Road to Indy – Mazda Sponsors the Road to Indy Program

Yes, you read the title right! The Road to Indy program now has a title sponsor, Mazda. Late last off-season, INDYCAR put the final pieces together for a four-tier development system which clearly marked out a path for young open-wheel drivers to the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. The US F2000 National Championship presented by Cooper Tires and powered by Mazda was the last element to come into place. Dan Andersen of Andersen Racing revived the old F2000-based series with sanction from INDYCAR. Drivers would then graduate to the Star Mazda…

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INDYCAR – On Sponsorships, Cherry Picking and Penske

There has been a litany of sponsorship announcements in the last few days coming from the Penske camp. First we heard of the Shell/Penzoil deal for Helio, then comes word that Meijer had jumped ship from Andretti, and today the announcement that IZOD has joined up with the Captain. Danny Sullivan once said that “When the music stops, Roger always has a chair.” Apparently its Michael Andretti’s. One would have to wonder what the mood is like in the Andretti Autosport shop the last few weeks. Shell/Penzoil’s return to open…

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IndyCar – Good News for Ryan Hunter-Reay

There’s been a lot of negative press for the league since the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, most of it centering around Andretti Autosport and their sponsors. We already know that 7-Eleven will step down as a primary sponsor of the #11 in favour of being an associate sponsor on the #7 car. We also already knew (even if it wasn’t officially announced) that the IZOD sponsorship for the #37 car was going to end. Around the twittersphere and various forums, there’s been much hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth, and…

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IndyCar – Augusta of Racing and the Beauty of Road Courses

In the past, I have made no secret that I prefer a good road course to street course racing. Problem has been that the road courses currently on the IndyCar schedule have not provided much in the way of interesting racing or overtaking. Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio and Sonoma may provide a picturesque background (some more than others) and a technically challenging drive, but the racing has been less than stellar. So now we get to add Barber Motorsports Park to the IndyCar Road Course quiver, and while it did not…

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IndyCar – 500 Qualifying Details are Astounding

There are some new ways of thinking at 16th and Georgetown, and they are being fully displayed in the format for Pole Day at the Indy 500. There has been no official announcement about qualifying this year, other than the budget conscious slashing from four days down to two. While this was a move made for bean counting purposes, it also could be viewed as a good move to allow another race to take place in May to help the build up to the Memorial Day classic. But with radical…

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IndyCar – Drivers List Update – 3/26/10

Here is the rundown on driver changes/additions since Sao Paulo: Alex Lloyd will again be in the Boy Scout car for Dale Coyne Racing for St. Petersburg. While the team has sent out press releases about their involvement with the Scouts at racing events throughout the season, we have yet to see from the team an official announcement that the #19 car is a full season effort with Alex Lloyd as its driver. Before Sao Paulo they indicated that there would be more news to come in the lead up…

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IndyCar – IZOD Dumps Cash on Advertising

I was pleasantly surprised this weekend to see IZOD IndyCar Series commercials air during both the AFC and NFC league championship games this weekend. Short of the Superbowl, there is hardly any other advertising buy that would attract the attention of more eyes. The commercial used was the same bit that IndyCar fans were treated to all season last year (‘everything gonna be all right’) but ended with an advertisement for the Sao Paulo race and the phrase ‘The Fastest Race on Earth’. While this is the first time I…

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IndyCar – Ryan Hunter-Reay Livery for 2010

Ryan Hunter-Reay has posted a picture of his 2010 livery on his twitter account. For your pleasure, we have taken the liberty of posting here for you to enjoy. This will probably not be his livery for the entire season since Andretti Autosport has only announced a partial season effort with IZOD as the primary sponsor. No further word has come as to what races he will be contesting, other than Indy. Michael Andretti said that they were still working on making his deal a full season effort and that…

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