Category: Featured

All of the latest stories from your favorite series located here!

Indy Lights – Freedom 100 Qualifying and the New 2015 Chassis

Doug Patterson

Media Day is a pretty dead day at the Speedway from a fan attendance standpoint. There were some people there, but not many. For that matter, there weren’t many media folk there either! It’s unfortunate, because the Indy Lights drivers had a great practice and a fun and exciting qualifying session. In addition to the three hours of practice and the qualification session, the new 2015 Indy Lights chassis, the Dallara Automobili IL-15 was unveiled. It was a great day of preparation for today’s Freedom 100. Press releases are below…

Read More

Indy Lights – Freedom 100, Can We Expect Another Close One?

Doug Patterson

Last year we were treated to the most spectacular finish in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the Indy Lights drivers Carlos Munoz, Gabby Chavez, Sage Karam, and Peter Dempsey ran four-wide down the front stretch and across the yard of bricks. Every year, I try to convince people that as much fun as the 500 is, and in recent years as good of as the racing has been, that the best racing action at the Speedway is really seen on Carburetion Day when the Indy Lights Series…

Read More

Episode 232 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadDoug returns this week to join the Mikes in discussing the qualifying weekend for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. We also preview this weekend’s Road to Indy races on Carb Day and the Night Before the 500. Shaw recaps the news from the GCR, WRC, and Rally America, and we wrap up the show with a preview of the Monaco GP and which Mercedes we think will win. OpenPaddock.net Podcast, Episode 232 – Tuesday, May 20th, 2014 [yop_poll id=”3″] IndyCar…

Read More

IndyCar – Indianapolis 500 Qualifying Recap

John Olsakovsky

Fast Friday This weekend’s qualifying for the 98th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race started with questions, albeit not the usual ones. The new format did away with the traditional Pole Day and Bump Day. And lets not forget the points for qualifying and the Fast 9, making starting position mean far more than pit selection. When IndyCar turned up the boost for practice on Friday, Tony Kanaan and Ryan Hunter-Reay both posted laps in the 231mph range and Marco Andretti laid down a 232.2mph lap.  Of those, only Hunter-Reay’s was truly…

Read More

IndyCar – Road to Indy Well Represented in 500 Field

Doug Patterson

The Mazda Road to Indy has been a very successful program since it’s inception. We’ve certainly done our best to document that here at OpenPaddock.net and to follow the progress of many of the drivers that have come through the Road to Indy, but admittedly, we’re fans and a bit biased. There is objective evidence of the program’s success, and it can be seen in the list of the 33 drivers who will contest the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. Although the formal program has only been…

Read More

Rally – Red Bull GRC Kicks off in Barbados

Mike Shaw

Although not televised until next weekend on NBC, you can follow all the happenings of the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship season opener at the Top Gear Festival in Barbados via social networking and their live timing web site.  Sure it isn’t quite the same as the live programming coming later this season, but unless you want to ignore your Twitter and Facebook for a week you might as well delve in.   Red Bull GRC’s Christopher Leone who was nice enough to take the time to be on our…

Read More

IndyLights – Newton-John Returns to Indy (No, not Olivia)

Doug Patterson

This year will see the return of Emerson Newton-John to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as he replaces Vittorio Ghirelli in the #22 Team Moore Racing machine. Ghirelli did not compete at the Indy GP last weekend, and the team has been looking for a solid driver to place in their second car. Zack Meyer will continue in the team’s #2 machine. It’s been a while, two years to be exact, since Newton-John has been in an Indy Lights car, and he performed very well in 2012 even if his last…

Read More

Episode 231 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIt’s the Mike & Mike show again! Doug is buried in ungraded final exams, and Shaun is busy making life difficult for the bad guys. Joining M&M this week is Christopher Leone, Social Media Manager of the Red Bull Global RallyCross, to discuss the cool things that are happening with GRC this season including their new broadcast deal wtih NBC! Shaw recaps the rest of the news from the world of rally racing, and Whitesell gives us his perspective from the viewing mounds of…

Read More

PR – Everyone is Going Purple!

Mike Shaw

Royal Purple Synthetic Oil has been on a tear with partnerships lately.  First was the announcement at the Red Bull Global Rallycross Media Day that Royal Purple was renewing their partnership with the Red Bull GRC series and sponsoring an Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta GRC Supercar that will be driven by Steve Arpin.   Then last week Royal Purple announced a partnership with Subaru Rally Team USA.  The especially interesting point here is that Royal Purple is not just backing the SRT USA Global Rallycross Team, but also their Rally…

Read More

Episode 230 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIt’s Mike and Mike at OpenPaddock.net! No, not that Mike and Mike, the awesome Mike and Mike that actually know their stuff about motorsport! Shaun and Doug are out this week, so Shaw and Whitesell recap the Oregon Trail Rally and preview the F1 Spanish GP and the inaugural IndyCar race on the newly reconfigured Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. OpenPaddock.net Podcast: Episode 230 — Tuesday, May 6th, 2014 IndyCar ROP completed for Busch, Aleshin, Hawksworth, Huertas and Plowman Mechanical problems kept Karam from…

Read More