Category: INDYCAR

The latest news from the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, and USF2000!

Inside the Helmet – Peter Dempsey

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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…

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Indy Hump Day Report: A star is born, and meeting Cheerleaders is easy

Mike Shaw

2,789 miles; that’s how long it took me to travel by car, to and from St. Pete Florida and the Poconos. That is the number of miles traveled to get sunburned, meet a childhood hero, flirt with the captain of the Tampa Bay Bucs Cheerleader team, and get totally confused who was in the lead. I left for Florida the Monday before the race, first having to clear four inches of wet slushy snow. My car has an exhaust leak, so I had to drive with my window open a…

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UFS2000 – Diverse Field Finds Parity

Doug Patterson

Race #2 this past Sunday on the Streets of St. Petersburg was the fourth race of the 2011 Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda season, and it saw its fourth race winner as Cape Motorsports’ driver, Petri Suvanto, would take the checkers after starting from pole and successfully defending his position as Andretti Autosport’s Spencer Pigot mounted a challenge during a restart. In addition for separate race winners, the season thus far has seen five separate drivers on the podium and nine different drivers finish…

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INDYCAR – St. Pete post race wrap up

Mike Shaw

The 2011 IZOD INDYCAR Series started out much like the 2010 season; with a massive pile up into the first turn, taking out Marco Andretti. The crash would involve Andretti, Oriol Servia, Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, and Mike Conway. Andretti and Conway would both DNF from the incident, the others would continue on with scares of the event.   Right as the crash happened in turn one, Mario Andretti grandfather of Marco was exiting the two seater he had just pulled onto pit road. He (Mario) shook his…

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Star Mazda – Connor Di Phillipi Picks Up Where He Left Off

Doug Patterson

Although the testing at Barber Motorsports Park and the early practice sessions on the Streets of St. Petersburg belonged to JDC MotorSports’ Tristan Vautier, today belonged to Team Pelfrey’s Connor Di Phillipi. Connor won the 2010 season finale at Road Atlanta, but as a member of a brand new team to the Star Mazda Championship it wasn’t surprising to see him and his team struggle for pace during testing. Apparently, it didn’t take them long as although Juncos Racing’s Martin Scuncio took the pole positions for today’s race, Connor won…

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Will Power takes the pole for St. Pete 2011

Mike Shaw

After a long cold wait, the 2011 IZOD INDYCAR season has officially begun. With the temperature reaching a sunny 80 degrees; the first qualifying session of 2011 looks very much like one from 2010, Will Power is P1.   Power took the top spot with a speed of 104.579 MPH, just beating out 2010 Champion Dario Franchitti who ran a 104.021 MPH lap. Followed by Dixon in P3, Mike Conway will start P4 with an impressive debut for Andretti Autosport being the only from Andretti in the “Fast 6”. Rounding…

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MRTI – School’s In Session at St. Pete

Doug Patterson

As an educator, I completely approve of this fantastic move by the Mazda Road to Indy program to help young aspiring racers to learn more about the profession, business, and craft of motorsports. So many of us fans forget that there’s far more to being a successful professional racing driver these days that simply being fearless and fast. There’s so much more that today’s drivers need to understand about the business of motorsports, and business in general. Drivers have to be not only fast on the track, but also public…

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