Raphael Matos put his car into the 12th starting spot for the Indianapolis 500 today with a 223.429 mph. Raphael spent most of his day Saturday on the bubble and was unable to put his car into the show until today. Sarah Fisher was the first to make an attempt today, but she had a major bobble and put up a poor time. She later withdrew that time and made a second attempt, ending up in 21st. Alex Taglianni made contact with the wall in practice this morning. He was…
Read MoreTag: Indianapolis 500
IndyCar – Helio on Pole for Indy 500
The weather today was certainly changeable. Winds varied from strong to non-existent. The sun kept peeking through the clouds and the relative humidity was all over the place. All of which made car setup a nightmare today for the drivers and engineers. Due to the strange weather conditions, many potential first day qualifiers opted to forgo their pill draw position in favor of waiting for better conditions. But as the day wore on, ideal qualifying conditions did not become readily apparent. Helio Castroneves ended up making his pole run in…
Read MoreIndyCar – Roth Not Racing the 500
Marty Roth has had a temperamental relationship with the IndyCar series. Before reunification, Roth was a necessary evil to keep car counts up, but after CCWS folded into the IRL, Roth’s lack of real talent behind the wheel started to garner him black flags. The other teams level of ire rose to a crescendo at Belle Isle last year when Roth consumed most of the practice time by spinning his car on five separate occasions. Some have theorized the the IRL had a chat with him at the end of…
Read MoreIndyCar – Fast Friday Highlights
IndyCar – Fast Friday Results
Here we sit on the brink of Pole Day, and once more we get to analyze the practice times. Team Penske tops the charts with Ryan Briscoe, followed by teammate Helio Castroneves. Clearly Roger Penske wants pole and his drivers seem intent on bringing it home for him. On a side note, Roger’s license plate on his car is “1 INDY 14”. Also of note is that Will Power was 7th quick. Franchitti and Dixon were 3rd and 4th quick overall for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon has made comments…
Read MoreIndyCar – Sato+de Ferran+Roth=?
Is It May Yet? has been doing some trackside math after observing that Takuma Sato and Gil de Ferran are on the ground in Indy. Marty Roth has a sign up in Gasoline Alley over his garage space, but as of yet they have not moved equipment over from his shop. It could be inferred that he is mounting a one or two car effort on one of the 2nd week engine deals, but it certainly is confusing that they haven’t at least started preparation for that. Roth has had…
Read MoreIndyCar – 1st Dry Practice at Brickyard
Due to yesterdays typical Indiana weather, ROP was cut short and practice was canceled due to rain. A further ROP session was added for this morning and today’s practice got an early start at 10:30 am to make up for lost time yesterday. While the weather remained threatening all day, the teams took full advantage of today’s extended practice in preparation for qualifying. Marco set quick time today at 225.478 mph followed by Helio at 225.237 mph. While Marco admitted that his time was increased by a tow, Helio danced…
Read MoreIndyCar – Rahal & KV Name 500 TBA’s
Indianapolis media is reporting that KV Racing has named Townsend Bell to their #8 car for the Indy 500. Townsend has not seen action since last season when he raced for Dreyer & Reinbold in a car he shared with Milka Duno. Townsend did compete at Indy last year where he put up a strong 10th place finish. He has competed off and on in the IndyCar series for the last four years, but never on a full schedule. Also reported is the addition of Oriol Servia in the #17…
Read MoreIndyCar – Indianapolis Open for May
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened its doors on Tuesday for limited action as ROP (Rookie Orientation Program) awakened the mighty speedway from its long slumber. Drivers Mike Conway, Stanton Barrett, Robert Doornbos, Alex Tagliani, Nelson Philippe & Raphael Matos, took to the track to the track for the very fist time today at speed in an IndyCar. The rookie crop this year isn’t nearly as large as the group of 13 greenhorns that shoed Indy for the first time last year. This years group does not suffer from a lack…
Read MoreIndyCar – Updated Indy 500 Entrant List
New addition to the Indy 500 entrants list. Released today was Alex Tagliani’s official signing with Conquest Racing for the Indy 500. Alex will pilot the number 34. This will be Tagliani’s first attempt at the 500 and he will be required to take part in rookie orientation. Orientation begins tomorrow and continues through the 6th of May. Tagliani, a veteran of the Champ Car World Series, has contested the opening two rounds of this year’s IndyCar championship but skipped the last race in Kansas to prepare for the crown…
Read More