Saturday, August 27, 2016

Josef Newgarden update Pocono 2016

Josef finished fourth after starting second at Pocono Raceway after spending most of the day in the Top 3.
 
He did really good on restarts, but on longer runs he wasn't able to really contend for the lead.  The good news is that he moved to third in the Indycar season points standings!
 

And it looked like Josef had a fun weekend! 

It was a bit weird before driver intros today w @josefnewgarden @ConorDaly22 @Hinchtown @poconoraceway pic.twitter.com/MZGR7ZqaYu


And Josef and Conor Daly had a little fun on Hinch's weekly podcast. 
 


Unfortunately Josef won't be racing this weekend at Texas, since he and Conor crashed out way back in June when the race started. 
So we have to wait till Labor Day weekend to see Josef race at Watkins Glen! 
 
posted by Alexandra (age 9)

Race Day Recap and Photo Gallery

The ABC Supply 500 was a super exciting, if windy, race!  Pocono Raceway has always been a great track to be at, and we put together a race day recap that summed up our day at the track
 
 
 
 
 
 
...And a few extra pictures
 









Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Indycar Pocono 500 2016

 
The rain got its hat trick on Sunday, as Pocono Raceway encountered it's third rain delayed race in three tries this season. 
 
Race day:
 Monday was a beautiful, but windy, day as Will Power and his team worked on improving the #12 car all afternoon until he found himself outclassing the field and getting his 4th win in the last six Indycar races.  Polesitter Mikhail Aleshin looked strong all day, but just couldn't catch Power at the end and instead ended the day runner-up (His best Indycar finish ever).



Defending race winner Ryan Hunter Reay started last after a crash in practice, but then flew through the field and into the lead by lap 49.  His car lost power on lap 164 and he coasted around to the pits before he could get it refired.  He went a lap down but a late race caution for debris allowed him to get his lap back.  Once again he charged through the field, passing Josef Newgarden for third on the final lap.  Given a few more laps, he may have had a chance at catching Power. 
 
Power walked away from the Monday race just 20 points back of his teammate Simon Pagenaud in the season championship, after Pagenaud uncharacteristically crashed on Lap 158.
 
 

 
      
 




Top Ten

1. Will Power Closed to within 20 points of leader Simon Pagenaud in the Indycar championship.
2. Mikhail Aleshin  Led the most laps (87) on route to his career best Indycar finish.
3. Ryan Hunter Reay  Came through the field twice to get on the podium.
4. Josef Newgarden Led 15 laps and ran in the Top 3 all day.
5. Sebastien Bourdais  His best finish on an oval since coming back to Indycar.
6. Scott Dixon  Started 19th and led 3 laps.
7. Carlos Munoz  Ran strong all day but faded at the end.
8. Juan Pablo Montoya  His first Top Ten in the last four races.
9. Tony Kanaan  Led 1 lap while finishing where he started.
10. James Hinchcliffe  His best finish in 3 starts at Pocono.


Different Teams: 6   Penske, Schmidt Peterson, Andretti, Ed Carpenter Racing, KV Racing, Ganassi

Different Countries: 8   Australia, Russia, USA(2), France, New Zealand, Columbia (2), Brazil, Canada



Fun Facts
 
 Average Speed:  180.198 mph
 
 Time: 2 hour 46 Minutes
 
4 Cautions for 20 Laps
 
Fastest Lap:  218.499 by Will Power
 
 
Lead Changes: 29 among 9 drivers
(Mikhail Aleshin, Will Power, Ryan Hunter Reay, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Simon Pagenaud)



So glad to see Helio Castroneves uninjured after a scary pit road accident that left Alexander Rossi driving over his head.



Tributes to Justin Wilson and Bryan Clauson made the weekend special.    We saw so many people wearing Wilson shirts and socks, and watched Conor Daly drive around each lap in that #88 car.  It was sad but really special.
 
 
 
 

Monday, August 08, 2016

Bryan Clauson

 
We first heard of USAC Champion Bryan Clauson in 2012, his rookie year at the Indianapolis 500 when he was signing autographs at the hotel we were staying at downtown.
 
 
He was very nice and we wished him luck in his first '500'.
From that point on we paid attention to just how good he was in all the many races he ran.
 
We were excited to find his dog, Chevy's, twitter account over a year ago.  We love dogs and it was fun to see Chevy tweet "barked it" whenever his dad won, including his final win. 
 

