Ad for 1963 U.S. Grand Prix

The 1963 Grand Prix of the United States

 

held at Watkins Glen, NY.

 

Won by Graham Hill.

 

Found an ad while paging through one of our old Trenton Speedway Programs.

 

It shows a picture of the 1962 winner Jim Clark.

 

 

Since running the last U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in 1980,

the Grand Prix has moved from Phoenix to Indianapolis

to Austin, TX where

Lewis Hamilton won the 2014 U. S. Grand Prix.

Josef Newgarden Apparel 2014

The Indycar season may be over,

i.e. Alex does not get to see Josef on TV at all...

But that does not stop her from wearing her 'Josef' clothing all the time. 
Have we ever mentioned she LOVES Josef.

And lucky for her (or maybe more for our mom who has to make  most of Alex's Josef clothing), he remained with Sarah Fisher's team and will not be changing his familiar #67.
You can check out her earlier 'Josef wardrobe' here.

 

A look back at her new Josef apparel
from the 2014 Indycar Season.

 

 The hand painted (by Alex) shirt with Josef car,
and kitty (in the bottom corner) to represent Josef's pet cat, Simba.
Worn with checkered skirt & Minnie mouse hat matching ruffle.
Very stylish outside Josef's garage at Indianapolis.

Her prized possession. 
The first 'official' kids size Josef Newgarden shirt we've been able to find.
Got it at the Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing shop in downtown Speedway!

The 3rd year of the 'Josef' birthday dress for the
Josef themed 7th birthday party.
(Yes really, her 5th, 6th and 7th birthday parties were all about Josef)
The kitty theme (for Simba) was tied in this year with the ruffle.

The back.
While watching for Josef outside the garages at Pocono.
(We stood there way too long, but at least got to meet the infamous Robin Miller while we waited)

 

 And the final installment for the 2014 season.
The hand painted t-shirt dress for the GP of Indy.
Made extra special by the fact that she got on Josef's official website while wearing this outfit!



And no Josef post would be complete without a picture of Josef.
Alex loved this one that CFH Racing tweeted of Josef and his dad in 2003.

#TBT to @josefnewgarden's karting days in 2003! pic.twitter.com/vLfdJkH3ez

— CFH Racing (@CFHR_Indy) October 16, 2014

 

Indycar 1985 - Safety of Carbon Fiber Tubs

Indycar Throwback...

Auto Racing Digest

March 1985

 

 

 

With the recent talk of adding 'canopies' to Indycars

we thought we'd look back at

 

A great safety improvement to Open Wheel cars in the 1980's.

Mom said it was amazing to see basically just the intact tub with the driver in it after a big crash.

 

From Auto Racing Digest
March 1985
by Roger Jaynes

Indycar 1989 Racetracks

 

Since the 2015 Indycar schedule is not out yet, we give you

 

the C.A.R.T/PPG Indy Car World Series

1989 Schedule

 

7 of the 15 races on the schedule were in cities

they still raced at in 2014.

However, they have been to many other places over the years as documented in this

Robin Miller piece for Racer.com.

 

Photos are from

The Insider's Guide to Indy Car Racing

by Rick Amabile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worth Noting.

 

All the races were televised on ABC, NBC or ESPN.

 

The season ran from April 9th through October 15th.

 

9 races were on street/road courses and 6 were run on ovals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indycar Champion 2014 Will Power

OK, we admit the whole 'school thing' has gotten in the way of our posting yet again. 

But we've settled into the school year now and are all set to get back to business,

even if it is the off season.

 

Will Power won the Indycar championship

with 671 points!

 

 Helio Castroneves came in second for the fourth time in his career with 609 points and Scott Dixon bumped up to third with 604 points.
After several runner up finishes in the Championship, including in 2010, 2011 and 2012 Will Power finally earned the title he deserved.

 

It was Penske's 13th championship and first since 2006 with Sam Hornish Jr.

