Indycar Pocono 500 2016

 
The rain got its hat trick on Sunday, as Pocono Raceway encountered it's third rain delayed race in three tries this season. 
 
Race day:
 Monday was a beautiful, but windy, day as Will Power and his team worked on improving the #12 car all afternoon until he found himself outclassing the field and getting his 4th win in the last six Indycar races.  Polesitter Mikhail Aleshin looked strong all day, but just couldn't catch Power at the end and instead ended the day runner-up (His best Indycar finish ever).

Defending race winner Ryan Hunter Reay started last after a crash in practice, but then flew through the field and into the lead by lap 49.  His car lost power on lap 164 and he coasted around to the pits before he could get it refired.  He went a lap down but a late race caution for debris allowed him to get his lap back.  Once again he charged through the field, passing Josef Newgarden for third on the final lap.  Given a few more laps, he may have had a chance at catching Power. 
 
Power walked away from the Monday race just 20 points back of his teammate Simon Pagenaud in the season championship, after Pagenaud uncharacteristically crashed on Lap 158.

 

 

Had the car & the drive to win today. Unbelievable. Electrical issue shut the car off while leading. Its just been one of those seasons.

— Ryan Hunter-Reay (@RyanHunterReay) August 22, 2016

 

      

 

Top Ten

1. Will Power Closed to within 20 points of leader Simon Pagenaud in the Indycar championship.
2. Mikhail Aleshin  Led the most laps (87) on route to his career best Indycar finish.
3. Ryan Hunter Reay  Came through the field twice to get on the podium.
4. Josef Newgarden Led 15 laps and ran in the Top 3 all day.
5. Sebastien Bourdais  His best finish on an oval since coming back to Indycar.
6. Scott Dixon  Started 19th and led 3 laps.
7. Carlos Munoz  Ran strong all day but faded at the end.
8. Juan Pablo Montoya  His first Top Ten in the last four races.
9. Tony Kanaan  Led 1 lap while finishing where he started.
10. James Hinchcliffe  His best finish in 3 starts at Pocono.


Different Teams: 6   Penske, Schmidt Peterson, Andretti, Ed Carpenter Racing, KV Racing, Ganassi

Different Countries: 8   Australia, Russia, USA(2), France, New Zealand, Columbia (2), Brazil, Canada

It may have been ANOTHER longer than expected weekend, but it was another great race. Congrats @12WillPower pic.twitter.com/RXpLl6P9uf

— The Rain King (@bigdalsky) August 22, 2016

Fun Facts

 

 Average Speed:  180.198 mph

 

 Time: 2 hour 46 Minutes

 

4 Cautions for 20 Laps

 

Fastest Lap:  218.499 by Will Power

 

 

Lead Changes: 29 among 9 drivers

(Mikhail Aleshin, Will Power, Ryan Hunter Reay, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Simon Pagenaud)



So glad to see Helio Castroneves uninjured after a scary pit road accident that left Alexander Rossi driving over his head.

Tributes to Justin Wilson and Bryan Clauson made the weekend special.    We saw so many people wearing Wilson shirts and socks, and watched Conor Daly drive around each lap in that #88 car.  It was sad but really special.

 

 

 

 

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)

 

   

 

 

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

                      

100th Indy 500 Qualifying Day 1

Technically, the first day of qualifying for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 yesterday didn't mean much.  There were no points given out, no money paid, and with only 33 cars trying to fill a field of 33 there was no concern over not being able to make the show.

However, there was the opportunity to make the Fast Nine and have a shot at qualifying on the pole for the Indy 500 next Sunday, and that made it entertaining.

 

 

It was great to be able to watch all of practice or qualifying on the Indycar site or on ESPN3 on our computer and then on ABC and ESPN News.  Sure, we had to switch around a lot, but it was as close as we could get to being there. 

There was rain which switched up the whole schedule and although the teams didn't get as much practice time, they did extend qualifying for an extra hour till 7pm.  That led to cooler temperatures, a faster track and lots of drama of who would get in the Fast Nine. 

With just a few minutes left Marco Andretti bumped out his teammate, Ryan Hunter Reay, who immediately went out and qualified second fastest for the day and bumped Marco back to tenth.  Then, with a second left Mikhail Aleshin got on track as the gun ending qualifying went off, and in his fourth run of the day he was 8th fastest, That bumped another Andretti Autosport car, driven by rookie Alexander Rossi out of the Fast Nine. 

