“Shocking” is the word many would pick to describe this situation, but maybe not so much when you look at how Dan finished at Kentucky last year and how well both Panther Racing cars did last weekend at Chicago. Ed has been a stalwart finisher at Indy and no slouch on the ovals for the last few seasons, but the downgrading of Vision Racing from full season team to occasional sponsor has certainly not helped his cause. Ed’s fight with Briscoe at Kentucky has to go down as one of…
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TV – Weekend Racing Schedule for Sept 3rd, 4th, and 5th
The schedule this weekend is considerably lighter than it was last weekend, but then most weekends are. Last week was almost too much! …nah, there is no such thing as too much motorsports. This week, though, we do get a bit of a breather. IndyCar Racing arrives at the extremely competitive 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway. Last year Ed Carpenter nearly pulled off a David-and-Goliath story against Penske driver and then championship leader Ryan Briscoe. Ryan just barely nosed ahead of Ed to score the win. Last week’s race at Chicagoland Speedway…
Read MoreOpEd – The Potential Future of the Delta Wing
I think most of us here at OpenPaddock share the same opinion regarding the Delta Wing concept that was proposed by a group of team owners lead by Chip Ganassi. Its a hideously ugly car, but the engineering philosophy behind it is brilliant. While I’m happy that it was not selected as the direction for the 2012 IndyCar chassis, not that I’m entirely please with the direction that was selected, I would be very interested in seeing this experiment in automotive engineering actually make it to the track so that…
Read MoreEpisode 54 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and myself as we review Chicago and a great race at Spa! We also have PT at DRR and Sarah Fisher taking Graham Rahal for Kentuckey, as well as a number of manufacturers wanting to go rally. So as always, sit back with a beverage of your choice and enjoy our humble ramblings on all things motorsport…and some things not!
Read MoreIndyCar – Paul Tracy Back In The Saddle
Paul Tracy will be back in the #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car at Kentucky and Motegi in replacement of the still convalescing Mike Conway. Tracy had ran at Watkins Glen for DRR earlier this year, and had driven for KV Racing Technologies in the two Canadian races. With as dodgy as the action was at Chicago, this weekend’s race at Kentucky could get extremely interesting with PT in the mix. I say this for a couple of reasons. First, because PT is …well… because he’s PT. Let’s face it,…
Read MoreEXCLUSIVE: Inside the Helmet – Takuma Sato Interview
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWelcome to our first installment of Inside the Helmet! A new audio source at Openpaddock.net that talks to your favorite drivers from any of the series we cover. Our first interview in this series is Takuma Sato. The KV Racing Technology driver was gracious enough to answer some of my questions as well as some of yours! The volume may be a little loud so scale back the volume a bit, and realize that we were outside in the Honda hospitality area during Firestone…
Read MoreIndyCar – Chicagoland: That’s a Wrap, Folks.
Saturday night, we saw an epic Firestone Indy Lights race and equally epic IZOD IndyCar Series race. The racing action was top notch and we saw some people running at the front that we haven’t seen there in a long time. Sarah Fisher even had a good run up front for a while, leading several laps and holding off some of the best drivers in the league. Shaun was there and will have some thoughts for us later in the week including an interview with Takuma Sato of KV Racing…
Read MoreTV – Weekend Racing Schedule for August 27, 28, and 29th
FORMULA 1 RETURNS! MOTOGP RETURNS! INDYCAR OVAL RACING RETURNS! Its a great weekend to be a racing fan with access to cable TV. At long last, the Formula 1 returns from holiday to compete at one of the most epic racing circuits on the planet: Spa-Francorchamps! Spa is always a good show, especially if the rains come as forecasted. The shorter MotoGP break is also over and the riders return to Indianapolis. Sadly, I will be watching on TV this year, rather than being at the track. I’m gutted about…
Read MoreEpisode 53 – Openpaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin the whole crew this week as we get into Sonoma, Germany, and Road America. I will go on record as saying there is a lot of comical bits in the show as Mike gets jealous of Dario and accuses me of subliminal messaging. We also discuss Sordo maybe to Ford, a whole list of laughable F1 issues and also prepare for Spa…finally a real race track! Grab a beverage and sit back and enjoy the show!
Read MoreIndyCar – Photos from Infineon Raceway
Joe was fortunate enough to be in Sonoma for the IndyCar race at Infineon Raceway in support of the Racing for Cancer charity. While he was there, he was able to get some great photos for us. Enjoy! FIL and IICS from Infineon
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