Category: Featured Interview

In conversations with people, I’ve heard a common question asked – what is Robby Gordon up to? Well, the answer is clear as ever – putting together the Stadium Super Truck Series.

Basically, simple to the point – the stadium trucks are motocross on four wheels.

When it comes to an event, the trucks race on a combination of dirt and asphalt, jumping different ramps – some jumps shorter than others. The idea of the track is to challenge a driver’s skill and let the best driver come out on top as the drivers race identical trucks.

The stadium truck series was something that existed before, called Mickey Thompson Off-Road. Mickey Thompson, an off-road racing legend, formed the series 1979, hosting events in stadiums. Gordon ran in the series alongside Thompson, winning a championship in 1988.

A historical look at the series with what Thompson had before and a glimpse of what Gordon has created now can be viewed in a special youtube video put together by the Stadium Super Truck Series – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciJe5YsEpo8.

In 1988, Thompson and his wife were murdered, and the series only survived a short time after that.

“I essentially want to bring it back, which is what we’ve done,” Gordon says. “We are putting people in the grandstands. We’re off and running.”

Gordon says that in the events that they’ve hosted so far, fans have been very excited with the product and only had a few complaints.

“The only concern is the schedule changes and that’s just a fact of business with the audience with the east coast and Midwest not knowing off-road racing like they do on the west coast,” Gordon says. “It’s just going to take us a while doing events like the Honda Indy. Hopefully we can do Houston with IndyCars, and introduce the audience to stadium trucks.”

One of the difficulties with being a new series, it’s all about getting the racing out there for fans to see.

“I think it’s good that we come to events like the Honda Indy Toronto and do events here because I think there’s an opportunity to do four or five races a year with IndyCars,” he says. “If we do four or five races a year with IndyCars and four or five stadiums, we can complete a whole season.”

For Honda Indy Toronto fans, they are in for a treat this weekend as 2003 CART Series Champion Paul Tracy and 1996 CART Series Champion Jimmy Vasser have signed up to take part in this weekend, joining Gordon and series regulars PJ Jones, Justin Lofton and Rob MacCahren, among others.

“I’m thrilled to race with Robby Gordon’s Stadium SUPER Truck Series in my hometown of Toronto this weekend. I’ve been a fan of the SST events this year and have a good bit of experience in off-road vehicles at the Glamis (Calif.) Sand Dunes, so I’m hoping to bring some added excitement to my fans in Toronto,” Tracy said. “I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel and kicking Robby’s butt around the track with the ‘chrome horn’ just like the old times.”

Like many action sports, whether asphalt car racing or supercross or monster trucks, you can’t truly experience it unless you’re there in person to see the high jumps right in your face, see the speed right before and take in the excitement.

So with that said, I highly recommend either you head out to the Honda Indy Toronto this weekend or head to an event near you. If you can’t do that, at least take the time to check out more details about the series online and watch some of the videos of the action because once you see it, you’ll be hooked. I know I was.

For more information on the Super Stadium Truck Series, check out the series website at http://stadiumsupertrucks.com/ssts/

“I started racing when I was 13 in go-karts. I told my parents I wanted something motorized and they wouldn’t let me have it till I was 13. I finally got started in karts. That’s what I loved. I stopped playing baseball, I stopped playing basketball and started racing. Somewhere along the line, I found myself in an IndyCar so it’s been a pretty incredible journey.”

Josef Newgarden continues his journey this weekend as he will look to tackle the streets of Toronto for the Honda Indy Toronto as he continues his sophomore IndyCar season.

“Toronto is incredible,” he says. “I just love the track. It’s a fun weekend to come race at, it’s a fun weekend to come visit a different city and Toronto is one of the best. They have incredibly passionate fans. Everything about it is good. I love the track. I love the style of racing here. I love the difficulty with the track that arises.”

While some tracks may have a tricky corner or spot, the trick that comes with Toronto is the fact that some parts are asphalt, and some parts are concrete.