Wow!

 

And the best story of the day, James Hinchcliffe topping the charts with a four lap average of 230.946!

 

 

Going for the Pole

for the 100 Running of the Indianapolis 500

(it would be the first Indy 500 pole for 8 of the 9 drivers. 

Helio will be going for his 5th)

 

1.  James Hinchcliffe - A great story if he wins the pole after nearly losing his life practicing for the Indy 500 last year.

2.  Ryan Hunter Reay - The 2014 winner would look good on the pole this year.

3.  Will Power - With 43 career Indycar poles it's hard to believe he has never won the pole for the 500.

4.  Helio Castroneves - Would be great to see him go for his 4th Indy 500 win starting from his 5th pole.

5.  Townsend Bell - Indy 500 only driver, how super if he could win the pole.

6.  Josef Newgarden -  In his fifth Indy 500 it would be fantastic to see our family's favorite drive sit on pole.

7.  Mikhail Aleshin - Arguably the most exciting qualifier yesterday sliding his car through the corners it'll be great to see what he can do going for the pole.

8.  Carlos Munoz - the youngest driver going for the pole, has been exciting at Indy since finishing second his rookie year in 2013

9.  Simon Pagenaud - Has won the last 2 poles this season, will he continue his win streak.

 

GP of Indianapolis 2016

The third running of the Indianapolis GP started similar to the previous two with a crash in Turn One.

Tony Kanaan and Sebastian Bourdais got together and luckily everyone else got through fine.

And similar to the previous two Indycar races this season,
Simon Pagenaud won the race.
 

1.  Simon Pagenaud   Won his second pole in a row and sits comfortable atop the season points standings with 3 wins and 2 seconds in five races.

2.  Helio Castroneves   His highest finish of the season heading into his attempt to join the Four Time Winners Club at the Indy 500.

3.  James Hinchcliffe   A fantastic drive for his first podium since his near fatal practice accident at Indy last year.

4.  Graham Rahal    His third Top 5 of the season.  Sits 5th in season points standings.

5.  Charlie Kimball    Consistency.   His third 5th place finish at five Indy GP

6.  Conor Daly   Passed Helio to lead 14 laps mid race!  Ran out of 'Push to Passes' and fell a few spots at the end.

7.  Scott Dixon    His highest finish at the IMS road course.

8.  Juan Pablo Montoya  His fifth Top 10 of the season has him 3rd in the points.

9.  Ryan Hunter Reay  A decent run, he sits 9th in points.

10.  Alexander Rossi  Had the fastest race lap at 126.240 mph.  His best Indycar finish. 

Different Teams: 6 (Penske, RLL, Dale Coyne Racing, Andretti, Schmidt, Ganassi)

Different Countries: 6 (France, USA, Colombia, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand)

 

Fun Facts

 

 Lead Changes among Drivers: 7

Different Race Leaders: 5

Average Speed: 108.784

Fastest Lap 126.240

Penalties: 6

5 Americans finished in the Top 10
We loved seeing Conor Daly lead laps in the race.

Next Up
INDY 500 !!!


 

 

Indycar GP of Alabama 2016

Simon Pagenaud earned his second win in a row, holding off Graham Rahal and a charging Josef Newgarden for the win at Barber Motorsports Park.

 Honda GP of Alabama TOP 10

1. Simon Pagenaud :  Fantastic start to the season with 2 wins and two seconds

2. Graham Rahal: Had an impressive run. Finished second for the second year in a row at Barber

3. Josef Newgarden:  His fourth top ten in 5 starts at the track.

4. Will Power: Moves to a solid 7th in points after the DNS at St Pete 

5. Juan Montoya: Biggest mover of the race after starting last.

6. James Hinchcliffe: Strong and steady the entire race after starting 8th.

7. Helio Castroneves: Is 4th in season points despite a rather slow start to his season.

8. Tony Kanaan:  His best finish at Barber since 6th in 2011

9. Charlie Kimball:  Finishes of 9th, 10th 11th & 12th this year have him 11th in points.

10.  Scott Dixon: The first time in 7 races at Barber that he didn't finish on the podium.

 

Different Teams: 5 (Penske, RLL, ECR, Schmidt, Ganassi)

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

 

 

Fun Facts

 

 Lead Changes among 2 Drivers

Different Race Leaders: Simon Pagenaud, Graham Rahal

Average Speed: 114.254

Fastest Lap 120.958

Penalties: 2

Sebastian Bourdais drive thru for avoidable contact on Lap 5

Charlie Kimball had to give up a position for blocking on Lap 13

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT UP:

THE MONTH OF MAY!!!!!!!!

