Will Power Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer With the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season rapidly approaching, Motorsports Tribune is previewing each of the teams competing on the tour. The site’s IndyCar staff will break each team down, laying out their results from the previous season while previewing the year to come for the organization and their driver(s). Team: Team Penske (@Team_Penske) Drivers: Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power What Happened Last Year: Josef Newgarden was the new guy for Roger Penske’s IndyCar squad. But the Hendersonville, Tennessee native immediately showed everybody why he wasRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer January 23, 2008. I was in my dorm room at Louisiana State University visiting speedtv.com to look up the motorsports news from the day. A Robin Miller headline immediately stopped my scrolling. CHAMP CAR: Tony George Makes an Offer for Unity Eyes widened, I clicked and read, finding numerous quotes that were smile-inducing. “We’ve got to find a way to make a deal with Tony George,” said 1996 CART champion Jimmy Vasser. “I was never consulted on anything that had to do with the Speedway butRead More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Writer AVONDALE, Arizona – Takuma Sato completed a Rahal Letterman Lanigan sweep of this weekend’s Verizon IndyCar Series open test at the ISM Raceway. The driver of the No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda logged the fastest lap of the weekend at 19.379 seconds (189.885 mph) late in the three-hour session during Saturday evening’s final three-hour session. “The open test was very successful,” Sato said. “Lots of things done and lots of things to be tried, and I think over the course of two days we learned a lot. Great car,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Motorsports Tribune reviews the season of the top 10 drivers from the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Our list concludes with champion Josef Newgarden. Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet 2017: 1st in the championship, 642 points Wins: 4, Top 5: 10, Top 10: 13, Poles: 1, Laps Led: 390 Best Finish: 1st (Barber, Toronto, Mid-Ohio, Gateway) Why did Roger Penske hire Josef Newgarden? Potential. Potential that Newgarden showed by his supreme race craft at the third race of the 2017Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Motorsports Tribune reviews the season of the top 10 drivers from the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Our list continues with the fifth-place championship finisher, Will Power. Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet 2017: 5th in the championship Wins: 3, Top 5: 9, Top 10: 10, Poles: 6, Laps Led: 443 Best Finish: 1st – Three times (Indy GP, Texas, Pocono) With the most poles in the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season and most laps led by one over TeamRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Welcome to the No. 1 club, Josef Newgarden. After claiming the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series title, the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet is switching to the recognized champion’s number – No. 1 – for next season. It is a changing of the guard, literally, for Team Penske. With three titles that span the past four seasons, the organization has seen both Will Power (2015) and Simon Pagenaud (2017) run the No. 1 the following year of claiming the championship, with that record continuingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In the last article, we reviewed this author’s choices for moments 10-6 of the top 10 moments in the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Let’s look ahead to the top five moments. 5. The Success and Struggles of Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing had a fantastic start to 2017. Sebastien Bourdais won at St. Petersburg and finished second at Long Beach while rookie teammate Ed Jones finished 10th and sixth at the same two races, respectively. Then the cartoon anvils justRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer After a Verizon IndyCar Series season filled with highs and lows, let’s look at some of the more memorable moments in 2017 both on and off track. 10. New teams on the horizon The year witnessed two new teams in the series with Juncos Racing and Harding Racing making their debuts at the Indianapolis 500. Ricardo Juncos has been a Mazda Road to Indy stalwart for the past few seasons and after returning to Indy Lights competition in 2015, the Speedway, Indiana-basedRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Team Penske confirmed today that three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves will switch from racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series full time in 2018 to the IMSA Weather Tech Sports Car Championship, piloting one of the teams’ two Acura ARX-05 DPi prototypes. Castroneves is the third driver to be announced for the Penske sports car program after Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron were confirmed for the other prototype. Remaining drivers have yet to be announced. Castroneves will continue racing for TeamRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Simon Pagenaud didn’t know he was going to do a four stop strategy until his engineer sent him a text. It ended up being the move that earned him the final Verizon IndyCar Series race victory of 2017 in Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. “My engineer texted me when I was at the Verizon dinner,” said Pagenaud. “And he said, ‘We’re going to do four stops.’ I’m like, what? Four stops never worked here; why would we do four stops? HeRead More