Indianapolis 500 Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Nearly 15 months removed from one of the lowest points of McLaren CEO Zak Brown’s motorsports career, he and the entire Arrow McLaren SP operation are making excellent strides for not just their NTT IndyCar Series program, but assuring last year’s Indianapolis 500 is just a blip on the radar. It’s no secret that McLaren’s independent effort in 2019 was an absolute disaster the moment they began testing with Fernando Alonso, something Brown admitted during Tuesday morning’s video conference. “You’ve got to get it pretty wrongRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer INDYCAR veteran James Davison will be competing in the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge in a collaboration effort led by Dale Coyne Racing. The third DCR Honda entry will be sponsored by Jacob Construction with Davison’s car number being No. 51. Both are representations of NASCAR’s Rick Ware Racing, who’ll be attempting their NTT IndyCar Series debut. Davison recently competed for Ware’s Cup Series entity last Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where he finished 30th. He’ll be make an additional two Cup starts forRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The man wearing a black t-shirt around the paddock is back. Cole Pearn, former NASCAR crew chief for Martin Truex, Jr. (from 2015-19 that resulted in 24 Cup Series wins and the 2017 championship), will make his return to auto racing as the head engineer for Conor Daly’s efforts for the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge August 23. Pearn spent two nights with Daly’s team (Ed Carpenter Racing) and has been preparing for the “Month of August” from a computer as he’s ready to markRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The unfortunate reality of having the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge without fans is set into stone. Especially, when it involves businesses that could suffer of not having any revenue due to folks not coming. Let alone, not even having the event at all has implications for teams and sponsors. Those touchy topics became the focal point of Graham Rahal’s comments about whether or not the decision was correct following the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announcing Tuesday the race running behind closed doors. As soon asRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Team Stange Racing, LLC announced via Facebook on Wednesday their intentions of not participating in the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge. With alarming concerns of not having 33 entries due to the COIVD-19 pandemic, there have been a few drivers and teams being rumored of having a last-minute entry for the 500-mile race that’ll commence Sunday, August 23 behind closed doors. However, the one-off NTT IndyCar Series entry won’t be among those entering to fill up the 33-car quota this year and will concentrate onRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the first time in the history of the Indianapolis 500, there won’t be fans surrounding the 2.5-mile circuit as the extremely unpopular yet difficult decision was confirmed Tuesday morning. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway issued the following statement regarding this month’s race: “It is with great regret that we announce the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place on Aug. 23 without fans. This tough decision was made following careful consideration and extensive consultation with state and city leadership. “As dedicated as we wereRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Former NASCAR Cup Series championship winning crew chief Cole Pearn will be taking his talents to the NTT IndyCar Series. That’s because Ed Carpenter Racing announced Wednesday that Pearn will be the lead engineer for Conor Daly’s No. 47 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet in next month’s 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge. Pearn was elated when describing the announcement as he’ll be working with Peter Craik, the lead engineer of Ed Carpenter’s No. 20 Chevrolet and former co-worker at Furniture Row Racing. “I am super excitedRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Attendance for the next month’s 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge has been reduced from 50% down to 25% following Tuesday’s announcement from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition of the attendance being reduced for the August 23rd event, two more confirmations were made. The first being that ticket sales will no longer be permitted after Friday in order to make the attendance limit feasible. More importantly, face coverings are required for everyone who attend the 500-mile race. Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark MilesRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The Indianapolis Motor Speedway confirmed Friday that the 104th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge will only be limited to 50% attendance. Track president J. Douglas Boles stated that with COVID-19 postponing the race from May 24 to August 23 and the unknown of having max capacity at large venues (IMS’s grandstand seating capacity is 250,000), attendance limitations had to be made. “We’re committed to running the Indy 500 on Sunday, Aug. 23 and will welcome fans to the world’s greatest racing venue,” said Boles. “We willRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer “The Month of May” has arrived, but it’ll be pure silence this year as there won’t be an Indianapolis 500 in that glorious month for the first time since 1945. Former Indy 500 winners Tony Kanaan and Alexander Rossi explained during Friday’s video conference that it’s already affected them, knowing that the COVID-19 health crisis has dampened the spirits for them and the rest of the NTT IndyCar Series. However, the anticipated wait has shifted towards “The Month of August,” which both agreed it has theRead More