Indycar at Road America 2016

Indycars returned to the beautiful 4-Mile Road America course for the first time since 2007. 
The 14-turn track was a favorite among the Indycar veterans and rookies alike.


 

 Will Power kept his momentum going from his win in Detroit Race 2 by winning his second pole of the 2016 season.  (He won the pole in St. Pete, but did not start due to illness).   Power led the field to green for the 50-lap, 202 mile race at Road America and he dominated the early stages.  Top championship and race contender Scott Dixon had engine issues on lap six, and called it a day. At the first round of pit stops, Takuma Sato had already moved up 7 positions, and Josef Newgarden, with his broken hand and collarbone, had moved up five. Later, Takuma spun and ended up 17th.  Up front, Simon Pagenaud took the lead for a few laps, but near the end, he too had engine problems.  He finished 13th.  As the checkered flag dropped, Will Power took his second consecutive win for 2016, and Josef Newgarden toughed out the pain and brought it home admirable 8th. 
The points standings saw Scott Dixon dropped to 4th, with 5th and 6th place closing in.  The top three spots in the championship are occupied by Penske's Simon Pagenaud, Helio Castroneves and Will Power.  

 Road America Top Ten

1. Will Power:   'Powers his way to third in points despite missing the first race of the season.

2. Tony Kanaan:  His best result since a second at Fontana last year.

3. Graham Rahal:  His second podium in two races at Road America.  (The other coming when he was just 18).

4. Ryan Hunter-Reay:  Fought the flu all weekend to finish a strong 4th.

5. Helio Castroneves:  Moved to second in season points, 74 back of his teammate Pagenaud.

6. Charlie Kimball:  His sixth Top 10 of the season.

7. Juan Montoya:  A hard fought position after a fantastic battle with Josef Newgarden in the closing laps.
8. Josef Newgarden:  Impressed alot of people as he was the biggest mover of the race, moving up 12 positions, despite the pain from his broken clavicle and hand.

9. Spencer Pigot:  Best run of his Indycar career!

10. Carlos Munoz:  Started 8th and ran around there most of the day.

Different Teams: 5 ( Penske, RLL, Andretti, Ganassi, Ed Carpenter Racing)

Different Countries: 4 (Australia(1), Brazil(2), USA(5), Columbia(2))

 

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed: 121.6 mph

 Time: 1 hour 39 Minutes 10 Seconds

Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers (Power, Pagenaud, Rahal)

Best Lap: 138.787 by Max Chilton

THOUGHTS:
Great runs but bad luck for...

Conor Daly who had a strong weekend and was running in the Top 8 all day when a rear wishbone gave out sending him speeding into the barrier.  Luckily he was unhurt. (21st)

Max Chilton was doing great and had the fastest lap of the race.  Unfortunately he ran out of fuel and lost 2 laps.  (20th)

And more bad luck....

Gabby Chaves had trouble with his pit speed telemetry and received a Drive Thru pit speed violation, and then another while on his first drive thru penalty.  He lost a lap. (19th)

Scott Dixon.  After qualifying second, he had an issue on Lap 6 and was out of the race. (22nd)

 

   

 

 

Newgarden Road America Update

Josef started 20 and finished 8th

with a broken hand and collarbone!

It was Josef's first time racing at Road America in Indycar,

and he did not want to miss it.
 

Hope he's not hurting too much after that 4 mile road course.
 

Now Josef stands 5th in points.
 

His teammate Spencer Pigot (also an Indy Lights champion) finished right behind Josef in 9th place.

 

 

Great to be back at the track this weekend. @roadamerica is incredible. Thank you to all the… https://t.co/ZBCrvRf9Qg

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) June 26, 2016

20th to 8th, two weeks after breaking clavicle and hand.
Absolutely no stopping @josefnewgarden! #KohlerGP pic.twitter.com/ZDF67S1iDd

— Ed Carpenter Racing (@ECRIndy) June 26, 2016

Josef Newgarden's hurt hand and shoulder won't stop him from driving at one of his best tracks, Iowa.  He will be testing Wednesday and racing there in two weeks. Trying to better his two second place finishes there in the last two years.


Good luck Josef!!!

posted by Alex (age 9)

Josef Newgarden's weekend at texas

 The Good Part of Josef's weekend.

