By Adam Tate, Managing Editor The U.S. Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas will know its fate by the end of February, according to circuit chairman Bobby Epstein. This follows news from early November that the future of the race is at stake due to issues with funding from the State of Texas. The original deal between the track and the state had annual contributions from the government coming in at $25,000,000 per year through 2022. However new leadership in the State comptroller’s office and a new formula applied toRead More
Daytona Beach, Fla. (31 January 2016) – Setting a race-leading pace as the team looked to win a second title at the “World Center of Racing,” Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian delivered an impressive performance in the opening 285 laps of the 2016 Rolex 24 At Daytona. With new and returning commercial partnerships including Curb Records, Tire Kingdom, Florida Lottery, and Zak Products joining the No. 60 Honda-Ligier effort for the 54th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the event was a highly anticipated one for the 2012 RolexRead More
August 9, 1944 – August 1, 1980 Formula Two Champion – 1974 Monaco Grand Prix winner – 1978 Nearly every race fan has a favorite driver. But, with the nature of auto racing having multiple competitors and multiple series, a lot of us have several second-tier or third-tier drivers that we root for just as much as our favorite. For me, as a young person in the 1970s, my “second-favorite” race car driver was a guy named Patrick Depailler. There was a driver named Mario that occupied the number oneRead More
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The No. 60 Honda-powered Ligier JS P2 survived an early incident to hold the overall lead at the five-hour mark of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the season-opening race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Teamed with three members of Michael Shank Racing’s 2012 winning team—NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver AJ Allmendinger, Ozz Negri and John Pew—Frenchman Olivier Pla passed Jonathan Bomarito for the top spot early in the fifth hour of competition and was still out front after anRead More
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The absence of a former teammate, the late Justin Wilson, weighed heavily on AJ Allmendinger and his teammates at Michael Shank Racing as the Rolex 24 at Daytona approached. But the tragic loss of Wilson in a freak IndyCar accident last year at Pocono Raceway also provides a source of inspiration and motivation for Allmendinger, who teamed with Wilson, Oswaldo Negri and John Pew to win the 2012 Rolex 24. “Yeah, it’s tough,” Allmendinger told the NASCAR Wire Service onRead More
By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer With a little less than two months remaining in the Verizon IndyCar Series’ agonizingly long off-season, teams are preparing in earnest for the 2016 season. When the green flag waves at St. Pete on March 13, expect a field that looks remarkably similar to 2015. There was no major driver movement within the top teams and we should see some familiar faces in victory lane along the way. Some of the changes that we will see include the return of Mikail Aleshin to the Schmidt-PerersonRead More
TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 29, 2016) – Team Pelfrey announced today that Aaron Telitz signed with Team Pelfrey for the 2016 season in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. The 24-year-old Birchwood, Wisc., native arrives at Team Pelfrey after competing in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda last season. Telitz finished third in the 2015 championship standings while competing for Cape Motorsports with poise and consistency. He finished the season on the podium 11 times, including a win in Race One at Barber Motorsports Park. “Joining TeamRead More
By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief CFH Racing announced that owners Sarah Fisher and Wink Hartman have removed themselves as owners of the team, dissolving it and re-introducing Ed Carpenter Racing for the 2016 IndyCar season. Hartman’s oil company has taken a major hit since prices have reduced and as such hurt his chances to continue involvement with the team going forward. Fisher will stay involved with the team, working with current partners and assisting in sponsor development. Entering 2015 the trio of Hartmen, Fisher, and driver/owner Ed Carpenter decided to mergeRead More