Category: Featured Other Series

Featured Other Series

  • 2 for 2: Brandon Watson wins OSCAAR Super Late Model Feature at Barrie

    2 for 2: Brandon Watson wins OSCAAR Super Late Model Feature at Barrie

    Brandon Watson would make it for two-for-two so far this season as he would win the OSCAAR Super Late Model feature at Barrie Speedway.

    The night wouldn’t start off pretty for the super lates as contact between Glenn Watson and Kyle Passer would result in Glenn Watson’s fender being ripped off and causing a debris caution. Then on the restart coming out of two turn, Jesse Kennedy would make contact with Passer, setting off a chain reaction wreck that collected Glenn Watson, Rob Clarke and John Owen. Glenn Watson’s car would have to be toed off, but the crew went to work and had it ready for the second round of the heats.

    Clarke would pick up the win in the first heat ahead of Brandon Watson, Owen, Passer, and Henry Hagen.

    In the second heat, Rob Poole would spin Brandon Vanderwel in turn three. Andrew Gresel would take the victory ahead of Ian Bourque, Poole, Vanderwel, and Paul Milligan.

    In the third heat, Brad Corcoran would spin Sean Cronan on lap three. Then on lap four, Charlie Gallant would spin in turn two, possibly due to contact from Corcoran. Derrike Tiemersma would take the win ahead of Kevin Cornelius, Tyler Hawn, Cronan, Corcoran and Gallant.

    In the fourth heat, Glenn Watson would have his car back together and take the win ahead of Brandon Watson, Passer, Clarke, Owen and Hagen.

    In the fifth heat, the left rear would come off of Vanderwell’s car during the pace laps. Then on lap two, Gresel would spin Poole as they battled for the lead, collecting Bourque and Milligan. Gresel and Poole would be the only cars that would continue and it’d be Gresel taking the win ahead of Poole.

    The final heat of the evening went to Cornelius ahead of Hawn, Tiemersma, Gallant, Corcoran and Cronan.

    When it came feature time, it’d be Brandon Watson starting on pole, followed by Derrike Tiemersma, Tyler Hawn, Kevin Cornelius, Andrew Gresel, Gary Passer, Rob Poole, Glenn Watson, Ian Bourque, John Owen, Paul Milligan, Brad Corcoran, Charlie Gallant, Sean Cronan, Jesse Kennedy, No. 67, Rob Clarke and Henry Hagen.

    Tiemersma would stay alongside Brandon Watson for the first two opening laps of the feature, before Watson would clear him on lap three ahead of Cornelius, Hawn and Gresel. The top five stayed the same all the way till lap 11 while Poole ran sixth, followed by Glenn Watson, Owen, Bourque and Corcoran.

    The top 10 would stay that way all the way till the first and only caution at lap 24 for Clarke spinning off turn four.

    On the restart, Gresel would get by Hawn for fourth behind Brandon Watson, Tiemersma and Cornelius. A couple laps later, Gresel would pass Cornelius for the third position.

    On lap 30, it’d be Brandon Watson leading Tiemersma, Gresel, Glenn Watson, Cornelius, Hawn, Bourque, Owen, Poole, Gallant and Corcoran on the lead lap.

    On lap 34, Owen would get by Bourque, with Poole battling with Bourque for position on lap 38.

    Tiemersma would catch Brandon Watson and run right him, though was not able to find a way by. So as a result, defending series champion Brandon Watson picks up another victory.

    Derrike Tiemersma got second, followed by Andrew Gresel, Glenn Watson and Kevin Cornelius.

    Tyler Hawn finished sixth, followed by John Owen, Ian Bourque, Rob Poole and Charlie Gallant.

    Brad Corcoran was 11th, followed by Gary Passer and Sean Cronan.

    These results are of course unofficial so please do check OSCAAR’s official website at http://www.oscaar.ca for the official results.

