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IndyCar Birmingham Preview

Barber Motorsports Park is the venue for the third round of the 2019 IndyCar season, with Josef Newgarden heading into the weekend at the top of the championship. The 2.38-mile road course is in Alabama and has been Penske territory for the past few years.

Newgarden’s lead in the championship at this stage is not an unexpected one, but the driver in second is not someone who anyone expected to be anything like a championship contender. After his remarkable first win last time out at the Circuit of the Americas, Colton Herta sits in second place in the championship, 18 points shy of Newgarden but with the same margin over third place Scott Dixon.

IndyCar’s first time out at COTA was certainly drama-filled, as was the last time IndyCar came to Barber, though for rather different reasons. Last year, the race at Barber ended up taking place primarily on the Monday, the day after the race was due to run. This was because of torrential rain that caused dangerous levels of aquaplaning, meaning the race had to be stopped after just over 20 laps and then continued as a timed race the following day.

Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar

This didn’t stop Newgarden taking the victory, while his Penske teammates, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud, had horrendous races, a trait that seems to have started to play into this season as well. This year, some showers are predicted throughout the weekend but, if the forecast is to be believed, there shouldn’t be anything like the downpours of 2018.

Barber is the third road course of the season, with the usual road qualifying and race formatting in place, as it has been for the last two races, meaning qualifying will again be the two groups of twelve halving until we reach the Fast Six.

Like COTA, there will be a 24-car grid for Barber, with only two changes since the last race. Kyle Kaiser and Juncos will not be present, and it is not known when either will be returning to the series. Ben Hanley and DragonSpeed are back on the grid after making their debut at St Petersburg, before they take a two-race break, returning for the Indy 500. Other than that, everyone else is where they were at COTA, with very few changes scheduled from now until the Indy 500.

As mentioned earlier, Penske has always been strong at Barber, winning every race here since 2016 and taking every pole since 2015. In that time, the pole-sitter has taken the win in two out of the four races, though last year was a bit of an anomaly. As for this year, one of the Penske drivers desperately needs a return to form; this is, as it has been for most of the last year, Pagenaud, who’s seat is looking more and more at risk with each disappointing race.

2018 Barber podium, L-R: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden, James Hinchcliffe. Credit: Chris Jones/IndyCar

Elsewhere, Dixon and Alexander Rossi could both do with wins, or at least podiums, to really state their respective intentions to challenge for this championship, or they will run the risk of Newgarden getting a more comfortable gap at the front. Herta will be looking to carry on his momentum from COTA however, he is not really expected to be in the fight for the win or even the podium, but, then again, he wasn’t expected to be at COTA either.

None of the Road to Indy programme will at racing at Barber, meaning it’s just IndyCar for this weekend. NBC and Sky Sports F1 will be showing qualifying and the race as usual in the US and UK respectively, and all the timings you need for the weekend are as follows…

April 5

Practice 1 – 12:15pm (EDT) / 5:15pm (BST)
Practice 2 – 3:50pm / 8:50pm

April 6

Practice 3 – 11:45am / 4:45pm
Qualifying – 4:00pm / 9:00pm

April 7

Final Warmup – 12:10pm / 5:10pm
Race – 4:15pm / 9:15pm

Entry List:

# Driver Team
2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske
4 Matheus Leist AJ Foyt Racing
5 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
7 Marcus Ericsson (R) Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Felix Rosenqvist (R) Chip Ganassi Racing
12 Will Power Team Penske
14 Tony Kanaan AJ Foyt Racing
15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18 Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing
19 Santino Ferrucci (R) Dale Coyne Racing
20 Ed Jones Ed Carpenter Racing
21 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing
22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske
26 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport
27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport
28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport
30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan
31 Patricio O’Ward (R) Carlin
59 Max Chilton Carlin
60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing/Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
81 Ben Hanley DragonSpeed
88 Colton Herta (R) Harding Steinbrenner
98 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport

Featured Image Credit: Stephen King/IndyCar

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IndyCar COTA Report: Herta becomes youngest ever IndyCar race winner

Rookie Colton Herta now holds the title of youngest IndyCar race winner of all time, at the age of 18, after winning the inaugural IndyCar race at the Circuit of the Americas. Herta held off 2017 champion Josef Newgarden to take the win, while pole-sitter Will Power’s race unravelled after Felix Rosenqvist and James Hinchcliffe came together.

Herta qualified in a remarkable fourth place, making him top rookie and giving him a chance at challenging for his first podium, in what was only his third race. The Harding Steinbrenner driver passed Ryan Hunter-Reay on the first lap to take third place, a position which he held for the majority of the race. He briefly passed Alexander Rossi for second but was then shuffled back to third during the stops and stayed there until the race was turned on its head at the final stops.

Herta pitted earlier than leaders Power and Rossi, taking the lead when Rosenqvist and Hinchcliffe caused the race’s only caution before Power and Rossi had stopped. Herta has proved all the doubters wrong in a race where he thought the podium was as good as it was going to get.