The 2014 Indycar season stats:

*  2395 laps driven

*  66 cautions totaling 323 laps (13.5%)

*  176 lead changes

* Will Power led a total of 623 laps

After the Championship Will Power appeared on David Letterman's Late Show, discussing earthquakes and Helio's hair among other things.

 

 

 

 

He has also been a DJ on
XM Radio's Backspin
and on Sirius XM Lithium.

Seems like he may have a future outside of Indycar when he retires.

 

 

 

 

Josef Update MAVTV 500

Another top ten for Josef this year!

He finished tenth in the last race of the season.

This video is from before Fontana, so it's a little late,
but it is Josef, and this is a Josef post and so Alex insists we include it.

 
He qualified third, which made him the top Honda qualifier in the final four races of the season!
It was also his 4th front row start of the year.

Josef finished out the season with

2 Top 5's
7 Top 10
and he led 20 laps and was in a position to win several races this season!

Can't wait to see how Josef improves next year.
He'll be on the newly formed Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing team and should be able to improve his Super Speedway results teaming with the oval master Ed Carpenter!


 
Alex is disappointed that the season in over, but we're still doing Josef updates because Alex follows along what he's up to during the whole offseason.
(and re-watches video after video after video after video....well you get the idea,  of Josef)


 

Tony Kanaan wins MAVTV 500 in Fontana

 

Congrats to Tony Kanaan!

and Chip Ganassi Racing for a 1-2 finish in the season finale at Fontana.

 

It was great to see Tony get his first win with Chip Ganassi Racing and his first win since becoming the Indy 500 champ in 2013.

Tony was the 11th different winner this season.

2nd:  Runner up was Scott Dixon.  Too bad for him that the season didn't go a little longer.  He was doing great with two wins and a second in the final three races and almost finished second in points.  Odd that the Ganassi team has had a slow start for the past two seasons.

3rd:  Ed Carpenter finished 3rd in a final great showing for Ed Carpenter Racing before they merge with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing in 2015.

4th:  Juan Montoya  A win a 4th and a 5th in the three 500 mile events this season....not bad.

5th:  James Hinchcliffe A well deserved and welcome top five finish.

Like everyone else, we can't believe the season is over already.

The worst part is we can't even start a countdown to next season because the schedule hasn't come out yet.



 

Fontana MAVTV 500 Pre-race

The season finale is lined up and ready.
Helio Castroneves on pole
(gaining him a valuable extra point for the championship),
Juan Montoya 2nd,
and Josef Newgarden will start on the outside of the front row. (a qualifying podium is what Alex calls it.)
 

 

 

Championship leader Will Power struggled in qualifying, after having been fastest in practice and is starting second last. 

 

 

Helio Castroneves has to finish 3rd or better if Power finishes last if he wants this championship. 
If Simon Pagenaud were to win it, he has to win the race, and Will Power and Helio Castroneves have to finish last-18th. 

 

We're hoping that guys like Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter, and Takuma Sato can finish off the season on a high note.

Final Practice was shortened by an accident involving Mikael Aleshin.  Aleshin is not able to race tonight, wish him well.

 

Helio Castroneves has 41 poles, now 5th all time.

 

Watch the race at 9:00 PM Eastern Time on NBCSN


Final Practice:

Unfortunately, Mikhail Aleshin crashed in the final practice session on Friday evening and is in the hospital with fractured ribs, a broken clavicle, a concussion and chest injuries.  Charlie Kimball was also involved in the crash but was uninjured and will still race on Saturday night.


 

We will be keeping Mikhail in our prayers for a good recovery and hope to see him back at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in 2015.

 

 

 

 

Pro Mazda Championship

The Pro Mazda season is over, and it had plenty of excitement.

 

Spencer Pigot won the championship with 309 points,
and Scott Hargrove, a rookie, came second with 298 points. Third was Neil Alberico, another rookie, with 239 points.
 