  • Keeping it in the Family: Brent McLean wins OSCAAR Modified feature at Barrie Speedway

    Keeping it in the Family: Brent McLean wins OSCAAR Modified feature at Barrie Speedway

    Last year at Barrie Speedway and in the season opener at Sunset Speedway, it was Gary McLean picking up the victory. This weekend at Barrie Speedway, it was his nephew Brent McLean would picked up the victory.

    Gary McLean started off the night in victory lane, though, as he won the first heat ahead of Matt Barton, Davey Terry, Branden Bullen and Mike Westwood.

    In the second heat, there would be a series of incidents. The first incident would have Brian McLean and Brad Pearsall spin of turn four. Then on the restart, Dave Osbourne would spin, collecting Pearsall. On the second attempt at a restart, Osbourne would spin again with Bobby Tolton spinning behind him. Heading into the corner, Pearsall had tried to make it three-wide with Tolton and Brian McLean.

    It’d be Brent McLean picking up the win ahead of Pearsall, Brian McLean, David McCullogh and Osbourne.

    In the third heat, Terry would have a flat tire on lap one while Bullen would tag the inside wall and need to be toed off the track. Gary McLean would go for the daily double ahead of Barton, Bullen and Terry.

    In the final heat, Brian McLean would have a spin midway through. Brent McLean would also for the daily double head of Pearsall, Osbourne and McCullogh.

    When it came to feature time, it’d be Davey Terry on pole, followed by Brent McLean, Matt Barton, Brad Pearsall, Gary McLean, David McCullogh, Dave Osbourne, Mike Westwood and Bobby Tolton.

    On lap one, Brent McLean would grab the lead ahead of Terry, Barton, Gary McLean and Pearsall.

    Making his OSCAAR debut, Mike Westwood wouldn’t have a good night as he’d come down pit road on lap two.

    The first and only caution would fly on lap six when Barton would get into Terry as they battled for second off of turn four. So with 24 laps to go, Brent McLean would lead ahead of Gary McLean, Pearsall, McCullogh, Osbourne, Brian McLean, Terry, Barton and Tolton.

    On the restart, Brent McLean would pull ahead of the field. In the middle of the pack, both Terry and Barton would get by Osbourne, with Barton then passing Terry.

    At the end of the 30 laps, it was Brent McLean picking up the win ahead of Gary McLean, Brad Pearsall, David McCullogh, Matt Barton, Davey Terry and Dave Osbourne.

    The OSCAAR Modifieds will hit Delaware Speedway next Friday as they continue a stretch of four back-to-back events to complete the month of June.

  • Marco Andretti wins Verizon P1 Award for the Milwaukee IndyFest

    Marco Andretti wins Verizon P1 Award for the Milwaukee IndyFest

    After leading a chunk of last week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, Marco Andretti is off to a good start this weekend. Andretti earned the Verizon P1 Award for the Milwaukee IndyFest with a two-lap average speed of 170.515 mph. It marks a new track record as Franchitti held it after last year’s qualifying session at 168.737 mph. It marks Andretti’s first pole since 2008.

    “So far, that was about as good as we could run, so I’m pleased,” Andretti said. “I think the RC Cola car will be tough to beat. A win would be huge. I told Dad that hopefully (the pole) is only half of his Father’s Day gift.”

    The pole for the driver of the No. 25 RC Cola car also allows him to trim Castroneves’ points lead to only one point. Castroneves qualified 18th.

    Andretti’s teammate James Hinchcliffe will start alongside of him on the front row as Hinhcliffe recorded a fast lap of 170.868 mph in qualifying behind the wheel of his No. 27 GoDaddy.com car.

    “Don’t tell Marco, but the outside is way better on the start,” Hinchcliffe said. “That is what I was going for.

    “It was a hell of a team effort, look at that 4 out of the Top 5 guys.  Will ruined the Andretti Autosport Parade and everybody on the team deserves such credit after the practice that we had.  Man, the third time starting second, I mean like it’s always the bridesmaid, never the bride.  I mean I won that pole so bad. For where we were especially at practice, the front row, I will take it! ”

    Penske Racing’s Will Power would qualify third.

