2009 Firestone Indy Lights champion, JR Hildebrand, will test for the Force India F1 team in the first days of December. Read the full article at Autosport.com. JR has been searching for a ride at the next level ever since August (probably before), but many, including myself, thought that meant a seat somewhere in the IZOD IndyCar Series, or perhaps with USF1 USGPE. Turns out that he has his sights set well above the doubtful USF1 USGPE and on a ride with a legitimate team that actually has a car…
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IndyCar – IMS Announces new CIO
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, having recently sacked its entire online media division, just hired a new CIO, Rhonda Winter. Ms. Winter has been around the Indianapolis area for a while working for the NCAA, Indianapolis Museum of Art (check their website! very cool, and not white text on black background!), and most recently with CIK Enterprises (whose web presence also does not suck). Here’s her comments from the announcement article at IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com: “I’m very excited to join the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in this new role,” Winter said. “Technology is a…
Read MoreIndyCar – PR VP John Griffin Resigns
John Griffin, Vice President of Public Relations for the Indy Racing League for the past seven years, announced his resignation from the league today effective on December 18th. Here’s the official release: “John has been a valued part of our organization and he will be missed,” said Terry Angstadt, president of the commercial division of the Indy Racing League. “His creativity and passion for the sport brought publicity for the IZOD IndyCar Series to a whole new level. We wish him the best of luck.” Griffin joined the Indy Racing…
Read MoreStar Mazda – 2009 Season Review – Getting Started
Star Mazda Series – 2009 Season Review The Star Mazda Championship is a low-power spec-formula series that started in 1999 in an effort to transition young drivers from karts and F2000 cars to the types of winged single-seaters they’ll see in Atlantics, Formula BMW, GP2, and Firestone Indy Lights, and specifically feeds the Atlantics Championship series. The chassis are all built by Star Race Cars, run the 1.3L Mazda Wankel “rotary” engine, and are shod with Goodyear rubber. Teams are allowed to adjust wing angles, suspension set-up, and brake bias,…
Read MoreIndyCar – A Motorcycle Sportscar?
So on Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee last night and in today’s Pit Pass column in the Indianapolis Star, the topic of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series chassis was discussed. There are two different options currently being considered, an evolution of the current configuration and a completely revolutionary design. The revolutionary design track is been described as a radical departure from past designs, and while I’m all for cool new designs and out-of-box thinking, I’m leary of a final product that simply does not scream IndyCar. Yes, I…
Read MoreAOWR – Atlantics 2009 Season Review – Looking Ahead to 2010
Atlantics Championship – Year In Review Thoughts on Next Year: The immediate thought is, “Will there be a next year?” Having only 10 cars on the grid most races, and 13 as a maximum, the existence of the 2010 Atlantics Championship is not guaranteed. Things are looking promising, though, as the series has announced their 12-event 2010 schedule and Cooper Tires returns as the presenting sponsor. The series is still negotiating a 13th event, presumably either a return to the Long Beach Grand Prix. The series has had a presence…
Read MoreEpisode 16 – Open Paddock Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin us this week as we talk about Jenson to McLaren, Mercedes GP as well as a whole host of F1 news topics. Will Power goes full time in the IndyCar series and Ford tells the IRC to get lost. As always we try to solve IndyCar’s problems because they obviously cannot do it themselves. **NOTE: I broke my headset 30 seconds before recording the show, so the sound may not be up to par…thats what happens when you try and act like Kimi.
Read MoreF1 – Button/Brawn Fallout
We now know that Jenson Button is with McLaren and Brawn is now Mercedes and the two are not together. However, reports that have surfaced within the last 24 hours shows how ugly the situation really was. The feelings between the two bring back not so distant memories of Fernando Alonso and the McLaren team. While there are obviously differences in the two situations, the bottom line is the same. Ross Brawn has stated that Jenson Button was in breach of his contract while visiting the Woking based team. At…
Read MoreRally – Kimi and Citroen
After snubbing Mercedes GP and confirming his temporary exit from F1, Autosport is reporting that Kimi is closing in on a deal that would see him in a C4 backed by Red Bull. While he will have little implications in any title fight, this raises a couple questions about the Kimsters career as a whole. We have to establish one thing up front and in the clear, Kimi Raikkonen will have no implication in the 2010 WRC title if he gets this deal. I know I know…Shaun, how do you…
Read MoreAOWR – Atlantics 2009 Season Review – The Home Stretch
Atlantics Championship – Year In Review Battle for the Championship: The final stretch toward the championship begins at Circuit Trois-Rivières just upstream of Montreal. Only 19 points separate the leader, Simona, from Summerton in third. Not unexpectedly, the trio qualified as they were ranked in the championship: Simona, Edwards, and Summerton. Showing no quarter to her Newman/Wachs competitors, Simona went on to win from pole position and stretch out her lead once again. Summerton and Edwards swapped positions during the race which allowed Simona’s lead to grow even more. Things…
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