IndyCar Category

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway’s repave and reconfiguration are officially complete and on Monday, both NASCAR and IndyCar joined in on the fun. The 1.5-mile oval began the process in January with the aim to add extensive draining to help with its irrigation issues that plagued it the past few years. None more apparent than last year when IndyCar underwent a 70-plus day red flag rain delay, with the race being completed on August 27 in a thriller won by Graham Rahal by justRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief There are times in motorsports that you just need to sit back and appreciate the moment. Yesterday, we witnessed one of racing’s greatest champions remind the world of his capabilities and put everyone on notice that he’s still one of the best to ever compete in an Indy car. Every headline imaginable that would be perfect for a Hollywood movie took place on the streets of St. Petersburg. The ‘little team’ at Dale Coyne Racing that reunited a decade old all-star team and a former four-timeRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer After starting 18th, climbing to third and finishing 10th probably wasn’t what Ed Jones was expecting to do in his Verizon IndyCar Series debut in his No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda, but the Dale Coyne Racing driver managed to accomplish all of that on Sunday’s season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Jones made his first pit stop on Lap 25 and played the strategy game to perfection as the yellow flag came out one lap later. After aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. – Ryan Hunter-Reay did not have the ideal start to his Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg weekend, but finishing fourth was way more than he could’ve expected to start the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. “We had so much going on this weekend with the brake issues that we had in practice session two, where we lost most of the time there, then I tapped the wall in qualifying which threw qualifying out the window and then thisRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer This past weekend, the stars and cars of the Verizon IndyCar Series were back on the track after a lengthy off-season.  The series did not disappoint, nor did Sebastien Bourdais who took the win in his first outing with Dale Coyne Racing in the No. 18 Sonny’s Barbecue Honda entry. Lets discuss five topics coming away from the “World’s Fastest Spring Break Party.” 1 ) Instant Validation Sebastien Bourdais began shopping for a 2017 ride very early. After three rather fruitful seasons with KVSH RacingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — First impressions are critical, and even more so for a top-tier employer. For Josef Newgarden, driving the No. 2 Verizon Wireless Chevrolet for Team Penske is about as top-tier as you can get in the Verizon IndyCar Series and by earning an eighth-place finish in the season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the impression was a good one. Newgarden was caught out on bad strategy after not making his first pit stop before the caution flagRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ed Carpenter Racing’s duo of Spencer Pigot and JR Hildebrand had some good moments during Sunday’s season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. For Pigot, the road and street course specialist in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet, it was a lot of good moments before a major bad one. Pigot qualified 13th, but worked his way up to fifth before the final caution of the race on LapRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — What a reunion. Sebastien Bourdais came from last on the grid to win the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in the first race since being reunited with engineer Craig Hampson – whom he won four titles with during his Champ Car days (2004-’07). An accident in qualifying left the Dale Coyne Racing driver starting last, but thanks to some excellent pit strategy and fast driving was able to drive his No. 19 Boy Scouts of America HondaRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Scott Dixon’s No. 9 GE LED Lighting Honda sped to the top of the morning warmup time sheet in preparation for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to kick off the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. The switch Chip Ganassi Racing made during the offseason from Chevrolet to Honda has paid dividends thus far for the four time series champion as he laid down a lap of 1 minute, 01.9292 seconds (104.636 mph), just over half aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Change in any Verizon IndyCar Series team can be major if the team and the new element don’t mix well. For Josef Newgarden and his teammates at Team Penske, things seem to be going as well as ever. The 2011 Indy Lights champion joins a lineup that is stacked with talent. Simon Pagenaud and Will Power are former IndyCar champions, while Helio Castroneves has three Indianapolis 500 victories to his credit. According to Pagenaud and Castroneves, expectations areRead More