Credit: Joe Skibinski/IndyCar

Power had not put a foot wrong all weekend and had led all the laps up until the fateful final stops. Both him and Rossi were taking a risk by staying out in what is known as the ‘danger zone’, where a caution can ruin your race, and the gamble backfired. They both pitted during the caution and dropped back through the field – but Power never re-joined the race.

The Penske driver couldn’t pull away from his pit box and, despite the best efforts of the #12 crew, he was unable to get the car going, with what was presumed to be a driveshaft issue. As for Rossi, well he did get back into the race and, after some signature Rossi overtakes and saves, he came home in ninth, which was a good recovery but not what he was hoping for.

Unlike Power and Rossi, Newgarden and Hunter-Reay both benefitted massively from the timing of the caution and were shuffled up the order, despite being off the pace of the leaders all day. After fairly quiet and distant races, the pair filled out the final two spots on the podium, though they were unable to challenge Herta for the win.

Graham Rahal, Sebastien Bourdais and Marco Andretti also all lucked in with the caution and finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. None of them had a good time in qualifying and it was looking to be an unremarkable race for the trio, but their luck finally turned, and they scored some of the best results any of them have seen in a long while.

Credit: Joe Skibinski/IndyCar

Andretti’s race very nearly unravelled when Takuma Sato got a bit too close for comfort, but both drivers got away with it and finished the race. Sato came home in seventh after just getting past rookie Patricio O’Ward on the final lap. O’Ward’s race looked like it would end in something higher than eighth at certain points in the race, but a slow stop at the second round of stops hampered his progress, before he then struggled at the end of his last stint, losing two spots in the last ten laps.

Track limits, and the complete lack of enforcement of them, proved to be quite the talking point of the weekend and played a significant role in causing the race’s only caution. Rosenqvist and Hinchcliffe had been fighting in a group for a few laps after their third stops and both went very wide in the small straight between Turns 19 and 20. Rosenqvist went to turn back onto the track sooner than Hinchcliffe and they collided, sending the Swede into the wall just before pit entry and leaving the Canadian with a broken front wing and puncture. No action was taken by race direction, but the collision had huge consequences for the whole field due to the timing of it.

Reigning champion Scott Dixon was one of the drivers who fell foul of this, though he had struggled with pace all race – as had Chip Ganassi teammate Rosenqvist. Dixon was up to as high as third at one point, but ultimately came home in a rather disappointing thirteenth, a result that will do nothing to help his title defence.

That concludes what was a very eventful and surprising first race at COTA for IndyCar with the series next in action at Barber Motorsports Park on April 7.

Full Race Results:

  1. Colton Herta (R)
  2. Josef Newgarden
  3. Ryan Hunter-Reay
  4. Graham Rahal
  5. Sebastien Bourdais
  6. Marco Andretti
  7. Takuma Sato
  8. Patricio O’Ward (R)
  9. Alexander Rossi
  10. Jack Harvey
  11. Spencer Pigot
  12. Tony Kanaan
  13. Scott Dixon
  14. Ed Jones
  15. Marcus Ericsson (R)
  16. James Hinchcliffe
  17. Matheus Leist
  18. Kyle Kaiser (R)
  19. Simon Pagenaud
  20. Santino Ferrucci (R)
  21. Max Chilton
  22. Zach Veach
  23. Felix Rosenqvist

DNF – Will Power (driveshaft)

Championship Top 5:

  1. Josef Newgarden
  2. Colton Herta (R)
  3. Scott Dixon
  4. Alexander Rossi
  5. Graham Rahal

Featured Image Credit: Chris Jones/IndyCar

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IndyCar COTA Preview

For round two of the IndyCar season, the series is heading to Austin, Texas for their only completely new track of the year. This new addition is F1 and MotoGP venue the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), a track on which only a handful drivers on the current IndyCar grid have raced at.

Josef Newgarden leads the championship going into the second round of the season by virtue of winning the first race at St Petersburg. The 2017 champion’s win was a relatively straight-forward one, with Newgarden dominating the race after the second round of pit stops. Reigning champion Scott Dixon could only manage second place, as he embarks on a challenge to defend his title for the first time in his IndyCar career.

Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar

Ed Jones has been cleared to race at COTA despite breaking his finger in a crash with Matheus Leist at St Pete, with the latter uninjured and also racing in Austin.

Since St Pete, Dixon, Alexander Rossi, Simon Pagenaud, Sebastien Bourdais and Colton Herta have all been out to Sebring, racing in the IMSA 12-hour race at the famous venue, though only Bourdais managed to bring home a trophy.

The first IndyCar race at COTA is an exciting event for all involved, and it has been highly anticipated for a number of years, even before it was officially confirmed to be on the 2019 calendar. Road course rules apply to COTA so qualifying will be the same as it was in St Pete with the grid split into two groups of twelve, based on practice times, and the fastest six from each then fighting for places in the Fast Six.

