IndyCar Category

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Simon Pagenaud’s pole position at Iowa Speedway is the fruit of what he believes is a better working relationship with his team than when he won the NTT IndyCar Series championship in 2016. The Frenchman won the pole for Saturday’s Iowa 300 at Iowa Speedway with a two-lap average speed of 180.073 mph around the .875 mile oval ahead of teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden in a Team Penske 1-2-3 sweep of qualifying. “Definitely happy to be ahead of my teammates,” saidRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Conor Daly and Sage Karam will wheel Carlin’s two NTT IndyCar Series entries when the series visits Iowa Speedway on Saturday for the Iowa 300. Karam will be behind the wheel of the No. 31 SmartShop Self Storage Chevrolet while Daly will be behind the wheel of the No. 59 Gallagher Chevrolet. Both drivers have a lot of experience at Iowa. Karam and Daly have won at the track in Road to Indy competition while Karam finished third in the 2015 Iowa 300 racing for ChipRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Simon Pagenaud can no longer be overlooked in the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series title hunt. The Frenchman brought the smack down in Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto by winning the pole, leading 80 of 85 laps and winning the race. But more so than that, Pagenaud reminded everybody that he was still someone to pay attention to as the season’s middle portion winds down. Pagenaud’s diversity is his strength, having won at 11 different tracks since his first IndyCar win at Detroit in 2013. What’s more impressiveRead More

BY INDYCAR TORONTO (July 14, 2019) – French driver Simon Pagenaud of Team Penske showed the NTT IndyCar Series how to celebrate Bastille Day. Pagenaud capped a near-perfect weekend in Canada by dominating the Honda Indy Toronto, scoring his third victory of the season – the 14th of his career – on France’s national day. The pole sitter led 80 of the 85 laps at Exhibition Place and held back five-time series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing in the late going to score his first victory on theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer TORONTO — The start of the Honda Indy Toronto is almost always chaotic and for Will Power and Graham Rahal, Sunday’s was no different in the 11th race of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season. Power started 15th in his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet and was looking at making up more positions than he had already done so at the start of the 85-lap race. While attempting to pass Rahal going into Turn 8, the 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner hit the inside wall whenRead More

By INDYCAR TORONTO (Saturday, July 13, 2019) – As Team Penske driver Simon Pagenaud completed what proved to be a pole-winning lap in Saturday’s Honda Indy Toronto qualifying session at Exhibition Place, NTT IndyCar Series rivals were sliding off pace. Alexander Rossi of Andretti Autosport bounced off the outside wall in Turn 6, and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon spun early in his final timed lap. Neither probably had the speed to match Pagenaud, but it made for an adventurous watch in the Firestone Fast Six qualifying session. “Yeah, thatRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer TORONTO — Sebastien Bourdais and Takuma Sato both qualified in the top 10 for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto but it was what happened at the end of Practice 3 that helped define the rest of their day on Saturday. At the end of the Saturday morning practice session, the NTT IndyCar Series gave all drivers time to do one flying lap following a red flag for Graham Rahal spinning into the tire barrier at Turn 1. Sato came out ahead of Bourdais since the Japanese driver’sRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer TORONTO — In a near-carbon copy of Friday afternoon practice, Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud led Saturday’s morning practice for the NTT IndyCar Series’s only Canadian visit, the Honda Indy Toronto. A fastest lap of 59.3651 seconds around the 11 turn, 1.786 mile road course averaged to 108.306 mph. The 2016 NTT IndyCar Series champion was .0702 seconds faster than Chip Ganassi Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist who also was second fastest in Friday’s afternoon session. Two incidents late in the session interrupted green flag running time. Andretti Autosport’sRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer TORONTO — Robert Wickens will drive a parade lap in front of the entire NTT IndyCar Series field before Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto in a specially prepared Acura NSX with hand controls. Although if Wickens has his way, that might last a little bit longer. “I’m trying to figure out what that penalty would be if I just kept going,” said Wickens. Nobody would fault the Guelph, Ontario native for staying out an extra lap or two. Wickens was paralyzed after an incident last August inRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer TORONTO — More victims fell to the Turn 11 outside wall as Simon Pagenaud set the fastest lap in Friday practice for the Honda Indy Toronto. The 2016 NTT IndyCar Series champion went around the 11 turn, 1.786 mile street circuit with a fastest lap of 59.8708 seconds, averaging 107.391 mph in his No. 22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet. The 45 minute session saw more wall contact as some drivers struggled with the patching in Turn 11 heading onto the main straightaway. Marcus Ericsson andRead More