All posts by Joey Barnes

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Honda and Sauber have mutually agreed to put an end to a potential deal that would have seen the Japanese manufacturer supply the longtime Formula 1 team with engines in 2018. The interest for a new engine supplier came from Sauber’s former team principal, Monisha Kaltenborn, and was being discussed with Honda motorsport’s general manager, Masashi Yamamoto. However, Kaltenborn’s departure in June prior to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix put the situation in flux until the Hinwill-based squad put their faith in replacement and former Renault teamRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The wait is over. After months of teasing fans with renderings of the universal aero kit that is set to run for the 2018 season, INDYCAR has released images of the actual car. Dallara takes over as the sole builder, taking the reins from the recent manufacturer-purposed kit by Chevrolet and Honda which was started in 2015. INDYCAR will conduct its first test with the superspeedway package on Tuesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Juan Pablo Montoya and Oriol Servia. Other test dates are listed asRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Saavedra returns to the Verizon IndyCar Series to pilot the No. 7 with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto. Mikhail Aleshin, the usual full-time driver of the entry, will sit on the sidelines but be on hand for “support” according to a team release. Gary Peterson, owner and longtime supporter of Saavedra, will have his AFS Racing branding joining the No. 7 Lucas Oil SPM Honda. The move also reunites the Colombian with former Indy Lights race engineer Blair Perschbacher. Saavedra onlyRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin – Max Chilton made the most of a bad situation. Leading up to final practice for the KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America, the 26-year-old Brit’s crew found an issue with the brake system on the No. 8 Gallagher Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. The problem sidelined the former Formula One driver for nearly the full hour of practice. It wasn’t until roughly 10 minutes to go that he was able to go out and complete four laps around the 4.014-mile, 14-turn roadRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin – There may be no driver in the Verizon IndyCar Series riding a bigger wave of momentum than Graham Rahal. The 28-year-old Ohio native comes into this weekend’s round at Road America with two wins and a fourth in the past three races. Taking it one step further, his only two stops at the 4.014-mile, 14-turn permanent road course has brought a pair of third-place finishes. The history speaking for itself, Rahal is aiming to keep his perfect podium record intact. “Hopefully weRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – It was far from ideal, but Marco Andretti scrapped to a sixth-place effort Saturday night in the Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. In a race that saw nine cautions stretch 66 laps, the 30-year-old Pennsylvania native started 15th and dodged the mayhem for the most part en route to his third, and much needed, top 10 finish of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Much was made on Friday after practice and qualifying from several drivers on the lackRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – It was just the second race of the season for Harding Racing, but you wouldn’t know it based on how they’ve performed. Their only ever outing having been a ninth-place result in the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil last month, the team set out to compete at Texas and Pocono before attempting to race the full Verizon IndyCar Series schedule next year. That top 10 was elevated to a new best finish for the team withRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – James Hinchcliffe isn’t sold on a second groove coming in for Saturday night’s Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. Last year, the affable Canadian led six times for 188 laps en route to finishing runner-up to Graham Rahal by a slim 0.008 of a second. Although there would typically be some optimism in returning after such stalwart performance, a reconfiguration and repave to the 1.5-mile oval, which sees Turns 1 and 2 lowered from 24 to 20 degrees and widenedRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief There is a lot of debate on Fernando Alonso’s future in Formula One, but he remains content on not making any decision until later this year. The 35-year-old Spaniard enjoyed a solid outing in the Verizon IndyCar Series for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 under a McLaren-Honda Andretti entry, leading 27 laps before falling victim to an engine failure and finishing 24th. However, he did manage to win Rookie of the Year honors for the event and hasn’t ruled out a potential return. SpeakingRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief INDIANAPOLIS – James Hinchcliffe is aiming for a return to form for today’s INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The 30-year-old Canadian came out swinging by collecting a win at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He very well could have been the first driver to collect multiple wins this season if not for an ill-timed caution that came out while leading in the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, and ended the afternoon ninth. However, the wave ofRead More