James Hinchcliffe Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Two practice sessions, qualifying and some Indy Lights track time detailed Saturday’s action ahead of Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 for the Verizon IndyCar Series. In the opening practice session, Josef Newgarden was fastest over Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi and Zach Veach. Team Penske and Andretti Autosport would be the dominant teams of the day. However, Matheus Leist was rather unlucky as he got loose coming through Turn 2 after completing 15 laps and spun, hitting the wall with the rear ofRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin — Robert Wickens has not raced at Road America since 2007 but the Verizon IndyCar Series rookie didn’t look like he was out of place as he pushed his No. 6 Lucas Oil Honda to fifth position in qualifying for Sunday’s Kohler Grand Prix. Fifth was the number of the day for the Canadian. Wickens was fifth in his group during the first round of qualifying and repeated that performance in the second round to advance to the Firestone Fast Six. “I thoughtRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The Chevrolet Dual in Detroit is the only doubleheader race weekend for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season and much went on at the Belle Isle circuit on Friday. First, McLaren brass were at the track evaluating a future IndyCar program. Although no announcements have been made about a program, this is a positive sign for IndyCar as it attempts to bring in more manufacturers to compete. There were two practice sessions on Friday and in the first session it was a Honda party up front.Read More

By INDYCAR DETROIT – There’s a new car for Verizon IndyCar Series competition in 2018, but it’s still the same old challenging track at Belle Isle Park. And the drivers love it. Ryan Hunter-Reay led practice for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on the 14-turn, 2.35-mile temporary street course noted for its concrete surface and constant bumps. Friday’s practices are the only scheduled for the doubleheader race weekend, with qualifying and races scheduled each of the next two days. CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX: Practice 1 results; Practice 2 results; CombinedRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS– Robert Wickens was turning his fourth practice lap on Monday’s post-qualifying practice session in preparation for the Indianapolis 500, but never made it around to the start finish line. The No. 6 Lucas Oil Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda got loose coming through Turn 2 asWickens chased the car up the track before making light contact with the right side of the car. However, the damage was done. The Canadian’s suspension was broken and the car then hit the wall on the backstretch, coming to aRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The fascinating and cruel nature of Bump Day reignited the debate of whether it’s a good idea having cars failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 compete. It’s simple, if they’re not fast enough or didn’t make the gun, they’re out. Two drivers’ aspirations of drinking the glass of milk and their heads engraved on the Borg-Warner Trophy were dashed Saturday as the charitable lass Pippa Mann and arguably, the face of IndyCar, James Hinchcliffe didn’t make the 33-car grid. Mann was bumped and didn’tRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Bump Day was back at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday and in many ways it was a true throwback. Well, at least for those who saw it. Veteran IndyCar writer/historian John Oreovicz calculated that in the final 10 minutes and 35 seconds of qualifying that there were six minutes and ten seconds of commercials. Not ideal considering that the gun to end qualifying went off at 5:50 for TV’s sake for interviews when they had so many commercial breaks late. It was aRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief INDIANAPOLIS – It was the drama everyone missed, but it wasn’t the outcome expected as the return of Bump Day for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 claimed James Hinchcliffe. The 31-year-old Canadian, who is currently fifth in the Verizon IndyCar Series championship standings, was knocked out of the field of 33 with 18 minutes remaining in the session. He went out for a second attempt, but a vibration on the warm-up lap drew concern and returned to the pits with 11 minutes remaining. FromRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS – The first day of qualifying for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil was its typical emotional roller coaster. It was filled with nail-biting four-lap attempts, rain delays that ruined strategies, last-minute bids to bump into the field of 33 and ultimate heartbreak for those left on the outside looking in. The cars and drivers that will start the race on May 27 were established in qualifying on Saturday. Two drivers – Verizon IndyCar Series regular James Hinchcliffe and Indy-only pilot Pippa Mann –Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — In the first day of practice for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud turned the fastest lap of the day. Pagenaud’s No. 22 Menards Chevrolet went around the 2.5 mile superspeedway at an average speed of 225.787 mph in a lap that came during the morning session. “It was a very productive day,” said Pagenaud. “So, yeah, felt pretty happy. We’re obviously still learning a lot about the aerodynamics of the car. It’s quite different to what we had the past fewRead More