7 Days till Pocono Indycar 400

 

 

 

Countdown to Pocono-8 Days

 

We know it's only 8 more days, but we can't wait that long, so we'll be going to the open testing on July 4th, and to qualifying and the  Indy Lights Race on July 6th.

Nine Days till Pocono INDYCAR 400!

 

We like that there's a Hulman Rd., named after Tony Hulman  of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  There's also an Andretti Rd. named after Mario who was part of the original Board of Directors of Pocono Raceway.

 

A development across the street from the speedway has roads named after Mark Donahue (the winner of the inaugural1971 race), Jim McElreath, Bobby Unser, Al Unser and A.J. Foyt.

 

 

 

1971 Pocono Schaeffer 500 Driver Photos

From the 1971 Schaeffer 500 Program.

 

 

 

Drivers Lee Roy Yarbrough, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Art Pollard, Roger McCluskey, and Lloyd Ruby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Countdown to Pocono INDYCAR 400 - 10 Days

We found out that we could go inside the track and take some pictures, too.

 

Everything in the track is checkered! 

We can't wait to see who gets the checkered flag first.

Countdown to Pocono INDYCAR 400!

 

We were up in the Poconos today bike riding on the Lehigh Gorge rail trail and couldn't resist stopping by the track.

 

Talked to some guys who worked in the gift shop and at the track who said they loved the sound and hum of the Indycars on the track testing yesterday.

 

Can't wait till the race on July 7th!

Pocono Raceway 1971 Introduction

Our mom found this article from the 1971 Schaeffer 500 Program.

We thought you might like it too, since the Pocono Indycar 400 is the first Indycar race at this unique track since 1989.

 

Pocono Flashback - Schaeffer 500 Inaugural Race Program

 

12 DAYS to the  POCONO INDYCAR  400!

 

We live only 1 hour away and we're super excited,

 

so we'll be sharing lots of old memorabilia till the race.



The Inaugural Race Program. 

The race was part of the Triple Crown with Ontario and Indianapolis.

Not sure what the 1776 is for.

 

 

 

 

Local drivers Mario Andretti and Mark Donahue were both in the race.

Donnie Allison and Cale Yarbrough represented Nascar drivers in the race.

 

 

Hinchcliffe Wins at Iowa!

* James Hinchcliffe won his third race of the season, and the first oval race of his career.

* Hinch jumped up 5 spots in the season point standings to 5th.

* 7 Different Teams finished in the Top 10....

* ...Why only 7?  Because all 4 of the Andretti Autosport cars finished in the Top 10.

* Andretti Autosport had cars finish one-two for the second year in a row and won the race for the 5th time in 7 races with 5 different drivers. (Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco, Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti.)



On to Pocono, only an hour from our house....we're so excited!!!

Iowa Corn Indy 250

Saturday Heat Races!

 

 Sunday the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at 2:30 on ABC!

 

 

 

* Heat Races!!   Three 50 lap heat races on Saturday will determine the lineup for Sunday's race.  You can watch the heat races on the Official Indycar Website.

 

* Don't blink or you'll miss the action.   The cars come around every 17 seconds because the track is less than a mile long.

 

* The Indy Lights race will be held Saturday night following the Indycar Heat Races.

 

* Get James Hinchcliffe's amusing overview of Iowa as he blogs for the Des Moines Register for race weekend.

 

* Not sure where Iowa Speedway is (like us), it's about 425 miles Northwest of Indianapolis, near DesMoines ,which is the capitol of Iowa (but we didn't know where that was either...geography lesson anyone.)

 

*Iowa Indy past winners are:

2012: Ryan Hunter-Reay

2011: Marco Andretti

2010: Tony Kannan

2009: Dario Franchitti

2008: Dan Wheldon

2007: Dario Franchitti

The Graham Rahal Foundation

 

 

Some Indycar drivers are involved in different charities, but  Graham Rahal started his own, The Graham Rahal Foundation
 

 

*Graham Rahal started the Graham Rahal Foundation in 2009 after the death of his team owner and friend, Paul Newman.  He was inspired by Mr. Newman's charities. 

*Graham's foundation benefits Alex's Lemonade Stand for Childhood Cancer and the Serious Fun Children’s Network.

 

*He involves his racing in his charity, like in summer 2012 he hosted a helmet design contest and he wore the winning design in the season finale. 

*He has hosted a driver's golf tournament prior to the Indy 500 the past two years.

*He will be hosting an Alex's Lemonade Stand ambassador at the Pocono Indycar 400 in July.

