McLaren Racing has taken the next step in its full-time return to IndyCar, announcing today that it has reached an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team. The deal will close by the end of the year and McLaren Racing will take over 75% of the team. Financial terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.
The agreement comes at the first race of the NTT INDYCAR Series in Nashville, Tennessee, in the middle of the second season of McLaren Racing’s partnership with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
The team was originally founded in 2001 by Sam Schmidt, Ric Peterson joined Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM) in 2013. The team has raced one of the most successful Indy Lights programs recently, securing seven drivers’ titles, while taking 13 pole positions and 27 podiums, including nine race wins, two as Arrow McLaren SP, in the INDYCAR series.
The team will be led by a new five-person board of directors consisting of three McLaren Racing appointed employees along with Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson, chaired by Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing. Taylor Kiel, President of Arrow McLaren SP, will continue to lead and oversee the operations of the team and report directly to the board of directors.
McLaren returned to the full-time IndyCar competition in 2020 after a 40-year absence to found Arrow McLaren SP and to enter into a strategic partnership with title sponsor Arrow Electronics and SPM that brings technical and engineering expertise to the existing operations. Additionally, McLaren has helped strengthen the team’s commercial portfolio through the addition of sponsors Vuse, Mission Foods, Darktrace, Tezos and QNTMPAY, while supporting the team’s communications, social and content activities to build its growing fan base.
The announcement underscores the continued growth of the McLaren Racing organization with four full-fledged teams, led by McLaren F1 and complemented by esports and gaming teams McLaren IndyCar, McLaren Extreme E and McLaren Shadow.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown commented:
“Today’s announcement is a strong signal of our long-term commitment to IndyCar as both a racing series and a marketing platform for McLaren Racing and our sponsoring partners.
“I would like to pay tribute to Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson who, together with the commitment and support of Arrow Electronics, have built an impressive team so that we can continue to grow and achieve our common goal of consistently fighting for victories, Indy 500s and series titles.” . The key to this is the continued leadership of Taylor Kiel as President of the team, which has made a significant contribution to the progress of the partnership.
“McLaren Racing believes that IndyCar will continue to grow our brand in North America, serve our growing US fan and partner base across our racing portfolio, and add long-term value. Racing is second to none, with world class competitors in drivers and teams and a passionate, highly dedicated fan base.
“We see real potential for the series’ continued growth under the leadership of Penske Entertainment and we will continue to play an active role in supporting the success of the sport, growing the global fan base and implementing our sustainability agenda to meet environmental and social commitments including promoting diversity. and integration into the industry. “
Sam Schmidt, co-owner of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, commented:
“I’ve known Zak for 25 years. He’s a racing driver and that’s a group of hardcore racing drivers. We started our partnership two years ago and it has gone very well, both technically and commercially. Ric came in 2013 and raised the bar for the team. Arrow came along a few years later, and again we raised the bar.
“With McLaren we are coming back to the front. As we’ve seen, we’re a regular contender now and ultimately we’re here for Ric and me to win races, win 500s and win championships. This next step will secure the resources to do this for a long time.
“I want to say we couldn’t have done this without Arrow and Lucas Oil. They really were the fundamental sponsors that this team was built on, and without them we wouldn’t be here. McLaren is an iconic brand and we are proud to be with them. We do this to make the team better and to ensure long-term success. “
Ric Peterson, co-owner of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports commented:
“We have always believed that partnering with a team with McLaren’s skills and F1 experience is a key strategy to accelerating our progress at IndyCar, and it has worked. McLaren Racing is now taking the baton and will combine the best of what they do with the best of this team to create something really special.
“Sam and I are immensely proud of what we’ve built together through our partnership over the past nine years, and we look forward to continuing to partner with McLaren Racing to see Arrow McLaren SP always do gets stronger. “
Mike Long, CEO and President of Arrow Electronics, commented:
“As the title sponsor of Arrow McLaren SP since the very beginning of the team and a strategic partner of McLaren Racing, we couldn’t be more pleased that these two world-class organizations are coming together as one.
“Our partnership with Sam, Ric and Zak is based on a shared passion for innovation, winning and believing in the power of technology to make life better, as demonstrated by our work on the Sam Car, Sam Suit and the UK Fan program.
“We are very happy with both teams in Indy and F1 and believe that we have some of the most hardworking and fastest drivers and crews in the sport and that we are just getting started. Arrow proudly stands behind the teams. We look forward to many more victories. “
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