“There’s lots of concrete and the concrete comes in and out in each other and really you need to find the apex over each corner of the track,” Newgarden explains. “It’s tough getting the car to work over every corner. It goes asphalt to concrete back to asphalt. The asphalt has tons of grip versus the concrete in the middle of the corner as you lose grip completely. That’s the tough thing about Toronto is figuring out that balance.”

To add to the challenge, the drivers are faced with two races this weekend – one Saturday and one Sunday – instead of the normal one race format that race fans have been used to. The additional race puts an emphasis on what a driver intakes.

“It’s just more emphasis put on hydration and food – what you’re doing with vitamins,” Newgarden says of the two races. “It puts more of a premium on that sort of stuff so that’s the drivers are focusing on. Can’t do much with your training as once your set at your fitness level, you try to maintain that throughout the season. It’s more the hydration that you have to look out for.”

Newgarden heads into Toronto this weekend looking for his first career IndyCar Podium after picking a pair fifth place finishes so far this year.

“It’s been fun, exciting, gone to many different tracks already, which isn’t unusual for IndyCar as we go to all different types,” Newgarden says. “We’re always keeping it fresh and creating a new challenge for the teams and the drivers. It’s been fun. We’ve had a really fun year. We’ve had a couple top fives. Definitely want more; we’re not here to finish fifth. We’re trying to get wins and podiums. This weekend, we have two great opportunities.”

One of the things that is Newgarden’s backpocket is that he is no rookie this year, having ran Toronto last year, and is gotten more used to working with his crew.

“You really have to have an incredible group that works well together and understands what they need from each other,” Newgarden says. “We’re sort of firing on all cylinders now at Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing. We understand what we need from each other now and what we want from each other and that’s what I think is happening this year together. You start to get that continuity, that rhythm and this year it’s starting to gel and come together a lot better and that’s been the biggest difference for us.”

Imagine running a full racing schedule going for a championship. Not just any championship, but the American LeMans Series Championship.

Now imagine yourself doing that, while also running some IndyCar races for Panther Racing including the double header in Toronto this weekend.

This isn’t something that is hypothetical. This is what Ryan Briscoe, driver of the No. 4 National Guard IndyCar is doing this year.

“I’m multi-tasking still so it definitely makes it challenging,” Briscoe comments. “Just been hard, but the team has really looked after me and been able to acquire seats that I used last year so that was a big start with getting comfortable in the cockpit. Great groups of guys to work with, very professional.”

Briscoe joined up with Panther Racing mid-season this year, his first start with them coming at Detroit, and has been getting to know the guys a little more each week ever since. With the way his schedule has been, he finally got a chance to be able to see the guys at the shop during the week.

“I definitely am excited,” Briscoe says. “I feel like coming straight off racing Pocono, I was able to go to Indianapolis this week, go to the race shop and spend time with the guys, which is basically been our first time together since our first race at Detroit.

“I feel preparation coming into Toronto is good, just a lot more organized than it’s been for me the previous races we’ve done together, which I think is a confidence boost for me and the team.”

Briscoe has also experienced a change with Panther Racing versus his previous seasons at Penske Racing in that Panther Racing is a single-car operation. Briscoe comments that it makes it even harder because you don’t have a teammate to bounce information back and forth

While Briscoe is working through changes of his own, the IZOD IndyCar Series is throwing curveballs at the drivers with changes and tweaks for this year. Instead of a single-race on Sunday, the IZOD IndyCar Series is running back-to-back races this weekend in Toronto, with one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

“It makes for a really fast-paced weekend, one practice session only before going into qualifying,” Briscoe comments. “So preparation is so important. There’s not much time if you’re off your mark to begin with so you have to be on it. You need to have a good practice to know what you clearly need going into qualifying for race one. Then after that, you’re qualifying for race two and then racing. It all happens quickly.”

Briscoe welcomes the challenge that it brings, as double headers equal more racing for him.

With having the double headers, some would think that maybe drivers would be conservative in race one. However, Briscoe says he doesn’t think so.

