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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Inside The Helmet – Jorge Goncalvez at the Iowa Speedway
Inside The Helmet – Sage Karam at the Iowa Speedway
Star Mazda – Open Practice at Iowa Speedway
The Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear started off the competitive laps at the Iowa Speedway this afternoon with a four-hour open test/practice session. The two Juncos racing drivers Martin Scuncio in the #60 and Gustavo Menezes in the #28 topped the charts this afternoon, but not by much, after putting up times of 22.028s and 22.044s, respectively. The Team Pelfrey duo of Connor De Phillippi (#11) and Nick Andries (#81) weren’t too far back falling short of Scuncio’s time by 0.016s and 0.050s, respectively. Good enough for P3 and…
Read MoreStar Mazda – Milwaukee Wrap-Up
Like the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear ran their second oval event of the season at the Milwaukee Mile in front of the Firestone Indy Lights and IZOD IndyCar Series team owners that are the potential future employers of the young drivers in Star Mazda. Unfortunately, and enormous downpour mid-morning on Sunday delayed the start time until after the IZOD IndyCar Series race (about 6pm local). That late start made for an extremely diminished crowd of fans. In…
Read MoreUSF2000 – Milwaukee Wrap-Up
What a crazy busy weekend as open-wheel racing returned to the Milwaukee Mile. The weekend certainly didn’t go as smoothly, nor as successfully as many had hoped, but there were some fans that showed up and we got to see some racing in spite of the downpour on Sunday morning. It seemed like this weekend was filled with all kinds of off-track drama from the way the race was promoted and managed, to some extremely serious controversy in the Firestone Indy Lights series. Looking on the bright side, though, the…
Read MoreUSF2000 – Veach Joins the Marines! …sorta.
THE YOUNG MARINES YOUTH ORGANIZATION PARTNERS WITH ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT DRIVER ZACH VEACH Veach To Carry The Young Marines Branding Throughout 2011 USF2000 Season WASHINGTON, DC (June 14, 2011) – The Young Marines, a youth education and service program for boys and girls, age 8 through completion of high school, announced today a partnership with 16-year-old Andretti Autosport USF2000 race car driver Zach Veach. The partnership will include Veach carrying the Young Marines imagery on his No. 7 Zakosi Data Backup Mazda, the formation of “Zach’s Pack” and a host of…
Read MoreMazda Road to Indy – A Star Mazda Championship Primer
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 MoreMazda Road to Indy – Preparing for the Ovals
All of the various series that are part of INDYCAR and the Mazda Road to Indy program have opened their seasons with road and street courses. Beginning next weekend, though, everyone switches to oval tracks! Racing on an oval is not as easy as going fast and turning left as those who attended the USF2000 Oval Clinic earlier this month learned. This past weekend, the Star Mazda Championship, in preparation for their coming sequence of three oval races, held an open test at the Milwaukee Mile. For many drivers in…
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