IndyCar Category

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — After setting the third fastest time in Friday’s two practice sessions and the seventh fastest time in Saturday’s third practice session, Graham Rahal was only able to qualify his No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda tenth fastest ahead of Sunday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Glen at Watkins Glen International. Rahal got through group two in the first round of qualifying to advance to round two but his fastest lap of 1:23.2240 was not enough to getRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Friday practice has concluded for the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Glen, the penultimate Verizon IndyCar Series race of the season and Honda came up with the fastest times of the day in both sessions. In the opening practice session, Honda had the top five cars as Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal went fastest with a lap of 1:23.2603 seconds, averaging 145.712 mph around the 3.37 mile natural terrain road course. Second fastest was Andretti Herta Autosport’s AlexanderRead More

A partnership renewal between five-time Indianapolis 500 champions Andretti Autosport and NAPA AUTO PARTS will see Alexander Rossi return to the cockpit of an Andretti Autosport machine as part of a multi-year agreement starting in 2018. “It’s great to have NAPA AUTO PARTS return in support of Alexander and the team. NAPA has been a fantastic partner, and we look forward to building on the success of the relationship,” said Andretti Autosport CEO Michael Andretti. “Alexander has been a great ambassador both on and off the track and, with onlyRead More

The Verizon IndyCar Series just concluded their return to Gateway Motorsports Park and it provided its own unique element to the season. The gang reviews that, the upcoming race at Watkins Glen, expectations moving forward on the potential 2018 television deal and more. Gateway’s return to the series brought out one of the more intriguing races of 2017, what is your assessment of their return and might we see more tracks return to the schedule that follow their approach? Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer and Host of Drafting the Circuits podcast:Read More

The partnership that has claimed five Indianapolis 500 victories will remain intact as Andretti Autosport announced today that the team will return to Verizon IndyCar Series competition in 2018 with Honda-powered machines as part of a multi-year agreement. “It’s no secret that we’ve been weighing this decision for a while now,” said Andretti Autosport CEO Michael Andretti. “We’ve had strong relationships and have marked milestones with both manufacturers, but we’re pleased to continue our Honda partnership. We have a great history of success with Honda and I have no doubtRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The much-anticipated return to Gateway Motorsports Park for the Verizon IndyCar Series is now in the books. Fans were treated to a fine event that saw Josef Newgarden take his fourth win on the season for Team Penske. Lets take a Monday morning look at some of the stories coming out of the St. Louis area. 1 ) Great Effort for a First Year Event The Verizon IndyCar Series has a number of venerable events with a long history such as Long Beach, Texas, TorontoRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Sebastien Bourdais’s commitment to racing is unparalleled. So much so that he was disappointed with finishing 10th in Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park – his first Verizon IndyCar Series race after suffering massive injuries during qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. Bourdais qualified 19th in the final oval race of the season and was running 14th for much of the first stint of the race. By stopping late under the first caution, Bourdais was able to stretch his firstRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The pressure was on Sebastian Saavedra. His part time Verizon IndyCar Series drive for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports was coming to an end after Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park and the Colombian qualified 21st out of 21 cars. His crew stayed until midnight to make massive setup changes and it worked, resulting in an 11th place finish. “It was fine because I still didn’t know the place,” Saavedra said. “I felt like those first 20 laps I was stillRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer MADISON, Illinois — He led when the race went green and an aggressive move later made all the difference as Josef Newgarden earned his third Verizon IndyCar Series victory in the last four races as he took the checkered flag in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park on Saturday night. The race started under yellow as Tony Kanaan spun on the pace lap in Turn 2 from his 17th starting position. When the green flag came out, Newgarden tookRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer MADISON, Illinois — After Friday’s practice and qualifying in preparation for Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park, several Verizon IndyCar Series drivers praised the newly-paved track surface for its smoothness. “It’s silky smooth and they should copy and paste this surface onto a lot of the tracks,” said Chip Ganassi Racing driver Max Chilton. The track recently made the decision to repave after several drivers suffered tire failures during a test in early May. The repave was completed inRead More