Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) announced today that Estonian driver Juri Vips will make his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut in the team’s No. 30 entry at the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland on September 3 and the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, September 10.

“I’m very pleased for the team to enter Juri in the Portland and Laguna Seca races,” Bobby Rahal said via a press release. “Clearly, he was the lead Red Bull Junior driver a few years ago and exhibited a lot of talent, which we saw during the two tests he ran with us so we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do on a race weekend.”

Some people may be wondering who this is and why now. However, this is something that’s been waiting in the wings for a while. Vips has been around the team for almost a year now.

He actually drove an Indy car for the first time on October 12, 2022 at Sebring International Raceway in a test for the team and again at Barber Motorsports Park on March 13, 2023. He has also performed static simulator testing for the team during the season as well.

“I’m super happy to get the opportunity with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and very thankful to Bobby, Mike and everyone at the team,” Vips said. “I haven’t been driving all year so the anticipation for this opportunity has been immense but I’m really looking forward to starting again. We tested together at the end of 2022 in Sebring and it seemed like we just gelled. I got along with everyone and I really like the atmosphere at the team. Bobby’s also one to give second chances and I’m extremely grateful that he is giving me one and I really hope to bring a good result for him, Mike and the whole team.”

Vips is stepping into a nice situation in that RLL’s best tracks this season have been on natural road courses. Between that and being emersed in the team already, this could be an easier transition period.

“I hope I can prove myself and most importantly get them into the Winners Circle, which is always my main mission,” Vips said. “I feel ready for these races, I think the tracks suit my experience and driving style and the car as well. I’ve already integrated myself with the team this year, doing some work for them on the simulator so I already know the people and feel very comfortable with everyone which is a big benefit for me as well.”

The thing is, he’s also not seen these next 2 tracks before, which makes them tough to honestly prepare for.

“There is not much you can do other than simulation and look at data so that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been making sure that I will be as ready as I can to race. Obviously, I’ve only done two test days in the last 10 months so I haven’t done a lot of driving so that is definitely going to limit me but I’m doing absolutely everything I can to get as good of a result as possible.”

He also has some pressure on him in the fact that the 30 ride is on the bubble of the leaders circle. They’re +1 at the moment with 2 races remaining. So while the expectations aren’t necessarily high, a top 20 is what this team needs.

His ride is tied with another rookie in Tom Blomqvist for 21st as MSR announced that Blomqvist will make his 2nd and 3rd career starts over the final 2 races as well. Rookie Agustin Canapino is trying to bump his way back in. Devin DeFrancesco is also on the outside looking in at -4.

Ryan Hunter-Reay took over the reigns of the No. 20 Chevy for ECR and +11 ahead of only the 60 and 30 rides.

Still, an underrated level of comfort for him is that among the 26 other drivers in the field, he’s raced against several of them before over in Europe.

He was teammates with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong in both 2017 and again in 2022. He ran against Christian Lundgaard in both 2019 and 2021. He raced against Alex Palou in 2018 and Callum Ilott in 2020.

That makes the transition at least a little bit easier.