Category: Featured Other Series

Featured Other Series

  • Recording Artist & Actor Blake Rayne to Perform National Anthem Prior to Friday Night’s ARCA Race at Lucas Oil Raceway

    Recording Artist & Actor Blake Rayne to Perform National Anthem Prior to Friday Night’s ARCA Race at Lucas Oil Raceway

    Indianapolis, IN. (July 22, 2014) – Lucas Oil Raceway today announced City of Peace recording artist and lead actor in the upcoming movie, “The Identical”, Blake Rayne, will perform the national anthem at Lucas Oil Raceway prior to the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards SCOTT Get Geared Up 200.

    Prior to his national anthem performance, Blake Rayne will join Darcey & Mo and The Morph Kings. The comprised band, from of the upcoming motion picture “The Identical,” will perform a concert on the main at Lucas Oil Raceway as part of the ARCA Racing Summer Concert Series on July 25th.

    Rayne, in his acting debut in The Identical, is new to the film world yet has years of stage experience. Rayne has recently completed his original music from the motion picture, which releases nationwide on September 5th. He plays the dual role of Drexel Hemsley and Ryan Wade. Rayne’s film debut also includes his performance of many of the original songs in the movie. Appearing with Rayne and also in the movie is R&B group, Darcey & Mo, and The Morph Kings, a throwback to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, aka a taste to today’s Black Keys.

    City of Peace Films, which produced The Identical movie, has entered into a strategic marketing partnership with Venturini Motorsports to assist in promoting the September 5th release date of the movie. The Lucas Oil Raceway pre-race concert featuring Blake Rayne will be the second of five concerts produced for the ARCA Summer Concert Series leading into mid-September. Rayne and the band performed their high energy show this past weekend at Chicagoland Speedway prior to the ARCA/NASCAR Nationwide doubleheader. More information on the full scope of the project partnership will be released in August. For more information please visit www.TheIdenticalMovie.com.

    The SCOTT Get Geared Up 200 presented by Federated Car Care will be broadcasted live on Fox Sports 1 on Friday, July 25 at 9:00pm ET. ARCAracing.com will provide live timing and scoring of practice on Friday from 1:35pm-2:20pm and 3:00pm-3:45pm. Menard’s Pole Qualifying will take place on Friday at 5:30pm ET.

    Tickets, for $20 – which is $10 off the gate price – are now on sale at Menards stores in Anderson, Avon, Bloomington, Camby, Carmel, Columbus, Fishers, Fort Wayne East, Fort Wayne South, Fort Wayne West, Greenwood, Indy East, Indy South, Kokomo, Lafayette South, Lebanon, Muncie, Richmond, Terre Haute and West Lafayette. Tickets for anyone 11 and under will be $10 at the gate.

    ABOUT THE IDENTICAL
    THE IDENTICAL tells the compelling story of twin brothers unknowingly separated at birth during the Great Depression. DREXEL HEMSLEY becomes an iconic 50’s rock ‘n’ roll star, while RYAN WADE (Blake Rayne) struggles to balance his love for music and pleasing his father. The Reverend Wade (Ray Liotta) and his wife (Ashley Judd) are sure their adopted son has been gifted and called by God to be a preacher. But Ryan challenges his parent’s vision for his life, and unflinchingly chooses to launch his own music career with his best friend (Seth Green). Encouraged by his wife (Erin Cottrell) and employer (Joe Pantoliano), Ryan embarks on an unpredictable, provocative path – performing the legendary music of Drexel Hemsley in sold out venues all across the country. As the brothers destinies tragically collide, Ryan discovers that Drexel is his identical twin which leads him to question everything he’s ever believed about God, family and his own identity.

    THE IDENTICAL is a City of Peace Films production featuring the talents of three generations of the Marcellino family from Nashville, TN. Dustin Marcellino is the first time director, Jerry Marcellino co-wrote the 20 plus original songs with his son Yochanan, who is the founder of City of Peace Films. Yochanan and Don Noes are the two men who propelled the movie to the big screen by raising the production funding and the film’s marketing budget. The movie will be distributed by Freestyle Releasing and will be opening nationwide on September 5th.

