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)

Our Carb Day through Pictures

We saw Arie Luyendyk (winner of the Indy 500 in 1990 & 1997)signing autographs outside the car inspection tent.  We were going to get our photo taken with him, but then Josef walked past and we got sidetracked.

Alex is happy because we got to see Josef's car close up and take good pictures.  She was even happier when she got to see and talk to him (and get a hug) on Legends Day.

We saw Sam Schmidt's specially designed car
(he drives it using just his mouth and head motions)

Alex is three weeks too young to go into the garages,
so she stood outside the fence, longingly gazing in at the action.

We got to see a steering wheel in the car. 
I guess drivers have to memorize which buttons do what...



This tires used in this years Indy 500 had the names of the previous 99 Indy 500 winners all around it's edge.
Very cool.

Sage Karam Indy 500 Rookie

Sage Karam is a rookie in the Indy 500.
He won the Indy Lights championship in 2013.

He will start 31st in his first Indycar race.

Pretty neat watching them work on the car on the opening day of 500 practice.

It's really cool that we have two local guys,

Sage and Marco Andretti,

running in the Indy 500 because it means there are more Indycar articles in our newspaper!



 

On track Indy 500 Opening Day Practice.



In the pits getting ready to complete his Rookie Orientation Program.

 

Thanks Sage for getting a picture with us!


GOOD LUCK in the INDY 500 SAGE!!!
We'll be there rooting for you.

 

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!

 

 

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





 

 

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 #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.

 

 

News Flash

Thumbs up:
* Glad to see that J.R Hildebrand will be driving the number 98 Barracuda Racing car at Sonoma and Fontana.  It'll be his first start since the Indy 500.

* For the first time since his breaking his wrist at Toronto, Ryan Briscoe is back in the #4 Panther Racing car for Sonoma.



Thumbs Down:
* Indycar points leader, Helio Castroneves crashed in Brazil while practicing in a stock car and cut his leg, and had reported back and neck pains. Luckily he will still be able to race at Sonoma.

* We'll miss seeing Alex Tagliani in the 98 car.

Pocono at Indycar Media day

In the three week lull of no Indycar races we like to watch some of our favorite driver videos.

At the pre-season Indycar media day in March, Brandon Igdalsky, CEO of Pocono Speedway interviewed drivers.

He asked some in depth questions such as:

"What's the biggest bug you've ever hit?"

and

"Do you know what all the buttons in the cars do?"

 

Pocono at Indycar Media Day #1

Power of 2 Charity Campaign

Alex Tagliani and Scott Dixon

are raising money for charities

with the Power of 2. 

The power of 2 is a fun way for two Indycar drivers to raise money for a charity they support. 

 * Alex Tagliani is raising money for Anaphylaxis Canada 

*  Scott Dixon is raising for CanTeen which helps young people living with cancer.

Three in a Row for Dixon!

* Dixon gets his 32nd Indycar win for seventh on the all time list behind AJ Foyt, 2 Andretti's (Mario & Michael) and 3 Unser's (Al, Bobby and Al Jr.)...not bad company.

*  Sebastien Bourdais continued his great weekend with another podium finish...and didn't break the trophy this time.

*  Helio Castroneves finished 2nd to keep a comfortable 29 point lead over Dixon who jumped to second place in the season standings with his recent wins.

*  Top Five.  Dixon, Helio, Bourdais, Franchitti, and EJ Viso

1971 Pocono Schaeffer 500 Driver Photos

From the 1971 Schaeffer 500 Program.

 

 

 

Drivers Lee Roy Yarbrough, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Art Pollard, Roger McCluskey, and Lloyd Ruby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Simona De Slivestro

Simona is a great driver from Switzerland, sometimes called the 'Swiss Miss' 

She had a tough year in Indycar last year with a bad engine but is doing pretty well this year with 3 Top Tens.  Plus she has finished all but one race and is currently 17th in points.

Simona is another one of the Indycar drivers who was nice enough to answer some of our questions when we emailed her.

*She says she doesn't have a pet, but always wanted a dog or cat when she was little and her mom wouldn't let her get one. 

*She had some favorite stuffed animals when she was a kid and still has a mini moose that sleeps with her every night when she's at home.

*Her least favorite chore as a kid was doing the dishes, and she still doesn't like to do them now, and her worst habit is biting her nails.

*She was featured on Indycar 36 preparing for the Brazil race this year

*Simona started racing in Europe and came to the US in 2006.

*In 2009, racing in the Atlantic Championship Series she became the first woman to win the most  races, and poles,  and to lead the most laps in a single season and finished third in points.

*2010 was her first full year in Indycar and she won Rookie of the Year honors in the Indy 500.

*Currently races for KV Racing and is teammates with Tony Kanaan.



Si

 

Congratulations Simon Pagenaud

Winner of the Second Dual in Detroit.

Simon Pagenaud scores his first Indycar win in Detroit.

So far, in 7 Indycar races this season there have been ...

6 Different Winners from

 

6 Different Countries on

 

5 Different Teams and

 

3 of them have been *First Time Winners in the Indycar Series!