    “We’ve had a good Verizon car all day,” Power said. “I thought we might have enough for pole today but I made a little mistake on the last lap and we just missed it. Starting third is a good position for us tomorrow. I think the Verizon Chevy will be pretty good in the race. We’re not sure what the weather will be – we hope the rain stays away, especially for the fans – but it should be a good race.”

    He was followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay and E.J. Viso, giving Andretti Autosport four of the top five starting spots.

    “We had a great car, and we just got a little carried away with trying to help the car turn – that’s what beats a lap time here,” Hunter-Reay said. “We missed the pole by just a little bit last year, so we felt we needed to go get it today. We just over-stepped it today. It’s easy to do here at Milwaukee, but we’ll have a good No. 1 DHL Chevrolet for tomorrow, I promise you that.”

    Sebastian Saavedra qualified a career-best sixth in the No. 6 Dragon Racing car, while Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan qualified seventh, followed by Josef Newgarden in eighth.

     

    1. (25) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevy, 170.515

    2. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevy, 170.418

    3. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 170.212

    4. (1) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy, 170.100

    5. (5) EJ Viso, Dallara-Chevy, 169.828

    6. (6) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 169.732

    7. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 169.482

    8. (67) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 169.462

    9. (77) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 169.311

    10. (55) Tristan Vautier, Dallara-Honda, 169.215

    11. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 168.820

    12. (16) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 168.470

    13. (19) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 168.412

    14. (7) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 168.141

    15. (14) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 168.023

    16. (98) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 167.512

    17. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 167.263

    18. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 167.169

    19. (4) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 165.765

    20. (18) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 165.364

    21. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy, 164.797

    22. (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 164.124

    23. (15) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 163.230

    24. (78) Simona De Silvestro, Dallara-Chevy, 162.886

  • Brennan Poole wins the Patriot Pumps 200 at Michigan

    Brennan Poole wins the Patriot Pumps 200 at Michigan

    After running up front and close racing with teammate Justin Boston, Brennan Poole would pick up the victory in the Patriot Pumps 200 at Michigan International Speedway on Friday afternoon.

    “We should have had more wins than this,” Poole’s crew chief Kevin Reed said. “These guys are just flawless. We’ve been the fastest car at every track. Looking forward to next week with John Wes and then the week after with Kyle Benjamin.”

    Poole made his way up to the second position behind Boston and was closing in on him. When Poole got underneath of Boston with 12 laps to go, Poole would get loose and slide up towards Boston. The air, not any contact, would cause Boston to get loose and go around on the backstretch. Poole would pick up the lead and was able to hold off Ryan Blaney and Frank Kimmel on the late race restart.

    “The car was just really good today,” Poole said. “We struggled in traffic behind Justin and I got underneath him at the door and got loose – we never touched, but I thought we were done after that. I don’t know what my next opportunity will be – but I’m looking forward to the next one.”

    Blaney would have the most dominant car all day long and would lead the most laps, however would lose the lead when his team decided to short pit with 32 laps to go. The caution would then come out four laps later and Blaney was able to get the lucky dog, requiring him to start at the tail end of the last line.

    When it came time for the restart, Blaney started behind the lead lap cars, however was not at the tail end of the longest line. Therefore, ARCA deemed it an illegal start and required Blaney to back off till he fell back in line before allowing him to make his charge to the front.

    “I learned a lot today,” Blaney said. “Definitely learned how the track changed throughout the race. I thought we had the dominant car all day. We were just riding out there at front. We came in early, short pitted and hoped it would string out.

    “We were supposed to be start seventh and the guy who I was supposed to start in front of dropped down and ARCA said we should have started behind him. I burned my stuff up trying to get back up there and if we would have started where we were supposed to, we would have been fine.”

    Points leader Frank Kimmel finished third while Boston made his way back up to fourth. Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five.

