Indianapolis 500 Tag

By INDYCAR INDYCAR is providing ample time for manufacturers and teams to learn the new universal aero kit during offseason testing, with the sanctioning body for the Verizon IndyCar Series announcing testing guidelines for the 2018 season. The testing regulations, developed in cooperation with series teams and manufacturers, have been distributed to INDYCAR stakeholders and are split into offseason and in-season testing categories. The offseason testing window began Monday and runs through March 29, 2018. The in-season testing window runs from March 30-Sept. 16, 2018. Team testing highlights • Each VerizonRead More

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) announced today that reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Takuma Sato will return to their Verizon IndyCar Series team in 2018. Sato drove for the team in 2012 where he famously dueled eventual winner Dario Franchitti on the final lap. “I’m excited about having Taku back with us,” said Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with former CBS Late Show host David Letterman and Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan. “I have such admiration for his spirit and how he approaches everything and was so happy for himRead More

The partnership that has claimed five Indianapolis 500 victories will remain intact as Andretti Autosport announced today that the team will return to Verizon IndyCar Series competition in 2018 with Honda-powered machines as part of a multi-year agreement. “It’s no secret that we’ve been weighing this decision for a while now,” said Andretti Autosport CEO Michael Andretti. “We’ve had strong relationships and have marked milestones with both manufacturers, but we’re pleased to continue our Honda partnership. We have a great history of success with Honda and I have no doubtRead More

By Takuma Sato, Driver Columnist In his fifth column for Motorsports Tribune, Takuma Sato takes us inside the cockpit on how he won the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500, the second consecutive for Andretti Autosport. He also carried that momentum into the Detroit doubleheader with two solid top five finishes and now sits third in the Verizon IndyCar Series championship standings as they ready for this weekend’s race at Texas. The Final Run to Victory It’s all about timing and it worked out perfectly. There was 22 laps to goRead More

 By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — After a topsy-turvy race that saw two of his teammates eliminated before the finish and himself a lap down early, Max Chilton led the most laps en route to a fourth place finish at the 101st Indianapolis 500. Chilton was a lap down right before the savage incident that eliminated teammate and pole sitter Scott Dixon but was able to get back onto the lead lap when the lead lap cars pitted. The former F1 driver managed to grab theRead More

 By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Chip Ganassi Racing’s Tony Kanaan had one of the more interesting races of guys who finished in the top five during the 101st Indianapolis 500. Kanaan led 22 laps early, hit debris in an accident, and had two teammates retire. But the 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner managed to come home fifth despite the challenges he faced. “I think we did okay. We had a damaged car, Kanaan said. “After one of the crashes I ran over some of the debrisRead More

 By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — Jay Howard was being lapped by Ryan Hunter-Reay on Lap 53 when he hit the wall exiting Turn 1. His steering damaged, Howard’s car went across the track into the path of polesitter Scott Dixon, launching the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner into the catch fencing on top of the inside wall with the rear of the car impacting first. The damage caused by the incident caused a red flag on Lap 55 at 1:09 pm with engines re-fired atRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS— A rookie team with a second year driver in the Indianapolis 500 would seem to be a match that wouldn’t produce much in terms of results. However, Juncos Racing and Spencer Pigot aren’t exactly new to each other. Pigot drove for Juncos Racing in karting in the 2000s, rejoining the team in 2014 to win the Pro Mazda championship. The Pasadena, California-born driver then won the Indy Lights championship with the team, becoming the only driver to win multiple championships inRead More

 By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — McLaren-Honda-Andretti Honda’s Fernando Alonso had never driven on an oval before his private test on May 3rd. Some people would expect the two time world champion to have an easy time learning to drive the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After all, with only four corners, one would expect it to be an easy track to learn on. “Not at all, not at all,” Alonso said. “This is a place that we didn’t repeat the same lap at any time in theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — For Zach Veach, people doubting him is nothing new. “When I first got to Indy Lights everybody was saying ‘There’s no way Veach is going to be able to finish races,’ and by the end of our career in Indy Lights we were running off ten second leads in Indy Lights and had pretty dominant campaigns,” Veach said. Looking at Veach, it’s easy to see why. When seeing him for the first time, many might assume the Ohio native isn’tRead More