GP of Indianapolis

Saturday, May 14

Long Beach Indycar 2016

Minimal Passing
A Caution-free Race
and a Controversial 'non-call'
gave Simon Pagenaud his first win driving for Roger Penske.



We really like Simon Pagenaud, and we don't know how many others drivers may have cut across the yellow line at the end of the pits but Scott Dixon lost the race when Simon Pagenaud did it and didn't get penalized.

GP of Long Beach TOP 10

1. Simon Pagenaud : After over a year of trying, and runner up finishes in the first two races of the season, he finally gets a win for Roger Penske.

2. Scott Dixon: Very disappointed with second, but still off to a super start this season.

3. Helio Castroneves: Sat on pole and led the most laps but just wasn't his day in the end.

4. Juan Montoya: His fourth Top 5 in five starts at Long Beach

5. Takuma Sato:  Highest finishing Honda and put on a great show trying to finish fourth.

6. Tony Kanaan:  A win at Long Beach still eludes him.

7. Will Power:  Climbed to eighth in points despite missing the first race of the season.

8. James Hinchcliffe:  Started 7th for his 3rd Top Ten in 6 starts at Long Beach.

9. Sebastien Bourdais:  Biggest mover of the race after starting 14th.

10. Josef Newgarden:  A problem in the pits cost him a few positions.  Started 9th.

 

Different Teams: 6 (Penske, Ganassi, ECR, KV, Schmidt, AJ Foyt)

Different Countries: 8 (France, New Zealand, Brazil, Columbia, Japan, Australia, Canada, USA)

 

 

Fun Facts

 

6 Lead Changes among
4 Different Race Leaders

Average Speed: 100.592 (the fastest in Long Beach history)
Fastest Lap 104.702 by Charlie Kimball

Thoughts
Helio did a great job grabbing the pole after Will Power went into the runoff area during the Firestone Fast Six

It was fun to watch Takuma Sato making a run up the field and trying desperately (albeit unsuccessfully) to pass Juan Montoya for fourth in the last few laps

Great to see Simon Pagenaud still leading the points after a win and two second place finishes this season.  Things are certainly clicking for him at Team Penske after a rough 2015 season.

NEXT UP:
Grand Prix of Alabama
at Barber Motorsports Park

 

 

Josef Newgarden Update Phoenix 2016

 

Josef finished a strong 6th at Phoenix

even though he had to come from the back of the field twice!!

 

image from motorsport.com

 

Josef had such a strong car, and after starting 7th he probably could've easily had a top three if not for an early fueling problem in the pits, and then a bad move by Charlie Kimball that forced him to make an extra pit stop.

  

 

 

Next up Long Beach where Josef has had some pretty good runs despite having only one top 10 in his previous 4 races there. 
Most notably when he was leading the race in 2014 before contact with Ryan Hunter Reay put both of them out.


Cant' wait!!!
Go Josef!!!
post by Alexandra, Age 8

 

Indycar at Phoenix 2016

 

In the first race at Phoenix Raceway for Indycar since 2005, Scott Dixon led the action packed race for his 39th career Indycar win, tying for third with Al Unser Sr. on the All-Time Indycar wins list.

As the green flag dropped at Phoenix Raceway for the Verizon Indycar Series return, pole sitter Helio Castroneves took the early lead, leading the first 39 laps.  Castroneves surrendered the lead on lap 40 to fellow Penske teammate Juan Montoya when his right front tire went down.  Montoya then held control until lap 95, when his right front tire also went down, giving the lead to Scott Dixon, who took it all the way to victory lane.  

