All posts by Christopher DeHarde

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — JR Hildebrand got his chance to prove that his testing work last year was not done in vain. Finishing second in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway for the Verizon IndyCar Series showed it. Hildebrand received much of the credit for then-teammate Josef Newgarden’s victory at last year’s Iowa Corn 300 by testing and perfecting the car’s setup while Newgarden was nursing injuries from a crash at Texas Motor Speedway. Newgarden led 282 laps last year and HildebrandRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — His second oval race in his career and his second oval win, Matheus Leist made it three Iowa wins in a row for Carlin by winning the Indy Lights 100 on Sunday at Iowa Speedway. The race began with Colton Herta on pole and leading 31 laps. However, Leist was able to get around him after a caution and pulled away. The lone caution came out when one of Leist’s teammates Garth Rickards spun on Lap 27. The cautionRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Despite not being fastest in the opening test or in the practice on Friday, Oliver Askew found his speed overnight, winning the pole and the 60 lap race at Iowa Speedway for his sixth win in the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda season. Askew’s No. 3 Cape Motorsports car pulled away from the start and never looked back, leading every lap and setting the race’s fastest lap. Behind Askew, Pabst Racing’s Rinus VeeKay overtook teammate CalvinRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — For many drivers in the Mazda Road to Indy, ovals are not a type of track that gets regularly tested or raced on. In fact, in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda, there is only one oval on the 14 race schedule: Iowa Speedway. Various teams have tested on the ovals and two drivers new to ovals had a brief taste before heading to Iowa. Cape Motorsports tested series points leader Oliver Askew at Lucas Oil RacewayRead More

 By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Will Power was the last car to qualify for Sunday’s Iowa Corn Indy 300 for the Verizon IndyCar Series and that seemed to be the charm as he clinched his 48th career pole in competition with a two-lap average of 185.210 mph. Power dethroned apparent pole winner JR Hildebrand from Ed Carpenter Racing as Hildebrand managed to set a two-lap average of 183.811 mph for the outside of the front row while driving the same car that dominated the eventRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Becoming a sophomore in high school comes with a lot of responsibilities between school and other obligations, but when those obligations include a championship-caliber drive in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda, the cream rises to the top. And rise it has for Kaylen Frederick, who, at 15 years old is the youngest driver in the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires. The Maryland native drives the No. 81 Team Pelfrey Mazda in USF2000 and is currently thirdRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Dale Coyne Racing has announced that Esteban Gutierrez will be replacing the injured Sebastien Bourdais for the remainder of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season in the No. 18 Honda. Gutierrez drove for the team at Detroit on the streets of Belle Isle, finishing 14th in the second race of the doubleheader weekend before not being approved for competition at  Texas because of a lack of oval experience. Gutierrez will be partnering Ed Jones, who both tested at Road America in theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Enough, Racing Gods. Enough. Dale Coyne has clearly suffered through massive amounts of heartache. During Saturday’s Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway, the longtime Verizon IndyCar Series team owner had another night that would make any normal team owner question his involvement in the sport. With Tristan Vautier becoming the driver du jour in the No. 18 GEICO Honda replacing Sebastien Bourdais, the new Frenchman qualified fifth and was running in the upper end of the field. Meanwhile, teammate EdRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer After a challenging practice and qualifying day for the Rainguard Water Sealers 600, Conor Daly was able to earn his best finish of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season with a seventh place finish. He was last in the first practice session, last in the final session and posted the slowest time of the cars that took a time in the session, but keeping his nose clean gave him A.J. Foyt Racing’s best result at Texas Motor Speedway since Airton Dare’s thirdRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Will Power did it all Saturday night at the Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. He started ninth, fell back to 12th at the start, led 180 of 248 laps and scored his first oval victory since last year’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono, but it was all down to placing his car properly. Power’s start wasn’t ideal, but the Australian was able to adjust his car to make it work for him. “I made some in-cockpit adjustments, but my carRead More