All posts by Frank Santoroski

April 18, 1942 – September 5, 1970 Formula One World Champion 1970 When I was a young person, I would often spend time reading books about auto racing and its rich history. I found the stories of the innovators that worked to make the cars faster to be particularly fascinating. What I really enjoyed, however, were the stories about the drivers. While other kids were reading comics about Batman or Superman, my superheroes were guys like Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Phil Hill and Jackie Stewart. I was particularity drawn toRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer Three days after sitting out the Verizon IndyCar Series season-opener, Team Penske driver Will Power has completed extensive evaluations and has been cleared to drive in the next event at the one-mile oval in Phoenix. The Australian driver passed the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) test and a MRI/DVI study was normal in all parameters. The evaluation was performed at the University of Miami. Power had crashed in practice on Friday and was cleared to drive the next day, showing no ill effects.Read More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla – The Verizon IndyCar Series held its season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg seeing Juan Pablo Montoya take victory in the Penske Chevrolet. The win was Montoya’s second consecutive win at the track, and the eighth overall for Team Penske at the venue. Allow me to share some observations from the weekend. 1)Aleshin is for real Almost lost in the shuffle of the weekend’s headlines was the solid performance from Schmidt-Peterson driver, Mikhail Aleshin. The Russian driver qualified his Honda-powered machineRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer Team Penske driver, Will Power, took the pole for today’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, but immediately seemed out of sorts following the session. Complaining of nausea and a headache, speculation was that he has picked up a stomach bug or flu. Power had crashed in Friday’s opening practice and was evaluated by the IndyCar medical staff. At the time, he appeared to have no lingering effects, and was cleared to continue to practice and qualify. After qualifying, when Power began to display these symptomsRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer Heading into qualifying this afternoon, Penske Racing’s Will Power set the fastest time in the final practice session for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the opening round of the 2016 season for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Power, a two-time winner of the event, crashed heavily in Friday morning’s practice, and came back to lead the afternoon session which was interrupted for track repairs. Today’s session went forward without incident, save for a brief red-flag to retrieve the Andretti Autosport Honda entry of RyanRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer There is fantastic news coming out the the Haas F1 camp for those of us that would like to see an American driver behind the wheel at the only American-based Formula One team. The North Carolina-based Haas F1 team, preparing for their debut season in Formula One, announced this morning that 17-year old Santino Ferrucci would be joining the team as a development driver. Ferrucci’s duties in this capacity will see him at test sessions and Grands Prix, and also give him time in the simulator.Read More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer American driver, Alexander Rossi, who is preparing for his Verizon IndyCar Series debut this weekend in St. Petersburg, has suddenly found some extra work on his plate. Rossi was announced as the official reserve driver for the Manor Formula One Team in 2016, making Rossi the first driver to have roles in both of the top-tier open-wheel series concurrently. The Manor team has worked with Rossi on a schedule that will allow him to fulfill his duties at Andretti Autosport while attending eleven Grands Prix withRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer The 65 year history of the Formula One World Championship has seen a myriad of scenarios play out over the years. Some seasons were remembered for close championship battles, others for multiple winners. Some seasons saw unbearable tragedy, and others saw bitter feuding between teammates. Some seasons saw incredible innovation, while others were marred by politics, protests, disqualifications and even driver’s strikes. No season can compare with the perfect storm that was 1982 where we saw all of this, and more. The 1982 stats will showRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer The time has nearly arrived for the Verizon IndyCar Series to drop the green flag on their 2016 season. The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will take place the weekend of March 11-13, 2016. The scenic track, located on the harbor of Tampa Bay, has been on the IndyCar calendar since 2005 opening the season each year since 2011. St. Petersburg has hosted professional racing on various street courses on-and-off since 1987, when the city first hosted the SCCA Trans-Am Series. The current version ofRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer LAS VEGAS, NV: Competitors and fans alike were delighted to see three-time Cup Champion, Tony Stewart, back at a NASCAR track in Las Vegas this weekend. Stewart has been absent behind the wheel since suffering a back injury in late January. The injury, sustained during an off-road accident navigating the sand dunes on a beach in San Diego, have sidelined the driver/team owner from racing in what was planned to be his final season behind the wheel of a Cup car. Stewart addressed the media earlierRead More