All posts by Joey Barnes

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Andretti Autosport announced on Friday that Ruoff Home Mortgage has returned and will be the primary sponsor for the No. 98 Andretti-Herta Autosport Honda entry for two Verizon IndyCar Series events this upcoming season. Marco Andretti will carry the sponsor’s blue, green and white colors at the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg and in July at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The return comes after Takuma Sato (now with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) drove the sponsor into Victory Lane in last year’s Indianapolis 500Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AVONDALE, Arizona — Matheus Leist led Verizon IndyCar Series rookies during testing on Thursday at ISM Raceway. The 19-year-old Brazilian put the No. 4 ABC Supply Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Racing on top of the timesheets with a speed of 184.236 mph (19.9700 seconds) around the 1.022-mile oval. A rookie in Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires, the top rung of the Mazda Road to Indy development ladder, Leist came away pleased with his first trial with an Indy car on an oval. “Not at all,”Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Andretti Autosport revealed that U.S. Concrete will be the primary sponsor for Marco Andretti at six events in the Verizon IndyCar Series this season. Entering his 13th season, Andretti will carry the colors on the No. 98 Honda beginning at Long Beach, followed by the Indianapolis Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500, Texas Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and the season finale at Sonoma Raceway. “I’m really happy to welcome U.S. Concrete to the Verizon IndyCar Series and our Andretti family,” said Andretti Autosport CEO Michael Andretti, via a teamRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Chip Ganassi Racing announced that PNC Bank will be the primary sponsor the No. 9 Honda, driven by Scott Dixon, for the upcoming Verizon IndyCar Series season. The announcement brings an ease to lingering questions about sponsor woes, which began after longtime partner Target left their Indy car involvement with the team at the end of 2016. The full release can be seen below. — PNC Bank and Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), today announced an agreement designating PNC as the primary sponsor of the Chip GanassiRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 56th edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona was rough on those from Formula 1. Although Fernando Alonso had everyone’s attention during his stints in the No. 23 United Autosports Ligier LMP2 early on, it was Lance Stroll that put up the best result among F1 regulars. The 19-year-old Canadian finished 15th overall and 11th among prototypes in the No. 37 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA ORECA LMP2, which endured a frequent number of right rear tire failures throughout the endurance classic. Stroll, who teamed withRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Action Express Racing took the overall victory for the 56th Running of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, setting a new distance record for the event in the process. The trio of Filipe Albuquerque, Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa crossed the finish line with a total of 808 laps with their No. 5 Cadillac Dpi-V.R., which was enough to beat the current configuration’s previous record of 762 laps set in 1992. When the race began to settle in, it looked to be a contest between bothRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Force India and Sauber have withdrawn their anti-competitive complaints with the European Union. The first course of action from the two Formula 1 teams dated back to 2015, with grievances that alleged over unequal distribution of revenue, as well as the structure of the Strategy Group. Both teams have been encouraged by meetings with Liberty Media, which led to the dropped issue. The joint release can be seen below. — We have decided to withdraw the complaint we lodged with the European Commission in 2015 onRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Mercedes has revealed its plans to continue to support Pascal Wehrlein for the upcoming season despite not finding a place on the 2018 Formula 1 grid. The 23-year-old German captured the DTM championship in 2015, which helped elevate him in the Mercedes program and into a seat at Manor the following year. He managed to score Manor’s only point of the season with a 10th-place effort in the Austrian Grand Prix. Moving to Sauber in 2017, Wehrlein wasn’t able to contend a Grand Prix until theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Juncos Racing have confirmed that its partnership with Chevrolet will carry forward into the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Kyle Kaiser, who captured the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires championship with Juncos, is set to make his debut at ISM Raceway (formerly known as Phoenix International Raceway) as part of a four race effort for the upcoming season. Other events include the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Indianapolis Grand Prix and 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. The team will also runRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Keeping with tradition, Texas Motor Speedway has once again brought innovation to the fan experience. The 1.5-mile oval will be starting construction to create an area designated as the Restart BAR Zone Club, which will be located at the beginning of the dogleg on the frontstretch. The expectation is that the new indoor/outdoor lounge will be ready for use for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series comes to town April 6-8. The development comes roughly a year after the facility elected to undergo a reconfiguration andRead More