Hinchcliffe in an Indycar at Road America

James Hinchcliffe is back in an Indycar!!

After 4 months of recovery after his scary crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,  James Hinchcliffe got back in an Indycar at a test session at Road America on Monday.  He technically got back in an Indycar when he drove the two-seater across the Golden Gate Bridge prior to the season finale at Sonoma, but we're pretty sure he was going a bit faster at Road America.

But he did shave his beard after the Golden Gate drive, since he said after the accident he wouldn't shave till he got back in an Indycar.  He let his Indycar fans decide if getting in the two seater counted.

Votes are in! Tight race. Margin was less than 10 votes! https://t.co/tgGuUIwPLO

— James Hinchcliffe (@Hinchtown) August 28, 2015

He also went racing in a go-kart a few weekends ago at the Dan Wheldon Memorial Kart Race were he seemed to be enjoying himself.

So Hinch seems pretty happy to be back in and Indycar and we know all the Indycar fans are just as excited to see one of everyone's favorite drivers suited and booted and back in an Indycar going fast.

Welcome back Hinch!

So, I don't mean to be a jerk about it, but my Monday was definitely better than your Monday. pic.twitter.com/9ohcPVdr87

— James Hinchcliffe (@Hinchtown) September 28, 2015

Dan Wheldon Memorial Kart Race

Dan Wheldon Memorial Pro Am Karting Race in honor of Justin Wilson

Each year, top-tier Indycar drivers return to their roots for the Dan Wheldon Pro-Am Karting Challenge at the 1 mile New Castle Motorsports Park.  The event raises money for the Alzheimer's Association, a cause that Dan dearly supported.  This year, the event also raised money for the Wilson Family Foundation. 

Each kart team has 3 amateur drivers and one pro driver.  The amateur drivers take the first three 15-minute stints, and then the pro drivers battle it out to the finish line.  This year, the likes of Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter, Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe, back for his first race since his accident at Indianapolis, took to bumping, bruising and some trash talking in 6 hp karts. 

A really cool part was when Dan's Wheldon's son, 6-year old Sebastien paced the field to the green and his youngest son, Oliver waved the green and checkered flags.  Cutest moment was when Oliver gave his big brother the thumbs up as he drove past.  After the race the Wheldon boys helped Poppy and Tilly Dixon hand out the trophies to the winners.

Our favorite shot from the Robopong weekend at New Castle Motorsports Park.

The first three stints of the race were dominated by the 27 car.  Josef Newgardens team stayed in the top four the whole first three stints and Scott Dixon was lagging behind mid pack. (Pay attention, he's sort of important.)  The teams could buy back a lap that they lost for $100.  All the teams that were a lap down did, so that it came down to a full out sprint involving all the pros.  Marco Andretti, in the dominant 27 car, took the early lead but was sidelined late in the race when he was tapped off course and did his first front-flip in a go-kart.  Josef Newgarden stopped to check to see that Marco was unhurt, and then Marco got out from under the car, flipped it back over and managed to finish the race.  Matthew Brabham and Sage Karam fought for the lead and didn't notice Scott Dixon until he and Will Power got by them on the final lap. 
 Matthew Brabham came home third.

Wheldon Memorial Pro Am Karting Challenge

New Castle Motorsports Park will host the Dan Wheldon Memorial Pro-Am Karting Challenge and RoboPong 200 this weekend.

Josef Newgarden, will be there racing for the two time defending champ team, Big Machine Records.  They won with Marino Franchitti and Tony Kanaan the past two years.

An even bigger draw is that James Hinchcliffe will be racing a kart!!!
Back from his awful injuries at Indianapolis this past May, and fresh off  having driven the Indycar Championship trophy across the Golden Gate Bridge in the two seater a few weeks ago.
On driving this weekend Hinch (from Trackside on 1070 the Fan with Curt Cavin) "The doctors are ok with anything they don't know about..."

The Dan Wheldon Classic kicks off at 12:45 and features 16 teams racing in stock karts.  Each team has a Indycar pro that runs the final stint of the race.  The race was started by Dan Wheldon's widow Susie Wheldon in 2013 and benefits the Alzheimers Association and The Justin Wilson Children's Fund.

Some of the drivers scheduled to participate along with Josef and Hinch are 2015 Indycar champ, Scott Dixon, 2014 Champion, Will Power, Marco Andretti, Sage Karam, Ed Carpenter, Ryan Briscoe, 2015 Indycar Rookie of the Year, Gabby Chaves, Sebastian Saavedra, Sarah Fisher, Matt Brabham, Steve Harvey and 2015 Indy Lights Champion, Spencer Pigot.

Sunday features the 12th Annual RoboPong 200  preceeded by 3 support races. 
The race is 200 miles broken up into 4, 50 lap stints.  The winner receives $10,000 and the Dan Wheldon Cup.  Many of the pros from Saturday will also race on Sunday. 


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Who will I be seeing this weekend @NewCastleMP for the Dan Wheldon pro am race and robo pong?!

— Sage Karam (@SageKaram) September 17, 2015

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The Indy Lights Championship

The Indy Lights series crowned the 2015 Champion Sunday at Laguna Seca Raceway. 

Heading into the weekend, Jack Harvey had a 6 point advantage over Spencer Pigot. 

Pigot swept the double header to win the 1 million dollar Indycar  scholarship and give Juncos Racing its first Indy Lights Champion.

It was fitting that Pigot won the championship since he has spent his career winning at each level in the Mazda Road to Indy feeder system that is to prepare drivers to race in the Indycar Series. 
He has 24 total wins in the MRTI series.