    STARRING: Erin Cottrell, Amanda Crew, Brian Geraghty, Seth Green, Ashley Judd, Joe Pantoliano, Blake Rayne, and Ray Liotta

    DIRECTED BY: Dustin Marcellino

    PRODUCED BY: Mark G. Mathis, Yochanan Marcellino, Matthew Dean Russell

    Featuring over 20 original songs by Jerry Marcellino and Yochanan Marcellino including: “Your Love’s Keepin’ Me Tonight,” “City Lights,” “Angel of Mine,” “Everybody Knows It” and “Nashville Tonight”

    About Venturini Motorsports
    Venturini Motorsports (VMS), fielding cars for over 30-years in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, is one of the premier NASCAR driver development programs in the country. Multiple team championships and consistent on-track success, VMS has evolved into one of the most recognizable names in motorsports. Since 2007, VMS has assisted in the career development of notable NASCAR drivers such as Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Brian Scott, Kevin Swindell, John Wes Townley and Erik Jones. Over the years the Venturini name has become synonymous with modern-day racing in America. In 2012, the Venturini family was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (www.NIASHF.org) and now find themselves enshrined with such sports icons as Joe DiMaggio, Mario Andretti, Vince Lombardi, Tommy Lasorda and Rocky Marciano.

    Official: www.VenturiniMotorsports.com | Twitter: @VenturiniMotor | Facebook: Venturini Motorsports

    About ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards
    The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways.

  • Josef Newgarden leaves Honda Indy Toronto disappointed despite high hopes

    Josef Newgarden leaves Honda Indy Toronto disappointed despite high hopes

    Heading into the Honda Indy Toronto, Josef Newgarden was confident in his team and predicted a solid run at the end of the weekend. However that didn’t happen as Newgarden finished 20th and 13th in the pair of races.

    In the first race, Newgarden would get involved in a lap one multi-car wreck after Simon Pagenaud got spun, and then worked his way through the field to 10th, before contact on the white flag lap with Will Power ended his day early.

    The second race simply didn’t go his way either with strategy of when to take rain tires and when to take slicks not panning out, resulting in a 13th place finish. Part of the deal in making it harder to choose when to use which tires is the fact that the entire track is not the same type of pavement – some of it is new concrete, some is old concrete and some is a mix of new and old asphalt.

    “There’s a lot of different surfaces along the course, especially the apexes,” Newgarden commented. “Every apex is a little different around this place. It’s a little tough. You can’t really do anything in the middle of the corner; you got to make your car work good on the entrance and the exit.”

    The way this weekend went, though, fits Newgarden’s season to date as they’ve shown speed across the board – though haven’t posted the finishes to equal it.

    “It’s been up and down for us,” Newgarden said of his season to date. “There’s been points where we could’ve had big results – maybe a win – just hasn’t materialized. We just haven’t caught a break all year. Besides from that, I think our performance is strong so it’s about getting the breaks to fall our way. If we can do that, we can finish the season a high note.”

    Despite the struggles, the speed that they have shown gives confidence in knowing that the Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team is capable of winning races.

    “It helps as you’re confident as a driver in what you need to do in the car,” he explained. “You’re more positive. That’s what I’m trying to do. I feel better about the last couple of weekends with some good top-10s.”

    The Tennessee native would get his start in racing at the age of 13, racing go-karts. From there, he began to work his way up the ladder, eventually landing a seat in the Verizon IndyCar Series. Reaching the top of the ladder marked the “fondest memory” of his career, in being able to run the Indianapolis 500.

    “That’s just a cool thing,” he described. “When you’re able to sit in an IndyCar and run laps around the speedway, it’s not something that you get to do very often and it’s very surreal.”

    Along the way, he has kept fans entertained with his unique personality in whom he is, however he says that while he may seem as someone who’s out there, he really likes his alone time.