 

Huge night for @CGRTeams first win for us at @phoenixraceway can't thank the team enough.… https://t.co/nKWrJXPJyf

— Scott Dixon (@scottdixon9) April 3, 2016

Phoenix Grand Prix TOP 10

1. Scott Dixon: His 39th Indycar win, tying Al Unser Sr. for third on the all time wins list

2. Simon Pagenaud: Takes over the points lead with 2nd place finishes at St Pete and PIR

3. Will Power: Solid start to his season after missing the first race at St Pete.

4.Tony Kanaan: One of only 2 drivers in the race to have previously won at Phoenix.

5. Graham Rahal:  Highest finishing Honda. (sounds familiar to a lot of races last year.)

6. Josef Newgarden:  A good finish considering A rough pit stop and an incident on track with Charlie Kimball were major setbacks.

7. Max Chilton:  Highest finishing rookie in his first ever oval race. 

8. Sebastien Bourdais:  A good finish considering he hit the wall midway through the race.

9. Juan Montoya:  Had a tire go down while leading and never got back up front.

10. Ryan Hunter-Reay:  Some phenomenal passing had him towards the front but some equally crazy bad luck on two yellows left him in a disappointing 10th place.

 

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

Different Countries: 7 (New Zealand, France, Australia, Brazil, US, England, Columbia)

 

 

Fun Facts

 

Cautions: 6

Caution Laps: 46

Lead Changes: 3

Leaders: 3

Average Speed: 139.822

 

 

Next race.  April 17th at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama

Next oval race.....

The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500!!!!!!  May 29th!



 

GP of St. Pete 2016 Indycar

The 2016 Indycar Season has begun

in a replay of the 2015 season

with Juan Pablo Montoya winning

the GP of St. Petersburg!
Giving Team Penske it's 8th win at the season opening street course.

 

 

 

Will Power suffered a wreck in practice Friday then went out to qualify on Saturday feeling quite ill, and still managed to set a new track record and qualify for his 34th career pole!

 

Unfortunately, Power was too sick to race on Sunday and was diagnosed with a mild concussion (although after extensive testing they found he didn't have a concussion.)  Oriol Servia filled in on very short notice, joking that he had waited 15 years to drive for Roger Penske and he had hoped to have a little practice in the car before the race.  Oriol finished 18th.

At the start of the race, Simon Pagenaud led for almost half the race, and then at around lap 57, a multi-car wreck happened and a caution brought strategy into play.  After more cautions, the lead gave way to rookie Conor Daly, who then led 15 laps, only to be passed on a restart by Juan Montoya, which ultimately decided the race.  A Penske 1-2-3 sweep was broken up when Ryan Hunter-Reay passed Helio Castroneves near the final 5 laps, giving a podium and a great season opener to Honda and Andretti Autosport.  Juan Montoya took his 2nd consecutive win at St Pete.  Can he repeat his success from last season, but this time win the championship?

 

The Top Ten

(At the end of the race, there were only 10 drivers on the lead lap.)

 

1. Juan Montoya: 2nd career St Pete win

2. Simon Pagenaud:  Led 48 of 110 laps and almost had the pole.

3. Ryan Hunter-Reay: Highest finishing Honda, American, and Andretti driver

4. Helio Castroneves: His 5th Top 5 in last 5 races at St. Pete

5. Mikael Aleshin: First race since his crash at Fontana in 2014

6. Takuma Sato: Best finish at St Pete since 2011

7. Scott Dixon:  A win at St. Pete still eludes him but he finished 15th last year so can an even better start to the season lead to another championship?

8. Carlos Munoz: Gives Andretti Autosport  two top-ten finishes to start the year

9. Tony Kanaan: 11th top ten in 12 starts at St Pete.

10. Charlie Kimball: 2nd top ten at St Pete

 

 

In the Top Ten

 

---5 different teams---

 

-Team Penske (3)

-Andretti Autosport (2)

-Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

-AJ Foyt Racing 

-Target Chip Ganassi (3)

 

---7 different countries represented---

-Colombia (2)

-France

-USA (2)

- Brazil (2)

Russia

Japan

New Zealand

 

---5 Chevys & 4 Hondas

 

Race Stuff

2 Cautions (tied record for lowest number at St. Pete)

16 laps under yellow

4 different race leaders

Average Race Speed 89.006 mph

2.3306 Margin of Victory

Highest Finishing Rookie Alexander Rossi in 12th

 

Disappointments

 

Tough way to start the season for Will Power, but it will be fun to see if he can make a comeback and still run for the Championship.