    Tires were a concern throughout the day as three of the four cautions were due to drivers having flat tires. mason Mitchell had the fire problem on lap 25, followed by Tom Hessert on lap 42 and Spencer Gallagher with 28 laps to go.

    “We were okay there, struggling a bit,” Hessert said. “We did a four tire stop and went into the run. I don’t know how long we were into that run, but we blew a tire going into the turn and hit the wall.”

    The ARCA teams will now turn their attention to Road America as they get set to do battle on the road course.

  • Lap by Lap: Patriot Pumps 200 won by Brennan Poole

    Lap by Lap: Patriot Pumps 200 won by Brennan Poole

    After some close racing with teammate Justin Boston, Brennan Poole would pick up the win in the Patriot Pumps 200 at Michigan International Speedway.

     

    Green flag as Blaney and Poole are side-by-side for the lead. Blaney takes the lead off of turn two

    Lap 4 Blaney leads Poole F Kimmel Boston Mitchell Mingus Hessert Enfinger Williams W Kimmel

    Lap 15 Blaney leads Poole F Kimmel Boston Mitchell Enfinger Mingus Williams Hessert W Kimmel

    Lap 25 Caution Mitchell gets into the wall. Leaders head down pit road. Blaney wins the race off pit road ahead of Kimmel Enfinger Poole off of pit road. Boat came off fifth but was busted for speeding on pit road. Williams doesn’t pit and takes over the lead.

    Restart Lap 31 Blaney takes the lead from Williams

    Lap 41 Blaney leads F Kimmel Boston Poole Williams Enfinger Gallagher W Kimmel Boat Mingus

    Caution lap 42 Tom Hessert gets into the wall. Williams, Will Kimmel and Boat head down pit road

    Restart lap 47

    Lap 48 Williams makes an unscheduled pit stop

    Lap 50 Blaney leads F Kimmel Boston Poole Enfinger Gallagher Mingus Boat W Kimmel Graham

    45 to go Boston looks for second by Kimmel and completes the pass off of turn two. Poole takes third from Kimmel

    44 to go Blaney leads Boston Poole F Kimmel Enfinger Gallagher Mingus Boat W Kimmel Graham

    39 to go Blaney leads Boston Poole F Kimmel Gallagher Enfinger Mingus Boat W Kimmel. 9 cars on the lead lap

    35 to go Boat makes an unscheduled pit stop

    33 to go Blaney leads Boston Poole F Kimmel Gallagher Enfinger Mingus W Kimmel. Poole and Frank Kimmel both have vibration.

    32 to go Blaney pits, handing the lead over to Boston.

    29 to go Boston leads Poole F Kimmel Gallagher Enfinger Mingus W Kimmel. Blaney is first car one lap down.

    Caution 28 to go Gallagher gets up into the wall. Blaney gets the lucky dog. Leaders head down pit road. Enfinger takes two tires and leads race off pit road. Boston second followed by Kimmel Poole with four tire.

    Restart 22 to go Enfinger gets a good restart ahead of Boston

    21 to go Enfinger and Boston are side-by-side and Boston to the lead off of turn two. Blaney busted for passing too early, has to drop back in position

    19 to go Poole passes Enfinger for second behind Boston

    18 to go Boston leads Poole F Kimmel Enfinger Mingus W Kimmel Blaney

    12 to go Poole slides up the track and the air off of Poole’s car causes Boston to around for the spin.

    Restart 8 to go Poole gets a good restart as Blaney passes Kimmel for second. Enfinger looks for third by Kimmel.

    7 to go Enfinger gets loose underneath Kimmel in turns one and two, allowing Kimmel to keep third

    6 to go Poole leads Blaney F Kimmel Enfinger Boston Mingus W Kimmel Carter

    4 to go Boston gets fourth from Enfinger

    2 to go Kevin Shinkle has a problem, but is able to get to pit road

    Brennan Poole picks up the win ahead of Blaney, F Kimmel, Boston and Enfinger

  • Penske Racing penalized following IndyCar victory in Texas Motor Speedway

    Penske Racing penalized following IndyCar victory in Texas Motor Speedway

    INDYCAR, the sanctioning body of the IZOD IndyCar Series, announced today a penalty stemming from post-race technical inspection of the June 8 Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    The No. 3 Team Penske car driven by Helio Castroneves was fined $35,000 and docked 15 entrant points for not complying Rule 14.6.6.14 (Underwing).

