All posts by Christopher DeHarde

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — A few hundredths of a second here and there were all the kept Spencer Pigot from leading the third practice session for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet was only .0577 seconds slower around the 2.258 mile road course than session-leading Colton Herta which translates to a difference of only .109 mph. Pigot has had a mix of fortunes at Mid-Ohio with two finishes outside the top 10 over the last two years following aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — Josef Newgarden pushed a little too hard at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and that aggression bit the NTT IndyCar Series points leader during Friday’s afternoon practice session. The 2017 Mid-Ohio winner was trying to get a fast lap in the last few minutes of the session when he spun the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet through the Turn 9 gravel and hit the tire barrier with the rear of his car. Newgarden ended the session in 11th place. “I just lost the car andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — Five-time Mid-Ohio Indy car winner Scott Dixon put the rest of the field on notice that he is ready to get his sixth win at the 2.258 mile track in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200. The No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Bank Honda turned in a fastest lap of 1 minute, 6.0973 seconds to average 122.982 mph. Dixon was happy to be first but knew there was a lot more track time ahead. “It’s okay, like it’s first session right, so you’ve gotRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The rest of 2019 NTT IndyCar Series is a numbers game. Five races left with four drivers realistically in the title hunt contesting races over three time zones for two manufacturers with one champion to be crowned. The first of those five races is this weekend with the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Since Long Beach in April, every race has been won by one of the top four drivers in the championship standings and all four have wonRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Setting up a car for a road course like Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course can be a challenge. Getting the setup right can pay dividends, as Scott Dixon has shown by winning at the track five times during his Indy car racing career. Since 2015, Chris Simmons has been Dixon’s race engineer at Chip Ganassi Racing. In that time, the pair have one pole and a best finish of fourth place on the 2.258 mile road course. To get Dixon his sixth win at Mid-Ohio will requireRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer NEWTON, Iowa — After a frustrating loss at Iowa in 2018 to James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden put everything together to win the Iowa 300 at Iowa Speedway. The 2017 NTT IndyCar Series champion put together a complete 300 laps for his fourth win of the 2019 IndyCar season, leading 245 laps and extending his championship lead to 29 points over sixth place finisher Alexander Rossi. Scott Dixon finished second in a race that could have been much worse for the five-time series champion. After falling aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Nailing the proper car setup has helped Ed Carpenter Racing become one of the teams to challenge for the win at Iowa Speedway over the last few NTT IndyCar Series visits to the Newton, Iowa track. A win and a pair of seconds give the team a great backdrop ahead of Saturday’s 300 lap race and Spencer Pigot is aiming to better last year’s second place result for the team in 2019. The Floridian will start the Iowa 300 from 19th place out of a 22Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Simon Pagenaud’s pole position at Iowa Speedway is the fruit of what he believes is a better working relationship with his team than when he won the NTT IndyCar Series championship in 2016. The Frenchman won the pole for Saturday’s Iowa 300 at Iowa Speedway with a two-lap average speed of 180.073 mph around the .875 mile oval ahead of teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden in a Team Penske 1-2-3 sweep of qualifying. “Definitely happy to be ahead of my teammates,” saidRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Conor Daly and Sage Karam will wheel Carlin’s two NTT IndyCar Series entries when the series visits Iowa Speedway on Saturday for the Iowa 300. Karam will be behind the wheel of the No. 31 SmartShop Self Storage Chevrolet while Daly will be behind the wheel of the No. 59 Gallagher Chevrolet. Both drivers have a lot of experience at Iowa. Karam and Daly have won at the track in Road to Indy competition while Karam finished third in the 2015 Iowa 300 racing for ChipRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Simon Pagenaud can no longer be overlooked in the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series title hunt. The Frenchman brought the smack down in Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto by winning the pole, leading 80 of 85 laps and winning the race. But more so than that, Pagenaud reminded everybody that he was still someone to pay attention to as the season’s middle portion winds down. Pagenaud’s diversity is his strength, having won at 11 different tracks since his first IndyCar win at Detroit in 2013. What’s more impressiveRead More