(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Fernando Alonso's No. 29 Andretti Autosport McLaren Honda resplendent in its original McLaren Papaya Orange livery. (Not to be confused with the "updated" McLaren Orange on its F1 cars, which looks, uh, stupid.) Alonso got his first laps in an Indy car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today (Wednesday, May 3), and passed his Indy "rookie" test with flying colors. Now the real work begins.
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
(Photo by Chris Jones/INDYCAR)
Simon Pagenaud (No. 1 Team Penske Menards Chevrolet) drove away from the field in the final half of the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at Phoenix Raceway to capture his first Verizon IndyCar Series win on an oval track Saturday night. The reigning series champion finished 9.1028 seconds ahead of teammate Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) and assumed the points lead after four races of the 2017 season. It was the 10th win of Pagenaud's Indy car career as Chevrolet powered machines swept the top four positions on the 1.022-mile oval. It was also win No. 450 for Team Penske in all racing competitions and its 100th on Indy car ovals. "I can't explain how excited I am," Pagenaud said. "Ovals are not my specialty - I grew up in Europe racing go-karts. I learned about ovals when I was 26 years old so I had to learn the skill and the technique that I didn't know. Man, this is incredible. What a win!"
Editor-In-Chief's Note: Now that the dust has settled from the IndyCar debacle at Phoenix (there were maybe 1000 people there - maybe), I guess I have to comment for oh, easily the 25th time in the last ten years that the entire concept of the IndyCar series is on life support. Indy car racing has been the Indianapolis 500 - and then everything else - for the last 40 years. Yes, there are a few exceptions - the addition of Road America to the schedule was essential and heartily welcomed by True Believer racing enthusiasts - but that doesn't mask the fact that IndyCar is the quintessential example of what I have coined as "racing in a vacuum." What does that mean, exactly? It means that between the IndyCar team owners, the engine manufacturers and the owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a calculated decision has been made that as long as the Indy 500 remains the single greatest motor race in the world, and as long as they can keep their programs funded, well, whatever else happens outside their collective "bubble" is meaningless. In other words, annual racing team budgets are calculated on and around the Indianapolis 500, and as long these team owners can continue to talk companies into buying into that angle and sponsoring their efforts, they clearly don't care about the rest of it. This is simply unsustainable. As I've said repeatedly, the IndyCar owners despise when I write things like this, because they come from a perspective that, "until you try to run a racing team and have the responsibility for many livelihoods, you don't have a frickin' clue as to what you're talking about." Or something like that. Point well taken, but that doesn't excuse what happened at Phoenix, or what will happen at too many of the other racing venues on the schedule this year. Just because the TV package is in place for a particular race and the sponsorship deals are a "go" for the season it doesn't mean that it's acceptable or that the IndyCar community can cover up what happened in Phoenix last Saturday night. Because what happened there is simply inexcusable. This is what "racing in a vacuum" means; as long as the team owners have their programs funded based around one race - the Indianapolis 500 - the bigger picture of the sport is a non-issue and of little interest. This is flat-out wrong. I'm embarrassed for the powers that be in IndyCar - the teams, the manufacturers, the drivers and the series itself. A total rethink for Indy car racing is in order, but I can guarantee you that as long as everyone has their "deal" in place for the season, no one gives a rat's ass about doing anything about it. It's really too bad. And truly pathetic. -PMD
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) led 59 laps before finishing second to Pagenaud. Team Penske's four drivers led all 250 laps, the first time a team has paced every lap in a race since Team Penske did the same thing in the first race of Belle Isle doubleheader last year.
(Photo by Richard Dowdy/INDYCAR)
JR Hildebrand (No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Fuzzy's Vodka Chevrolet) finished third, the best result for Hildebrand since his memorable - and excruciating - runner-up finish in the 2011 Indianapolis 500 when he crashed in Turn 4 while leading on the final lap. Hildebrand sat out last week's race at Barber Motorsports Park while a broken bone in his left hand mended from an April 9 crash in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. "The car was just awesome all day," Hildebrand said. "Excited to get the result for the team, for sure. The car was bitchin'. I think at the end of the race we had obviously one of the top three, but I think we might have had the best car on the track." The Verizon IndyCar Series heads to an open test on Tuesday at Gateway Motorsports Park, where the series will race under the lights on Aug. 26. After that, it's back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the INDYCAR Grand Prix on the road course May 13 (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC and Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network), followed by the 101st Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on May 28 (11 a.m. ET, ABC and Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network).
(crash.net)
Valtteri Bottas (No. 77 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team) won Sunday's Russian Grand Prix in just his fourth race for the German manufacturer. Bottas jumped from third on the grid to seize the lead on the first lap after outdragging pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel (No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari) before moving clear at the front. Vettel came back in the final stages on the super-soft tire to ramp up the pressure, but Bottas crossed the line 0.6 seconds clear of Vettel to record his first F1 win. Kimi Raikkonen (No. 7 Scuderia Ferrari) made it two Finns on the podium by finishing third, ten seconds behind Vettel, while Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team) finished fourth. Hamilton now sits thirteen points behind Vettel in the drivers' championship.
