News for the Week of July 3, 2017 – July 9, 2017
Castroneves wins first race in three years for Penske’s first win at Iowa – Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves won his first Verizon IndyCar Series race since Belle Isle 2014 for Team Penske’s first win at Iowa Speedway at the Iowa Corn 300. The rest of the Top 5 was Hildebrand, Hunter-Reay, Power, and Rahal. Dixon remains the championship leader. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (7/9/2017)
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Leist dominates in Lights win at Iowa – Carlin’s Matheus Leist led the last 69 laps of the Mazda Iowa 100 at Iowa Speedway to win his third race of the season in Indy Lights. The rest of the Top 5 was Urrutia, Kellett, Herta, and Kaiser. Kaiser remains the championship leader. Full results here. – Indy Lights – (7/9/2017)
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The Open Wheel’s Iowa Lights photo gallery – The Open Wheel’s Parker Hall’s photo gallery from Indy Lights action at the 2017 Mazda Iowa 100 Presented by Cooper Tires at Iowa Speedway is available at the link. – The Open Wheel – (7/9/2017)
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Report: INDYCAR to test aeroscreen on new car this fall – David Malsher reports for Motorsport.com that INDYCAR will test an aeroscreen similar to F1’s proposed Shield this fall in testing on the new universal aero kit. Malsher also reports Juan Pablo Montoya will be the test driver for Chevrolet while Oriol Servia will test for Honda. Full report at the link. – Motorsport.com – (7/9/2017)
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Herta wins Lights pole at Iowa – Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing’s Colton Herta won the Indy Lights pole at Iowa Speedway with a 2-lap average at 163.670mph. The rest of the Top 5 was Claman De Melo, Kaiser, Norman, and Kellett. Full results here. – Indy Lights – (7/9/2017)
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Pagenaud fastest in Final Practice at Iowa – Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud was fastest in Final Practice for the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway with a lap at 179.617mph. The rest of the Top 5 was Carpenter, Power, Dixon, and Newgarden. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (7/8/2017)
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Claman De Melo takes P1 in Lights Practice 2 at Iowa – Carlin’s Zachary Claman De Melo’s lap at 162.577mph was fastest in Indy Lights Practice 2 at Iowa Speedway. The rest of the Top 5 was Herta, Kellett, Leist, and Telitz. Championship leader Kyle Kaiser was P12. Full results here. – Indy Lights – (7/8/2017)
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The Open Wheel’s Iowa photo gallery – The Open Wheel’s Parker Hall’s photo gallery of Verizon IndyCar Series and Indy Lights action from Iowa Speedway is available at the link. – The Open Wheel – (7/8/2017)
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Report: Castroneves moving to Penske IMSA team in ’18 – RACER’s Robin Miller reports Helio Castroneves will be moved to Team Penske’s long-rumored IMSA team with Honda in the Daytona Prototype international class full-time in 2018. That would leave Team Penske with just three full-time teams in the Verizon IndyCar Series. It’s expected the team would run five cars for the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race with Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya. Full report at the link. – RACER – (7/8/2017)
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Power wins the pole at Iowa – Team Penske’s Will Power won the pole for the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway with a 2-lap average of 185.210mph. The rest of the Top 5 was Hildebrand, Castroneves, Carpenter, and Sato. Munoz made contact in Turn 2 during the session and will start last. Full qualifying results here. – INDYCAR – (7/8/2017)
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Alberico quickest in Lights Practice 1 at Iowa – Carlin’s Neil Alberico was quickest in Indy Lights Practice 1 at Iowa Speedway with a lap at 162.325mph. The rest of the Top 5 was Leist, Claman De Melo, Herta, and Rickards. Championship leader Kyle Kaiser was P6. Full results here. – Indy Lights – (7/8/2017)
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Carpenter visor cam at Iowa -INDYCAR’s excellent visor cam series continues with Ed Carpenter at Iowa Speedway. Check it out at the link. – INDYCAR – (7/8/2017)
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Newgarden fastest in Practice 1 at Iowa – Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden was fastest in Practice 1 for the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway with a lap at 185.609mph. The rest of the Top 5 was Power, Pagenaud, Carpenter, and Andretti. Hildebrand made contact and crashed in Turn 2 during the session. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (7/8/2017)
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Boat doesn’t receive medical clearance for Iowa – “Belardi Auto Racing can confirm that driver Chad Boat, who was set to make his Indy Lights debut this weekend at Iowa Speedway, has not been medically cleared to race in the Mazda Iowa 100 Presented by Cooper Tires due to injuries sustained during a National USAC midget race on Sunday, July 2.” Full release at the link. – Indy Lights – (7/8/2017)
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Gateway officially announces repave for INDYCAR weekend – “Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois has launched a major capital improvement project designed to improve the race day experience for fans and provide an enhanced competition environment for race teams. This is the third phase of a plan implemented in 2012 to completely update and upgrade the venue. The primary focus of this phase is to replace the track’s 20-year-old asphalt and dramatically improve GMP’s parking capacity.” Full release at the link. – Gateway Motorsports Park – (7/7/2017)