The driver with the most experience around COTA is by far and away Marcus Ericsson who, despite being one of the newest drivers to IndyCar, has competed at the track for the last five years in F1. Rossi also raced at COTA back in 2015 during his very brief spell in F1 and a selection of the other drivers have competed in an IMSA race or two at the track. Generally speaking, it is not a track that a lot of drivers have much experience on, meaning it should be a fairly level playing field throughout.

Credit: Chris Ownes/IndyCar

The grid is broadly the same as it was at St Pete with only three notable differences. Reigning Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward takes over from Charlie Kimball in the #23 Carlin for his first race of the season, after his Harding deal fell through earlier in the year. Kyle Kaiser and Juncos are making their first appearance for 2019 in what is their only confirmed race for this season, so far at least. The only other change is the omission of Ben Hanley and DragonSpeed, who will return to the grid next round at Barber Motorsports Park.

There is no form book for this track, so any predictions on who will go well here are merely educated guesses. At St Pete, Honda clearly had some reliability issues and they’ve been very quiet about them since, with no notion as to whether they’ve actually found what the problems were. Based on the form of one race, Chevrolet seems to have the upper hand, but that could all change at COTA. All drivers will be hoping for a good race in Austin, but only time will tell who will shine and who will struggle.

NBC is broadcasting the race in the US while in the UK it will be on Sky Sports F1 again, though this time hopefully with fewer coverage breakups and adverts! Indy Lights are the only of the three Road to Indy series racing at COTA with their two races held on Saturday and Sunday. The times you’ll need to watch the action this weekend are as follows…

March 22

Practice 1 – 11:15am (EDT) / 3:15pm (GMT)
Practice 2 – 3:05pm / 7:05pm
Practice Warmup – 4:10pm / 8:10pm

March 23

Practice 3 – 11:00am / 3:00pm
Qualifying – 3:00pm / 7:00pm

March 24

Race – 1:30pm / 5:30pm

Entry List:

# Driver Team
2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske
4 Matheus Leist AJ Foyt Racing
5 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
7 Marcus Ericsson (R) Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Felix Rosenqvist (R) Chip Ganassi Racing
12 Will Power Team Penske
14 Tony Kanaan AJ Foyt Racing
15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18 Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing
19 Santino Ferrucci (R) Dale Coyne Racing
20 Ed Jones Ed Carpenter Racing
21 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing
22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske
23 Patricio O’Ward (R) Carlin
26 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport
27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport
28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport
30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan
32 Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing
59 Max Chilton Carlin
60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing/Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
88 Colton Herta (R) Harding Steinbrenner
98 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport

Featured Image Credit: Stephen King/IndyCar

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IndyCar St Petersburg Report: Newgarden fends off Dixon to take first win at St Pete

Josef Newgarden took the first win of the 2019 season at St Petersburg, a win that marks his first around the demanding track and Penske’s first there since 2016. He held off a late challenge from defending champion Scott Dixon in what as an action-packed season opener.

After being shuffled back at the start, Newgarden didn’t come to the lead until the second round of pit stops, but there he out-foxed the rest of the leading group and emerged from the pits with a near five-second lead over Marco Andretti, who was doing a good job of holding up the rest of the field. With the help of Andretti once more in the closing stages of the race, Newgarden came under threat from Dixon with the lead dropping to as low as 1.2 seconds but, once Andretti was out of the picture, Newgarden rebuilt his lead to take the win.

Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar

Dixon was forced to settle for second-place having not led a single lap of the race. He managed to pass Will Power during the first Andretti hold up, taking second place and allowing him to have a chance at fighting Newgarden for the win. However, the lead Newgarden had built up was big enough to act as an effective buffer, even when Andretti came back into the mix. It wasn’t quite the perfect start to Dixon’s title defence, but it was good enough.

For a while, it looked like the other Chip Ganassi of Felix Rosenqvist would be going for the win, but he got caught out and dropped back by the second round of stops. Rosenqvist passed Newgarden going into Turn 1 on the first lap, putting him in second and in a position to fight Power for the lead. The Swede took the lead after the first restart and went onto lead 31 laps in his debut race, the most bar race winner Newgarden. He came home in a respectable fourth place and showed that he’s ready to take it to teammate Dixon this season.

After starting on pole, Power had to settle for a podium in third with his nemesis, like so many others, being the second stops and Andretti’s rather wide car. He couldn’t clear Andretti after the stops and was passed by Dixon who then disappeared up the road, meaning Power was unable to improve his position in the final stages of the race, but he was still happy with his result, given how badly St Pete has treated him over the past two years.

Alexander Rossi was another driver who was forced to settle for a position probably lower than he was hoping for, especially after he came so close to the victory last year. Like last year, a rookie got the better of him, though this time it was Rosenqvist and not Robert Wickens, meaning Rossi couldn’t do much better than fifth having led two laps during the pit stop sequences.

