IndyCar Category

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Writer A pit mistake relegated Sebastien Bourdais to 13th after a dominant opening to Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix. The 39-year-old Frenchman’s day nearly started off-color as his No. 18 Sealmaster Honda stalled on the grid. His Dale Coyne Vasser Sullivan Racing crew managed to get him re-fired, and he assumed his position at the front of the field. There were fears that the early motor woes would spell trouble for Bourdais, but the veteran led the race’s opening 40 laps before theRead More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Writer Robert Wickens claimed his first Verizon IndyCar series podium in his first oval start after leading a chunk of Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix. The driver of the No. 6 Lucas Oil Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports led 44 laps and paced the field with less than 10 laps to go before giving way to Josef Newgarden within the final three laps. “It’s a dream come true,” he said. “All I wanted to do was finish every lap of my ovalRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer On the 25th anniversary weekend of Mario Andretti’s 52nd and final INDYCAR Series win, his grandson Marco carried the famous black and white Newman-Haas colors that both Mario and Marco’s dad, Michael, drove for many seasons during Saturday’s Desert Diamond Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway. The hope of  charging to a third career win looked possible early on after jumping up four spots from his 20th-place qualifying effort at the start. Despite the early climb up the running order, the night didn’t provide theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Defending Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires champion Kyle Kaiser was expecting more from the track that gave him his first Indy Lights win in 2016. His first Verizon IndyCar Series race was one spent learning as much as he could, but unfortunately wall contact ended his night early Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway. Kaiser qualified 14th in his No. 32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet and stayed midfield during his race, running as high as 11th before his firstRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Alexander Rossi overcame an early costly mistake and stormed back through the field to finish third in Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway. After starting fourth, the No. 27 Andretti Autosport driver got around Team Penske’s Will Power for third place, where he stayed until the first round pit stops under yellow on Lap 43. Unfortunately, Rossi slid in his pit box, hitting the left front tire changer and necessitating a green flag pit lane drive-thru penalty. He was suddenlyRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway saw just two cautions for 24 laps and two other incidents that didn’t warrant a yellow flag from on top of the flag stand. However, the incident proved detrimental to the outcome of four drivers, after each made contact with the SAFER Barriers after going up across the 1.022-mile oval. The first retirement of the race came at the hands of Verizon INDYCAR Series debutant Pietro Fittipaldi on Lap 40. After an impressiveRead More

By INDYCAR AVONDALE, Arizona (Saturday, April 7, 2018) – Armed with a fresh set of tires, Josef Newgarden charged from fourth place in the last seven laps to win the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix going away. The defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion beat rookie Robert Wickens by 2.9946 seconds on the ISM Raceway 1.022-mile oval to collect his eighth career victory. Newgarden, in the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, was among eight lead-lap drivers who made a pit stop for a new set of FirestoneRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AVONDALE, Arizona – It has been a relatively quiet weekend for Josef Newgarden. Picking up where he left off at the season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the 27-year-old Tennessean will start tonight’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway from seventh on the grid at 185.279 mph. There was hope for more after Team Penkse teammates Simon Pagenaud and Will Power paced the second and third best times, respectively. However, the reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion believes the trackRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Friday was the practice and qualifying day ahead of Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway, the first oval in the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season and it was a definite day of unpredictability. Preseason testing had Rahal Letterman Lanigan at the top of the time sheets, but after the first session Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato were 17th and 18th, respectively. Chevrolet had the top two positions with Simon Pagenaud first and Tony Kanaan second ahead of five Honda carsRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Dale Coyne Racing will enter Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona with two cars in the top-10. Leading the field to the green flag will be Firestone St. Petersburg Grand Prix winner Sebastien Bourdais, claiming his first oval pole since The Milwaukee Mile in 2006. While the talk in the paddock is about the senior driver, Bourdais’ part-time teammate also made some noise after qualifying 10th. Pietro Fittipaldi, who’s making his Verizon INDYCAR Series debut, set aRead More