Conway Takes IndyCar Long Beach Win

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Chet

IndyCar Long Beach

What a 40th Grand Prix of Long Beach!

In an unpredictable, somewhat chaotic IndyCar Long Beach race, Mike Conway of Ed Carpenter Racing won with a clean and steady approach while those around him were banging each other, scraping the barriers, or running out of gas.

Conway was running 15th when the leaders began cycling thru the pits with 27 laps to go. Up to that point, pole sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay had dominated the race. Hunter-Reay and Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe pitted together while running one-two on lap 53. Hunter-Reay exited the pits just ahead of Hinchcliffe while Josef Newgarden pitted behind them from third. Newgarden had done a great in-lap and with a clean pit stop, got out just ahead of Hunter-Reay into Turn 1, but naturally on cold tires. Hunter-Reay and Hinchcliffe on warming tires were stacked up behind Newgarden around the fountain. At Turn 4, Ryan Hunter-Reay made an over optimistic attempt to pass Newgarden and punted him into the left barriers. The ensuing melee took out Newgarden, Hunter-Reay, and Hinchcliffe who were running one, two, three as well as Tony Kanaan and Takuma Sato who ran into the pile up from behind.

On the restart, the running order was Scott Dixon, Justin Wilson, Will Power, & Mike Conway. Shortly after the restart, Dixon nudged Wilson into the barriers on the approach to Turn 8. The impact was pretty light, but it was enough to destroy Wilson’s left front suspension. Wilson was furious because even though Dixon had to stop before the end, Wilson was good on fuel and was well positioned for a win.

In earlier action on Lap 32, Will Power helped Simon Pagenaud into the tire barrier at Turn 6 while Pagenaud was running in second place as the sequence below shows:

Pagenaud was about as upset at Power as Wilson was at Dixon. For his part, Will Power apologized, surprised that he wasn’t penalized.

Ultimately, Carpenter took a well-deserved checkered for running a clean and consistent race.

The top 15 at the finish:

Pos  Driver              Team/Engine           Time/Gap
 1.  Mike Conway         Carpenter/Chevy  1h54m41.6418s
 2.  Will Power          Penske/Chevy          +0.9005s
 3.  Carlos Munoz        Andretti/Honda        +1.5591s
 4.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Penske/Chevy          +2.0226s
 5.  Simon Pagenaud      Schmidt/Honda         +2.8169s
 6.  Mikhail Aleshin     Schmidt/Honda         +3.8574s
 7.  Oriol Servia        Rahal/Honda           +4.9621s
 8.  Marco Andretti      Andretti/Honda        +8.1948s
 9.  Sebastian Saavedra  KV/Chevy              +8.9029s
10.  Carlos Huertas      Coyne/Honda          +24.2295s
11.  Helio Castroneves   Penske/Chevy         +30.0552s
12.  Scott Dixon         Ganassi/Chevy        +30.7310s
13.  Graham Rahal        Rahal/Honda             +1 lap
14.  Sebastien Bourdais  KV/Chevy               +3 laps
15.  Jack Hawksworth     Herta/Honda            +3 laps

Many more pics at IndyCar Long Beach.

SoCal Speed!

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Chet

Spring brings racing to Southern California, and several of the season’s best events happen over the next couple of weekends.

First of all, this weekend we have the Porsche Club of America (PCA) 13th Annual California Festival of Speed at Auto Club Speedway. The Festival of Speed is the largest Porsche event in the Southwest, and it really does have something for everyone: Cup Races, Time Trials, Autocross, Concours, Vendors, & a Swap Meet. More info including schedule and map on the calendar here: California Festival of Speed.

Next weekend the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship (TUSC) and IndyCar come to SoCal for the 40th Grand Prix of Long Beach – a massive weekend celebration of SoCal speed. Long Beach is really a can’t miss event for motorsports fans. Check out what SoCal’s Bill Auberlen of BMW Team RLL has to say about the party that is Long Beach here on the TUSC site. Information, tickets, schedule, map, fan guide and much more can be found here: Grand Prix of Long Beach.

So far, aside from some really horrible officiating calls that have directly effected the race results, the unification of ALMS and Grand-Am under the TUSC banner has worked out quite well. In particular, the series seems to have gotten the balance of power between the former ALMS LMP2 cars and the former Grand-Am DP cars just about right. No surprise, the racing the in the GT classes has been particularly exciting and competitive.

IndyCar welcomes fan favorite Juan Pablo Montoya back to open wheel racing with Team Penske with teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves. The competition between the Penske guys, Team Ganassi (Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Briscoe, & Charlie Kimball), and Andretti Autosport (Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe, and Carlos Munoz) should be particularly close this year. Sadly, we’ll be missing the 2009 Grand Prix of Long Beach winner, Dario Franchitti, who retired in the offseason due to injuries sustained in the Houston race last year.