    “I’m pretty private guy, more than people realize,” he said. “They think I’m really outgoing but I like to be by myself a lot.”

     

  • Mike Conway scores victory in Honda Indy Toronto Race 2

    Mike Conway scores victory in Honda Indy Toronto Race 2

    For the second time in 2014, Mike Conway would reach victory lane as he scored the victory in the Honda Indy Toronto Race 2 for the Verizon IndyCar Series. It marks the fourth victory of Conway’s career after scoring the victory earlier this year at Long Beach.

    “It was really difficult conditions and we were kind of struggling out there for a bit and then I knew as soon as I could see the dry line I knew it was time to come in, and it was a great call,” Conway commented. “And the guys were up for it. I wasn’t sure what they were going to say so from there we just kind of took off and just controlled the race. A bit nervous about the red flag there but I knew with Justin (Wilson) behind me, I knew we would be able to cover it. It was good fun out there.”

    The race started under the dry conditions, however quickly turned wet when rain began to fall. Teams would switch to wet tires, till the rain stopped and the track started to dry. As it did, some drivers began changing to slicks and Conway was one of the first drivers, therefore using it to his advantage to gain ground throughout the field, making the pass on Justin Wilson in turn eight before a full course yellow. Conway then held off Tony Kanaan and Will Power on a late race restart with two laps to go.

    Tony Kanaan finished second for his best finish of the season, following a third place finish in the morning race as teams were forced to run a pair of races today due to yesterday’s race being rained out as result of visibility issues along the Lakeshore.

    “We chose at the beginning of the race to run a rain set-up because we knew the rain was coming,” he explained. “So on the last restart I knew that I was a little bit of a sitting duck. I have to thank Target and Chevy. I think it was 1-2-3 for Chevy again, I am not sure who finished third. Its been a great weekend and I made a really bad mistake and I got too excited at the start of the race. One of my typical starts, I made a mistake and I had to catch up. I didn’t want to come back and look at Chip and I hate when I make mistakes. So we made it up, the team did a great job on the stops.”

    Will Power would finish third to gain some points in the championship in trying to catch his teammate Helio Castroneves.

    “Tony was very good on the half-wet track and I just wasn’t really willing after yesterday to take a big risk and get caught up again,” Power commented. “So I still had to battle hard with Charlie all over me. It was a good day for the No. 12 Verizon Chevy team, typical IndyCar race where they throw everything at you. You just have to survive, and that is what we did.”

    Charlie Kimball and Takuma Sato would round out the top five. Rookie Jack Hawksworth finished sixth, followed by Scott Dixon, Marco Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and Justin Wilson.

    With the conditions being a mix of wet and dry throughout the 65 lap race, there would be a total of seven full course yellows. The standing start at the beginning of the race wouldn’t go smoothly as Justin Wilson stalled on the frontstretch, while Kanaan would stop on course after sliding through turn three.

    Hometown hero James Hinchcliffe got caught up in the second caution at lap 12 in turn eight as he clipped Juan Pablo Montoya after Montoya got into the turn eight tires. Mikhail Aleshin would be left with no where to go, making contact with Montoya and getting stuck on Montoya’s car as Montoya was nosed in the tire barrier. Everybody was sliding at the time due to simply the track being wet and still on slick tires.

    “I realized that only when I started to brake in Turn 8 and I just smacked the car and ended up under the car and that was not such a great feeling at all,” Aleshin commented. “So I’m sorry for my spectators and all the guys who support me but that’s life and the most important thing is everything is fine and I was not hurt.”

    There’d be another caution only four laps later as a result of debris scattered among the course due to contact from drivers slipping in the wet conditions. Luca Filippi would not have luck in the rain, either, getting into the tires in turn eight for the fourth caution at lap 33.  Sebastian Saavedra was also a victim of wet conditions, sliding into the tire barrier in turn three. The final caution came at lap 51 for a multi-car wreck in turn three involving Ryan Briscoe, Carlos Huertas, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Carlos Munoz.

