Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief James Hinchcliffe returned to the scene of the crime to score a third-place finish in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday. Almost one year ago the Canadian encountered a suspension failure while practicing in preparation for the Indianapolis 500. The mechanical issue was nearly fatal for Hinchcliffe, but after a long season spent on the sidelines he returned to the cockpit of the No. 5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda for the start of the 2016 season. Hinchcliffe started the day from third andRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The true comeback story of 2016 in the Verizon IndyCar Series thus far has to be that of Simon Pagenaud. The Frenchman has enjoyed a stellar start to the season, scoring two runner-up finishes and back-to-back wins in the opening four rounds of the Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Pagenaud, who has led 160 of 530 laps this season, has seen a resurrection of sorts after his first season with Team Penske didn’t go according to plan. So what made last year so abysmal for the 31-year-old?Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Brian Vickers was recently linked to reports that he was in the running for an IndyCar seat for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, the 32-year-old touched on the topic at Texas Motor Speedway on Thursday. A few weeks ago, Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports were open to the idea of opening a third seat for Townsend Bell, Gabby Chaves, or Vickers. Since that time, Bell has been announced at Andretti Autosport for their fifth entry at the Brickyard.Read 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

PALMETTO, Fla. – A high-quality entry of 16 drivers representing nine different nations are set to battle it out for early honors as the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season kicks off this weekend with a pair of races at the Indy Lights Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Lucas School of Racing. Indy Lights will be joined by the other two levels of the Mazda Road to Indy open-wheel development program, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by CooperRead More

Birmingham, Ala. – Santiago Urrutia, from Miguelete, Uruguay, set the pace today for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian at Barber Motorsports Park as the top rung on the Mazda Road to Indy development ladder, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, took to the 2.3-mile road course for one final opportunity to prepare for next weekend’s championship-opening races on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. Urrutia, who won last year’s Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, turned a best lap of 1:12.4479 this afternoon, fractionally slower than the record 1:12.3865Read More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer As the teams and drivers prepare for a new season, one of the most exciting aspects of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series is going to be the impressive class of Rookies for the new season. Looking down the list of entries there are no Francesco Dracones or Milka Dunos out there, but a field packed with talent from top to bottom. In that field, there will be three young drivers competing for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. Having been raised in suburban Indianapolis, 24-yearRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After a disastrous 2015, James Hinchcliffe is glad to be back behind the wheel of his No. 5 Arrow Electronics Honda. Hinchcliffe, 29, was severely injured in a practice crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last May in preparation for the 99th Indianapolis 500. Reports then surfaced that the injuries were life-threatening and the result of the crash was due to a confirmed suspension failure. The Canadian would fight back in the following months with the hopes of returning, but all the while Hinchcliffe was forced toRead 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

Jack Harvey has had an interesting past two season in the Indy Lights Championship presented by Cooper Tires. In 2014, he lost on a second place tiebreaker to current Bryan Herta Autosport driver Gabby Chaves while in 2015 he was leading the points heading into the final race weekend of the year but lost out to Spencer Pigot, who parlayed his “scholarship” into a three race deal with Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing. However, Harvey is putting his focus on getting his chance at the Verizon IndyCar Series as he’s felt as thoughRead More