2018 GP of Indianapolis

Will Power dominated the GP of Indianapolis to win it for the second time in three years and earn the 30th Indycar win of his career!

 2018 Indycar GP

Polesitter:  Will Power

TOP 10 Finishers

1. Will Power: 

2. Scott Dixon:

3. Robert Wickens:

4. Sebastien Bourdais: 

5. Alexander Rossi:
6. Helio Castroneves:

7. James Hinchcliffe:

8. Simon Pagenuad:

9. Graham Rahal:

10. Takuma Sato:

Different Teams:  6:  Penske (3), Ganassi (1), Schmidt Peterson (2), Andretti Autosports (1), Dale Coyne (1), RLL (2)

Different Countries 7:  Australia, New Zealand, Canada (2), USA (2), France (2), Brazil, Japan

 3 Chevys and 7 Hondas

FUN FACTS: 
Time: 1:49:46
Most Improved: 16 by Scott Dixon
9 Lead Changes among 7 Drivers

Average Speed: 113.318 mph
Passes: 214
Positions:190
Cautions: 2 for 8 laps (Newgarden spin in turn 12, Pigot and Pagenaud contact in turn 2)
 Fastest Lap: 124.423 mph on lap 15 by Scott Dixon

Penalties: 1 (Spencer Pigot avoidable contact on lap 6)

Indycar Test Drive videos

The 2017 Indycar season is about to start!!!!

Yay!

If you want to get caught up with some of your favorite drivers before the green flag drops in St. Petersburg, FL check out some funny Indycar videos.

Indycar drivers were asked questions for Indycar Test Drive.  Find out some interesting facts and see which driver can name the most Indy 500 winners and Indycar past champs.

 

1. Josef Newgarden
2. Simon Pagenaud
3. James Hinchcliffe
4. Conor Daly
5. Ed Carpenter
6. Will Power
7. Tony Kanaan
8. Scott Dixon
9. Graham Rahal
10. Ryan Hunter Reay
11. Alexander Rossi
12. Marco Andretti
13. Helio Castroneves
14. JR Hildebrand
15. Ed Jones

posted by Alexandra (age 9)

2017 Phoenix Testing

The Indycar season officially starts in two weeks, but the Indycars were on track testing on February 10th and the 11th at Phoenix International Raceway.

Twenty one Indycar drivers took to the track for four 3 hour sessions during the weekend. Each driver was limited to 6 sets of  tires over the two days. They ran over 5000 laps in their 12 hours on track during Friday and Saturday afternoon and night. 
  
JR Hildebrand, running in his first full Indycar season since 2012, led the way with a best lap of 193.234.  Second fastest for the weekend was his teammate and car owner Ed Carpenter and third quickest was Penske's newest driver Josef Newgarden.

Josef Newgarden and Dale Coyne's Sebastien Bourdais were the only two drivers in the Top Ten in all four sessions.

   

Two days of on-track testing for 21 Verizon IndyCar Series drivers and teams were literally like day and night. https://t.co/HzYpNRJzPZ

— IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) February 12, 2017

  

 

To get your Indycar 'fix' and catch all the track action at Phoenix you can check out the full practice sessions on the Indycar You Tube channel.

1985 Indy 500 Program Excerpts

25 DAYS till the 100th INDY 500!!!

With the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 just a few weeks away, we've been having fun going through some old programs and thought we'd share some of our favorite pages from a few of them each day.

1985
The 69th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing was
won by Danny Sullivan and forever known for his spin and win.   Sullivan spun while leading, which was amazing, but Mario Andretti did an equally fantastic job of not hitting Sullivan and taking them both out.  Unfortunately, Sullivan was able to get back around Mario and our mom and pappy were disappointed their favorite driver missed out on another win.

1985 Program Cover
(and it only cost $4)

 

 

We always love A.J.
 

 

                                                    

Some of the rookies in 1985,

including one future 500 winner, and two drivers who never made the race.

 

                                                                      

and Disney....