Also next weekend, the Porsche Owners Cup will be running a Cup Race and Time Attack weekend at Willow Springs.

Ryan Hunter-Reay Is 2012 IndyCar Champion

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Chet

Early in the MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana

Gripping Fontana Race

After an exciting and surprising 500 mile race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Ryan Hunter-Reay is the 2012 IndyCar Champion, and Ed Carpenter won his second ever IndyCar race. Hunter-Reay entered the race 17 points adrift of leader Will Power. When Power spun and crashed at Turn 2 on lap 55, Hunter-Reay had his opening – he needed to finish sixth or better to overtake Power and become the first American IndyCar Champion in 6 years.

Power Somehow Rejoins Race

After a simply amazing effort by the Team Penske Crew, Will Power returned to the track on lap 123. The #12 Verizon car was severely damaged by the lap 55 crash, and the team had to replace the entire rear end plus many other parts to make the car track ready. Other crews were ‘high-fiving’ the Penske crew members in a mix of awe, amazement, and respect. I’ve never seen a car so badly damaged return to a race. Power was able to turn a dozen laps before retiring, and this was enough to move him ahead of E.J. Viso. Now Hunter-Reay needed to finish fifth or better to be the IndyCar Champion.

Battle for MAVTV 500 Win and IndyCar 2012 Championship

After Will Power retired, there were two races ongoing – one for the MAVTV 500 win and one to become IndyCar Champion. In the former, there were 24 lead changes after Power’s crash. JR Hildebrand ran really well on the high part of the track early in the race. Unfortunately he had a brush with the wall, which necessitated a repair that put him several laps down and out of contention. In the middle part of the race, the lead was exchanged multiple times between the likes of Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Alex Tagliani, and Ed Carpenter. As the race wore on, it was apparent that nobody was clearly dominant, and that promised an interesting finish.

Beautiful Sunset at MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana

Carpenter Wins With Gutsy Drive

Ed Carpenter was competitive throughout, led the most laps overall, and drove a great race to win the MAVTV 500. The victory was the second of his IndyCar career. Tony Kanaan spun into the Turn 4 wall bringing out a red flag on lap 242 to preclude a parade finish under yellow. Dario Franchitti who had taken the lead from Carpenter on lap 237 would lead from the restart and take the white flag, but Carpenter had a strong run thru Turn 2 from high on the track and passed Franchitti down the backstretch just as Takuma Sato crashed out bringing out a yellow flag for the last half lap. What a finish!

Hunter-Reay A Worthy IndyCar Champion

Ryan Hunter-Reay is certainly a deserving IndyCar Champion, winning more races than anyone including three in a row during the summer stretch and a win in the penultimate race in Baltimore setting up the showdown in Fontana. In the run up to the finale, Hunter-Reay also turned down a deal to race with Team Penske and signed a new contract with Andretti Autosport. For Will Power, this makes the third year in a row that he finished second while going into the final race with a strong chance to win. It was also the third year in a row that a crash in that final race ruined his chances to win. Congratulations to Ryan Hunter-Reay, IndyCar Champion for 2012.

Hunter-Reay Win In Baltimore Sets Up Fabulous Fontana IndyCar Finale

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Chet

Ryan Hunter-Reay’s late race restart ambush of Ryan Briscoe secured a come-from-behind win at the Grand Prix of Baltimore and set up an exciting IndyCar finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana in two weeks.

With his win, Hunter-Reay now trails IndyCar series leader Will Power by 17 points going into the final race of the season at SoCal’s Auto Club Speedway on September 15th. With the race winner collecting 50 points, if Hunter-Reay also wins at Fontana, Will Power must finish second or third to take the IndyCar series title – fourth or worse, and Hunter-Reay takes the crown.

Will Power, who has been at the top of the series standings most of the season and was on fire early in the season with three consecutive victories, has not won since Sao Paolo Indy 300 in April. Meanwhile, Ryan Hunter-Reay has gotten hot, winning three in a row himself and four of the last seven races, including Baltimore.

The Auto Club Speedway showdown was set up by Hunter-Reay’s fabulous timing of a restart after a late race caution at Baltimore when he accelerated from second place into the lead past Power’s teammate Ryan Briscoe into Turn 1. Team Penske and Briscoe complained bitterly that Hunter-Reay jumped the start, but IndyCar race control maintained that Hunter-Reay began the charge after the green flag was waved – a legal restart. No other drivers are close enough to Power to have a chance to win the championship. Sure is strange not to have a Target Ganassi driver in contention!

