Mikhail Aleshin Tag

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer Will Power took his third victory of the year in the No. 12 Verizon Penske Chevrolet yesterday on the streets of Toronto. In doing so, the points battle at the top of the order in the Verizon IndyCar Series has tightened considerably. Here are five takeaways from this weekend’s action. 1 ) First to Worst Just seven days ago, Tennesse’s Josef Newgarden was the talk of the town, having thoroughly trounced the entire field in Iowa. He earned high praise, considering the fact that heRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer Armed Forces Pole Day is behind us, and the grid is set for the historic 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. While many of the old-timers, like myself, miss the days of packed grandstands and true bump-day drama, the events of this past weekend produced a number of compelling stories. Let’s take a look at five takeaways from the on-track action. 1 ) Who’s sand-bagging now? Get your tin-foil hat ready, here’s a conspiracy theory for you. Amidst all ofRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter INDIANAPOLIS – On a day when many super teams struggled, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports stole the show during qualifications for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. After finishing third in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, James Hinchcliffe an claimed an emotional pole for the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing.’ Almost a year ago, the 29-year-old Canadian was fighting for his life after a suspension part penetrated his right leg and thigh after a part failure sent him into theRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Mikhail Aleshin made more qualifying attempts than anybody during qualifying for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, but it was his final attempt that payed dividends for his team. Aleshin’s first qualifying attempt solidly placed him in the top 10 with a 229.190 mph 4 lap average. Nearly two and a half hours later, Aleshin elected to go back out on track in order to give the Fast Nine another shot. Inching close to the wall each lap, theRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer With the uncertainly surrounding the domed skid issue for Indianapolis, team-owner Sam Schmidt stated publicly that getting a veteran driver in his car may be the best course of action. Although names like Brian Vickers and Gabby Chaves were rumored, Schmidt ultimately went with experience, confirming 41 year-old Oriol Servia for his third car at the historic 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. Servia has 198 starts between CART, ChampCar and the IndyCar Series, including seven previous Indianapolis starts. The effort with Schmidt-Peterson will beRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The Verizon IndyCar Series held its final practice before qualifications for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Team Penske, with their four-car juggernaut, swept the top of the charts led by 2014 Series Champion, Will Power.  Power’s Penske teammates, Simon Pagenaud, Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya took positions two through four, respectively. With a lap 1:06.89, pacing the circuit at 105.918 mph, the Australian driver topped the time charts in the morning session, completing pre-qualifying efforts that saw Penske cars lead both theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Heading into Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix, Mikhail Aleshin appeared to have a top 10 within reach, until mistimed strategy and a spin coming to pit road ended the Russian’s chances and left him with an ill-fated result of 17th. Aleshin, 28, was out to prove early on that his No. 7 SMP Racing Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda could keep up with the daunting pace Chevrolet teams set in qualifying at the Desert Mile. The Russian started 13th and was one ofRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla – The Verizon IndyCar Series held its season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg seeing Juan Pablo Montoya take victory in the Penske Chevrolet. The win was Montoya’s second consecutive win at the track, and the eighth overall for Team Penske at the venue. Allow me to share some observations from the weekend. 1)Aleshin is for real Almost lost in the shuffle of the weekend’s headlines was the solid performance from Schmidt-Peterson driver, Mikhail Aleshin. The Russian driver qualified his Honda-powered machineRead More

Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Gabby Chaves will fill in for Schmidt Peterson Motorsport in this weekend’s Verizon IndyCar Series test at Phoenix International Raceway. Mikhail Aleshin, who was scheduled to make his first appearance in his return to IndyCar, is unable to make it due to last minute work visa issues. “While we wish Mikhail was able to participate in this test with us, we’re confident that he’ll get up to speed quickly when he returns,” said SPM General Manager Piers Phillips. “Gabby had a solid rookie season and we appreciate hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Driving a brand new Prototype developed and built in his native Russia, IndyCar driver Mikhail Aleshin won the top starting spot for the Rolex 24 at Daytona — with the ninth fastest time of Friday’s qualifying sessions at the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course. Englishman Nick Tandy had the afternoon’s fastest lap, leading a Porsche sweep of the top two starting spots in the highly competitive GTLM Class, touring the course in 2:01.408 (105.561 mph) and edging fellow PorscheRead More