frank santoroski Tag

August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee When Wendell Oliver Scott, of Danville, VA, was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015, it marked the end of a long journey by the Scott family to see the driver given the respect that he deserved for his accomplishments. Unfortunately, the moment came 25 years too late for Scott himself to see it. When I was young, I had seen the film Greased Lightning. In fact, I watched it several times because HBO wouldRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The Verizon IndyCar Series will make its return this weekend to the Valley of the Sun for the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix. About the Race The race will be the second race of the sixteen-race schedule for the Verizon IndyCar Series. It will be the first oval track event of the season, in a schedule that compromises five oval races. IndyCars will be returning to the iconic track for the first time since 2005. Staged as a a Saturday Night event, theRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer A word to the wise, if you haven’t purchased your tickets for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, get your order in soon. As reported in the Indianapolis Star, tickets are moving at a brisk rate, and Speedway officials are optimistic that the event will see the first sell-out crowd since the pre-split era. Reserved ticket sales have already surpassed the mark set last year, with more than two months remaining before the event. The numbers will not top the crowd in 1995 dueRead More

April 18, 1942 – September 5, 1970 Formula One World Champion 1970 When I was a young person, I would often spend time reading books about auto racing and its rich history. I found the stories of the innovators that worked to make the cars faster to be particularly fascinating. What I really enjoyed, however, were the stories about the drivers. While other kids were reading comics about Batman or Superman, my superheroes were guys like Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Phil Hill and Jackie Stewart. I was particularity drawn toRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla – The Verizon IndyCar Series held its season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg seeing Juan Pablo Montoya take victory in the Penske Chevrolet. The win was Montoya’s second consecutive win at the track, and the eighth overall for Team Penske at the venue. Allow me to share some observations from the weekend. 1)Aleshin is for real Almost lost in the shuffle of the weekend’s headlines was the solid performance from Schmidt-Peterson driver, Mikhail Aleshin. The Russian driver qualified his Honda-powered machineRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer Heading into qualifying this afternoon, Penske Racing’s Will Power set the fastest time in the final practice session for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the opening round of the 2016 season for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Power, a two-time winner of the event, crashed heavily in Friday morning’s practice, and came back to lead the afternoon session which was interrupted for track repairs. Today’s session went forward without incident, save for a brief red-flag to retrieve the Andretti Autosport Honda entry of RyanRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer There is fantastic news coming out the the Haas F1 camp for those of us that would like to see an American driver behind the wheel at the only American-based Formula One team. The North Carolina-based Haas F1 team, preparing for their debut season in Formula One, announced this morning that 17-year old Santino Ferrucci would be joining the team as a development driver. Ferrucci’s duties in this capacity will see him at test sessions and Grands Prix, and also give him time in the simulator.Read More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer American driver, Alexander Rossi, who is preparing for his Verizon IndyCar Series debut this weekend in St. Petersburg, has suddenly found some extra work on his plate. Rossi was announced as the official reserve driver for the Manor Formula One Team in 2016, making Rossi the first driver to have roles in both of the top-tier open-wheel series concurrently. The Manor team has worked with Rossi on a schedule that will allow him to fulfill his duties at Andretti Autosport while attending eleven Grands Prix withRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer The 65 year history of the Formula One World Championship has seen a myriad of scenarios play out over the years. Some seasons were remembered for close championship battles, others for multiple winners. Some seasons saw unbearable tragedy, and others saw bitter feuding between teammates. Some seasons saw incredible innovation, while others were marred by politics, protests, disqualifications and even driver’s strikes. No season can compare with the perfect storm that was 1982 where we saw all of this, and more. The 1982 stats will showRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer The stars and cars of the Verizon Indycar Series recently completed a two day test at Phoenix International Raceway where the Series will return for the first time in more than a decade. It was our first opportunity to see the Chevrolet and Honda 2016 configurations head-to-head on the same track. It also offered us the first glimpse of some of the rookies in the 2016 field. Allow me to share some observations. 1) The Speeds are Incredible Eighteen of the twenty-one drivers involved in theRead More