 10 years before the Disney World Speedway was built.

 

 

   

25 more days till the Indy 500!!!

 

 

 

 

 

The Indy Family Foundation

Check out this cool charity!!

 

Name: The Indy Family Foundation

Goal: To work together to help people in motorsports who have financial problems from an injury, sickness, or death. 

Who they help: Race car drivers, crew members, course workers, public relations, media , team owners, their family, and more.

Why is this really great?

* They help people involved in motorsports who really need some help.

* They have lots of fun stuff that they do to raise money for people.  Like bowling tournaments, golf outings and drivers Simon Pagenaud and Tristan Vautier 'sumo wrestling' at their street festival in Speedway last year.

 

Okay, know that you know who they are, go check out their great website,

 'Indy Family Foundation'!

 

 

 

P.S.  Josef is 2nd to the left. (Alex wanted to make sure you noticed him)

Plus there's some other great drivers who support the charity pictured, like Conor Daly, James Hinchcliffe, Zach Veach Graham Rahal, Martin Plowman and Simon Pagenaud

 

 

Rolex 24 at Daytona

The Rolex 24 at Daytona

Ok, so we had this post done, and then got caught up in snow shoveling and snow shoveling and more snow shoveling. And yes, we did play in the snow too, but then we got sick...and so our posting stopped for a while even though we've been watching all the happenings at Daytona and following along all the Indycar happenings.
So we're back, and even though this post is a few weeks old we thought we'd post it anyway.

 

What a great race!!

 

Here's why we think it was a great race:

 

* It had lots of passing.

 

* It looked really cool in the dark.

 

* It was especially neat because there were different drivers in the same car.

 

* It had a ton of cars so there was always action everywhere.

 

* The Indycar drivers did really good!

 

 

Here's the places they got:

 

Sebastien Bourdais = 1st

 

Simon Pagenaud = 11th

 

Ryan-Hunter-Reay = 12th

 

Graham Rahal = 14th

 

Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan = 15th

 

Mikhail Aleshin = 21st

 

Sage Karam = 43rd

 

Justin Wilson = 47th

 

James Davidson = 48th

 

Tristan Vautier = 56th

 

James Hinchcliffe = 57th

 

Conor Daly and Alex Tagliani = 58th

 

Gabby Chaves = 61st

 

Sebastian Saavedra and EJ Viso = 62nd

 

 

 

Can't wait for next years race!

 

 

IndyCar Season Countdown 62 Days

62 more days till the Indycar season starts!

 

In 1962 Parnelli Jones broke the record of 150 MPH
at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

 



Parnelli Jones with car owner J.C. Agajanian and crew after breaking the 150 mile per hour barrier during qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1962.

Rolex 24 at Daytona

 

Can't wait for the start of the 24 hours of Daytona tomorrow!

 We always love to watch it, but this year it's even better!  Their are 30 drivers who have started at least one Indycar race!

 

 

By the numbers:

 

 

30 Drivers who have started at least one Indycar race (Count Sage Karam you have 31)

 

16 Drivers who have won at least one Indycar race

 

10 Current Indycar drivers

 

5 Indycar drivers who have won the Izod Indycar series before

 

3 Indycar drivers who have won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona before
 

 

 

 The Indycar drivers who are racing in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona are:

 

Ryan Hunter-Reay

Sebastien Bourdais

Scott Dixon

Tony Kanaan

Justin Wilson

Conor Daly

Alex Tagliani

Graham Rahal

James Hinchcliffe

Tristan Vautier

Ryan Briscoe

Sebastian Saavedra
Mikhail Aleshin
James Davison
Katherine Legge
A.J. Allmendinger
Townsend Bell
 

 

The Indy Lights drivers:

 

Gabby Chaves

Sage Karam
Gustavo Yacaman
 

 

Former Indycar drivers:

 

 Bruno Junqueira

Scott Sharp
Scott Pruett

 

 

The drivers who have won an Indycar title:

Scott Sharp (Indycar 1996)

Scott Dixon (Indycar 2003, 2008, 2013)

Tony Kanaan (Indycar 2004)

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Indycar 2012)

Sebastien Bourdais (Champ Car 2004, 2007)
 

 

The Indycar drivers who have won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona before:

Justin Wilson (2012)
Graham Rahal (2011)
Scott Dixon (2006)

That's a lot!
 

