Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Doug Patterson

Merry Christmas from all of us here at OpenPaddock.net! This has been a year with lots of ups and downs, both personally for us and within the racing community. We saw the Tony Kaanan’s triumph at Indianapolis after an absolutely epic 500 miles, and we saw the ending of Dario Franchitti’s legendary racing career at Houston. Dan Andersen’s assumption of the operation of the Indy Lights series brought immediate positives and progress continues toward revitalizing that series and the Pro Mazda Championship. The world of sports cars continues to flow…

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Episode 213 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadMike, Mike, and Doug make one last appearance in 2013 and talk about the few bits of motorsport news that’s around. Formula E seems to have a lot more traction that we expected, Ganassi and Briscoe are reunited, as is Paul Page and IMS radio. Fan Force United returns to Indy Lights, Sutil safe at Sauber, and Kubica confirmed at M-Sport. In each category, we also look back at the best and worst from each segment we cover. It’s been another great year, and…

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Episode 212 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn our penultimate show of 2013, Mike, Doug, and Mike continue to be stunned at the enthusiasm shown for the new Formula E all-electric racing series, Panoz sues Nissan (who didn’t see that coming?), and TUSCAR has aero and tire issues with the prototypes. Whitesell leads us through the news in IndyCar and Formula 1, Patterson brings us up to speed on Indy Light’s new chassis and engine for 2015, and Shaw shakes his head at the T&S errors in the WRC and takes…

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WRC Musical Chairs

Mike Shaw

We all remember the game as kids.  When the music stops everyone grabs a seat except for one odd man out.  Similarly there seems to never be enough manufacturer seats with the current depth of talent available in the WRC.   So here’s a quick look at the drivers that snagged a seat and who was left standing.   As we all know, the Volkswagen World Rally Team has their drivers firmly bolted to their carbon fiber seats for at least one more year.  There is no real need for…

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Thankful for the Time We Had

Doug Patterson

Editor’s Note: John Olsakovsky, frequent contributor to OpenPaddock.net and brother-in-law to Kevin Neely, has offered up this tribute to Kevin. This Thanksgiving Day, we remember our colleague, fellow motorsports fan, and most importantly our friend. We’re thankful for the time that we had to share. It’s taken me a month to be able to compose this. I’ve started a number of times and stopped, either because work got in the way, I became overwhelmed with emotion or simply ran out of words. Open Paddock readers are probably aware that Kevin…

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Good Food, Good Beer, Great Company, And Racing – USGP Watch Party

Mike Shaw

Friends and Competitors Gather To Watch The USGP So a short drive into downtown Leavenworth and you see a big sign that says High Noon Saloon and Brewery go that way (right), a couple blocks over and there you are parking outside an older building, that is hiding a nice little gathering place.   The location has a very large view screen as you can see from the photo above, and plenty of room for a gathering of friends and competitors.  As you enter the door, off to the left was…

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Rally America Adds Mt. Washington Hill Climb as 2014 Round

Mike Shaw

The mythical “To Be Determined” 8th round of the Rally America National Championship has now been confirmed.  The below press release from Rally America announces that the Mt. Washington Hillclimb will be counted as an official round of the 2014 Rally America schedule.  The iconic Mt. Washington “Climb to the Clouds” is located in Pinkham Notch, NH and slated to run June 26-29th.  Although not run as regularly as the famed Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, the Mt. Washington event is technically the oldest racing event in American history…

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IndyCar – Young F1 Talents Seeking Refuge

Shaun

The motorsports world is a vicious place. It is a cut throat business that has only become worse since the economic recession. The fight for top level seats and pay drives is reserved for a handful of seats per series. Drivers are increasingly reliant on board room talent versus driving talent. Formula 1 is a series that has benefited from a great crop of young talent recently. Drivers like Sergio Perez, Paul di Resta are just a couple of names that standout as brilliant talents that may not have a…

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Episode 211 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadDoug, Mike, and Mike debate who should fill the #10 seat at TCGR, and review a bevey of driver signings and tests. Doug gives us a MRTI silly season summary, Whitesell leads us through a recap of the USGP, and Shaw brings us up to speed on Rally GB. OpenPaddock.net Podcast – Episode 211, Tuesday, November 19th, 2013 IndyCar IndyCar legend Dario Franchitti retires from racing who replaces him? #10 or #8 car? Penske, Sam Hornish part ways after decade together IndyCar Series outlines…

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Episode 210 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWhitesell, Shaw, and Patterson are at it again! Not much news this week in IndyCar, but we talk about some driver announcements in MRTI and announce that OpenPaddock and Belardi Auto Racing will continue their partnership in 2014. Max is back in the news while the new 2014 F1 regulations result in a near obscene nosecone. Kimi is out and Alonso is in for the support race to the Longhorns football game. In rally, Shaw previews Rally GB, gives Gymkhana 6 a “meh” rating,…

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