With his Indy Lights Championship, the (almost) 22 year old driver from Orlando, Florida receives a 1 million dollar scholarship to use towards an Indycar ride.

We look forward to seeing him in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2016.

Josef Newgarden update. Sonoma.

Josef did really well in qualifying

and started 2nd to Sonoma master, Will Power.



cool photo from racer.com

 

He ran second most of the first half of the race, even after Simon Pagenaud briefly trapped him in his pit box by stopping to let Will Power out. (I really like Pagenaud, but I was not happy about that).

 

Josef ran second behind Scott Dixon for a while too, but then Josef had a bad pit stop.  He stalled the car and then there was a fire and then he ended up a lap down.

 

He finished 21st in the race and 7th in the Indycar season final points standings.  I think he was as high as fourth in points at one time in the race!

 

I'll miss watching him racing but I like that he posts to twitter sometimes so I still get to see him during the offseason. 

 

 

Tough way to end the year here in Sonoma, but I really feel great about what we were able to put… https://t.co/WzFdVbdDaD

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) September 1, 2015

posted by Alexandra (age 8)

Indycar Championships 1999 vs 2015

In the 2015 Verizon Indycar Series Championship,

Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) tied in season points with Juan Montoya (Penske Racing).  The tie was broken based on wins, Dixon had 3 wins to Montoya's 2.

Ironically, in 1999, Juan Montoya (racing for Chip Ganassi Racing) tied with Dario Franchitti (Team Kool Green) for the season championship. Juan Montoya won his only Indycar title based on his 6 wins to Dario's 3 that season.

 

 
In the same year that Juan won the Championship, Scott Dixon was a rookie in Indy Lights, and had just won his first Lights race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Juan Montoya gave Chip Ganassi his 4th Indycar title in 1999.

 



Scott Dixon gave Ganassi Racing it's 11th Indycar title in 2015.
(It was Scott's 4th title)



Sonoma Indycar Race Recap

                                          

Scott Dixon wins the GoPro GP of Sonoma, giving Chip Ganassi his 100th Indycar win.


For the first time the Indycar season finale was held at Sonoma Raceway.  Will Power, who has made Sonoma his playground, dominated in the first practice and throughout qualifying.  Power started on pole and led 26 laps in the early stages of the race. On lap 38, Power and Montoya tangled and both fell to the back of the pack.  Josef Newgarden ran a very strong second most of the day behind either Dixon, who took the lead on lap 51, or Power. During a pit stop on lap 61 Josef stalled the car and had a small fire, putting him a lap down and ending his hopes for a strong finish to the year.  Though Power, Montoya, Newgarden, Rahal and Castroneves all had either bad cars or problems, Scott Dixon lived up to his nickname, The Iceman' and took home his third win in the season and won the Championship on a tiebreaker for most season wins.

 

The top 10 Finishers

1. Scott Dixon was lurking in the top ten the whole race and eventually took the lead on lap 51. He then led 34 of the remaining laps and got the bonus points for leading the most laps. 

2. Ryan Hunter-Reay had an awful first half of the season until a breakout win in Iowa.  He finished the season with 2 wins and a 2nd place in the last four races.

3.  Charlie Kimball He tied his best finish of the year (Indy 500).    A strong way to finish his season leaving him twelfth in the season Championship.

 

4. Tony Kanaan earns his 6th top 5 this year.  He was one of the first people to the #9 car to congratulate Scott Dixon on the Indycar title.  

5. Ryan Briscoe did a great job salvaging a top five and holding off Montoya while on old tires.  Hopefully, Ryan Briscoe can get a ride next year, because he did a great job filling in for James Hinchcliffe. He earned 4 top tens in 8 starts this year.

6. Juan Montoya stayed in the top ten until his altercation with Power put the back to the 23rd and 24th positions.  He made a great comeback to 6th but couldn't get past Ryan Briscoe, which would have given him the Championship. As expected he was a bit upset after the race having lost the Indycar title after leading all year.

I think it's photoshop!!!! LOL https://t.co/ojyoeTEqJo

— Juan Pablo Montoya (@jpmontoya) August 31, 2015

7. Will Power was also eligible for the Championship and got upset at race control for closing the pits under yellow. Will Power ended up finishing 3rd in the Championship.
 

8. Takuma Sato closes off the season with a solid finish, and has a ride at A.J Foyt for next year.
 
9. Rodolfo Gonzalez had a surprising finish for Dale Coyne racing, his best finish of the season. 

10. Mikhael Aleshin was in his first race in an Indycar since his scary crash at Fontana last year, Mikael Aleshin finishes strong and might have a full time ride in Indycar next year.

 

Top Ten included...

*   5 Chevys and 5 Hondas.  Chevy still came out on top with the win and the Manufacturer Championship for the fourth year in a row.

*  Drivers represented 8 different countries.   Two Americans finished on the podium for the second week in a row.

*  There were 6 different teams

 

OTHER

* 7 different drivers all led laps.  There were 10 lead changes

* 7 different cars helped bring out 4 cautions for 14 laps, including

Power, Montoya and Munoz.

 

* Will Power set the fastest leader lap on lap 1 at a speed of 107.930

* Scott Dixon paced the way to an average speed of 94.117 mph

Shout Out To....

Oriol Servia, for getting into the #25 car and racing it in Justin Wilsons honor.  He finished in twelfth position.
 
Mikael Aleshin, finishing 10th in his first Indycar race since his crash at Fontana.  Hopefully, he can get a full time ride in 2016.