Wickens attended the race with his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team to support their drivers and celebrate his thirtieth birthday with his fellow drivers. Attending St Pete was one of Wickens’ many goals on his road to recovery after his enormous crash at Pocono last season, with the Canadian a welcome figure in the paddock once more.

Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar

On track, SPM didn’t have such a good weekend with James Hinchcliffe finishing in sixth after getting the better of Penske’s Simon Pagenaud in what was a race-long battle. On the other side of the garage, Marcus Ericsson didn’t even see the chequered flag with a water pressure issue cutting his IndyCar debut short. Their sort-of-teammate Jack Harvey finished tenth in the #60 Meyer Shank supported SPM entry, in his first of ten races this season.

Rosenqvist may have taken the title of top rookie but fellow rookies Colton Herta and Santino Ferrucci were not to be forgotten in the first race of the season, finishing eighth and ninth respectively. Herta’s the only Harding driver after they failed to get an engine lease for their second car and Ferrucci lost teammate Bourdais 11 laps into the race, meaning the two rookies had to go it solo, but still delivered more than respectable performances.

One recurring feature of the race was Honda engine failures, of which there were four with Ryan Hunter-Reay, Takuma Sato, Ericsson and Bourdais all suffering issues that led to their retirements. While Honda had four failures, their rival Chevrolet had none, meaning the former really needs to step up on the reliability side of things, otherwise the Chevy teams could be leaving them well behind.

That concludes the season opener at St Petersburg with IndyCar back in action on March 24 at the Circuit of the Americas.

Full Race Results:

  1. Josef Newgarden
  2. Scott Dixon
  3. Will Power
  4. Felix Rosenqvist (R)
  5. Alexander Rossi
  6. James Hinchcliffe
  7. Simon Pagenaud
  8. Colton Herta (R)
  9. Santino Ferrucci (R)
  10. Jack Harvey
  11. Spencer Pigot
  12. Graham Rahal
  13. Marco Andretti
  14. Zach Veach
  15. Tony Kanaan
  16. Max Chilton
  17. Charlie Kimball
  18. Ben Hanley (R)

DNF – Takuma Sato (gearbox), Marcus Ericsson (R) (water pressure), Ed Jones (collision), Matheus Leist (collision), Ryan Hunter-Reay (engine), Sebastien Bourdais (engine)

(Featured Image Credit: Karl Zemlin/IndyCar)

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IndyCar Season Preview

After a long off-season, the start of the 2019 IndyCar season is just a few days away. 2019 holds huge potential for great racing and a very close title fight, with numerous contenders all looking to topple the defending champion, Scott Dixon. Since the end of last season, there have been some significant changes, affecting action both on and off the track, so here’s a run through of them.

2019 will see the same number of races as 2018, seventeen, but there have been a few switches and substitutions. Phoenix and Sonoma have both left the calendar, with both experiencing financial difficulties and drops in attendance over recent years. With Phoenix gone from its slot in second on the calendar, the first oval race will now be the Indy 500, which is certainly a change from years past.

Replacing Phoenix is the Circuit of the Americas, which has been an F1 venue since 2012. This is an addition that has been expected for some time, and it has finally materialised for this season. Similarly, Laguna Seca is making its long-awaited return to the IndyCar calendar, taking over from Sonoma as the season finale.

Credit: Joe Skibinski/IndyCar

The only other changes are relatively minor; Long Beach and Barber are switching around so that Barber is now third and Long Beach fourth and Iowa and Toronto have done the same, with Toronto now eleventh and Iowa twelfth.

Some more major changes have taken place off the track, with regards to how fans will be watching the series this year. Last season, ABC aired its last IndyCar race at Detroit, handing over exclusive rights in the US to NBCSN, who will show all races in 2019. Outside the US, it’s all change with IndyCar taking international coverage in-house, rather than going through ESPN as they have done in the past.

This means that UK coverage switches from BT Sport to Sky Sports, who will be showing all qualifying sessions and races live on their Sky Sports F1 channel. While it’s far from free-to-air, Sky is slightly more accessible than BT and it means that viewers can get F1 and IndyCar on the same channel, making the cost a bit more acceptable.

Fernando Alonso was reported to have taken over IndyCar rights in Spain near the end of last year, but that was never officially confirmed. Meanwhile, Canada’s TV coverage remains somewhat up in the air, with some races available on NBC, but not all, and no clear provider announced, which isn’t exactly great for one of IndyCar’s biggest audiences.

Credit: Doug Matthews/IndyCar

Back on track, there have been some alterations to what is the biggest IndyCar race of the year – the Indy 500. These changes mainly revolve around qualifying and bumping, after James Hinchcliffe was infamously bumped out of the race last year. With 33 entries already confirmed, and more expected, bumping will be taking place this year, but with a difference…

This year, the Saturday session will lock-in starting positions 10 through to 30 – leaving the order of the Fast Nine and the last three entrants to be decided on the Sunday, in two separate sessions.

