News for the Week of July 18, 2016 – July 24, 2016
Trackside podcast 7/21/16 – 1070 The Fan’s Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee radio show from 7/21/16 is a great listen as always. – 1070 The Fan – (7/22/2016)
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Harvey hoping for debut at WGI with SPM – RACER’s Marshall Pruett reports that Jack Harvey believes he has a chance at a Verizon IndyCar Series debut in a third car with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports at Watkins Glen International in September. Harvey tested for the team at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Thursday but a spin and contact ended his day early. “It hasn’t affected what I’ve been working towards, and that’s being in the car with SPM for Watkins [Glen],” Harvey told RACER. “If anything, the team said they felt bad we couldn’t continue testing, but I’m confident leaving Mid-Ohio that we could have a very effective race in a third car if we can make everything come together.” – NBC Sports – (7/22/2016)
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DiZinno’s Mid-Ohio test summary – NBC Sports’ Tony DiZinno has posted an excellent recap of the Verizon IndyCar Series test at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. His piece includes quotes from the Lights and other test drivers, INDYCAR’s aero testing with Kanaan and Newgarden, and much more. Check it out at the link. – NBC Sports – (7/22/2016)
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Report: Enerson to drive for DCR at Mid-Ohio – RACER’s Robin Miller reports that RC Enerson will drive the Dale Coyne Racing No. 19 car in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next weekend. Enerson tested the car at Mid-Ohio on Thursday. “I’m in for Mid-Ohio with Dale, and we’re trying to make Watkins Glen and Sonoma happen, but those aren’t confirmed yet,” the 19-year-old Floridian told RACER. “I thought it would take a little while to come up to speed, but we came up to speed a lot quicker than I expected to. Once I was comfortable, it was about turning laps, running behind people to see what they were doing, and I got to spend a lot of time around the Penske cars and the Ganassi cars, so it was great.” – RACER – (7/21/2016)
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Lights and other young drivers get test chance at Mid-Ohio on Thursday – Felix Rosenqvist, Robin Frijns, Jack Harvey, RC Enerson and Zachary Claman De Melo will all get Verizon IndyCar Series test experience at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Thursday, July 21st. Other usual Verizon IndyCar Series car/driver combinations will be testing at the same time while Tony Kanaan and Josef Newgarden will be doing INDYCAR Aero Testing. Full details at the link. – INDYCAR – (7/21/2016)
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Mid-Ohio campers invited to celebrate Christmas in July – “Honda Racing and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course invite fans to get festive during The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio weekend by camping and participating in Christmas in July themed activities for the return of the #CampingWithHonda initiative…Santa will choose the preliminary finalists, followed by Honda Racing Verizon IndyCar Series drivers Graham Rahal and Conor Daly visiting the sites Saturday afternoon to judge decor and choose their favorites. Grand Prize winners will experience a Pace Car ride around the track, while runners-up will receive great Honda camping gear.” – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – (7/21/2016)
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Trackside podcast 7/20/16 – 1070 The Fan’s Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee radio show from 7/20/16 is a great listen as always. – 1070 The Fan – (7/21/2016)
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Miller’s Mailbag 7/20/16 – RACER’s Robin Miller’s weekly fan Q&A is a great read as always. – RACER – (7/20/2016)
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Trackside podcast 7/19/16 – 1070 The Fan’s Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee radio show from 7/19/16 is a great listen as always. – 1070 The Fan – (7/20/2016)
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Newgarden cleared to drive after Toronto incident – RACER reports Josef Newgarden has been cleared to drive again following his incident in Toronto. “Josef Newgarden has been cleared to resume racing activities after making hard contact with the wall on the streets of Toronto…He was examined on Monday by IndyCar consultant Dr. Kevin Scheid, who performed the surgery that put a plate and 13 screws in Newgarden’s shoulder.” – RACER – (7/19/2016)
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INDYCAR/F1 decision looms large for Rossi – USA Today’s Brant James has an excellent piece on the monumental decision Indianapolis 500 Mile Race champion Alexander Rossi has to make regarding his future. “I’m definitely deciding between Formula 1 and IndyCar,” says Rossi. The must-read piece goes into great detail about the decision and says Rossi would like to make a decision in the coming weeks. – USA Today – (7/19/2016)
