Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – The toughest crop of rookies in recent memory for the NTT IndyCar Series wrapped up their grinding seasons and the man who stood on top of the peddle stool was Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist. Although rookie rival Colton Herta went on to steal the headlines by putting on a flawless performance in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, it was Rosenqvist who took Rookie of the Year honors by five points over the 19-year-old. The sixth place finisher becameRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – Tears of joy was the best way to describe Josef Newgarden’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. That’s because for the second time in the last three years, the 28-year-old Henderson, Tennessee native is the NTT IndyCar Series champion, beating Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud by 25 points. After a grinding 17-round championship trail, Newgarden was emotionally worn out and just thrilled, where he led the points in all but one race, is finally done with. “I’ve been dreadingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – What a way to cap off a roller coaster NTT IndyCar Series rookie campaign for Colton Herta, scoring his second career victory in the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Sunday. The sensational 19-year-old Californian led 83 out of 90 laps, which saw him leap from 14th to seventh in the final championship standings. RESULTS: Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey To do so, he had Will Power hot on his tail once the laps remaining went into single digits untilRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – Four of the best NTT IndyCar Series drivers this season will have excellent starting positions for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca as they’ll start in the top-six. Defending series champion Scott Dixon leads the group as he’ll start alongside pole sitter Colton Herta. Considered the long shot out of the group, Dixon trails points leader Josef Newgarden by 85 points. After qualifying, Dixon felt his No. 9 PNC Bank Honda has gradually improved. Notably, finding a wayRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – Felix Rosenqvist being justifiably upset was an understatement at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. After being the fastest man during Saturday’s final practice, the NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year points leader faced a controversial penalty in Group 2 of qualifying. Rosenqvist’s No. 10 NTT Data Honda was given a penalty which resulted his two fastest laps that would’ve advance him into the next round revoked due to causing a local yellow and impeding another competitor’s lap. As a result, he would haveRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – Felix Rosenqvist will head into the final qualifying session Saturday afternoon with tremendous optimism after setting the fastest time of final practice for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year points leader set a time of 1:10.4065, beating the Team Penske trio of Josef Newgarden, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud as the last 45-minute session was chaotic. Although no stoppages occurred, several drivers struggled finding the perfect lap at the 2.238-mileRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced Saturday that Takuma Sato will stay with the team in 2020. Sato’s 2019 season has no doubt been his strongest of his 10-year NTT IndyCar Series career, scoring wins at Barber Motorsports Park and World Wide Technology Raceway, the most he’s won in a season. In addition to his victories, he has two more podiums to his name and led the field to the green flag twice at Barber and Texas Motor Speedway, which has played an intricateRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – In the closing minutes of Friday afternoon’s practice, Ryan Hunter-Reay maximized his red compound Firestone tires to set a scorching time of 1:09.9105, putting him on top of the board at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Hunter-Reay dethroned rookie points leader Felix Rosenqvist by 0.0200 seconds and when comparing his No. 28 DHL Honda after Thursday’s two test sessions, Hunter-Reay felt better about it but his concern shifted towards the tricky nature of the 2.238-mile circuit. His goal is to avoid making any mistakesRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – The three NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year title contenders swept Friday morning’s practice charts at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with Colton Herta being both fastest and snake bitten by “The Corkscrew” to close out the 45-minute session. Herta’s time of 1:10.7335 was just 0.0719 seconds faster than rookie points leader Felix Rosenqvist. Santino Ferrucci rounds out the top-three as he was 0.1502 seconds behind. In the closing seconds of practice, Herta’s rear of his No. 88 Capstone Turbine Corporation Honda lockedRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – From second fastest in Thursday morning’s two-hour testing session to fastest in the four-hour afternoon session, 19-year-old Colton Herta once again got people noticing his raw talent. This time being at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca where he set the top overall time of 1:10.0720, out performing Will Power by 0.4663 seconds. The rookie felt he was able to get a proper feel on the Firestone tires which was his goal in the combined six-hour session. “It means a lot. We’re all trying to goRead More