For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
E-mail: LKMRestart@gmail.com
Cell: (317) 201-0729
KECO Coatings and Arrow McLaren SP Look Forward
To Exciting Season of NTT IndyCar Series Racing
INDIANAPOLIS, April 17 — As the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series begins, KECO Coatings marks its 24th year of partnership with Sam Schmidt, co-owner of Arrow McLaren SP, in one of the longest partnerships in the series.
KECO Coatings uses racing to showcase the technical expertise and resources it brings to its customers and as a mobile laboratory for research and development. For example, KECO applies data gathered from Arrow McLaren SP’s race cars to improve its coating processes used on exhaust systems, wheels, suspension systems and other racing components.
“We look forward to watching Sam’s team in all the IndyCar races this year, and especially the Indianapolis 500 on May 30, as we are headquartered in Indianapolis,” said Mike Klinge, president of KECO Coatings. “The same kind of attention to detail that the Arrow McLaren SP team showcases is what our employees strive for when coating racing components and other items. There are many similarities between racing and business. At KECO we also want to be the very best and bring our customers the best coatings that science offers.”
“I am really excited to continue with KECO, which has been with me since before this team even started,” said Schmidt. “They began partnering with me back when I was a driver myself, and have continued to support this team throughout the years. We share a lot of the same goals and values, which makes them a great fit to continue on with Arrow McLaren SP for the 2021 IndyCar season.”
Arrow McLaren SP will feature three of the most exciting drivers in the series this year, with full-time entries Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist, along with Juan Pablo Montoya at the Indianapolis 500.
O’Ward, 21, of Monterrey, Mexico, is hungry for a victory. He finished second in three races last year enroute to a fourth-place finish in the championship. He had six top-five finishes in all in 2020 driving for Arrow McLaren SP. He won the Rookie of the Year award at last year’s Indianapolis 500, finishing sixth in the field of 33.
Rosenqvist, 29, a native of Värnamo, Sweden who currently lives in Indianapolis, won a race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., last July while racing with another team, holding off his future teammate, O’Ward. He finished 11th in the 2020 championship and 12th in last year’s Indy 500. He was the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year.
Both O’Ward and Rosenqvist are slated to compete in all 17 races on the schedule this year.
Montoya will also drive for Arrow McLaren SP at this year’s Indy 500 on May 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The motorsports legend won the Indianapolis 500 twice in his previous five attempts.
KECO, which is located in Indianapolis and Statesville, N.C., has been supplying coating processes to the racing and high-performance industries since 1983. For more information please see kecocoatings.com.
About KECO Coatings
KECO, an Indianapolis-based company with another location in Statesville, N.C., has been supplying coating processes to the racing and high-performance industries since 1983. Processes include Kephos, dry film lubricants, thermal barriers, custom powder coatings, custom coatings, Cerakote, and Teflon®. Some applications include pistons, exhaust systems, frames, wheels, suspension components, gearbox housings and race equipment. KECO continues to develop coating processes through research and development and relies on the technical feedback and results from team members. KECO utilizes this information as it specializes in developing and applying high-performance coatings for various industries, including printing and packaging, automation, food processing, automotive, chemical processing and motorsports. Research and development is essential to the on-going advancement of the coating processes in KECO's portfolio. For more information please visit kecocoatings.com.
About Arrow McLaren SP
Arrow McLaren SP represents three determined entities — Arrow Electronics, McLaren Racing and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports — which joined forces at the end of 2019 in a strategic partnership with a clear aim: to compete for the NTT IndyCar Series championship, which includes the Indianapolis 500. Arrow McLaren SP fields two cars in the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series: the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet piloted by Pato O’Ward, and the No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet driven by Felix Rosenqvist. The team will also field a car for Juan Pablo Montoya in the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. Follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at @ArrowMcLarenSP and visit its website at arrowmclarensp.com.
For more information:
Marti Humphrey/KECO Engineered Coatings
E-mail: marti@kecocoatings.com
Cell: (317) 694-1625
Phil Zielinski/Arrow McLaren SP
E-mail: philz@arrowmclarensp.com
Linda Mansfield/Restart Communications for KECO
E-mail: LKMRestart@gmail.com
Cell: (317) 201-0729