Tag: St. Petersburg

Episode 31 – Open Paddock Podcast

Shaun

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 More

IndyCar – St. Petersburg Preview: History and Track Analysis

Doug Patterson

Introduction: This weekend represents the home opener for the IZOD IndyCar Series, and the first race of the season for the Firestone Indy Lights and US F2000 National Championship, on the Streets of St. Petersburg. The IZOD IndyCar Series began the 2010 season the weekend before last on the Streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, but this weekend represents the series first race of the year on US soil. Historically, the St. Petersburg race has one of the best races of the season, which is a bit surprising given that its…

Read More

Firestone Indy Lights – 2009 Season Review – Spring Races

Doug Patterson

Introduction A dedicated feeder series to the primary American Open-Wheel Racing series has been in existance in one form or another since 1986. The American Racing Series began in 1986 to serve as a development platform for CART, since the Formula Atlantics series which had been around since 1965 had failed to race in 1984, and existed as two separate series, a Pacific and an Atlantic series, from 1985 to 1990. In 1991, the same year that the split Formula Atlantics championship merged back into a single national series, the…

Read More

IndyCar – St. Pete Wrap Up

mike

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.…

Read More

IndyCar – Rahal on St. Pete Pole

mike

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 More

IndyCar – St. Petersburg Practice

mike

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 More

28 Cars for Indy Lights

mike

The Indy Lights series is starting off this weekend at St. Petersburg with a huge field of 28 cars for their two races. The field includes 18 rookies, the brother of CCWS driver Nelson Phillepe, Justin Wilson’s brother, past champions Jay Howard and Wade Cunningham, and several standout drivers such as JR Hildebrand, Logan Gomez, Pippa Mann (who beat up on all the boys in preseason testing), Ana Beatriz and Jonathan Summerton. This monster entry list in for the feeder category is a huge vote of confidence for the value…

Read More

Tagliani and Manning In for St. Pete

mike

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 More

The Economy & IndyCar

mike

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 More