IndyCar Category

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer In the eyes of some folks, Jimmie Johnson’s rookie season in the NTT IndyCar Series hasn’t been ideal. Others see it otherwise due to the difficult beast these cars are compared to NASCAR. More so when the Chip Ganassi Racing driver continues improving race-by-race. We saw it with his lap times during the second dual race at Belle Isle last Sunday. It appears the trend is continuing at Road America. Johnson was no longer well towards the bottom of the time charts going into a race,Read More
By INDYCAR ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Josef Newgarden’s cagey tire strategy paid off Saturday with the NTT P1 Award for the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR at Road America. Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Newgarden was the only driver in the Firestone Fast Six who elected to use new Firestone primary “black” tires for the entire final round of qualifying instead of used primary tires or the grippier, but less durable Firestone alternate “red” tires. That paid off with a best lap of 1 minute, 46.0186 seconds in theRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Kevin Magnussen has had to adapt quickly with little preparation time in the NTT IndyCar Series. It became apparent after qualifying for the REV Group Grand Prix he has work to do for tomorrow’s race. The ex-F1 and current IMSA racer will roll off 21st out of the 25-car field at Road America. Not enough to advance out of Group 1 qualifying. After the session, the man deputizing Felix Rosenqvist put it bluntly, “there’s been a lot to learn.” “Very different car than I’ve used to.Read More
By INDYCAR ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Rookie Romain Grosjean led the first practice for the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR on Friday afternoon at Road America, continuing his strong pace this season. Formula One veteran Grosjean’s top lap was 1 minute, 47.6781 seconds in the No. 51 NURTEC ODT Honda fielded by Dale Coyne Racing with RWR on the 14-turn, 4.014-mile road course. Grosjean has qualified in the top seven at four of his five starts in the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, including the NTT P1 Award forRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer This weekend’s stop of the NTT IndyCar Series will certainly be a busy one. Not only they’re running the longest track on the tour, they’ll have plenty of track activity to dial their car up for Sunday’s REV Group Grand Prix. That isn’t the main story going into the ninth round. Instead, it’s a pair of injuries that’s stolen the headlines. Rinus VeeKay, who’s currently fifth in points, and defending Road America winner Felix Rosenqvist won’t be competing. VeeKay underwent surgery on his left clavicle afterRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Ex-Formula One driver Kevin Magnussen will make his NTT IndyCar Series debut at Road America this weekend. He’ll fill in for Felix Rosenqvist in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet after the Swede wasn’t cleared to drive. Rosenqvist is still recovering from his horrific Turn 6 crash from last Saturday’s Detroit Grand Prix. While he did leave the hospital the following morning, INDYCAR Medical Team wouldn’t clear him to compete. As a result, Oliver Askew took over and ended up 25th due to power trainRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Rinus VeeKay (clavicle) won’t compete in this Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series race at Road America following a cycling accident Monday. Instead, Oliver Askew will pilot his No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. ECR issued a statement that the GMR Grand Prix winner underwent surgery to repair a fractured left clavicle. Certainly, a devastating blow for VeeKay’s title aspirations as his eyes shift on returning at Mid-Ohio July 4th weekend. “What happened was very unfortunate and definitely not the greatest timing! The surgery went well, I amRead More
By INDYCAR DETROIT – Pato O’Ward took the NTT INDYCAR SERIES points lead with a drive full of championship-caliber mettle, passing Josef Newgarden with three laps remaining to win the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 2 on Sunday at Belle Isle Park. O’Ward, 22, became the first two-time winner this season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES after the first seven races opened with different winners. He also won the XPEL 375 on May 2 at Texas Motor Speedway. LINK: Official Results Mexican driver O’Ward, who started 16th, powered away from two-time seriesRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the second straight day, Team Penske left the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix heartbroken. Yesterday it was Will Power’s car not firing up after the red flag was lifted. Today, it was Josef Newgarden’s rear tire wear playing a role on finishing second after leading the first 67 laps. “Sad. Just pretty sad,” said Newgarden. “It’s hard not to be disappointed. We had the car to beat, but the cautions (came out) when we didn’t need them. Wrong tires when we didn’t need them.” Right outRead More
By INDYCAR DETROIT – In one of the most unpredictable NTT INDYCAR SERIES seasons ever, Marcus Ericsson pulled off one of the more improbable victories in recent memory in Race 1 of the Chevrolet Dual at Detroit to earn his first career series victory. Ericsson held off Rinus VeeKay and Pato O’Ward in a three-lap dash to the checkered flag after the second red flag of the event. Ericsson was in second place in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda when cars entered pit road for the red-flagRead More