100th Indianapolis 500 Tag

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter. INDIANAPOLIS – Townsend Bell’s move to Andretti Autosport for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil seems to be paying off. Bell has been in the top ten in each session since Monday with Fast Friday being the best day for the Californian, logging the fastest lap of the week without a tow at 231.342 mph. Needless to say, the Andretti Autosport driver is in position to cash in big come pole day on Sunday if he advances into theRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter. INDIANAPOLIS – Due to only 33 cars being entered in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, IndyCar will use Rule 8.4.3.4.4. for qualifications. The rule states that when there is only 33 cars entered in the 500, any car fails to complete their qualifying attempt and does not make a second attempt will be forced to qualify in group one on Sunday qualifying and be forced to start no higher than 10th. In the event that multiple cars doRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Dale Coyne Racing and Andretti Autosport led a clear and sunny Thursday practice for the 100th Running for the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. Gabby Chaves used a tow to set a flying lap of 227.961 mph on his third lap of the session to set the quickest lap of the day. “It’s only practice, but it feels pretty good,” said Chaves. “It’s my first time at the top of the charts here at IMS in IndyCar. Just pleased with the work theRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Ryan Hunter-Reay’s Honda came to a halt in turn four for an apparent engine issue just around 4:09 p.m. Hunter-Reay had set the 10th quickest speed of the day (226.495) up until that point and was the quickest car on track yesterday. This is Honda’s second engine issue of the week with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ Mikhail Aleshin losing an engine yesterday. Honda Performance Development delivered a fresh Honda powerplant shortly after the car was towed back to the team’s garage and the team is swapping outRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Andretti Autosport and Honda swept the top fourpositions during opening practice for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Penngrade Motor Oil The leader of the pack was Marco Andretti, who clocked a lap with an average speed of 228.978 mph. His lap was just a tick faster than Carlos Munoz, who timed in at 228.945 mph while 2014 Indy 500 champ Ryan Hunter-Reay followed behind in third place. Alexander Rossi was the quickest rookie of the day while Indy-only starter Townsend Bell had the sixthRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer One of the more iconic images in auto racing is the familiar helmet design utilized by the Andretti family. Starting with a simple silver helmet, with a strip of red tape on the side, Mario Andretti added a wide red stripe over the top of the helmet in the 1970s. The stripe ended in a point above the visor, and it represented the logo of then-sponsor, Viceroy cigarettes. Andretti liked the design and stuck with it for the rest of his racing career. When son,Read More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter The rookie orientation programs and the refresher test programs are now complete for the first day of practice for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Penngrade Motor Oil. Max Chilton, Spencer Pigot and Alexander Rossi have successfully completed their required rookie orientation programs in order to qualify for the 500. The sessions include three phases of speeds running in increments of 5 mph starting at 210 mph and working to over 220 mph. Matthew Brabham and Stefan Wilson only completed two of theRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter The official entry list for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Penngrade Motor Oil has been released this morning. Only 33 cars have been entered filled with 17 Hondas and 16 Chevrolet. Six former winners of the race are entered: Juan Pablo Montoya, Helio Castroneves, Buddy Lazier, Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan. The rookie class is made up of Max Chilton, Spencer Pigot, Stefan Wilson, Matt Brabham and Alexander Rossi, the largest class since 2010 when six were entered as well.Read More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer As the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is making preparations for the historic 100th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, it is a wonderful time to take a trip down memory lane and examine the rich history of this uniquely American event. Each of the 99 previous races has produced a winner that will forever have his name etched in motor racing history. 67 race winning drivers, and two relief drivers have their images on the Borg-Warner Trophy. There are, however, an untold number of heartbreakingRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The historic 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil has the potential to produce some very compelling headlines. Possibilities include a fourth win for Helio Castroneves, back-to-back wins for Juan Pablo Montoya, a second win for Scott Dixon or Tony Kanaan, or even a first-time winner like Will Power or Simon Pagenaud. The one thing that these scenarios have in common is that they are all highly plausible, and would not be unexpected. The very nature of a 500 mile raceRead More