All posts by Joey Barnes

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief INDIANAPOLIS – With his IndyCar future hanging in the balance, Gabby Chaves has silenced any doubters thus far during the Month of May. The 22-year-old found himself out of a ride when his team, Bryan Herta Autosport, merged with Andretti Autosport and decided to plug in Alexander Rossi, last year’s lone American Formula 1 standout. Available rides came and went for the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year, and as the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 drew closer options looked bleak for Chaves.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief INDIANAPOLIS – Verizon IndyCar Series rookie Spencer Pigot took a hard hit heading into Turn 1 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during Wednesday afternoon’s Indy 500 practice. The reigning Indy Lights Series champion’s Honda spun completely around on corner entry, hitting the wall with the left side of the car, receiving heavy damage but not catching air while becoming the first driver to crash during preparations for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. Most notably, this was the first accident with the domed skids on theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Graham Rahal came from the back of the field to score an incredible fourth-place result in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday. The 27-year-old qualified third, but his time was disallowed after failing post-qualifying technical inspection for not meeting the minimum car weight requirements. Following a frantic start, Rahal began his march forward. The Ohio native leaped into the top 10 by lap 21 after flying by rookie teammate Spencer Pigot  and during an exchange of pit stops Rahal managed to lead twoRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief James Hinchcliffe returned to the scene of the crime to score a third-place finish in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday. Almost one year ago the Canadian encountered a suspension failure while practicing in preparation for the Indianapolis 500. The mechanical issue was nearly fatal for Hinchcliffe, but after a long season spent on the sidelines he returned to the cockpit of the No. 5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda for the start of the 2016 season. Hinchcliffe started the day from third andRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief IndyCar officially announced its return to Watkins Glen this afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a last minute add-on to the schedule following the loss of the Grand Prix of Boston. There were several reasons that Boston never got off the ground despite a lot of built up anticipation for the Labor Day Weekend street course event, but instead of looking at the negative of losing a race, the focus should shift on the positive. Watkins Glen has been a historical playground for many series overRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Bobby Labonte has enjoyed a part-time driver role for the past several seasons in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but the 51-year-old admitted he would consider the option to go racing in the Truck Series full-time if it made sense. Labonte, the 2000 Sprint Cup Series champion, hasn’t raced in the Truck Series since 2007, but in 10 career starts possesses one win and five top 10’s. “It is absolutely something that we have talked about and met with some people about,” said Labonte. “Again, everythingRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The true comeback story of 2016 in the Verizon IndyCar Series thus far has to be that of Simon Pagenaud. The Frenchman has enjoyed a stellar start to the season, scoring two runner-up finishes and back-to-back wins in the opening four rounds of the Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Pagenaud, who has led 160 of 530 laps this season, has seen a resurrection of sorts after his first season with Team Penske didn’t go according to plan. So what made last year so abysmal for the 31-year-old?Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief In report by ESPN F1, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff declared that he wants to keep driver Nico Rosberg on next season, but stated that neither he or the German are in a hurry to finalize a deal beyond this year. Rosberg has been on a tear, winning six consecutive races, including the opening three of the season. However, his recent form suggests that he would be a very sought after free agent should a deal with Mercedes not be reached,  something Wolff would like to prevent.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After a spectacular afternoon at Richmond International Raceway, it was a Carl Edwards shove to move teammate Kyle Busch out of the way en route to claim his second consecutive victory of the season. Without any further delay, here are my takeaways from Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at the short track oval. 1) Back to Sunday’s a win for NASCAR For the first time in nearly two decades NASCAR returned to a daytime spring race (last year’s race was run on Sunday due to aRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Josef Newgarden was hoping a return trip to Barber Motorsports Park would mean a return to Victory Lane, but when the checkered flag flew the young American came home with a third place finish. Newgarden maintained a consistent pace for much of the day, always hanging among the top five before charging late. The 25-year-old made a daring move on the inside of Will Power in the closing stages of the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama, and began to hunt down the wounded Honda of GrahamRead More