Indycar GP of Long Beach 2017

James Hinchcliffe won the Long Beach Grand Prix, officially completing his comeback from the awful crash at Indianapolis in 2015 that almost took his life.  It was the fifth win of his Indycar career and his first win since April 2015 at the GP of Louisiana.    On the other side of the spectrum, it was one of the worst races in recent memory for the Andretti Autosport team as all four of it's drivers dropped out of the race with mechanical failures.  Most heartbreaking was Ryan Hunter Reay who was in running in second with just 6 laps to go when his car quit.  The Andretti drivers finished 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th.

POLESITTER:  Helio Castroneves - His 3rd consecutive pole at Long Beach.

Top Ten

1. James Hinchcliffe: His 5th career win!
2. Sebastien Bourdais:  Leading the season points after a 1st & 2nd in the first two races of the season.
3. Josef Newgarden: His first podium driving for Roger Penske.

4. Scott Dixon: An early change in pit strategy cost him a chance at the win. 

5. Simon Pagenaud:  A great finish after starting last & suffering a flat tire early in the race.
6. Ed Jones:  The best start for an Indycar rookie since Nigel Mansell in 1993.
7. Carlos Munoz:  A strong finish in his second drive for A. J. Foyt
8. Spencer Pigot:  Ran in the Top Ten run all day after started back in 19th.
9. Helio Castroneves:  Had the fastest lap of the race at 104.542 mph
10.  Graham Rahal:  His best finish at Long Beach since 2013.

Different Teams: 7 (Schmidt Peterson, Dale Coyne Racing, Penske, Ganassi, A.J. Foyt Racing, Ed Carpenter Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan)

Different Countries: 7 (Canada, France (2), USA (3), New Zealand,  United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Brazil)

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed:  90.845 mph

 Time: 1 hour 50 Minutes 29 Seconds

3 Cautions for 11 Laps

Lead Changes: 6 among 3 drivers (Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter Reay, James Hinchcliffe)

Best Lap: 104.542 by Helio Castroneves

Josef Newgarden Indycar GP of St. Pete 2017

Josef Newgarden's busy Indycar offseason came to an end in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

His move to a much bigger team than he had at Ed Carpenter Racing and his move from Indianapolis to Charlotte to be closer to the Penske shop had to be quite an adjustment.

Expectations are high for one of Indycar's brightest stars as he begins this new phase of his career with Indycar's super team.

Josef was not in the first three weekend practices, but managed to get the car stronger for qualifying and started in 4th in Row 2 alongside James Hinchcliffe.  Fourth was the highest he would run all day despite having a competitive car.  He did not pit early and when a yellow came out during the pit window he ended up losing a lot of positions.  He ran the rest of the race around tenth place.  He ended the day finishing eighth, his best finish ever at the GP of St. Pete.

Josef started 4th and finished 8th.

 

St Petersburg 2017 Indycar season

The 2017 Indycar season started off on the beautiful, sunny streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.  In typical fashion, Penske's Will  Power started from the pole (his 7th pole in the last 8 races at St. Pete!).
An incident in Turn 3 on the opening lap involving drivers, Carlos Munoz, Graham Rahal, JR Hildebrand, and Charlie Kimball allowed Power to lead the first four laps, but as soon as it went green James Hinchcliffe took the lead.   Hinchcliffe maintained the lead until a yellow came out again on lap 26 during a pit stop cycle. The drivers that had not pitted yet were at a disadvantage and Simon Pagenaud found himself in front after having been in ninth for the first part of the race.  Sebastien Bourdais, also benefitted from the yellow and by lap 37 he was in the lead where he remained for most of the rest of the race.  Winning his first race driving for the Dale Coyne Racing team. 

Top Ten

1. Sebastien Bourdais: A great win in his first ride with the Dale Coyne Racing Team since 2011.
2. Simon Pagenaud:  The reigning Indycar champ led 13 laps and started the season strong.
3. Scott Dixon:  Caught out by the first caution Dixie once again showed his racing skill battling back to finish 3rd.

4. Ryan Hunter-Reay: His 4th top 5 in the last 6 races at St. Pete.

5. Takuma Sato:  A great finish in his first race for Andretti Autosport.
6. Helio Castroneves:  His lowest finish in the last 6 races at St. Pete.
7. Marco Andretti:  A solid start to his season with Bryan Herta on his radio.  His highest finish since Iowa in 2015. 
8. Josef Newgarden:  Couldn't recover from getting caught out by the first yellow, but got his highest finish ever at St. Pete driving his first race for Team Penske.
9. James Hinchcliffe:  Had a very strong car but got caught out by the first yellow.

10. Ed Jones:  A good start to his Indycar career for the 2016 Indy Lights Champion.

Different Teams: 5 ( Penske 3, Andretti  Autosport 3, Schmidt Peterson 1, Dale Coyne Racing 1, Ganassi .)

Different Countries: 7 (France 2, New Zealand, USA 3, Japan, Brazil, Canada, United Arab Emirates)

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed: 95.391 mph

 Time: 2 hour 4 1/2 Minutes

2 Cautions for 8 Laps

Lead Changes: 8 among 5 drivers (Sebastien Bourdais, James Hinchcliffe, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Takuma Sato)

Best Lap: 104.384 mph by Scott Dixon on lap 82

 

THOUGHTS:

Will Power overcame a pit infraction on Lap 16 to run strong all race, only to have his race end on Lap 99 due to mechanical problems.  He finished 19th.

 

Indycar Starts 2017 Season

2017 Indycar Season starts today!!!

 

We are so excited we had a little fun making this quick video.

 

 

 

 

GP of St. Pete

(watch on Indycar Race Control)

 

PRACTICE March 10  at 11:15 and 3:15

PRACTICE Saturday, March 11 at 10:50

QUALIFYING Saturday at 2:55

WARM UP Sunday, March 12 9:00

 

RACE

Sunday March 12 at NOON

on ABC

 

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)