 

1.  He qualified 5th and had a really strong, really neat looking Emerald green car.

2.  The Firestone 600 in Texas was rained out on Saturday night, and the neat thing about rain delays is that it gives the drivers lots of free time.  Some of them, like Josef, were really nice and went up into the stands to hang out with the fans!

Getting up in the stands with @Hinchtown and the other @IndyCar guys was AWESOME! Thanks to the fans for hanging! pic.twitter.com/yqTHnVpu8s — Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) June 12, 2016

3.  Josef got really bored and silly and goofed around a lot.

He was interviewed on NBCSN with Ed Carpenter, and he gave everyone some tips about social media, and reading twitter fast.

Thanks for tuning in tonight @IndyCar peeps. The rain always ruins our fun! pic.twitter.com/w9RH0oPTQa

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) June 12, 2016

3.  The race started on Sunday afternoon and Josef was running in the Top 5 and even leading through the first 40 laps.

 The Bad Part of Josef's weekend.

 (but it turned out a lot better than it looked)

 

While passing Conor Daly on the outside, Conor lost grip and turned sharp right into Josef.  Josef went on his side and head first into the wall.  It was very, very scary.

 

 

Back to the Good Part.

Despite it looking really, really bad,

Josef only had a fractured clavicle and a bone in his right hand.

I'm sure that he hurts a whole lot, but hopefully he will be back racing soon.

 

 

post by Alex, age 8

PS  I'm really glad I was at my violin recital and didn't see the crash live or

I would've been super scared for him. 

By the time I got home and watched it  on tape I had seen on twitter that he was basically ok. :)

 

Dual in Detroit #1 Josef Newgarden Update

Josef got a great new teammate for the
Duals in Detroit. 
Spencer Pigot will drive the #20 Fuzzy's Vodka car at the remaining street and road courses this year!

They think they don't look alike... #DetroitGP pic.twitter.com/lHGTHbX8NL

— Ed Carpenter Racing (@ECRIndy) June 4, 2016

Josef Newgarden started and finished 14th in the first race at Detroit's, Belle Isle.

 

He ran as high as 7th during the race, and was running a solid 9th in the closing laps when he had a problem with the engine. 

He managed to nurse the car around for the last few laps but dropped from 9th to 14th for the finish.

 

He still is 4th in points, tied with Carlos Munoz.

 

post by Alex, age 8

 

Indycar Dual at Detroit Race 1

After the smooth track of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indycars took to one of their toughest and bumpiest tracks of the season.  And What's better than a double header. 
The Detroit race weekend was as fun to watch, as always.  Strategy played a key role, and even though there was no significant rain this race had plenty of action.

Race 1 on Saturday started out with the clouds looming above, and the rain waiting to interrupt the race.  The green flag dropped on pole sitter Simon Pagenaud, who led the field through a safe turn 1.  Pagenaud began to pull away after the early round of pit stops on lap 3. Pagenaud managed to stretch his fuel to lap 23 before pitting.  Second in points, Scott Dixon had fueling problems after his first stop, and he later on had a gearbox issue.  Dixon finished  a very disappointing 19th.  As the mid-way point in the race passed by, the Penske cars ran 1-2-3-4.  A Penske sweep seemed imminent.  Unfortunately, a little while later, Will Power lost a wheel on the track and was stuck on the run-off area for the rest of his race.  Just as in Indianapolis six days earlier, the race came down to fuel strategy.  As the last laps neared, the leaders pitted and Sebastien Bourdais and Conor Daly stretched their fuel to finish one, two.  It was Conor Daly's best career Indycar finish, and Bourdais' second consecutive win in Detroit.

 Duel at Detroit Race 1 TOP 10

1. Sebastien Bourdais: His second consecutive win in Detroit.  

2. Conor Daly: His best career Indycar finish.  Dale Coyne once again strikes using strategy.

3. Juan Montoya: Has the honor of highest finishing Penske, something that has been held by Simon Pagenaud for almost all races of the season

4. Graham Rahal: Still holds the top spot in the Tag standings, for number of positions improved during races.

5. Helio Castroneves: Still looks to get his first win in over two years.

6. Carlos Munoz: Looks towards his second career Indycar win.

7. Ryan Hunter-Reay: His best finish in Detroit since 2013 Race 1

8. Charlie Kimball: Highest finishing Ganassi car

9. Tony Kanaan: His sixth Top Ten in seven races

10.  Alexander Rossi:  Has a firm grasp on the Indycar rookie of the year title.

Different Teams: 6 (KV, Coyne, Penske, RLL, Andretti, Ganassi)