 

 

 Catch the Action

 

Saturday, Jan. 25    

2-4 p.m. ET on FOX

 4-9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2

 

Overnight (Jan. 25-26)
9 p.m. – 7 a.m. ET on IMSA.com

 

Sunday, Jan. 26
7 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1





 

 

'Tales from the Indianapolis 500' book

 

 

Tales from the Indianapolis 500
A collection of the greatest Indy 500 stories ever told.

Our Moms late Christmas present, but we got to read it before her.

 

Reasons why you should read it:

 



* It's about Indycar!! (okay, you know that)

 

* It has many first hand short stories of dozens of different drivers on and off the track!

 

* A true 'behind the scenes' look at the Indianapolis 500 over the course of several decades

 

* It has great pictures (Thanks to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway)

  

* It has stories including pit crew guys, team owners, drivers, other media people, and more!

 

* A.J. Foyt liked it and says you should get it. (He wrote the forward for the book.)

 

 

We gave the book back to our mom now.

Since it was technically her gift we thought we ought to let her read it now. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indycar Christmas Gifts

 

Great Christmas!

This Indycar stuff is just what we wanted!!
Five more Indycar things to add to our endless collection...

 

 

Dario Franchitti car!

A 2013 Indy 500 shirt.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway hat that Alex is wearing constantly.

Alex's 'Josef' mug, which she won't drink out of because she doesn't want to ruin it. 

And Alex's special delivery Indycar game featuring who else but Josef.  She's very happy.

Note to mom and dad.
Noticeably missing from our gifts, tickets to the GP of Indy.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and got lots of neat Indycar stuff too!

 

12 Days of Christmas Indycar Edition

 

It's Christmastime
 

but everything still reminds us of Indycar

 

so we changed the '12 Days of Christmas' song 

just a little bit.

 

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

 

 

Indycar Calendar for Charity

 

You might have a dog or flower calendar hanging on your wall, but do you have a 2014 Indycar calendar yet? 

 

Well, now is your chance to get one and
help out some great charities!

 

 

Great, huh?
So hurry and get some for all your Indycar-loving friends!!

Go to the Indycar 2014 Wall Calendar site to learn more. 

* It has images of the teams pit crew, drivers, cars and more!

* It has a ton of useful information about the teams

* It comes with a cool super-cool poster with all the drivers from the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500!

* You can start a collection of these awesome calendars

* You can bring one to races to get it signed by all the drivers

* You'll be supporting four Indy-related charities!
   1. Racing For Cancer
   2. Indy Family Foundation
   3. Racing For Kids
   4. Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation

 Santa, we want this for Christmas!!

 

Go to the Indycar 2014 Wall Calendar site to learn more.





 

Indycar Offseason News #2

 

Indycar Offseason #2!!!

 

Lets begin.

 

*  2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kannan's image was unveiled on the Borg Warner trophy on Dec. 2nd.

 *  Paul Page, chief radio announcer for IMS Radio Network from 1977 to'87, will return to that position in 2014.  Our mom is excited about that.

 

*  Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal had a Tricycle Showdown on the Pat McCarthy show.   (It starts at the 6 minute point in the video.)  Very funny....and you can probably guess we've watched it many times since it has Josef in it.
 

*  The 2014 Indycar tv schedule was released and the great news is that their will be more Month of May of network tv in 2014!

