IndyCar Category

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DETROIT — After the massive high of winning the 102nd Indianapolis 500, Will Power’s dream week came back down to earth with a seventh place finish in the first of two races in the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit as the top Chevrolet-powered driver. Starting sixth, Power had a boost problem at the start from not warming up the engine enough and dropped two positions behind the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing duo of Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal. Power then committed himself to a two stop strategyRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor DETROIT — In the heart of Chevrolet country, it was Honda’s Scott Dixon that found championship form. Dixon took the lead from Marco Andretti through the first pit cycle and fended off a late charge from Ryan Hunter-Reay to claim Race 1 of the first Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. The win was the first for the four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion in 2018, and came after his first laps led on the year. It also tied him with Michael Andretti for third on the all-time indy car winsRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor DETROIT — For the first time in nearly five years, Marco Andretti will lead the Verizon IndyCar Series field to the green flag this afternoon in Detroit. Andretti laid down a quick time of 1:14.8514 – the only circuit completed under the 1:15 mark – to lead Group 2 and claim the Verizon P1 Award for Saturday’s Dual 1 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle Park. The time came in Andretti’s final lap, knocking fast rookie Robert Wickens off the pole as theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The Chevrolet Dual in Detroit is the only doubleheader race weekend for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season and much went on at the Belle Isle circuit on Friday. First, McLaren brass were at the track evaluating a future IndyCar program. Although no announcements have been made about a program, this is a positive sign for IndyCar as it attempts to bring in more manufacturers to compete. There were two practice sessions on Friday and in the first session it was a Honda party up front.Read More

By INDYCAR DETROIT – There’s a new car for Verizon IndyCar Series competition in 2018, but it’s still the same old challenging track at Belle Isle Park. And the drivers love it. Ryan Hunter-Reay led practice for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on the 14-turn, 2.35-mile temporary street course noted for its concrete surface and constant bumps. Friday’s practices are the only scheduled for the doubleheader race weekend, with qualifying and races scheduled each of the next two days. CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX: Practice 1 results; Practice 2 results; CombinedRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The 102nd Indy 500 proved tricky for the drivers and entertaining for the fans as the new universal aerokit gave us an unpredictable race that saw big names crash out and under dogs lead late into the race. In the end Team Penske’s Will Power finally filled in the missing piece in his resume by conquering his ultimate goal and becoming an Indy 500 champion. If you missed the race, the highlights remix covers all the major talking points. If you want to relive 500 milesRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor Helio Castroneves entered Sunday’s 102nd Indianapolis 500 knowing it could potentially be his final Verizon IndyCar Series start After exiting early following a Lap 146 crash, the three-time winner prays it’s anything but it. “Please Roger (Penske), can I come back?” Castroneves told ABC’s broadcast shortly after his incident. Castroneves is one of Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s most decorated drivers, sitting one win behind the all-time mark for Indy 500 victories with three triumphs (2001, ’02, ’09) in ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.’ For the past nineRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Oriol Servia gave Scuderia Corsa their first taste of Indianapolis 500 action and leading the race with an off-strategy call gave the Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan assisted No. 64 Honda all the TV time they could’ve asked for and more. Servia started 26th following some qualifying difficulties and worked through the field and was in tenth place by Lap 74 before taking the lead briefly on Lap 95 before a pit stop one lap later. Servia would hover in the upper midfield and gained ten positions inRead More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Journalist INDIANAPOLIS—A win in the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil completes Will Power’s bucket list, but he’s not done yet. Three years after finishing second at Indy to Juan Pablo Montoya in 2015, Power soldiered through a 500-mile race filled with restarts, cautions and an eight-lap shoot with a threesome of cars trying to stretch their fuel mileage. Stefan Wilson and Jack Harvey blasted to the lead while Power tried to fight off pole-sitter Ed Carpenter, who led a race-high 65 laps. “I knewRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — After a punctured tire relegated Alexander Rossi to a 32nd place starting position in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, Rossi clawed his way through the field and finished fourth in a performance that brought the crowd to its feet. Rossi was 28th after the opening lap and climbed to 23rd before the opening round of pit stops. Restarts then became critical as the Californian gained 11 positions from Lap 54 to Lap 77. However, Rossi’s best performance was on Lap 145 where he passed Scott Dixon,Read More