News for the Week of June 9 – June 15, 2014
Iowa testing takes place today (6/13/14) – The backstretch will be open to the public from 9AM to 5PM CT. Teams that should be there are Andretti Autosport,SFHR,SPM, and RLL Racing. – Iowa Speedway – (6/13/14)
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Pocono to open grandstands for IndyCar testing next week – Pocono raceway will open their main grandstand for fans to attend Verizon IndyCar Series testing on June 17th and 19th from 9AM to 5PM. – Pocono Raceway – (6/13/14)
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Fisher gives birth to baby boy – SFHR owner Sarah Fisher gave birth to her new son Daniel James O’Gara on Thursday afternoon. – WTHR – (6/13/14)
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Cavin Q&A 6/12/14 – Curt Cavin’s fan Q&A covers questions on upcoming NASCAR & IMSA tests at IMS, the rumored return of an apron at IMS, and Tony George’s role at ECR. – Indianapolis Star – (6/12/14)
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RLL adds Filippi for Houston and Toronto – Italian Luca Filippi will race for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston and Honda Indy Toronto. Filippi drove in four IndyCar races last season with BHA. “I’m extremely excited to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing because there is a lot of respect between myself and Bobby,” said Filippi. Associate sponsorship for the program will come from IMPCO and Fight SMA. – RLL – (6/12/14)
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INDYCAR Texas Motor Speedway Post-Event Infractions – INDYCAR announced today post-event infractions from the Firestone 600, which was held June 7 at Texas Motor Speedway. INDYCAR officials have fined KVSH Racing driver Sebastien Bourdais $10,000 and placed him on probation for the remainder of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season. The member was found to have violated Rule 9.3.1 (Improper Conduct On-Track) of the Verizon IndyCar Series rulebook during an incident with Justin Wilson on Lap 121 of the event at Texas Motor Speedway. INDYCAR officials have fined Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing $5,000 for a technical violation on its No. 67 Verizon IndyCar Series entry driven by Josef Newgarden. The entrant was found to have violated Rule 14.6.5.2.1a (Rear wing angle). INDYCAR officials have penalized Honda a total of 30 Engine Manufacturer Championship points for violation of Rule 16.5.1 (engine change under mileage). Honda engines were changed out in the Nos. 14, 25 and 28 entries. Each occurrence is a 10-point penalty incurred by the manufacturer. The member may contest the imposition of the penalty pursuant to the procedures and timelines detailed in the review and appeal procedures of the Verizon IndyCar Series rulebook. – INDYCAR Press Release – (6/11/14)
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ECR in no rush to expand – Here’s what Ed Carpenter told RACER Magazine after the Texas race: “We’d love to go to a two-car team when we have the opportunity. But at the same time, we want to be able to grow at our own pace and do it in a way that’s going to allow us to continue to do things the way we’re doing them now, which we feel like is working. I wouldn’t trade any one person on our team for any other person up and down pit lane. We’ve got a good group of people, and I think we’re able to show that on track right now. – RACER – (6/11/14)
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2-Seater experience chronicled – Car and Driver’s Don Sherman writes about his ride in the 2-seater at Belle Isle. “I had a short taste of those bumps through the tub and into my tailbone, which felt just like riding a nuclear pogo stick.” – Car and Driver – (6/11/14)
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New Nashville Superspeedway hints INDYCAR return is possible – New Nashville Superspeedway owner Robb Sexton said “Never say never” when asked about a possible NASCAR or INDYCAR return. He plans on developing the original blueprint for the drag strip, short track, and dirt track, along with the 1.3 mile superspeedway oval. – The Lebanon Democrat – (6/11/14)
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Miller’s Mailbag 6/11/14 – RACER’s Robin Miller’s weekly fan Q&A is loaded again with answers on Carpenter, TMS, Power, and more. – RACER – (6/11/14)
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Radio Interview with Ed Carpenter – Yesterday Ed Carpenter called in on the show “The Ride with JMV” on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis to discuss his recent win at Texas. Not surprising, if you are a regular listener of the show, Ed and JMV discussed in detail Ed’s new signature move after his victories; but more importantly they discussed his comments in victory lane about James Hinchcliffe and how it was all in good fun, and how he just enjoys beating everyone, not just Hinchcliffe. – Audio via 1070theFan – {6/10/14)