 
It was great to hearing the cheers as Bryan took the lead for the 100th running of the Indy 500 for three laps this past May.  It was his third start and best finish, of 23rd, in the event.
 
 
We'll miss Chevy's updates,
and we'll miss following one of the greatest
all around racers we've ever seen.
 
We'll be praying for Bryan's family and friends and fur babies.
 

Josef Newgarden Update Mid Ohio 2016


Josef finished 10th at Mid Ohio!
 
That's usually not too good of a finish for him anymore, but since he was hit twice during the race, it was great that he could end up in the Top Ten.
Plus he moved up a position to 4th in the season standings!
 
 
He had a really good car and started third.

For the second race in a row a Penske driver took off Josef's back bumper pod and neither was penalized.  (Montoya at Toronto, Will Power at Mid Ohio).   Later in the race when Josef finally caught up to the field Mikhail Aleshin's crew sent him out right into Josef who was pitting. 
Poor Aleshin may have won his first Indycar race if not for the contact, that was neither driver's fault.
 
 

Can't wait till Pocono where Josef finished second last year,
and I get to be at the track!!!! 

post by Alexandra (age 9) 





Tuesday, August 02, 2016

Mid Ohio Indycar 2016

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is best known to the Indycar nation for its high speeds and many turns.  As Indycars took to the track that so many call Scott Dixon's playground, Graham Rahal looked to defend his 2015 win there.
  As the green flag dropped, Simon Pagenaud, the pole sitter, led the field through the first corner for the sixth time this year.  He took the early lead as he and teammate Will Power pulled away from the field.  Around lap ten, strategy calls were made as teams decided to gamble and come to the pits early.  After pit stops, top contender Scott Dixon had contact with the #3 of Helio Castroneves, and Dixon's day was over.  At the restart, Josef Newgarden got clipped from behind and lost a rear bumper pod (sounds familiar).  He had to come into the pits, and lost a lap, but battled the leader and got back onto the lead lap around halfway through the race.  As strategy started to play out, Mikhail Aleshin took the lead and was driving away from the field.  Rookies Conor Daly, RC Enerson and Spencer Pigot all spent time near the front of the pack.
 As the end of the race neared, Mikhail Aleshin's team sent him out of his pit box and into Josef Newgarden, thus ending Aleshin's hopes at his first Indycar win. 
Simon Pagenaud regained the lead, and teammate Will Power put up a fight, but at the end, Pagenaud took his 4th win of the season.



Top Ten

1. Simon Pagenaud: Back on top for his fourth win of the season.
2. Will Power:  Has not finished lower than second in the past five races!
3. Carlos Munoz:  A great run all day for his second podium of the season.
4. Graham Rahal:  Another strong finish at his home track.
5. James Hinchcliffe:  His seventh Top Ten in 12 races this season.
6. Conor Daly:  Led 22 laps for a total of 56 laps led this season.
7. Spencer Pigot:   The best finish of his young Indycar career.
8. Charlie Kimball:  Ran strong after starting fifth.  His 8th Top Ten this season.
9. Takuma Sato:   A great run till a incident with Bourdais took them both out of the Top Five.
Sorry @TakumaSatoRacer . I just got too close and locked up behind, my bad...
 10. Josef Newgarden:  A great run to finish tenth after two incidents that were not his fault, had him fighting from the back all day.
Different Teams: 8 ( Penske, Andretti Autosport, Rahal-Letterman, Schmidt Peterson, Dale Coyne Racing, ECR, Ganassi, A.J. Foyt Racing)
Different Countries: 7 (France, Australia, Brazil, USA (5), Canada, Japan)
 
FUN FACTS

 Average Speed:  110.853 mph

 Time: 1 hour 50 Minutes

2 Cautions for 10 Laps

Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers (Mikhail Aleshin, Pagenaud, Daly, Montoya, Power)

Best Lap: 105.728 mph by Helio Castroneves

THOUGHTS:

RC Enerson did a fantastic job all weekend in his first Indycar race.  The nineteen year old got up to speed quickly in practices and racing strong till he unfortunately ran out of fuel.



Mikhail Aleshin ran a super race and we really hoped to see him win his first Indycar race.

Kudos to Roger Penske for letting his drivers race out on the track and not giving any team orders.