Many are citing this as a way of avoiding any shock bumpings, meaning that all the full-time drivers should qualify for the race, as should Alonso who makes his Indy 500 return after a year away.

Another new addition to the Indy 500 will be the Advanced Frontal Protection system, which is scheduled to make its race debut at the 500 before being used in all races thereafter.

IndyCar launch all-new frontal protection system

For the season as a whole, there’s a wide range of drivers that could be in the mix for both race wins and the championship. The usual suspects of Scott Dixon, Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay should all be in contention, but the likes of Hinchcliffe, Sebastien Bourdais, and even some of the rookies like Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Ericsson, could also be strong challengers.

The season kicks off at St Petersburg on March 10th, with the race starting at 12:30pm ET, 5:30pm GMT. The full schedule and entry list for St Pete are as follows:

March 8th

Practice 1 – 10:45am (ET) / 3:45pm (GMT)
Practice 2 – 2:20pm / 7:20pm

March 9th

Practice 3 – 10:25am / 3:25pm
Qualifying – 2:30pm / 7:30pm

March 10th

Final Warmup – 9:20am / 1:20pm
Race – 1:30pm / 5:30pm

Entry List:

#

 Driver Team
2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske
4 Matheus Leist AJ Foyt Racing
5 James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
7 Marcus Ericsson (R) Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Felix Rosenqvist (R) Chip Ganassi Racing
12 Will Power Team Penske
14 Tony Kanaan AJ Foyt Racing
15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18 Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne Racing
19 Santino Ferrucci (R) Dale Coyne Racing
20 Ed Jones Ed Carpenter Racing
21 Spencer Pigot Ed Carpenter Racing
22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske
23 Charlie Kimball Carlin
26 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport
27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport
28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport
30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan
59 Max Chilton Carlin
60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing/Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
85 Ben Hanley (R) DragonSpeed
88 Colton Herta (R) Harding Steinbrenner
98 Marco Andretti

Andretti Autosport

Season Calendar:

10th March – St. Petersburg (S)
24th March – Circuit of the Americas (R)
7th April – Barber Motorsports Park (R)
14th April – Long Beach (S)
11th May – Indianapolis GP (R)
26th May – 103rd Indy 500 (O)
1st June – Detroit Race 1 (S)
2nd June – Detroit Race 2 (S)
8th June – Texas Motor Speedway (O)
23rd June – Road America (R)
14th July – Toronto (S)
20th July – Iowa Speedway (O)
28th July – Mid-Ohio (R)
18th August – Pocono Raceway (O)
24th August – Gateway Motorsports Park (O)
1st September – Portland (R)
22nd September – Laguna Seca (R)

(R) – Road Course
(S) – Street Course
(O) – Oval

Schedule subject to change

(Featured image credit: Chris Jones/IndyCar)

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The (very nearly) complete 2019 IndyCar grid

The 2019 IndyCar season is almost upon us with a grid packed full of talent from across the world, each with varying amounts of experience in the series. Five rookies join the grid this season, accompanying the seven champions and plethora of race winners. Here’s a run-down of the twelve main teams and their respective drivers for 2019…

Reigning champions Chip Ganassi Racing have retained Scott Dixon, with their partnership entering into its seventeenth year, while a different driver steps into the #10 entry for the third year running. After Ed Jones’ fall from grace with Ganassi, Swede Felix Rosenqvist will be hoping for better fortunes in his rookie season. The ex-just-about-everything driver makes his IndyCar debut this season, after running in Indy Lights in 2016 and walking away from a top Formula E drive to take up the Ganassi vacancy. He, like all Dixon’s previous teammates, will have his work cut out trying to match ‘The Iceman’, but he’ll be learning from the best and has good potential for the season ahead. For Dixon, the aim’s the same as it always is; to win the championship – and you’d be brave to bet against him doing just that.

Credit: Stephen King/IndyCar

Andretti Autosport are keeping their four-car line up for 2019, with the same drivers as they had last season. Alexander Rossi leads the charge after just missing out on the title in 2018, while Ryan Hunter-Reay will be looking to regain his once established position as team leader. Zach Veach lines up with a year of experience under his belt after a tough but promising rookie season, with the youngster looking to take the fight to his teammates on a more regular basis. Attention is starting to turn to whether Marco Andretti really deserves his drive at the team after he extended his losing streak to 126 races in 2018; his future is in doubt if he doesn’t put that right soon. Andretti are planning to run five cars at the Indy 500 with Conor Daly joining the team in the #25.

Like Andretti, Team Penske are sporting an unchanged line up for 2019 with their three drivers all crowned champion in the last five years. Will Power was the main one flying the flag for Penske last season and will be aiming to continue to do so heading into this season. Josef Newgarden’s hopes of championship retention came crashing down during 2018, and he will not want to be left behind by Power again in 2019. Simon Pagenaud’s career seems to be on the rocks at Penske, with him edging ever nearer to the same IMSA fate of Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya – he needs a good season to stand a chance of staying at Penske. Castroneves will join the team for the Indianapolis GP and the Indy 500, as he did last season.

