Top Gun starting off on the right foot…ready for qualifying for iRacing Challenge on Saturday at 2:30pm EDT at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway…

Top Gun Racing held its collective breath yesterday as RC Enerson eased their Top Gun Racing/Hagerty/Vintage Indy/Indy Simulation Special into the field of the First Responder 175 presented by GMR at the virtual Indianapolis Motor Speedway to be held this Saturday, May 2 at 2:30 pm EDT on NBCSN.Next up for the team is Qualifications on Friday, which will determine their starting position in the race.”I’m incredibly excited to have made it into the field for the First Responder 175,” said RC Enerson. “My hands were shaking during that qualifying run. Can’t thank Top Gun Racing and Hagerty enough for getting me involved in the iRacing IndyCar Challenge, now onto Friday qualifying.””It was great to watch RC get into the field,” Mark Briggs from Hagerty added. “We here at Hagerty are looking forward to a good qualifying run Friday and a great finish in the First Responder 175 on Saturday.”Mike Lashmett from associate sponsor Vintage Indy was impressed. “Vintage Indy is proud to be playing a supportive role via our long-term partner Hagerty and good friends at Top Gun Racing,” he said. “These are exciting times for everyone involved in the formation of this formidable effort. Adding to this is experiencing the learning curve as participants in the First Responder 175 at IMS.”Top Gun Racing’s Gary Trout and Bill Throckmorton also want to announce the addition of Indy Simulation as an associate sponsor to their effort.”It’s exciting to be working with Bill and Stephanie Throckmorton, Gary Trout, and RC Enerson” says Cary Bettenhausen of Indy Simulation and the son of Gary Bettenhausen, 4-time USAC national champion and 21-time Indianapolis 500 starter. “Dad raced for Grant King in the ‘70s and being associated again with Grant King Race Shops through Bill and Stephanie makes the effort even more special,” Cary adds.”Cary’s been a big help on a moment’s notice and we can’t thank him enough,” said Bill Throckmorton.Cary Bettenhausen will also handle some other chores during practice, qualifications and the race.”I’m looking forward to being on the virtual scoring stand spotting and doing race strategy with iRacing INDYCAR specialist Jeff Drake,” said Bettenhausen. “We have been very impressed working with RC, he’s very smooth and precise running alone and looks great in race practice dicing and drafting with the best drivers out there. Hopefully this virtual-world effort will help further Top Gun Racing’s real-world plans.”Top Gun Racing would also like to send out a thank you to Scott McClendon for putting the computer graphics on the car.RC Enerson is a 23 year old racing driver from New Port Richey, Florida, the son of former IndyLights car owner Neil Enerson. He has driven Indy cars for Dale Coyne and Carlin Racing in INDYCAR in 2016 and 2019, respectively.Hagerty has been insuring vintage racing cars and passenger cars for nearly 25 years. Please go to www.hagerty.com for more information.Vintage Indy holds major events throughout the racing season featuring classic and antique Indianapolis championship cars. Please go to www.vintageindyregistry.com for more information.Indy Simulation provides auto racing and flight simulator sales, rental and design services and simulator-based race driver training featuring SimXperience Racing Simulators products. See https://simxperience.com/ for more information.