All posts by Christopher DeHarde

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Age: 29 Years in IndyCar: 7 Wins: 0 Podiums: 1 Laps led: 80 2016 Team: Ed Carpenter Racing (part time) 2017 Team: Ed Carpenter Racing (full time) Persistence and resilience have led to a return to a full-time Verizon IndyCar Series ride for JR Hildebrand. Hildebrand has served the de facto test driver for Ed Carpenter Racing along with racing at the previous three Indianapolis 500s and the previous two IndyCar Grand Prixs on the Speedway’s road course. With the departure of Josef Newgarden toRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Age: 21 Years in IndyCar: Rookie 2016 Team: Carlin in Indy Lights (Champion) 2017 Team: Dale Coyne Racing The 2017 Verizon IndyCar Season will prove to be a major step in Ed Jones’ racing career. The Dubai-based Brit has raced for Carlin the last two seasons in Indy Lights, winning the championship in 2016 after finishing third in 2015. Jones claimed the Indy Lights championship on the heels of wins at Barber Motorsports Park (race one) and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway RoadRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Familiar faces are back in familiar places as Team Pelfrey announced that Ayla Agren will be back with the team for the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda in the No. 82 Energima/Team Pelfrey Tatuus USF-17. 2017 will be Agren’s third year in the USF2000 championship.  She campaigned in 2015 with Team Pelfrey but spent 2016 with John Cummiskey Racing. Prior to her stint in USF2000, Agren won the 2014 F1600 championship with the team before moving up. Agren hasRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Pabst Racing Services, World Speed Motorsports and Carlin have all added to their Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires rosters with driver announcements that add to each of the three series that make up the MRTI. Pabst announced that Calvin Ming will be joining the team to pilot one of their cars in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda.  The Guyanan driver started his career in karting in 2012 before moving up to winning races in F1600 andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The grid for the 2017 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires is starting to come together after the Friday’s confirmations of Matheus Leist and Juan Piedrahita to join the field for Carlin and Team Pelfrey. For Leist, this represents a move back across the pond to race in America after leaving his home of Brazil to race in the UK. The 19-year-old raced in Brazil in the 2014 Formula 3 Light category, finishing second in the championship with two wins and nine podiumsRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Felipe Albuquerque has every right to be upset. I would be upset too if I lost the overall lead in the final 10 minutes of a 24 hour race, especially the Rolex 24 at Daytona. However, it would be in his best interests to not be upset with Ricky Taylor. Instead, the former factory Audi driver should be upset with himself. As time dwindled away in Sunday’s Rolex 24, Albuquerque led his No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi ahead of Taylor’sRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Josef Newgarden had about as good of a 2016 season as a driver can have that wasn’t driving for Team Penske. In fact, his season was good enough that Roger Penske signed him to drive the fourth car in the team and that turned Newgarden’s world upside down. Moving from one team to another can be a very arduous ordeal for a driver.  Moving from a two car team to a four car team that has many more resources can exponentially multiply theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Victor Franzoni has had one of the more interesting journeys in the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires. After having run the 2014 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda for Afterburner Autosport, Franzoni returned to Afterburner in 2015 looking to contend for the USF2000 championship. Those plans didn’t come to fruition as Franzoni was disqualified after a top five finish at the second race at Barber Motorsports Park and a decision was made by the series to sit theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer “It’s hard to live, guys, it’s hard. Life is expensive. Adulting is weird.” Those were the words spoken by Conor Daly as he brought the house down at INDYCAR Media Day in a session with his new AJ Foyt Racing teammate Carlos Munoz. Daly, the recent transplant after spending his 2016 rookie season with Dale Coyne Racing, had been living with fellow competitor James Hinchcliffe. “I have not [gotten] my own place but I have decided to move on with my life and try andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer A massive wind of change has swept across Dale Coyne Racing in preparation for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Two new drivers were signed and their paths to the seat couldn’t have been more different. Sebastien Bourdais left KVSH Racing to join the Illinois-based team while Ed Jones parlayed his Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires championship check with other sponsorship into the second seat and so far is the only confirmed rookie for the 2017 season. Adding to that theRead More