Krohn lands ride for Friday Indianapolis race

INDIANAPOLIS, May 22 — The Viking is back!

John Andretti and Anders Krohn

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

In a late-breaking agreement announced by the team just this morning, Anders Krohn will drive Bryan Herta Autosport’s blue and white No. 28 Dallara in the premier event for Firestone Indy Lights, the Firestone Freedom 100, Friday at the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It will be Krohn’s first event in the series this year after finishing seventh in the championship last year with another team.

Krohn passed the winner of last year’s Firestone Freedom 100, Josef Newgarden, and two other drivers on lap four of last year’s race to take the lead. He led seven laps in all during last year’s race but he ended up 12th after he hit the outside wall in Turn 1 while battling for fifth place with just six laps to go. Instead of heading for the podium he visited the infield care center for treatment of abrasions to both elbows sustained in that crash. But the last words he said in his post-race interview a year ago were, “Hopefully we can come back next year and dominate this race,” and that’s just what he hopes to do on Friday.

“Leading the race last year was great, but we obviously didn't finish the race, which is the first thing we have to do,” said Krohn, a native of Stavanger, Norway who now lives in St. Petersburg, Fla. “This is a great opportunity to come back, and for sure I have some unfinished business. A lot was learned during the Firestone Freedom 100 last year that I will bring with me to the 2012 race. Hopefully that knowledge combined with a mighty strong team will put us in a position to challenge for top honors.

“Racing for Bryan Herta Autosport means that I’m stepping into one of the most highly regarded teams out there,” he said of the team that won last year’s Indy 500. “I’ve been pushing hard to race at the Brickyard again, and couldn’t be happier about making my Firestone Indy Lights return with BHA.

“As of right now this is just a one-off deal, but as a race car driver you always want to do more,” he added. “If things fall into place I will try to do a few more races this year, but the focus is already shifting towards being back full time in a race car for 2013.”

Krohn, 24, certainly respects the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the challenges that competing on a world stage holds.

“Nothing can prepare you for IMS and the month of May until you are there,” he said. “It's so much more than just a race. It's diehard fans that support the event for a full month, and the fastest race track on the calendar with over 100 years of history. It's a place that gives me goose bumps every time I enter the gates, so I think it'll always be something special. And hopefully some day I will get to experience racing in the main race.”

For this race one of Krohn’s primary sponsors will be the I-Tec and Yellow Jacket “Wanna Frac More?” campaign, which showcases I-Tec’s supreme technology in hydraulic fracturing, a mining or drilling process used to extract petroleum, natural gas or other substances.

Premiere Glass & Mirror will be another primary sponsor. OMP Racing and Bell Helmets will also help Krohn’s effort this weekend.

Krohn won the first oval-track race he ever competed in when he was victorious in a Star Mazda race at the Milwaukee Mile in 2009. He finished second to Conor Daly in the Star Mazda championship in 2010. He won the F2000 Championship Series’ driving title in 2008.