Pigot was on the Juncos Racing team.

 

 

Fun Facts:

 

* There were 17 rookies in the 2014 Pro Mazda season

 

* 5 rookies finished in the top ten in the championship.

 

 

Check out Spencer Pigot's blog! (and his website)

 

Josef update GP of Sonoma

 Josef Newgarden had a very good showing at Sonoma. 

After starting 2nd, he kept up there most of the race to finish 6th.

Go to the 1:46 mark to see Josef

 

 

- Josef Newgarden has signed a 1 year contract CFH Racing for 2015.  Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing joins with Ed Carpenter Racing to form Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing, now a two-car team.  This means data to share for Josef, Ed, and possibly Mike Conway.  Josef has never been on a two car team.

 

-Josef has had a very steady last half of the season.  After dropping back to as far as 20th, Josef made a comeback and now has a chance to get a top ten finish in the championship.  He has had 4 top tens in the last 7 races, an 8th, a 2nd, a 5th, a 6th, a 20th, a 13th, and a 12th.  He has had two 2nd place starting positions, and two 4th place starting positions.

Don't miss Josef in the MAVTV 500 Indycar Season Finale on NBCSN at 10:00 PM Eastern Time on Saturday

 

 

 

USF2000 Championship

Florian Lattore, the 17-year old Frenchmen, won the USF2000 Championship, beating out RC Enerson by just 4 points.

 

 

1st

Florian Lattore


2nd

RC Enerson

3rd

Jake Eidson
 

Grand Prix of Sonoma 2014

Sonoma was a crazy race!
 

 

Ninth, 10th and 11th place went three wide to the line, while Mike Conway ran out of fuel and barely coasted across the finish line.   Will Power and quite a few other fuel-less cars stopped all around the track after they crossed the finish line. 
In the end, Scott Dixon, the fuel saving master, took it home.

 

 

 

 

 

-Very impressive comeback by Will Power.  Leading the race, spinning out, restarting last with 30 laps to go and making it up and finishing 10th shows skill...and some daring passing at the end.

 

-Great run by Scott Dixon.  Yet again, he shows his skill in saving fuel.  After doing it at Mid-Ohio, we thought it was partially luck.  Turns out, its anything but luck.

 

 

 

 The Top Ten:

 

1. Scott Dixon - 2nd win this year unfortunately too late for him to repeat as Indycar champ.
 

2.  Ryan Hunter-Reay - Came on strong at the end for the podium.
 

3. Simon Pagenaud - In the championship closed the gap to 2nd place Helio to 30 points.
 

4. Takuma Sato - A good day after a not so good season.
 

5. Juan Montoya - Led 4 laps, continues to finish strong every race.
 

6. Josef Newgarden - 2nd race having led in the last 3 races. A win has to come soon.
 

7. Mikael Aleshin - Holding second in the rookie standings.
 

8. Marco Andretti - His 9th top ten this season.
 

9. Justin Wilson - His 15th race running at finish this season, unfortunately he just hasn't had good results.
 

10. Will Power - Has led most laps this year. Can he hold onto his 51 point lead to win his first Indycar Championship this year???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indycar Grand Prix of Sonoma

The GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma is here, and the tensions rise as we come down to the last two races of the Indycar season.


Mathematically, the top six all are eligible for the Championship, and that includes Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Scott Dixon and Juan Montoya.

Will Power has recent history on his side having finished first and second in the last two races at Sonoma.

Helio is fastest in Practice, but qualifying is later today, and starting position is always important here.

Catch qualifying at 7:00 EST on NBCSN,
and the race tomorrow at 4:00.

Josef Update: Milwaukee Mile 2014

Yay!!!  No!!!  Yay!!!

 

This is what you heard from Alex during the Milwaukee Indyfest, because Josef had a very up and down race.  But luckily it ended on an 'up' and he finished 5th!!

