Indycar GP of Alabama 2017 Preview

The Indycars visit Barber Motorsports Park for the 8th time April 23rd for 90 laps around the beautiful 2.3 permanent mile road course.

 

Simon Pagenaud walked away with the win last year, and Will Power, a two time winner at Barber, is on the pole.

 

Find out who we think might win this weekend.

 

 

Josef Indycar update Long Beach 2017

Josef started 8th and finished 3rd
at Indycar's GP of Long Beach

It is his first podium driving for Team Penske and his highest finish ever on the streets of Long Beach.

Josef ran as high as 2nd during the race and was strong all day, but just didn't have enough to try to race for the win.

 

Josef's last podium prior to Long Beach came in September 2016 at Watkins Glen while driving for Ed Carpenter Racing.

 

 

 

Josef is currently 5th in the Indycar points standings, 34 points behind leader Sebastien Bourdais.

 

Up next for Josef, Barber Motorsports Park where he won his first Indycar race in 2015 and finished on the podium in 2016!

 

GO JOSEF!!!!

 

posted by Alexandra (age 9)

 

Indycar GP of Long Beach 2017

James Hinchcliffe won the Long Beach Grand Prix, officially completing his comeback from the awful crash at Indianapolis in 2015 that almost took his life.  It was the fifth win of his Indycar career and his first win since April 2015 at the GP of Louisiana.    On the other side of the spectrum, it was one of the worst races in recent memory for the Andretti Autosport team as all four of it's drivers dropped out of the race with mechanical failures.  Most heartbreaking was Ryan Hunter Reay who was in running in second with just 6 laps to go when his car quit.  The Andretti drivers finished 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th.

POLESITTER:  Helio Castroneves - His 3rd consecutive pole at Long Beach.

Top Ten

1. James Hinchcliffe: His 5th career win!
2. Sebastien Bourdais:  Leading the season points after a 1st & 2nd in the first two races of the season.
3. Josef Newgarden: His first podium driving for Roger Penske.

4. Scott Dixon: An early change in pit strategy cost him a chance at the win. 

5. Simon Pagenaud:  A great finish after starting last & suffering a flat tire early in the race.
6. Ed Jones:  The best start for an Indycar rookie since Nigel Mansell in 1993.
7. Carlos Munoz:  A strong finish in his second drive for A. J. Foyt
8. Spencer Pigot:  Ran in the Top Ten run all day after started back in 19th.
9. Helio Castroneves:  Had the fastest lap of the race at 104.542 mph
10.  Graham Rahal:  His best finish at Long Beach since 2013.

Different Teams: 7 (Schmidt Peterson, Dale Coyne Racing, Penske, Ganassi, A.J. Foyt Racing, Ed Carpenter Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan)

Different Countries: 7 (Canada, France (2), USA (3), New Zealand,  United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Brazil)

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed:  90.845 mph

 Time: 1 hour 50 Minutes 29 Seconds

3 Cautions for 11 Laps

Lead Changes: 6 among 3 drivers (Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter Reay, James Hinchcliffe)

Best Lap: 104.542 by Helio Castroneves

Josef Newgarden Indycar GP of St. Pete 2017

Josef Newgarden's busy Indycar offseason came to an end in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

His move to a much bigger team than he had at Ed Carpenter Racing and his move from Indianapolis to Charlotte to be closer to the Penske shop had to be quite an adjustment.

Expectations are high for one of Indycar's brightest stars as he begins this new phase of his career with Indycar's super team.

Josef was not in the first three weekend practices, but managed to get the car stronger for qualifying and started in 4th in Row 2 alongside James Hinchcliffe.  Fourth was the highest he would run all day despite having a competitive car.  He did not pit early and when a yellow came out during the pit window he ended up losing a lot of positions.  He ran the rest of the race around tenth place.  He ended the day finishing eighth, his best finish ever at the GP of St. Pete.

Josef started 4th and finished 8th.

 

St Petersburg 2017 Indycar season

The 2017 Indycar season started off on the beautiful, sunny streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.  In typical fashion, Penske's Will  Power started from the pole (his 7th pole in the last 8 races at St. Pete!).
An incident in Turn 3 on the opening lap involving drivers, Carlos Munoz, Graham Rahal, JR Hildebrand, and Charlie Kimball allowed Power to lead the first four laps, but as soon as it went green James Hinchcliffe took the lead.   Hinchcliffe maintained the lead until a yellow came out again on lap 26 during a pit stop cycle. The drivers that had not pitted yet were at a disadvantage and Simon Pagenaud found himself in front after having been in ninth for the first part of the race.  Sebastien Bourdais, also benefitted from the yellow and by lap 37 he was in the lead where he remained for most of the rest of the race.  Winning his first race driving for the Dale Coyne Racing team. 

Top Ten

1. Sebastien Bourdais: A great win in his first ride with the Dale Coyne Racing Team since 2011.
2. Simon Pagenaud:  The reigning Indycar champ led 13 laps and started the season strong.
3. Scott Dixon:  Caught out by the first caution Dixie once again showed his racing skill battling back to finish 3rd.

4. Ryan Hunter-Reay: His 4th top 5 in the last 6 races at St. Pete.

5. Takuma Sato:  A great finish in his first race for Andretti Autosport.
6. Helio Castroneves:  His lowest finish in the last 6 races at St. Pete.
7. Marco Andretti:  A solid start to his season with Bryan Herta on his radio.  His highest finish since Iowa in 2015. 
8. Josef Newgarden:  Couldn't recover from getting caught out by the first yellow, but got his highest finish ever at St. Pete driving his first race for Team Penske.
9. James Hinchcliffe:  Had a very strong car but got caught out by the first yellow.

10. Ed Jones:  A good start to his Indycar career for the 2016 Indy Lights Champion.

Different Teams: 5 ( Penske 3, Andretti  Autosport 3, Schmidt Peterson 1, Dale Coyne Racing 1, Ganassi .)

Different Countries: 7 (France 2, New Zealand, USA 3, Japan, Brazil, Canada, United Arab Emirates)

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed: 95.391 mph

 Time: 2 hour 4 1/2 Minutes

2 Cautions for 8 Laps

Lead Changes: 8 among 5 drivers (Sebastien Bourdais, James Hinchcliffe, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Takuma Sato)

Best Lap: 104.384 mph by Scott Dixon on lap 82

 

THOUGHTS:

Will Power overcame a pit infraction on Lap 16 to run strong all race, only to have his race end on Lap 99 due to mechanical problems.  He finished 19th.