Opinion Category

Posted On March 22, 2019By Christopher DeHardeIn Breaking News, Headline News, IndyCar, Opinion

DEHARDE: Friday Austin IndyCar Musings

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer AUSTIN, Texas– The NTT IndyCar Series visits Circuit Of The Americas for the first time in series history and Sunday’s INDYCAR Classic can have many questioning who they should pick for a good result at the 20 turn, 3.41 mile natural terrain road course. Josef Newgarden led the opening practice session with a lap of 1 minute, 48.6567 seconds to average 112.980 mph. The winner at St. Petersburg, Newgarden was just ahead of Colton Herta by .1372 seconds but Herta had to deal with some mechanicalRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Josef Newgarden winning the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was far from the biggest story. Instead, it was television and streaming contracts, two media outlets INDYCAR fans have gone full rage all week. Just as the sport is hitting mass strides, something alters their momentum every time. This time around, it’s the television deals around the world that’s brought a lot of frustrations from the fans. Let’s start off with the biggest piece of the TV puzzle – NBC Sports. Last season, INDYCAR announced INDYCARRead More
By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG — Friday for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg had many interesting happenings across all the INDYCAR system so let’s take a look from the top down. In the NTT IndyCar Series practice sessions, Felix Rosenqvist led the first session in his first race for Chip Ganassi Racing in the No. 10 NTT Data Honda. The Swede was ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay in the first session but Hunter-Reay’s No. 28 Andretti Autosports DHL Honda led the second session. What’s more odd is thatRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Six years ago, Michael Annett’s career drastically changed at Daytona International Speedway when a broken sternum sidelined him 6-8 weeks, ending his bid of contending for the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, where in the previous season, he finished fifth in points. Ever since that gloomy afternoon, Annett’s view of the sport didn’t change but his performances created a whirlwind of struggles in NASCAR. Scoring only two top-fives in 91 Xfinity Series starts, numbers that’s undesirable especially the equipment he runs for whichRead More
By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – What a difference a year makes. The 2018 edition of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season opener was a barn burner all the way to the end, lasting through five overtime periods and culminating with a photo finish between JR Motorsports teammates Tyler Reddick and Elliott Sadler. Not to mention there had never been a closer finish in series history – EVER. On Saturday afternoon, we got a race on the opposite side of the spectrum that featured single file racing pretty muchRead More
By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent Let’s face it, just about everything that could go wrong in the 2019 Advance Auto Parts Clash went wrong. A bungled running order, inclement weather, a jet dryer leaking fluid, a race-ending, field consuming crash, and a yellow-line rule debate were the ‘highlights’ of this Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Exhibition Race. Ultimately, The Clash, for the first time in its’ history was shortened due to weather. Before we go any further, yes, there is nothing that NASCAR, or anyone else, can do to controlRead More
By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Firestone’s extension as exclusive tire supplier to the NTT IndyCar Series through the 2025 season shows the strength of IndyCar racing with the most important part of the car settled for the next few seasons. The only component of a racing car designed to purposefully make contact with the racing surface are the tires. That’s why they are so critical to a race car’s performance. But don’t take this author’s word for it, Mario Andretti’s opinion would be the more important one. “There’s no element ofRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Let’s face the music. As much as I prefer seeing the NTT IndyCar Series champion represent the No. 1 in their car, history has been against them due to various shortcomings. Over the past two seasons, the reigning INDYCAR champion have carried the No. 1 banner, but weren’t able to retain it. Heading into 2019, five-time champion Scott Dixon did a photo shoot standing next to his PNC Bank Honda. What stood out was the No. 1 appearing on his car instead of the iconic No.Read More
By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer CORE Autosport were at the short end of the stick. The team announced on November 30th that they would be switching to the Nissan DPi platform after Extreme Speed Motorsports pulled out of the WeatherTech Championship. That gave the team just over a month to get their brand new car, prepare everything for the Roar Before the 24 test in early January and iron out any kinks discovered in the car in preparation for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Then comes the race and the teamRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Transcending. That’s one word I’ll use to define four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, who will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame this Friday. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve pondered about his legacy in the sport. Everyone that’s been inducted in the sport’s biggest enshrinement have their legacies and how they stood out because of what they’ve accomplished in the sport. Gordon is quite extraordinary because of that word, transcending. Love him or hate him, Gordon made his mark that wasn’t seenRead More