On to the IndyCar finale in Fontana…

Interestingly, SpeedTV has reported that Team Penske is courting Hunter-Reay as a replacement for Briscoe in their third car for next year. For their part, Andretti Autosport maintains that they intend to have Hunter-Reay resigned for two years by the Fontana finale. Briscoe’s management has also been aggressively shopping his services to other IndyCar teams as his seat at Penske has been in question for some time. Sure makes for an interesting build up to Fontana. Stay tuned…

UPDATE (090712):

Autosport is reporting here that Hunter-Reay will be staying at Andretti Autosport.

Congratulations to Dario Franchitti

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Chet

In one of the most exciting Indy 500 races, Dario Franchitti took his place on the Borg Warner Trophy for the third time. He withstood an aggressive challenge on the final lap from Takuma Sato, who spun after trying to pass Franchitti on the inside into Turn 1. Franchitti traded first place with Target Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon multiple times over the last several laps. Dixon ultimately finished a close second. Tony Kanaan also mounted a challenge, leading the race as late as lap 193 of 200, and finished third.

The win was a significant vindication for both Target Ganassi and Honda after both had a disappointing qualifying session. Only one Honda engine was in the top ten grid places at the start, but Honda engines were in the top two cars – Franchitti and Dixon – as well as five of the top ten. The result was a major disappointment for the Chevrolet powered teams of Andretti Autosport and Team Penske, both of whom did well in qualification.

Dario Franchitti has now joined a very select group of three time Indy500 winners – including some of his heroes.

Ryan Briscoe Takes Pole at Indy

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Chet

Ryan Briscoe put in a fantastic four lap qualifying run on a warm afternoon at

Ryan Briscoe at Long Beach

Indianapolis Motor Speedway to take the pole in next Sunday’s Indy 500. James Hinchcliffe had been fast all day, and he he had Briscoe beat until the final two corners of his last qualifying lap, but he fell short by 0.0023 seconds – the closest margin in the history of the Indy 500. That’s the equivalent of 9.168 inches over the four laps.

Hinchcliffe said that he went out too hot and was not able to maintain the pace throughout

James Hinchcliffe at Long Beach

four laps. He went out again later trying to beat Briscoe by starting slightly slower and trying to hold his pace throughout; however his first lap was slower than Briscoe’s pole taking average and his speed fell off from there. Nobody else was able to mount a serious challenge to Briscoe’s pole time, although Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, Marco Andretti, and Will Power all tried.

The first three rows for running of the 96th Indy 500:

Ryan Briscoe
James Hinchcliffe
Ryan Hurnter-Reay
Marco Andretti
Will Power
Helio Castroneves
Josef Newgarden
Tony Kanaan
EJ Viso

Notably, all three Team Penske drivers made the 90 minute, top nine shootout for pole while none of four Target Ganassi drivers did, and Andretti Autosport has three of the fastest four qualifiers. IZOD IndyCar points leader, Will Power, will start from 5th. Rookie Josef Newgarden of the underdog Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team qualified 7th. Newgarden is also the highest placed Honda powered car on the grid – the other eight of the top nine being Chevrolet powered. In the rest of the field, Dario Franchitti, reigning IndyCar champion will start 16th, and his teammate Scott Dixon will be 15th on the grid. IndyCar rookie and 19-year Formula 1 veteran, Rubens Barrichello will start 10th. SoCal’s Charlie Kimball will start 15th, while his teammate Graham Rahal will be 12th. Last year’s phenom and near winner, JR Hildebrand will start 18th.

Fast Friday Results – Marco Sets Fastest Lap of May at IMS

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Chet

Marco Andretti turned the fastest time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the final practice day before Pole Day. His speed of 227.540 mph (39.5535 lap time) put his Chevrolet powered Andretti Autosport #26 on the top of the sheet ahead of the Ryan Briscoe’s Team Penske#2 by a scant 0.1229 seconds. Four of Marco’s Andretti Autosport teammates are also in the top ten.

Marco Andretti of Andretti Autosport

The top ten:

Marco Andretti, 227.540
Ryan Briscoe, 226.835
Helio Castroneves, 226.716
Ryan Hunter-Reay, 226.400
Scott Dixon, 226.224
James Hinchcliffe, 225.874
Ana Beatriz, 225.653
JR Hildebrand, 225.571
Dario Franchitti, 225.370
Tony Kanaan, 225.322

Current IZOD IndyCar points leader Will Power was in 11th, rookie Josef Newgarden was 13th, and SoCal’s Charlie Kimball was 14th.

The last time someone named Andretti was on pole at the Indy 500 was in 1987, and his name was Mario. Incidentally, that was also the year Marco was born.

IndyCar Qualifying – GP of Long Beach

Gallery

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Chet

This gallery contains 19 photos.

Pictures from IZOD IndyCar series qualifying at Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach… Results of Firestone Fast 6: Ryan Briscoe Will Power Ryan Hunter-Reay Dario Franchitti E.J. Viso James Hinchcliffe However all Chevy-powered cars take 10 spot grid penalty for … Continue reading →

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