News for the Week of August 22, 2016 – August 28, 2016
Rahal wins wild finish at Texas – Graham Rahal and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing won the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway over James Hinchcliffe by 0.0080 seconds after a dramatic final lap move. The full Top 5 was Rahal, Hinchcliffe, Kanaan, Pagenaud, and Castroneves. Hinchcliffe led 188 laps. Championship contenders Dixon and Newgarden finished P19 and P22. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/27/2016)
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Texas restart information – INDYCAR has posted a nice update with restart information for the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. 71 laps were completed in June and there will be two pace laps before the race goes green. See the full order for the restart on Lap 74 here. – INDYCAR – (8/27/2016)
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2017 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule released – “INDYCAR announced the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule today, a 17-race season that provides continuity, adds a new event at Gateway Motorsports Park and confirms a multi-year agreement with Watkins Glen International. The series calendar features the return of all venues on the 2016 schedule and consists of a total of six events on ovals, six on permanent road courses and five on temporary street circuits.” – INDYCAR – (8/25/2016)
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INDYCAR heading to Gateway in ’17 in “multi-year deal” – The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Gateway Motorsports Park will be on the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule as part of “a multi-year deal”. The 2017 schedule is expected to be released Thursday afternoon. – St. Louis Post-Dispatch – (8/25/2016)
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Watkins Glen and INDYCAR agree to extension – Watkins Glen International announced that they have agreed to an extension with INDYCAR for the next two years meaning the series will be back in 2017. – WGI – (8/25/2016)
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Rosenqvist done with Lights as he continues with DTM – Belardi Auto Racing Indy Lights driver Felix Rosenqvist will continue to drive for the Mercedes DTM team and will thus miss the rest of the Indy Lights season. “I’ve had a fantastic time in the US this year, and it’s been a really great and interesting experience,” said Rosenqvist. “It’s a shame not to see out the season, but it’s just a logistic impossibility…I would like to thank Belardi Auto Racing for all their efforts this year; it’s a great team, and I hope we will find a way to work together again in the future. In the meantime I wish them continued success.” – Motorsport.com – (8/24/2016)
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Miller’s Mailbag 8/24/16 – RACER’s Robin Miller’s weekly fan Q&A is a great read as always. – RACER – (8/24/2016)
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Trackside podcast 8/23/16 – 1070 The Fan’s Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee radio show from 8/23/16 is a great listen as always. The pair recaps the race at Pocono and all of the latest INDYCAR news. – 1070 The Fan – (8/24/2016)
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RHR to represent USA in ROC – Ryan Hunter-Reay and Kurt Busch will drive for USA in the Race of Champions in Miami next January. “The Race Of Champions (ROC) is heading to the United States of America for the first time in its history after Miami’s Marlins Park baseball stadium won the rights to host the next ROC event on January 21-22, 2017.” Full details at the link. – NBC Sports – (8/23/2016)
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Andretti Autosport announces hhgregg as co-primary sponsor for Marco’s No. 27 in 2017 – “Reigning Indianapolis 500 champions Andretti Autosport and hhgregg (NYSE:HGG) announced a multi-year partnership today for the Indianapolis-based company to serve as the lead, co-primary sponsor for Marco Andretti and the No. 27 Honda-powered entry in the Verizon IndyCar Series, and as a team-wide sponsor across all Andretti Autosport IndyCar entries beginning in 2017.” “Our relationship with Andretti Autosport and Marco has been incredibly successful for both sides,” said hhgregg CEO, Bob Riesbeck. “As hhgregg continues to strive to deliver best-in-class product offerings, prices and customer service, we’re thrilled to be so closely connected with a brand that stands for excellence in its field as well. We’ve had a great experience with Marco and the team and are excited to be building a future together.” – Andretti Autosport – (8/23/2016)
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Power wins at Pocono – Team Penske’s Will Power won the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway. The rest of the Top 5 was Aleshin, Hunter-Reay, Newgarden, and Bourdais. Pagenaud crashed out after 117 laps. Rossi, Castroneves, and Kimball were involved in a scary incident on pit road early on in the race. Kimball continued on but that was the end of the day for Rossi and Castroneves but each were fine. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/22/2016)