    Unfortunately, Simon Pagenaud would have mechanical issues that took him out of the running after leading the final practice on Friday.

  • Sheldon Creed out-duels Gordon for third straight Honda Indy Toronto victory

    Sheldon Creed out-duels Gordon for third straight Honda Indy Toronto victory

    After putting on an exciting show in the rain yesterday, the Stadium Super Trucks returned today with an even more exciting show on the dry pavement.

    Throughout the course of event, Sheldon Creed and Robby Gordon would trade the lead back and forth and when it was all over, it’d be Sheldon Creed capturing the victory in Sunday’s PEED Energy Formula Off-Road presented by TRAXXAS event. It marks Creed’s third straight Toronto victory after winning the Sunday event last year and Saturday’s event this year.

    Paul Tracy would lead till the competition caution at the halfway mark, though would not be as strong on the restart as he would fall back to third with both Creed and Gordon getting by in the span of two corners. Once they were by Tracy, the pair traded the lead on four different occasions before Creed was able to grab the advantage off of turn three on the last lap and capture the victory.

    “It was a really good day,” Creed commented. “Started from the back and worked my way up to the front, battling with Robby at every turn as we couldn’t get away from each other. It was really fun. He was right there on the rear bumper, super clean and we were able to come out on top.”

    Gordon captured his second straight runner-up finish, despite slipping sideways in turn three on the last lap.

    “Our race was much better today in the dry rather than the wet,” Gordon commented, comparing to Saturday’s event. “You could see the difference in the vehicles with how they were hooked up. Yesterday, the track was really slippery. You were probably giving me a ‘Sure, Robby’ but when the pacecar wrecked, you saw how slippery it was. I figured that the pace car would be on the cover today but I looked and that wasn’t the case.”

    Scott Steele would finish third making the finishing order for Sunday exactly match the podium from Saturday. Steele’s race didn’t start off that well as he made contact with another truck on the first lap of the race, resulting in the hood being pushed up on his truck. As a result, Steele did not have a clear vision for most of the race till the hood fell off the truck down the Lakeshore.

    “My hood was up for most of the race and I couldn’t see that well,” Steele commented. “It was hard down the backstretch as I just judging by about where the wall was – till it flew off on lap seven.”

    Tracy would finish fourth with Apdaly Lopez in fifth despite going for a spin in turn three on lap one. Aaron Bambach would slide through the turn three turn when trying to set up a pass on Tracy, resulting in losing the pack and finishing sixth. Nick Vanis and Bill Hynes would round out the field.

    The next event for the SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road presented by TRAXXAS is at the Sand Sports Super Show in Costa Mesa, California on September 19th and 20th.

  • Sebastian Bourdias dominates en route to Honda Indy Toronto Race 1 Victory

    Sebastian Bourdias dominates en route to Honda Indy Toronto Race 1 Victory

    For the second straight year in a row, Sebastian Bourdais got to hold one of the crystal trophies in victory lane. However, this time he didn’t drop it, and it also wasn’t for third. Instead, Bourdais got to hold up the winner’s trophy after dominating the Honda Indy Toronto Race 1 en route to victory. It marks his 32nd career victory, and his first since November 2007 at Mexico City.

    Bourdais started on the pole, holding off all challenges as he led all the way till his first pit stop at lap 34. Once the cycle completed, Bourdais would cycle back to the lead at lap 41 and led the rest of the 65 lap event.

    “It’s really sweet,” Bourdais commented afterwards. “That (win) didn’t come easy. We had to fight and wait for it for a long time but today was just one of these days when the stars align. I guess I was not expecting it because here I know how things can go. I was very relaxed before the race, just did the job and was hoping that things were going to pan out in our favor and they did, and couldn’t be any happier with this one.”

    For KV Racing Technology, it marks their fourth victory as a team, and their first since winning the Indianapolis 500 last year with Tony Kanaan.

    Helio Castroneves would run a solid race, staying in the top three all race long, en route to finishing second to further extend his point lead.

