News for the Week of June 30 – July 6, 2014
The Open Wheel’s Pocono Photo Gallery: Indy Lights – Saturday – Sunday
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Pocono Summary:
Entry List – Spotter Guide – Weekend Schedule – Circuit Map – Pit Assignments
IndyCar Results: P1 – P2 – Qualifying
Race Results
Lights Results: Qualifying – Race
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Montoya wins at Pocono – Juan Pablo Montoya completed the “comeback” portion of his first season back in the Verizon IndyCar Series with a win at the 2014 Pocono INDYCAR 500. The race had only one caution for a Graham Rahal spin and was officially the fastest 500 mile race in the history of the Verizon IndyCar Series. Will Power and Helio Castroneves are now tied for the championship lead after Helio finished 2nd and Power had to settle for 10th after a drive through penalty for a block on Helio. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (7/6/14)
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Hawksworth not cleared to drive at Pocono – “INDYCAR announced that Verizon IndyCar Series driver Jack Hawksworth has been diagnosed with a myocardial contusion suffered in an incident July 5 during the second practice session for the Pocono INDYCAR 500 fueled by Sunoco at Pocono Raceway…He will be re-evaluated by the INDYCAR medical team before being cleared to drive July 12 at Iowa Speedway.” – INDYCAR – (7/6/14)
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Montoya takes the pole at Pocono – Team Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya made a huge statement in his comeback by taking the pole on the last qualifying run of the day at Pocono Raceway. He broke the track record for both a single lap (223.920mph) and a two-lap average (223.871mph). Will Power, Carlos Munoz, Takuma Sato, and Marco Andretti completed the top 5. Josef Newgarden and Jack Hawksworth failed to post times after making contact in separate sessions throughout the day. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (7/5/14)
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Chaves takes the Lights win at Pocono – Belardi Racing’s Gabby Chaves won the Indy Lights Pocono 100 on Saturday in a dominant performance. Zach Veach and Jack Harvey completed the podium. Title challenger Luiz Razia did not finish after an early crash. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (7/5/14)
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Power leads the way at Pocono in practice 2 – Will Power topped the charts in Practice 2 at 223.348.mph. Carlos Munoz completed a lap at over 223mph. BHA rookie Jack Hawksworth had a big hit that likely will result in a tub change for his 98 machine but he has been cleared to drive. Full results at the link. – Pocono Practice 2 Results – (7/5/14)
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Veach wins the Lights pole at Pocono – Andretti Autosport’s championship co-leader Zach Veach won the pole for Saturday’s Indy Lights race at Pocono with an average speed of 184.438mph. Harvey, Razia, Chaves, and Brabham will start second through fifth. Full results at the link. – Pocono Lights Qualifying Results – (7/5/14)
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Kanaan fastest in practice 1 at Pocono – Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Tony Kanaan was the only car over 221mph this morning at 221.344mph to finish P1. Rounding out the top five were Hunter-Reay, Andretti, Hinchcliffe, and Sato. Andretti Autosport’s Marco Andretti led most of the session in the same car that caught on fire at Texas. Six cars had laps over 220mph. – Pocono Practice 1 Results – (7/5/14)
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The Open Wheel’s Pocono 500 preview – Check out our preview of this weekend’s big race in Pocono at the link. Features notes on Marco, the championship battle, Chip Ganassi Racing, and INDYCAR’s future at Pocono. – OW33 – (7/4/14)
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Indy Lights Pocono preview – After not racing since the Freedom 100 at IMS the Indy Lights series returns this weekend at Pocono. Championship co-leaders Gabby Chaves and Zach Veach will look to establish their own lead while holding off current third place driver Luiz Razia. – Indy Lights – (7/4/14)
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Carpenter and Dixon serve as competitive eating judges – Scott Dixon and Ed Carpenter served as judges in the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest today. Click on the link for a great picture of their reaction during the competition. – Tony DiZinno – (7/4/14)
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IndyCar’s future at Pocono in doubt – According to the Indianapolis Star’s Curt Cavin, ticket sales for this weekend’s race at Pocono Raceway are “drastically lower” and track president Brandon Igdalsky will talk with Mark Miles this weekend about the situation. There is one year left on the contract after this year. – Curt Cavin – (7/4/14)
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Houston IndyCar in-car theater – Marshall Pruett’s post-race compilation of in-car video is posted at the link. It’s excellent viewing as always after the two exciting races in Houston. – RACER – (7/4/14)
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Pocono spotter guide available – There will be two new liveries in Pocono this weekend to be driven by Sebastien Bourdais and Graham Rahal. – Pocono 500 Spotter Guide – (7/3/14)
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Panther Racing lawsuit now against the USA – “Panther Racing lost the lucrative National Guard sponsorship of its Indy car to RLL Racing for 2014, so Barnes filed suit and, among other charges, accused Sgt. Metzler of the National Guard of “bid-rigging” and providing RLLR with inside information that assisted in their successful bid. But, according to Federal Law, that claim can only be asserted against the United States so Hogsett filed a brief and a notice that Metzler was no longer a defendant and was being replaced by the USA.” – RACER – (7/3/14)
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DCR penalized after Houston win – The car of Houston Race 1 winner Carlos Huertas of Dale Coyne Racing failed tech inspection after the race with a fuel tank capacity that exceeded regulations. INDYCAR investigated the matter and determined that while it was a fuel mileage race the infraction was small enough that it had no effect on the result. There will be a “small penalty” according to Derrick Walker. – RACER – (7/2/14) – UPDATE: DCR FINED A TOTAL OF $10,000 – DCR was fined $5,000 for each of two violations. The first was the previously mentioned fuel cell capacity violation. The second violation was for the rear wing height of the car. The win will stand – NBC Sports – (7/2/14)
