IndyCar Category

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer On any street circuit gaining positions is difficult, but on the streets of Toronto, Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’s Sebastian Saavedra did that better than anybody by gaining ten and nine spots respectively from where they began the race. Hunter-Reay took the green flag in 16th place and moved to 14th following the opening lap incident between Scott Dixon and Will Power. The No. 28 DHL Honda then saw pit lane on Lap 21 before a caution for TonyRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Josef Newgarden benefitted from a little bit of racing luck as he scored his second win of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season by winning the Honda Indy Toronto. The start was chaotic as Helio Castroneves went from third to first at the first corner, moving polesitter Simon Pagenaud to second with Graham Rahal behind. Heading down to Turn 3, Will Power was squeezed to the outside wall by Scott Dixon while trying to avoid Rahal. Power’s steering was damaged enough where heRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Will Power was one of the two fastest drivers in Friday’s Verizon IndyCar Series practice for the Honda Indy Toronto, but Power was among several drivers that faced challenges with the circuit. For the driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, the bumps heading into Turn 1 were where he had the most trouble. “You have to avoid the bumps at times. Today you’ve got a tower wind, so you don’t bottom as hard,” Power said. “I’m not sure anyoneRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Saavedra returns to the Verizon IndyCar Series to pilot the No. 7 with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto. Mikhail Aleshin, the usual full-time driver of the entry, will sit on the sidelines but be on hand for “support” according to a team release. Gary Peterson, owner and longtime supporter of Saavedra, will have his AFS Racing branding joining the No. 7 Lucas Oil SPM Honda. The move also reunites the Colombian with former Indy Lights race engineer Blair Perschbacher. Saavedra onlyRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Helio Castroneves went 1,134 days without a victory in the Verizon IndyCar Series after his last win at the Detroit doubleheader race on June 1, 2014. His winless streak ended Sunday in victory at the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway, also ending Team Penske’s 11 year run of futility at Iowa. Castroneves started third, grabbed the lead for the first time on Lap 20 and ended up leading 217 of the final 280 laps, passing Al Unser Sr.Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Esteban Gutierrez’s first race on an oval ended Sunday night with a 13th place finish in Sunday’s Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway. Having driven in Formula One and Formula E, Gutierrez’s past oval experience consisted of a test day at Iowa Speedway in the weeks before running 300 laps around the .894 mile oval, but the Mexican rookie managed to keep his wheels clean, running in the top 10 late in the race. In fact,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden qualified 16th thanks to a bad qualifying draw for Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway. He managed to salvage a sixth place finish by gradually climbing a mountain of cars in his No. 2 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Chevrolet. The Tennessee native didn’t crack the top 10 until Lap 68, getting to ninth after passing both James Hinchcliffe and Scott Dixon. Newgarden continued his rise, getting to his eventual finishing position on Lap 109 and heRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Ryan Hunter-Reay’s 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season has been one to forget but Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway gave his season a bit of a lift. The No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda started 15th at Iowa but finishing third was almost like a victory, which is saying a lot considering that Hunter-Reay won three times in a four year span. The 2012 series champion moved his car to sixth place by Lap 60, gaining roughly oneRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — JR Hildebrand got his chance to prove that his testing work last year was not done in vain. Finishing second in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway for the Verizon IndyCar Series showed it. Hildebrand received much of the credit for then-teammate Josef Newgarden’s victory at last year’s Iowa Corn 300 by testing and perfecting the car’s setup while Newgarden was nursing injuries from a crash at Texas Motor Speedway. Newgarden led 282 laps last year and HildebrandRead More

By INDYCAR NEWTON, Iowa (Sunday, July 9, 2017) – The victory drought is finally over for Helio Castroneves. Now his chase toward a first Verizon IndyCar Series championship is in high gear. The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner ended a three-year, 54-race streak without a win by taking the checkered flag today in the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway. In the process, the driver of the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet closed within eight points of the championship lead after 11 of 17 races. “We’ve been close (to winning)Read More