Over the coming weeks and months as our various motorsport series wind down and take the winter off, we thought it would be a good time to start getting ready for the 2011 season. Trying to be true to our moto “For the fans, by the fans” we thought we’d put some effort into developing a set of fan guides for the various venues and events that we attend and cover. Certainly, three hacks from the Midwest can’t cover it all, though, so we need your help. If you have…
Read MoreCategory: Featured
All of the latest stories from your favorite series located here!
OpEd – Blocking in Modern Motorsports
The Blocking Problem Blocking is certainly nothing new in motorsports, or racing in general for that matter. As soon as two people raced each other on foot, I’m sure that the leader blocked the person behind and probably violently. In various types of horse racing, we see blocking and crowding a competitor against the rail, and given that automobile racing is simply an extension of horse racing, its no surprise that we see blocking in modern motorsports. The challenge of the various sanctioning bodies of modern motorsports series is to…
Read MoreIndyCar – Welcome Back, Mr. Cotman
This past weekend, the Indy Racing League officially hired Tony Cotman to be the league’s technical director in charge of developing all of the rules and regulations pertaining to the construction and operation of the new chassis and engine packages for 2012. It’s certainly not a new role for him. He was Vice-President of Operations of the Champ Car World Series where he oversaw the development and production of the extremely competitive and cost-effective Panoz DP-01 chassis. Can he do the same thing here in the Indy Racing League? Probably,…
Read MoreTV – Your Weekend Racing Schedule
I’m going to try something new here at OpenPaddock. To be honest, this is really driven by a selfish motivation to be more organized about my TV viewing/recording after realizing that I’ve been missing the SCCA World Challenge races on Versus. Grr! Every Friday, I’m going to try and have a listing of the racing being aired each weekend with all times in Eastern. I’ll focus just on those forms of racing we cover here, so you NASCAR fans are on your own. Sorry. Also, I cheated a little by…
Read MoreOpEd – Lessons Learned: Attending a Race at Mid-Ohio
This year was my third year attending the ALMS and IndyCar races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and for the third year in a row I had a blast. Each year, I’ve picked up a little bit more insight about how to attend, what to avoid and what to enjoy. This year, it was a little different for me in that in addition to a spectator ticket I also had a photo badge which gave me great access to the track and the pits, but it also limited my…
Read MoreMid-Ohio Weekend Review – Openpaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadA day early on this one as we welcome Mike back to the fray. We take a look back at the weekend that was Mid-Ohio. We talk IZOD IndyCar as well as ALMS. We tell the haters to shut up as well. Thankfully there is not much in the realm of F1 to talk about but there is some rally. We talk potential of Saab as well as Sordo splitting with his co-driver. So sit back with your favorite beverage and enjoy the show!
Read MoreIndyCar – Kansas Gets 2nd Cup Date, IndyCar Certainly Out
Well, its officially official. The Kansas Speedway has been approved for a second NASCAR Sprint Cup race for 2011. In addition to their early October date, the Kansas Speedway will also feature a race the first week of June. Its not official that Kansas is off the 2011 IndyCar schedule, but this announcement really makes it unlikely that open-wheel racing will return to Kansas City any time soon. Kansas Speedway and International Speedway Corporation (ISC) announced today that NASCAR has approved ISC’s request for realignment and beginning in 2011, Kansas…
Read MoreIndyCar – Photos from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Here are some of the better pics from this weekend’s Firestone Indy Lights and IZOD IndyCar Series events at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. I ended up with a TON of pics from the weekend, and these are just the ones that I picked out after a first cursory glance. Keep checking our photo gallery throughout the rest of the year, and especially during the off-season. One of the things that keeps me going through the winter is going back through my photo archives and searching for images I missed…
Read MoreALMS – Friday Practice and Qualifying Photos
These certainly aren’t all of the pics from today, but I only have my netbook with me and my photo editing resources are very limited. …ok, that’s an excuse. Real reason is that I’m completely beat and worn out! More ALMS photos tomorrow, and a lot of IndyCar photos as well as the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Firestone Indy Lights Series have their qualifications. ALMS Practice and Qualifying from Friday
Read MoreRally – Peugeot Starts Crying and Threatens to Leave
The Peugeot IRC effort has not really come close to the same dominance it had last year. Kris Meeke has crashed hard and often in his Peugeot S2000 and that has Olivier Quesnel upset and throwing toys from the pram. The team boss has went as far as to say Peugeot will be out of the IRC next year if Skoda fields a factory effort. In contrast to Peugeot’s terrible luck, Skoda has had an amazing year. They have had drivers on the podium at every event and lead the…
Read More