NTT IndyCar Series Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS – “I tried everything. It hurts. But to be honest, it’s good to lose against probably one of the best. Well, it’s one of the best, probably the best. Yeah, it’s Helio.” Alex Palou indeed tried everything he could to get and fend off Helio Castroneves. But when Castroneves made the race-winning pass with two to go, Palou saw the Indy dream evaporate. As Castroneves brought home his fourth Indianapolis 500 victory, Palou wound up a crushing runner-up. “I didn’t expect that a secondRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 ended with only two cautions, both of which came as a result of issues on pit road. Stefan Wilson spun on pit road on lap 35 to bring out the first caution, with the second involving Graham Rahal shortly after leaving pit road on lap 119. Rahal had come to the attention of his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew for his third pit stop of the day, but the crew failed to get the left rear tire fully secureRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS – What started off as a three-man rookie class, one man stood out throughout the Month of May. That man being Scott McLaughlin, who wins this year’s Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors. Far from an ideal race indeed, but the 20th place finisher will leave IMS with an accolade. His fellow rookie competitors Pietro Fittipaldi finished a lap down in 25th while RC Enerson failed to qualify. After the race McLaughlin described his Indy 500 debut as a “pretty awesome experience.” “ReallyRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor At Indianapolis, the smallest mistake can have wide reaching repercussions and an early race incident on pit road by Stefan Wilson would cause a ripple effect that would involve two of the biggest names in the field – pole sitter Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi. The issues began as green flag pit stops were underway on lap 35 and Wilson was bringing his No. 25 Andretti Autosport Honda to the attention of his crew.  As soon as he reached the start of the pit road speedRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS – A 1-2-3 finish at the Indianapolis 500. Never been done. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing did score a first and a third in last year’s 500, won by Takuma Sato won. Graham Rahal got a career-equal result of third. Spencer Pigot on the other hand, had a noble run but his day was cut short after a violent Turn 4 crash. It ended the race, securing the other RLL competitors track positions. A P1 and P3 finish has been done in the past withRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS – If you were to ask Rick Mears about his racing career, you’ll learn right away he never dreamt about competing at Indianapolis. Racing happened to be a family recreation until a snowball effect kicked into high gear. Once retiring from racing in 1992, Mears was a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. Safe to say, he made a good living in racing. When he was strapping into multiple types of vehicles, Mears concentrated on what’s in front of him. Any distractions would driftRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS – No matter what happens in the 105th Indianapolis 500, Paretta Autosport are already making their mark in the NTT IndyCar Series. Simona De Silvestro may be piloting the No. 16 Rocket Pro TPO/MoneyLion Chevrolet, but the journey goes even further. The awe inspiring employees back at the shop, who spend countless hours preparing an Indy 500 machine, have their stories. For Lauren Sullivan and Chelsea Pechenino, their difference making mindsets have gotten them far into the engineering careers. Sullivan is the team’s AeroRead More

By Kirby Arnold, David Morgan and Luis Torres In a leadup into Sunday’s 105th Indianapolis 500, Motorsports Tribune had a roundtable discussion about seven questions regarding the race. More than just about who’ll win the race, our writers gave their thoughts on some themes that defined this Month of May. Without further ado, here’s what Kirby Arnold, David Morgan and Luis Torres’ responses: This year’s lead up to the 105th Indianapolis 500 has had a lot of unknowns. There could be as many as 8-12 guys who can win theRead More

By Kirby Arnold, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS – A generation has passed since anyone witnessed a driver win the Indianapolis 500 for the fourth time. The most recent was 1991 when Rick Mears joined A.J. Foyt and Al Unser in the four-timer club.  If that makes you realize you’ve been around a long time, how do you think Helio Castroneves feels?  The 46-year-old won the 500 in 2001, 2002 and 2009, and driving for powerful Team Penske it seemed he not only was speeding toward a fourth victory, five (or more) seemed entirely possible.  He’s still waiting.  In the 11 Indy 500sRead More

By Kirby Arnold, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS – It’s been a good month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Ed Jones. What the 26-year-old driver needs now is a strong weekend.  Jones will start 11th Sunday in the Indianapolis 500 in the No. 18 SealMaster Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan. He’s back with the team he drove for his rookie year in 2017 when he finished third in the 500, although familiarity hasn’t so far translated into great results this year.  Jones hasn’t cracked the top 10 in five races, beset with any number of race-weekend issues that left theRead More