Indianapolis media is reporting that KV Racing has named Townsend Bell to their #8 car for the Indy 500. Townsend has not seen action since last season when he raced for Dreyer & Reinbold in a car he shared with Milka Duno. Townsend did compete at Indy last year where he put up a strong 10th place finish. He has competed off and on in the IndyCar series for the last four years, but never on a full schedule. Also reported is the addition of Oriol Servia in the #17…
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The latest news from the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, and USF2000!
IndyCar – Indianapolis Open for May
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened its doors on Tuesday for limited action as ROP (Rookie Orientation Program) awakened the mighty speedway from its long slumber. Drivers Mike Conway, Stanton Barrett, Robert Doornbos, Alex Tagliani, Nelson Philippe & Raphael Matos, took to the track to the track for the very fist time today at speed in an IndyCar. The rookie crop this year isn’t nearly as large as the group of 13 greenhorns that shoed Indy for the first time last year. This years group does not suffer from a lack…
Read MoreIndyCar – Updated Indy 500 Entrant List
New addition to the Indy 500 entrants list. Released today was Alex Tagliani’s official signing with Conquest Racing for the Indy 500. Alex will pilot the number 34. This will be Tagliani’s first attempt at the 500 and he will be required to take part in rookie orientation. Orientation begins tomorrow and continues through the 6th of May. Tagliani, a veteran of the Champ Car World Series, has contested the opening two rounds of this year’s IndyCar championship but skipped the last race in Kansas to prepare for the crown…
Read MoreIndyCar – Vision Racing
Throughout this month Open Paddock will be highlighting the teams that are currently entered in into this years Indy 500. We will sum up the teams history at the track in a few short paragraphs as well as their projected car lineup as it stands at the time of publishing. We will start the feature and the month of May with Vision Racing. Vision Racing is currently a two car team that is owned by Tony George with his wife Laura and Hollywood actor Patrick Dempsey. The team purchased assets from…
Read MoreIndyCar – May is Here!
My first experience with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was in 5thgrade. I attended practice as a class field trip and from that moment on I have always welcomed the month of May with open arms. For me there are three times of year that I absolutely cannot wait for: the holidays at the end of the year, the Formula 1 race that kicks off the season, and the month of May for the Indy 500. IMS during the month of May to me is better than Disney World. This year…
Read MoreIndyCar – What Happened to Competitive Racing?
In year’s past, the IRL Kansas race has been outstandingly exciting. Don’t believe me? Check out this video of the final laps in 2005. Fast forward to 2008. Although TCGR dominated the race up front, there was still a lot of exciting racing behind Dixon and Wheldon. The quality of the racing was still diminished as a result of the aero changes to the rear wing mandated by the league to produce more separation between the cars. This year, it was worse. The 2009 race, as you may have seen…
Read MoreIndyCar – Firestone Indy Lights at Kansas
The first oval race of the year for the Indy Racing League, as you saw in earlier articles here at Openpaddock.net, was held at the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, KS. Oval racing with high-speed open-wheel cars is unique to IndyCar racing, and the league has two levels of competition. First is the series with which everyone is familiar, the IndyCar Series (ICS). This is the series that contests the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race every Memorial Day Weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And yes, I do get goosebumps every…
Read MoreIndyCar – Newman Haas on Ovals
It was a concern going in to the weekend that Newman Haas Lanigan Racing would have trouble getting Robert Doornbos up to speed on ovals. However, it has been a noticeable trend that road course drivers have an easier time learning ovals than vice versa. On top of that, Doornbos is an accomplished driver with F1 and Champ Car experience. Shocked would be the word I would use to describe my reaction to Robert’s eventual P2 in qualifying at Kansas City. Granted, Helio and Dario qualified faster than he did,…
Read MoreIndyCar – Kansas City Thoughts
As you are most likely aware by now, Scott Dixon pulled off the win on Sunday in the threatening Kansas City weather. The truck series race scheduled for Saturday night was rescheduled for Monday due to tornadic activity and the IndyCar feature looked like it might suffer the same fate with thunderstorms predicted for the entire day. On top of the uncertainty with the weather, there were high winds all day long making car setup an exercise in high drag, high downforce wing angles. Unfortunately, this appeared to make passing…
Read MoreIndyCars – Kansas Quali Update
The rain stayed away just long enough on Saturday for the 22 IndyCar drivers and the 24 Firestone Indy Lights drivers to have a couple rounds of practice and qualify their machines for the two races on Sunday. Getting the races in might be a challenge. Severe weather moved into the area not long after the qualification and the same front will still be in the area on race day. Expectations are for dry, but windy weather until mid to late afternoon. The Indy Lights race will likely be run,…
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