Different Countries: 4 (France, USA,  Colombia,  Brazil, )

 

FUN FACTS

 

 Average Speed: 97.857 mph

 

Time: 01:40:51

Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers

Best Lap: 113.302 mph by Juan Montoya

 

Best Lead Lap: 113.040 mph by Conor Daly

 

Most Improved: Conor Daly improved 14 positions

 

100th Indianapolis 500

At the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 a sellout crowd of 350,000 people watched phenomenal passing and lead changes all afternoon.  Crazy pit road action took out two of the early frontrunners, Ryan Hunter Reay and Townsend Bell, who happened to be teammates.  The fans were treated to an insane finish where Alexander Rossi coasted around Turn 4 and slowed coming to the yard of bricks.  Hard charging Carlos Munoz and Josef Newgarden barreled around Turn four and had to wonder how Rossi had managed to save enough fuel to beat them to the finish.

 

 TOP 10

1. Alexander Rossi:  First rookie to win the 500 since Helio in 200.  First American rookie since Louis Meyer in 1928.

2. Carlos Munoz: His second runner-up  finish at Indy.

3. Josef Newgarden:  His best finish at Indianapolis in 5 attempts.

4. Tony Kanaan:  Said his car was better this year than it was when he won it in 2013.

5. Charlie Kimball:  Consistency at IMS is key.  Finished 3rd last year.

6. J.R Hildebrand: Has that knack for Indy, he seems to have a shot at winning each year he drives the 500.

7. James Hinchcliffe: Pole sitter had a disappointing finish after leading 27 laps.

8. Scott Dixon:  Not much of a factor all month.  Hopes to get his second 500 at the 101st Running.

9. Sebastien Bourdais: His second Top-Ten in six tries at the 500.

10.  Will Power: His 5th Top Ten in 9 attempts at the Brickyard.  He led 8 Laps/
 

Different Teams: 6 (Andretti, Penske, RLL, ECR, Schmidt, Ganassi)
 

Different Countries: 7 (USA, Colombia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, France, Australia)

7 Chevys,  3 Hondas
(but the top 2 were Hondas)

OTHER
46 Laps were run under yellow.
The race lasted 3 hours and 2 seconds
Average Speed was 166.634 mph
There were 54 lead changes among 13 drivers.
The fastest lap of the race was 225.288, by Alexander Rossi

OUR THOUGHTS

It was great seeing rookie, Stefan Wilson in the field, and super seeing all the fans wearing Justin Wilson t-shirts over the weekend.

Great run by Ryan Hunter Reay and Townsend Bell before their pit road incident.

Fantastic job of charging through the field by Sage Karam before his crash while running in fourth.

Juan Montoya became the first defending winner to finish last the following year since Johnny Rutherford in 1977.

Nice run for Pippa Mann.  An 18th place finish was her highest in five attempts at the 500.

Alex Tagliani moved up the most positions in the race, sixteen.  He also led 11 laps and had the fastest lead lap of the race at 222.729.

 

100th Indianapolis 500 Josef Newgarden update

Josef Newgarden was very close to winning the 100th running of the Indy 500.  It was so exciting!

 He started 2nd and finished 3rd

 and he led 14 laps!!!
Unfortunately he was a little short on fuel and had to stop for gas in the final few laps.

And now he is 4th in Indycar season points!!!

His fasted lap was on lap 169

His lowest position was 9th

2nd is Josef's best start at the Indianapolis 500

and 3rd is his best finish! 

Josef Newgarden started in the middle of the front row, next to my second favorite driver Hinch!!!

 

Josef in his #21 Preferred Freezer Car on the front straightaway.
 

 

This was Josef's garage.

 

 

 

 

Next up the Dual in Detroit!

Josef has only 2 Top 10's in 7 races in Detroit, but he ran well there last year and is always strong on street courses. 

So I'm expected a win...or two! 

Good Luck Josef.

post by Alexandra, age 8

                      

Our thoughts and experiences: Indy 500, 100th running

The Indy 500 was amazing!!!
 

We would have loved to see a shootout between Josef Newgarden and Carlos Munoz, but it came down to really amazing fuel strategy by Alexander Rossi.  It may not have been the side by side for the win finish that we were expecting, but we got plenty of excitement during the race!

