58 Days till Indycars at Pocono Raceway

We're counting the days till the Indycars invade Pocono for the ABC Supply 500.

 

 Just 58 Days to go!

The number 58 car was driven by Eldon Rasmussen in the 1976 Schaeffer 500 at Pocono Raceway.

 

 

In 1976 Eldon Rasmussen lined up between George Snider and Sheldon Kinser in Row 9 of the Schaeffer 500 at Pocono. 

 He finished 20th.

 

He raced in a chassis he built himself and he called it the 'Rascar'.

 

Signing autographs at Indianapolis in 2014. 

 He raced in  three Indy 500's from 1975 to 1979 and his best finish was 13th.

 

His Indycar career spanned from 1973 to 1979 with a best finish of 7th in the California 500 at Ontario Speedway in 1975.

 

 

Originally from Alberta, Canada,

Eldon Rasmussen was inducted into

the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2001.

 

 

Josef Newgarden Theme Party

 

It's that time of year again.
Middle of the Indycar season, and Alex 's birthday. 
This year she turned 8,

and just like when she turned 5 and 6 and 7

(ever since she met Josef)

she wanted a Josef themed birthday party.

 

And what a way to celebrate a Josef themed birthday
but to have him win!!!

 

 

She was a little bit happy, even more excited than for his first win
if that's possible.
 

 

So if you decide to have a Josef Newgarden themed birthday party, you'll quickly notice that you can't really find any decorations for your cake.  Really.

Not even a die cast #67 car, we might add. 

Hint Hint. 

(He's won some races now, can someone please make a #67 car already.)

 

Therefore we made our own. 

Printer, paper and popsicle sticks work wonders.
 

Yes, we seriously had a cake with Josef's head sticking up out of it.

(a bit odd, but Alex loved it)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the annual 'Josef' birthday dress.
(made with an official Josef t-shirt that we found at Indy this year, and it was sparkly, which made it even better.)

 

 

The favorite present this year.

A Josef Newgarden necklace.

(we found a man on Etsy who makes racer charm necklaces at Lone Wolf Kustoms.  We requested a Josef necklace and he said he's actually had a few requests for Josef lately.
 He made this one and got it to us in just a few days.)

 

She can keep it in her 'Josef ' Treasures box she got for her 6th birthday.

 

So if you love Josef Newgarden

or any other Indycar driver (don't tell Alex we wrote that) 

and want to have a special themed party just get a little creative.

 

And get the driver to win on that day to make it even better!

 



 



 

Indy Toronto

The best part of the Honda Indy Toronto race happened before the drop of the green flag.  It was seeing Canadian James Hinchcliffe there in person to say the 'Start your engines' command.  He had been cleared by his doctors earlier in the week to make the trip to the race and it was great to see video and pictures of him at the track all weekend.


With Hinch not racing though, it became the first time in the race's  nearly 30 year history that a Canadian would not start the race.





 

The race was started on rain tires, the fourth race this season, and ended with slicks.  Will Power started the race off strong, but when a caution came out, it played directly into Josef Newgarden's hands.  He had pitted just before the pits were closed. 
At the end of the day, Josef earned his second Indycar win and became one of three drivers to win two races this season.  CFH Racing also earned their first 1-2 finish.

 

 

The top 10 Finishers

1.  Josef Newgarden - His second career victory in 61 Indycar starts.

2.   Luca Filippi - His highest finish in his Indycar career.
 

3.  Helio Castroneves - His third podium in the last 4 races at Toronto.
 

4.  Will Power - Won his 41st career Indycar pole surpassing Rick Mears on the all time list.
 

5.  Sebastien Bourdais - His third Top Five of the season. He is now 6th in season points.

6.  Tony Kanaan - Led 3 laps on run to his 193rd Indycar career Top 10.

7. Juan Montoya - Consistency is key.  With 9 Top Tens in 10 races he still leads the season championship by 27 points over Will Power.

8.  Scott Dixon - Swept Toronto double-header in 2013.

9.  Graham Rahal - His third Top 10 in Toronto.

10.  Takuma Sato - His second Top 10 in the last two Toronto races.
 

Top Ten included..
 

* Both CFH Racing drivers, 3 of the 4  Penske drivers, 2 Ganassi Drivers
* 8 Chevys (the Top 8) and 2 Hondas 
* Drivers from 8 different countries

Other:

2 cautions for 9 laps
Fastest lap 105.186

Shout Out to:

Rodolfo Gonzalez leading the first laps of his Indycar career!  He led 5 laps on fuel strategy driving for Dale Coyne Racing.
 

Carlos Munoz was running  a strong second behind Josef Newgarden much of the mid part of the race before going out on lap 69 with mechanical trouble and ending up 22nd.
  

66 Days till Indycars at Pocono

Just 66 Days till Indycar
takes over Pocono Raceway
in the ABC Supply 500 on August 23rd!

 

In 1986 Ed Pimm started

the #66 car

from the middle of the 3rd row and finished 24th.
(The race was won by Mario Andretti.)

Ed Pimm at the 1986 Indy 500.
 

 

Starting Lineup from the 1986 Domino's Pizza 500

 

 

Ed made 42 Indycar starts in his career from 1984-1988 with a best finish of 3rd at Michigan in 1985.


 

 

 

Josef update Toronto

Yaaaaay!

JOSEF WINS!

Again!

(: Two times already this season! :)

We didn't get to watch the start of the race because it was my (Josef themed) birthday party.  I had emailed him Friday and told him he better be leading when I turned on the race halfway thru...and HE WAS!!!!

 

But, my brother and I couldn't watch the last 3 laps because the rain made us nervous and we were worried he might slide.

 

 

Josef started 11th, and got a great break when the yellow came out for a crash when he was in the pits.  It gave him the lead and he drove really really great and led most of the way to the end!!!



Josef podium selfies with Filippi and Helio


 

 

Woke up this morning from a crazy dream. https://t.co/fQHoNaqEhE

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) June 15, 2015

And what made his win even better was that his teammate, Luca Filippi finished 2nd!
It was Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing Team's first 1 -2 finish!
 

We're headed back to Indianapolis as one very happy team! The #IndyCar15 app looks great to us right now! pic.twitter.com/QpCzCXzSsk

— CFH Racing (@CFHRIndy) June 15, 2015

 

 

-- post by Alexandra (age 8) Josef's #1 fan --