Saturday was a hot and sunny day in New Hampshire. While the stands were more filled than Friday, it is still a light turnout for qualifying. Speeds were slower today for most of practice than they were on Thursday, however later in the day enough Firestone rubber was laid down to correct this. The speeds were increased just in time for qualifying today. To no ones surprise Dario Franchitti snagged the pole position. What was a slight upset was Oriol Servia was P1 most of the session before being…
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News and commentary on the highest level of American open-wheel racing.
Spike Day: Live Free and Blog (Arrival at New Hampshire)
So after a five and a half hour long non-stop drive, I find myself here at New Hampshire Motorspeedway. Sporting my Phillies cap in the heart of Red Sox Nation. No INDYCAR activity on track today. It is just the American-Canadian Tour, and the NASCAR Modified Series today. If you wander the paddock you can find a few random drivers just hanging out. The stands have less than a 1,000 people in the seats. The crews out number spectators. The road leading to the main entrance has about a…
Read MoreIndy Hump Day Report: ABC/ESPN future exclusive broadcast home thoughts, and NH picks
So another race weekend at Mid-Ohio; large turnout, loads of anticipation, no passing, no drama, no excitement. Sounds about right for a professional formula type series on a club racing course. Mid-Ohio is too narrow in its current set-up for cars as fast as the IZOD INDYCAR Series. It might produce great passing for a Honda Civic Si in Show Room Stock C, but it’s a cure for insomnia when really fast cars run there. Also it needs upgrades beyond the race course, most notably wooden garages. Did everyone miss…
Read MoreThe Mid-Ohio Weekend in Photos
One of the magnificent things about a road course event, and the ALMS/INDYCAR weekend at Mid-Ohio especially, is that there is NEVER a quiet moment on the track. There’s always something buzzing around the circuit. This year was no exception as we has the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship, the SCCA Pro World Challenge, the American LeMans Series, the US F2000 National Championship, and the IZOD IndyCar Series taking to the circuit from 0800 to as late as 1900! That also means that is photog was one busy dude! I…
Read MoreINDYCAR – Scheckter to Fly at New Hampshire
Tomas Scheckter will be back in the IZOD IndyCar series this weekend as it was announced he will sub for the injured Justin Wilson at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. This past weekend at Mid-Ohio, Wilson suffered a fracture in his spine after catching air coming out of turn one. The subsequent landing impact would cause serious damage to his back and see him out for an expected three months. Scheckter, who has 14 starts with DRR, last competed at the Indianapolis 500 with S&H/KV Racing in the Redline Extreme Energy…
Read MoreA Conversation with SMSgt Mark Wolfenden of the Ohio Air National Guard
INDYCAR – Dixon Finally Breaks Through at Mid-Ohio
When you talk about luck this year, Scott Dixon has easily had some of the worst. There have been a number of drivers suffer, but driving for a team like Ganassi, Dixon’s stood out a bit more than the rest. Sunday however, it finally took a turn in the right direction as the New Zealand driver stormed to his first victory of the year. Here are just a few of my thoughts overall. Passing: Heading into Mid-Ohio, one should never expect much passing. The course is just not conducive to…
Read MoreInside The Helmet – Simona De Silvestro at Mid-Ohio
Indy Humpday Report: Fantasy picks for Mid-O
The Mid-Ohio edition of the Indy Hump Day report will be shorter than normal. Stay tuned Friday night for the Spikeday Report, not only for a colorful op-ed but possibly some big news may be breaking. Drivers to pick this week: Penske, Penske, Penske. While George Costanza might not be “Penske material”, Mid-Ohio is. The INDYCAR Empire has over 7 victories at Mid-Ohio from 1992 through present day. Two of those seven comes from Helio Castroneves (who is winless for 2011 still), but Penske’s last win at Mid-Ohio was…
Read MoreINDYCAR – Probation Continues Lack of Credability Trend
Well it looks as the INDYCAR series has answered whether contact is good for the sport or not. Yesterday the governing body handed out some probation rulings against Mike Conway, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Alex Tagliani for avoidable contact issues. The rulings mostly cite the Canadian leg of the championship but in Hunter-Reay’s case, it goes all the way back to Barber. I was baffled yet again to see the fans of the series try and make sense of the calls. It is impossible to make sense of something that never…
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