Grand Prix of Sonoma Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Marco Andretti enjoyed a quiet and solid fifth-place finish in Sunday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma. The 31-year-old Pennsylvanian remained under the radar for much of the 85-lap contest as his Andretti Autosport teammates drew much of the attention with Ryan Hunter-Reay taking the victory, and Alexander Rossi battling for a championship. That combination allowed Andretti to quietly parlay a fourth-place start on the grid into his second top five finish of the year. After participating in his first Firestone Fast Six during Saturday’s qualifying, Andretti hadRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Alexander Rossi fell short of capturing his first Verizon IndyCar Series championship, but he made sure to go down fighting in the season finale at Sonoma Raceway. The 26-year-old Californian’s day began on the wrong foot after a cut right front tire on the opening lap set him back for the remainder of the 85-lap contest. Although he rebounded to finish seventh in Sunday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma, the outcome left second in the overall standings, 57 points behind newly crowned championRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Neither of the IndyCar Series title contenders scored bonus points as Ryan Hunter-Reay snatched the Verizon P1 Pole Award for the INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway Saturday. For the three drivers who are hunting down points leader Scott Dixon, their tasks became increasingly difficult after the New Zealander’s qualifying effort. He’ll start alongside Hunter-Reay in second, with Josef Newgarden following as the highest of the chasing trio after qualifying third. The reigning series champion kept his strong pace from FridayRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Ryan Hunter-Reay has consistently been the best of the non-title contenders these past two days and proved it with a time of 1:17.627, earning him his sixth career Verizon IndyCar Series pole for Sunday’s IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. Not only it was a long-time coming for the former champion, scoring an elusive pole at the 2.385-mile road course, but its his first INDYCAR pole since Long Beach in 2014. The Floridian was congratulated with a hug and a kissRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — It was a share of laughs and soaking in the greatest opportunity that a racer has worked their heart and soul for – reaching the highest ladder in American open wheel racing. That was the story behind Harding Racing teammates and INDYCAR debutants Colton Herta and Patricio O’Ward’s Friday press conference at Sonoma Raceway. The Road to Indy alumni were teammates at Andretti Autosport in Indy Lights, and just wrapped up an intense championship battle which wrapped up two weeks ago at PortlandRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — The answer is simple, it’ll take chaotic circumstances, and having a picture perfect weekend for championship contenders Alexander Rossi, Josef Newgarden and Will Power to prevent Scott Dixon from capturing his unprecedented fifth Verizon IndyCar Series championship at Sonoma Raceway. Among the three title chasers, Rossi is the closest to Dixon, trailing the points leader by 29 points and in many people’s eyes, the best among the three in terms of catching Dixon. Heading into Saturday, he has the most work to doRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — In attempt of keeping continuity at Ed Carpenter Racing, the owner-driver confirmed at Friday’s press conference at Sonoma Raceway that Spencer Pigot will retain his ride in the No. 21 Chevrolet for 2019, and debunked rumors by announcing that he’ll run on all five ovals on the IndyCar Series schedule. After spending the past two seasons sharing a ride with Carpenter, the former Indy Lights champion will wrap up first full-season Sunday, looking to continue has his second-half stride stride. Among his seasonRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — At this time last season at Sonoma Raceway, Andretti Autosport and Group One Thousand One reached an agreement with Zach Veach of Stockdale, Ohio on a full-time Verizon IndyCar Series deal. Fast forward to Friday morning’s press conference, where Veach and Group One Thousand One announced an exciting partnership expansion with EverFi, Inc., which will allow both entities to share their passion for education on a technology level across multiple markets. EverFi is a digital education company based in Washington D.C., and isRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer After scoring the first top-10 finish of his Verizon IndyCar Series career at the Grand Prix of Portland, Pietro Fittipaldi hopes to make the most of his partial season with Dale Coyne Racing in the No. 19 Paysafe Honda in the season-ending Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. Fittipaldi had been splitting the car with former Indy Lights driver Zachary Claman De Melo and Santino Ferrucci before taking over the ride for the last five races of the 2018 season. At Portland, Fittipaldi started 16thRead More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Journalist Santino Ferrucci will return to Dale Coyne Racing for the final two rounds of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season. The 20-year-old from Woodbury, Connecticut will drive the No. 39 Cly-Del Honda for the Chicago-based outfit alongside Sebastien Bourdais and Pietro Fittipaldi in the Portland Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of Sonoma. Ferrucci made his IndyCar debut for DCR at the Detroit doubleheader earlier this year, subbing for Fittipaldi. He finished 22nd and 20th in both races. He will take part in the series’ testRead More