Well, a week has passed since the Texas races. While many have complained about various aspects: (Dario on how they used random drawings for starting spots in a points race. Fans on Dario’s complaints while sponsored by a diaper brand. Many more on how the two races had rather dull results.) Here is one thing I would like to add, why not do a “Day/Night Doubleheader” like MLB uses? A “Day/Night” means there is a 1PM game and a 7PM game. While in baseball you kick the fans out after…
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The latest news from the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, and USF2000!
USF2000 – Veach Joins the Marines! …sorta.
THE YOUNG MARINES YOUTH ORGANIZATION PARTNERS WITH ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT DRIVER ZACH VEACH Veach To Carry The Young Marines Branding Throughout 2011 USF2000 Season WASHINGTON, DC (June 14, 2011) – The Young Marines, a youth education and service program for boys and girls, age 8 through completion of high school, announced today a partnership with 16-year-old Andretti Autosport USF2000 race car driver Zach Veach. The partnership will include Veach carrying the Young Marines imagery on his No. 7 Zakosi Data Backup Mazda, the formation of “Zach’s Pack” and a host of…
Read MoreINDYCAR – Bernard Takes Hit for Duels
In a nice article put together by Racer Magazine, Randy Bernard has taken blame for the ‘gimmick’ that was the Texas Twin 275s. Many were left a bit conflicted on what we saw last weekend and Bernard was quick in the article to point that future duel events will see different formatting. Bravo good sir! Many fans of the IZOD IndyCar Series were critical of Dario Franchitti and his post race comments. Many blamed him for being a sore loser but at the end of the day, Franchitti was 100%…
Read MoreMazda Road to Indy – Looking Forward to Milwaukee
On Memorial Day Weekend, the Mazda Road to Indy drivers all ran for the first time on ovals, albeit different ones. The Firestone Indy Lights series ran the Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Carburetion Day, while the Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear, and the Mopar USAC Midget Series raced on the Night Before the 500 at the newly renamed Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. This weekend all four series will again compete on…
Read MoreINDYCAR – Texas Leaves Many Conflicted
So here it is Monday morning and I am still conflicted as many other members of the INDYCAR Nation are with what exactly happened on Saturday night. I tried to sleep on it…then let all the other races finish before writing and I am still as conflicted over it as I was before. The idea was simple and yet has caused much debate about the future formatting of the event. The first round was typical Texas to a point. The cars ran qualifying and the most skilled and best set…
Read MoreINDYCAR – Don’t Look to the Olympics
Yesterday the Indianapolis Business Journal released an article in their sports section where it was opined that NBC’s recent win for the next few Olympic installments would help INDYCAR/Versus ratings. An assessment that I believe is a little bit of a stretch and probably wishful thinking at best. No disrespect to the author obviously, but I just don’t see how this is going to help anything. The Olympic Games is a massive television draw that is usually spread out over a number of networks. Swimming on one channel and track…
Read MoreIndy Hump Day Report: Life after the Indy 500, and the Texas two step
Most of us in America are sweating heavily from the weather. (Well most are weather related). Although the weather is not as hot as the INDYCAR Series was at the last round. The 2011 Indy 500 was by far the most exciting in years. The race finish was the most exciting since 1995, with a Pole & Bump Day that were arguably the most exciting in closer to three decades. When the checkered flag fell at the Indy 500 no one was talking about; Ryan Hunter-Reay in the 41 car,…
Read MoreMazda Road to Indy – Jensen Motorsport back on track in Montreal
After the flurry of activity during the Month of May, the Mazda Road to Indy program is set to take a race weekend off as all three series, the Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear, and the Firestone Indy Lights Series all will skip the IZOD IndyCar Series event at the Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. The next race for all three series will be the weekend of June 17th at the Milwaukee Mile. Until then, the teams…
Read MoreINDYCAR – SSM Engineer Leaves for Andretti
Curt Cavin reported yesterday that Alex Tagliani’s race engineer Allen McDonald had left his current SSM operation in favor of a return to Andretti Autosport. McDonald has a history with Andretti including winning the Indianapolis 500 in 2007 with Dario Franchitti. It was also reported that both Andretti and McDonald wanted this deal which further prompted Sam Schmidt to make some rather pointed comments at Michael in regards to his Shanghai tactics. The fact of the matter is while I respect the hell out of Sam Schmidt, he does not really have any room…
Read MoreWinning the 500 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin me as I sit and talk with Emily Jones about her summer internship with Bryan Herta Autosport. She gives us a first hand account of what it was like working with the team that won the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500! She also answers accusations of nearly assassinating 2/3rds or the Paddock crew. All in all it is a great account from start to finish of May and all the hard work that goes into winning the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing’! We…
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