 

Josef started 5th, stayed in the top 6 for the first stint, dropped back to 12th, up to 2nd on a pit strategy, and with 12 laps had to pit, and dropped back to 12th.  That didn't stop Josef. 
He made his way in 12 laps to finish 5th!

 

IN OTHER 'JOSEF' NEWS...

 

Alex wants to make sure that you don't miss the Forza 5 showdown starring Josef, and Justin Wilson,  They're racing the Forza Motorsport 5  game on xbox to raise funds for Teen Cancer America. 
Fans can win an opportunity to race the drivers by donating to Teen Cancer America through August 23rd.


 

Josef did the ALS ice bucket challenge along with some other drivers.
Josef's video is her favorite although she pointed out that he did use a rather smallish bucket of ice water.

 

 

Milwaukee Indyfest

The ABC Supply Wisconsin 250
narrowed the Indycar Championship down to just 6 drivers! 

 

 

 

Polesitter Will Power took the early lead, and became the third driver this season to win from the pole.  Ryan Hunter-Reay made an impressive charge through the field from 19th, and was looking very strong but was taken out by a mechanical failure.   
James Hinchcliffe, the fastest in both weekend practice sessions, never seemed to recover from his final practice crash and didn't contend all day. 
Josef Newgarden looked like he might copy his 2nd place finishing run at Iowa.  He pitted late for fuel and took 4 new tires putting him a lap down in 12th, then he began slicing through the field but ran out of time and finished 5th (on the lead lap).

 

 

 

 

In the end, it came down to Will Power, followed closely by bhis Penske teammate Juan Montoya. 

Will Power's radio after the race: "I love winning on ovals". 

 

 

 

The Top Ten:

 

1. Will Power - 3rd win this year
 

2. Juan Montoya - 4th podium this year
 

3. Tony Kanaan - Another podium but can't seem to get a win this year
 

4. Scott Dixon - 9th top 5 this year
 

5. Josef Newgarden - 5th top ten this year. When will he get that first Indycar win???
 

6. Ryan Briscoe - Has finished all the races this year
 

7. Simon Pagenaud - Overtook RHR for 3rd in season points
 

8. Mikael Aleshin - Highest finishing rookie
 

9. Ed Carpenter - Big news at the race that his team will merge with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing for 2015
 

10. Jack Hawksworth -

6 Chevys

4 Hondas

6 Teams

8 Countries

 

 

Just two races left in the season.

 

And 6 Drivers left in the Championship Hunt since Double Points will be given out at the season Finale in Fontana!


An exciting finish in the Indylights race saw Zach Veach steal the 8 second lead from Matthew Brabham on the final restart.  Veach is now only 7 points back from Gabby Chaves

 

Josef update at Mid-Ohio

Josef had one of the best races of his Indycar career at Mid Ohio.

He qualified 2nd in wet conditions, then went on to stay up front and raced for the lead all day, Battling with the likes of Scott Dixon and Sebastien Bourdais.

Unfortunately (there seems to always been an 'unfortunately' in our Josef posts....) there was an error in the pits on his last pit stop.  A hose was laying in the middle of his pit box and he couldn't avoid hitting it.  He got a drive through penalty that ruined his day.

He finished 12th.

 

 

 

 

Apparently the race results did not dampen Josef's usual fun self or appetite as he hit the Indiana State Fair with Mikhail Aleshin, Simon Pagenaud, Robin Miller and Dave Furst the next night.

 

AND

 

On his off weekend of August 10th Josef took part in and won the Formula F 45th Anniversary Race at Barber Motorsports Park.

 

 

 

Now if he can continue that winning momentum at the Milwaukee Mile this weekend.

 

Josef Update - Honda Indy Toronto

Double Headers this year have not been kind to Josef.

He has four 20th place finishes out of the 6 races and a 17th and 13th.
Needless to say Alex would like all double header races taken off the schedule for next year.

