IndyCar Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief There are few races that draw the desire out of race drivers more than the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The same could be said for the journalists covering the sport. I’ve been privileged to cover several events across NASCAR, IndyCar and even Formula 1, but what was experienced this weekend was a one of a kind moment in my still relatively young career. Covering the 100th Indianapolis 500 last year, the enormous crowds and interest wasn’t all that surprising – especially considering the milestoneRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief LONG BEACH, California – JR Hildebrand suffered a broken bone in his left hand after a collision on the last lap of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which opens the possibility of missing the next round at Barber Motorsports Park in two weeks. The 29-year-old Californian was attempting to get by Mikhail Aleshin before the two eventually wrecked. After undergoing treatment from INDYCAR medical director Dr. Geoffrey Billows, it was determined that a re-evaluation is needed later this week in Indianapolis before being clearedRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach displayed the talents of Dale Coyne Racing’s driver duo of Sebastien Bourdais and Ed Jones as they managed second and sixth place finishes in the second round of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Bourdais, coming off of a win at the season opening race on the streets of St. Petersburg, started 12th but moved to tenth after the first lap contact between Charlie Kimball and Will Power brought them to the back of theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief LONG BEACH, California – Make it three in a row for Helio Castroneves. The 41-year-old Brazilian scored the Verizon P1 Award for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach with a scorching lap of 1 minute, 6.2254 seconds (106.980 mph), breaking the previous lap record held by him in 2015. Driving the No. 3 Auto Club of Southern California for Team Penske, Castroneves, the 2002 winner of the event, was ecstatic to score the 48th pole of his career – fourth all-time behind Bobby Unser –Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief LONG BEACH, California – Sam Schmidt will go faceoff against racing icon Mario Andretti at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 13. The duo will take the fight in semi-autonomous cars on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile permanent road course prior to the INDYCAR Grand Prix. Schmidt fell victim to a crash while testing an Indy car in 2000, having been paralyzed ever since. He teamed with Arrow Electronics and will pilot the Corvette Z06 SAM – a car modified with sensors and innovative technology that allows him toRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In a perfect world where the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires gets the maximum exposure for its top tier series, the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires, one would think that having the series race on each of the premier types of tracks that the Verizon IndyCar Series visits would be a necessity. On the ovals, you have the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of the Freedom 100. On the road courses, you have Road America’s doubleheader weekend. For streetRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 2017 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is set for action this weekend and our friends from Mobil 1 The Grid brought together some of the most talented drivers from the Verizon IndyCar Series to preview the 43rd edition of North America’s most famed street circuit. Video Credit: Mobil 1 The GridRead More

By Takuma Sato, Driver Columnist In his second column for Motorsports Tribune, Takuma Sato discusses some of the improvements made by Honda and Andretti Autosport as they prepare for the Grand Prix of Long Beach, and reveals some of the small rigors of what he did over the three-week break between races. Constantly Improving I’m really excited to return to Long Beach. To be honest, with no change in the aero package from last year to this year, we knew we were coming into an uphill battle on road and streetRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Chip Ganassi Racing announced that NTT Data will be the primary sponsor of Scott Dixon’s No. 9 Honda for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Long Beach. The current full-time sponsor for Tony Kanaan, the addition of putting their colors on Dixon’s car will showcase two entries for the second race of the Verizon IndyCar Series for NTT Data. “Having the opportunity to be represented by two of the all-time greats in INDYCAR is something that doesn’t come along too often,” said  John McCain, CEO of NTTRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Simon Pagenaud is the man to watch out for at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and not just because the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series champion won comes in as the defending race winner. Top to bottom, he has one of the more impressive results listings over the last decade at the beach, only rivaled by Team Penske teammate Will Power. 2007: 14th (Team Australia, rookie year – Champ Car era) 2012: Second 2013: Eighth 2014: Fifth 2015: Fourth 2016: FirstRead More