Helio Castroneves Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — The Verizon IndyCar Series heads to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Honda Indy 200 and a closing championship battle can become even more complex at the track metaphorically owned by Scott Dixon. Dixon leads the IndyCar series points by three over three time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, but Dixon’s biggest advantage is that he knows how to win at this track. From 2007 to 2014, Dixon won five times in eight runnings but did not finish lastRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Josef Newgarden benefitted from a little bit of racing luck as he scored his second win of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season by winning the Honda Indy Toronto. The start was chaotic as Helio Castroneves went from third to first at the first corner, moving polesitter Simon Pagenaud to second with Graham Rahal behind. Heading down to Turn 3, Will Power was squeezed to the outside wall by Scott Dixon while trying to avoid Rahal. Power’s steering was damaged enough where heRead More

By INDYCAR TORONTO (Saturday, July 15, 2017) – Simon Pagenaud has put himself in the thick of the hunt for a second straight Verizon IndyCar Series title without earning the pole position for a race in 2017. Until today, that is. The reigning series champion set a track record for the current layout on the streets of Exhibition Place to capture the Verizon P1 Award and first starting position for the Honda Indy Toronto. The driver of the No. 1 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet will lead the 21-car fieldRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Helio Castroneves went 1,134 days without a victory in the Verizon IndyCar Series after his last win at the Detroit doubleheader race on June 1, 2014. His winless streak ended Sunday in victory at the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway, also ending Team Penske’s 11 year run of futility at Iowa. Castroneves started third, grabbed the lead for the first time on Lap 20 and ended up leading 217 of the final 280 laps, passing Al Unser Sr.Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — JR Hildebrand got his chance to prove that his testing work last year was not done in vain. Finishing second in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway for the Verizon IndyCar Series showed it. Hildebrand received much of the credit for then-teammate Josef Newgarden’s victory at last year’s Iowa Corn 300 by testing and perfecting the car’s setup while Newgarden was nursing injuries from a crash at Texas Motor Speedway. Newgarden led 282 laps last year and HildebrandRead More

By INDYCAR NEWTON, Iowa (Sunday, July 9, 2017) – The victory drought is finally over for Helio Castroneves. Now his chase toward a first Verizon IndyCar Series championship is in high gear. The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner ended a three-year, 54-race streak without a win by taking the checkered flag today in the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway. In the process, the driver of the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet closed within eight points of the championship lead after 11 of 17 races. “We’ve been close (to winning)Read More

 By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Will Power was the last car to qualify for Sunday’s Iowa Corn Indy 300 for the Verizon IndyCar Series and that seemed to be the charm as he clinched his 48th career pole in competition with a two-lap average of 185.210 mph. Power dethroned apparent pole winner JR Hildebrand from Ed Carpenter Racing as Hildebrand managed to set a two-lap average of 183.811 mph for the outside of the front row while driving the same car that dominated the eventRead More

By INDYCAR ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin (Sunday, June 25, 2017) – One outstanding prize eluding Scott Dixon in his illustrious Indy car career was a win at Road America’s picturesque and lightning-fast permanent road course. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver checked that box today, winning the KOHLER Grand Prix. Dixon crossed the finish line 0.5779 of a second ahead of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden to earn the 41st win of his impressive career. It moved the four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion within one victory of tying Michael Andretti for third onRead More

By INDYCAR ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin (Saturday, June 24, 2017) – Helio Castroneves reached a level a select few have achieved in Indy car history by taking the Verizon P1 Award in qualifying for the KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America. Castroneves collected the landmark 50th pole position of his Indy car career by running a lap of 1 minute, 41.3007 seconds (142.649 mph) in the Firestone Fast Six, the last of three rounds of knockout qualifying on the 4.014-mile, 14-turn permanent road course in east-central Wisconsin. The driver of theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Expect the unexpected. This year has seen a massive improvement from Honda as they have won five out of eight races and heading into a newly-reconfigured Texas Motor Speedway, the Verizon IndyCar Series had no idea what to expect into Saturday’s Rainguard Water Sealers 600. Well, looking at the practice and qualifying recaps, it was a complete tossup until final practice. In the first practice session, Honda had the top six times as Scott Dixon led Charlie Kimball, Alexander Rossi, Graham Rahal,Read More