Indianapolis 500 Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Marco Andretti will pilot the No. 98 U.S. Concrete Honda for this year’s 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 with  a tribute livery celebrating the 50th anniversary his grandfather Mario’s victory of the iconic race in 1969. The Andretti-Herta Autosport with Marco and Curb-Agajanian entry has No. 98 styled similarly to the font used by the No. 2 on Mario’s entry from 1969 and has the numbers on the flick-ups in front of the rear wheels instead of on the rear wing itself. “I’m really happyRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – McLaren could be well on their way to a full-time entry sooner rather than later in the NTT IndyCar Series. Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, traded the milestone 1000th Formula One grand prix in Shanghai, China, for the always festive Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the site of the fourth round of the 2019 IndyCar championship. It was there during a media availability he shared some of the vision of the organization’s plans, as well as his thoughts on the one-offRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – Two years ago in Long Beach, owner Michael Shank and his NTT IndyCar Series driver Jack Harvey struck a deal to run in the Indianapolis 500 as part of an agreement done with Shank and Andretti Autosport, and while his debut didn’t last due to a crash early in the race, the duo have shown consistent pace ever since. Shank described the agreement as a Fernando Alonso deal, where the plan was for him to have Stefan Wilson drive the car, butRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor For the second time in his career, Fernando Alonso will be competing in the Indianapolis 500, making his first start in the Memorial Day Weekend classic since 2017. On Tuesday at Texas Motor Speedway, the two-time Formula One champion started his preparation for the race in earnest as he made his first laps in the No. 66 McLaren Chevrolet, which is a dual effort between McLaren and Carlin to field the NTT IndyCar Series entry for the 37-year old Spaniard. While the differences are vast betweenRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer British energy drink brand Rich Energy have expanded their product into the United States the best way possible, by announcing Monday morning that they’ve partnered up with British driver Jordan King ahead of his bid to make the 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge next month. Rich Energy’s involvement in the NTT IndyCar Series makes it the second major motorsports sanctioning body they’ve participated this year, as they’re also the main sponsor of the Haas F1 Team, driven by Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. King, whoRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG — James Davison will return to Dale Coyne Racing in a partnership with three of his main backers from last year’s Indianapolis 500 effort. Jonathan Byrd’s Racing, Hollinger MotorSport and Belardi Auto Racing will partner with Dale Coyne Racing to field the No. 33 entry as the Australian attempts to qualify for the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500. This is the 33rd confirmed entry to the 2019 Indianapolis 500. Davison finished 33rd in last year’s 500 in the Byrd-Hollinger-Belardi entry after a technicalRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the NTT IndyCar Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into the 2019 season opener at St. Petersburg on March 10. Age: 31 Team: Andretti Herta Autosport Years in IndyCar: 13 Career Wins: 2 Career Podiums: 20 Marco Andretti’s 2018 campaign was a step in the right direction after changes were made that saw him move from his father Michael Andretti’s main team to Bryan Herta’s single-car alliance, and results showed. More importantly, it allowed Marco to focus onRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the NTT Data IndyCar Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into the 2019 season opener at St. Petersburg. Age: 32 Team: Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Years in IndyCar: Eight Career Wins: Six Career Podiums: 16 If James Hinchcliffe’s 2018 results were in a line graph, the resulting image would almost resemble a heart rate monitor with all of the highs and lows that the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver experienced last season. Things got off toRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the NTT IndyCar Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into the 2019 season opener at St. Petersburg on March 10. Age: 28 Team: ARROW Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Years in IndyCar: Rookie Previous Series: Formula One (2014-18) “I wanted to stay in the highest possible category of racing and for me outside of Formula One, that’s IndyCar,” Marcus Ericsson on making the leap across the pond to run the NTT IndyCar Series in 2019. After five seasonsRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS – Bumping to secure locked-in grid positions on both qualifying days, the thrilling Fast Nine Shootout for the pole position and an opportunity to preview the 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge with a full-field practice await NTT IndyCar Series fans May 18-19 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The action-packed format for Crown Royal Armed Forces Qualifying weekend was announced today by INDYCAR. The Indianapolis 500 runs Sunday, May 26 on the iconic 2.5-mile oval. Highlights of the qualifying weekend are: The drama on Saturday, May 18 willRead More