*  Sebring Raceway in Florida has been busy the past few weeks with teams testing for 2014.  Ganassi racing was there this week with Alex Tagliani filling in in the #10 car.  Prior to Thanksgiving Penske Racing tested there including their new driver Juan Pablo Montoya.   Andretti Autosport, Dale Coyne Racing and RLL drivers have also tested there in recent weeks.
And to keep Alexandra happy we need to mention that Josef will be testing there on Dec. 18th and 19th with Sarah Fisher Hartman racing.

 



Indycar Offseason News #1

While we've been busy with school, there's been lots happening in Indycar.

Indycar News!...

 

 

Here's some of the news for the offseason

*  One of our favorite drivers, Dario Fran'kitty' has retired due to injuries from his last lap crash in Houston race #2.  We sure hope we'll still see him around the races.  Gonna miss rooting for him to win his fourth Indy 500 next May.

*  Paving of  the new road racing surface for the Indy GP was finished this month.  Can't wait to go to Indy and see it!

*  Indy 500 Rookie of the Year and 2nd place finisher, Carlos Munoz has officially signed with Andretti Autosport for the 2014 season, and is testing at Sebring this week.

*  The inaugural Dan Wheldon Pro-Am Karting Challenge raised over $100,000 for the Alzheimers Association in October!

*  'Turbo' is now on DVD!!!  Didn't get ours yet, hoping for Santa to bring it.  (or mom)

*  Zach Veach receives the Firestone Indy Light KeyBank Community Leader Award
  for his participation in STEM, Racing for Cancer, No Bull(anti-bully), and Miles Ahead.

*  Ed Carpenter Racing signed Mike Conway (2013 Detroit race #1 winner) for 2014.   Carpenter will now only be racing on ovals for the 2014 season, while Mike Conway will race the road/street courses.

*  Josef Newgarden (wearing his shiny 'Strike' racing suit) teamed with Mark Dismore, Jr. to win the 10th annual Robo Pong endurance Karting event at New Castle.

Dan Wheldon Memorial Karting Challenge

 

It times like this when we wish we lived a little bit (like 500 miles) closer to Indiana.

This Saturday at New Castle Motorsports Park is the

inaugural Dan Wheldon Memorial Karting Challenge. 

It's a two hour race to benefit Alzheimers

and will feature lots of our favorite Indycar and Indy Lights drivers.

 

James Hinchcliffe, Ed Carpenter, Tristan Vautier, Sage Karam, Zach Veach and many others will be participating. 

(Oh yes, Josef will be there too so Alex really, really wants to go.)

Also, some of Dan Wheldon's family will be competing.
 

 

The race is part of the 10th annual RoboPong 200 race weekend (Dan Wheldon won the race in 2005).

Sunday's '200' race will feature several additional drivers such as Will Power and Simona De Silvestro.

 

The best part.

Both races are free and will offer a ton of great racing.

 

 

Indycar End of Season

 

 

Will Power wins his third race of the season.

 

Scott Dixon wins his third Indycar Championship.

 

Only 8 cars finish the race due to accidents, blown engines and who knows what else.

 

It was exciting!

 

Carlos Munoz won the Indy Lights race and

 

18 year old Sage Karam won the Indy Lights Championship

in his rookie season.

 

Can't wait till next season!

Indycar Leading up to Fontana.

The final race of the season is a day away and lots of stuff is going on in Indycar.
 

 

* Dario Franchitti had a second surgery on his ankle to repair it after his Houston crash.

 

* Alex Tagliani is filling in for Dario at the season finale this weekend at Fontana.

 

* Chip Ganassi Racing is switching to Chevy power for the 2014 season and rumor has it Andretti will switch to Honda.

 

* Tony Kanaan has signed a multi-year deal with Chip Ganassi for the fourth Ganassi car.

 

* Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon will both be going for 250,000 dollar bonus from the Fuzzys Triple Crown at Fontana

 

*  Sebastian Bourdais has signed with KV Racing for 2014 and Simona DeSilvestro could be headed to another team.

 

*  Carlos Munoz will be filling in for E.J. Viso for the season finale.

