Helio Castroneves Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer In an unexpected twist, LMP2 machinery will lead the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship field to the green flag for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours at Watkins Glen. CORE Autosport’s Colin Braun picked up where they left off after leading Friday’s second practice session by posting a pole position lap of 1 minute, 32.350 seconds around the 3.4 mile natural terrain road course in his No. 54 ORECA LMP2 machine. Second on the grid is the United Autosports No. 32 Ligier LMP2 entry with Paul Di Resta postingRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor One week removed from a disappointing Indianapolis 500 effort, Helio Castroneves found himself with the Verizon IndyCar Series once more at Belle Isle Park. But this time Castroneves was a spectator – supporting his teammates after competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic. The weekend could have been a challenge if the 2018 Month of May had been the Brazilian’s last. A strong No. 3 Chevrolet and spirited drive ended in defeat for the three-time Indy 500 champion when he crashedRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor Helio Castroneves entered Sunday’s 102nd Indianapolis 500 knowing it could potentially be his final Verizon IndyCar Series start After exiting early following a Lap 146 crash, the three-time winner prays it’s anything but it. “Please Roger (Penske), can I come back?” Castroneves told ABC’s broadcast shortly after his incident. Castroneves is one of Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s most decorated drivers, sitting one win behind the all-time mark for Indy 500 victories with three triumphs (2001, ’02, ’09) in ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.’ For the past nineRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — After a punctured tire relegated Alexander Rossi to a 32nd place starting position in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, Rossi clawed his way through the field and finished fourth in a performance that brought the crowd to its feet. Rossi was 28th after the opening lap and climbed to 23rd before the opening round of pit stops. Restarts then became critical as the Californian gained 11 positions from Lap 54 to Lap 77. However, Rossi’s best performance was on Lap 145 where he passed Scott Dixon,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief INDIANAPOLIS – Roger Penske has stated that if Helio Castroneves captures his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 win today that an opportunity to score a fifth awaits. Castroneves, 43, moved over the offseason to Team Penske’s Acura program in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after 20 years racing Indy cars. However, it was always in the cards to be part of the month of May festivities at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the INDYCAR Grand Prix and “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The crown jewel event of theRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS – In what has become another May tradition, the Indianapolis 500 practice session on the day after qualifications provided a true indication of the thrills that fans can look forward to in this year’s running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” All 33 drivers turned precious laps in race-like conditions on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, the three-hour session serving as an appetizing preview for the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. In all, 2,526 laps were completed, with Dreyer &Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Pole Day has come and gone in preparation for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500. There were surprises and interesting happenings during the day so let’s take a look at them. First of all, Ed Carpenter scored his third Indianapolis 500 pole with a four-lap average of 229.618 mph, almost a full mph higher than Simon Pagenaud starting second. It was interesting to see Helio Castroneves fall so much on his Fast Nine qualifying attempt. The fastest driver in yesterday’s runs, the speedRead More

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is like a second home to Ed Carpenter. The Verizon IndyCar Series team owner/driver, who grew up and still lives in Indianapolis, showed his lasting affinity for the cathedral of motorsports by winning the Verizon P1 Award in pole day qualifying for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. Driving the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet for his namesake team, Carpenter thrilled the hometown crowd by putting together a sensational four-lap, 10-mile run at 229.618 mph in the Fast Nine Shootout featuringRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Alexander Rossi will start the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 after a rough outing during Sunday’s qualifications at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The run came as a shock since the Californian qualified 0.0342 of a second outside the Fast Nine during Saturday’s Bump Day of qualifications. The 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion’s speed of 227.454 would have put him on the fourth row of the grid had he maintained it. However, subsequent laps of 226.608 mph, 224.152 mph and 221.619 mph dropped his four lap averageRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS– With Pole Day qualifying beginning soon for the Indianapolis 500, it’s time for some random qualifying predictions. Final Row: Conor Daly, James Davison, Zachary Claman De Melo. This is based on Carlin’s earlier no-tow speeds during the week being higher on the time sheet and that Davison and Daly will not put their equipment at too much risk to make the show. Rahal found .3 mph yesterday and if that goes across all three cars, they might have pulled themselves off the back row. RowRead More