Carburetion Day brings with it the final day of practice prior to the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, thus its name. Yes, I know the engines have been injected for a long time, but its still a cool name and we like tradition, here. For the past eight years, this year being the ninth, in addition to the traditional final practice session for the IndyCars, its also been the day of the Firestone Freedom 100 Indy Lights race, a 40-lap sprint race around the 2.5 mile circuit. The Firestone Freedom 100…
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news and commentary on the direct feeder series to the IndyCar Series.
Inside The Helmet – Rusty Mitchell
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download In this episode of Inside The Helmet, we talk with Rusty Mitchell about his beginnings in motorsports racing karts and SCCA Formula Enterprise and how he then moved up into the Star Mazda Championship. Rusty recently signed a two-race deal with Team E Racing to drive their Firestone Indy Lights car on the Streets of Long Beach and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Firestone Freedom 100 to be held on Carburetion Day, May 26. Last Friday, Rusty ran in the first…
Read MoreIndyLights – WillyT Returns to IMS!
For you old school fans, you remember Willy T Ribbs as the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 1991, exactly 20 years ago today, with Walker Racing and funding from comedian Bill Cosby. Those of you who are newer to the sport may only know Willy T as the straight-speaking analyst on Versus coverage of the Firestone Indy Lights Series. Mr. Ribbs now returns to competition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, not as a driver, but as a team owner. In a partnership with…
Read MoreIndyLights: Long Beach 100 Recap
Last week after the Firestone Indy Lights race at Barber Motorsports Park, I went on a bit of a rant regarding the need for these young aspiring drivers to learn a modicum of control. Apparently, many of their team managers went on similar rants as this week’s race on the Streets of Long Beach was far less chaotic. To be sure there were incidents and accidents, but just your normal racing incident type of things, not the mass carnage and mayhem we saw at Barber. For a circuit that has…
Read MoreIndyLights – Long Beach Qualifying and New Additions
The Firestone Indy Lights Series will be racing tomorrow in support of the IZOD IndyCar Series on the famous Streets of Long Beach, and today’s qualifying session was very exciting. Before we get to the qualifying results and the implications for the race, first let’s look at some very positive news for the series that broke this week. Two new drivers join the Firestone Indy Lights ranks, and if you’re a regular reader of OpenPaddock, you’ll know that the car count in this step on the Mazda Road to Indy…
Read MoreIndyLights – Control! Control! You must learn control!
Yoda would be shaking his head in disappointment if he saw the carnage at Barber, and I don’t mean to only point at the Firestone Indy Lights drivers. There was plenty of carbon fiber shrapnel in the IZOD IndyCar Series race as well. During the Firestone Indy Lights race, a number of cars capable of victory or at least a podium were taken out by silly, over-aggressive moves. Even the qualifying for the Indy Lights drivers was a bit chaotic. Josef Newgarden, who had been so strong in testing and…
Read MoreMazda Road to Indy – Barber Preview
Sorry for the lack of a MRTI Weekly Update this past weekend, but there really hasn’t been much happening. I’m sure that I could have found something to blather on about, I usually can. Just ask my students! #rimshot But seriously, its been pretty quiet since the three races on the Streets of St. Petersburg. There was no on-track action this past weekend, and there were no new driver announcements, so the news and PR feeds have been pretty quiet. This coming weekend, however, is the second round for both…
Read MoreInside the Helmet – Peter Dempsey
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe were fortunate enough to have a wonderful conversation with the winningest driver in the history of the Star Mazda Championship, scoring a total of 9 wins over the 2008 and 2009 season, Peter Dempsey. Dempsey now drives the #36 Pulse/Microbiology car for O2 Racing Technology in the Firestone Indy Lights series. Last weekend in his first race, he led the first 11 laps of the race, and finished on the podium in P3. In our interview, Peter talks with us about his early…
Read MoreIndyLights – Highlights of the St. Pete Race from Belardi Auto Racing
MRTI – Mazda Road to Indy St. Pete Preview
This is a rare race weekend. All three elements of the Mazda Road to Indy are going to be racing on the Streets of St. Petersburg on the same weekend. This will be rounds three and four for the US F2000 National Championship, and the opening rounds for the Star Mazda Championship and Firestone Indy Lights. Driver assignments are pretty much settled now, so lets take a look at the grids and preview this weekend’s Mazda Road to Indy races! You can download this weekend’s schedule for all of the…
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