All posts by Christopher DeHarde

INDIANAPOLIS — Haas F1 reserve driver and current FIA Formula 2 driver Santino Ferrucci will make his Verizon IndyCar Series debut for the Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader weekend. The Connecticut native will race the No. 19 Paysafe Honda in place of Zachary Claman De Melo, who is replacing Pietro Fittipaldi in the Indianapolis 500 after Fittipaldi’s injury from a World Endurance Championship qualifying incident in Belgium two weeks ago. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to be able to race the No. 19 Paysafe car with Dale Coyne Racing at Detroit, especiallyRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Graham Rahal led Thursday’s practice ahead of the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 in the second-busiest day of track activity so far. Rahal’s No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda turned 102 laps but the fastest was the second lap at 226.047 mph. That lap was assisted with a tow but Rahal unfortunately could not get a proper solo run in and was 34th on the unassisted speed chart. “Every qualifying sim I did today everybody came out in front of me, saidRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Wednesday practice came and went for the 35 drivers entered to qualify for 33 spots in this year’s Indianapolis 500 and Marco Andretti was on top of the time sheet. The 2006 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year turned a fastest lap of 227.053 mph in his No. 98 Andretti Autosport Honda but on the unassisted draft chart Andretti was only tenth fastest. Tony Kanaan was fastest on the unassisted lap chart with a lap of 223.048 mph. “Checking off the boxes right now,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — In the first day of practice for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud turned the fastest lap of the day. Pagenaud’s No. 22 Menards Chevrolet went around the 2.5 mile superspeedway at an average speed of 225.787 mph in a lap that came during the morning session. “It was a very productive day,” said Pagenaud. “So, yeah, felt pretty happy. We’re obviously still learning a lot about the aerodynamics of the car. It’s quite different to what we had the past fewRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer I really am a glutton for punishment, I admit it. Much to my own detriment, I read online comments and there was a central one that I saw quite often during the INDYCAR Grand Prix weekend: “Why are there only seven cars in Indy Lights? What happened to Indy Lights?” There were various people calling for outrageous suggestions such as shutting Indy Lights down or merging various championships on the Mazda Road to Indy to avoid this situation. Folks, Indy Lights is going to be fine,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Scott Dixon did not have the best setup in his car for qualifying ahead of Saturday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and that showed when he ended up 18th on Friday. That result required a lot of car setup changes. “Dampers, springs, geometry, closed cambers, it was pretty much everything,” said Dixon. “I think we actually threw in a kitchen sink on most of them, too. It was definitely a lot of changes. There was no session we didn’tRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Alexander Rossi had to save critical amounts of fuel late in the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course but it was a familiar experience as he brought his car home fifth. Starting eighth, Rossi managed to get to sixth on the opening lap thanks to Jordan King and Simon Pagenaud’s second turn incident. Passing James Hinchcliffe soon after the track went back to green, Rossi stayed fifth until the opening cycle of pit stops. After leading two laps, Rossi thenRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Helio Castroneves’s brief return to open wheel racing has so far been a success after the new sports car driver finished sixth in Saturday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course as teammate Will Power scored Team Penske’s 200th IndyCar win. After an early stop, Castroneves was able to advance through the field on fresher tires as others pitted. “It was just like I never left, it was a great strategy from the team,” said Castroneves. “We started on the blacks,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Despite another start that left Colton Herta mid-pack, another comeback was in the cards as Herta won the second Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race of the weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, doubling up on his win on Friday. Polesitter Pato O’Ward led the first lap but Santi Urrutia would grab the lead on Lap 2. Meanwhile, Herta’s No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing machine was fighting to get to the lead. Herta was fourth on the opening lap and tried toRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Robert Wickens has been the rookie to beat in the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series. The Canadian put his car on pole at the season-opener in St. Petersburg and qualified second for Saturday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix only behind Will Power. The No. 6 Lucas Oil Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports qualified on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with a lap of 1 minute, 9.9052 seconds for an average speed of 125.604 mph. Teammate James Hinchcliffe qualified fourth. “I’m a bit gutted with P2,” saidRead More