Since 2015 Sonoma Raceway has hosted the Verizon IndyCar season finale. The venue for that has crowned the last 3 IndyCar champions is however as far removed from the ideal venue as one can imagine. Prior to the 2017 season finale, AP’s Jenna Fryer was effusive in her praise of IndyCar’s ability to create an exciting…
Category: IndyCar 2017
IndyCar 2017 Sonoma preview with Mobil 1 The Grid
The stars of IndyCar preview the 2017 season finale at Sonoma Raceway Once more the Verizon IndyCar series will serve up a 4-way battle for the Astor Cup as Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud go head-to-head for the 2017 championship. After 16 races across road, street and oval circuits, the most…
Championship deja vu for Team Penske
Team Penske find themselves in familiar territory coming in to the 2017 Verizon IndyCar season finale at Sonoma. The big question is not whether they can take back-to-back championships. It is whether they will make the same mistakes that cost them the IndyCar title back in 2015. Picture the scene Coming in to the final…
Time for Carpenter to hang up his helmet?
A few seasons back any preview of an IndyCar oval race would have featured Ed Carpenter as a contender for the win. Owner of the eponymous Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR) team, the Illinois native has long demonstrated his oval prowess. Since 2014 Carpenter has balanced team management duties with a role as an ‘oval specialist’…
Gateway 500 Indy review, heroes and zeroes
Josef Newgarden put one hand on the 2017 Verizon IndyCar series trophy with victory at the Bommarito Gateway 500. The championship leader secured his fourth win of the season, sealing victory with an audacious move on teammate Simon Pagenaud late in the race. Newgarden pushes to the front On the opening lap Newgarden set the…
IndyCar will miss its ‘super teams’
2018 is likely to mark the end of an IndyCar quirk: the ‘super team’. For several seasons Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport have fielded 4 full time cars each in the Verizon IndyCar series. Expanding further for one-off races and the Indy 500. The super teams – as they were christened –…
Giant killers: Coyne, Bourdais & Jones talk IndyCar success
Giant killers: Coyne, Bourdais and Jones talk IndyCar success An epic start to this year’s Verizon IndyCar series by Dale Coyne Racing will undoubtedly be one of the main talking points of the 2017 season. Dale Coyne Racing: taking the IndyCar fight to the big boys Sebastien Bourdais’ frightening accident during qualifying for the Indy…
Reboot: 3 IndyCar drivers who needed a standout 2017
At the start of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar season I picked out 3 drivers needing a standout season this year. As we get down to the business-end of the season with only 4 races to go, its a good time to consider how each of them has faired. And what they might need to do…
Does Helio want to quit IndyCar?
The chatter in the IndyCar paddock is that it is a done deal. Team Penske will scale back to 3 cars in 2018 running Newgarden, Power and Pagenaud. Which means by default that Helio Castroneves’ illustrious 20 year career in IndyCar ends this season. The Captain – the shrewdest of businessmen – is not content…
Honda Indy 200 review, heroes and zeroes
Josef Newgarden schooled the entire IndyCar field at Mid-Ohio as he won the Honda Indy 200. Hot on the tail of his win last time out in Toronto, victory plus troubles for the likes of Scott Dixon moved the Penske driver to the top of the point standings. Newgarden dominates at Mid-Ohio “This was a…
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