The IndyCar and Mazda Road to Indy events at the Iowa Speedway this past Friday and Saturday were outstanding, and it was great fun to take part in it. Seeing most of it through a viewfinder, though, meant that I didn’t have much time to actually follow the race play-by-play. Normally, I would do a wrap-up post of the Mazda Road to Indy events, and there was certainly a lot of good action, but instead I will direct you to the outstanding Star Mazda and Indy Lights race reviews from…
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IndyCar – Changes Coming to Technical Inspection Processes
The Milwaukee weekend was not a good one for INDYCAR Race Control and the technical inspection process, both of which are shrouded in a cloak of secrecy. The long-standing policy of non-disclosure when it comes to rules infractions and assessed penalties has created an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust within the Firestone Indy Lights paddock and among the fan-base as well. The lack of disclosure and shrinking technical personnel roster has lead to inconsistencies, misinterpretations, and misunderstandings. While there’s still very little genuine information directly from the league, here are…
Read MoreEpisode 94 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the Openpaddock crew as they discuss the spectacle flop that was Milwaukee. They praise the racing and blast…well…everything else. We also talk the Acropolis Rally and visit Formula 1 land. As always sit back and enjoy the show!
Read MoreIndy Lights – Milwaukee Wrap-Up
Discord and dissension plagued this weekend’s Firestone Indy Lights event. The minimal car count on Saturday for qualification got smaller still on Sunday as Peter Dempsey pulled off the track refusing to take the green flag in protest to what he and his team, O2 Racing Technology, feel is favouritism shown to some teams by INDYCAR by ignoring technical violations found in post-race and post-qualifying inspections over the past years. In a release issued by the team later Sunday evening, it was revealed that not only were team officials and…
Read MoreMazda Road to Indy – Looking Forward to Milwaukee
On Memorial Day Weekend, the Mazda Road to Indy drivers all ran for the first time on ovals, albeit different ones. The Firestone Indy Lights series ran the Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Carburetion Day, while the Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear, and the Mopar USAC Midget Series raced on the Night Before the 500 at the newly renamed Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. This weekend all four series will again compete on…
Read MoreMazda Road to Indy – Jensen Motorsport back on track in Montreal
After the flurry of activity during the Month of May, the Mazda Road to Indy program is set to take a race weekend off as all three series, the Cooper Tires Presents the US F2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear, and the Firestone Indy Lights Series all will skip the IZOD IndyCar Series event at the Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. The next race for all three series will be the weekend of June 17th at the Milwaukee Mile. Until then, the teams…
Read MoreIndyLights – Brutal Crash at Milwaukee by Jensen Motorsports
Episode 91 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and Shaun as they are fresh off of their trip to the fabled Brickyard! They round up an amazing Indianapolis 500 and bring you up to speed on other INDYCAR news going forward. We also discuss the Monaco Grand Prix and Mike says that I fire him to much because of his hair color. We also get into Rally Argentina and Sebastien L
Read MoreEpisode 90 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the boys this week as they rehash all of the excitement of qualifications. They also debate the 20,000 pound elephant in the room and interestingly enough…there is a disagreement. Sorry for those looking for all of the motorsports we usually cover but the 500 takes the cake this week as tornadoes in the area forced the show to break and restart after track drying. Sit back as always and enjoy the show!
Read MoreInside The Helmet – Rusty Mitchell
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download In this episode of Inside The Helmet, we talk with Rusty Mitchell about his beginnings in motorsports racing karts and SCCA Formula Enterprise and how he then moved up into the Star Mazda Championship. Rusty recently signed a two-race deal with Team E Racing to drive their Firestone Indy Lights car on the Streets of Long Beach and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Firestone Freedom 100 to be held on Carburetion Day, May 26. Last Friday, Rusty ran in the first…
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