Pole position for the Indianapolis 500 has always been a big deal. The toughest four laps in motorsport to claim the honor of leading the field is on everyone’s radar. The day started very sunny and warm. Things would not be so sunny for Ryan Briscoe who would trash his car in turn 2 during morning practice. The team would scramble to get the backup car ready in time for their qualifying run. Luckily for them the 6T car was scheduled to qualify 34th. So there was plenty of time…
Read MoreTag: IMS
IndyLights – WillyT Returns to IMS!
For you old school fans, you remember Willy T Ribbs as the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 1991, exactly 20 years ago today, with Walker Racing and funding from comedian Bill Cosby. Those of you who are newer to the sport may only know Willy T as the straight-speaking analyst on Versus coverage of the Firestone Indy Lights Series. Mr. Ribbs now returns to competition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, not as a driver, but as a team owner. In a partnership with…
Read MoreIndyCar Garage Forum Update – 5/12/2011
IndyCar Garage Forum – A place for ALL opinions on INDYCAR As part of a weekly series, IndyCar Garage moderator Tyler Carmichael will provide forum updates to the hot topics on www.IndyCarGarage.com. The forum is monitored frequently and is viewed as constructive place to voice all INDYCAR opinions. The past week of forum discussion has brought lots of conversation and with the Month of May heating up on the track, IndyCar Garage is the place to be for all your INDYCAR Conversation! For the week of May 5th through May…
Read MoreINDYCAR – Wheels Fall Off for De Ferran Dragon
When the news broke a while back that Tony Kanaan had signed with De Ferran Dragon Racing, we here at the site were very excited at the variable that would add to 2011. TK is obviously a very talented driver who made charging through the field into a game last season. What would he be able to do in 2011 and for a team that had seen a best fourth position out of former driver Raphael Matos? It all ended on Tuesday night when Tony Kanaan was released from De…
Read MoreEpisode 77 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe are joined this week by Todd McCandless from Formula1blog.com to discuss Bahrain and all things F1 off season. We get into the Las Vegas announcement and all of the hot INDYCAR news. Doug hits us with his weekly Mazda Road to Indy topics and we prepare for the 100 Acre Wood Rally. GREAT conversation on the show and a must download for sure!
Read MoreIndy Hump Day Report, On the bubble: National Guard Cash?
Could Panther be looking for a new sponsor in 2012? (All views expressed are those of Spike Rogan, and not that of OpenPaddock.net) If Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minnesota has her way, YES! Representative McCollum has proposed cutting the Department of Defense (DoD) spending on sponsorships. Mainly on auto racing. We learned last year that Panther has received about $30 million (over three seasons) of U.S. Tax Dollars from the DoD. We also learned that well over a million dollars was paid in salary to British Citizen, Dan Wheldon. Now the…
Read MoreINDYCAR – OpenPaddock Remembers Tom Carnegie
There are a number of great articles out right now remembering and recalling the career of the great Tom Carnegie, Voice of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1946 to 2006, passed away this morning at the age of 91. For any fan of motorsports, today is a sad day as we lose one of the greatest announcers in sports history. Anyone who had been to the Speedway during his tenure surely can never forget his deep, rich, baritone, and how he could play the crowd like a fiddle, stirring up…
Read MoreIndyCar – In Memory of Tom Carnegie
Episode 75 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThe 75th “diamond” edition of the Openpaddock.net podcast is packed full! We have Mike Cockrall (@TeamCanada1) on to talk the new Edmonton track layout. Kristi talks IZOD IndyCar and Doug with the Mazda Road to Indy. We preview Rally Sweden as the WRC calendar kicks off and talk the aftermath of the Robert Kubica accident. What’s next for Lotus Renault? What is next for teams and their drivers during the offseason? We talk about it all, so sit back and enjoy the diamond addition!
Read MoreEpisode 74 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadHere we are a couple days later and a few painful hours of editing for the 74th Episode of the podcast. Show is a little long this week at a cool and crisp two hours, but we cover Sno* Drift, WRC, IndyCar and the toss in a little sports car and technical F1 talk! Thanks for the download as always and sit back this weekend and listen to some good discussion as we all wait for the season to get here!
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