*Beyond his charity he also auctioned of his helmet, gloves, and shoes to benefit the Dan Wheldon Memorial Foundation in 2011.  His generous gesture began a wave of athletes donating items to be auctioned and eventually over $600,000 was raised.

*As of May 2013 Graham and his girlfriend still run the charity 'from their kitchen table', but have raised about one million dollars!

 

Thoughts on the Milwaukee Indyfest

*Ryan Hunter-Reay won the Milwaukee Indyfest, for the second year in a row, capping a successful weekend for Andretti Autosport which had three of their four drivers finish in the top 5. 

*This was Michael Andretti's fifth win at Milwaukee as an owner.  Mario and Michael combined to win 9 races at the track as drivers.

*We thought it was pretty neat that two drivers from our area sat on the poles at Milwaukee this weekend.  Sage Karam (Indy Lights) who also won that race, and Marco Andretti for the Indycar race.  It would be cool to see them repeat the feat at their 'home' track in Pocono in July.

*Our little sister, Alex, was disappointed that her favorite driver Josef didn't win the race on her birthday.

*We've started a race count for how many times Leigh Diffey says Dario Fran'kitty' during a race.  Milwaukee 8 times.

and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to our Dad and all the other Dad's who read our blog!

Andretti on the Pole for Milwaukee

* Marco won the pole for Saturday's Milwaukee Indyfest breaking the track record.  I'm sure his dad (Michael also his car owner) would appreciate a win for Father's Day.

*Andretti Autosport looks to have a good shot at winning Saturday with all four of their cars (Marco, Hinchcliffe 2nd, Hunter-Reay 4th and E.J. Viso 5th) starting in the top 5.

*Ana Beatriz is back driving the #18 car for Dale Coyne Racing which she drove for 5 races earlier this season.

*Ryan Briscoe will be running the #4 Panther car at the track where he got his first Indycar win back in 2008.

*With Chevy sweeping the top 7 positions, Josef Newgarden was the highest qualifying Honda in 8th.

Simona De Slivestro

Simona is a great driver from Switzerland, sometimes called the 'Swiss Miss' 

She had a tough year in Indycar last year with a bad engine but is doing pretty well this year with 3 Top Tens.  Plus she has finished all but one race and is currently 17th in points.

Simona is another one of the Indycar drivers who was nice enough to answer some of our questions when we emailed her.

*She says she doesn't have a pet, but always wanted a dog or cat when she was little and her mom wouldn't let her get one. 

*She had some favorite stuffed animals when she was a kid and still has a mini moose that sleeps with her every night when she's at home.

*Her least favorite chore as a kid was doing the dishes, and she still doesn't like to do them now, and her worst habit is biting her nails.

*She was featured on Indycar 36 preparing for the Brazil race this year

*Simona started racing in Europe and came to the US in 2006.

*In 2009, racing in the Atlantic Championship Series she became the first woman to win the most  races, and poles,  and to lead the most laps in a single season and finished third in points.

*2010 was her first full year in Indycar and she won Rookie of the Year honors in the Indy 500.

*Currently races for KV Racing and is teammates with Tony Kanaan.



Si

 

The Milwaukee Mile

The Milwaukee Indyfest is this Saturday.

We sure wish we lived nearby and could go.

They've got an Indy Lights Race, a Pro Mazda Race, and a Rickshaw Championship, and even though we're not sure what exactly that is, it would be fun to find out.

Plus they've got free carnival rides and lots of other fun looking stuff to do.

The neat thing about Milwaukee is that it's the oldest operating motor speedway in the world.  They've had at least one race there a year since 1903, except for during World War II.

Our grandparents lived in Wisconsin a long time ago, and apparently they went to the race at Milwaukee because we found an old program from there from 1963, so we'll share some photos from it.

 

 

Mario fan

Are you too hot at the race track?

 

Are you a Mario fan? 

Then let Mario Andretti help cool you off with your very own 'Mario fan'.

 

 

 

(We even got ours signed by Mario himself at Indy.)

Josef & Alex on Indycar 36?

 

 

Yes, the new Indycar 36 episode on NBC Sports is about Josef Newgarden, which we're fine with, however, much to our dismay, our little sister Alex is actually shown on the program. Twice.

 

 

 

Now we'll never hear the end of it. 

It's already all Josef, all the time with her and now that she met him and is on a tv show about him.

 

Ughh.

 

No offense Josef, we all really like you and root for you but Alex doesn't shut up about you, and it's getting kinda old.

