Category: Indy Lights
news and commentary on the direct feeder series to the IndyCar Series.
IndyLights – Yacaman’s Spin-And-Win, Newgarden Clinches Championship
It seems that the Baltimore Grand Prix is the place for securing series championships. Petri Suvanto locked up the US F2000 title yesterday, Tristan Vautier secured the Star Mazda championship this morning, and this afternoon Sam Schmidt Motorsport’s Josef Newgarden charged from the back of the grid after initiating two FCYs during qualifying to finish in P2. He lead the Firestone Indy Lights Championship by 68 points coming into the Baltimore weekend, which of course put him in a strong position, but now he heads to the last two races…
Read MoreIndyLights – Highlights from New Hampshire
IndyLights – New Hampshire Beat Down
The Firestone Indy Lights race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway can only be described as a beat down by Josef Newgarden (@RacerOfTomorrow) who was the ONLY driver to finish on the lead lap. That’s right. He lapped the entire freakin’ field! He might have done it twice if not for the yellows. The three primary Sam Schmidt Motorsports cars of #11 Newgarden, #7 Esteban Guerrieri, and #77 Bryan Clausen (@BryanClauson) were in a completely different class during qualifying. During practice, Josef, Bryan, and Esteban posted times of 147.457, 145.749,…
Read MoreInside The Helmet – Stefan Rzadzinski
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode of Inside the Helmet, we get to know Firestone Indy Lights’ newest addition, Stefan Rzadzinski. Stefan is an Edmonton native currently racing in the Skip Barber Summer Series on a full scholarship resulting from his outstanding performance at the most recent Skip Barber Karting Shootout. He has a one-event deal with Davey Hamilton Racing to run both races this coming weekend in front of his home crowd at the newly reconfigured Edmonton City Centre Airport Circuit.
Read MoreIndyLights – O2 Racing Technology Appeal Denied
O2 Racing Technology Appeal Denied From uplifting to tragic, we switch gears to talk about the ugly business surrounding the conflict between INDYCAR and the O2 Racing Technology team and its owner and president Mark Olson. Earlier this month, O2RT withdrew from the Milwaukee event after growing concerns over favouritism being showed by the INDYCAR technical inspection officials. Allegations of cheating were leveled against Sam Schmidt Motorsports specifically in regards to their race-winning car at Indianapolis, and at Team Moore’s #22 machine at Barber Motorsports Park. O2 Racing Technology’s driver…
Read MoreIndyLights – Time For a Little Razzle Dazzle
Edmonton native and Skip Barber stand-out, Stefan Rzadzinski (aka “Razzle Dazzle”), gets his opportunity to race in front of his hometown crowd next weekend Edmonton’s City Centre Airport with Davey Hamilton Racing in their #32 Firestone Indy Lights car. Stefan was awarded a full scholarship in the Skip Barber Summer Series based on his performance at the Skip Barber Karting Shootout last Fall and currently sits in third place in the championship at the halfway point in the season, but he’s putting that aside for now, skipping the next Skip…
Read MoreIndyLights – Andretti Autosport Strikes Back
So far the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights Championship has been dominated by Sam Schmidt Motorsports. In past years, Andretti Autosport, when they were in partnership with AFS Racing, had fielded back-to-back championship winners with Raphael Matos (2008) and J.R. Hildebrand (2009). Up until the Toronto race, SSM drivers had won five of the six races, only losing the Barber race to Team Moore’s Victor Garcia (who may have been running with an illegal suspension). While there’s no doubt that the SSM staff is extremely talented, and they have been working…
Read MoreIndyLights – Q & A with Andretti Autosport’s Peter Dempsey
Peter Dempsey started out the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights season with O2 Racing Technology, and got off to a great start finding the podium in the first two races and leading for a time at Long Beach. If you’re a regular reader here at OpenPaddock, or a regular listener of our podcast, you already know what happened to Peter and his team during the David Hobbs 100 at the Milwaukee Mile. Peter had already sat out of the entire 2010 racing season here in the US after becoming the winningest…
Read MoreIndy Hump Day Report: Toronto Fantasy Picks
So Americans and Canadians have had a few days to recover from their independence parties. Now it is that time of the week for us fantasy racing geeks to make our Toronto picks. The 2011 stop at the beautiful gem of Canada looks to give us great racing as always. Yet again we find ourselves making decisions for a street race. Yes if you can afford to use some obvious picks, do it. However with the ability to pick drivers for 6 races at IndyCar Nation, you may want…
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