alexander rossi Tag

LONG BEACH, California – Crown Royal and Andretti Autosport have joined forces to honor American veterans with the Crown Royal Wall of Gratitude. The Wall of Gratitude will allow racing fans 21 years old and older to submit names of their military heroes between now and the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. The company’s goal is to receive 31,680 names, enough to lap the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That number will far surpass the 4,000 names they received last year. “Crown Royal has had a long traditionRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California — The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season makes its first of two stops to California for Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. This weekend marks the 44th time a race has taken place along Shoreline Drive, the 34th such time for IndyCar racing and the second of a back-to-back-to-back stretch. Long Beach has provided for some interesting results. Last year marked James Hinchcliffe’s return to Victory Lane after a two year drought, but it is his fellow Canadian teammate that is makingRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer (New)Garden of Eden There are a few places in the Verizon IndyCar Series that some would consider paradise. For the sport’s oldest supporters, no location compares to victory lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. West Coast fans often point to the prestigious Long Beach street circuit. Some prefer the history of tracks like Road America, while others like the sheer excitement of ovals like Texas Motor Speedway. For Roger Penske, though? Recently it’s been wherever Josef Newgarden is found. The Tennessean joined Team Penske as the sport’s hottest free agent goingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Alexander Rossi overcame an early costly mistake and stormed back through the field to finish third in Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway. After starting fourth, the No. 27 Andretti Autosport driver got around Team Penske’s Will Power for third place, where he stayed until the first round pit stops under yellow on Lap 43. Unfortunately, Rossi slid in his pit box, hitting the left front tire changer and necessitating a green flag pit lane drive-thru penalty. He was suddenlyRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Friday was the practice and qualifying day ahead of Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway, the first oval in the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season and it was a definite day of unpredictability. Preseason testing had Rahal Letterman Lanigan at the top of the time sheets, but after the first session Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato were 17th and 18th, respectively. Chevrolet had the top two positions with Simon Pagenaud first and Tony Kanaan second ahead of five Honda carsRead More

INDIANAPOLIS – Red, white and blue will paint patriotism on the No. 27 car of Alexander Rossi for the upcoming Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway as MilitaryToMotorsports.com returns as primary sponsor for the 250-lap race. Military to Motorsports will use the first oval race of the Verizon IndyCar Series season to showcase the program, seeking to attract military Veterans toward joining the fast-paced world of motorsports. “This is such an exciting announcement and something that I am so proud to be a part of,” said Rossi. “I bleed red,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Controversial? Yes. Risky? Yes. Intentional? No. Robert Wickens and Alexander Rossi reminded all of us what Verizon IndyCar Series drivers are made of on Sunday at the end of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. A late race caution came out when Max Chilton stalled his car after reversing it, prompting the field to bunch up behind the pace car. The field were given word that the green flag was coming out with two laps to go and Rossi got a good start. Wickens defendedRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Robert Wickens intended to impress on his Verizon IndyCar Series debut and impress the rookie did, scoring pole position and nearly winning Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The 28-year-old Canadian beat Team Penske’s Will Power to the pole and led the first five laps until another rookie, Jordan King, took over after an early restart. Wickens repaid King’s favor on the next restart and led until the No. 6 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda made its way to pit lane on Lap 25. The 2011Read More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Reversal of Fortune Last season Sebastien Bourdais could only watch as Josef Newgarden drove off with a championship he appeared poised to contend for before misfortune befell him at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May. In St. Petersburg he kicked off another championship chase in victory lane after the misfortune of others. Bourdais completed an emotional comeback with a victory in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – the season-opening race for the Verizon IndyCar Series. “This is emotional because I was able from aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer He almost became a late race hero in a daring overtaking maneuver on a restart, but Alexander Rossi instead became a hot topic of controversy during Sunday’s season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Rossi, who started 12th after a penalty in the second round of qualifying threw out his two fastest laps, moved up to eighth place after the first lap of 110 around the 1.8 mile street circuit. Rossi would move past Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud and Scott DixonRead More