James Hinchcliffe Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In preparation for the final round of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series at Sonoma Raceway, practice for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma came to a close with the final session on Saturday. 2016 IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud turned the fastest lap on the 2.385 mile road course in Saturday’s third practice session with a fastest lap of 1:16.0329 ahead of second place Scott Dixon’s lap of 1:16.1454. Championship contenders Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Helio Castroneves were third through fifth andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Spencer Pigot has found himself on the wrong foot with strategy calls this year on road and street course races in the Verizon IndyCar Series but the Ed Carpenter Racing driver finally got on the good side on strategy early in Sunday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Glen at Watkins Glen International. Pigot pitted under the first caution after James Hinchcliffe’s car was stalled on track and was one of four cars to do so with Takuma Sato,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Jack Harvey’s first natural terrain road course race in the Verizon IndyCar Series had a little bit of everything on Sunday. Starting 18th, the Brit had to deal with a drying track after significant morning rain and several off strategy calls. One of those calls went Harvey’s way as his team brought him in to pit on Lap 12 before a caution came out a few laps later for Takuma Sato’s stopped car in Turn 6. Harvey’s pitRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Friday practice has concluded for the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Glen, the penultimate Verizon IndyCar Series race of the season and Honda came up with the fastest times of the day in both sessions. In the opening practice session, Honda had the top five cars as Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal went fastest with a lap of 1:23.2603 seconds, averaging 145.712 mph around the 3.37 mile natural terrain road course. Second fastest was Andretti Herta Autosport’s AlexanderRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The pressure was on Sebastian Saavedra. His part time Verizon IndyCar Series drive for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports was coming to an end after Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park and the Colombian qualified 21st out of 21 cars. His crew stayed until midnight to make massive setup changes and it worked, resulting in an 11th place finish. “It was fine because I still didn’t know the place,” Saavedra said. “I felt like those first 20 laps I was stillRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer MADISON, Illinois — He led when the race went green and an aggressive move later made all the difference as Josef Newgarden earned his third Verizon IndyCar Series victory in the last four races as he took the checkered flag in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park on Saturday night. The race started under yellow as Tony Kanaan spun on the pace lap in Turn 2 from his 17th starting position. When the green flag came out, Newgarden tookRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer After being a lap down and needing both his front and rear wings changed, Will Power managed to turn an off-strategy run into another Verizon IndyCar Series win at Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway. Tony Kanaan led the first lap as the field had many drivers gaining or losing several positions in the first ten laps. Helio Castroneves gained ten positions very quickly while Josef Newgarden gained eight positions in the first seven laps. However, Castroneves faded to 13th byRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Conor Daly has undergone several changes this year in the Verizon IndyCar Series. He changed teams. He changed manufacturers. He even changed his diet to become vegan around two weeks ago, losing about ten pounds in the process. Whatever else he might have changed must have helped because on Sunday he finished 10th in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, scoring AJ Foyt Racing’s first top ten on a permanent road course since Mid-Ohio in 2016. Daly started 11thRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Josef Newgarden benefitted from a little bit of racing luck as he scored his second win of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season by winning the Honda Indy Toronto. The start was chaotic as Helio Castroneves went from third to first at the first corner, moving polesitter Simon Pagenaud to second with Graham Rahal behind. Heading down to Turn 3, Will Power was squeezed to the outside wall by Scott Dixon while trying to avoid Rahal. Power’s steering was damaged enough where heRead More

By INDYCAR TORONTO (Saturday, July 15, 2017) – Simon Pagenaud has put himself in the thick of the hunt for a second straight Verizon IndyCar Series title without earning the pole position for a race in 2017. Until today, that is. The reigning series champion set a track record for the current layout on the streets of Exhibition Place to capture the Verizon P1 Award and first starting position for the Honda Indy Toronto. The driver of the No. 1 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet will lead the 21-car fieldRead More