    Penske Racing has since released a statement with regards to the penalty.

    “Obviously we are very disappointed that the No. 3 car did not pass post-race inspection after Saturday’s race at Texas,” Tim Cindric, Penske Racing President, said. “The rule in question (14.6.6.14) states that the diffuser exit must measure 7.600”. After the race, ours was 7.575” because we neglected to tighten the braces that position the rear of the diffuser following pre-race inspection. The way Helio’s car raced was in no way advantageous as a lower diffuser height actually adds drag and reduces downforce. To ensure this is the case, we ran this configuration in the wind tunnel on Monday morning and found that the No. 3 car actually raced with three pounds less downforce and one pound more drag than what it would have had if we tightened the underwing braces properly.”

    Castroneves won the race in Texas to take over the points lead, which is now is only seven points ahead of Marco Andretti.

  • Chase Elliott and Erik Jones Make ARCA History With One, Two Finish at Pocono

    Chase Elliott and Erik Jones Make ARCA History With One, Two Finish at Pocono

    Two seventeen year olds, Chase Elliott and Erik Jones battled royally at the Tricky Triangle to score a one, two finish in the Pocono ARCA 200.

    And in so doing, they made history, becoming the youngest winner and runner up finisher in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.

    “It was a lot of fun,” Chase Elliott said of his race win after starting from the 32nd position. “We had to start in the back and had some work to do.”

    “Lance (McGrew, crew chief) made some good calls getting us off sequence,” Elliott continued. “Being able to take advantage of that and get out in front when the cautions fell, I feel worked out to our advantage.”

    “We got out front and stayed there so it worked out.”

    The driver of the No. 9 Aaron’s-Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet admitted that it did not hurt having his father Bill coaching him prior to the race and from atop the hauler, especially with his history of winning at Pocono.

    “I talked to him a lot by phone and then at the track,” Elliott said. “He gave me some good advice about this place.”

    “But the big thing is that he never raced on this surface so a lot of things are different than how they used to be,” Elliott continued. “A lot of things have changed but it is still the same old Pocono and he helped me a lot.”

    What did it mean to have his father with him in Victory Lane at Pocono?

    “It means a ton to me,” Elliott said. “It wasn’t a little over ten years ago that I was in Victory Lane with Dad and I’ve got some pictures from that.”

    “I just think that’s really cool,” Elliott continued. “To come up here to Pocono where Dad raced and to get that opportunity is really cool.”

    “I knew it would mean a lot to win and we were fortunate that it worked out.”

    Proud father Bill Elliott did have some first words for his young race winner in Victory Lane. And Chase Elliott definitely heeded that advice.

    “First thing he said that he was going to keep the champagne because I wasn’t old enough to drink it,” Elliott said. “But I think it meant a lot for dad to go back to Victory Lane with me.”

    “I’m not a dad but I feel like that would be cool,” Chase Elliott said. “I’m glad I could take him there today and hope to do it a lot more this year.”

    Bill Elliott was indeed proud of his young son, who has become the focus of his racing expertise.

    “Someone showed me a picture when I was in Victory Lane in 2002 and here is Chase in Victory Lane now in 2013,” Bill Elliott said. “He did a good job.”

    “Everything came together and he did real well,” Elliott continued. “It’s a dream come true for me.”

    “He’s done a good job in all he’s raced,” Elliott said. “This is just another era.”

    Bill Elliott acknowledged that he was one who pushed the ARCA Series to consider relaxing their rules to allow 16 and 17 year olds to race in the series.

