Tag: INDYCAR

IndyLights – Andretti Autosport Strikes Back

Doug Patterson

So far the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights Championship has been dominated by Sam Schmidt Motorsports. In past years, Andretti Autosport, when they were in partnership with AFS Racing, had fielded back-to-back championship winners with Raphael Matos (2008) and J.R. Hildebrand (2009). Up until the Toronto race, SSM drivers had won five of the six races, only losing the Barber race to Team Moore’s Victor Garcia (who may have been running with an illegal suspension). While there’s no doubt that the SSM staff is extremely talented, and they have been working…

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INDYCAR – Toronto Street Fight

Shaun

This weekend marked the first of two Canadian rounds on the championship as the IZOD IndyCar Series traveled to the streets of Toronto. The circuit has always been known for passionate fans and chaotic races that usually end with a decent attrition rate. Well this weekend went over the top as all hell broke loose Sunday afternoon. Not only did Dario further his title lead, but a lot of drivers let their feelings hang out more than usual and that has fans buzzing. While I would love to do a…

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IndyLights – Q & A with Andretti Autosport’s Peter Dempsey

Doug Patterson

Peter Dempsey started out the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights season with O2 Racing Technology, and got off to a great start finding the podium in the first two races and leading for a time at Long Beach. If you’re a regular reader here at OpenPaddock, or a regular listener of our podcast, you already know what happened to Peter and his team during the David Hobbs 100 at the Milwaukee Mile. Peter had already sat out of the entire 2010 racing season here in the US after becoming the winningest…

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INDYCAR – AFS/Schmidt Driver Speculation

Shaun

It was announced today via IndyCar.com that Sam Schmidt had secured AFS as a primary sponsor for a second full time car in the IZOD IndyCar Series. There have been a number of names tossed around looking for a full time effort, so let the speculation begin! Here are a few people with a shot at the ride as well as our pick for the second seat. Katherine Legge: Former Champ Car/DTM driver Katherine Legge has been mentioned a few times this year already in her search for a ride.…

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IndyLights – Influx of New Drivers

Doug Patterson

As we head into the coming race weekend on the Streets of Toronto, we have a few driver announcements. Two new drivers from the Formula 3 ranks and a change of team by a third. While this still doesn’t swell the ranks beyond the low- to mid-teens, its better than nothing. Right now the Firestone Indy Lights Series is in a bit of crisis with the specter of inequity haunting it, rightly or wrongly, and car counts barely making it into the double-digits. Seeing new drivers come to the series…

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INDYCAR – California Dreamin

Shaun

All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray when it comes to INDYCAR and the ISC. The bridges have been damaged but not completely burned as many of the ISC tracks found their way off of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar schedule. However, a little ray of California sunshine has perhaps given us an opportunity to repair some of the damage and the dream of having a more robust calendar and better ISC relationship going forward. The Auto Club Speedway and INDYCAR announced on Tuesday that a night race would…

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IndyLights – Iowa Wrap-up, and a Soap Opera Update

Doug Patterson

The Firestone Indy Lights series heads north of the border this weekend to race on the Streets of Toronto as part of their three-event Canadian Tour. Before coming to Toronto, though, the Firestone Indy Lights series was in the middle of corn country at the Iowa Speedway for their last oval race until the middle of August in Loudon. There’s been quite a bit happen in the Firestone Indy Lights series since the Iowa race, some good, some not so good. Let’s recap the Iowa weekend first. Iowa Sukup 100…

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Episode 95 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Shaun

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun, Mike, and Doug as we take a look at the week in motorsport. We talk Valencia (sorta) and all of the news from Formula 1. Pikes Peak and Climb to the Clouds went off here in the States and we talk Ypres and the IRC. A race recap for the IICS at Iowa along with the usual Mazda Road to Indy and some spirited debate on Simona as well as an Iowa double header (terrible idea).

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IndyCar – The Iowa Corn 250 in Photos

Doug Patterson

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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