    “It was a hard weekend, but we’re going to make the best out of it,” Castroneves commented. “Right now, second place isn’t too bad. Certainly we had a good battle in the beginning. Had to work a little bit for it. Had to save energy because I knew there is another race but the car was working really well, and towards the end, it was a little closer out there with two slow cars, and I didn’t know where to go. But, in the end of the day, the PGG car did a great job.”

    Tony Kanaan completed the podium, followed by Simon Pagenaud and 2013 Honda Indy Toronto race winner Scott Dixon.

    “It was an okay race,” Kanaan said. “I think Bourdais was in a class of his own, so it was pretty hard to fight for the win but I tried to keep up with Helio (Castroneves) and (Ryan) Hunter-Reay at the time and I knew my car, towards the end of the stint, it wasn’t as good as theirs so I was just trying to hang in there. We had a pretty good stop, pretty good start. So it’s an okay day. We still have a little bit to improve, I fthink, if we want to win races but we’re heading in the right direction.”

    Graham Rahal finished sixth, followed by Charlie Kimball, James Hinchcliffe, Will Power and Justin Wilson.

    The race didn’t start off smoothly as Simon Pagenaud would spin as they headed up towards turn four as a result of contact from Luca Filippi. Being a tight section of the track, Josef Newgarden, Mike Conway, Takuma Sato and Mikhail Aleshin would also receive damage.

    “It’s really frustrating,” Newgarden’s car owner Sarah Fisher said. “It’s frustrating because Josef has a really fast car and does really good here in Toronto. What can ya do? You’re at the mercy. We’re just going to do what we can do for this race and be conservative and hope to have a better second race.”

    Newgarden’s team would work on the car under the red flag, taking the 20-second drive thru penalty for the repairs. Newgarden fought his way back u pthrough the field, though slid through turn three and then popped the back corner of  the car off turn three, resulting in heavy suspension damage and a poor finish.

    Filippi’s day didn’t get better, either, as he popped it off the wall, resulting in right suspension damage. When he slowed, Carlos Huertas would get sideways and into the tire barrier, resulting in a couple other drivers making minimal contact.

    “My front wing was damaged on the first lap so I was struggling with it in the last corner, and I was struggling and using a lot of the front right and I got a lot of understeer and just lost it,” Filippi said.

    Championship contender Ryan Hunter-Reay would suffer a poor finish as a result of contact from Tony Kanaan with 27 to go. The contact caused Hunter-Reay to hit the turn three wall and make heavy left front wing/suspension damage. Bourdais ran over the front ring with his car down in turn five, though did not suffer any complications.

    “I expected him to give me more room but I guess that’s my fault for expecting,” Hunter-Reay said afterwards.

    “I probably didn’t leave enough there for Hunter-Reay,” Kanaan commented post-race. “I took advantage there. I just took a chance there and it didn’t work out.”

    The Verizon IndyCar Series cars will return to the track at 4 p.m. EST for their second of two races today at the Honda Indy Toronto as a result of yesterday’s rain-out.

  • Ryan Briscoe hoping to carry momentum through Toronto

    Ryan Briscoe hoping to carry momentum through Toronto

    Starting this year with Chip Ganassi Racing, Ryan Briscoe got off to a rough start, only posting a single top 10 in the first seven races. Though now beginning to get comfortable with his team, Briscoe has posted four top 10s in the last five races, including a fourth at Pocono.

    “I feel I am really happy with where we’re going,” he commented on Friday.”Had a bit of a slow start, but its my first year with the No. 8 team and its a lot of new people coming together. I feel like we’ve been getting stronger and more confident race by race and the results are starting to show for it. I feel we’re getting better with adjustments to the car and thats the big goal so I’m happy with where we’re at.”

    Briscoe added that the adjustments have improved each week as his team learns what he needs and wants as a driver.

    “I feel we have learned a lot but still have a ways to go,” he continued. “I think we’re knocking on the door for a win.”