    “The kids today have so much more experience and there was a real void there at age 16 or 17,” Elliott said. “ARCA is giving these kids a little extra time to get their feet wet.”

    Bill Elliott was not the only proud parent with his son’s historic ARCA win.

    “I’m just really thrilled for him,” mom Cindy Elliott said. “They tell me that he is the youngest winner.”

    “So, I’m just thrilled for him and for the team and for Lance McGrew, winning now in every division,” Cindy Elliott continued. “What they’ve accomplished today is just wonderful.”

    Crew chief Lance McGrew was also very proud of his young racer and felt fortunate that he could showcase his skills on the big track of Pocono.

    “Chase is an extremely talented race car driver,” McGrew said. “He is young but he was born and bred that way.”

    “He’s got years and years of experience,” McGrew continued. “We were fortunate enough that ARCA made a rule change this season to where we could run on a bigger race track.”

    “I felt like with the backing we had and Chase’s experience that we could come here and do well,” McGrew said. “And we did.”

    Seventeen year old Erik Jones, behind the wheel of the No. 15 ToyotaCare Toyota, finished runner up to Chase Elliott. And he had to battle his own demons and mistakes before being able to move forward to contend for the lead.

    “We ran ourselves out of fuel right before the first pit stop on Lap 42,” Jones said. “We had the whole field lapped at that time.”

    “We had to start at the tail end and a violation coming off pit road,” We just didn’t have time to run him back down.”

    “We’ll come back in August and see if we can get the win.”

    Veteran driver Frank Kimmel, in the No. 44 Ansell-Menards Toyota, finished third. And he was feeling very good about that finish after just getting a few laps on the track because of the rain.

    “Pretty good day,” Kimmel said. “We were one of the teams that didn’t test so we just had about three laps before the race.”

    “I smacked the wall and I thought I had a flat,” Kimmel continued. “That kind of ruined our day and I couldn’t run with those two.”

    “So, we rode it out.”

    Kimmel had nothing but praise for the youngsters who beat him on the race track. And yes, he acknowledged that they were really young, with both of them combined having less years of life than he had alone.

    “What a remarkable deal these young kids are,” Kimmel said. “I have underwear that old.”

    “Chase is a chip off the old block,” Kimmel continued. “I asked Bill (Elliott) who Chase’s  father was because he’s an awfully nice kid.”

    “These young kids are a lot of fun to race with.”

    Tom Hessert, behind the wheel of the No. 77 Barbera’s Autoland Dodge, and Mason Mitchell, driving the No. 99 Happy Cheeks-BeavEx-Reliance Tool Ford, rounded out the top five finishers in the Pocono ARCA 200.

     

     

     

  • Marco Andretti off to a solid start this year so far in 2013

    Marco Andretti off to a solid start this year so far in 2013

    “I think he (Marco) is at a point that he can definitely carry the team to a championship. I’m positive of that.” – Mario Andretti

     

    To say that Marco Andretti is off to a good start this year would be a solid statement. Following Detriot, the driver of the No. 25 RC Coca DW12 Chassis for Andretti Autosport sits at the top of the point standings tied with Helio Castroneves for the points lead.

    The key to Andretti’s season so far has been consistancy as he has only finished outside of the top seven once this year – last Saturday in Detroit after getting into the wall.

    “Consistency is what I’ve worked on in the off season; I just want to be consistently better,” he said earlier today in Texas. “I think we have been knocking on the door and like hanging and lingering around the top six, a couple of podiums.

    During the off-season, Andretti spent time with a driver coach to improve his street course performances.

    He said that there’s also a new word that’s part of his vocabulary as a driver – finesse.

    “I think that was costing me,” he commented. “I think that could have helped me at Indy just be a little more patient. Having looked back at it now I would have probably went for the most laps led, but we were just kind of watching fuel and being more patient than I probably would have been in the past at Indy. That is probably the only difference.”

    The change in Andretti’s attitude is noticed by others, including his grandfather Mario.