(she would also like for their to be more races at Iowa speedway)

Josef didn't have a good weekend at Toronto, where he ended up finishing 20th and 13th.
In race 1, Josef got hit from behind and got involved in a six car crash on lap 1. They got the car fixed under a red flag and did not lose a lap. Yeah!
He made his way up to 11th (to the delight of  Alex),
but then spun the car on lap 63 and couldn't finish the race. Wah!

In race 2 the weather was very wet and lots of cars went in for rain tires, but Josef stayed out and led laps 14-20, until he spun in turn eleven and then went in for rain tires.
When the track dried, he stayed on rain tires and was running fifth,
but when a red flag came out and the cars restarted, the rain tires weren't working as well as the other cars on reds, and he dropped down to 13th.




 

Josef Update - Iowa Corn Indy 300

Josef got second in Iowa!

 Alex was so excited and I think it's rubbing off on us. 

 

To see him just zoom through the field on new tires in the last few laps was super cool.

The only problem was that Ryan Hunter Reay (or as Alex refers to him as 'the guy who crashed Josef out of the lead at Long Beach) had new tires too.

  

   (by the look on Josef's face we have to wonder what he and Robin Miller were joking about before the camera started rolling.)

Josef and Simon Pagenaud had a little fun before the race at Iowa too.

(We've watched this video way too many times)

 

 

 

Yes, we got a little behind on our Josef posts but we guarantee it was not for lack of watching and Alex crazily cheering him on.  So we'll go into Josef overload and get caught up this week.  

 

Honda Indy 200 at Mid Ohio 2014

Scott Dixon, the Mid-Ohio master,
scored the first 2014 win for Ganassi Racing with an amazing last-to-first comeback. 
This was his 5th win at Mid-Ohio, and the 10th for Ganassi.
 

 

  Dixon became the 10th different winner this season for the 7th different team.  Wow!

 

 A first lap wreck saw Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan out of the race, and jumbled things up a bit.   Sebastien Bourdais and Josef Newgarden dominated the race until the halfway point, when Scott Dixon took the lead. 

Scott Dixon is called the master at saving fuel for a reason.  He coasted across the finish line in first after gaining 9 seconds on Sebastien Bourdais while saving fuel.
 

The Top Ten:

1. Scott Dixon - His 34th career win tying Al Unser, Jr. for 6th all time!

2. Sebastien Bourdais - 2nd podium in a row after starting on pole.

3. James Hinchcliffe - First podium this year...finally!

4. Carlos Munoz - Highest finishing rookie

5. Graham Rahal - his 3rd Top 7 in the last 4 races

6. Will Power - Regained the season points lead over Helio

7. Charlie Kimball - Last year's Mid Ohio winner

8. Ryan Briscoe - Second highest finishing Ganassi

9. Simon Pagenaud - An uncompetitive day but still just one point out of third in the Championship.

10. Ryan Hunter-Reay - Made a great comeback after a pit speed violation and spinning early in the race.

 

 

The 2 in TO

The 2 in TO (Toronto) was awesome!!

 

Race 1 got postponed from Saturday to Sunday because of rain,
so it made for a real double header on Sunday.





Race 1's were dominated by the French Drivers.

Sebastien Bourdais won the Indycar Race.

Alex Baron won the Indy Lights race
and the USF2000 race was won by Jake Eidson

Race 2 was run a few hours later in the afternoon
and after some sun and some rain and some more sun,
 Mike Conway won for his second time this year.

 

Race 1 - The Top Ten

  

1st. Sebastien Bourdais - 33 career win. First since 2008.

 

2nd. Helio Castroneves - Still championship points leader (6th podium in 2014)

 

3rd. Tony Kanaan - 9th Top Ten this year

 

4th. Simon Pagenaud - Led 6 laps after being involved in 1st lap incident

5th. Scott Dixon 

 

6th. Graham Rahal
 

7th. Charlie Kimball
 

8th. James Hinchcliffe
 

9th. Will Power - moved up 14 positions after starting in back after damaging his car in the rain Saturday before the race started.
 
