KECO Continues Its Long Tradition at Indy – Speedway Digest – Home for NASCAR News

The Indianapolis 500 is full of tradition, from the pre-race singing of “Back Home Again in Indiana” to the winner drinking milk in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s victory lane. KECO Coatings has been part of the tradition at “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” for a long time. It has one of the longest team partnerships in the NTT INDYCAR Series due to its 27-year partnership with driver-turned-team owner Sam Schmidt of Arrow McLaren, which continues in 2024.

KECO is an official partner of the Arrow McLaren INDYCAR team, which will field four cars in the Indy 500 on May 26. Pato O’Ward drives the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet while Alexander Rossi drives the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Arrow McLaren has not yet announced who will drive the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but an announcement will reveal the driver in due time.

One of the biggest stories at this year’s Indy 500 will be Kyle Larson’s attempt to do “The Double,” and he’ll attempt it in an entry co-fielded by Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports. The 2021 NASCAR Cup champion will attempt to become the fifth driver in history to attempt to complete “The Double” and run 1,100 miles in one day, starting with his first Indy 500 and then flying to Charlotte, N.C. to drive his usual stock car in the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race of the year, that night. His entry will be co-owned by his stock car team’s owner, Rick Hendrick, and it will be the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Tony Kanaan, the 2013 Indy 500 winner and Arrow McLaren’s sporting director, will be Larson’s substitute at Indy in case of weather delays or other unforeseen circumstances.

Larson also drives sprint cars regularly. He won the Knoxville Nationals in 2021 and 2023 and he is a co-owner of the Kubota High Limit Racing sprint car series, so his participation will generate a great deal of American and Australian interest.

Rossi, who like Larson is from California, won the Indianapolis 500 in 2016 driving for Andretti Herta Autosport. He finished second in 2019 driving for Andretti Autosport. He finished fifth in both 2022 and 2023; in 2022 he was driving for Andretti and in 2023 he was with Arrow McLaren.

O’Ward, who is from Mexico, finished second in the Indy 500 in 2022 for Arrow McLaren SP, and he has two other top-10 finishes (sixth in 2020 and fourth in 2021) in INDYCAR’s premier event. He finished 24th last year when he crashed in Turn 3 fighting for the lead with Marcus Ericsson and Josef Newgarden after a restart with eight laps to go.

O’Ward was declared the winner of the 2024 INDYCAR season opener at St. Petersburg, Fla., due to the disqualification of Team Penske’s Newgarden.

Being associated with the stars of motorsports is nothing new for KECO Coatings, which is based in Indianapolis and also has a facility in Statesville, N.C., to serve its many NASCAR customers. KECO has been supplying coating processes to the Racing and high-performance industries since 1983.

KECO Coatings uses Racing to showcase the technical expertise and resources it brings to its customers. Its coating processes are used on exhaust systems, suspension systems, and other Racing components, as well as applications in other industries.

The passion for success and intense competition seen in motorsports are directly compatible to the passion KECO displays in business by providing its customers the most technologically advanced coatings at the most competitive prices possible.

“Being involved with professional motorsports and other high-tech industries helps KECO provide the best coatings possible,” said Mike Klinge, president of KECO Coatings. “We’re committed to being on the cutting edge of the coatings business while continuing to strive to save our customers money in the long run. Whatever the industry, KECO offers solutions that will provide the upmost performance and protection.”

KECO Coatings PR