    “You can see obviously that I think he has buckled down and I think focused a little more on somewhat he really needs to work on,” Mario Andretti said. “Again, now of course by having the responsibility to be up there in the points… what they gone six races or so in the series a long way to go for sure, but at least right now he has something to protect and go for. He has got the team behind him and he has the experience now I think to carry it.”

    Though even if with the success this year, Andretti says there’s unfinished business as one column remains empty thus far this year.

    “I want to start stringing some wins together to hopefully generate even more interest,” he said. “It’s been a decent start to the season, but we’ve got to keep going.”

    Andretti added that they need to keep working at their program as he’s not exactly where he wants to be quite yet.

    “I think I’m a lot closer at where I was weak last year, so that is helping, but like I said not where I want to be right now,” he commented. “If we come out of here with a win then we could start some big momentum that will be the goal.”

    This weekend at Texas Motor Speedway could bring Andretti that win as he led the opening practice session and qualified second behind Will Power.

  • Will Power Scores Verizon Pole For Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway

    Will Power Scores Verizon Pole For Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway

    For the 31st time in his career, the driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car would win the Verizone Pole Award. Will Power had a two-lap average speed of 219.182 mph to win the pole for the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway, which will run on Saturday night.

    “The race car has been pretty good,” Power said. “We were wide open, trimmed out enough, the gears were right. Last year we thought we should have been on the pole but we got it right this time. It’s going to be an interesting race.”

    Power started fifth and would come home with an eighth place finish last June.

    Marco Andretti would qualify second with a two lap average of 217.553 mph. Andretti led the first practice session of the day.

    “The car was pretty good,” Andretti said. “I’m pleased with our front row (start).  Good job by the guys because our focus wasn’t even on qualifying. I’m pleased just like I was at Indy because it was the same focus at Indy.   The first lap, I think we had an overboost, so we lost a mile-per-hour, which I was hoping it wasn’t going to cost me more than it did. Will (Power) went for it, and he got benefited for it so good job to him.”

    Following Detroit, he currently sits at the top of the points standings, tied with Helio Castroneves. Castroneves qualified sixth.

    Andretti’s teammate and reigning series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified third, followed by Dario Franchitti and E.J. Viso.

    Detroit race No. 2 winner Simon Pagenaud qualified 14th.

    “We have a faster car than we showed in qualifying, but we had a mis-shift which cost us a lot,” Pagenaud commented. “It didn’t go our way today but we have a long race tomorrow. The nature of the racing here is to have low downforce for good racing. It will be very important to have a stable car set-up so that we can be consistent in the race.”

    INDYCAR officials had a practice following qualifying, in which was led by Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan. Kanaan qualified 15th for Saturday night’s race. James Hinchcliffe was second in practice (qualified 13th), followed by Power, Scott Dixon and James Jakes.

  • Simon Pagenaud scores first IndyCar victory in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit Race 2

    Simon Pagenaud scores first IndyCar victory in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit Race 2

    At the end the second race of the weekend in Detroit, it’d be Simon Pagenaud picking up his first career victory. The victory for Pagenaud in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Race 2 marks the sixth different winner in seven races this season.

    Pagenaud would win the race through a series of pit strategy, slightly going down a different route than yesterday’s race winner and dominate car Mike Conway.

    Conway would pit shortly after lap 46 after being based by Charlie Kimball for the lead. When Kimball pitted on lap 50, Pagenaud inherited the lead. Pagenaud would pit on lap 56, handing the lead to James Jakes. When Jakes pitted with 13 laps to go, that would hand the lead back to Pagenaud.

    From there, Pagenaud would lead the final 13 laps to pick up the win.

    “There were a lot of things going on in the cockpit those last few laps,” Pagenaud noted. “It’s just feels amazing. The car was awesome. Had more horsepower out there than anybody else right now. Honda had great engines. It’s a great feeling. I hope there are more to come.”

