Mazda Road to Indy Tag

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor LEXINGTON, Ohio — Kyle Kirkwood captured the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda crown with a Friday win at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He celebrated a new series record with his eighth-consecutive win on Saturday. On Sunday the Cape Motorsports star got out the broom for a weekend sweep. Kirkwood surged ahead of polesitter James Raven in the first two turns and drove off from there to claim another dominant victory in Sunday’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Race 3, tallying his ninth-straight victory andRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor LEXINGTON, Ohio — Rinus Veekay put together a dominant Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to claim the Pro Mazda Presented by Cooper Tires championship lead. Veekay scored the pole and led wire-to-wire to claim Saturday’s Cooper Tires Pro Mazda Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Race 1. The Juncos Racing prospect took the checkered flag 2.8753 seconds clear of BN Racing’s David Malukas in what proved to be a comfortable win in a caution-free event. Robert Megennis rose from fifth to claim the final spot on theRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor NEWTON, Iowa — Patricio O’Ward entered Iowa Speedway in need of a strong run to close back up to Colton Herta in the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championship. He emerged with one of the most dominant drives of his Mazda Road to Indy career. O’Ward led all 100 laps from pole to soar to a dominant win in Sunday’s Mazda Iowa 100, beating out Herta by 2.826 seconds as he took the checkered flag. The triumph was O’Ward’s fourth victory of the 2018Read More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer One day removed from a pair of podiums in the first Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, title hopefuls Rinus Veekay and Harrison Scott entered Saturday’s second event hoping for more of the same. They would instead be met with early problems. Scott and Veekay both failed to reach the checkered flag in the second Royal Purple Synthetic Motor Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis, finishing outside of the top 10 and losing ground in the championship battle. Veekay didn’t makeRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Parker Thompson and Exclusive Autosport had their breakout performance in a dominant Barber Motorsports Park drive. Sunday’s triumph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) felt even sweeter. “I think this one feels even better, because at Barber the crew and I expected to win with starting on pole and having as strong of a car as we did,” Thompson told Motorsports Tribune. “Here with a tough start yesterday, we had a mechanical part failure at no part to Elite Engines or Exclusive Autosport, that set us back. ItRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Kyle Kirkwood ended his first Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the place young drivers dream of reaching. Victory lane. Kirkwood dominated early and held on through two late restarts to claim a wire-to-wire win in Sunday’s Royal Purple Synthetic Motor Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The result was his second victory in four 2018 starts, allowing him to keep the points lead. Despite leading from start to finish, the Cape Motorsports star claimed the race was moreRead More

By Pato O’Ward, Driver Columnist Editor’s note: Pato O’Ward will be contributing to Motorsports Tribune selectively throughout the 2018 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires season. The 18-year-old Texas-based Mexican racer pilots the No. 27 Mazda/Dallara IL-15 for Andretti Autosport. A Rolex 24 at Daytona winner and series champion in the Prototype Challenge class a season ago in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, O’Ward will be looking for similar success during his rookie campaign in the top rung of the Mazda Road to Indy. The month of May is very special to theRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — With rain anticipated on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, few drivers in the Mazda Road to Indy were as confident as Harrison Scott. “I’m British, and we’re used to the rain for sure,” he told Motorsports Tribune after Saturday’s first Pro Mazda Championship race. “So if it’s wet, it’s not going to phase me. I know what to do.” Scott proved that to be true on Sunday. The Briton surged past the off-course Andres Gutierrez shortly before a caution for weather conditionsRead More

PALMETTO, Fla. – The top two rungs on the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires open-wheel development ladder will end a one-month hiatus this weekend when they return to action at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Ala. The scenic and challenging 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course will play host to a pair of races each for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires in support of the Verizon IndyCar Series headline event. Urrutia Seeks to Extend Indy Lights Points Advantage TheRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — Saturday has come and gone for the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires on the streets of St. Petersburg and many storylines and other things have taken place that made for a full day at the track. IndyCar Robert Wickens getting pole position for Sunday’s race was massive for the Canadian. Stealing the top spot from Will Power on the final lap of the session made it all the sweeter. Wickens came from DTM, butRead More