Road to Indy Category

By Road to Indy SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Earlier this week, difficulties in obtaining a new visa meant that Alex Baron wasn’t even sure he would be able to make it to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for this weekend’s Royal Purple Synthetic Motor Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis supporting the Lupus Foundation of America. Thankfully, the 23-year-old who holds dual French and English citizenship, was granted the correct paperwork on Wednesday. He immediately jumped on a plane from Europe… and ended up with a hard-earned victory this afternoon for Swan-RJB Motorsports.Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Colton Herta came from the middle of the pack after a hectic start – where he fell from second – to earn his first Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race win of the season. After a start where polesitter Pato O’Ward was hit from behind by Victor Franzoni, Herta was trapped behind O’Ward and fell back to fifth place in the seven car field. Santi Urrutia took the lead at the start and defended his lead against Victor Franzoni’s advances. Franzoni would goRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Thursday has come and gone for the 2018 INDYCAR Grand Prix weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and despite all the on track action being devoted to the Mazda Road to Indy, the Verizon IndyCar Series had some news of its own. Alfonso Celis announced that he would be racing an Indy car for Juncos Racing at Road America. Celis raced at Barber Motorsports Park for Juncos Racing in Indy Lights, finishing seventh and eighth in his two races. Zachary Claman DeRead More

By Pato O’Ward, Driver Columnist Editor’s note: Pato O’Ward will be contributing to Motorsports Tribune selectively throughout the 2018 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires season. The 18-year-old Texas-based Mexican racer pilots the No. 27 Mazda/Dallara IL-15 for Andretti Autosport. A Rolex 24 at Daytona winner and series champion in the Prototype Challenge class a season ago in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, O’Ward will be looking for similar success during his rookie campaign in the top rung of the Mazda Road to Indy. The month of May is very special to theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Two years ago, Pato O’Ward was staring at a crossroads. Having enough funding for the first two race weekends of the 2016 Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires, the Mexican racer ended up winning three of the first four races and finished second in the other race. In 2018, O’Ward again has won three of the first four races of his championship campaign in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires and despite a seventh at race two in St. Petersburg, the hope is thatRead More

By Road to Indy PALMETTO, Fla. – As with the Verizon IndyCar Series and the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500, the month of May also features a crown jewel on the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires schedule with the Freedom 100 on Friday, May 25 – Miller Lite Carb Day. The race has produced three of the closest finishes in history at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the 2016 finish at the top of the record books when Dean Stoneman of Andretti Autosport won by a mere 0.0024Read More

By Road to Indy PALMETTO, Fla. – With a history dating back over 100 years, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ranks right at the top of the list of venues for all open-wheel racers. This weekend around 50 young Indianapolis 500 aspirants, representing all three levels of the highly acclaimed Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires development ladder, will be chasing victory on the Brickyard’s 2.439-mile Grand Prix road course in a total of six races which will comprise the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis supportingRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — He was so painfully close. With 10 laps remaining in Sunday’s Pro Mazda Championship race at Barber Motorsports Park, it appeared Andres Gutierrez would finally be able to embrace his team as a first-time winner on the Mazda Road to Indy. Instead he found himself fighting off tears and shaking his head in frustration as they embraced him in the paddock after a seventh-place disappointment. “I’m just devastated,” Gutierrez told Motorsports Tribune. “I think I drove the best race of my life toRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — A little moisture couldn’t keep Patricio ‘Pato’ O’Ward from surging to an Indy Lights weekend sweep at Barber Motorsports Park. If anything, it might have made it easier. O’Ward soared from the drop of the green flag to claim a dominant victory in the 30-lap Race 2 of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, securing his third victory in four Indy Lights races to open the 2018 season. The Alabama road course promised to be a challenge, particularly with the wet weatherRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — With rain anticipated on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, few drivers in the Mazda Road to Indy were as confident as Harrison Scott. “I’m British, and we’re used to the rain for sure,” he told Motorsports Tribune after Saturday’s first Pro Mazda Championship race. “So if it’s wet, it’s not going to phase me. I know what to do.” Scott proved that to be true on Sunday. The Briton surged past the off-course Andres Gutierrez shortly before a caution for weather conditionsRead More