Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Tag

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Writer For the second year in a row, Ryan Hunter-Reay recovered from a mechanical problem on the parade lap to finish fifth in today’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Hunter-Reay qualified eighth on Saturday, but started today’s race from the pit lane as his No. 28 DHL Honda’s electrical control unit malfunctioned on the lap leading up to the green flag. The Andretti Autosport driver was saved by a yellow flag on lap three as Charlie Kimball stalled on course. That allowed him to catch up and alterRead More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Writer Strategy and good luck vaulted Graham Rahal to a second place finish in today’s Verizon IndyCar Series season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It marked the Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing driver’s first podium at St. Pete since his first win at the 1.8-mile street circuit in 2008. As calamity ensued between race leaders Robert Wickens and Alexander Rossi on a restart with two laps remaining, Rahal followed race winner Sebastien Bourdais through the chaos as the race ended under the yellow flag. Rahal noted that he wasRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Defending Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg winner Sébastien Bourdais restarted in third with two laps remaining. One corner later, Alexander Rossi tangled with race leader and INDYCAR series debutant driver Robert Wickens, propelling Bourdais’ No. 18 SealMaster Honda on top of the leaderboard and captured a feelgood second straight win at the Florida street circuit, leading 30 of 110 laps. The victory was Bourdais’ 37th career INDYCAR victory and perhaps his most triumphant after surviving a horrific Turn 2 qualifying crash during Pole DayRead More

By INDYCAR ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – The new Indy car lived up to the hype on the first official day of practice ahead of the Verizon IndyCar Series season opener. Twenty-four drivers found their cars – each equipped with the new universal aero kit for the first time this year – challenging and exciting to drive as they prepared for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It is the first of 17 races on the 2018 schedule. FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG: Practice 1 results; Practice 2 results; Combined practice resultsRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief With the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season rapidly approaching, Motorsports Tribune is previewing each of the teams competing on the tour. The site’s IndyCar staff will break each team down, laying out their results from the previous season while previewing the year to come for the organization and their driver(s).  Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Drivers: Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato What Happened Last Year: A trying start turned into another strong season in 2017 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Graham Rahal piloted the team’s lone full-time entry in the No.Read More

By INDYCAR INDYCAR and its broadcast partners announced the 2018 television schedule today featuring an expanded use of in-car cameras to bring fans the thrilling action of the Verizon IndyCar Series from a variety of new angles in the upcoming 17-race season. ABC and NBCSN will utilize never-before-seen views of the intense racing that the Verizon IndyCar Series offers with cameras strategically placed on the universal bodywork kit that is new for all cars in 2018. In addition to the traditional in-car position above and behind the driver’s head, camerasRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer This past weekend, the stars and cars of the Verizon IndyCar Series were back on the track after a lengthy off-season.  The series did not disappoint, nor did Sebastien Bourdais who took the win in his first outing with Dale Coyne Racing in the No. 18 Sonny’s Barbecue Honda entry. Lets discuss five topics coming away from the “World’s Fastest Spring Break Party.” 1 ) Instant Validation Sebastien Bourdais began shopping for a 2017 ride very early. After three rather fruitful seasons with KVSH RacingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ed Carpenter Racing’s duo of Spencer Pigot and JR Hildebrand had some good moments during Sunday’s season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. For Pigot, the road and street course specialist in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet, it was a lot of good moments before a major bad one. Pigot qualified 13th, but worked his way up to fifth before the final caution of the race on LapRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — What a reunion. Sebastien Bourdais came from last on the grid to win the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in the first race since being reunited with engineer Craig Hampson – whom he won four titles with during his Champ Car days (2004-’07). An accident in qualifying left the Dale Coyne Racing driver starting last, but thanks to some excellent pit strategy and fast driving was able to drive his No. 19 Boy Scouts of America HondaRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Scoring seven poles at one venue is one thing. Doing so in the span of eight years is quite another. Such was at the accomplishment of Team Penske’s Will Power as he sped his No. 12 Verizon Wireless Chevrolet around the streets of St. Petersburg ahead of Sunday’s season opener for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series. Power’s pole-winning lap of 1 minute, 01.0640 seconds (106.118 mph) was enough to secure him his 45th career pole ahead of fellowRead More