News for the Week of July 17, 2017 – July 23, 2017

Kimball takes ceremonial first laps on new Gateway surface – Charlie Kimball turned the first ceremonial laps on the new racing surface at Gateway Motorsports Park on Thursday in a pace car. “I think it’s awesome,” said Kimball. “The investment made to repave and update the surface is significant. The fact that we’re coming back in August to a much smoother racetrack than we tested on (in early May) is going to create a lot better racing for Verizon IndyCar Series cars under the lights.” Full story and more notes at the link. – INDYCAR – (7/20/2017)

Trackside podcast 7/19/17 – 1070 The Fan’s Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee radio show from 7/19/17 is a great listen as always. – 1070 The Fan – (7/20/2017)

Miller’s Mailbag 7/19/17 – RACER’s Robin Miller’s weekly fan Q&A is a great read as always. – RACER – (7/19/2017)

Trackside podcast 7/18/17 – 1070 The Fan’s Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee radio show from 7/18/17 is a great listen as always. – 1070 The Fan – (7/19/2017)

NBCSN’s Toronto broadcast gets 0.32 TV rating – NBCSN’s tape-delayed broadcast of the Honda Indy Toronto garnered a 0.32 TV rating on Sunday. That compares to 0.34 in 2016 in a slightly earlier, though still delayed broadcast last year. – ShowBuzzDaily – (7/18/2017)

Pocono announces leadership change – “Pocono Raceway President & CEO Brandon Igdalsky has resigned his position to pursue other opportunities effective July 14. Nick Igdalsky was elevated to Chief Executive Officer and Ben May was promoted to President, Pocono Raceway Chairman of the Board Looie Mattioli announced today.” Full release at the link. – Pocono Raceway – (7/18/2017)

Miller’s 2018 silly season update 7/18/17 – RACER’s Robin Miller has posted a piece on what to watch for as we get closer to “silly season” for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Check it out at the link. – RACER – (7/18/2017)

INDYCAR and Verizon to begin contract talks soon – Adam Stern reports for the New York Business Journal that INDYCAR CEO Mark Miles will begin discussions with title sponsor Verizon soon as the current title sponsor deal for the Verizon IndyCar Series is good through the end of 2018. “We have an excellent relationship, the program has delivered what they originally had as their expectations, and we’ve not yet really started to have discussions with them about the future, so I don’t want to jump to any conclusions,” Miles told the New York Business Journal. Full story at the link. – New York Business Journal – (7/18/2017)

Gateway MSP transformed under Francois’ ownership – Stu Durando of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a great story on Gateway Motorsports Park in the buildup to the circuit’s first INDYCAR race weekend since 2003. Check it out at the link. – St. Louis Post-Dispatch – (7/18/2017)

Trackside podcast 7/17/17 – 1070 The Fan’s Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee radio show from 7/17/17 is a great listen as always. – 1070 The Fan – (7/18/2017)

Andretti acknowledges Chevy conversations – RACER’s Marshall Pruett and Robin Miller have a story posted with quotes from Michael Andretti confirming he’s talked to Chevrolet about a potential switch away from Honda. “Yes, we’ve talked them to them and I owe it to my team and sponsors to listen to what they have to say,” Andretti told RACER. “We had a great relationship with Chevrolet before but I haven’t made any decision yet.” Full story at the link. – RACER – (7/17/2017)

Report: Rosenqvist to test CGRT No. 9 at Mid-Ohio – David Malsher of Motorsport.com reports Felix Rosenqvist will share test driving duties with Scott Dixon in the Chip Ganassi Racing Teams’ No. 9 car at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this Thursday. Rosenqvist won 3 races last year in Indy Lights and tested with Ganassi last year at Mid-Ohio as well. Full report at the link. – Motorsport.com – (7/17/2017)

Monday Musings: Toronto – The Open Wheel’s Dylan Reynolds’ Monday Musings feature continues with a collection of random thoughts following the INDYCAR weekend on the Streets of Toronto for the Honda Indy Toronto. – The Open Wheel – (7/17/2017)

Newgarden takes victory at Toronto – Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden dominated and won the Honda Indy Toronto on the Streets of Toronto after pit strategy and an early caution gave him the lead. The rest of the Top 5 was Rossi, Hinchcliffe, Andretti, and Pagenaud. Power finished last in P21 after a first lap incident with Dixon. Dixon finished P10. Full race results here. – INDYCAR – (7/16/2017)

Honda Canada extends Toronto sponsorship through 2020 – “Honda Indy Toronto along with its owners and operators, Green Savoree Racing Promotions, is proud to announce the extension of its sponsorship agreement with Honda Canada Inc. for the annual event at Exhibition Place through 2020. Honda Canada has been the title sponsor of the race since 2009 when Green Savoree Racing Promotions relaunched the event with the Verizon IndyCar series as the feature. The 2018 Honda Indy Toronto will be a special event with Honda’s 10th year of partnership.” Full release at the link. – Honda Indy Toronto – (7/16/2017)

Kaiser completes Toronto sweep with Race 2 win – Juncos Racing’s Kyle Kaiser completed his weekend sweep in Indy Lights on the Streets of Toronto with a win in Race 2. The rest of the Top 5 was Telitz, Claman De Melo, Piedrahita, and Leist. Herta dropped out of the race from the lead with left rear suspension damage after 25 laps. Full Race 2 results here. – Indy Lights – (7/16/2017)

Kaiser wins Lights Race 1 at Toronto – Juncos Racing’s Kyle Kaiser extended his championship lead with a flag-to-flag victory in Indy Lights Race 1 on the Streets of Toronto. The rest of the Top 5 was Claman De Melo, Urrutia, Herta, and Telitz. Leist finished in P13 after contact into a tire barrier on Lap 4. Full Race 1 results here. – Indy Lights – (7/15/2017)

INDYCAR confirms Montoya and Servia as ’18 aero kit test drivers – INDYCAR has confirmed that Juan Pablo Montoya and Oriol Servia will be the drivers to test the 2018 universal aero kit. “On-track testing begins July 25-26 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval and will be followed by sessions at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Iowa Speedway in August, and at Sebring International Raceway in September. Team Penske is providing the Chevrolet-powered Dallara IR-12 chassis to be driven by Montoya. Servia will drive a Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara with a Honda engine. While the teams are providing crews to service the cars, the testing regimen will be supervised by INDYCAR, the sanctioning organization for the Verizon IndyCar Series. INDYCAR will maintain control of the test chassis and data, so as not to provide either test team a competitive advantage for the 2018 season. Data and results will be distributed to all teams once testing is complete.” Full story at the link. – INDYCAR – (7/15/2017)

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