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Trackside podcast 7/18/16 – 1070 The Fan’s Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee radio show from 7/18/16 is a great listen as always. The pair recaps the Honda Indy Toronto. – 1070 The Fan – (7/19/2016)
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INDYCAR “Celebrity Family Feud” to air 7/31 – “Verizon IndyCar Series fans are used to watching their favorite drivers go to battle on the racetrack. On July 31, fans can see them vie on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the afternoon and then watch five drivers join forces for another competition that evening on the ABC summer hit, “Celebrity Family Feud.” Drivers Will Power, Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe, Conor Daly and team captain Helio Castroneves take on Sports Illustrated swimsuit models Samantha Hoopes, Tanya Mityushina, Robyn Lawley and Hannah Ferguson, led by Nina Agdal, in the highly rated game show hosted by Steve Harvey that returned for another season in June. The drivers vs. models episode airs at 8 p.m. ET July 31 on ABC” – INDYCAR – (7/18/2016)
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Power stays hot with Toronto win – Team Penske’s Will Power won the Honda Indy Toronto for his third Verizon IndyCar Series win in the last four races. The rest of the Top 5 was Castroneves, Hinchcliffe, Kanaan, and Sato. Full results here. Relive the race with our live blog here. – INDYCAR – (7/17/2016)
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Newgarden’s status uncertain after Toronto crash – “Josef Newgarden has been checked and released from the infield care center and will be reevaluated tomorrow (Monday) before being cleared.” – INDYCAR – (7/17/2016)
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“Driver roulette” expected in DCR No. 19 – RACER’s Robin Miller reports many different drivers are expected to drive the Dale Coyne Racing No. 19 machine through the rest of the season. Both Luca Filippi and Gabby Chaves have been in the car so far this year but Pippa Mann (Pocono) and RC Enerson (Mid-Ohio) have now been mentioned as possibilities. – RACER – (7/17/2016)
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Rosenqvist wins Lights Race 1 in Toronto – Belardi Auto Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist won Indy Lights Race 1 at Toronto. He completed his grand slam after winning the pole by also setting the fastest lap of the race. The rest of the Top 5 was Serralles, Kaiser, Urrutia, and Stoneman. Championship contender Zach Veach crashed on the last lap and finished P9. Full results here. – Indy Lights – (7/16/2016)
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2018 aero possibilities part of upcoming Mid-Ohio test – RACER reports that Tony Kanaan and Josef Newgarden will each test on behalf of INDYCAR at the July 21st Verizon IndyCar Series test at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. “The inspiration for IndyCar’s aero test is said to be more of a philosophical exercise than a traditional data-driven outing. Among the larger questions facing IndyCar’s competition department, one involves whether a wholesale rethink on its current state of extreme downforce is required. Associated with that question is whether the 2018 spec aero kits should then produce more, less, or the same amount of downforce in use today. The third question to answer is where the majority of that downforce should be generated on the car.” More at the link. – RACER – (7/16/2016)
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Andretti believes Frijns will have strong test at Mid-Ohio – Michael Andretti believes his Andretti Autosport Formula E driver Robin Frijns will do well in his first Verizon IndyCar Series test next week at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. “It’s important because we always want to be looking for the best [drivers] out there and you never know where you are going to find him,” Andretti said. “This kid is really good and he may really open some eyes for an another IndyCar team – which we don’t want to happen…Right now there are no plans in any way to move him up to IndyCar but if he does well at the test, who knows?” – RACER – (7/15/2016)
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Herta “happy” with Andretti partnership – Bryan Herta told RACER that he’s happy with how his team’s partnership is working out with Andretti Autosport thus far. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say there’s still some feelings of unfinished business there [with BHA], but I’m also very happy in our current situation,” Herta told RACER. “Partnering is a lot different. It’s an adaptation. For them bringing us in, for us learning the system, I think the rough spots for everyone have been ironed out.” – RACER – (7/15/2016)
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