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Rosenqvist named driver for Mahindra Racing Formula E Team – Belardi Auto Racing Indy Lights driver Felix Rosenqvist will drive for Mahindra Racing Formula E Team in the 2016-2017 Formula E season. – Mahindra Racing – (8/22/2016)
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ABC Supply 500 at Pocono postponed until Monday – “The ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway has been postponed by rain and will be run beginning at noon ET Monday. The race will be telecast live on NBCSN with the green flag scheduled to wave at 12:09 p.m.” – INDYCAR – (8/21/2016)
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Castroneves tops the charts in Practice 2 at Pocono – Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves posted the fastest lap of Practice 2 for the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway with a lap of 218.824mph. The rest of the Top 5 was Munoz, Pagenaud, Bourdais, and Dixon. Hunter-Reay turned 21 laps and finished the session in P13 after missing qualifying while his team prepped his backup car. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/20/2016)
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Aleshin wins first career pole at Pocono – Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ Mikhail Aleshin’s two-lap average speed of 220.445mph led qualifying for the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway for his first Verizon IndyCar Series pole. The rest of the Top 5 was Newgarden, Sato, Castroneves, and Munoz. Hunter-Reay was unable to make a qualifying run after heavily damaging his primary car in Practice 1 in the morning. Full qualifying results here. – INDYCAR – (8/20/2016)
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Aleshin fastest in crash-filled Pocono Practice 1 – Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ Mikhail Aleshin’s lap of 221.932mph was fastest in Practice 1 for the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway. The rest of the Top 5 was Hinchcliffe, Newgarden, Rossi, and Munoz. Hunter-Reay, Kimball, and Montoya each crashed in the session. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/20/2016)
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Munoz still working on options for ’17 – The Indianapolis Star’s Curt Cavin has an update on Carlos Munoz as the Colombian works on his plans for 2017. Munoz is out of contract with Andretti and doesn’t seem to have a full-time offer for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series. “I think I have a lot of offers to run the 500, but I want to be full-time,” Munoz told the Indianapolis Star. “I don’t think it (is supposed to be) like that…My main goal is to stay here (at Andretti), but we’ll have to sit down and see how everything goes.” More at the link. – Indianapolis Star – (8/18/2016)
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Walker interested in INDYCAR return – Derrick Walker resigned from his post as president of SCCA on Wednesday and RACER’s Robin Miller reports that he would be interested in returning to work in INDYCAR in some capacity. “Ideally, maybe do some consulting work or help a team because I think I’ve still got something I can add,” Walker told RACER. “And I’m not opposed to bringing back Walker Racing but, obviously, that requires finding the money, which is not any easier.” – RACER – (8/18/2016)
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INDYCAR getting closer to head protection solution – Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis star reports that INDYCAR believes they’ve found a design to serve as increased head protection for Verizon IndyCar Series drivers in the future. “Dr. Terry Trammell, who is leading IndyCar’s effort to improve cockpit safety, prefers to call the design a deflector rather than a windshield, and he said it’s certainly not an enclosed canopy, as Top Fuel dragsters use.” The timeline is still undetermined. Full story at the link. – Indianapolis Star – (8/18/2016)
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Bourdais and KVSH want to work together again in ’17 – Both Sebastien Bourdais and KVSH Racing owner Jimmy Vasser told RACER they would like to continue to work together in the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series. “We’d like to keep him; we’ve won four races in three years, and keep him with our engineer Olivier [Boisson], but certainly, the financial pieces aren’t all in place as of yet,” Vasser told RACER. “We’re meant to sit down this weekend; everybody has been in different places over this mini break, so we’ll get together and start talking about next year and what we want to do.” Much more at the link. – RACER – (8/18/2016)
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