Helio Castroneves Tag

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The third Angie’s List GP of Indy is now in the books, and Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud took the checkered flag, extending his win streak to three. Certainly, Pagenaud’s stellar early season is the hottest story coming out of the famed Brickyard.  Here are five other takeaways from Saturday’s action at the track. 1 ) Conor Daly is a boss : On Saturday, Conor Daly led laps in the Verizon IndyCar Series for the third time in his career. Having led in Detroit last season,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief James Hinchcliffe returned to the scene of the crime to score a third-place finish in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday. Almost one year ago the Canadian encountered a suspension failure while practicing in preparation for the Indianapolis 500. The mechanical issue was nearly fatal for Hinchcliffe, but after a long season spent on the sidelines he returned to the cockpit of the No. 5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda for the start of the 2016 season. Hinchcliffe started the day from third andRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Simon Pagenaud claimed his third straight win of the season in today’s Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. From the start of the race, Pagenaud was the man to beat as he pulled away from Charlie Kimball at the drop of the green flag and pulled away by as high as four and a half seconds over the course of the first stint. Pagenaud made his first pitstop on lap 12 which handed the lead over to Kimball, who pitted on lap 23. Kimball briefly heldRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer As the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is making preparations for the historic 100th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, it is a wonderful time to take a trip down memory lane and examine the rich history of this uniquely American event. Each of the 99 previous races has produced a winner that will forever have his name etched in motor racing history. 67 race winning drivers, and two relief drivers have their images on the Borg-Warner Trophy. There are, however, an untold number of heartbreakingRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor LONG BEACH, Calif. – Simon Pagenaud claimed his first win in nearly two years and his first for Team Penske under a bit of controversy. Pagenaud’s didn’t take the lead until lap 54, but his march to the front started at the very beginning as he muscled past Scott Dixon on the first lap to move into second place behind teammate Helio Castroneves who dominated the opening stint of the race. Dixon ran around 1.5s in arrears to Castroneves and ended upRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor LONG BEACH, Calif. – Helio Castroneves rose to the occasion in the Firestone Fast Six to claim his second straight pole at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Castroneves snuck his way out of group one and made it into the Fast Six. Once the green flag dropped for the Fast Six, Castroneves wasted no time from the get go and laid down the fastest lap of the session. Will Power went off course in turn 9 which brought out the red flag withRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer This coming weekend the Verizon IndyCar Series will return to the streets of Long Beach, as they continue their 2016 season. The race weekend is slated for April 15-17, 2016. About the Race The 42nd Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is round three of sixteen for the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2016. The event is held on a temporary street circuit, one of six such races on the calendar. The defending race winner is Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon. The New Zealand-born driverRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The Verizon IndyCar Series ran their second event on the schedule, and the first oval event of the year last night. Target Chip Ganassi driver, Scott Dixon, won the race in a dominating fashion leading the final 155 laps at Phoenix International Raceway. Allow me to share some observations of what we witnessed on Saturday Night. 1 ) The Aero Package isn’t quite right    As a few drivers and team owners predicted, the racing became largely processional with the cars becoming strung out. DriversRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer Earlier this evening, the Verizon IndyCar Series made its much-anticipated return to Phoenix International Raceway. When all was said and done, it was Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon standing tall in victory lane at the Diamond Desert West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix. “It was tough, definitely one of the toughest races on these short ovals.” said Dixon, a four-time series champion, “The car was super-fast. I think we had the best car out there on strategies and pit stops.” Dixon was followed to theRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer AVONDALE, AZ. April 2, 2016 – Heading into tonight’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix, Honda teams are left scratching their heads as Chevrolet-powered cars swept the first ten grid positions led by Penske Racing’s Helio Castroneves. After completing a two-day test in February, all the Verizon IndyCar Series teams reported that track conditions were remarkably different upon returning to the 1.022 mile oval.  The track had hosted the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in the interim and, despite a power-washing of the surface, quiteRead More