Well, this came out of left field. …at least for me. After a very successful three-year partnership, Andretti Autosport and AFS Racing have decided to end their relationship and pursue their individual paths in Firestone Indy Lights and the IZOD IndyCar Series. The partnership yielded 11 race wins and back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010 with Raphael “Rafa” Matos and JR Hildebrand. Here are some quotes from the two team principals, Gary Peterson of AFS Racing and Michael Andretti of Andretti Autosport. “AFS Racing’s partnership with Andretti Autosport has certainly…
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Star Mazda – Sage Karam Brings the Andretti Team to Star Mazda
Andretti Autosport announced today that it would compete in the 2011 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear with Sage Karam. Sage competed in the Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda for Andretti Autosport along with his teammate Zach Veach and won the series championship in strong fashion winning nine of the twelve races. Zach will continue running the US F2000 series for Andretti in 2011. “Andretti Autosport did such a fantastic job of preparing me for the USF2000 series that choosing a Star Mazda team…
Read MoreIndyCar – Good News for Ryan Hunter-Reay
There’s been a lot of negative press for the league since the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, most of it centering around Andretti Autosport and their sponsors. We already know that 7-Eleven will step down as a primary sponsor of the #11 in favour of being an associate sponsor on the #7 car. We also already knew (even if it wasn’t officially announced) that the IZOD sponsorship for the #37 car was going to end. Around the twittersphere and various forums, there’s been much hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth, and…
Read MoreRoad2Indy – Congratulations to our 2010 Champions
OpenPaddock.net wishes to extend our congratulations to the 2010 champions of the USF2000 National Championship presented by Cooper Tires powered by Mazda and the Star Mazda Championship powered by Mazda. Both series are official parts of the new Road to Indy program designed to produce a clear path for young drivers to advance through the ranks and eventually race at the top level of American open-wheel racing, the IZOD IndyCar Series. US F2000 Sage Karam dominated the reborn US F2000 National Championship from start to finish, including dominating wins at…
Read MoreIndyCar – Serious Silliness Afoot
I wish there was a better way to put it, but TK getting screwed over and losing 7-11 sponsorship has thrown a serious wrench into the wheel in regards to the silly season. Mainly because Michael Andretti has told TK he can now shop around for another ride if he likes. News had broken that 7-11 was leaving the primary role on the 11 car and continuing to be associate sponsor on the #7 machine piloted by every body’s favorite swimsuit model/racer. So lets take a look at some POSSIBLE…
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US F2000 – An Interview with Zach Veach
An Introduction to Zach Veach Zach Veach started his racing career in 2007 racing karts. As it happens, Zach was racing in central Ohio and attracted the attention of David Fisher, father of IZOD IndyCar Series driver and team owner Sarah Fisher. Mr. Fisher was impressed enough with Zach’s driving that he coached his and help Zach develop his racecraft over the next two years. During that first year of competition, Zach racked up quite an impressive list of accolades. Here’s a list of his 2007 accomplishments. 2007 (Age 12)…
Read MoreUSF2000 – The Season So Far and Drivers On The Move
The 2010 US F2000 National Championship Season The US F2000 National Championship opened their season on March 27th and 28th along with Star Mazda and the Firestone Indy Lights on the Streets of St. Petersburg as support races to the IZOD IndyCar Series. It was a weekend of great open-wheel racing, torrential rainstorms aside. So good in fact, the officials decided, “What the heck! Let’s play two!” Ok, perhaps it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision, but the series did run two races that weekend. The class of the field that weekend…
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