INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — It was not one but two podium finishes for TJ Fischer, driver of the No. 82 #Race2TheRescue Team Pelfrey Pro Mazda entry at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America.
Team Pelfrey gave Fischer a fast car right off the truck and he was able to qualify on the front row — his first time on the front row in the series — for both races. He drove to a third-place finish in the first race after getting shuffled back in Turn One.
“It was great starting on the front row in a place like Indianapolis," he said. "It was my first time on the front row, and to do it here is even more special. Getting off the line, Victor Franzoni had a slow start and I just got swallowed up by the field because there was a really-bad headwind; I think we were back around seventh after Turn One. It was a 30-minute race, so I didn’t have time to reel in the top two, but we ran our race and brought it home third.”
Round 4 produced a better result for Fischer. He started second and finished second in the straightforward race, breaking his string of three consecutive third-place finishes to start the season.
“For Race Two, thankfully, there was no headwind working against us. I was actually P1 for a little bit on the front stretch but then Victor Franzoni raced me really hard through one and got the spot back. From there, we just ran our own race and finished in a really awesome second position. All in all it was just a really great weekend, and I’m so glad we could have such a great weekend in Indianapolis of all places.”
After his best Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires weekend ever, TJ Fischer is third in the championship standings with 91 points.
In addition to the on-track action, it was a busy weekend off-track for Fischer as well with his asthma awareness campaign. The Project O2 #Race2TheRescue booth got to see its first race weekend, getting set up behind the pagoda to inform, innovate and inspire the fans at the speedway this past weekend. It was an especially timely launch for the booth, as the biggest month in racing happens to align with Asthma Awareness Month. To commemorate the occasion, guests from the Indiana State Department of Health and the Indiana Joint Asthma Coalition joined Fischer at the track to help him spread the word.
“This is the first time we have a real booth, at the track, for Project O2. We’ve been meeting a lot of fans and talking to them about asthma and Asthma Awareness Month. So many people came by the booth on Saturday that we actually ran out of hero cards. It’s just been a great launch for the initiative both trackside and on social media. Debuting the whole Project O2 and #Race2TheRescue campaign in Indy, during Asthma Awareness Month, it’s just awesome.”
TJ Fischer also hosted a live episode of his podcast, I Hate Racing Radio, on the Cooper Tire Stage on Saturday with Tony LaPorta, the voice of Mazda Road to Indy TV. Fischer and LaPorta talked about the mental side of racing, as well as the physical, and how both affect him on a race weekend and with asthma in his everyday life.
The duo also gave out a pair of tickets, courtesy of the Mazda Road to Indy, to join TJ Fischer and the entire Verizon indyCar Series at the next Pro Mazda race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., June 23-25.