    Looking to keep the solid performances rolling, Briscoe heads to a track that he has stood on the podium before with a best finish of second.

    “The track is one of those bumpy circuits that have its challenges, are bumpy and have different surfaces round the circuit,” Briscoe said of Toronto. “I think its very special to IndyCar. There’s a lot of history here and a lot of great names have won here. Its also the only Canadian date so it’s a good chance to showcase in front of our fans. I love coming here. Its a great event. I love Canada. I love the people here as they are great fans.”

    Dissecting the 11-turn temporary street circuit, Briscoe says the tough spot is from the esses to turn one.

    “Turn one is so important because it sets you up for the longest straightaway and the tight turn througb three,” Briscoe explained, qualifying 10th for race one.

    In looking for the extra edge of speed, no doubt his teammates are handy with Scott Dixon completing the sweep last year.

    “They’re really good friends to me,” Briscoe said of Dixon and Tony Kanaan. “We’ve raced together for a long time in IndyCar. I just enjoy the commoraditity that there is. We’re really competitive, but there’s no one trying to prove ourselves to anyone on the team and I think that helps the teamwork within the team because we’re not fighting for anything.”

    Though still, having the advantage isn’t easy with this weekend being a double header, now with two races on one day only four hours apart. To be prepared, Briscoe keeps himself hydrated, eats well and gets a good night rest. However, there is also the mental challenge from a schedule point of view.

    “Its difficult because you have limited practice with just a pair of 45 minute sessions with limited tires,” he explained. “There is also no warm-up either day, just straight competition.”

    Now with both races scheduled for the Sunday, there are many unknowns. One thing that remains – Briscoe will enter his ride through the right side as per his pre-race ritual.

    “I’ve gotten in through the left side of the car before and I had negative thoughts,” Briscoe commented.

  • Will Power incident equals frustration for competitors

    Will Power incident equals frustration for competitors

    The first attempt at going green for the Honda Indy Toronto would not go successfully for Will Power and the events that followed brought forth frustration and confusion.

    As the cars came for the green, Power lost traction, spinning around and hitting the turn 10 wall. The contact was significant enough to break suspension parts on the left side. Power’s team immediately went to work, repairing the damage in 21 minutes, before returning his car back to the grid. If the event had not been rained out, INDYCAR would have allowed Power to restart last on the field. Fellow competitors were not pleased with INDYCAR’s decision to allow the repairs to be made under the red flag.

    “I guess things have changed mightily as you used to not be able to work on the car under the red flag, and now you can do whatever you want to do,” A.J Foyt commented. Michael Andretti also expressed frustration in saying it is a “clear violation of the rules”.

    INDYCAR Chief of Competition and Operations Derrick Walker said they allowed Power due to no laps complete and because of the track circumstances.

    “The fact is the race hadn’t started yet, and its like when you miss getting your spot on grid so I don’t see a problem,” Penske’s Tim Cindric said.

    Though interestingly, past races with a wreck on the start have brough out cautions with laps counting.

    “I feel those laps should have counted as we did take the green so they should not be sllowed to work on their cars,” Graham Rahal said.

    With the day being a wash and the race set for Sunday, it does not matter as officials will treat the race as if Saturday did not happen.

  • Rain forces Honda Indy Toronto double-header races to Sunday

    Rain forces Honda Indy Toronto double-header races to Sunday

    Due to standing water creating visibility issues down Lakeshore Blvd. (the backstretch) between turns two and three and on other points of the track, INDYCAR officials made the decision to postpone the running of the first race of the double-header this weekend at the Honda Indy Toronto to Sunday July 20th. As a result, a pair of races will be ran on Sunday, 75-lap a piece.

    The first race will be ran at 10:30 a.m. EST with a rolling start using the starting grid from qualifications. The second race will be ran at 4:15 p.m. EST with a standing start and the grid being set based on the entrant points entering the double header weekend. NBCSN will broadcast both races in the United States, with Sportsnet covering them in Canada.

