All posts by Christopher DeHarde

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The 2019 Roar Before the 24 test at the Daytona International Speedway road course prepares teams and drivers for the upcoming 2019 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and caution was seemingly thrown to the wind by Mazda Team Joest ahead of the season-opening race for the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. After suffering issue after issue in last year’s Rolex 24, the squad made several changes during the offseason to its technical staff and minor changes to their driver lineup that seem to be paying dividendsRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The second day of the 2018 Performance Racing Industry trade show at the Indiana Convention Center and it was packed full of happenings. In the morning, 1992 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Lyn St. James hosted a panel entitled Opportunities for Women in Motorsport with panelists Dr. Karen Silvaggio (Thunder Valley Racing President), sports car racer Shea Holbrook, NBC Sports IndyCar pit reporter Katie Hargitt and chief Firestone Racing engineer Cara Adams. Abel Motorsports announced their intention to race two cars in the Pro MazdaRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Acura Team Penske announced today that 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi will join the team to co-drive the No. 7 Acura DPi machine in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Rossi replaces the departing Graham Rahal, citing cockpit fitting issues as the reason why he stepped away from the team. The rest of the No. 7 lineup remains intact from last year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Helio Castroneves partnering Ricky Taylor and the No. 6 lineup of DaneRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Honda has gained a new partner in the 2019 IndyCar Series as Harding-Steinbrenner Racing announced a switch to the Japanese brand. After competing with Chevrolet in a partial 2017 and a full 2018 campaign, the team elected to switch brands after signing new drivers Patricio O’Ward and Colton Herta for the 2019 IndyCar season. O’Ward will drive the No. 8 machine while Herta will pilot the No. 88 after the duo finished first and second in their respective 2018 Indy Lights campaigns. “We are delighted toRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The 31st annual Performance Racing Industry trade show kicked off in Indianapolis on Thursday with the usual fanfare one would expected for the last motorsports event of the 2018 calendar year. Here’s some notes about happenings at the show on Thursday. The opening breakfast featured Al Unser Sr. and Al Unser Jr. talking about their careers with the recently retired Dave Despain in front of a capacity crowd at the Sagamore Ballroom. The first press conference of the show took place with NGK Spark Plugs/NTK SensorsRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Motorsports Tribune reviews the season of the top 12 drivers from the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Our list continues with the second-place finisher, Alexander Rossi. Alexander Rossi, No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda 2018: 2nd in the championship  Wins: 3, Top 5: 10, Top 10: 14, Poles: 3, Laps Led: 415 Best Finish: 1st (Long Beach, Mid-Ohio, Pocono) Alexander Rossi’s 2018 IndyCar season can best be described as a roller coaster ride. From an incident in St. Petersburg, to a comeback in Phoenix, to aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer After some small uncertainty over his 2018 plans, Ryan Dalziel has a home in the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Starworks Motorsport in the GT Daytona class. After Tequila Patron withdrew from Extreme Speed Motorsports and sponsoring the North American Endurance Cup, Dalziel’s 2019 plans were in doubt until a former boss sought him out. “When my 2018 program was announced it was ending the first call I got was from Peter Baron at Starworks saying we should get the band back together,” said DalzielRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Fernando Alonso will take another stab at winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2019 as he secured a seat with the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R entry. Alonso will race alongside returning drivers Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande but there will be another new driver in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac as Kamui Kobayashi joins the team for Daytona. “First, I have to thank Konica Minolta for yet again supporting WTR, and that I am extremely excited to have added Fernando AlonsoRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Juncos Racing announced today that former Pro Mazda racer Will Owen has secured a seat in the team’s Cadillac DPi-V.R entry in the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The Denver, Colorado native raced in the European Le Mans Series in 2017 and 2018 and raced twice at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing fourth in the LMP2 class in 2017 and third in the same class in 2018. “I am so happy to announce that I will be returning to Juncos Racing in 2019 toRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer After spending the 2018 IndyCar season racing on the road/street courses for Ed Carpenter Racing, Jordan King will attempt to make his oval debut in 2019. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced King will enter the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 in a third entry for the team alongside Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato. King impressed on his debut in 2018. The Englishman set a new track record at St. Petersburg on his first weekend in INDYCAR competition and led 11 laps last year. His bestRead More