USF2000 – Three Races for Your Money!

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda will once again hold a triple-header on the lovely Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend in Lexington, OH. Mr. Whitesell and I will be on hand to enjoy all the action, and perhaps we should have brought a Belgian-style Tripel with us. …hindsight. RC Enerson dominated the early rounds of the championship, but the wheels began falling off when the series went to Indianapolis. The Cape Motorsports duo of Florian Latorre and Jake Eidson quickly closed the gap and overtook Enerson in…

Read More

IndyCar – Indianapolis Race Weekend in Photos

Wow, what a long an exciting week and a half at the World’s Greatest Race Course! Although we didn’t beat the rain to IMS on Fast Friday, we were there for Pole Day, Bump Day, Community Day, Media Day, Carb Day, the Night Before the 500, and of course Race Day. It was great meeting up with old friends and seeing some twitter folk for the first time. Best of all, I got to show off our new baby girl on Carb Day! 😀 I shared the qualifying weekend photos…

Read More

USF2000 Driver Blog – Portante at the Night Before the 500

The break between St. Pete and the next race at Lucas Oil Raceway has felt like an eternity. However, Lucas Oil was very much worth the wait. I mean we are racing the Night Before the 500! The whole Belardi team looked strong in the official test that took place a couple weeks ago, and we were all looking for a strong result. I was especially excited as our pace was very strong, and I was looking forward to turning my season around and gaining some momentum. Before no time,…

Read More

MRTI – Night Before the 500 As Seen From the Grassy Knoll

Yes, I was the lone shooter on the grassy knoll Saturday night at the Lucas Oil Raceway watching the Night Before the 500 races for the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear, and the USAC Mopar Midget National Championship. I did something that I haven’t done in a long while, I sat in a lawn chair, drank some beer, smoked a cigar, and enjoyed simply watching a night of auto racing! Ok, I did bring my camera with me,…

Read More

Mazda Road to Indy – 2011 Night Before the 500

I know this is rather tardy, but give a fella a break. Last weekend was extremely busy!! Keep in mind that first and foremost, we’re fans. Perhaps we have delusions of being media-types, but we do all have real jobs and real families and friends. We love what we’re able to do here at OpenPaddock, but on a holiday weekend such as Memorial Day, you’ll forgive us if we put our family and friends at the top of the schedule priority. Getting back to business, the Mazda Road to Indy…

Read More