By David Morgan, Associate Editor LONG BEACH, Calif. – Almost as quickly as the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach began, the championship hopes for Pato O’Ward vanished just as fast. Starting the day with high hopes that he would be able to put up a challenge for the Astor Challenge Cup, it took just one lap on the Southern California street course for everything to go awry. As the field stormed into Turn 11 on that first lap, O’Ward found himself in the middle of a hornet’s nest, when Ed
Read More By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, Calif. – A lot has changed in the world since 2019. The three NTT IndyCar Series title contenders are no exception as their racing careers have also undergone change over the course of the past two years. When the checkered flag dropped at Laguna Seca that year, Josef Newgarden was celebrating his second INDYCAR title, which lifted a tremendous amount of stress off him. Current championship leader Alex Palou was racing in Japan’s Super Formula, along with Pato O’Ward, who was also racing in
Read More By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, Calif. – After 15 rounds of hard fought racing, the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series championship trail will end this Sunday. Destination? Long Beach – the site of the finale and the sports’ most prestigious street race. A tremendous amount of storylines will be settled. One of the major headlines is indeed who’ll be hoisting the Astor Cup after Sunday’s finale. One man who controls his destiny is championship leader Alex Palou. The Chip Ganassi Racing competitor who entered the sport last year as a
Read More By David Morgan, Associate Editor And then there were three. After the checkered flag waved on Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, it became official that the battle for the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series championship will come down to three drivers – Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward, and Josef Newgarden. Palou retook the points lead last weekend with his victory in Portland and Sunday at Laguna Seca did exactly what he had to do in order to maintain his position atop the standings, finishing second on the
Read More By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Five title contenders remain in the penultimate round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with two being the main fighters. Both championship leader Alex Palou and second-place Pato O’Ward made Saturday’s Firestone Fast Six with Palou besting him. After nearly missing Round 2, Palou will roll off fourth for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. He was 0.5323 seconds off pole sitter Colton Herta’s time. But the bigger picture is that he’ll be ahead of his title rivals, beating O’Ward by two spots. “We improved the car
Read More By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Ore. – No driver from Mexico has ever led the NTT IndyCar Series championship this deep into the season. Not even Adrian Fernandez 21 years ago when he was in the title mix as he never led the championship trail. That all changed last month at Gateway when Pato O’Ward took the points lead away from Alex Palou. O’Ward finished second while Palou was collected in a multi-car accident. With just three rounds remaining, the gap between them is 10 points heading into the Grand
Read More By Luis Torres, Staff Writer After not having an NTT IndyCar Series on the West Coast for the first time since 1946 last year, the region will be the final destination for the next three weeks. The first leg of the West Coast Swing begins at Portland International Raceway where the news continue to be endless. Among the 27-car field, there’ll be another debutant in American Open Wheel Racing, driving for a team that’s making its series return. That being former Formula 2 driver Callum Ilott, who’ll drive for the rebranded
Read More By David Morgan, Associate Editor Pato O’Ward came into Saturday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway 21 points in arrears of the points lead, but after a mid-race crash collected his championship rivals, he will be leaving with the points lead firmly in hand. The 22-year-old pilot of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet kept his nose clean throughout the night, bringing home a runner-up result to give him a 10-point advantage heading into the final three-race stretch of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series
Read More By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The third and final oval race of an unpredictable NTT IndyCar Series campaign heads to the popular World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. As always, the storylines aren’t lacking with two subjects taking the paddock by storm. Of course, you have the championship trail which took a wild turn following Alex Palou’s mechanical woes at Indianapolis last Saturday. With just four rounds remaining, the gap between Palou and second-place Pato O’Ward by 21 points. A further 13 points back is Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon, who struggled
Read More By David Morgan, Associate Editor INDIANAPOLIS – With the clock down to mere seconds and a pole position at Indianapolis on the line, Pato O’Ward’s black and orange Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet streaked across the line, sending the No. 5 to the top of the board and securing him the pole for the third time this season. After a short dispute by outside pole sitter Will Power’s team, O’Ward’s lap of 1 minute, 10.714 seconds became official and the celebrations for driver and team could begin in earnest. “It’s good, man,”
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