Jay Howard Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Eight months ago today, James Hinchcliffe climbed from his No. 5 Arrow Electronics Honda, dejected after failing to qualify for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500. With crew members, photographers and television cameras nearby, the Canadian had to come to terms with what must’ve been a completely alien concept to him heading into the month of May. After all, Hinchcliffe won the pole for the 2016 Indianapolis 500 and was fifth in points following the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.Read More

By Road to Indy CARMEL, Ind. – Prominent karting and junior formula team Jay Howard Driver Development (JHDD) today announced it will join the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires on a full-time basis in 2019. Led by Verizon IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 veteran Jay Howard, who himself has won championships in both USF2000 and Indy Lights, the team’s expansion furthers its mission of advancing drivers from the karting ranks to junior open-wheel categories en route to the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. After foundingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Pole Day has come and gone in preparation for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500. There were surprises and interesting happenings during the day so let’s take a look at them. First of all, Ed Carpenter scored his third Indianapolis 500 pole with a four-lap average of 229.618 mph, almost a full mph higher than Simon Pagenaud starting second. It was interesting to see Helio Castroneves fall so much on his Fast Nine qualifying attempt. The fastest driver in yesterday’s runs, the speedRead 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 IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Fans of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will have a few “home teams” to root on this weekend in qualifications for the 102nd Indianapolis 500. The 35-car entry list includes a host of regular IndyCar drivers who have competed in WeatherTech Championship races over the years, and a handful of drivers and teams who are active participants in IMSA this year. Leading the way is Helio Castroneves, who got his month of May off to a fantastic start at Mid-Ohio on MayRead 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

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — With the beginning of the Month of May comes rookie orientation for the four that will attempt to qualify for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 27th and the accompanying veteran refresher tests for those attempting to qualify at Indianapolis that don’t compete full time in the Verizon IndyCar Series. Rookie orientation consists of three speed phases with 10 laps between 205-210 mph, 15 laps between 210-215 mph and another 15 laps above 215 mph. The laps do not have toRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Jay Howard and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports have announced their entry for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. Howard returns to the team with which he competed in the 2011 and 2017 Indianapolis 500-mile races and will drive the No. 7 Honda with One Cure sponsoring the entry. One Cure is part of the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University that studies cancer treatments for various animal species. “To say I am excited is an understatement,” said Howard inRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer After a Verizon IndyCar Series season filled with highs and lows, let’s look at some of the more memorable moments in 2017 both on and off track. 10. New teams on the horizon The year witnessed two new teams in the series with Juncos Racing and Harding Racing making their debuts at the Indianapolis 500. Ricardo Juncos has been a Mazda Road to Indy stalwart for the past few seasons and after returning to Indy Lights competition in 2015, the Speedway, Indiana-basedRead More