On a pretty crowded weekend for the SCCA’s Midwest Division, the second rallycross event of the year for the Kansas City Region still had a good turnout with representation from many of the neighboring regions. The weather early in the morning was brilliant, and we were optimistic for a gorgeous and comfortable day. Those hopes were dashed, however, as the Sun continued to climb. Temperatures soon reached the 90’s while the humidity between 50 and 60%, and the wind struggled to be much more than a slight stirring. It was…
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Inside The Helmet – Danilo Estrela
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadDanilo Estrela, driver of the #11 USF2000 machine for Belardi Auto Racing, joins us all the way from his hometown in Brazil for this edition of Inside the Helmet. We begin our conversation talking about Danilo’s late start in motorsports, not getting into a kart until the age of 14, and immediately breaking all the rules laid down for him. We then turn our attention to his transition into cars and why he chose to pursue open-wheel racing over touring cars. Danilo spent a…
Read MoreProMazda – MattyBrabs Continues His Domination
Just give the man his trophy now and be done with it. Andretti Autosport’s Matthew Brabham sweeps the weekend’s two races. …again! After finishing as low as third in the opening race of the season at the Circuit of the Americas, Matthew “Matty Brabs” Brabham hasn’t lost a race since, and in the last four races he’s been absolutely perfect. As he did at Lucas Oil Raceway on the Night Before the 500 and again at the Milwaukee Mile, Brabham won the pole for both races on the Streets of…
Read MoreFrom the Cockpit – Danilo Estrela at the Analytic Systems USF2000 Grand Prix of Toronto
Editor’s Note: In our continuing From the Cockpit series, Belardi Auto Racing’s Danilo Estrela offers the following recap of his race weekend on the narrow and challenging Streets of Toronto. 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 Danilo’s social media connections. Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter. I had never been to Canada before so…
Read MoreEpisode 196 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadShaun and Kevin lead us through the IndyCar 2inTO. Barnhart is back & there’s drama in Race Control. Coincidence? The Mazda Road to Indy is back in full swing, and Doug has a recap of this weekends races and championships. We discuss Andersen’s vision for the future of Indy Lights. Shaw takes us through the world of Global Rallycross as they come back to the states after a long stint overseas, the FIA looks into the mess that is timing and scoring in the…
Read MoreUSF2000 – Two-fer in Toronto
The Mazda Road to Indy was fully represented in Toronto this weekend with the USF2000 National Championship back in action for the first time since the Night Before the 500 in May, and the Pro Mazda Championship racing after it’s last event in Milwaukee. They shared the weekend with the Firestone Indy Lights series and of course the IZOD IndyCar Series with everyone except Lights doing a double-header. After five events, Cape Motorsports driver and championship leader, Scott Hargrove had accumulated three poles, four podiums, three fastest race laps, and…
Read MoreEpisode 195 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week, we review the triumphant return of the IZOD IndyCar Series to Pocono and look ahead to Toronto, Doug recaps the Indy Lights race at Pocono, and gives us a rundown of where all three of the Mazda Road to Indy series stand as they all head to Toronto, Mike and Shaun look at the tyre failures at Silverstone and point their fingers squarely at the teams, and they review the German Grand Prix, and Mike Shaw runs through the latest news and…
Read MoreIndyCar – The Pocono Weekend in Photos
In addition to our own native of the Poconos, Constable Spike Rogan, giving us great updates and insights over the weekend as the IZOD IndyCar Series finally returns to the Pocono Speedway, Tom and Brenda Turk if Piratical Photography have been creating some magnificent images of the events. With Tom behind the lens and Brenda behind the laptop editing, we now have two new wonderful galleries of images of the Firestone Indy Lights and IZOD IndyCar Series races. Enjoy! Firestone Indy Lights – Pocono 100 IZOD IndyCar Series – Pocono…
Read MoreSCCA – The Kansas City Region Car Show
Ok, this was really a more of a meet-n-greet than anything, but it was still cool. The Kansas City Region of the SCCA meets monthly at the American Legion in Overland Park, KS, and many at the Legion have been asking to see the cars that we race. Joe Tasler, Regional Executive for the region, arranged for several of the members to bring out their cars fully decked out in numbers, class letters, and sponsor/supporter decals. My little SVTF was out there sandwiched between a couple of beasts, but it…
Read MoreInside the Helmet – Juan Pablo Garcia
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this edition of our driver interview series, Inside the Helmet, we speak with Juan Pablo Garcia, driver of the #2 Team Moore Racing machine in the Firestone Indy Lights series. Juan Pablo shares with us the story of how he came to see motorsports as a potential career choice as a young karter, his experiences in formula 2000 cars in Mexico, and in A1GP and Formula Renault and other junior formula series in Europe before coming to the US to race in the…
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