desert diamond west valley phoenix grand prix Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer On the 25th anniversary weekend of Mario Andretti’s 52nd and final INDYCAR Series win, his grandson Marco carried the famous black and white Newman-Haas colors that both Mario and Marco’s dad, Michael, drove for many seasons during Saturday’s Desert Diamond Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway. The hope of  charging to a third career win looked possible early on after jumping up four spots from his 20th-place qualifying effort at the start. Despite the early climb up the running order, the night didn’t provide theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Dale Coyne Racing will enter Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona with two cars in the top-10. Leading the field to the green flag will be Firestone St. Petersburg Grand Prix winner Sebastien Bourdais, claiming his first oval pole since The Milwaukee Mile in 2006. While the talk in the paddock is about the senior driver, Bourdais’ part-time teammate also made some noise after qualifying 10th. Pietro Fittipaldi, who’s making his Verizon INDYCAR Series debut, set aRead More

By INDYCAR AVONDALE, Arizona – Sebastien Bourdais continued his sizzling start to the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season, setting the fastest speed in Verizon P1 Award qualifying today to earn the pole position for the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix. Following a victory in the season opener at St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 11, Bourdais averaged 188.539 mph for his two qualifying laps around ISM Raceway’s 1.022-mile oval in the No. 18 Team SealMaster Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan. Bourdais earned the 34th pole positionRead More

By INDYCAR AVONDALE, Arizona – INDYCAR announced that veteran racer Oriol Servia has been named a pace car driver for some Verizon IndyCar Series events this season, beginning with this weekend’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway. Servia will split duties with Sarah Fisher, who has been an INDYCAR pace car driver since 2016. “Sarah has done a great job for us but she was unavailable for all of the races,” said Jay Frye, INDYCAR president of competition and operations. “Oriol is a pro andRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter AVONDALE, Ariz. – Yellow flags and equally fast teammates kept Helio Castroneves out of Victory Circle in last night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at Phoenix Raceway. The driver of the No. 3 REV Chevrolet sat on pole for Saturday night’s race and led the opening 73 of 250 laps. Team Penske teammate Will Power inherited the lead by staying out a few laps longer before pitting than Castroneves. Following the stop, the 41-year-old Brazilian settled into second place until a yellow onRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter AVONDALE, Ariz. – JR Hildebrand’s return to the cockpit ended very sweetly with his first podium in nearly six years. While still nursing a broken bone in his left hand, the driver of the No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet was on pace throughout the entire day and came home in third place, his best finish since finishing second in the 2011 Indianapolis 500. “I’m excited to get the result for the team,” said Hildebrand. “The car was bitchin’. At the end of the race, I know weRead More

By INDYCAR AVONDALE, Arizona (Saturday, April 29, 2017) – Simon Pagenaud picked one of the Verizon IndyCar Series tracks richest in open-wheel history to earn his first oval victory. The reigning series champion drove away from the field in the final half of the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at Phoenix Raceway, winning by 9.1028 seconds over teammate Will Power and assuming the points lead after four races of the 2017 season. DESERT DIAMOND WEST VALLEY PHOENIX GRAND PRIX: Box score Driving the No. 1 Menards Team PenskeRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter AVONDALE, Ariz. — Verizon IndyCar Series points leader Sebastien Bourdais and a handful of other drivers were eliminated in a first corner accident in tonight’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix. Mikhail Aleshin, who qualified seventh, lost control of his No. 7 Lucas Oil Honda going into turn 1 and spun into the path of Max Chilton. Bourdais spun trying to avoid the mess but also spun and found himself in the Turn 2 wall. He was then collected by the spinning car ofRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter AVONDALE, Ariz. — So far, Sebastien Bourdais’ move back to Dale Coyne Racing has gone better than expected. The four-time Indy car champion scored a come-from-behind win at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and followed that up with a second-place finish at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Combined with a steady drive to eighth place at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, the four-time Indy car champion finds himself leading the points heading into tonight’s Desert Diamond West ValleyRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter AVONDALE, Ariz. – Cast off, gloves on. JR Hildebrand is glad to be back this weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Hildebrand was forced to sit out last week’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama after he broke his left hand in a last-lap accident with Mikhail Aleshin at the 43rd Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach three weeks ago. If breaking a bone in his left hand wasn’t bad enough, the incident came just three months into his full-time return to the Verizon IndyCar Series. “It’sRead More