In the opening ceremonies, 'Back Home Again in Indiana' was sung by Josh Kaufman.  He sounded really good but we're still getting used to not having Jim Nabors sing it like he had for so many years.

The bald eagle that was released during a song was a really neat touch,  it was really beautiful.  We got to see it up close when it was being taken through the crowd earlier in the morning and it had a little mask over it's eyes so that it didn't get upset around all the people.

We parked in the Speedway Trails parking a few blocks from the track.  It was the first time in years that we didn't park inside the track, because although we had a pass we didn't want to wait in the extra long line of traffic to get inside this year.  It was good because instead of getting up at 4:00 we actually slept in till 4:45 and were able to easily get to the track from downtown by 6:15.

We got our 100th anniversary milk that was being handed out by the Indiana Dairy Association and kept it in our coolers till after the race when we drank it while Alexander Rossi was drinking his milk in Victory Circle. 

It was 81 degrees, so we were hot, but luckily there were some dark clouds that gave us a break once in a while and thanks to our 100 SPF suntan lotion we didn't even burn a bit.  The same could not be said for many of the people sitting around us.  :)

The one-hundredth running definitely had, as Mario Andretti said, more pizzazz.  The stands were packed with people no matter where you looked and the grounds were teeming with fans whenever we ventured down from our seats.   You could feel the extra excitement in the air during every moment of the race.

The Program was $25 for the 100th running, but was by far my favorite one that I've ever read.  (and we have a lot, some dating back to the 60's).   It had all the drivers and all the Indy 500 winners dating back to 1911, plus tons of different facts and articles.  It's really cool, and really thick, so I am still trying to finish reading through it.

The pre-race activities were especially fun this year, too.  The video about the history and progression of the most famous words in motorsport was really neat, and all the old cars and driver legends that they had on the track.  We were in our seat from 8:30 until after Alexander made his victory lap and kissed the bricks because there was constantly something going on to watch!

The day after the race we went back to the Speedway to renew our tickets for next year!

Why we like Indycar

There's lots to love about Indycar racing!

We wanted to share just a few of the things that really stand out to us!

1.  The accessible and friendly drivers and teams

One of our most favorite things about Indycar is the friendly and accessible drivers. Whenever we go to races and happen to see a driver, they are always smiling and interacting with the fans.  The team members are just as friendly.  We even got to do an interview with Krystin Wiggs, the PR for Schmidt Peterson, at Baltimore 2013.

2.  The fan friendly activities at the track. 

We go to the Indy 500, the GP of Indy, and the Pocono 500 every year, and we always are greeted with fun activities to do at the track.  At every race, there is the Indycar Fan Zone.  In the Fan Zone, you can get meet drivers, enter contests for Indycar prizes, buy Indycar merchandise for a friend, and take your kids into the kids zone. Each track also has it's own special mark on the fans.  The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has a Kids Club Kids Zone, where kids can drive in simulators, bounce in bounce houses, and run obstacle courses. 

3.  The open garages for fans to go in.

Most tracks have open garages for the fans to go in with passes.  You can meet drivers, see the cars, and see team members.  When we were at Indy, we saw A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Sam Schmidt and almost all the current drivers.  We also saw the Indy GP race winning car without its paint job!

4. The really cool videos.

There are so many Indycar videos for us to not only watch and see the drivers personalities, but also get to watch them during the offseason.  Here's one of our favorites.

 

   

Our Legends Day at the Indy 500 through Pictures

 

 

Legends Day at the Indy 500 is held the day before the Indianapolis 500.  There are lots of former drivers, winners and old race cars all around the track and a memorabilia show that runs during the day.  The 33 starting drivers sign autographs for an hour in the morning, and later in the day former drivers and winners have an autograph session and the fans line up all throughout the pagoda plaza.

The public drivers meeting is our favorite part, when the starting drivers sit on bleachers facing the fans and the previous year's winner is presented their Baby Borg.  All the drivers are presented their starting drivers rings and the race 'rules' are discussed.

Then the drivers board buses and head downtown for the 500 Festival Parade! 

 



Helio Castroneves car.



 

Hinch always smiling and laughing while signing autographs

Ryan Hunter-Reay signing autographs

The annual public drivers meeting.  Juan Montoya and Roger Penske being presented with their Baby Borgs as the 2015 winning driver and team owner

Our family shot that we get every year by the fountain

Hinchcliffe's pole winning car being pulled out of the garages