Indianapolis Motor Speedway 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 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 NASCAR DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A champion crowned in the desert. The Last Great Colosseum becomes a postseason factor. A tricky doubleheader. The birthplace of NASCAR bookends the regular season. NASCAR today announced significant, dynamic changes to the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, with intriguing shifts during both the regular season and the Playoffs. Most notably next season, NASCAR’s championship will transition from the beaches of Miami to the desert near Phoenix, Arizona, following the renovation and reconfiguration of ISM Raceway. These recent changes delivered a new and excitingRead 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 David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s running of the Daytona 500. Age: 34 Years in Cup: 11 Career Wins: 27 Biggest Accomplishment: 2012 Cup Series Champion After a handful of near-misses last season, it looked as if Brad Keselowski would be heading into the Playoffs without a win, putting himself behind the eight-ball when it came to the postseason. Then came the Southern 500 at Darlington, and theRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019) – INDYCAR’s expanded presence on network television in 2019 through its new partnership with NBC Sports Group will not only include the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500, along with other action at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May, but also the IndyCar Series’ new season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca near Monterey, California. Eight of this year’s 17 IndyCar Series races will air on NBC, representing a 60 percent increase of network television exposure over a season ago. NBCSN, entering its 12thRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Now that the 2018 NASCAR season is complete and the year is drawing to a close, we’ll take this opportunity to take a look back at the year that was. On the docket today is Part One of the 10 most memorable moments of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. 20 Years Later: Austin Dillon Returns No. 3 to Daytona 500 Victory Lane In 1998, Dale Earnhardt finally broke through with his first win in the Daytona 500 after coming so close for so manyRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer After spending the 2018 IndyCar season racing on the road/street courses for Ed Carpenter Racing, Jordan King will attempt to make his oval debut in 2019. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced King will enter the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 in a third entry for the team alongside Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato. King impressed on his debut in 2018. The Englishman set a new track record at St. Petersburg on his first weekend in INDYCAR competition and led 11 laps last year. His bestRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Fernando Alonso and McLaren Racing confirmed plans to compete in the 2019 edition of the Indianapolis 500. With wins in both the Monaco Grand Prix and 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Spaniard needs only a victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” to achieve the Triple Crown, which has only ever been achieved by the legendary Graham Hill. Next May will mark Alonso’s second attempt at the Brickyard, having previously ran there in 2017 in a collaborated effort with McLaren, Honda and Andretti Autosport. TheRead More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Journalist Motorsports Tribune reviews the season of the top 12 drivers from the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Our list continues with the eighth-place finisher, Graham Rahal. Graham Rahal, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 2018: 8th in the championship  Wins: 0, Top 5: 3, Top 10: 12, Poles: 0, Laps Led: 29 Best Finish: 2nd (Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg) For a driver that established himself over the past few seasons as one of the more exciting drivers in the series, Graham Rahal hadRead More