Race Weekend Central

2017 INDYCAR Team Review: Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

2017 Indycar Pocono Zach Catanzareti James Hinchcliffe Jr Hildebrand

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Entering his third season with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, James Hinchcliffe looked to end a winless drought that began in April 2015. In race No. 2 of the 2017 IndyCar Series season, that drought came to an end when Hinchcliffe won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach after qualifying fourth and leading 25 laps. It was …

Read more

Mikhail Aleshin Having Immigration Issues UPDATE

2017 Long Beach Indycar Mikhail Aleshin Car Phil Allaway

(Photo: Phil Allaway)

On Thursday afternoon, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports announced that their regular driver, Mikhail Aleshin, is having immigration issues.  He is trying to get to Wisconsin for this weekend’s Verizon IndyCar Series Kohler Grand Prix at Road America.  However, authorities are refusing to allow him into the United States.  As a result, he is grounded in France. …

Read more

James Hinchcliffe Uses Pit Strategy to Claim Comeback Win

2017 Long Beach Indycar James Hinchcliffe Car Phil Allaway

(Photo: Phil Allaway)

James Hinchcliffe took the lead when Scott Dixon pitted under green on lap 54. Shortly afterwards, a full course yellow came out for Alexander Rossi’s blown engine.  From there, Hinchcliffe held on through a late restart to take his first win since his near-fatal injuries at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2015. Hinchcliffe seemed relieved …

Read more

Ryan Hunter-Reay, Mikhail Aleshin Come Up Short of Pocono Victory

2016 Pocono Indycar Ryan Hunter Reay Mikhail Aleshin Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Though they were two of the quickest cars in Monday’s ABC Supply 500 from Pocono Raceway, a checkered flag was not in the cards for both Ryan Hunter-Reay and Mikhail Aleshin. Coming home second and third behind winner, Will Power, their two winless seasons will continue onto the final three races of the 2016 Verizon …

Read more

Will Power Wins at Pocono Raceway, Cuts into Simon Pagenaud’s Championship Lead

2016 Pocono Indycar Will Power Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

For the 27th time in the Verizon IndyCar Series, Will Power piloted his racecar into Victory Lane. Taking advantage of a plethora of strategies throughout the race, he climbed through the field late in the going, taking the lead during the final pit stop of the race after the caution flew for debris with 24 laps …

Read more

Mikhail Aleshin Loses Mid-Ohio Chance to Pit Road Mishap

2016 Ics Mikhail Aleshin Mid Ohio Photo Bret Kelley/indycar

(Photo: Bret Kelley/IndyCar)

For a time on Sunday, it appeared that Mikhail Aleshin and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports had played the perfect pit strategy. After starting 10th, Aleshin and his team had executed an off-sequence strategy to propel the Russian to the top of the charts, 10 seconds ahead of the dominant duo of Simon Pagenaud and Will Power. …

Read more

4 Burning Questions: How Important Are Pocono’s Safety Improvements?

2015 Pocono I Cup Tony Stewart Car Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

Who’s the Next First-Time IndyCar Winner? Hot off the 100th Indianapolis 500 Sunday, the Verizon IndyCar Series hopes to continue its momentum as it approaches the Chevy Dual in Detroit, a two-day racing swing that includes a pair of 70-lap races held Saturday and Sunday. Certainly, no driver boasts more momentum heading in than Alexander Rossi, a …

Read more

Kanaan Paces Carb Day At Indy, Castroneves Pit Crew Champ

Jdc 3216 A

(Photo: John Cote/INDYCAR)

Every year, Carb Day at Indianapolis seems to take on its own personality. Sometimes, you will have drivers avoiding each other on the track like the plague while other times, drivers will test the limits of their cars to see how they’ll react in traffic. This year, it was the latter and it happened in …

Read more

Mikhail Aleshin Snags Final Fast 9 Spot with Valiant Late Drive

41bk9259

(Photo: Bret Kelley/INDYCAR)

It had to be Mikhail Aleshin. Known as “The Mad Russian” for his homeland and fearless driving style, Aleshin spent the better part of Saturday afternoon thrilling the fans at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as he kept finding ways to get closer to the wall. Man that was close…!!!! But a good 230mph drift??? https://t.co/LobdWmWyF0 — …

Read more

Couch Potato Tuesday: FOX Shows Slight Improvement, While ESPN Tries to De-emphasize St. Pete

2016 Phoenix I Cup Denny Hamlin Pack Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Greetings, everyone.  Did you like Sunday’s finish in Phoenix?  It was a good one.  I thought Kevin Harvick was a sitting duck, but he managed to pull it out just in time. Last weekend saw two races in Phoenix, plus the season opener in St. Petersburg for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Good Sam 500k On …

Read more

Pace Laps: Young and Hungry Rookies, Mikhail Aleshin Impresses & K&N Pro Series Action

2016 Phoenix I Nxs Erik Jones Daniel Suarez Kyle Busch Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Sprint Cup: Young & Hungry – We are starting to witness a pattern in the Sprint Cup Series: The young drivers are here to race. The three men in particular are Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney as each of them scored a top-10 result Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. If Sunday was your first …

Read more

GT-Le Mans Teams Dominate Short 2nd Practice

After the relatively dry first practice session at Daytona International Speedway, the light rain and mist returned to the World Center of Racing just in time for the 30-minute second practice session.  The result was another session of mixed strategies. Two red flags cut the actual on-track time down significantly.  First, the Alegra Motorsports “Highway …

Read more