IndyCar Category

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Nearly 15 months removed from one of the lowest points of McLaren CEO Zak Brown’s motorsports career, he and the entire Arrow McLaren SP operation are making excellent strides for not just their NTT IndyCar Series program, but assuring last year’s Indianapolis 500 is just a blip on the radar. It’s no secret that McLaren’s independent effort in 2019 was an absolute disaster the moment they began testing with Fernando Alonso, something Brown admitted during Tuesday morning’s video conference. “You’ve got to get it pretty wrongRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has announced J.R. Hildebrand as the pilot of their second entry for the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500. The 32-year-old Colorado native returns to the cockpit of the No. 67 Chevrolet with Salesforce as main sponsor. A nine-time veteran of the Indianapolis 500, this will mark the third consecutive year Hildebrand has run with DRR. Their previous two runs together saw finishes of 11th (2018) and 20th (2019). For Hildebrand, who earned Rookie of the Year honors after a runner-up finishRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer INDYCAR veteran James Davison will be competing in the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge in a collaboration effort led by Dale Coyne Racing. The third DCR Honda entry will be sponsored by Jacob Construction with Davison’s car number being No. 51. Both are representations of NASCAR’s Rick Ware Racing, who’ll be attempting their NTT IndyCar Series debut. Davison recently competed for Ware’s Cup Series entity last Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where he finished 30th. He’ll be make an additional two Cup starts forRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The man wearing a black t-shirt around the paddock is back. Cole Pearn, former NASCAR crew chief for Martin Truex, Jr. (from 2015-19 that resulted in 24 Cup Series wins and the 2017 championship), will make his return to auto racing as the head engineer for Conor Daly’s efforts for the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge August 23. Pearn spent two nights with Daly’s team (Ed Carpenter Racing) and has been preparing for the “Month of August” from a computer as he’s ready to markRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The unfortunate reality of having the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge without fans is set into stone. Especially, when it involves businesses that could suffer of not having any revenue due to folks not coming. Let alone, not even having the event at all has implications for teams and sponsors. Those touchy topics became the focal point of Graham Rahal’s comments about whether or not the decision was correct following the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announcing Tuesday the race running behind closed doors. As soon asRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Team Stange Racing, LLC announced via Facebook on Wednesday their intentions of not participating in the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge. With alarming concerns of not having 33 entries due to the COIVD-19 pandemic, there have been a few drivers and teams being rumored of having a last-minute entry for the 500-mile race that’ll commence Sunday, August 23 behind closed doors. However, the one-off NTT IndyCar Series entry won’t be among those entering to fill up the 33-car quota this year and will concentrate onRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the first time in the history of the Indianapolis 500, there won’t be fans surrounding the 2.5-mile circuit as the extremely unpopular yet difficult decision was confirmed Tuesday morning. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway issued the following statement regarding this month’s race: “It is with great regret that we announce the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place on Aug. 23 without fans. This tough decision was made following careful consideration and extensive consultation with state and city leadership. “As dedicated as we wereRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Former NASCAR Cup Series championship winning crew chief Cole Pearn will be taking his talents to the NTT IndyCar Series. That’s because Ed Carpenter Racing announced Wednesday that Pearn will be the lead engineer for Conor Daly’s No. 47 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet in next month’s 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge. Pearn was elated when describing the announcement as he’ll be working with Peter Craik, the lead engineer of Ed Carpenter’s No. 20 Chevrolet and former co-worker at Furniture Row Racing. “I am super excitedRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson had his much anticipated NTT IndyCar Series test with Chip Ganassi Racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Tuesday. It was third time’s a charm as the COVID-19 pandemic postponed an initial test with Arrow McLaren SP at Barber Motorsports Park back in March. Even earlier this month, Johnson was supposed to test with Ganassi following the “Indy Crossover” before testing positive for COVID-19, forcing him to miss his first NASCAR Cup race. On his way to theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the first time since 1946, America Open Wheel Racing won’t be visiting the West Coast following the cancellations of both the Grand Prix of Portland and the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca doubleheader Monday. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NTT IndyCar Series confirmed they won’t be heading to those two venues and will leave the month of September without racing. The first removed was Portland International Raceway, originally scheduled to have its third straight grand prix weekend on September 11-13. The Oregon circuit issued aRead More