10th. Justin Wilson

* No Rain
* 3 lead changes
* 3 different leaders
* 60 laps under green
*5 laps under yellow

*6 Chevys
*4 Hondas



Race 2 - The Top Ten:

1st. Mike Conway  - Second win of the year
                                  - 3rd win for Ed Carpenter Racing this season

2nd. Tony Kanaan - 2nd double header weekend this year that he had 2 podiums

3rd. Will Power - Gained points on his teammate Helio in the Indycar standings

4th. Charlie Kimball - Finished in the top ten both races

5th. Takuma Sato - moved up 17 places after starting 22nd

6th. Jack Hawksworth - 3rd in Rookie points standings

7th. Scott Dixon - 8th top ten this year but still no win

8th. Marco Andretti - finished where he started

9th. Sebastien Bourdais

10th. Justin Wilson

* 6 lead changes
* 5 different leaders
* 36 green laps
* 20 yellow laps

*6 Chevys
*4 Hondas





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Flashback Friday

Driver Card from the 1976 Schaefer 500 at Pocono.

 

A.J Foyt

 

 

John Hubbard

 Mario Andretti

Bobby Unser

 

 

 Steve Krisiloff

 Lloyd Ruby

Mike Mosley

 

 

 Tom Bigelow

Jim McElreath

 

 

 

 

 

RHR Wins the Iowa Corn Indy 300!

 

"That Was Like a Video Game at the End!"

 

Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden both said that the end of the race was like a video game.   That's how easy it was for them to move to the front of the pack after taking tires during a late caution.   Juan Montoya crashed with less than 20 laps to go, which allowed Hunter-Reay and Newgarden and a few others to come in for new tires when everyone else stayed out on their worn out tires.    When the race restarted with 8 laps to go, Ryan and Josef were the fastest cars on the track and they quickly moved to the front.   With 2 laps to go, Hunter-Reay and Newgarden passed Kanaan.   Josef didn't have enough laps to get to the lead, but he finished a career high 2nd place (Our little sister Alexandra was really excited that Josef did so well!).

That's the good news.

The bad news....We felt bad for Tony Kanaan since he dominated the race but had to settle for third.   But at least he led 247 laps!

Also, Aleshin and Sato got together for the second race in a row!    Oh No!!   A.J. Foyt was very unhappy again when they interviewed him.

The double header Honda Indy Toronto is this weekend, and we can't wait!     Hopefully the whole race will be like a video game!

 

Tricky at Pocono Raceway

 

Tricky the Fox

 

Tricky is Pocono Raceway's mascot

  

Tricky lives at the track and goes around in Trickys Kit Kamp, the Kids Zone, Victory Lane and basically all over.

  

We see him a lot, and trust us, he loves hugs!

(and kids and having fun)

 

 

 

So when you're at Pocono Raceway, look for Tricky,

although most likely Tricky will find you first!

 

 This is the stuffed Tricky kids will get when they join the Kids Club

 

 

Trickys Kit Kamp has play tents, campfires, and animals.

(including a fox, you can't forget the fox) 

 

 

We Love Tricky!!!
 

Indy Lights at Pocono

At Pocono Raceway on Saturday you could find the future Indycar stars racing in the Indy Lights series.

Zach Veach sat on the pole
but
after 40 laps (100 miles),
it was Gabby Chaves who took the win.

 

 

The Top Three in the Race
(and in the Championship)

 

Gabby Chaves

 

Zach Veach

Jack Harvey


 

Zach Veach accepting his Pole Winning trophy
from Brandon Igdalsky, President of Pocono Raceway

 

Zach being interviewed after his pole winning run by 2012 Indy Lights Champion Tristan Vautier



 

 

Catch there next race on Sunday July 20th in the streets of Toronto.