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By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer Round four for the Verizon IndyCar Series is now in the books, with Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud taking his second consecutive win on the season. Allow me to share some of my observations from the weekend. 1 ) Frenchy Can Drive Yes, I know that some racing purists hate this movie, but Talladega Nights  ranks as one of my guilty pleasures, and I have probably watched this film a dozen times. Comparisons between Simon Pagenaud and the Jean Girard character have been abundant since PagenaudRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer This coming weekend the Verizon IndyCar Series will return to the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL, as they continue their 2016 season. The race weekend is slated for April 22-24, 2016. About the Race The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is round four of sixteen for the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2016. The event is held on a permanent road course, the first of five such races on the calendar. The defending race winner is Ed Carpenter Racing’s Josef Newgarden. The young driverRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The 42nd annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for the Verizon IndyCar Series is now in the books. Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud took the win, followed closely by Target Chip Ganassi driver Scott Dixon. He are five takeaways from the latest edition of one of IndyCar’s crown-jewel events. 1 ) Simon sez After a decidedly lackluster first season with Team Penske, that left him 11th in the final standings, Simon Pagenaud is off to a ferocious start in 2016. His two second-place finishes, combinedRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor Juan Pablo Montoya was the quickest man in opening practice for the 42nd Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Colombian logged a lap of 01:08.1290 that was just .2424s quicker than teammate Will Power. The AJ Foyt Racing cars of Jack Hawksworth and Takuma Sato both found their way into the top five with the Britton logging a lap of 1:18.4839s. Josef Newgarden split the two Foyt cars with the fourth quickest time and was followed by Sato. Practice was slowedRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor IndyCar rookie and F1 reserve Alexander Rossi had his first oval experience this past weekend in IndyCar’s long awaited return to the Desert Mile at Phoenix International Raceway. In the lead up to the race, the newcomer was noticeably surprised at the transition and different skill set required for a fast, short oval. The first 10 laps I drove around an oval I was a little bit timid about it, but I enjoyed the experience. It’s a very unique set of circumstances you have to understandRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer Andretti Autosport put the rumors to rest when they confirmed that Townsend Bell will be joining the team’s effort at the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. Bell will be driving the No. 29 car in a fifth entry with the team that has three Indianapolis 500 wins to their credit. The Andretti team utilizes the Honda powerplant and aero package.  Sponsorship has not been announced, although the Robert Graham fashion company, a sponsor of Bell’s in the past, willRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Manor F1 reserve driver and 2015 GP2 runner up Alexander Rossi took to the wheel of the No. 98 Andretti-Herta Autosport machine for a tough but solid debut in his first IndyCar race during today’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He finished a lap down in 12th place. A result that perhaps fell somewhat short of expectations, but one that only confirms the quality of Rossi’s talent as a newcomer to IndyCar. A difficult qualifying session saw him struggle on Saturday and start today’s race backRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor Juan Pablo Montoya dominated the final half of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to take his second consecutive win in the season opening event for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Montoya mostly ran in arrears to his Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud for the opening 46 laps of the race as the Frenchman pulled out to a sizable lead over the course of the opening stint. Following the first round of green flag pitstops, Pagenaud continued to keep his teammate at bay for theRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor Will Power claimed his sixth pole at the Streets of St. Petersburg in the waning seconds of the Firestone Fast Six Session while Team Penske swept the top four spots for the second year in a row, and with a stomach flu no less. Power first broke his own track record in Q1 with a lap of 1:00.5768 and come the second session he made an astonishing lap of 1:00.0658, nearly a half second quicker his track record set a year agoRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor Will Power recovered from crashing out of the first practice session to click off the fastest lap of the day in the final seconds of a delayed practice session at the Streets of St. Petersburg. A portion of the racing surface in turn 3 came apart just nine minutes into the session. That brought out the red flag for nearly 45 minutes while the track was repaired. Once the action restarted, 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon led for much of theRead More