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Walker talks to media about IndyCar’s future – Great piece from Matt Weaver from a meeting with assorted media members and Derrick Walker. Addresses the likelihood return to Australia, Mexico City, Michigan, Nazareth, Nashville, and/or Laguna Seca. Also includes discussion of the best tracks for the DW12, aero kits, and much more. – Open Wheel NOW – (6/10/14)
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Cavin Q&A 6/10/14 – Curt Cavin’s fan Q&A covers questions on Ed Carpenter, the future of IndyCar at Texas, Helio’s headphones, and the SRVA event at IMS. – Indianapolis Star – (6/10/14)
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Miller commends Carpenter’s brilliant improvement – RACER’s Robin Miller’s editorial on the rise of Ed Carpenter from a middling driver with good connections to possibly the best oval driver on the circuit and a more than capable team owner. Too good of a read to shorten. Check it out. – RACER – (6/9/14)
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Montoya enjoying his INDYCAR return – Montoya on how different Texas is in the Verizon IndyCar Series versus NASCAR: “Comparatively, the speeds in Cup cars were slow enough that you could go high up the track, almost right up to the wall. In the Indy car, if you don’t remain down in the racing groove you’re going to be in trouble. NASCAR is back off the entry, back off the entry. (In an Indy car) it’s hard because you’ve got to drive it so hard. You’re 40 car lengths behind somebody and you already start feeling the effect of the car in front, so you’ve really got to find ways to pass them…I’ll tell you the truth, I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.” – INDYCAR – (6/9/14)
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Houston plans on having a smoother course – Short article and video from the Houston CBS affiliate on the status of the track building and their intentions to have a much smoother track than last year. – KHOU – (6/9/14)
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Cavin Q&A 6/9/14 – Curt Cavin’s fan Q&A only covers the last restart of the Texas race from this past weekend. Montoya was upset that in his view Carpenter restarted too early. Ed’s response: “I figured he’d be miffed. I was kind of sick of him. He was lagging back, trying to lag back, so yeah, I was slowing down because he was lagging back. I didn’t want him to get a jump on me…He ended up finishing third anyway, right? So, it doesn’t matter.” – Indianapolis Star – (6/9/14)
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Texas gets a 0.4 overnight TV rating nationally – The Dallas/Fort-Worth area scored a 0.9 rating according to the local newspaper. – Dallas Morning News – (6/9/14)
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Honda believes Texas engine troubles were a one-off – HPD senior manager and chief engineer Marc Sours told AUTOSPORT: “The margin of safety is something you’re always trying to play with. Too much and you might leave something on the table; not enough and you might go too far. On the good side of things it looks like the failures were all the same type of failure. It’s too soon to tell for sure, but it looks like we’re chasing one issue, not multiple issues.” – AUTOSPORT – (6/9/14)
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Carpenter Holds off Power to Win in Texas – After a late race error by Will Power (speeding violation), Ed Carpenter won the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. Carpenter led 90 laps on his way to giving ECR its second win this season and Ed’s third career victory in the Verizon IndyCar Series. Carpenter had this to say: “I knew we had a good Car, though we left some on the table in qualifying. I love this racetrack and I’ve always wanted to win here so it’s nice to come here and get a win.” Click HERE for the official box score. – INDYCAR – (6/7/14)
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INDYCAR Modifies Restart Procedures – INDYCAR has announced that all Verizon IndyCar Series restarts will be single-file for the remaining year. This is a change from the previous employed double-file restarts on all all oval tracks (aside from Indianapolis). Derrick Walker had this to say: “This year we’ve made improvements in our ability to monitor and police restarts that has resulted in great single-file restarts at all our events, including the Indianapolis 500. We also felt it was important to place our competitors in the exact running order as they were prior to the caution and not provide an advantage to some drivers because of the lane they were in during a double-file restart.” – INDYCAR Press Release – (6/7/14)
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