All posts by Christopher DeHarde

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. – Ryan Hunter-Reay did not have the ideal start to his Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg weekend, but finishing fourth was way more than he could’ve expected to start the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. “We had so much going on this weekend with the brake issues that we had in practice session two, where we lost most of the time there, then I tapped the wall in qualifying which threw qualifying out the window and then thisRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — First impressions are critical, and even more so for a top-tier employer. For Josef Newgarden, driving the No. 2 Verizon Wireless Chevrolet for Team Penske is about as top-tier as you can get in the Verizon IndyCar Series and by earning an eighth-place finish in the season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the impression was a good one. Newgarden was caught out on bad strategy after not making his first pit stop before the caution flagRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ed Carpenter Racing’s duo of Spencer Pigot and JR Hildebrand had some good moments during Sunday’s season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. For Pigot, the road and street course specialist in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet, it was a lot of good moments before a major bad one. Pigot qualified 13th, but worked his way up to fifth before the final caution of the race on LapRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — What a reunion. Sebastien Bourdais came from last on the grid to win the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in the first race since being reunited with engineer Craig Hampson – whom he won four titles with during his Champ Car days (2004-’07). An accident in qualifying left the Dale Coyne Racing driver starting last, but thanks to some excellent pit strategy and fast driving was able to drive his No. 19 Boy Scouts of America HondaRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Scott Dixon’s No. 9 GE LED Lighting Honda sped to the top of the morning warmup time sheet in preparation for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to kick off the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. The switch Chip Ganassi Racing made during the offseason from Chevrolet to Honda has paid dividends thus far for the four time series champion as he laid down a lap of 1 minute, 01.9292 seconds (104.636 mph), just over half aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Change in any Verizon IndyCar Series team can be major if the team and the new element don’t mix well. For Josef Newgarden and his teammates at Team Penske, things seem to be going as well as ever. The 2011 Indy Lights champion joins a lineup that is stacked with talent. Simon Pagenaud and Will Power are former IndyCar champions, while Helio Castroneves has three Indianapolis 500 victories to his credit. According to Pagenaud and Castroneves, expectations areRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Scoring seven poles at one venue is one thing. Doing so in the span of eight years is quite another. Such was at the accomplishment of Team Penske’s Will Power as he sped his No. 12 Verizon Wireless Chevrolet around the streets of St. Petersburg ahead of Sunday’s season opener for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series. Power’s pole-winning lap of 1 minute, 01.0640 seconds (106.118 mph) was enough to secure him his 45th career pole ahead of fellowRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Juan Pablo Montoya has now been confirmed by Team Penske to run in the Indianapolis Grand Prix on May 13th. “For Juan, I’ll run him in the G.P. and we want to get him a race with our mechanics before the ‘500. We’ll run him for both the Grand Prix and the 500,” team owner Roger Penske told reporters. Montoya was replaced as a full time driver by Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Verizon Wireless Chevrolet andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Honda continued their dominance of Verizon IndyCar Series practice in preparation for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg by taking the top six positions on the time sheet. The No. 9 GE LED Lighting Honda of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon topped the charts with a lap of 1 minute, 01.6240 seconds (105.154 mph) ahead of James Hinchcliffe in the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’s No. 5 ARROW Honda. Third was the No. 98 NAPA Auto Parts Honda ofRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The recent manufacturer change of Chip Ganassi Racing from Chevrolet to Honda hasn’t affected their standing at the front of the field as Scott Dixon’s No. 9 GE LED Lighting Honda led the second Friday practice session for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the opening round of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Dixon’s lap of 1 minute 2.5591 seconds (103.582 mph) was 1.3 seconds faster than his first session time that netted him third-place inRead More