The #16 Kiwi Co.-backed Paretta Autosport-Chevy will enter the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series at Road America, Mid-Ohio and the streets of Nashville, with possible extra entries before the year’s end.
Team owner Beth Paretta said the majority of women who took part in her “women forward” Indy 500 campaign in 2021, the squad’s debut, will be returning and will work in technical partnership with Ed Carpenter Racing.
ECR runs two cars full-time this year for Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly, while team owner Ed Carpenter drives a third car at all the oval events. He therefore has a third team of engineers and crew members available to assist for road and street races.
Said Paretta: “We had a great first year working with Roger Penske and Team Penske in 2021 as part of the Race for Equality and Change initiative and since then I have been working on building the right structure and opportunity to continue to grow our team.
“This new technical alliance with Ed Carpenter Racing is exciting for us and will allow us to continue to grow and compete in multiple races this season. Additionally, I am proud to continue our association with Chevrolet who has valued, supported, and championed our efforts for diversity and inclusion from the beginning."
Paretta also announced a new team sponsor, KiwiCo., as the official STEAM-based (science, technology, engineering, art, math) learning company that develops hands-on projects and activities "to spark children’s curiosity and creativity" so they "become creative problem solvers and critical thinkers." KiwiCo. and Paretta Autosport will collaborate throughout their partnership to connect on-track activities to off-track learning opportunities.
De Silvestro, who has competed in 69 IndyCar races and scored a podium finish at Houston in 2013 with KV Racing, said: "I’m incredibly grateful to Beth that she keeps having the trust in me and to be able to get one step more into our journey that we’ve started together last year at the Indy 500.
"I’m excited to get this opportunity and am really looking forward to going to the places we’re going to. These are tracks that, in the past, I’ve been quite strong at, so for me it really gives me a lot of confidence. To be able to get back into an IndyCar at those places … I have a huge smile on my face and I’m really looking forward to it.
"Associating with Ed Carpenter Racing is going to be great. I think in them we have a great team as well and it’s an association that is really important for us to grow into the future and hopefully a lot more things will happen together. I think it’s going to be amazing and I can’t wait.
"I’ve been training hard again to get back behind the wheel of an IndyCar, so I’m really looking forward to it."
Mark Miles, president and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corp., described Paretta Autosport as "a key partner in Penske Entertainment’s Race for Equality & Change. He said of the team's debut at Indy last year, “From the training of their crew members to battling through perseverance in qualifying, Beth’s team not only inspired long-time personnel in our paddock but helped inspire diversity and inclusion in our sport.
"It is exciting to see this team build on the terrific work of 2021. I cannot wait to see them return to the race track this summer while continuing to influence the next generation of female racers.”
KiwiCo.'s CMO Katie Soo, added: “We’re excited to partner with Paretta Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series. There are so many exciting career opportunities within a race team. We want to open kids' eyes to those possibilities and get them excited about the science and technology that goes into engineering every single IndyCar."
