Helio Castroneves Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer After a rookie season in the Verizon IndyCar Series that rarely saw him put a wheel wrong, Ed Jones has been announced as the driver for the No. 10 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season. The 2016 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires champion finished third at the Indianapolis 500 behind winner Takuma Sato and Helio Castroneves despite having a damaged car. Jones had five top 10 finishes to his credit en route to 14th inRead More

The Verizon IndyCar Season wrapped up roughly a month ago, with a fresh face now it’s champion in Josef Newgarden. The group discusses  his potential, the 2018 schedule, favorite Helio Castroneves memories and more. Josef Newgarden is the youngest Verizon IndyCar Series champion at 26-years-old since a 23-year-old Scott Dixon won the first of his four titles in 2003. The two share another distinction, as Newgarden was also the first former Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires champion (2011) since Dixon (2000) to win an INDYCAR title. While Dixon hasRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In the last article, we reviewed this author’s choices for moments 10-6 of the top 10 moments in the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Let’s look ahead to the top five moments. 5. The Success and Struggles of Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing had a fantastic start to 2017. Sebastien Bourdais won at St. Petersburg and finished second at Long Beach while rookie teammate Ed Jones finished 10th and sixth at the same two races, respectively. Then the cartoon anvils justRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Team Penske confirmed today that three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves will switch from racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series full time in 2018 to the IMSA Weather Tech Sports Car Championship, piloting one of the teams’ two Acura ARX-05 DPi prototypes. Castroneves is the third driver to be announced for the Penske sports car program after Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron were confirmed for the other prototype. Remaining drivers have yet to be announced. Castroneves will continue racing for TeamRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Simon Pagenaud didn’t know he was going to do a four stop strategy until his engineer sent him a text. It ended up being the move that earned him the final Verizon IndyCar Series race victory of 2017 in Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. “My engineer texted me when I was at the Verizon dinner,” said Pagenaud. “And he said, ‘We’re going to do four stops.’ I’m like, what? Four stops never worked here; why would we do four stops? HeRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In a Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying session that demanded perfection, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden met that demand with a near-perfect lap for pole position ahead of Sunday’s IndyCar season finale, the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Newgarden’s lap of 1:15.5205 was a new track record as the Tennessee native edged out Penske teammates Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves in the Firestone Fast Six. Takuma Sato and Scott Dixon line up fifth and sixth. Qualifying began with the first round whichRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In preparation for the final round of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series at Sonoma Raceway, practice for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma came to a close with the final session on Saturday. 2016 IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud turned the fastest lap on the 2.385 mile road course in Saturday’s third practice session with a fastest lap of 1:16.0329 ahead of second place Scott Dixon’s lap of 1:16.1454. Championship contenders Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Helio Castroneves were third through fifth andRead More

By INDYCAR SONOMA, California (Friday, September 15, 2017) – Championship leader Josef Newgarden led both practice sessions on the opening day of GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma activities as the Team Penske driver looks to close in on his first Verizon IndyCar Series title. Holding a slim three-point lead entering the 2017 season-finale weekend at Sonoma Raceway, Newgarden’s fast lap in the second 45-minute practice — 1 minute, 16.2485 seconds (112.605 mph) — was under the track record established last year by teammate Simon Pagenaud. Newgarden also paced the morning session withRead More

By INDYCAR SONOMA, California (Thursday, September 14, 2017) – Drivers chasing points leader Josef Newgarden took full advantage of today’s Verizon IndyCar Series open test at Sonoma Raceway to prepare for Sunday’s season finale, the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Six hours of on-track action split into two sessions found reigning series champion Simon Pagenaud atop the time sheet at the end of the day. The driver of the No. 1 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet clocked the best lap late in the four-hour afternoon session, at 1 minute, 16.6511Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Friday practice has concluded for the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Glen, the penultimate Verizon IndyCar Series race of the season and Honda came up with the fastest times of the day in both sessions. In the opening practice session, Honda had the top five cars as Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal went fastest with a lap of 1:23.2603 seconds, averaging 145.712 mph around the 3.37 mile natural terrain road course. Second fastest was Andretti Herta Autosport’s AlexanderRead More