Dale Coyne Racing have kept hold of four-time CART champion Sebastien Bourdais, who will have the job of leading the team and coaching yet another rookie through their first season of IndyCar. This time, it’s F2-reject Santino Ferrucci who has had to turn his back on his F1 dreams to instead chase a career in the States, after his high-profile departure from F2 last season. Ferrucci’s pace was promising at the four races he competed in during 2018, and you’d expect Dale Coyne to benefit from the consistency of having a single driver in the #19, a far cry from the car sharing shenanigans of 2018.

Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing are the third of four teams to have an unchanged line up for 2019. Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato will once again be fielding the two RLL cars for the full season, while Jordan King will be joining them for the Indy 500. After Sato took the team’s only win last season, all involved will be hoping for a more fruitful 2019 and a rise up the grid, after years of inconsistencies.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports have a new title sponsor in Arrow Electronics, after being a personal sponsor of James Hinchcliffe for a number of years. Hinchcliffe is staying put at SPM, but he welcomes a new teammate for the third year running. Marcus Ericsson joins SPM after five years in relatively back-marker teams in F1. Having another new driver was not the intention of SPM, but after Robert Wickens was seriously injured at Pocono last season, they had to bring another driver in. Wickens continues to recover and the #6 SPM remains open to him ‘when he wants to and is able to return’. Jack Harvey will also run with the team in partnership with Meyer Shank Racing for ten races, up from the six he competed in last season.

Credit: Joe Skibinski/IndyCar

Ed Carpenter Racing have kept on two of their three drivers from last season with Jordan King leaving and Ed Jones replacing him in the shared #20 drive. Spencer Pigot will once again be in the #21 car for the full season while team owner Ed Carpenter and Jones share the #20 – with Carpenter in on the ovals and Jones in for the road courses, as per the usual arrangement. The only difference this season is that Jones will be entering the Indy 500 in a one-off #64 entry, taking his race total up to thirteen for 2019.

Despite a fairly dismal 2018, AJ Foyt Racing haven’t been tempted to shake things up with their drivers, keeping their all-Brazilian line up of Tony Kanaan and Matheus Leist. At 44 years old, it’s widely accepted that Kanaan is nearing the end of his IndyCar tenure, while teammate Leist is only just getting started. They worked well together last season and will intend to do so again in 2019 in an attempt to drag AJ Foyt Racing back up the grid.

After initially expecting to have a three-car lineup, Carlin have ended up only entering two cars, with some doubt over whether the second will be running as a full-time entry or not. Max Chilton will be in the #59 full-time, as he was last season, and he’s once again joined by Charlie Kimball however, the American has only be confirmed for five races in the #23. RC Enerson, who has previously run in IndyCar, albeit briefly, has been announced as another driver of the #23, but his races are yet to be confirmed and there is some speculation that there could be a third driver in the #23.

Harding Steinbrenner Racing are another team who promised more entries than they have delivered. Indy Lights runner-up Colton Herta will be in the only full-time entry for the team while the #8 car is expected to run in the Indy 500, though a driver has yet to be announced. Previously, Indy Lights champion Pato O’Ward was signed for Harding, but after it emerged that they had failed to get an engine lease for the #8 to run for the full season, he walked away and is yet to find a new drive.

Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar

Juncos Racing also have a bit of a cloud over their heads with the team only confirmed for one race, Texas, with Kyle Kaiser. They’re expected to run in more with another driver, but nothing more has been announced.

DragonSpeed are the only new entrant to IndyCar in 2019 to be running in more than just the Indy 500. Ben Hanley makes his IndyCar debut with the team after racing with them in IMSA, WEC and ELMS over the past few seasons. Hanley’s been confirmed for five races in the #85, including the Indy 500.

That’s a wrap for the 2019 IndyCar grid! Stay tuned for more previews for both IndyCar and the Road to Indy in the run-up to the first race at St Petersburg on March 10th.

(Featured Image: Chris Jones/IndyCar)

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IndyCar launch all-new frontal protection system

IndyCar has released renders of their solution to cockpit safety, with the first on-track test of the device scheduled for April 24th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. All being well, the Advanced Frontal Protection system (AFP) will make it’s racing debut at this year’s running of the Indianapolis 500.

The AFP comes in the form of a three-inch titanium piece that will be fixed to the front of the cockpit, in a seemingly similar way to that of F1’s halo. IndyCar report that the addition has passed the same strength tests as the roll hoop, built by Dallara.

This comes after IndyCar ran a windscreen-type solution at multiple tests during last season, but, despite the running, it is not yet ready to be used in races with issues relating to visibility, practicality and reflection all still to be ironed out, as well as questions over its potential effectiveness. There is still a lot of work to do on the windscreen, but IndyCar has made it clear that this solution has not, by any means, been abandoned.

