All posts by Christopher DeHarde

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT — It all started with a first-turn wreck avoidance. It ended with a fourth place finish for John Potter and Andy Lally as Magnus Racing managed to finish fourth in Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. As Cooper MacNeil went underneath Ryan Hardwick in the first turn, the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari slid wide into the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini and Potter slowed enough to avoid the opening corner incident. “We just stayed clean, John had aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT — NTT IndyCar Series rookie Felix Rosenqvist was looking to put the bad result at the Indianapolis 500 behind him and did so with a fourth place result in the first of two races in the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit. The Swedish sensation started fourth ahead of the 75 minute race and was never below fifth place as he fought with Takuma Sato to try to get onto the podium for the first time in NTT IndyCar Series competition. However, Sato and Rosenqvist had smallRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT — Marco Andretti’s gamble in Saturday’s NTT IndyCar Series race on the streets of Belle Isle failed to pay off. The No. 98 Andretti Herta Autosport with Marco Andretti and Curb/Agajanian Honda was the first driver to pit for dry tires on Lap 12 while the track was just starting to dry after a large rainstorm hit before the first race of the doubleheader weekend. What followed was a tense and, at times, very entertaining few laps of onboard footage as the third-generation racer wasRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT — AIM Vasser Sullivan is currently ticking off all the right boxes, especially for their No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 entry as Richard Heistand and Jack Hawksworth were victorious in the GT Daytona class for the second race in a row in the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. While the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic did not count for the overall GTD points battle, it did for the newly-created WeatherTech Sprint Cup for all non-endurance races on the calendar. Since Heistand and Hawksworth were victoriousRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT — The NTT IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship each race this weekend on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit in what is the biggest showcase for General Motors on the U.S. motorsports calendar. The Chevrolet Dual in Detroit (NTT IndyCar Series) and Chevrolet Sports Car Classic (IWSC) play host to special circumstances on both series’ calendars so let’s look at the Indy car calendar first. Detroit marks the only doubleheader weekend on the calendar for the NTT IndyCar Series with 70 lapRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT — Meyer-Shank Racing has been victorious in the GTD class the last two years in a row at the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship but getting a third win in a row would be a dream for team co-owner Michael Shank. After winning with Andy Lally and Katherine Legge in 2017 and Mario Farnbacher and Legge in 2018, Shank has two Acura NSX GT3 Evo entries to contest the 100 minute race on Saturday and both entries have a greatRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT— The 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rolls on to The Motor City for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic which has a unique position on the calendar but more on that in the second half of this preview. Let’s look at the field for this Daytona Prototype International (DPi) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) only round. For DPi, it’s the same 11 entries as the last few rounds with only two changes from Mid-Ohio. Mazda Team Joest is back to their normal lineup for the No.Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Pippa Mann’s run in the 2019 Indianapolis 500 might be considered average by some, but looking beneath the surface shows a great drive from 30th to 16th place for the No. 39 Chevrolet. Mann raced for Clauson-Marshall Racing, a USAC racing team known for performances on dirt and paved short tracks around the country. However, in their first foray into Indy car racing, the little team that could showed that it belonged as it finished every lap on race day and ran as highRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — A fantastic break on a late race caution helped elevate Takuma Sato through the field in the 2019 Indianapolis 500 and the Japanese driver nearly picked up his second 500 win on Sunday, finishing third. Sato was on pit road for his final stop when the caution came out for the five car incident on Lap 178 that eliminated Felix Rosenqvist, Graham Rahal, Zach Veach and Sebastien Bourdais from the race and took Charlie Kimball out of contention. The No. 30 Panasonic/MiJack Honda wasRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — With no guarantees of another shot in the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season, Conor Daly had to make the most of his one opportunity with Andretti Autosport in the Indianapolis 500 and take advantage he did with a 10th place finish. The No. 25 U.S. Air Force Honda turned the fastest lap of the month and started 11th in the 33 car field. After some close action with a few drivers and running as high as second in the last 30 laps, Daly fadedRead More