to qualify for the race, she only failed to do so last year.

The 35-year-old Briton and full-time Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe ended up being the two drivers who failed to qualify for the 102nd running of the Indy 500 last year.

In her six career Indy 500 starts, Mann has started in as high as 22nd place, which is where she started in the 98th running of the race in 2014. Her career-high finish in the race is 17th, which she recorded in the 101st running of the race in 2017.

Since crashing and finishing in 30th place in the 2013 Indy 500, which is her lone Indy 500 start that did not result in her finishing the race, Mann’s results in the race have improved. She finished in 24th in the 2014 Indy 500, 22nd in the 2015 Indy 500, 18th in the 2016 Indy 500 and, as referenced above, 17th in the 2017 Indy 500.

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Sunday, May 26 is the date on which the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled to take place, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET, so be sure not to miss it. This race is the sixth of 17 races on the 2019 IndyCar schedule, which you can view by clicking here.