The young Japanese driver that showed so much promise in 2007 in the Firestone Indy Lights series and as an Andretti Autosport driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2008 and 2009, ran what was thought to be his final season in lack-luster fashion with Newman-Haas Racing in 2010. After the 2010 IndyCar season, he returned to Japan to run in the 2011 SuperGT Championship, driving a Honda HSV-010 GT for Autobacs Racing Team Aguri. Now he’s set to return for an encore appearence in the IZOD IndyCar Series with…
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Kansas Review – Open Paddock Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Mike and Doug as they discuss the IndyCar race in Kansas. Doug was on hand for the weekend and took some amazing shots at the track and tells Mike all about the events over the weekend. Very special thanks to Doug for going out and taking some just beautiful shots of the IZOD IndyCar drivers and cars in anger! Be sure to also check out the photo gallery on a regular basis for the latest shots out of Kansas!
Read MoreIndyCar – Kansas Retrospective
Let’s be honest. We may have seen the last open-wheel race at the Kansas Speedway. The track is very capable of producing great racing. If you read my preview posts discussing the history of the IZOD IndyCar Series in Kansas City, you already know that. The track is the home of some of the closest finishes and most exciting racing in the history of IndyCar racing under Indy Racing League sanction. However, the event in recent years has been poorly promoted, and as a result its been poorly attended. Estimates…
Read MoreIndyCar – Live From Kansas: Quals Review
The rains from the morning finally ceased and the Kansas Speedway crew broke out the parade of trucks and the jet blowers to try and dry out the saturated track. As a result, IZOD IndyCar Series officials decided to push back the start time for qualifications from 4:30pm to 5:15pm. The delay was designed to allow teams and drivers to get at least two hours of practice time earlier in the afternoon, which was very welcome for all the competitors. Well, all perhaps except for Mario Romancini who backed his…
Read MoreIndyCar – Kansas Preview: Kansas Speedway 2007-2009
The Spring Years: 2007-2009 As exciting as the summer races at the Kansas Speedway were, the spring races have been lack-luster. During the 2007 race, the leaders ran away from the rest of the field. Dan Wheldon crossed the checkered and yellow flags ahead of the eventual season champion Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti as the race ended under caution. There was no doubt about who the winner was going to be, though. Dixon was definitely the class of the field that day. 3rd and 4th place finishers Helio Castroneves…
Read MoreIndyCar – St. Petersburg Practice 2
The second practice session for the IZOD IndyCar Series offered some surprises and some similarities to the morning practice. Once again, Will Power was at the top of the time sheets, throwing down a blistering 1:02.3200 sec lap time! That’s close to the 1:02.1355 sec ICS record time he set in 2008 in his first IndyCar race in 2008. To put it more into perspective, the closest person to Power was Scott Dixon and he was seven tenths off of Will’s pace with a best lap of 1:03.0298 sec. While…
Read MoreIndyCar – St. Petersburg Practice 1
Will Power picked up right where he left off by setting the top time during this morning’s first practice session for the IZOD IndyCar Series on the Streets of St. Petersburg. Will won the season opener on the new street circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and this morning continued to display his mastery of the art of street racing. On Trackside With Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee, Mr. Cavin predicted that Will Power was so good on the street courses that he would sweep the season. Its still very early…
Read MoreIndyCar – More Drivers Confirmed for 2010
Today, we got confirmation that Viso and Mutoh were confirmed full-time drivers in the IZOD IndyCar Series for the 2010 season. E.J. Viso was announced today as the second full-time driver at KV Racing Technologies joining their other full-time driver, Takuma Sato, and part-time driver, Paul Tracy. Hideki Mutoh was announced as Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing sole full-time entry for 2010. We had been expecting Mutoh’s confirmation for some time, but Viso’s confirmation is good news for a series that has really struggled for good news lately. KVRT Announces EJ Viso As…
Read MoreIndyCar – …well, crap.
I tried to come up with a better, more professional title to this post than “…well, crap.”, but let’s be honest. Nothing else really works for a day like today unless I allow myself to decend into a explitive-laced tirade about the two major bombs that were dropped today. Let’s get this morning’s news out first… “It is with profound regret & heavy hearts that we share the following update with you all. Despite the team’s best efforts, Vision Racing will be suspending all racing operations. We have an amazing…
Read MoreIndyCar – Mutoh to Stay, NHL to Field Three Cars
In one brief sentence, Curt Cavin just made my off-season! Ok, to be honest, the confirmation of the title sponsorship deal between IZOD and the IndyCar Series really made my off-season. This recent tidbit is just yummy gravy for me. It had been rumored, and still is, that Ryan Hunter-Reay, who has a personal services agreement with the new title sponsor IZOD, is close to a deal to drive for Andretti Green Racing. Its obvious that TK, Danica, and Marco aren’t going anywhere, which leaves my man Hideki Mutoh on…
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