IndyCar – A Glance at 2014 Season

Welcome to the start of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar series!! While I could sit and tell you every little thing that I think we should be on the lookout for, I won’t waste your time! Sadly, moving has dictated the schedule this week and is a key reason why I have missed the last two shows. I will be your Verizon IndyCar Series contributor this year and look forward to engaging with the fans over the next few months on our great series! The first major change comes from the…

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MRTI – St. Pete Preview and Schedule

This coming weekend represents the IZOD IndyCar Series’ and Firestone Indy Lights’ season opening event, although it will represent the second race weekend for both the Pro Mazda Series Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda. This will also be one of four weekends over the season in which all four INDYCAR-sanctioned series race at the same venue on the same weekend. Maybe call it four and a half with Indianapolis even though the USF2000 and Pro Mazda drivers will be at Lucas…

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Star Mazda – St. Pete Offers a Mix at the Top

Unlike the USF2000 races which saw the same two drivers, Pigot and Brabham, battle for the race wins clear and away from the rest of the field, the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear offered quite a variety at the front during it’s opening two races on the Streets of St. Petersburg. The car counts for this first race weekend of 2012 were pretty good with twenty-one racers taking to the hybrid airport/street circuit. Race #1 Connor De Phillippi picked up where he left off at last year’s St. Petersburg…

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USF2000 – Pigot Sweeps St. Pete Weekend

The car count was again huge for the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda. Thirty-four cars took to the Streets of St. Petersburg for Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2012 season, and again race fans were treated to great action on track in both the Championship and National Classes. It really seems that the series has the balance between the FC and FE cars spot on, although there’s a definite performance differential between the NAT an CHP class cars. Race #1: It was a good…

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Episode 131 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week we welcome Jenna Fryer to talk about the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. She talks not only about the weekend, but some of the things IndyCar should be thinking about going forward. Doug is here this week as well and we talk Mazda Road to indy, Formula 1, and this weekend’s round of the WRC in Portugal. Thank you for the download and we really hope you enjoy the show!

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IndyCar – Lotus Can Supply for 2012, Compete Though?

The off season was rich with speculation that Lotus may or may not make the 2012 season with its Judd engine. Think back to late December when there was little to no contact between Lotus or really any of the teams that were in the market for an engine. Autosport.com featured an article this morning that indicated Lotus was in fact capable of supplying the teams they had signed for the entire season. That includes bonus parts and support for HVM, Herta, DRR, and Dragon. The recent change in ownership…

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IndyCar – Stunning in St. Pete

This weekend’s opening round of the IZOD IndyCar Series had a lot of questions around it. Had Randy Bernard fixed some of the credibility issues, would the new cars and engines be competitive, would the field of talent be as good as what they were predicting? The answer to all of these questions (at least after the first round) was a resounding yes. St. Petersburg lived up to everything we had hoped for and then some. Great story lines, great drivers through the field, and the cars looked very competitive in…

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MRTI – St. Pete Qualifications Summary

As Mr. Bob Varsha is famous for saying during the Formula 1 broadcasts on SpeedTV, “Before you can race, you must qualify!” As of this morning, all three of the Mazda Road to Indy series have qualified for their respective races on the Streets of St. Petersburg. The USF2000 National Championship and the Star Mazda Championship both qualified yesterday afternoon, and the Firestone Indy Lights series just finished their qualifying session this morning. Let’s take a look at the results series-by-series. Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by…

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