All posts by Phillip Schmitz

By Phillip Schmitz, Staff Writer Alex Palou and his No. 10 Be The One Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing might have been the strongest car in the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis, taking over as the championship leader, but Arrow McLaren came away as perhaps the strongest team in the race. Pato O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished second behind Palou, with his teammate Alexander Rossi finishing in third in the No. 7 Velo McLaren Chevrolet to give the team two spots on the podium. The organization’s third entry, theRead More

By Phillip Schmitz, Staff Writer Things went from bad to worse for Josef Newgarden almost as soon as the green flag dropped on Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park. Opening lap contact with the No. 7 NTT McLaren Chevrolet of Felix Rosenqvist was the beginning of the problems that faced the Team Penske driver as the day played out on the 2.3-mile road course. After starting the race in seventh, he would wind end up finishing in 15th place by the time the day was done. Read More

By Phillip Schmitz, Staff Writer The opening three races of the NTT IndyCar Season haven’t gone to plan for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, but a sixth place finish for Christian Lundgaard in the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park gives the team something positive going into the Month of May.  The driver of the No. 45 HyVee Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda started sixth and stayed around that position for the majority of race. Telling NBC Sports after the checkered flag, Lundgaard said: ”Hell of a long race,Read More

By Phillip Schmitz, Staff Writer The NTT IndyCar Series will get their first taste of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week with the series holding a two day open test this Thursday and Friday in preparation for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 next month. Fans are allowed to attend the open test in person at the speedway on both days. If unable to attend, the open test will be streamed live on Peacock.  Day one of testing, April 20th, will be a mix bag of events to open theRead More

By Phillip Schmitz, Staff Writer The first two races of the NTT IndyCar Series started out strong for Romain Grosjean, but the driver of the No. 28 DHL Andretti Autosport Honda wouldn’t see the end of either of them after crashing out of both races. Grosjean finally put a complete race together in Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach to score a runner-up finish. The Frenchman just needed to repeat what he did last year’s race in Southern California to do so. Just a strong, but smart race to getRead More

By Phillip Schmitz, Staff Writer If you were a fan that watched Sunday’s PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway, either from the grandstands or watching it on television, you could not have asked for a better NTT IndyCar Series race to witness. If the only negatives that came from it were the early start time or the race finishing under caution, I’ll take those two when you consider the recent IndyCar races that have been held at the 1.5-mile oval. Prior to last Sunday, the racing has been less than ideal. Read More

By Phillip Schmitz, Staff Writer FORT WORTH, Tex. — For the first time since 2009, Takuma Sato isn’t a full time driver in the NTT IndyCar Series, racing just the oval portion of the 2023 schedule for Chip Ganassi Racing in the No. 11 Niterra Honda entry. Sunday marked Sato’s first race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway — a weekend that started out strong for him. He was eighth fastest in morning practice and qualified sixth for the PPG 375. However, once the race began, so did Sato’s problems.Read More

By Phillip Schmitz, Staff Writer FORT WORTH, Tex. — If this weekend offered any sort of a reference stick for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for the Indianapolis 500, to say they missed the mark would be a complete understatement. The trio of Graham Rahal, Jack Harvey, and Christian Lundgaard were the slowest three cars in practice on Saturday. Qualifying didn’t yield anything better with Rahal qualifying in 24th, while Lungaard and Harvey qualified in 27th and 28th. It wasn’t that long ago this team was near the front of the order.Read More

By Phillip Schmitz, Staff Writer FORT WORTH, Tex. — As the laps progressed during the PPG 375 NTT IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, David Malukas’ slow progress saw him battling at the front and in contention for victory. In the end, a valiant showing ended just off the podium with a finish of fourth. Malukas, driver of the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda, showed the potential of a strong race during both practices sessions on Saturday. Following that up with qualifying ninth forRead More

By Phillip Schmitz, Staff Writer FORT WORTH, Tex. — Saturday was a busy day for the NTT IndyCar Series at Texas Motor Speedway with dual practice sessions and an additional special session to add rubber in the second groove in the turns. Qualifying was also held Saturday, with Felix Rosenqvist grabbing his second straight pole position at the 1.5-mile oval. The No 6. Arrow McLaren Chevrolet set a two lap average of 220.264 mph ahead of six-time series champion and five-time Texas winner Scott Dixon. All that’s left for the NTTRead More