“Speaking in general terms as a driver, I would say not,” he says. “But in Detroit, I would say for sure the first race was more conservative than the second race. The second race, pretty stupid actually; everyone was making a lot of boneheaded moves on the restarts, which we didn’t see in race one. So I don’t know why that is.

“In preparation for a race like this, you’d think it may be the same in both races. We may get a little more confident going into the second race and try to get a bit more out of it. I don’t know – we’ll see.”

Oh, and the double header isn’t the only challenge that the drivers are facing. INDYCAR has gone with “standing starts” for the first of the two races. Instead of the traditional rolling starts, the cars will be stopped on the front stretch and have the light countdown.

“That’s going to be interesting, I don’t know what to expect,” Briscoe says. “I hope it all goes well. I don’t see why it won’t, but certainly something new to adapt to.”

The Toronto circuit has thrown Briscoe a curveball in the past, as he has two top seven finishes, along with two finishes outside the top 15 in his four starts.

“I’d say the track is difficult because it’s quite bumpy and it’s got quite a few fast corners for a street course so that’s probably the hardest thing,” Briscoe says. “You’re switching tarmacs quite a bit around this circuit so you’re going from old concrete to new concrete to tarmac, and that’s make the set-up more challenging and adjusting your driving to it.

“It’s a good race track, it’s got lots of passing zones. The passing zones are always tempting; you see a lot of crashes here so something to be aware of during the race to watch out for accidents happening because this race always seems to breed accidents. So it’s something to keep on your mind especially with two races this weekend.”

With having a double-header this weekend and his jam-packed schedule, training is key for Briscoe in keeping him in shape for the season. Briscoe says for drivers, the core of their training comes during the off-season.

“The off-season is where I can take my fitness to another level, where I can improve where I feel I’ve been lacking and try to get my fitness to the next level,” he comments. “Once we get to the season and especially once the month of May begins, you flood out. All the way through May and June till July, and then you get a weekend here and there off. During that period, it’s more maintenance than keeping improving. You just need to try and maintain what you worked on during the off-season and certainly being in a racecar is huge. That keeps your maintenance up, but I just mostly try to keep cardio up during the season.”

As James Hinchcliffe sits in Coronation Park on Thursday morning, hearing him recall memories of Toronto past, you can see the fan that he is of IndyCar racing. As a kid, Hinchcliffe came to the Honda Indy Toronto, having only grown up a half hour away from Toronto in Oakville, Ontario.

“I remember being five, six years old and climbing under the grandstands, meeting Mario Andretti and getting his autograph,” Hinchcliffe recalls. “When the cars were at the fuel tank, a little more open and exposed, I’d go stand there. One of the mechanics let me hold a steering wheel – it was one of the coolest things ever.”

Flashforward to 2013, Hinhcliffe is looking to make his third Toronto start in the IZOD IndyCar Series, driving the No. 27 Go Daddy car for Andretti Autosport.

“It’s one of my favourite weekends of the year getting to come home,” Hinchcliffe says. “This is what started my passion and got me interested in the sport.”

Even though he is back home, it doesn’t give him a ton of time with family due to the commitments.

“It’s part of it,” he says. “I’m here to do a job this weekend. Next weekend we have off so I have taken all of the next week off to stay here in Canada, visit some friends, visit some family.”

Focusing on the weekend ahead, Hinchcliffe is looking for better luck than he has had in the past. In his previous two starts, he has finished 14th and 22nd. He did have some success in Toronto in the past though, finishing third in the Firestone Indy Lights division in 2009.

“The track hasn’t been real good to me,” he says. “We’ve been competitive and I’ve led laps in a different series. But whether it has been mechanical or just being out thought of by guys, I just haven’t had that luck here at all.”

With that in mind, Hinchcliffe is coming into the weekend “with the feeling that everything is going to go wrong”.

