Marco Andretti Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso has completed his Rookie Orientation Program for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. The 35-year-old Spaniard took on three phases of ROP with a total of 50 laps and ran a best time of 40.9735 seconds (219.654 mph) around the 2.5-mile oval. The program for incoming rookies consists of 40 laps that run as follows: Phase 1 is 10 laps over 210 mph. Phase 2 is 15 laps over 215 mph. Phase 3 isRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama for the Verizon IndyCar Series has concluded, and Josef Newgarden has now notched his first win as a Penske driver. He was able to pull off a daring pass on four-time Series Champion, Scott Dixon, to take second, and then inherited the lead when leader Will Power experienced a tire issue. Let’s take a look back on some of the stories coming out of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. 1 )  Great Day for the South WheneverRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – In the spirit of racing crossover, Marco Andretti has teased the concept of running the Daytona 500. The 30-year-old Nazareth, Pennsylvania native will have two-time Formula 1 champion, Fernando Alonso as a teammate at Andretti Autosport in this year’s 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500. The 35-year-old Spaniard shook the racing world when it was announced that he would skip the Monaco Grand Prix, F1’s crown jewel event, to compete in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” next month. In 2014, former NASCAR CupRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Andretti Autosport No. 27 entry driven by Marco Andretti will see its primary sponsor for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season change from hhgregg to United Fiber & Data. Originally set for a full campaign, hhgregg recently closed over 80 stores and has now filed for bankruptcy. “We’d like to wish Bob (Riesbeck) and the entire hhgregg family luck as they work through the current situation,” said Andretti Autosport CEO Michael Andretti in a team release. “We are blessed to have such loyal and dedicated partners; andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Scoring seven poles at one venue is one thing. Doing so in the span of eight years is quite another. Such was at the accomplishment of Team Penske’s Will Power as he sped his No. 12 Verizon Wireless Chevrolet around the streets of St. Petersburg ahead of Sunday’s season opener for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series. Power’s pole-winning lap of 1 minute, 01.0640 seconds (106.118 mph) was enough to secure him his 45th career pole ahead of fellowRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In the first official practice session for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season, Honda is at the top of the charts in preparation for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Marco Andretti’s No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda timed in at 1 minute 3.7559 seconds (101.638 mph), leading a quartet of Honda cars as Ganassi Racing’s Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon were second and third, while James Hinchcliffe brought his No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda to fourth.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AVONDALE, Ariz. – Finally, Indy cars are back on track! The Verizon IndyCar Series started the 2017 season on Friday with testing at Phoenix International Raceway with some welcomed surprises that put optimism in effect for the year to come. Some new faces in fresh places, but maybe none more exciting than Josef Newgarden taking to the 1-mile oval in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet. He finished P1 on the scoring pylon in the year’s first test session during the afternoon at 190.129 mph, butRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Age: 29 Years in IndyCar: 12 Wins: 2 Podiums: 20 Laps led: 990 2017 Team: Andretti Autosport If any driver is ready for a career resurgence in 2016, it is Marco Andretti. The third generation driver finished 16th in the standings, his lowest championship finish. Andretti frequently struggled to find speed throughout the year while the rest of the Honda-powered Andretti Autosport squad had their share of ups and downs. The 29-year-old admitted during IndyCar’s media day that much of his frustration stemmed from a frustrating finish in the 100th RunningRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The 2016 season for the Verizon Indycar Series is now in the books. Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud motored off into the distance at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, taking his fifth 2016 race win, and claiming his first series championship in the process. Let’s take a look at some of the headlines coming from California’s wine country. 1 ) No Lingering Questions  This day and age, oftentimes a championship leaves behind lingering questions as to whether or not the points system, or championship system,Read More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter SONOMA, Calif. — Marco Andretti paced the final practice leading up to today’s qualifying session for tomorrow’s Go Pro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. The Andretti Autosport driver set the quickest lap of the weekend at 1:16.3052 on his fifth lap of the session. His lap was just five one-hundreths of a second off the track record set by Will Power last year. Andretti led Team Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya, who was just .0704s shy of Andretti’s quickest time. Andretti Autosport cars faredRead More