(Getty Images/NASCAR)
After starting from the rear of the field due to a post-qualifying transmission change, Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Shell Pennzoil Ford) spent all afternoon driving from the back of the field to the front - and the win - in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Logano held off teammate Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Detroit Genuine Parts Ford) at the end. It was Logano's 18th race win in his 300th start in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It was his first victory of the season and his second at Richmond. Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing FedEx Ground Toyota) finished third.
(Volkswagen images)
Scott Speed (No. 41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Oberto Circle K Beetle GRC) led the Andretti Rallycross team to a 1-2 finish in the season-opening round of the 2017 Red Bull Global Rallycross championship in Memphis. Tanner Foust (No. 34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Rockstar Energy Drink Beetle GRC) finished second on the 1.18-mile Memphis International Raceway circuit. It was Speed's 13th career win in GRC racing. “The whole team just worked this off-season. We put in the work, and when we wanted to stop we worked some more,” he said after the race. “When you show up to the first race and you put this kind of performance down, it just makes all that work worthwhile.”
(Pirelli World Challenge)
Daniel Mancinelli and Andrea Montermini (No. 31 TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3) won Saturday’s 60-minute Pirelli World Challenge SprintX (Race 1) season opener at VIRginia International Raceway. Seven of the two-driver teams miscalculated the 60-second pit lane minimum during the driver change and were forced to serve “drive through” penalties in the second half of the one-hour contest. (Editor-In-Chief's Note: 60-second pit lane minimum? It sounds convoluted because it is convoluted. Not Good. -PMD) Mike Skeen and Andrew Davis (No. 82 McCann Racing Audi R8 LMS) finished second, just 239 seconds behind in the Pro-Pro class. The Pro-Am duo of James Sofronas of California and Laurens Vanthoor of Belgium (No. 14 GMG Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 ) finished third overall in the 33-car field and won the Pro-Am division.
(Pirelli World Challenge)
Ryan Dalziel of Scotland and David Morad of Canada (No. 2 CRP Racing/DeVilbiss Mercedes AMG GT3) won Sunday’s SprintX Round 2 competition at VIRginia International Raceway in the Pirelli World Challenge Nissan Grand Prix of VIR. Dalziel/Morad led every lap Sunday in the scheduled one-hour SprintX race. Morad started the race and then Dalziel, the veteran sports car racer, took over the No. 2 machine at the 33-minute mark and easily held the leading margin to the checkered flag. Alvaro Parente/Ben Barnicoat (No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S) finished second after a come-from-behind drive by both drivers on the 3.27-mile, 17-turn permanent road circuit. Michael Cooper and Jordan Taylor (No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R.) finished third. The 60-minute, two-driver, one pit stop event was shortened to 58 minutes after a violent crash with former Formula One and IndyCar racer Stefan Johansson, sports car veteran Kris Wilson and GTS competitor Phillip Bloom entering turn seven put out the caution flag with six minutes remaining. All drivers were treated and released at the VIR track medical center. The checkered flag was flown for remaining contestants, however, with two minutes left in the one-hour contest due to accident damage to the wall. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Tim Pappas (No. 54 Black Swan Racing Mercedes AMG GT3) took the Pro-Am title on Sunday.
(Indianapolis Motor Speedway)
Auto Racing Hall of Fame member Joe Leonard, the 1968 Indianapolis 500 pole sitter, a two-time USAC National Champion and one of the great motorcycle racers of all time, passed away Thursday, April 27. He was 84. The longtime San Jose, California, resident, who had been in ill health for some time, had nine consecutive starts in the Indianapolis 500 between 1965 and 1973, leading the field for 52 laps and finishing third in both 1967 and 1972. Leonard won six USAC National Championship races during his career, including three at Milwaukee and one at Michigan International Speedway, plus the second running of the Ontario (California) 500 in 1971 and the second running of the Pocono (Pennsylvania) 500 in 1972. After suffering crippling leg and ankle injuries at Ontario in the spring of 1974 and being unable to pass the physical for a planned comeback the following year, he hung up his helmet for good. Before ever turning to four wheels, Leonard was one of the most successful riders ever in AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) competition, winning 27 "national" events, including the Daytona 200 on two occasions when it was still conducted over the old "beach" course.
(Mecum Auctions images)
Mecum Auctions will be the primary sponsor for the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet at the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 set for Sunday, May 28. Sage Karam, who won the “Hard Charger” award in 2014 driving from 31st to ninth, will be the driver. Last year, Karam, the 22-year-old from Nazareth, Pa., worked his way up from the back of the pack in "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" to run in fourth before being forced into the wall at the south end of the track on lap 94.
(Photos by Chris Owens/Indianapolis Motor Speedway for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
The 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport will be the Indianapolis 500 Pace Car for the 101st running of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Sunday, May 28, 2017. It marks the 14th time a Corvette has served as the official pace car for the "500" (starting in 1978), and the 28th time a Chevrolet has led the field, dating back to 1948. No other vehicle has served as the pace car more than the Corvette.
