I’m feeling quite inadequate today. I’m sitting here in the media room at Barber Motorsports Park amongst the cream of the crop of IndyCar media. (By the way, Brian….Are you happy I capitalized the C in IndyCar?) As I sit here at my station looking across to see Curt Cavin typing away, Kevin Lee and Jon Beekhus going over notes for NBC and Amy Konrath pulling everything together, I am reminded that I should probably have a yellow stripe on my laptop in here. Behind me is Jenna Fryer from…
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Indy Lights – Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Signs Sage Karam for 2013
As if the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports stable wasn’t already stacked with talent, the juggernaut team in Firestone Indy Lights announced the signing of a third supremely talented driver, Sage Karam. To be honest, I and many others just took it as a given that Sage would be with Zach Veach at the Andretti Autosport team, the team he’s been with ever since joining the Mazda Road to Indy in the USF2000 Championship back in 2010. As we saw Andretti sign Zach and Munoz, I thought perhaps they would expand to…
Read MoreIndycar-Zen and the Art of Relevance
Hooray for sinus infections. I’ve had one for the better part of this week. Instead of suffering through another day at the office, I elected to stay home and rest up a bit. On the tube right now is a replay of the Daytona 500. Undoubtedly, NASCAR is the benchmark of motorsports here in the United States. I can remember a time not so long ago when Indycar drivers were the household names and NASCAR was pretty much a regional series. Now things are pole shifted; NASCAR drivers are widely…
Read MoreIndyLights – Peter Dempsey Announces Race Recap Partnership with OpenPaddock
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Read MoreIndycar-IMS, Indycar Leadership Changes
Indianapolis, IN: Interim INDYCAR CEO Jeff Belskus named Doug Boles as Chief Operating Officer of IMS and Robby Greene Interim COO of INDYCAR. These moves take effect immediately, and are believed to be at the recommendation of Boston Consulting Group, a team of advisers hired by Hulman & Company to analyze the structure and efficiency of INDYCAR and IMS management. Doug Boles, who had been serving as IMS Communications VP, has also been involved in Indycar as a co-owner of Panther Racing in the series’ early days. His background as an attourney,…
Read MoreEdpisode 164 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadKevin, Mike, and Doug stumble and stagger their way through the weekly news in Rally, Formula 1, and IndyCar. We recap Loeb’s unsurprising win at Spain, and preview the upcoming return of the USGP at COTA in Austin.
Read MoreEpisode 163 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadShaun makes his last appearence on OpenPaddock Live before being shipped out to Qatar to pound sand and watch MotoGP racing. Joining Shaun are Mike (as always), Doug, and the new Shaun, Kevin Neely. On the docket this week: Rally WRC – the future of M-Sport. Will Nasser Al-Attiyah’s Qatar money be the team’s saving grace? WRC – Sistemas Integrales de Telecomunicacion (SIT) slated to take over timing duties for 2013. Kubica will drive the WRC Citroen C4 in two rallies this month. Back…
Read MoreEpisode 161 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week on the OpenPaddock.net Podcast, Shaun and Doug welcome special guest Sage Karam, driver of the #88 Comfort Revolution Star Mazda car for Andretti Autosport this past season. He speaks to us about how he became connected with the Andretti’s, how his 2012 season went, and his recent testing of a Firestone Indy Lights car. Sage also talks about how important it is for him to lead a normal teenage life in a public school in spite of his full-time racing career. Doug…
Read MoreEpisode 160 — OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIf you missed it last night on ETV Live!, we had the honor of speaking with the newly signed pilot of the #9 Firestone Indy Lights racing machine for Belardi Auto Racing, Mr. Peter Dempsey. Peter shared with us his experiences struggling to find a stable ride through the end of 2011 with Andretti Autosport, racing and coaching in 2012 at Indianapolis and Detroit this past season with Younessi Racing, and ending the 2012 season with Belardi. We also asked him to do some…
Read MoreIndy Lights – Dempsey Signs With Belardi for 2013
The engines and tyres have barely had time to cool down from the The Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy Test that took place yesterday and today on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield road course and we’re already seeing driver signings for 2013. Peter Dempsey has had a tough few years in the Mazda Road to Indy program, his last full-season ride being with AIM Motorsports for the 2009 Star Mazda season. In 2010, he returned to his native Ireland and ran Formula Ford events for his father’s team,…
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