 

Great to see James Hinchcliffe back in an Indycar but hated to see him have trouble on the first lap and never have a chance to contend.  (he finished 19th).

 

Although Conor Daly led 15 laps near mid race, he ended up finishing13th.

 

and we would be remiss to not mention that our Alexandra's very favorite driver, Josef Newgarden suffered electrical issues and finished.......Last.  (it was a very sad day for her). 

But, at least he had the fastest lap  of the race 104.129 mph on the 42nd lap!

 

Indycar 2016 in FOUR DAYS!!!

4 DAYS and COUNTING

till the Firestone GP of St. Pete!!

Eleven Different Countries will be represented

when the green flag drops on the 2016 Indycar Season in St. Petersburg, Florida this Sunday. 

 

Drivers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, England, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and Russia will join 8 Americans on the starting grid.

 

Four rookies and 7 Indycar champions will be in the field of 22.

 

Team Penske has all of it's four 2015 drivers returning. 

Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power.

 

Ganassi Racing's veterans

Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball will be joined by 2015 F1 driver Max Chilton.

 

Andretti Autosport will also field three of their drivers from 2015.  Marco Andretti, Carlos Munoz and Ryan Hunter Reay.  They will be joined by F1 driver Alexander Rossi in a car co-owned by Bryan Herta.

 

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports will feature

James Hinchcliffe, finally back from his vicious crash at Indy last year,

and Mikhail Aleshin, who previously drove for Schmidt in 2014.

 

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will run

Graham Rahal and 2015 Indy Lights Champion Spencer Pigot.

 

AJ Foyt will feature his 2015 drivers

Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth

 

Dale Coyne Racing has

Conor Daly, finally getting his chance at a full time Indycar ride, and Luca Filippi.

 

KVSH Racing driver

Sebastien Bourdais will return for 2016

 

and

the reincarnation of Ed Carpenter Racing is back with

Josef Newgarden in his 5th year in the Indycar Series.

Gotta hand it to Graham Rahal for constantly promoting the race

Yep, my daily reminder again. For those not attending, the @GPSTPETE will air on @ABC @ 12:30 ET THIS SUNDAY! Make sure to tune in! @indycar

— Graham Rahal (@GrahamRahal) March 8, 2016

Can't wait to get the season started!!! 

 

Indycar 2016 starts in 8 Days!!!

8 DAYS

till the start of the

INDYCAR SEASON

and

We couldn't be happier...

Well actually, we could be if we were going to be at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Pete next weekend, because who wouldn't rather be there in person (and not just because it's 35 degrees here in Pennsylvania right now).

 

So much has happened in the offseason with drivers and teams and testing, and although we have watched it all, we have neglected to post in quite a long time.

But we're back!

 

So we're excited to see the new crop of 'rookies' this year
including Max Chilton and Alexander Rossi from F1.
Spencer Pigot was fun to watch on his way to winning the Indylights title in 2015 and Conor Daly was one of our favorites filling in for Hinch last year.

That said, we would have really, really loved to see our hometown guy, Sage Karam, in a ride for the full season.
Gabby Chaves did good in his rookie year in 2015 and we would've liked to find out just how well he could've done this year.  But hopefully we'll at least see both of them at Indy.

Sage Karam and Gabby Chaves signing autographs at Robopong. Sept. 2015

 

2016 Indycar Schedule

Finally the 2016 Indycar schedule has been announced!

Phoenix, Boston, Road America added to the scheduled and we're excited that our hometown track at Pocono will return for the fourth year in a row.

Teams will be testing at Phoenix in February in anticipation for their first race there in several years. 

Tony Kanaan and Graham Rahal already did some Firestone tire testing at Phoenix in October.

.@GrahamRahal is testing @IndyCar tires today for @FirestoneRacing at @PhoenixRaceway. #indycar2016 pic.twitter.com/N7TX3WL4m3

— RLL Racing (@RLLracing) October 20, 2015

 

 

 

With 5 Road  Courses, 5 Street Courses and 5 Ovals in 2016 it should be another fun season showcasing the diverse driving skills of the Indycar Series drivers. 

 

Sure, we'd like to see a few more races in there, and yes, we'd like the season to go on into October like it used to, and we'll definitely miss Milwaukee and Fontana,

but there's lots of great racing to look forward to in 2016.