    It became clear to officials that there was an issue after Ryan Briscoe spun in turn five on the pace laps, the pace car slid off in turn three and Will Power spun and made heavy left-side contact with the frontstretch wall off of turn 11.

    “I just whipped it – I had no chance. My bad,” Power commented post-incident.

    Power’s team would repair the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet in a matter of 21-minutes, having Power back on the grid for a restart, if one was to come. Due to no laps being completed officially, Power will get to start in the spot that he qualified for originally despite his issues.

    During the red-flag as officials waited to see if they could get the race in today, drivers were commenting about the poor conditions that they saw just based on the pace laps.

    “This is complete unsafe,” Kanaan commented. “I know we’re trying to start this race for a show for the fans, but you cannot start this race. My concern is the safety, and right now this is right off dangerous.”

    “It’s not puddling, it’s not lack of grip but rather the fact that there’s a lot of spray and I couldn’t even see the walls one either side of the track,” Rahal said. “We got to be able to see, and the biggest thing is driver safety right now.”

    Officials did make every attempt to try and get the race in, however decided after trying for awhile that conditions weren’t suitable.

    “We kept sending them out when we thought it was ready to try it again, and then realized that it wasn’t suitable for them to go out,” Derrick Walker, president of Operations and Competition for INDYCAR, said. “I think it was just too wet to start the race today. If you look at it (the standing water) real close, you notice that it makes a difference.

    “The other factor here is the oil comes out of the black asphalt when the water hits it. I don’t think that we did the wrong thing as we waited and waited. The in-decision was really us trying to get it in every way we could before we called it because the fans and television hung with us, hoping that we’d be able to run it. We kept trying and we were watching the weather channel and the radar. We thought if we got the race started that we may have been able to help the issue – we’d get it blown away – but visibility was just not that good.”

    IndyCar has ran events in the rain – including other events this season, however there is a certain level of visibility that they require for their drivers for their safety.

    “At the end of the day, what do we want? A good race, or to be a bunch of gladiators? I think, for the championship battle and series, it’s better to have a good race,” Walker added. we’re trying to put on a show and show the fans that we can put on the best show possible.”

    Honda Indy Toronto President Charlie Johnstone announced that people who had Saturday-only tickets will be allowed to exchange their tickets for Sunday-only tickets.

    “As the promoter for the Honda Indy, we will honor all Saturday-only GA tickets and grandstand tickets,” he commented. “We will have an exclusive kiosk set-up at the entrance for customers to redeem their Saturday-only tickets for Sunday-only tickets.”

    Johnstone added that they will “make every effort possible to honor all tickets”, making sure those who had seats will be given a seat for Sunday, even if shifted over slightly.

    Tomorrow’s forecast, though, doesn’t look much better with a 40-60 percent chance of rain throughout the day, per The Weather Network. If need be, INDYCAR and Honda Indy officials have discussed the possibility of running the event on Monday. The main goal right now, per Walker, is to get at least one of the two races in.

  • Sheldon Creed slips and slides to second straight Honda Indy Toronto victory

    Sheldon Creed slips and slides to second straight Honda Indy Toronto victory

    For the second straight year in a row, Sheldon Creed would hoist the trophy in Honda Indy Toronto victory lane as he claimed victory in the Saturday SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road presented by TRAXXAS event. It marks Creed’s first victory of the 2014 season.

    The race would be run in the wet conditions, under a slight drizzle, resulting in trucks sliding through the corners at points. Both Creed and Scott Steele mastered the art, grabbing the early advantage ahead of the field. While Steele grabbed the early lead due to a good starting spot, Creed had to work his way up through after drawing the last starting spot.

    “I just went down in the first corner and watched everybody slide out on the concrete,” he commented. “I think there was three or four slide out and then got up through there.”

    The pair would swap the lead back and forth while slipping through the turns and jumping the metal ramps along the frontstretch.

    “The asphalt wasn’t too bad, but as soon as we hit the concrete, it was slippery,” he commented. “It was pretty slippery so you definitely had to be careful.”