As such, the AFP seems to be coming in as an interim solution before something more substantial can be implemented.

A halo-type solution was considered during last season; however, this presents a number of challenges that are unique to IndyCar. First of all, a halo would pose serious visibility issues on ovals as the top structure would block parts of the track from the driver’s view – potentially causing far more problems than it would solve. Even on the road courses, a halo would be an issue as it can’t be fitted on the current IndyCar chassis, and, given the latest update only came in last season, they probably won’t be updated again for another few seasons.

The biggest problem IndyCar has to try and steer around is the cost-factor, especially for the smaller teams who are already struggling as it is. For likes of Juncos and Harding, a chassis change so soon after a major change wouldn’t be financially viable, and the series would risk losing a fair few entrants.

This also realistically rules out the potential of having two different solutions – one for road courses and one for ovals – as could again push out the smaller teams, which are vital to the success of IndyCar.

IndyCar President Jay Frye stated: “Safety is a never-ending pursuit, and this is IndyCar’s latest step in the evolution. There are more details to come about the phases to follow.”

One thing is for sure, IndyCar had to do something ahead of the 2019 season. There were too many near misses in 2018 for them to wait until the windscreen is ready to use, and the AFP, small though it is, is the first step towards a much safer IndyCar with a determination to not have repeats of recent accidents, such as that of Justin Wilson in 2015.

It’s a small step, but it’s a start.

(Featured image credit: IndyCar/Chris Beatty)

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Hamlin takes the win in wreck-filled race: Daytona 500 Report

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin took his second Daytona 500 win in what proved to be a crash-strewn and highly attritional race. Hamlin was one of only three drivers to not be involved in any incidents at all, with the other two drivers being second-place finisher Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain, who finished in tenth. There were signs of trouble throughout the race, but ‘The Big One’ only came with nine laps left in the race, and, from there all hell broke loose!

Of the 22 cars running at the chequered flag, 14 were still on the lead lap, which is rather surprising given the sheer number of cars involved in one wreck or another. Before the Lap 191 monster wreck, there had already been a number of crashes, including one on pit road, in which the eternally unlucky Jimmie Johnson got caught up in, amongst others.

All in all, 21 cars were damaged in the biggest wreck, which was caused by Matt Di Benedetto, who had, up until then, been having a very good race, and Paul Menard, who was part of the cause in The Clash’s wreck last weekend. However, even after a crash that involved more than half the field, there was still more trouble to come…

In the last nine scheduled laps, there were two more cautions for two further wrecks – the latter of which pushed the race into overtime, just to get a result. But, after all that, it was Hamlin who kept it together and fended off teammate Kyle Busch for the win, despite a very close final lap and a late challenge from Joey Logano.

Hamlin didn’t, by any means, lead the most laps and he didn’t finish that high in either of the stages; he was down in 21st by the end of Stage 2, but that didn’t really matter by the end of the race. He played his cards better than teammate Busch in the final laps, correctly choosing the outside lane to take his first win in 47 races.

The race started very well for Kyle Busch who took the first stage win of the season, despite starting the race down in 31st position. By the end of Stage 2, the younger Busch brother had dropped to twelfth, but he made his comeback in the final stage and looked set to take his first ever Daytona 500 win before what proved to be the final restart. He was, however, outmanoeuvred by Hamlin, meaning Busch will have to wait another year to try and fill the Harley J. Earl Trophy sided gap in his trophy cabinet. 2020 will be Busch’s 15th attempt at the Daytona victory… who knows if he’ll finally be successful then!

Ryan Blaney was the man to take the Stage 2 victory, and he looked to be the class of the field for a long time, but, like so many others, it all came crashing down for him when he got caught up in The Big One and his #12 received terminal damage, forcing the Penske driver out of what could’ve been a very promising race.

Another driver who’s race turned into a story of what could’ve been was Johnson, suggesting that his luck has not turned for this season and taking his winning-less streak in points races up to 60 races. As was the case so many times last season, Johnson got caught up in a crash through no fault of his own, which subsequently compromised the rest of his race. The #48 Hendrick driver sustained a fair amount of damage in the pit road wreck, which was caused by Cody Ware spinning and hitting a line of slower moving cars who were coming into the pits. He also got tangled up in the Lap 191 wreck, eventually finishing the race in ninth place.

Last year’s Cup Champion, Joey Logano, looked to be in contention for the victory in the closing stages of the race but, after working so well with teammate Blaney throughout the race, he was hurt badly when he was left isolated after the wreck – meaning he couldn’t quite take it to the Joe Gibbs drivers, who were themselves working very well together. Erik Jones managed to sneak past Logano on the last lap, meaning the Penske driver finished the race in fourth – behind all three Joe Gibbs cars.