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INDYCAR announces extension with Xtrac – “INDYCAR announced a multiyear extension today with Xtrac, Inc. that continues the brand’s longtime position as the official supplier of transmissions for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Xtrac is one of INDYCAR’s longest-tenured partners and its parts are utilized across the motorsports landscape in disciplines such as Formula One, sports cars – including IMSA, GT and touring cars – and rally competition. Xtrac began supplying transmissions for several Indy car teams in the 1990s and became the exclusive supplier to the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2000.” Full story at the link. – INDYCAR – (7/7/2017)
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Boat excited for Lights debut at Iowa – USAC has posted a great story on Chad Boat ahead of his Indy Lights debut this weekend with Belardi Auto Racing at Iowa Speedway. “To get the opportunity to run the Lights car, I’m very grateful,” said Boat. “I realize there’s a million people who would like to be in my position right now. All I can do is make the most of it and, hopefully, the short track community will support it. I want to go out there and make them proud.” Check out the full story at the link. – USAC – (7/7/2017)
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The Open Wheel’s Iowa preview – The Open Wheel’s Dylan Reynolds’ preview of the INDYCAR weekend at Iowa Speedway is available at the link. It includes all relevant weekend information as well as historical stats, predictions, fantasy advice, and more for both the Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 and the Indy Lights Mazda Iowa 100 Presented by Cooper Tires. – The Open Wheel – (7/6/2017)
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Trackside podcast 7/5/17 – 1070 The Fan’s Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee radio show from 7/5/17 is a great listen as always. – 1070 The Fan – (7/6/2017)
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Iowa Lights entry list is posted – The official entry list for the Indy Lights Mazda Iowa 100 Presented by Cooper Tires at Iowa Speedway is available at the link. – Indy Lights – (7/5/2017)
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Miller’s Mailbag 7/5/17 – RACER’s Robin Miller’s weekly fan Q&A is a great read as always. – RACER – (7/5/2017)
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Iowa spotter guide is posted – The official spotter guide for the Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway is available at the link. – INDYCAR – (7/5/2017)
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Iowa entry list is posted – The official entry list for the Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway is available at the link. – INDYCAR – (7/5/2017)
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Upgrades needed if INDYCAR goes to Portland – Motorsport.com’s David Malsher has a nice report with quotes from Tony Cotman on the possibility of INDYCAR returning to Portland International Raceway. Cotman says the track is wider with a better surface than when INDYCAR last raced there and gives details of what changes would need to be made. Check out the must-read full piece at the link. – Motorsport.com – (7/4/2017)
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Pigot earns podium finish in IMSA at WGI – Spencer Pigot was part of the Mazda Motorsports No. 55 team that finished third overall in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday at Watkins Glen International. Indy Lights rookie Pato O’Ward won in the Prototype Challenge class with the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports team. Sage Karam and Tristan Vautier each drove in the race as well. Full IMSA results from WGI at the link. – IMSA – (7/2/2017)
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Report: CGRT fined and penalized for RA infractions – RACER’s Marshall Pruett reports Chip Ganassi Racing Teams was penalized and fined by INDYCAR for infractions on their No. 9 and No. 83 cars at Road America. Check out the full report at the link. – RACER – (6/30/2017)
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Honda identifies problem causing reliability issues – Mark Robinson has a story on INDYCAR.com detailing Honda’s year in the Verizon IndyCar Series. Robinson reports Honda has “pinpointed” the issue causing its reliability issues and that a fix is coming as Honda builds and rolls out new engines. Art St. Cyr, the president of Honda Performance Development, told INDYCAR.com he expects most of the Honda cars to have the updated engines for the Honda Indy Toronto. Full story at the link. – INDYCAR – (6/30/2017)
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Gehl to sponsor RLL No. 15 at Iowa – “Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLLR) announced today that the Gehl brand, part of Manitou Americas, Inc., will be the primary sponsor for Graham Rahal’s No. 15 Honda-powered entry at the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway July 9. Gehl was co-primary sponsor of Rahal’s entry at this past weekend’s KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America for the second consecutive year and has increased their involvement.” Full release at the link. – RLL – (6/29/2017)
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Bourdais aiming for WGI return – Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star has an excellent update on Sebastien Bourdais with plenty of quotes from the driver who is now aiming for a Verizon IndyCar Series return at Watkins Glen International on the first weekend of September. “It’s very important for me, for the team, for the future,” Bourdais told the Indianapolis Star. “I felt like we were starting to build something pretty special…I think it’s quite important to make sure there is no discontinuity. … We’re going to kickstart the 2018 season and just do our thing. Instead of, not that I’m second-guessing myself, but in racing you always have to prove yourself.” Full story at the link. – Indianapolis Star – (6/29/2017)
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