All posts by Christopher DeHarde

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Josef Newgarden benefitted from a little bit of racing luck as he scored his second win of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season by winning the Honda Indy Toronto. The start was chaotic as Helio Castroneves went from third to first at the first corner, moving polesitter Simon Pagenaud to second with Graham Rahal behind. Heading down to Turn 3, Will Power was squeezed to the outside wall by Scott Dixon while trying to avoid Rahal. Power’s steering was damaged enough where heRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Kyle Kaiser had to deal with Colton Herta in front and Santiago Urrutia behind. By Lap 25, neither were a concern for the California native as he went on to win the second Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race on the streets of Toronto, completing a weekend sweep for Juncos Racing. The 45 lap race started with Herta on pole ahead of Urrutia and Kaiser but Kaiser got second at the start. While the leaders were going through Turn 2, NicoRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Red Deer, Alberta native Parker Thompson had a dream weekend in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda in his home country of Canada. The Exclusive Autosport driver navigated his way through a three car pile-up and held off Pabst Racing’s Rinus VeeKay to score his second win of the season on the streets of Toronto. Starting fourth behind three of the fastest drivers in the 2017 season, Thompson had a mountain to climb. Cape Motorsports’s Oliver Askew was on poleRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Parker Thompson’s 2017 foray in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda has been a roller coaster but the Red Deer, Alberta native managed to hit a peak in front of his compatriots by winning the first of two USF2000 races of the weekend on the streets of Toronto. Thompson started from pole in his No. 90 Exclusive Autosport car and led from flag-to-flag over Cape Motorsports’s Oliver Askew and Pabst Racing’s Rinus VeeKay. Askew grew his points lead over VeeKayRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer After a morning qualifying session that saw the Juncos Racing driver put his car on pole position for that critical bonus point, Kyle Kaiser followed that up with a victory in the first of two races for the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires on the streets of Toronto. Kaiser led from the start and never looked back, building up a gap over Matheus Leist until the Carlin driver nudged his car into the Turn 8 tire barrier on Lap 3, causingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Will Power was one of the two fastest drivers in Friday’s Verizon IndyCar Series practice for the Honda Indy Toronto, but Power was among several drivers that faced challenges with the circuit. For the driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, the bumps heading into Turn 1 were where he had the most trouble. “You have to avoid the bumps at times. Today you’ve got a tower wind, so you don’t bottom as hard,” Power said. “I’m not sure anyoneRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Helio Castroneves went 1,134 days without a victory in the Verizon IndyCar Series after his last win at the Detroit doubleheader race on June 1, 2014. His winless streak ended Sunday in victory at the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway, also ending Team Penske’s 11 year run of futility at Iowa. Castroneves started third, grabbed the lead for the first time on Lap 20 and ended up leading 217 of the final 280 laps, passing Al Unser Sr.Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Esteban Gutierrez’s first race on an oval ended Sunday night with a 13th place finish in Sunday’s Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway. Having driven in Formula One and Formula E, Gutierrez’s past oval experience consisted of a test day at Iowa Speedway in the weeks before running 300 laps around the .894 mile oval, but the Mexican rookie managed to keep his wheels clean, running in the top 10 late in the race. In fact,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden qualified 16th thanks to a bad qualifying draw for Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway. He managed to salvage a sixth place finish by gradually climbing a mountain of cars in his No. 2 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Chevrolet. The Tennessee native didn’t crack the top 10 until Lap 68, getting to ninth after passing both James Hinchcliffe and Scott Dixon. Newgarden continued his rise, getting to his eventual finishing position on Lap 109 and heRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Ryan Hunter-Reay’s 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season has been one to forget but Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway gave his season a bit of a lift. The No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda started 15th at Iowa but finishing third was almost like a victory, which is saying a lot considering that Hunter-Reay won three times in a four year span. The 2012 series champion moved his car to sixth place by Lap 60, gaining roughly oneRead More