It sort of falls along Hinchcliffe’s season so far as he has been fast every week, picking up three race wins, but hasn’t had the consistency with wrecks and mechanical problems taking him out of contention some weeks.

“It’s been way less consistent than it needs to be said,” he says. “I can’t say it’s been a bad year with three wins. I mean, that’s such a huge accomplishment for the team. But we need to have top 10s in between those wins.”

Last year, it was Hinchcliffe’s teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay picking up the win in Toronto.

“He did a great job last year,” Hinchcliffe comments. “Ryan is such a tough competitor and really good on the street circuits. I actually learned a lot from him last year. It’s great to have a teammate like that where you can work together.”

Hinchcliffe says looking back at Hunter-Reay’s win, he remembers the restart before Hinch had the mechanical problems that took him out of the running.

“I was starting right beside him so I know I was in position to win,” Hinchcliffe comments. “So hopefully we’ll have all four cars up there and get one of them to victory lane.”

There’s also the joke that whenever Hunter-Reay comes to Canada, the California native calls himself “Canadian” because his mom was born in Hamilton, Ontario.

“It’s special for him to win here,” Hinchcliffe adds. “If I can’t win and its an Andretti-Autosport driver that is half-Canadian, that’s not a bad guy.”

If Hinchcliffe wants to have success this weekend, he’ll have the master the corner that he calls the toughest for him: turn one.

“Turn one is everything challenging,” Hinchcliffe says. “First you got bumps on the entry, which hurt braking. You have the concrete patch in hte middle of the corner which affects your balance in the middle of the corner, which then leads to a nice long straight. You have to have a good exit or we’re losing time all the way down to turn three. To set up for that, whether set-up of your car or how you plan your way to get through it, it can be a challenge.”

If all that is not enough, just imagine having to do it back-to-back days as for the first time in series history, the IZOD IndyCar Series is running back-to-back races in Toronto with one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The first time IndyCar did that format this year was in Detroit, where it seemed race one was calm while race two had a bunch of incidents throughout.

“We learned a lot in Detroit, but the way the weather unfolded Saturday and all the rest of it, we have a lot to learn,” Hinchcliffe says. “Engineers hate change and rely on 10 years of data and say, ‘We’ll have a caution at this lap’. This is how those guys operate. It’s going to be challenging with strategy and what tires. Those are the things we have to learn.”

Hinchcliffe adds that you will probably see different tire strategies throughout the weekend and there may be a big difference between those who hit the right combination and those who don’t.

Managing the two races, along with the sponsor and media commitments, it’s a challenge that the driver are being faced with.

“All the drivers have upped their physical,” Hinchcliffe says as per the preparation for this weekend. “You have to be conscious about nutrition, hydration over the weekend. Most drivers have physios with them so they can deal with what comes up.”

Hinchcliffe adds that the schedule adds another challenge by the practice time being minimized.

“So if you’re not unrolling with a good car, you’re essentially penalized and it makes it frustrating,” Hinchcliffe says.

If having double races is not enough of a challenge, IndyCar has gone with “standing starts” for the first of the two races. Instead of the traditional rolling starts, the cars will be stopped on the front stretch and have the light countdown.

“That’s going to be a big challenge for us,” Hinchcliffe comments. “We haven’t had a chance to practice that. A lot of guys haven’t done it in years so hopefully we get through it catastrophe free cause we got a race the next to run.”

If you’re not already pumped to come down to the Honda Indy Toronto this weekend with all the new things instore, Hinchcliffe says that you should give it a chance as TV can’t do it justice.

“You have to be here to see it, hear it and smell it,” Hinhcliffe says.

On Monday, Honda Indy Toronto President Charlie Johnstone was at William-Ashley’s flagship location in Toronto, Ontario to unveil the trophies for this year’s Honda Indy Toronto. It marks the third straight year that William-Ashley has been part of the trophy designing.