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Panther Racing to have on-site/online auction on 7/23/14 – Check the link for all of the old Panther Racing parts up for sale. Looks like a total clear out. – keyauctioneers.com – (7/2/14)
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Iowa Corn extends sponsorship of Iowa IndyCar event to 2015 – “The Iowa Corn Promotion Board and the Iowa Corn Growers Association will return as the title sponsor for Iowa Speedway’s Verizon IndyCar Series race in 2015.” – Business Record – (7/2/14)
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Conway to race in Formula E for Dragon Racing – Mike Conway will race for Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing Formula E team. The season starts after the Verizon IndyCar Series season ends in August with the first race in September. However, there would be potential conflicts next year as the 2014-2015 Formula E season drags into March and May of 2015. – Formula E – (7/2/14)
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Cavin Q&A 7/2/14 – Curt Cavin’s fan Q&A answers questions on the decision to blue flag Marco and Curt’s opinion of A.J. Foyt Racing thus far this season. – Indianapolis Star – (7/2/14)
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Miller’s Mailbag 7/2/14 – Robin Miller’s weekly fan Q&A is awesome once again as he answers questions on all the drama of the exciting racing in Houston last weekend. – RACER – (7/2/14)
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de Ferran and Speed to test Formula E for Andretti – Gil de Ferran and Scott Speed will participate in Andretti Autosport’s upcoming Formula E test. While this isn’t necessarily INDYCAR news their involvement with the team is always noteworthy should a driver substitution or change ever be required at the last minute. – Andretti Autosport – (7/2/14)
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Houston TV ratings up big – “The second race of the IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Houston drew 396,000 viewers on NBCSN Sunday, up 146% from coverage in an earlier timeslot last year (161K). The first race earned 361,000 on Saturday, up 121% (163K).” – SPORTS MEDIA WATCH – (7/2/14)
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Graham Rahal to race special National Guard livery at Pocono – Graham Rahal tweeted out this awesome National Guard livery that he will race this weekend at Pocono. – Graham Rahal – (7/2/14)
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The IMS Solar Farm flips the switch today – A giant solar farm, built on Hulman-George property had its ribbon cutting ceremony today. The solar farm is located just behind the backstretch of the famed racecourse, and contains 39,314 solar modules that will generate 9 megawatts of power. That amount of power is likened to the quantity of power 2,700 local homes would need per month. SunWize Technologies and Blue Renewable Energy of Arizona co-developed the project. Doug Boles noted that the solar farm is the largest at any sporting facility in the world. – INDYCAR – (7/1/14)
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Trackside Podcast 7/1/14 Edition – Tonight’s episode of Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee was predominately about the past two races in Houston. The two also discussed the upcoming July 6th race in Pocono as well as some early 2015 silly season news and rumors such as the possibility of Simon Pagenaud leaving for Andretti Autosport. – Audio via 1070theFan.com – (7/1/14)
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IMS scoring pylon goes down Monday – Indianapolis Motor Speedway begins their replacement of the scoring pylon today by knocking down the current pylon that has been there since 1994. Picture at the link. – Doug Boles – (6/30/14)
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INDYCAR releases schedule for Pocono this weekend – Saturday, June 5th will have practice sessions at 10AM and 1:30PM. Qualifying will be on Saturday at 5:00PM. The race will start at 1:00PM on Sunday, June 6th. – INDYCAR – (6/30/14)
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Cavin Q&A 6/30/14 – Curt Cavin’s fan Q&A covers the decision to blue flag Marco, Pagenaud’s future, and relief drivers. – Indianapolis Star – (6/30/14)
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Ganassi gaining speed but still hampered by luck – Good story from Open Wheel Now on the Ganassi drivers believing their team is making massive progress in finding speed but they just can’t get any breaks to fall their way. “We have pretty good pace but we just need the bad luck to stop,” said Tony Kanaan. “I feel like these races are often crapshoots too, especially on road and street courses. But we’ve had the pace of those who have won but the only luck we’ve had is bad luck,” said Scott Dixon. – Open Wheel Now – (6/30/14)
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Pagenaud dominant in Race 2 win at Houston – Simon Pagenaud made up for his problems during the first race on Saturday with a brilliant drive in Race 2 for what ending up being an easy victory for him over his rookie Russian teammate Mikhail Aleshin. Helio Castroneves controlled the first half of the race until his race ended via contact with Bourdais shortly after Pagenaud to away the lead. BHA’s Jack Hawksworth made it two days in a row with two rookies on the podium with an incredible drive to hold off a hungry pack behind him to finish third. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (6/29/14)
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Andretti fined and placed on probation for ignoring blue flag – INDYCAR has fined Andretti $2,500 and has placed him on probation for three races, beginning with Race 2 of the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston on June 29, for violating Rule 7.2.5.2 (failure to heed the blue flag) of the Verizon IndyCar Series rulebook. . – INDYCAR – (6/29/14)
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Huertas wins a WILD Race 1 in Houston – Carlos Huertas took advantage of fuel strategy and a late Graham Rahal-induced aborted restart to hold off fellow Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya for win. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (6/28/14)
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