Author: 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/

Pro Mazda – Race 2 at COTA Recap

Doug Patterson

Race 2 this afternoon for the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires at the Circuit of the Americas started out much like Race 1, with a giant furball headed into T1 and two drivers coming out worse for it. Yesterday’s winner, Juncos Racing’s Diego Ferreira, set the fast lap during Race 1 and earned pole position for Race 2. He would lose that spot to Andretti Autosports’ duo of Matthew Brabham and Shelby Blackstock as they would take advantage of Diego’s overshooting the T1 apex. Diego would fight all…

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SCCA – RallyCross Season Is Here!

Doug Patterson

Ever since the first Kansas City Region SCCA rallycross event last October, I’ve been anxiously awaiting our second. Yesterday, registration was opened for the first of four rallycross events the region has planned for 2013. The event will be at the same location as last year’s event, at a member’s property south of Garnett, Kansas. The field has some elevation change which makes for a challenging course as for half of the circuit you’re trying desperately to find grip as you climb uphill, and then you’re desperately trying to keep…

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Pro Mazda – COTA Day 1 WrapUp

Doug Patterson

The Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires completed it’s first day of competition for the 2013 season at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX, and became the first INDYCAR-sanctioned series to race at the new world-class facility. Andretti Autosport’s Matthew Brabham looked poised to take an early hold of the series championship showing dominating pace in pre-season testing, but Juncos Racing’s Diego Ferreira was never far behind and claimed pole position for Race #1. This may come as a surprise for some, but those who were paying…

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Pro Mazda – Season Opener at COTA Preview

Doug Patterson

The Pro Mazda Series Presented by Cooper Tires has the honor of being the first, and for this season, the only INDYCAR-sanctioned series to race at the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. The Mazda Road to Indy teams and drivers have been at COTA all week testing and practicing for qualifying and racing today, and a racing tomorrow in support of the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Testing earlier in the week provided few genuine surprises, as we mentioned on our most recent podcast, Episode 177.…

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Episode 177 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadTonight we’re happy to welcome to the show Peter Portante who will be piloting the #41 Intercity Lines/B&S/California Scents racing machine in the Cooper Tires USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda for Belardi Auto Racing. Peter won the Skip Barber Race Series Championship Shootout and the MAZDASPEED Scholarship to compete for a full-season in USF2000, and chose to join Belardi Auto Racing after heavy recruitment from a number of teams. What is truly unique about Peter’s entry into formula car racing in general, and…

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Rally – Photos from the 100 Acre Wood

Doug Patterson

For the first time in a very long while, the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in and around the Mark Twain National Forest in Southeastern Missouri saw snow-packed roads! It made it tough for many of the volunteers and some of the teams to make it to the event, but there were still a healthy number of folk who made it in before the snows hit. The benefit for us fans was that we were treated to a Sno*Drift Part II on Friday, and great strategy and racing as…

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Episode 176 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadOn Episode 176 of the OpenPaddock.net Podcast, the OpenPaddock quartet of Kevin, Mike, Doug, and Mike are joined by a surprise guest, Shaun Effin Pechin! We congratulate Danica on her pole, and banter about the latest F1, Grand-Am, and IndyCar rumors. Mike Shaw previews the upcoming Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, and Doug rants about INDYCAR’s decision to postpone the new Indy Lights chassis and engine. Oh, and with Shaun back on the show, there are firings all around!

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Indy Lights – No New Chassis for YOU!

Doug Patterson

So today, Curt Cavin broke the news on Twitter, and the press release from IndyCar followed not too long after, that the new chassis that we’d been expecting in 2014 will have to wait a little while longer. The current chassis and engine spec was originally laid out in 2002 when the series was reincarnated as the Menard’s Infinity Pro Series after the CART version of Indy Lights terminated at the end of the 2001 season. The series at the time was designed to provide a platform to develop drivers…

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IndyLights – Does the Signing of Gabby Chaves Cinch the Title for SPM?

Doug Patterson

That giant groan of despair that you heard was the rest of the Firestone Indy Lights grid finding out that they’re all just competing for 2nd in the championship this year as Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM) signs Gabby Chaves to join his formal Star Mazda rival Jack Hawksworth for 2013. With Chaves and Hawksworth as teammates on the outfit that has won six Indy Lights championships, more than any other team, including winning the championship for the past three years running, the rest of the field is looking at pretty…

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