All posts by Christopher DeHarde

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – A far cry from Wednesday’s Chevrolet domination, Honda found themselves at the top of the speed charts during Thursday practice for the 101st Indianapolis 500 with an unfamiliar face at the top. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’s Jay Howard turned a lap of 226.744 mph, the fastest of the month on his ninth lap of the day around the 2.5 mile oval. However, Thursday was not without its problems. Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden became the first major victim of wallRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana- Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden was third fastest in practice for the 101st Indianapolis 500 and had just been called into the pits when his car got loose and became the week’s first victim of heavy wall contact, hitting between Turn 1 and Turn 2 during practice. His No. 2 hum by Verizon Chevrolet hit the wall a second time in Turn 2 before coming to a stop. The Tennessee native was checked and released from the medical center and clearedRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana- High gusts of wind severely limited practice for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 as only 21 cars turned laps during Wednesday’s practice session. Ed Carpenter Racing was the quickest team of the day with Ed Carpenter leading with a fastest lap of 222.894 mph in his No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet. JR Hildebrand’s No. 21 Preferred Freezer Service Chevrolet was third fastest at 220.553 mph. Scott Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing Honda split the duo with a lapRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana- Jack Harvey’s first go in the Verizon IndyCar Series has gone about like his journey to get there. Tough.  The two-time runner up of the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires in 2014 and 2015, Harvey’s $75,000 check he received at the Mazda Road to Indy banquet in September 2015 was nowhere near enough to secure him an IndyCar ride. How was the journey from September 2015 to this year, finally getting a ride in the Indianapolis 500? “Terrible. It’s anRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — In recent years, many stars of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires have had some difficult luck breaking into a full time ride in the Verizon IndyCar Series so many drivers are accepting one-off drives, including Zach Veach. Veach was given the task of driving the No. 21 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing at Barber Motorsports Park after regular driver JR Hildebrand was on the mend from a broken hand. Veach now isRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The second day of practice for the 101st Indianapolis 500 started at noon and lasted until 6:00 P.M. with no hard incidents of wall contact. The day’s fastest lap went to Will Power with a speed of 224.656 mph ahead of teammate Helio Castroneves’s 224.287 mph lap. The day started off with 15 minutes reserved for Zach Veach and Jack Harvey to complete their rookie orientation practices. Veach completed his orientation at 1:07 P.M. while Harvey had other problems that delayed himRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The opening day of practice for the 2017 Indianapolis 500 officially began after a two hour rookie orientation/veteran refresher period and Marco Andretti led the speed chart with a lap of 226.338 mph. Scott Dixon was second with a lap of 225.296 mph. Both are driving Honda-powered cars. The first Chevrolet was Ed Carpenter at 224.969 mph. However, before the session for all drivers, some rookie orientations had to be completed, and one was. In order to be declared ready for competitionRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer SPEEDWAY, Indiana- Spencer Pigot had a mountain to climb after qualifying 16th for Saturday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix of Indianapolis at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Unloading his No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet off the trailer in fifth place during the first practice session, Pigot struggled in qualifying, unable to make it out of his group in the first round. “It seemed yesterday that we kind of struggled when the track was getting hotter, today we didn’t,” Pigot said. “IRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer SPEEDWAY, Indiana- Much like last year, Graham Rahal had to charge through the field to get a good result at the INDYCAR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Starting 20th but with a car that was fourth fastest in the final warmup, Rahal moved his No. 15 SoldierStrong/TurnsForTroops.com Honda to 16th before the first round of pitstops started and ended up 15th thanks to running three incredible laps in a row before his stopRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer SPEEDWAY, Indiana- Kyle Kaiser had been knocking on the door all season for a victory. Two runner-up finishes at Barber Motorsports Park got the Californian up to second in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires standings, but a win eluded him until the second race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course where Kaiser took home the victory in dominating fashion. Early in the race, Kaiser had a spirited battle with 2016 series runner up Santiago Urrutia. Urrutia had gotten pastRead More