Ever want a chance at being a member of the pit crew? If you’re going to the Formula 1 Montreal Grand Prix, you can get that opportunity with the chance to win VIP passes to the Grand Prix Trois-Rivières race on August 7, 2011 courtesy of Jensen Motorsport. The team is bringing the car of their Canadian driver, David Ostella, to be on stage during the Montreal Grand Prix Crescent Street Festival and fans will compete in a tyre-change competition sponsored by Ford Motor Company of Canada with the fastest…
Read MoreTag: Indy Lights
Mazda Road to Indy – Weekly Wrapup: 1/1-1/15
First an apology. This has been a busy and rough holiday season, and although I very much enjoy following and writing about motorsports, especially the Mazda Road to Indy, family does and will always come first. So now I’m back and getting caught up with the happenings at Winterfest, the State of the Series, and all the other news and events that have been going on since the beginning of the year. This year, our newest member of the OpenPaddock crew, Kristi (aka IAIndyFan on Twitter) will be taking over…
Read MoreEpisode 72 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun, Kristi, and Mike as they run down the State of INDYCAR Address from today’s winter meetings. Lots of small announcements for on and off track stuff. Shaun also discusses the craziness that has turned into the WRC offseason. Lots of movement on Monday and the picture has become clear heading into Sweden. So as always, sit back and enjoy your favorite beverage and the show!
Read MoreRoad to Indy – Weekly Wrapup: 12/13 – 12/17
Once again, it’s been a good week for the newly titled Mazda Road to Indy program, although perhaps not AS packed as last week. We can’t always expect banner weeks like we’ve had recently, but still there are some big positives from this week’s news. We have the signing of a driver in Firestone Indy Lights, a couple of Firestone Indy Lights drivers graduating to the IZOD IndyCar Series, and some testing opportunities. Let’s start with the official driver announcements. Driver Announcements Charlie Kimball This Thursday, in a move we…
Read MoreRoad to Indy – Weekly Wrapup: 12/6-12/10
Once again, we had a jam packed week of mostly cool news for the now Mazda Road to Indy program. Yes, I said MAZDA. They’re now the official title sponsor of the program, and they bring some other benefits as well. However, I say mostly cool news because there was one downer for the week. Dan Andersen’s racing operations via Andersen Racing will cease in 2011. Andersen Racing had fielded entries in both the Star Mazda Championship and the Firestone Indy Lights series. Andersen will still run the US F2000…
Read MoreRoad to Indy – Mazda Sponsors the Road to Indy Program
Yes, you read the title right! The Road to Indy program now has a title sponsor, Mazda. Late last off-season, INDYCAR put the final pieces together for a four-tier development system which clearly marked out a path for young open-wheel drivers to the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. The US F2000 National Championship presented by Cooper Tires and powered by Mazda was the last element to come into place. Dan Andersen of Andersen Racing revived the old F2000-based series with sanction from INDYCAR. Drivers would then graduate to the Star Mazda…
Read MoreRoad to Indy – Weekly Wrap-up 11/29-12/3
Given the blossoming of weekly features we’ve seen here at OpenPaddock.net with Spike’s Indy Hump Day Report, and Shaun’s Sunday Service Park, I’ve decided to join in the fun. Every Friday (or Saturday morning) I will try to have a wrap-up of the weeks headlines from the Road to Indy. There’s been a lot of things happening so far this off-season, which is rather surprising given that a lot of driver/team combinations typically aren’t agreed upon in most ladder series until a month or so before the beginning of the…
Read MoreIndyLights – Andretti Autosport and AFS Racing Part Ways
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…
Read MoreRoad To Indy – 2011 Schedules for The Road to Indy
The 2011 schedules are set for all three steps in the Road To Indy program and there are some significant changes from the 2010 schedule. First, lets look at just what the schedules are. US F2000 National Championship Date Venue Mar 17 Sebring Race #1 Mar 18 Sebring Race #2 Mar 26 St. Pete Race #1 Mar 27 St. Pete Race #2 May 28 O’Reilly Raceway Park Jun 18 The Milwaukee Mile Aug 5 Mid-Ohio Race #1 Aug 6 Mid-Ohio Race #2 Aug 19 Road America Race #1 Aug 20…
Read MoreIndyCar – The History of the Indy Downforce Fan Club
As some of you may have already heard, we have started a new segment at OpenPaddock.net called Garage 36 in which we cover the news and happenings of Indy Downforce, the official fan club of the IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, and the Road to Indy. The name comes from the fact that the fan club takes over Garage 36 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Month of May. As part of our introduction to the new segment, I thought perhaps some background on the origins of the…
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