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By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Japanese Grand Prix was first held all the way back in 1963 as a sports car race, it did not become an official Formula One Grand Prix until 1976 on and has been held 30 times since. The first two grands prix were at Fuji speedway near Tokyo, including the dramatic 1977 title decider where James Hunt won the World Championship over Niki Lauda. The race then dropped off the calendar for 10 years before it moved to its spiritual home of Suzuka Circuit inRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Dallara has begun production on the new 2018 universal aerokits for the Verizon IndyCar Series. After successful tests at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mid-Ohio, and Iowa Speedway; Tino Belli and his crew have signed off on the first run of kits to be built at the Dallara factory in Speedway, Indiana. The kits will come in super speedway trim (top), road course trim (middle), and short oval trim (bottom) They have 15% less downforce than the current kits from Honda and Chevrolet, and develop much more ofRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — For many drivers in the Mazda Road to Indy, ovals are not a type of track that gets regularly tested or raced on. In fact, in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda, there is only one oval on the 14 race schedule: Iowa Speedway. Various teams have tested on the ovals and two drivers new to ovals had a brief taste before heading to Iowa. Cape Motorsports tested series points leader Oliver Askew at Lucas Oil RacewayRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor With Sebastian Vettel’s victory in the Monaco Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari snapped a 16 year winless street on the streets of the principality. Much like the last Ferrari victory in Monte Carlo, which Michael Schumacher won in 2001, this was also a one-two for the team, with pole sitter Kimi Raikkonen who came home a disappointed second. It was the team’s first one-two in since the infamous German Grand Prix of 2010, where Felipe Massa who was leading the race a year to the day afterRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Behold the RS 2027 Vision concept car, Renault Sport’s detailed project on what the future of F1 could look like in ten year’s time. Aside from some more theatrical elements like the LED lighting and the impossibly low profile tires, it isn’t something too far of what could be in the realm of possibility. It features semi-transparent bodywork to keep the driver on display despite utilizing a jet fighter style canopy. It has all wheel drive, four wheel steering, and active aerodynamics. The deceptively simple shapeRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Over the last two seasons, Josef Newgarden has had his coming out party for the Verizon IndyCar Series at Barber Motorsports Park. The Tennessee native earned his first win in dominating fashion for CFH Racing in 2015, leading 46 of 90 laps and executing a daring pass on Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves to take the lead. But for Newgarden, this is more than just the track where he scored his first win. This is the track closest to his hometown of Hendersonville,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer During the recent Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Ed Carpenter Racing’s JR Hildebrand suffered a broken bone in his left hand that required surgery. While still in recovery, the Speedway, Indiana team has called for the services of Zach Veach to fill in Hildebrand’s No. 21 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park while Hildebrand recovers. While this is Veach’s first IndyCar race, it is not his first experience in anRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor 2017 may prove to be just the reset Renault has needed. One of F1’s four power unit suppliers, Renault is a full works team for only their second season back after it stayed away from the sport from 2011 to 2015. Crucially they have an all new car, as last year’s design was very much a warmed over Lotus. The new machine, the R.S.17 is one of the more attractive and purposeful looking cars on the grid. Piloted by veteran recruit Nico Hulkenberg and second yearRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Williams has surprised the F1 community by becoming the first team to reveal, albeit in the form of a rendering, their 2017 car. Dubbed the FW40 to celebrate the team’s 40th anniversary in the sport, the new car gives us our first glimpse at the effects of the 2017 rule changes. Most notable are the swept back front wing, possible s duct in the nose, larger bargeboards, and reshaped sidepods. It features a larger air intake, complete with a mini shark fin, a vastly different rearRead More

Chase Briscoe raced hard to get there, but once he got the lead, the Mitchell, Indiana rookie drove away from his closest challengers to win the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 presented by Jive Friday night at Lucas Oil Raceway. Briscoe, in the No. 77 Big Tine Ford, won the race off pit road on lap 70 of the 200-lap race, then fought off the pack over several restarts to earn his third consecutive victory on the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards tour. Briscoe dominated with 131 laps-led overall. “OpportunitiesRead More