 

*  In addition to the Indycar Championship being decided between Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon,  The Indy Lights Champion will be crowned.  Will it be Sage Karam or Gabby Chaves???

 

 

 

 

Don't miss the MAVTV 500 Saturday on NBC Sports at 8:00 EST.

 

Qualifying will air Friday at 7:00 EST on NBC Sports

Indycar Championship

We're conflicted...

 

Not sure who we'd like to see win the Indycar Championship in 2013

 

 

One thing we're sure of is we're thrilled it's coming down to the final race for the 8th year in a row!

 

Reasons we'd like to see Helio win.
 
*   Although he has 3 Indy 500 wins he has never won the season championship
 
*  Team Penske has 12 Championships, but hasn't won the the season since 2006 with Sam Hornish
 
*  At 38 years old Helio may not be racing too many more years
 
*  Helio seems super nice and funny
 
*  The Indycar Championship trophy would look good setting next to his Mirror Ball Trophy from Dancing with the Stars

*  He had completed all the laps this season until one really really bad weekend in Houston that unfortunately, for him, had two races.



 Reasons we'd like to see Dixon win.

*   It's been five years again since he's won the championship so he's due for another championship ('03, 08)

*  He's won four races this year.

*  After Ryan Hunter Reay (Andretti Autosport) won the Championship last year, Ganassi wants to get back to winning Indycar every year like he did from 2008-2011.

*  Every other year he has won, he has beaten Helio and it was decided in the final race.

*  His two little girls will look really cute on Championship photos.

GOOD LUCK HELIO & SCOTT!

We're looking forward to the excitement!

PS Alex isn't conflicted....she just wants Josef to win the race....nothing else matters.

 

We want to go to the GP of Indy!

Do we want to go to the Grand Prix of Indy?

What a silly question! Of course we do!
 

 

Why do we want to go?
 

You might want to sit down for that one, it might take a while.

 

1.  If it's half as good as the Indy 500, it will be a race worth remembering!

2.  We can't wait to see the Indycars driving the 'wrong way' on the IMS track.

3.  The Month Of May is back!!!

4.  We love road/street courses!

(Big breath)

5.  Josef is in it!! (Alex made us put that)

6. All the Mazda Road to Indy Series will be competing that weekend.  Lots of racing is always good!

7. 2.4 Miles.  14 Turns.  Very Cool!

8.  It will be the first GP of Indy ever, and we want to be there to see history made

(Big breath)

9.  More time to run around one of our favorite places in the world.  The Indianapolis Motor Speedway!

10.  We bet there'll be a ton of action, just the way we like it.

11.  We want to extend our annual Indy 500 trip to two weeks and get to see two Indycar races and Indy 500 qualifying for the first time!

12.  We want another chance to do a race countdown.

13.  It's a lot more fun than doing schoolwork those days (but don't worry, Mom and Dad, we learn lots of math and science while we're there)

(Big breath)

14.  It's something to tweet, blog and video about

15.  Josef is in it!! (um, please excuse the repetition, but Josef is the reason Alex wants to go to/watch any Indycar race)

16.  We can get more Indy stuff when we're there!

17.  Well, don't you want to go?

And that is why we want to go to the first ever, Grand Prix of Indianapolis!

Grand Prix of Houston

 

We Went camping at Assateauge Island for a few days, but

even that didn't keep us away from Indycar. 

Luckily we could get twitter feeds on our phone and followed the races that way.

 

As soon as we got back yesterday we watched the races on dvr. 

Here's what we thought.

 

*  Super scary crash for Dario.  Glad that he will be ok and the fans were ok too. 

*  Good to see the championship get close on Saturday, but felt bad for Helio Sunday with another terrible day.  Hopefully he makes it's a close finish in Fontana.

*  Really cool that Simona got her first podium in Race 1.  She was so excited and Tony Kanaan seemed just as happy for her.

*  Need we mention that Alex was excited Josef finished 5th on Saturday.  She was not nearly as happy Sunday after he had to do a drive thru penalty with a few laps to go.