Tag: 2013

IndyLights – 2013 Championship Is The Closest On Record

Doug Patterson

Never in the history of the Indy Lights series have so many drivers been so close to each other this late in the season. We’ve had seasons where a couple of drivers may still be duking it out toward the end, and there’s even been a few where there’s been three drivers with a shot at the championship, but never four and never so close! With two races left, a street race in Houston and the superspeedway in Fontana, the championship will likely fall to the driver with the broadest…

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Grand-Am – Review and Comments from SFP Grand Prix at Kansas Speedway

Mike Shaw

The weather was incredible at Kansas Speedway for the SFP Grand Prix, the qualifying and practice in the afternoon/evening was nice change of pace. At first the course did not seem like it would be too demanding and I wondered if the layout would provide exciting racing. The very tight infield made it difficult to pass in most areas except turn 4 and off the banking into turn 1. Being a local guy from Kansas I was hoping this venue would provide good racing and exciting exchanges, I think the…

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Episode 201 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThe crew returns after a week hiatus (NTS: make checklist for recording podcast) to discuss the glory that was Rally Deutschland, dusty Ojibwe Forest Rally, the demolition derby that IndyCar called a race in Sonoma, and Formula 1’s return to competition at Spa! We also preview the upcoming Italian Grand Prix and the Baltimore Grand Prix. OpenPaddock.net Podcast: Episode #201 – Tuesday, August 27th, 2013 IndyCar Sonoma Quals Power returns to victory amid controversy in Sonoma IndyCar race – Racer.com Results – Standings Day…

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Rally – 2013 Ojibwe Forest Rally

Josh Tons

The sixth round of the Rally America National Championship, the Ojibwe Forests Rally held in Detroit Lakes, MN, sun and strong winds greeted 46 teams ready to tackle the narrow, sandy and extremely technical forest roads. Hoonigan Racing’s Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino dominated from start to finish at the Ojibwe Forests Rally in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota on August 23-24th, finishing first overall. This is the first career Ojibwe Forests Rally victory for Block and his third straight overall win in the Rally America National Championship. Block drove a relatively…

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OpEd – Who made the #DickMove on Sunday?

Doug Patterson

Editor’s Note: Today’s OP-Ed piece comes from one of the long-time fans of the site and occasional contributor John Olsakovsky. If you have an opinion about motorsports that you’d like to share with the world, do what John did! Write up your thoughts and send it to us in an email or hit us up on Facebook! Afterall, this is motorsports commentary for the fans, BY the fans. Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix at Sonoma was a farce. I hesitate to call it a race. Dixon said Power’s tire changer made…

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IndyCar – My Two Cents on Global Expansion

Shaun

So IndyCar is toying with the idea of taking the traveling circus abroad during the off season in an attempt to spread influence and maybe even earn the teams some extra cash. Obviously this is nothing more than an idea and I don’t want people to think the negative Nancy police are here, but I find the idea to be ridiculous on a few different levels. While I would love to see IndyCar race overseas, the justification for doing so seems weak at the moment. I am also a firm…

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From the Cockpit – Michael Epps at the Allied Building Products USF2000 Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio

Doug Patterson

Editor’s Note: In our continuing From the Cockpit series, Belardi Auto Racing’s Michael Epps offers the following recap of his race weekend on the rolling hills of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. We thank Belardi Auto Racing and their drivers for their support and the excellent insights their drivers have offered us through this series of articles. At the end of the article, you’ll find links to Belardi Auto Racing’s and Michael’s social media connections. Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter. Well, since I’ve not written on…

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GrandAm – Preview for the SFP Grand Prix at Kansas Speedway

Mike Shaw

August 17th will be a first time for the Grand Am Rolex series will compete at Kansas Speedway. The speedway closed down last year for a period and created a new “Roval” layout which incorporates six turn road course in the infield and then exiting onto the outer 1.5 mile banked oval portion to complete the 2.35 mile lap. This will be the 3rd new track for Grand Am this year, after a trip to Circuit of the Americas in Texas and Road Atlanta in Georgia. Grand Am has seen…

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Episode 200 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Doug Patterson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIt’s our 200th episode!!! …and in true OpenPaddock style, I’m late getting the show posted. Big thanks to Kevin for taking care of the editing process for me this week. Classes start on Monday, so this week has been chaotic to say the least. Sadly, Pechin was absent from this week’s show. He was off being a responsible dad or something. The OPEN PADDOCK 200th episode EXTRAVAGANZA! (or something like that) for Tuesday, August 13th, 2013 Presented this evening without Shaun interruption, for your…

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