Zach Veach Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Graham Rahal led Thursday’s practice ahead of the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 in the second-busiest day of track activity so far. Rahal’s No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda turned 102 laps but the fastest was the second lap at 226.047 mph. That lap was assisted with a tow but Rahal unfortunately could not get a proper solo run in and was 34th on the unassisted speed chart. “Every qualifying sim I did today everybody came out in front of me, saidRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor, IndyCar Contributor BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Josef Newgarden will have the best view in the house when Sunday’s running of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama gets the green flag after laying down the fastest lap in qualifying to take the pole. Rocketing around the 17-turn, 2.38-mile road course, Newgarden’s lap of 1 minute, 07:441 seconds (122.773 mph), was quick enough to put him at the top of the board in the Fast Six. His Team Penske teammate, Will Power, will start alongside on theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Friday practice for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama has concluded for the Verizon IndyCar Series and there’s a lot of interesting storylines following the hour and 45 minutes of practice that the competitors were granted. First of all, the reduction of downforce with the new Universal Aero Kits is felt almost immediately with many drivers losing control of their cars heading to Turn 5. Sebastien Bourdais, Zach Veach, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Gabby Chaves among others had issues with theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California — Zach Veach’s weekend at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was flipped on its head as the Ohio native managed to race home fourth for his first top five finish in Verizon IndyCar Series competition. Veach started 16th in his No. 26 Group One Thousand One Honda and parlayed a two stop strategy mixed with a small amount of luck into a career-best finish, which brought congratulations from numerous people on pit lane after starting so far back. “I think theRead More

By INDYCAR LONG BEACH, California – Alexander Rossi sought redemption for the one he felt got away a year ago at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Andretti Autosport driver made up for it in dominant fashion, completing a nearly flawless weekend with a flawless drive to win today’s race. Driving the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda, Rossi led all but 14 of the 85 laps on the renowned 1.986-mile, 11-turn temporary street course that’s hosted Indy car races for the last 35 years. The 26-year-old CalifornianRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California — Andretti Autosport had the full spectrum of positives and negatives during qualifying for Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach as their four cars had varying degrees of good and bad fortune ahead of the third race of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Alexander Rossi wheeled his No. 27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda to a pole position-winning lap of 1 minute, 6.5528 seconds around the 1.968 mile street circuit. It was Rossi’s second career pole following Watkins Glen in 2017. “TheRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California —The opening day of practice for the 44th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach kicked off with two practice sessions with Andretti Autosport on the fast end of the grid. The duo of 2010 Long Beach winner Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi were second and third in the morning session but in the afternoon Rossi led the field from Hunter-Reay. 2015 Long Beach winner Scott Dixon led the first session with a 1 minute, 8.4112 second lap around the 1.968 mile street circuit.Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Friday was the practice and qualifying day ahead of Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway, the first oval in the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season and it was a definite day of unpredictability. Preseason testing had Rahal Letterman Lanigan at the top of the time sheets, but after the first session Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato were 17th and 18th, respectively. Chevrolet had the top two positions with Simon Pagenaud first and Tony Kanaan second ahead of five Honda carsRead More

By Zach Veach, Driver Columnist Editor’s note: Zach Veach, driver of the No. 26 Group One Thousand One Honda for Andretti Autosport in the Verizon IndyCar Series, shares the journey of his rookie campaign with Motorsports Tribune for the 2018 season. My first blog as a full-time IndyCar driver… little things like this keep bringing an uncontrollable smile onto my face. Being an IndyCar driver is something I’ve dreamt about for as long as I can remember and now that it’s a reality, I have to pinch myself every day. The 2018Read More

By INDYCAR BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – He stood next to his race car, bouncing up and down with nervous energy. He only stopped to exchange handshakes and pleasantries with nearly everyone who saw him on pit road. He walked over to Tony Kanaan and had a brief chat. Then it was time to put on his helmet and strap into the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet. Helio Castroneves was back as a Verizon IndyCar Series driver, if only for the day. BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK OPEN TEST: Practice 1 results; Practice 2 results; CombinedRead More