We’ve known that the Firestone Indy Lights series has been on the ropes for a couple of seasons now. Over the past seven years, the number of full-time drivers (75% minimum participation) dropped from 19 in 2007 to a scant eight this season. The number of participating teams has also plummeted from 17 to six. Of those six, there’s only four that have been competing on a regular basis: Schmidt Peterson Motorsport, Andretti Autosport, Belardi Auto Racing, and Team Moore Racing. There are several reasons for this drop in participation…
Read MoreAuthor: Doug Patterson
Motorsports enthusiast since ...well... always. Grew up watching Mario and AJ, took my first lap around IMS in the tour bus in 1977, fell in love with anything that went fast.
Currently, I work as a professor of astronomy and physics at a college in the suburbs of Kansas City, http://staff.jccc.edu/dpatter/, and own a photography business, Patterson Prints, with my wife. http://www.pattersonprints.com/
MRTI – Pro Mazda and Indy Lights Championships Take Shape at Milwaukee
The Mazda Road to Indy teams, at least the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Firestone Indy Lights Series portions of it, did battle last weekend at the oldest active racing venue in the world, the Milwaukee Mile. Traditionally, the Pro Mazda and Indy Lights races at the Mile have usually been processional affairs, but there was more racing action and passes this year than there’s been in a while. On Episode 192 of the OpenPaddock.net Podcast, we had eluded to fact that, especially in Indy Light,…
Read MoreEpisode 193 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThe whole crew is back again! But with less ranting this time, promise. Kevin and Shaun take us through the IndyCar race at Milwaukee, Doug recaps the Pro Mazda and Indy Lights action from Milwaukee, Mike Shaw leads us through the news from the rally world, Whitesell and Pechin look at the silliness surrounding Pirelli and Mercedes GP, and we all enjoy looking forward to the 24 Hours of LeMans. Show Notes for OpenPaddock.net Podcast, Episode 193 Preview IndyCar & MRTI – IndyCarMilwaukee Mile…
Read MoreRally – Easier Said Than Done Trailer
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Read MoreIndyLights – Peter Dempsey: Winning at Indianapolis
The month of May is always special in Indianapolis. All the IndyCar teams are flat-out testing and developing their race cars. I was fortunate to get to attend Pole Day this year for the first time, and what a day that was! Ed Carpenter lit up the field with his impressive pole run, and also to see Carlos Munoz qualify 2nd for the 500 was great. This really was amazing by him to out-qualify his seasoned teammates. Practice and Qualifying The FIL cars weren’t on track until Thursday with one…
Read MoreIndyLights – Peter Dempsey: Thoughts and Insights from Long Beach
It’s been a while since my last blog entry for OpenPaddock.net, and a lot has happened since then! Long Beach ended before it started, an amazing four wide finish win in the Freedom 100, and a trip back to Ireland to get my visa extension and to see some family. I am going to fill you in on how I made it through all this crazy stuff over the past few weeks. Let’s start off with the race weekend on April 24th at one of my favorite streets courses, the…
Read MoreEpisode 192 – OpenPaddock.net
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadFearless Leader Shaun Pechin returns to the show and brings a new level of sketch to the joint! Shaun lets loose with six months worth of saved up rants and diatribes about …well… everything! Neely, Whitesell, Shaw, and Patterson try to get in word in edgewise as we talk about the IndyCar infomercial from Texas and Team Penske’s penalty, we preview the Mazda Road to Indy action this weekend in Milwaukee, and review the Kansas City Region SCCA Solo Event #6. Whitesell leads us…
Read MoreSCCA – Double-Header at Heartland Park Topeka
IndyCar wasn’t the only racing series doing a double-header last weekend, the Kansas City Region and the Kansas Region of the Sports Car Club of America held a joint double-header event at Heartland Park Topeka. While the Kaw Valley Race Group played on the road course, we held a Solo event on Saturday and Sunday on the south lot, a nice wide-open swath of asphalt that was a nice departure from the confining orthogonal grid layout at our usual site. This joint event was also our Military Appreciation Weekend where…
Read MoreEpisode 191 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadKevin, Mike, Mike, and Doug review IndyCar’s double-header at Detroit and admit surprise that it didn’t suck. We also offer opinion on the technical plan Walker has for IndyCar, and we discuss the news from Formula 1. Mike Shaw recaps the STPR Rally and the Acropolis Rally, and we collectively fire Shaun for being back in the States and not joining us on the show. A reminder from last week’s show that the Kansas City Region SCCA will be hosting it’s Solo School this…
Read MoreIndyCar – Indianapolis Race Weekend in Photos
Wow, what a long an exciting week and a half at the World’s Greatest Race Course! Although we didn’t beat the rain to IMS on Fast Friday, we were there for Pole Day, Bump Day, Community Day, Media Day, Carb Day, the Night Before the 500, and of course Race Day. It was great meeting up with old friends and seeing some twitter folk for the first time. Best of all, I got to show off our new baby girl on Carb Day! 😀 I shared the qualifying weekend photos…
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