Sonoma Raceway Tag

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Journalist SONOMA, California – Capturing the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series manufactures championship has everybody at Honda ecstatic heading into Sunday’s season-ending INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma. Honda-powered cars sit atop the championship standings with Scott Dixon leading Alexander Rossi by 29 points ahead of Sunday’s 85 lap event. Team Penske’s Chevrolet powered cars of Will Power and Josef Newgarden lie 87 points apiece behind the leading duo. Art St. Cyr, CEO of Honda Performance Development, feels confident about the driver’s championship with representatives Scott Dixon (No. 9Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — In attempt of keeping continuity at Ed Carpenter Racing, the owner-driver confirmed at Friday’s press conference at Sonoma Raceway that Spencer Pigot will retain his ride in the No. 21 Chevrolet for 2019, and debunked rumors by announcing that he’ll run on all five ovals on the IndyCar Series schedule. After spending the past two seasons sharing a ride with Carpenter, the former Indy Lights champion will wrap up first full-season Sunday, looking to continue has his second-half stride stride. Among his seasonRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — At this time last season at Sonoma Raceway, Andretti Autosport and Group One Thousand One reached an agreement with Zach Veach of Stockdale, Ohio on a full-time Verizon IndyCar Series deal. Fast forward to Friday morning’s press conference, where Veach and Group One Thousand One announced an exciting partnership expansion with EverFi, Inc., which will allow both entities to share their passion for education on a technology level across multiple markets. EverFi is a digital education company based in Washington D.C., and isRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer After scoring the first top-10 finish of his Verizon IndyCar Series career at the Grand Prix of Portland, Pietro Fittipaldi hopes to make the most of his partial season with Dale Coyne Racing in the No. 19 Paysafe Honda in the season-ending Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. Fittipaldi had been splitting the car with former Indy Lights driver Zachary Claman De Melo and Santino Ferrucci before taking over the ride for the last five races of the 2018 season. At Portland, Fittipaldi started 16thRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer As a person who’s watched the Verizon IndyCar Series on a regular basis since 2007, I’ve always wondered what my INDYCAR experience would be like. This past weekend at Portland International Raceway, I had the privilege of covering the series return in the Pacific Northwest, but it also brought some flashbacks of my days at the University of Idaho. Compared to my first NASCAR race as a credentialed media member at Sonoma Raceway in June, my first-ever INDYCAR experience was like jumping into a big pound,Read More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Journalist Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has named Carlos Munoz as the substitute driver for the injured Robert Wickens in the final two races of the Verizon IndyCar Series season at Portland and Sonoma. The Colombian will be making his second start of the season. Raced for Andretti Autosport in the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, where he finished seventh. Wickens suffered multiple injuries in a crash in the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway two weeks ago. He remains at the Lehigh Valley Hospital – CedarRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — For the second time in his career, Martin Truex, Jr. scored a win at Sonoma Raceway, ending the streak of nine different winners in nine years. After being heartbroken last year, Truex spoke about his two wins during the press conference, saying how he still recalls winning in 2013 for at the time, Michael Waltrip Racing, and treats each win as if it’ll be his last. “I remember that win like it was yesterday. It was huge,” said Truex. “I really feelRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Extra seat time at Sonoma Raceway paid off for Aric Almirola. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran competed in his first Sonoma Cup race since 2016 after being sidelined last year due to a back injury. Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion team cut the final stage into thirds, like his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates. As the laps wound down, he found himself battling with Erik Jones, Alex Bowman, and Daniel Suarez. Almirola and his crew chief Johnny Klausmeier banked on the possibility of aRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Banking on a late race caution to score his second straight win at Sonoma Raceway, Kevin Harvick didn’t get one and finished second in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350, leading 35 of 110 laps. “We all make mistakes, and we all do things for a split second that you might be right after it all happens,” said Harvick. “These guys do a great job. Everyone on our Mobil 1 team has done a great job the last five years now.” Harvick said ratherRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For third-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott, Sonoma Raceway has been one of his worst tracks throughout his career, but on Sunday, that all changed with a fourth-place finish on the 12-turn, 1.990-mile road course. “It was a lot more fun, this trip out here, than it was the last two times,” Elliott said. “I made a lot of gains, personally, I think, for me at this track. It’s been one of my worst. To come here and have pace on Friday andRead More