Of all of the 1.5-mile cookie-cutter ovals, the Kansas Speedway is by far the best, offering great racing and a great location. Some of the closest finishes and best races in the IndyCar Series have happened at the Kansas Speedway. To be sure, Texas Motorspeedway and Chicagoland Speedway also produce great racing action, but the Kansas Speedway has the added benefit of being located on the western outskirts of town where access from the airport is a snap and traffic is at a minimum, yet right around the track is…
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/
IndyCar – Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach: Introduction and a Little History
Introduction: The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is the fourth event of the season for the IZOD IndyCar Series and the third for the Firestone Indy Lights Series. Joining the the Indy Cars and Lights Cars this weekend will be the SCCA World Challenge, American Le Mans Series, and for the first time on real city streets the Formula Drift Series. Formula D actually held their competition portion of their event on April 9th and 10th. This coming weekend, the crowds will be treated to a demonstration of what…
Read MoreOp-Ed – Making a Case for the World Engine
The recent concept from Lola of using the same tub for both the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Firestone Indy Lights series got me thinking. Why stop there? One of the most often used reasons for why multiple chassis and engine manufacturers are impractical for the IZOD IndyCar Series is that the loss of the economy of scale would drive up the costs too much for participation to be either attractive or profitable. Its a powerful and very well founded argument. If a manufacturer can spread the costs of development…
Read MoreIndyCar – Barber Motorsports Park Preview: The Track and Story Lines
Pre-Season Testing: Although this is the first time the IZOD IndyCar Series will actually compete at Barber Motorsports Park, it won’t be the first time drivers have seen the track. The league has been there several times for testing since their first visit in October of 2007. The drivers and teams have raved about the beauty of the circuit and grounds and facilities, and the drivers are quick to mention how much fun the course is to drive with its high-g corners and elevation changes. With the narrow width of…
Read MoreIndyCar – Barber Motorsports Park Preview: History
Introduction: This weekend, the IZOD IndyCar Series heads back to Birmingham, Alabama and the Barber Motorsports Park. This visit will be very different than in times past. This time, they’re there to race! The league has been to Barber several times for testing, but this will be the first time we see the IndyCars compete at the track. As the third event on the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, Barber also represents the third straight in a series of four twisty tracks on the schedule, although its the first natural…
Read MoreIndyCar – St. Petersburg Practice 3
Despite a rocky start, the Timing and Scoring on IndyCar.com finally came online, although the video was more of a slideshow than smooth video. Here’s hoping that the online coverage improves over the season. The ontrack action, however was pretty dicey. Ryan Hunter-Reay narrowly avoided being hit by Duno, Viso, and apparently just about everyone else on the grid. Once again, Will Power showed that he has the measure of this circuit, although the other drivers have caught up a bit. The surprise performer this session was EJ Viso rising…
Read MoreIndyCar – St. Petersburg Practice 2
The second practice session for the IZOD IndyCar Series offered some surprises and some similarities to the morning practice. Once again, Will Power was at the top of the time sheets, throwing down a blistering 1:02.3200 sec lap time! That’s close to the 1:02.1355 sec ICS record time he set in 2008 in his first IndyCar race in 2008. To put it more into perspective, the closest person to Power was Scott Dixon and he was seven tenths off of Will’s pace with a best lap of 1:03.0298 sec. While…
Read MoreIndyCar – St. Petersburg Practice 1
Will Power picked up right where he left off by setting the top time during this morning’s first practice session for the IZOD IndyCar Series on the Streets of St. Petersburg. Will won the season opener on the new street circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and this morning continued to display his mastery of the art of street racing. On Trackside With Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee, Mr. Cavin predicted that Will Power was so good on the street courses that he would sweep the season. Its still very early…
Read MoreIndyCar – St. Petersburg Preview: Story Lines
Last Year: Much like any street circuit, Turn 1 of Lap 1 was brutal with abundant contact. The 2008 race winner and 2009 pole setter, Graham Rahal, was punted into the grass inside Turn 1 effectively ending his drive for back-to-back victories. He was able to battle back and claim a top ten, but it certainly wasn’t the finish he was wanting. The surprise performers of the race wer Ryan Hunter-Raey and Justin Wilson. The talent of the two drivers were never in question, but with Ryan driving for Vision…
Read MoreIndyCar – St. Petersburg Preview: History and Track Analysis
Introduction: This weekend represents the home opener for the IZOD IndyCar Series, and the first race of the season for the Firestone Indy Lights and US F2000 National Championship, on the Streets of St. Petersburg. The IZOD IndyCar Series began the 2010 season the weekend before last on the Streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, but this weekend represents the series first race of the year on US soil. Historically, the St. Petersburg race has one of the best races of the season, which is a bit surprising given that its…
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