Testing Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Ore. – Alexander Rossi reached the NTT IndyCar Series podium for the first time this season. The objective was to win Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland, but had to settle for a runner-up finish. Unable to catch race winner Alex Palou on the final restart. At one point, the Andretti Autosport driver was relegated to deep into the field after missing the chicane on the opening lap. The same can be applied for his fellow front runners Palou and Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing.Read More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS – Sebastien Bourdais of AJ Foyt Racing was the fastest among 32 drivers who turned laps Thursday at the 105th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge Open Test, which included a rain delay of more than five hours at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Frenchman Bourdais was among a group of 11 drivers who took to the 2.5-mile oval in the final 70 minutes of track activity for veteran refresher tests and the Rookie Orientation Program, and he turned a top lap of 224.427 mph in the famous No. 14 ROKiTRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Welcome to the NTT IndyCar Series, Romain Grosjean. The nine-year Formula One veteran took part of his first major test at Barber Motorsports Park on Tuesday. Not only that, it was the first time he was back behind the wheel following his horrific crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix three months ago. Even from afar, his children were super excited to see their heroic dad back in a race car. “I’ve been sharing and talking with them a lot, and we made some video calls overRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Encouraging progress was being reported regarding NASCAR’s “Next Gen” car following Tuesday’s session at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch participated in the latest test of the new car that’s slated to debut in 2022, focusing on the 1.5-mile oval. It’s not the first time the 2004 Cup Series champion ran the prototype as he and Martin Truex, Jr. spent two days testing both the Charlotte oval and Roval configurations last November. With experience, Busch was pleased being able to describe how theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson had his much anticipated NTT IndyCar Series test with Chip Ganassi Racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Tuesday. It was third time’s a charm as the COVID-19 pandemic postponed an initial test with Arrow McLaren SP at Barber Motorsports Park back in March. Even earlier this month, Johnson was supposed to test with Ganassi following the “Indy Crossover” before testing positive for COVID-19, forcing him to miss his first NASCAR Cup race. On his way to theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Rising star Rinus VeeKay of the Netherlands will get a second NTT IndyCar Series test with Ed Carpenter Racing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course October 15. In August, VeeKay tested for ECR at Portland International Raceway along with Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires champion Oliver Askew, who tested for Chip Ganassi Racing. VeeKay was able to impress ECR to give him another shot due to his pace being on-par or better than most experienced INDYCAR drivers. The 19-year-old said he’s looking forward to Tuesday’sRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – From second fastest in Thursday morning’s two-hour testing session to fastest in the four-hour afternoon session, 19-year-old Colton Herta once again got people noticing his raw talent. This time being at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca where he set the top overall time of 1:10.0720, out performing Will Power by 0.4663 seconds. The rookie felt he was able to get a proper feel on the Firestone tires which was his goal in the combined six-hour session. “It means a lot. We’re all trying to goRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Ore. – Testing is hard to come by in all across motorsports disciplines these days and the NTT IndyCar Series are no different. When those testing opportunities are given, teams make the most out of their time trying different setups and gain a competitive advantage heading into the circuit’s race weekend. This was the case for Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi, who both tested at Portland International Raceway in early August alongside their teammates Zach Veach and Marco Andretti. Also, Indy Lights driversRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer An after thought all season, Tyler Reddick stands alone among the JR Motorsports trio with a shot of capturing the Xfinity Series title. The rookie finished sixth in Saturday’s Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix to get the fourth and final spot in the Championship 4. Entering the NASCAR playoffs, no one would’ve expected him to make a legit run for the title as teammates Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler were in a different zip code. That all changed when it reallyRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Antonio Giovonazzi’s unofficial lap record at the Hungaroring lasted exactly one day, as Mercedes junior George Russell edged ahead with a stout 1:15.575 on the hypersoft tires as the final in-season test of 2018 came to an end. Russell just beat out Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari to set the fastest time of the day by less than a tenth of a second. The two traded fast times for much of the afternoon session until Raikkonen failed to match Russell’s pace on the softest compound. JakeRead More