Doug Patterson

Formula 1 – Simona Gets Closer to the Goal

July 14, 2014 Doug Patterson

Simona De Silvestro impressed many of us when she was in the IndyCar Series. We were simultaneously thrilled and bummed when we heard she was leaving IndyCar to pursue an opportunity as a reserve driver for Sauber. She is continuing to build partners and sponsors, and recently signed with DigitasLBi. While no official deal for a full-time drive has been announced yet, this certainly does take another step closer to the goal. We at OpenPaddock.net certainly wish Simona the best of luck and hope to see her on the grid…

IndyCar – Pocono IndyCar 500 in Photos

July 9, 2014 Doug Patterson

Tom and Brenda Turk of Piratical Photography were at the Pocono Raceway this past weekend to photograph the IndyCar and IndyLights races. We have been honored to have them offer their services to OpenPaddock.net, and we hope you enjoy their images as much as we do. Pocono IndyCar 500 IndyLights Pocono 100

Episode 239 – OpenPaddock.net

July 9, 2014July 9, 2014 Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe got the band back together! Mike, Doug, Mike, and John are all present to rant, rave, and opine about F1’s new rims, NASCAR owners taking cue from FOTA, we review the IndyCar and IndyLights races from Pocono and preview Iowa, and take a look at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. OpenPaddock.net Podcast – Episode #239 for Tuesday, July 8th, 2014 Preview Misc – F1 @ Silverstone, Unionizing NASCAR, Karram flirts with tin tops, Formula E first full test IndyCar – Pocono, Dallara fixing…

In Focus – Invested

July 7, 2014 Doug Patterson

Editor’s Note: We’ve had the pleasure and honor of having Tom and Brenda Turk offer their amazing photography skills to OpenPaddock.net since 2011. They own Piratical Photography offering a variety of services to the Washington DC area. His most recent work for OpenPaddock.net was covering the Pocono IndyCar 500 at the Pocono Raceway last weekend, and in the following article, he shares his thoughts on a sequence of photos he collected in pit lane that tell a powerful story. In Focus – Invested Words and photos by Tom Turk So…

IndyLights – Pocono: The Cost of One Mistake

July 7, 2014 Doug Patterson

Andretti Autosport’s Zach Veach and Belardi Auto Racing’s Gabby Chaves were tied for the lead of the IndyLights Presented by Cooper Tires 2014 Championship as the series headed to Pocono Raceway for their second oval race of the year. With six races left after Pocono, the outcome of last Saturday’s race wasn’t necessarily going to make or break Veach’s or Chaves’ chances at the title, but it would yield an advantage to the race winner, and a potentially large advantage if either driver had an incident. Schmidt Peterson Motorsport’s duo…

Episode 238 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

July 5, 2014July 7, 2014 Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadFearless Leader Mike Whitesell and the ever intrepid John Olsakovsky holdown the fort as Shaw and Patterson attend to real life issues. Formula 1 gets relegated to circus status until they get their act together, the IndyCar Houston Grand Prix offered two extremely different races and is now off to Pocono, and the boys relay Shaw’s comments on the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, the Mt. Washington Hill Climb, and Rally Poland. OpenPaddock.net Podcast, Episode 238 – Tuesday, July 1, 2014 Summer angst and illness…

SCCA – Photos from a Packed Weekend for the Kansas City Region

July 1, 2014 Doug Patterson

Tire Rack SCCA Starting Line This past weekend, the Kansas City Region of the SCCA hosted two fantastic events. On Saturday, the Tire Rack SCCA Starting Line driving school where students learned car control skills and autocross racing techniques from a variety of SCCA Solo National champions. It was a wet and wild day where students were thrown into the deep end to sink or swim, literally! Our SCCA Solo reporter, Jeremy Salenius was there to capture some of the action. Kansas City Region SCCA Solo Event #5 On Sunday,…

In Focus – DAT GLOW!

June 27, 2014 Doug Patterson

We’re going to begin a new series of article here at OpenPaddock.net called “In Focus” were Brian McKay, Tom Turk, Brad Plant, and I will share a favourite motorsports photo from the OpenPaddock.net archives. We will discuss why we composed the image the way we did, what exposure settings we used, what techniques we deployed, and the story we wished to convey with the shot. We’re really fortunate here at OpenPaddock.net to have some seriously talented professional photographers on staff to provide us with amazing imagery for you, our readers,…

MRTI – Andersen Promotions and MAXSpeed Group Form Alliance

June 27, 2014 Doug Patterson

Today at between practice sessions for the Pro Mazda Championship, Andersen Promotions, who owns and/or operates all three rungs of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder program, announced a recruitment program with MAXSpeed Group who supplies of the engines used in the Rotax MAS Challenge karting series. The goal is to recruit three drivers from the Rotax MAX Challenge karting series into the Mazda Road to Indy’s USF2000 National Championship beginning with the 2015 season by offering four one-day testing scholarships. I’ll say that while this partnership is extremely valuable,…

SCCA – Mazda MX-5 Cup Joins the Double-Header Madness in Houston

June 27, 2014 Doug Patterson

Double-Header Madness is in the air! The Verizon IndyCar Series and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires will share the NHK Stadium parking lot with the SCCA Pro’s Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BF Goodrich, and every will run two! It’s a rare thing for the MX-5 Cup to join IndyCar for a race weekend, although it’s not unheard of, especially at Houston where the MX-5 Cup was a regular with CART and Champ Car. The championship points standings after four races thus far is in many ways…