Summary and Quotes Saturday night, the Night Before the 500, saw the first visit to an oval for the US F2000 National Championship presented by Cooper Tires powered by Mazda and the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Unlike the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race the next day which was brutally hot, the weather was perfect. We sat in the Turn 1 grass and enjoyed the mild temps and the gentle breeze as we watched the future of open-wheel racing do battle on the 5/8-mile paved oval at the O’Reilly Raceway…
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Road to Indy – Test Results Are In!
Wednesday and Thursday of last week, the US F2000 National Championship presented by Cooper Tires powered by Mazda and the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear held a test on the 5/8-mile oval at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. For many of the drivers, this was not just their first time driving on an oval circuit, it was their first time BEING at an oval circuit! That didn’t seem to intimidate some as some blindingly quick times were posted. US F2000 Test Of the teams that tested at ORP on…
Read MoreStar Mazda – The Season So Far and Drivers On The Move
The 2010 Star Mazda Season The 2010 season for the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear started alongside the American Le Mans series at the Sebring International Raceway. Anders ‘The Viking’ Krohn, a 2nd-year competitor in Star Mazda driving the #47 Andersen Racing car, set the pole, but was caught up in traffic early allowing Conor Daly to claim the lead. This is Conor’s sophomore year as well, races the #22 car for Juncos Racing. Many will find his name familiar as he’s the son of famous Formula 1 and…
Read MoreStar Mazda – An Introduction and Brief History
Introduction The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will return to the O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis to again be part of the Night Before the 500 event. This time, the series will appear as an official part of the Road to Indy program along side the US F2000 National Championship presented by Cooper Tires and powered by Mazda. The USAC Midgets will also appear, but expect the fastest times to come from the Star Mazda cars. Already in testing last week, Conor Daly was a full two-tenths faster than…
Read MoreUS F2000 – A Brief History and Introduction
The new US F2000 National Championship presented by Cooper Tires and powered by Mazda will make its debut at the O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis on Saturday May 29th, the night before the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. They will be part of a larger celebration of speed, The Night Before The 500, which will also feature the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, and USAC Midgets. It should be a great night of racing, and you can bet that the whole OpenPaddock staff will be there. History of F2000 and…
Read MoreIndyCar – Night Before the 500
This year’s Memorial Day weekend will be an even larger speedfest than usual for fans of open-wheel racing. For the past seven years, the Firestone Indy Lights series has had their Firestone Freedom 100 race on Carburetion Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition, there’s also plenty of midget and sprint car action throughout central Indiana the weekend of the 500. Most famously are the Night Before The 500 USAC midget race at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis and the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway in Anderson, IN. This…
Read MoreEpisode 31 – Open Paddock Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin myself and Mike as we get into the lack of news this week. We wrap-up Sebring and get into a small portion of rally news. We talk about the IndyCar 2012 panel as well as some news regarding the potential Baltimore Grand Prix. F1 is on tap and we preview both St. Pete and Melbourne. McLaren “snorkel” debate is heated!!! Grab your favorite adult beverage, sit down and enjoy! Be sure to post your opinion on the McLaren “snorkel” debate…we are going to…
Read MoreIndyCar – The Road To Indy
There have been many things fans, teams, drivers, and sponsors have all been requesting/begging/demanding from the Indy Racing League. We asked for better racing than we were getting at the beginning of 2009, and we got it. We asked for multiple manufacturers for both the engines and the chassis, and it looks like we might get those. We asked for a title sponsor, and we got that, too. One big thing that people have been asking for that will do more to improve the influx of new talent and hopefully…
Read MoreStar Mazda – 2009 Season Review – Battle for the Championship
Star Mazda Series – 2009 Season Review Battle for the Championship: Circuit Trois-Rivières Headed into the home stretch for the 2009 Star Mazda Championship, rookie Adam Christodoulou and Peter “The Irish Steamroller” Dempsey were locked in a battle for the lead. Coming to Quebec, Dempsey had a slight edge on Christodoulou, but with four races left Peter’s 19-point lead was tenuous at best. The first weekend for the series north of the border wouldn’t turn out great for either contender, but especially not for Peter. He and his team missed…
Read MoreIndyCar – USF2000 Schedule Fun!
The newly reformed USF2000 series (sanctioned by the IRL) has released their 2010 schedule and it has a few interesting tidbits on it that we should talk about. First, here is the schedule. 3/27 – 3/28 St. Petersburg 5/29 O’riely Raceway Park 6/19 Iowa 6/26-6/27 New Jersey Motorsport Park 7/31 Autobahn Country Club, Joliet, IL 8/21-8/22 Road America 9/30-10/1 Road Atlanta Note that St. Petersburg, New Jersey Motorsport Park, and Autobahn Country Club will be double events. St. Petersburg and Iowa will be held on the same weekend as the…
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