The 61st Daytona 500 was certainly a tale of two races, with the first 190 or so laps being fairly calm, by NASCAR’s standards at least, and the last ten (plus the six overtime laps) being absolute carnage; an hour passed between the yellow flag flying for The Big One and the chequered flag emerging, showing just how chaotic those last ten laps were!

But, after all that, it was Hamlin who came out victorious and he’s the only one who will have his name engraved onto the Harley J. Earl Trophy. NASCAR returns next weekend at Atlanta where Hamlin will be looking to make it two from two, and everyone else will be trying to stop him…

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 17: Denny celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 61st Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2019 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Top Ten Finishers:

  1. Denny Hamlin
  2. Kyle Busch
  3. Erik Jones
  4. Joey Logano
  5. Michael McDowell
  6. Ty Dillon
  7. Kyle Larson
  8. Ryan Preece
  9. Jimmie Johnson
  10. Ross Chastain

Championship Standings:

  1. Denny Hamlin
  2. Joey Logano
  3. Kyle Busch
  4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
  5. Erik Jones

(Featured image credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

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Daytona 500 Preview

After a week of qualifying, non-points races, duels and a fair few crashes, it’s finally time for the big one; the Daytona 500. At 7:30 pm GMT on Sunday, the 40-car field will take the green flag for the 61st running of the event – and what an event it promises to be!

Qualifying last Sunday only allocated the front row for the 500, with the Hendrick Motorsport duo of William Byron and Alex Bowman taking those two places. The rest of the grid was determined by Thursday’s two ‘Duel’ races, which both took place over 60 laps. Stewart-Haas’s Kevin Harvick took the win in the first race, giving him third on the grid, while Penske’s reigning champion, Joey Logano, won the second, placing him in fourth.

In some slightly unfathomable but typically NASCAR way, qualifying determined which duel each driver raced in, then the results of the Duel 1 decided the inside row of the grid and the results of Duel 2 did the same for the outside row.

Put simply, the top ten starters for the 500 are:

  1. William Byron
  2. Alex Bowman
  3. Kevin Harvick
  4. Joey Logano
  5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  6. Clint Bowyer
  7. Paul Menard
  8. Aric Almirola
  9. Matt DiBenedetto
  10. Denny Hamlin

If you want to see where the other 30 drivers are starting from, click here.

(Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

One driver who is starting out of the top ten is the winner of this year’s Daytona Clash, a certain Jimmie Johnson. The Hendrick driver will be starting down in 17th after finishing in eighth in Duel 1, but his Daytona build-up has not been without incident. Luck was far from with Johnson last season as he seemed to spend more than his fair share of time in the wall and, for the majority of those incidents, he wasn’t to blame. During ‘The Clash’ Johnson was again involved in an incident, with all but three drivers in the 20-car field caught up in it. Many looked to blame Johnson for the wreck, which started with him and Menard coming together, but no official action was taken on it and Johnson was free to take the win.

As it was not for points, The Clash was seen as more of a test session by many teams, so the single-file train of cars seen during it shouldn’t be something that we see too much of during the 500.

Last year’s 500 winner, Austin Dillon, with start the race from 20th after finishing ninth in Duel 2, but given he started 14th last year, he shouldn’t be too fazed by that and will be looking to repeat his 2018 glory, though the other 39 drivers might just have something to say about that!

The 2019 Daytona 500 will get underway at 2:30 pm ET (7:30 pm GMT) on Sunday and will be broadcast on Fox in the States. In the UK, Premier Sports have the coverage, but if you don’t have access to that, there will be live timing on nascar.com and race commentary on our Twitter channel, so you won’t miss out on the action!

Let the season begin…

(Featured image credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

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O’Ward’s Rookie IndyCar Season on Hold

Patricio O’Ward has parted ways from Harding Steinbrenner Racing, with whom he was expected to compete in his rookie IndyCar season this year.

The Mexican driver won the 2018 Indy Lights championship, winning nine out of 17 races. O’Ward then made his IndyCar debut in Sonoma last season with Harding Steinbrenner, reaching the Fast Six in qualifying and finishing the race in ninth place. He was understood to have signed a deal to race for the team on a full-time programme in 2019.

Credit: Joe Skibinski/IndyCar

O’Ward’s Indy Lights championship win was accompanied by a scholarship worth $1 million to be put towards an entry in the IndyCar championship.

However, O’Ward announced today that he had parted ways with the team, releasing the following statement:

“The Harding Steinbrenner Racing team supported my decision to seek a new opportunity by releasing me from my contract and allowing me the opportunity to find a new team before the start of the 2019 season. Now, I am fully focused on finding the right opportunity and how I will use my scholarship from Indy Lights for 2019.”

With the first race of the IndyCar season on March 10, time is running out for O’Ward to secure a new seat, and it is unclear whether he will be able to find a full-time or part-time deal.

Harding Steinbrenner Racing are now expected to contest the season with only one entry, the #88 car, to be driven by 2018 Indy Lights runner-up Colton Herta.

(Featured image credit: Chris Jones/IndyCar)

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