 

 

 

 

Indycar 36 on NBC Sports

Alexandra is so excited, her favorite driver, JOSEF (Newgarden), is featured on a new episode of Indycar 36 on NBC Sports tomorrow night at midnight.  It was taped in Indianapolis a few weeks ago.

She's watched the episode shot last year at Fontana about Josef many, many times.

Problem is that she thinks she's staying up to watch the show at midnight. 

Wait till mom breaks it to her that she'll have to wait to see it till Saturday.

 Indycar 36 follows drivers for 36 hours leading up to a race.

 

You can view past episodes of Indycar 36 on Youtube.

Tony Kanaan at 2012 St. Petersburg

Graham Rahal at 2012 Alabama

Ryan Hunter-Reay at 2012 Long Beach

JR Hildebrand at 2012 Indy 500 Qualifying

Helio Castroneves at 2012 Indy 500 Race

Charlie Kimball at 2012 Texas and 2013 Long Beach

Ed Carpenter at 2012 Iowa 

James Hinchcliffe at 2012 Toronto

Simon Pagenaud at 2012 Mid Ohio

Will Power at 2012 Sao Paulo

Oriol Servia at 2012 Baltimore

Josef Newgarden at 2012 Fontana

Simona de Silvestro at 2013 Sao Paulo

News for Texas

THUMBS UP!


* It's great to see that Oriol Servia will drive the #4 National Guard car for Panther Racing at Texas on Saturday night and again in Iowa.  He's was eighth in points going into Detroit, but has been without a ride since Dreyer Reinbold closed its doors after the Indy 500.

*Pippa Mann will drive in the #18 car for Dale Coyne Racing at
    Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night.  It's the same car Mike Conway drove to victory in Detroit on Saturday.   

* Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan will drive the Sunoco 'Turbo' car for the next 4 races starting this weekend.

 

 

*Drivers are headed to Texas today for practice that begins tomorrow!

 

 

UPDATE:

Helio Castroneves won the Firestone 550 in Texas.

Oriol Servia finished 19th.

Pippa Mann finished last after just 2 laps with a mechanical problem.

 

 

1963 Indianapolis Yearbook

We're a little late with this since the 50th anniversary of Parnelli Jones' win at Indy was a few weeks ago, however we just stumbled upon this book in Pappy's stuff today and couldn't pass up sharing the photos from the front and back cover.

Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation

 

Sam Schmidt was a race car driver that our mom and dad used to watch race at Indy in the late 1990's.

But he got paralyzed in a really bad crash practicing at Walt Disney World Speedway in 2000.

 

 

Since he couldn't race anymore he started a race team to help other drivers race.  

 

He now owns cars that race (and win alot) in the Indy Lights Series and in Indycar (where he got his first win with Simon Pagenaud in Detroit on Sunday). 

 

 

 

He also started a charity to help find a cure for paralysis.

 

 

 

Each year for the past 14 years before the Indy 500 there is a Racing to Recovery Gala and auction to benefit the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation. 

 

Many drivers attend the event and support the foundation.  This year included Tristan Vautier, Katherine Legge, Simon Pagenaud, Pippa Mann and Ed Carpenter.

 

 

Our dad is paralyzed too, just not as badly as Mr. Schmidt, so this is one of our favorite charities that was started by and is supported by drivers.

 

We hope they continue to raise lots of money to cure paralysis some day.

And THANK YOU to Sam Schmidt for starting his foundation, and to all the drivers who support it!

 

 

Congratulations Simon Pagenaud

Winner of the Second Dual in Detroit.

Simon Pagenaud scores his first Indycar win in Detroit.

So far, in 7 Indycar races this season there have been ...

6 Different Winners from

 

6 Different Countries on

 

5 Different Teams and

 

3 of them have been *First Time Winners in the Indycar Series!

*James Hinchcliffe (Canada) - Andretti Autosport

Ryan Hunter Reay (USA) - Andretti Autosport

*Takuma Sato  (Japan) - A.J. Foyt Racing

Tony Kanaan (Brazil) - KV Racing

Mike Conway (England) - Dale Coyne Racing

*Simon Pagenaud (France) - Sam Schmidt Motorsports

Can't wait to see who wins at Texas on Saturday night!

 

 

A Good Day for Mike Conway

First he wins the pole for tomorrow's second race in Detroit.

Then, he follows that up by winning today's first race in Detroit.

All that when he just flew in from England earlier in the week and got very little practice in a car he never sat in before.

Not bad.

Congratulations Mike and Dale Coyne Racing!