It has become a tradition over the last decade or so. After the dust has settled from the first race of the IndyCar season, we all start to do complex math in our heads to try and get a sum that is greater than or equal to 33. In past years, we have started the with 18 or 19 full time cars but yet still managed to keep the numeric reputation of the world’s most famous oval untarnished. While this year we have a shorter hop to the magic sum,…
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IndyCar – St. Pete Wrap Up
All in all, a fantastic end to the 6 month drought of IndyCar action. And for Ryan Briscoe, it was an all out confirmation that Chip Ganassi’s “superteam” will have stiff competition from Penske. Granted, Ryan received some help when he pitted right before a full course yellow, but he was able to fend off multiple attempts from Justin Wilson in the Coyne car and then later Ryan Hunter-Reay. And while Briscoe took home the top honors (and the 50 points), Ryan Hunter-Reay’s first race with Vision was truly remarkable.…
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IndyCar – Rahal on St. Pete Pole
Last season, Graham Rahal came to St. Petersburg after a very disappointing outing at the season opener at Homestead. A wreck during practice convinced his team that discretion was the better part of valor, so they decided to hold him out of the event since he had very little time to practice on ovals before the event. The former CCWS team had just received their chassis thanks to the hectic nature of the last minute merger. Despite the setbacks of the first round, Graham Rahal went on to win at…
Read MoreIndyCar – St. Petersburg Practice
The IndyCar series returns to the streets of St. Petersburg this weekend, but this year it serves as the season opener. Even though the looming threat of the economy has cast a pall over the offseason activities of the series, the first race will still provide us 22 competitors (down from 26 last season). And while the series is down on cars from last season, the strength of the series is showing through. IndyCar practice took place today and there were some pretty surprising results: Pos Driver No Difference Best…
Read MoreTagliani and Manning In for St. Pete
As we reported earlier, Dreyer and Reinbold prepared a second car for St. Petersburg but had not yet officially announced a driver or submitted it to the entry list for this weekend’s festivities. While we here at Open Paddock surmised that Tomas Scheckter would most likely get the nod since he has been toting bags of cash looking for somebody to help him overcome his half-shaft habit, we also suggested that Milka Duno couldn’t be ruled out. In both cases, we were wrong. Darren Manning has been tapped to fill…
Read MoreThe Economy & IndyCar
The entry list for this weekend’s St. Petersburg race has just been released. At least 21 cars will contest the seson opener for the IndyCar series this weekend, which is down from the 26 cars that we routinely saw last year after the merger. In this world of new realities, especially in the automotive industry and in motorsport, any loss has to be viewed with grave concern. But, lets look at the good and bad of the offseason as far as momentum for the series goes. All through last season…
Read MoreSt. Pete Entry List
The entry list for this weekend’s race has been posted on IndyCar.com with 21 participants. Team Driver A.J. Foyt Enterprises Vitor Meira Andretti Green Racing Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green Racing Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing Tony Kanaan Conquest Racing TBA – Most likely Alex Taglianni CURB/Agajanian/Team 3G Stanton Barrett (R) Dale Coyne Racing Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Mike Conway (R) HVM Racing E.J. Viso KV Racing Technology Mario Moraes Luczo Dragon Racing Raphael Matos (R) Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Robert Doornbos…
Read MoreIndyCar 2009 Car Count
Silly Season is almost over and we are not much closer to determining a final car count than we were a month ago. Even with the renewed optimism in American open-wheel racing brought on by re-unification, the worldwide economic crisis has wreaked wholesale havoc on motorsports, and IndyCar is no exception. With only 19 confirmed car/driver combinations set for St. Petersburg next weekend (as of this minute), the outlook would seem grim to return to the 26+ car fields of last season. However, there are many potential deals that are…
Read MoreHunter-Reay to Drive for Vision Racing
Robin Miller and Speetv.com are currently reporting that 27 year old American Ryan Hunter-Reay will be signed to Vision Racing later this week. The young talent has recently signed a mega deal with IZOD to promote the young driver. When explaining the deal, Hunter-Reay had this to say: ” It all happened yesterday and we’re still getting the contract squared away but the team is scrambling to put my car together and thankfully I’m going to be racing Indy cars this year.” Reay lost his ride with Rahal Letterman after…
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