Will Power Tag

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

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In a Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying session that demanded perfection, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden met that demand with a near-perfect lap for pole position ahead of Sunday’s IndyCar season finale, the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Newgarden’s lap of 1:15.5205 was a new track record as the Tennessee native edged out Penske teammates Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves in the Firestone Fast Six. Takuma Sato and Scott Dixon line up fifth and sixth. Qualifying began with the first round whichRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In preparation for the final round of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series at Sonoma Raceway, practice for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma came to a close with the final session on Saturday. 2016 IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud turned the fastest lap on the 2.385 mile road course in Saturday’s third practice session with a fastest lap of 1:16.0329 ahead of second place Scott Dixon’s lap of 1:16.1454. Championship contenders Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Helio Castroneves were third through fifth andRead More