    It also marks the first IndyCar Series win for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

    James Jakes would finish second for his best career finish, topping an eighth at Toronto in 2012.

    “It’s huge for a lot of people,” Jakes said. “Three Hondas on the podium in Detroit – it’s awesome. They’ve really worked their butts off since Indy and we’re proud of them.”

    After winning yesterday in a one-off start for Dale Coyne Racing, Mike Conway would finish third today.

    “Just driving flat out,” Conway said. “As fast as it would go. I pushed really hard at the beginning and that may have taken a little bit out of the tires but it was still good towards the end. I was catching James [Jakes], I could see he was on reds, so he started to pull away to start with when he came out to start with from that last pit stop. I thought they may go out until the end, and they were, and I used my overtake, the one I had left, maybe a lap to early. And that was enough. I couldn’t quite get close enough.”

    Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti would round out the top five. It marks a highlight to a less than stellar year for Franchitti as he is not in the top 10 in poins thus far this year.

    Marco Andretti would finish sixth to take back the points lead, which he lost last year. He is now tied for the lead with Helio Castroneves, while last year’s champion Ryan Hunter-Reay sits third, 15 points back.

    “We were missing a little bit to the top guys, but I think we got about as good as we can get from starting 14th,” Andretti said afterwards. All the RC Cola guys did their part in the pits and with strategy, and I was able to hang on and gain a little ground. But, like I said we were still a little bit off. It’s good to get back up there in the points and we’ll keep marching forward at Texas next weekend.”

    Kimball would finish seventh, followed by Castroneves, Graham Rahal and Sebastian Saavedra.

    While yesterday’s race was clean, this race had a number of cautions.

    After being involved in a first lap incident yesterday, A.J. Allmendinger’s weekend wouldn’t get any better as he would make contact with the wall on lap one.

    On the restart, there’d be another caution when Simona de Silvestro would hit the wall with a flat tire.

    The second restart would bring another caution with Alex Tagliani making contact with another car, and then ending up in the turn 11 runoff.

    “That was just Carpenter nailing me from the back on the restart,” Taglani said after being involved in a later wreck. “It’s just a shame for our team. We have pace, we just can’t get a break. I don’t know what voodoo stuff that we’re going to need to do to get things going our way.”

    Meanwhile, Josef Newgarden would have problems the same lap.

    Hunter-Reay would run into problems on the third restart and hit the turn 11 wall; the caution would fly for debris. He would go behind the wall for repairs, before returning back on track to finish 17th.

    The cautions would continue as Takuma Sato would get into the tires in turn three. Sato bounced off of Tristan Vautier, and then got into the wall.

    On the fifth attempt to restart the race, there’d be a big pile-up on the restart as Sebastian Bourdais would get into Will Power, triggering a pile-up.

    “Double file restarts and Bourdais got into the back of me,” Power commented. “Just disappointing because the Verizon guys were having such a good day and we had moved out there. hopefully the guys can get it back out there and we can get some points, not that it matters anymore. Bourdais once was a champ, but now he is a chump.”

    All in all, the following drivers collected damage: Justin Wilson, Ryan Briscoe, EJ Viso, Ed Carpenter, Tagliani, James Hinchcliffe, Castroneves and Saavedra. Several teams would end up being unable to finish the event, while other teams either made repairs on pit road or in the paddock.

    Bourdais would receive a penalty for avoidable contact and have a make pass through. He would finish 11th.

    “I am really ashamed for the guys because they have worked so hard to give me a fast car,” Bourdais said. “We got robbed and that is not right. Yesterday my teammate was taken out by Marco (Andretti) and there was no penalty given. We have had at least 15 contacts throughout the weekend and maybe 2 or 3 guys were penalized, including me today. I hardly touched Will Power at that restart and was penalized. This is just not right because my team works so hard and we deserve so much better than this.”

    The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Firestone 550 on June 8 at Texas Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live at 8:30 p.m. (ET) by ABC. The IMS Radio Network will also carry the race live on Sirius and XM channels 211.