    Creed was able to clear Steele after a couple of laps, before holding on the rest of the way to victory, lengthening the gap between himself and Creed at each turn.

    In talking about his approach to the ramps, Creed commented, “I just keep it wide open and try to just kick the brake and get back on the gas, trying to settle it down. Just try to keep it wide open as much as I can over the jump.”

    With a pair of wins in Toronto under his belt, no doubt the teenager heads into the second event on Sunday with a lot of confidence.

    “Definately gives me a little confidence going into tomorrow, but just want to go out there and have a solid day,” he said.

    Robby Gordon was able to claim the second finishing spot after Steele slipped up through the turn, bouncing his truck off of the outside of the turn five corner. Gordon commented post-race that this is the second time they’ve ran a street course in the rain, doing it the first time earlier this year at St. Petersburg.

    “I think St. Pete was slick till we came here,” Gordon commented. “I predict a big crash down in turn three at the end of the straightway with the IndyCars because it’s straight slick down there. I don’t know what it is, but I almost parked my truck straight in the wall down there. I don’t know what’s going on, whether there’s that much rubber on the track, but it’s very, very slick. And if they do run it, you’re going to see a couple cars in the fence down there. It’s the slickest that I’ve ever experienced, and I don’t know why.”

     

    Steele would recover, finishing third to complete the podium.

    “It was a good race,” he commented. “It was really, really slick at first, but I got it going there. I just lost it down there and got into the wall.”

    Aaron Bambach held on for a fourth place finish, followed by Apdaly Lopez, who made heavy contact with the turn one tire barrier during practice on Friday afternoon.

    Paul Tracy would finish sixth following a pair of spins, while Bill Hynes rounded out the field in his first career Stadium Super Truck start despite spinning around a couple of times.

    The SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road presented by TRAXXAS will host a second event for the weekend on Sunday July 20th.

    “I hope it’s dry tomorrow,” Gordon commented. “I’ll run the race track either way, but it’s really slippery with these conditions, whether it’s our tires or the concrete. It’s really slick and really slow, so it was basically a whoever didn’t hit the wall finishing well.”

  • Sheldon Creed looking for second straight Honda Indy Toronto victory this weekend

    Sheldon Creed looking for second straight Honda Indy Toronto victory this weekend

    When Sheldon Creed took the streets of Toronto last year, the young driver shocked many fans in his ability to handle the 600-horsepower truck while only being able 16 years old. Though he didn’t just handle it well – Creed took home the victory in the second of the two races that they ran on the 11-turn temporary street course last year.

    So far this weekend, Creed is off to a solid start this weekend as he posted the second quickest lap at one minute and 33.904 seconds during the 20-minute session. Commenting on the track, the youngster noted that it’s one of his favourite tracks that the Stadium Super Trucks go to over the course of their season.

    “I like the track a lot as you carry a lot of speed here down the straightaways and then the tight corners at the ends,” Creed commented. “It’s different than any of the other road courses that we go to and I like it the best.”

    With the win last year, Creed admits that it does give him a boost of confidence heading into this year’s event.

    “A little bit, I guess. Just want to run a clean race on Saturday and Sunday, and hopefully get a win,” he said.

    So far, Creed is having a solid season, currently sitting third in points despite not reaching victory lane yet this year, though has three podium finishes, including a third place in the last SST event at the X-Games in Austin.

    Creed’s climb up the racing ladder began with racing BMX at the age of three, before getting in dirt bikes when he turned five, and then in the trophy trucks at the age of 10. Creed then got hooked up with the SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road presented by TRAXXAS last year when they held an event in Creed’s hometown of San Diego.

    Since then, Creed has continued to run events and will be one to watch both days on the streets of Toronto. The first race of the weekend is scheduled for today (Saturday) at 2:10 p.m. EST with a live on-stream on the SST website at http://www.stadiumsupertrucks.com. The second race is scheduled for Sunday July 20th at 2:10 p.m. EST, again live-streamed on the website.