2016 Indy 500 Preview – Live from Indianapolis!

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadFor the first time the latest edition of the OpenPaddock band has come together in person at the most famous racing venue in the world.  After having a splendid Cajun dinner at Yats on Mass in downtown Indianapolis, Mike Shaw, John Olsakovski, Doug Patterson, and the long lost Mike Whitesell give some impromptu predictions (if you can call it that) for tomorrows 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.  Enjoy!

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IndyCar – ABC and mostly “WHY?!”

If you tuned into ABC’s broadcast of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, you saw a race.  A good race. A case could be made for a great race. Regardless of where it ranks on anyone’s personal excitement scale, the point is that you saw a race. Granted, this was on ABC, which may as well stand for Always Bad Commentating. The delivery and timing of Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever certainly lived down to expectation.  Fortunately, Allen Bestwick and Dr. Jerry Punch were able to elevate the race…

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Justin Wilson – The Big Man of IndyCar

It is always with a heavy heart whenever we have to write about the tragic loss of a racing driver.  I think our friend and colleague Doug Patterson said it best “I love this sport for the greatness and awesomeness it can bring out in competitors and fans. I hate this sport for the unbearable price it on occasion demands.”  That pretty much sums it up.   Justin Wilson was truly one of the great ones, both in skill and stature.  At a commanding 6’4″ he was a tight fit in most…

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MRTI – WinterFest Round 1: NOLA Motorsports Park

It seems the racing world was dominated by NASCAR news surrounding driver drama and the Daytona 500, but it wasn’t the only racing going on. February 19-20 saw all three series that comprise the Mazda Road to Indy at NOLA Motorsports Park for Cooper Tires WinterFest.  USF2000 and Pro Mazda had three races each, while Indy Lights was able to get some needed test sessions with the new IL-15. WinterFest is unique in that the races accumulate points that don’t transfer to the series’ regular seasons and a WinterFest champion…

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IndyCar 2018 – JohnTheRaceFan

In December, Racer magazine began a series of pieces about what people in and around the series think the direction of the Verizon IndyCar Series should take for 2018. Mario Andretti, Will Power, Bobby Unser and others have lent their opinion as well as others, with more pieces forthcoming.  Each has a unique idea of how they would like to see the series improve over the next few years. I’m hardly an industry insider.  I’m pretty much a hack blogger with an opinion. And opinions are neither right nor wrong,…

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SCCA – Newgarden Moonlights in Formula Ford, Kicks Everyone’s Backside!

So what does a Verizon IndyCar Series driver do during an off weekend? How about going to a Formula Ford race and kicking everyone butt! That’s exactly what Josef Newgarden did this past weekend down at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL. I contemplated going to this event, and now I wish I’d done so! Here’s the official recap from the SCCA… Official Release from the Sports Car Club of America Newgarden Wins Formula F 45th Anniversary Feature Race at Barber BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Aug. 10, 2014) – Taking a…

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IndyCar – The MidOhio IndyCar and MRTI Weekend in Photos

Wow. That took a while! I bought some larger cards and felt like I needed to fill them all. Ugh. I finally sorted through and edited all the open-wheel photos and have them posted below. I also have a ton of sports car photos that I’ve sorted, but haven’t finished editing. I’ll have those later along with recaps of the Mazda Road to Indy races and championships and of the Pirelli World Challenge races. You’ve heard Mr. Whitesell and I mention this on the podcast, and I’ll say it here…

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IndyCar – Shell Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston Preview

I was “lucky” enough to latch onto tickets to Friday practice at this week’s Verizon IndyCar race at NRG Park (formerly Reliant Park) in Houston. You’d think I’d be excited as blue blazes to go to an IndyCar race in the same city where I live. Yeah, it’s not quite that simple.  As much as they try, the promoters of this event can’t shake one obvious fact: This is a race in a large parking lot. I snuck out of work for a few hours Friday afternoon and head to…

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IndyCar – Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Recap

Fast Friday This weekend’s qualifying for the 98th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race started with questions, albeit not the usual ones. The new format did away with the traditional Pole Day and Bump Day. And lets not forget the points for qualifying and the Fast 9, making starting position mean far more than pit selection. When IndyCar turned up the boost for practice on Friday, Tony Kanaan and Ryan Hunter-Reay both posted laps in the 231mph range and Marco Andretti laid down a 232.2mph lap.  Of those, only Hunter-Reay’s was truly…

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