*James Hinchcliffe (Canada) - Andretti Autosport

Ryan Hunter Reay (USA) - Andretti Autosport

*Takuma Sato  (Japan) - A.J. Foyt Racing

Tony Kanaan (Brazil) - KV Racing

Mike Conway (England) - Dale Coyne Racing

*Simon Pagenaud (France) - Sam Schmidt Motorsports

Can't wait to see who wins at Texas on Saturday night!

 

 

A Good Day for Mike Conway

First he wins the pole for tomorrow's second race in Detroit.

Then, he follows that up by winning today's first race in Detroit.

All that when he just flew in from England earlier in the week and got very little practice in a car he never sat in before.

Not bad.

Congratulations Mike and Dale Coyne Racing!

Entrant list for the 2013 Indy 500

This weekend all of these drivers will be attempting to qualify for the 97th running of the Indy 500.

 NBC Sports Network will have coverage
 

Saturday 11:00 - 2:30 & 4:30 - 6:30
Sunday noon - 6:30

 

Former Winners

 

Helio Castroneves (2001, 02, 09)   *226.988

 

Dario Franchitti (2007, 2010, 2012)   *227.080

   

Buddy Lazier (1996)    *222.464

 

Scott Dixon (2008)    *226.162

 

Rookies

 

AJ Allmendinger    *227.199

 

Conor Daly    *220.780

 

Carlos Munoz    *228.520

 

Tristan Vautier    *223.369

 

Indy 500 Veterans

 

Marco Andretti    *228.754

 

Ana Beatriz    *224.476

 

Townsend Bell    *227.160

 

Sebastien Bourdais    *226.736

 

Ryan Briscoe   *225.265

 

Ed Carpenter    *226.768

 

Simona de Silvestro    *225.518

 

JR Hildebrand    *227.549

 

James Hinchcliffe    *226.983

 

Ryan Hunter-Reay    *226.919

 

James Jakes    *224.632

 

Michel Jourdain, Jr.    *223.266

 

Tony Kanaan    *226.822

 

Charlie Kimball    *225.616

 

Pippa Mann    *225.077

 

Josef Newgarden    *226.372

 

Simon Pagenaud    *225.853

 

Will Power    *228.401

 

Graham Rahal    *226.152

 

Sebastian Saavedra    *222.127

 

Takuma Sato    *227.038

 

Oriol Servia    *227.237

 

Alex Tagliani    *226.812

 

E. J. Viso    *229.537

 

Justin Wilson    *226.043

                                                                                                                             

* fastest practice lap of the month

 

The Andretti cars are looking strong with E.J. Viso and Marco Andretti posting the fastest two times of the month. 

There are currently two additional cars slated to qualify, #40 and #99, that do not have a driver assigned to them.

 

Rain ended qualifying at 3:00 on Friday making it a green track for Saturday's qualifying. 

 

According to the weather channel there is a 30-40% chance of scattered thunderstorms in Indianapolis tomorrow during qualifying.

 

 

 

Gates open at the track at 6:30 am.

Cars will be on the track for practice 8:00 - 10:00.

Qualifying begins at 11:00.

Here is a list of the Qualifying Order.

 

                                                                                                            





Dario Fran 'kitty'?

MEOW

 

So are we the only ones who noticed how Leigh Diffey, the Indycar tv announcer, always pronounces Franchitti, Fran 'kitty'?

 

 

 If you hear meowing at the Indy 500 that will be us cheering Dario on.

 

Ryan Hunter-Reay

 FUN FACTS ON RYAN HUNTER-REAY
the 2012 Indycar Champion

Ryan Hunter-Reay in the 2012
Indy 500 parade

*Has the car number 1 to represent his 2012 championship and has the number
  28 inside of the 1 to represent the 28 million people who suffer from cancer

*Rookie of the year in 2007 when        
  only competed in 7 of the 17 races

*Has more wins than all other current
  American indycar drivers combined

*Is the only Indycar driver ever to lead all of the laps in a single race
  
*Was the highest placed American driver in points in 2010, 2011 and 2012

*Is the only driver to ever win in CART, Indycar, Alms, Champcar and Grandam

*Had the most Indy car wins in 2012 with 4 wins

*Is the only American driver who won in 2012

News

In the Indycar News

 

 

THUMBS UP!

Pippa Mann, is going to try to make her 2nd Indy 500 this year in a car for Dale Coyne racing.  We always like seeing women drivers at Indianapolis so we hope she makes it!



Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon will be driving to give the Target Chip Ganassi racing team its 100th victory this weekend at the Sao Paulo Brazil Indy race.  Their first win came with Michael Andretti way back in 1994 in Australia.




THUMBS DOWN.

Could Indycars race on the old Formula 1 road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?  We hope not.  Indy is a special place for the 500. So we agree with Robin Miller's article on this. 


Driver Oriol Servia will be without a ride after the Indianapolis 500 as his team Panther Dreyer Reinbold Racing cannot find enough sponsership and will be shutting down.