Category: Featured

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Indy Hump Day Report: ABC/ESPN future exclusive broadcast home thoughts, and NH picks

Mike Shaw

So another race weekend at Mid-Ohio; large turnout, loads of anticipation, no passing, no drama, no excitement. Sounds about right for a professional formula type series on a club racing course. Mid-Ohio is too narrow in its current set-up for cars as fast as the IZOD INDYCAR Series. It might produce great passing for a Honda Civic Si in Show Room Stock C, but it’s a cure for insomnia when really fast cars run there. Also it needs upgrades beyond the race course, most notably wooden garages. Did everyone miss…

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The Mid-Ohio Weekend in Photos

Doug Patterson

One of the magnificent things about a road course event, and the ALMS/INDYCAR weekend at Mid-Ohio especially, is that there is NEVER a quiet moment on the track. There’s always something buzzing around the circuit. This year was no exception as we has the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship, the SCCA Pro World Challenge, the American LeMans Series, the US F2000 National Championship, and the IZOD IndyCar Series taking to the circuit from 0800 to as late as 1900! That also means that is photog was one busy dude! I…

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INDYCAR – Scheckter to Fly at New Hampshire

Shaun

Tomas Scheckter will be back in the IZOD IndyCar series this weekend as it was announced he will sub for the injured Justin Wilson at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. This past weekend at Mid-Ohio, Wilson suffered a fracture in his spine after catching air coming out of turn one. The subsequent landing impact would cause serious damage to his back and see him out for an expected three months. Scheckter, who has 14 starts with DRR, last competed at the Indianapolis 500 with S&H/KV Racing in the Redline Extreme Energy…

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INDYCAR – Dixon Finally Breaks Through at Mid-Ohio

Shaun

When you talk about luck this year, Scott Dixon has easily had some of the worst. There have been a number of drivers suffer, but driving for a team like Ganassi, Dixon’s stood out a bit more than the rest. Sunday however, it finally took a turn in the right direction as the New Zealand driver stormed to his first victory of the year. Here are just a few of my thoughts overall. Passing: Heading into Mid-Ohio, one should never expect much passing. The course is just not conducive to…

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Episode 99 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Shaun

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike as they revisit the X-Games, Rally Finland, and the Hungarian Grand Prix. We also look ahead to Mid-Ohio and exactly what probation means in INDYCAR. As always, sit back and enjoy the show and thank you for the download!

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Indy Humpday Report: Fantasy picks for Mid-O

Mike Shaw

The Mid-Ohio edition of the Indy Hump Day report will be shorter than normal. Stay tuned Friday night for the Spikeday Report, not only for a colorful op-ed but possibly some big news may be breaking.   Drivers to pick this week: Penske, Penske, Penske. While George Costanza might not be “Penske material”, Mid-Ohio is. The INDYCAR Empire has over 7 victories at Mid-Ohio from 1992 through present day. Two of those seven comes from Helio Castroneves (who is winless for 2011 still), but Penske’s last win at Mid-Ohio was…

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INDYCAR – Probation Continues Lack of Credability Trend

Shaun

Well it looks as the INDYCAR series has answered whether contact is good for the sport or not. Yesterday the governing body handed out some probation rulings against Mike Conway, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Alex Tagliani for avoidable contact issues. The rulings mostly cite the Canadian leg of the championship but in Hunter-Reay’s case, it goes all the way back to Barber. I was baffled yet again to see the fans of the series try and make sense of the calls. It is impossible to make sense of something that never…

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Rally – Lotus Exige in the Cards?!?

Shaun

Feel free to slot this under “what the hell are they thinking”, but it appears through some reporting out of England that Lotus may be set to go rally. I should say ahead of time that I don’t see this happening whatsoever. The level of involvement Lotus has put forth in GT/Le Mans/INDYCAR makes sense. The British company has a circuit racing pedigree with their tiny and very nimble cars. Taking them off road onto the gravel is a business era of mammoth proportions in my mind. Stick to what…

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Episode 98 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Shaun

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Mike this week as they talk everything motorsport. We recap the German Grand Prix as well as Edmonton. Are we harsh this week like we were with the Toronto show? We also prepare for Rally Finland and the high speed/crest a plenty event as Ford looks to rebound and assert themselves back into the title hunt. As always, sit back and enjoy the show….Episode 99 next week….

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INDYCAR – $5Million Contenders…So Far

Shaun

It looks like Randy Bernard has achieved a portion of what he has set out to do with the Las Vegas $5 Million challenge this fall. The aim was to bring in some big names from outside of INDYCAR to compete against the sport’s best for a shot at a big payoff. Travis Pastrana has thrown his name in the hat as has BMW Le Mans ace Joey Hand. So we have a Rally/NASCAR/action sports icon and an ALMS star that has been untouchable thus far in 2011. While the…

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