The trophies, once again designed by Waterford Crystal, are crystal shaped bowls, varying in size and depth of design, depending on the winner. The main winner’s trophy features two IndyCars on the front of the bowl, cut into the glass carefully, with the Toronto skyline along the back of the bowl. They’ve also incorporated the Honda Indy Toronto logo as the bottom of the stem. Up-close photos of the trophies can be viewed in the Speedway Media Photo Gallery.

For the first time, Toronto will host two races over the course of the weekend. The first race will be on July 13th, with the second race on July 14th. Its part of the new double-header weekend format that IndyCar has developed for some of the road courses this year.

With that said, Johnstone discussed that he wants to expand the event further out to be able to have the whole family it. They’ll be food tasting, beer tasting, activities for the kids, as well as other things to keep the whole family entertained over the course of the three day weekend. It’s all about creating that perfect atmosphere.

2005 Honda Indy Toronto winner Justin Wilson echoed those thoughts saying the race is cool, but you got to have that entertainment package.

“You have to have something to entertain the wife and kids because I know from my experience, if I don’t entertain them, it’s not good,” he commented. “But I enjoy it. It’s a good track, very challenging. ”

Wilson was on hand for the unveiling and sat and spoke to the media about a number of topics, including driver training. With there being two races in one weekend, it makes that level of training extra important. Training is important because as Wilson mentions, each time you get on brake pedal, it’s like doing a full leg press and you’re doing that five times a minute. Wilson says training is also important because you don’t want your body to be your limit.

“All the races you go to – you don’t want your body to be the limit of how far you can drive the car,” he said. “The cars have advanced and become harder to drive, the gap between the cars is getting closer. So five years ago, you were five tenths off, you were fifth. Now if you are five tenths off, you’re 18^th or 19^th. You have to perform the maximum every single lap. It’s tough.”

Wilson’s training consists of cycling, swimming and going to the gym to lift weights.

“Just trying to do everything that I got the core strength, the upper body strength and then I’ve got the endurance,” he said. “The fitter you are during the race, the more you can deal with driving the car.”

With a normal street race, it can take drivers four to five days for their body’s to fully recover.

“Our cars don’t have a lot of suspension movement,” he commented. “I describe it as being put in a trash can and shaken around. When you get out, you’re covered in bumps and bruises and it just aches. On top of that, you’re fighting the car so your muscles ache.”

So come race weekend, the training that a driver has done before the weekend is going to be important. Another important aspect is nutrition to make sure you’re hydrated, as well as getting enough carbohydrates and protein for your muscles to recover.

“Hydration, that is the first thing that will get you every time,” he explained. “You got to make sure you’re drinking the right fluids, the right amount at the right time, so that you don’t lose concentration and that’s important. Also, a massage helps.

“Anything you can do to help recover and come back to run well. You want to come back and be at the same level on day two that you were on day one.”

The drivers have experienced the double header once this year already – Detroit – and Wilson commented that he noticed drivers were cautious on day one, while overly aggressive on day two.

“I think that could be the same thing again in Toronto,” he commented. “It’s going to be interesting.”

Wilson went on to say that he is looking forward to Toronto and remembers watching the race while in England racing go-karts as a kid.

“This is a big deal and watching this race as a kid back in England, this is a nice street race,” he said. “When you get here, you realize it’s more of a street fight. There’s a lot of action on track.”

The course, constructed at Exhibition Place, is a tight street course that Wilson says it gives it that cannon feeling for the straightaway. It also has a special unique feature to it. While the track is mainly asphalt, there are concrete patches in some of the corners, which adds another trick to it.

“The grip level changes,” Wilson explained. “You hit the concrete, the whole car slides and you kind of have a moment there. Right before you hit the wall there, the grip picks back up at the end of the turn. You just got to work at it, pick up more speed each time and sometimes you hit it wrong, hence why I hit the wall there (in 2011).”

Wilson was running in second late in the race trying to catch Will Power in 2011, and hit the patch the wrong way in turn eight, causing him to hit the wall.

“That’s the fun part of street racing and why this track is so challenging, yet so rewarding when you get it right,” he said.