News for the Week of July 28 – August 3, 2014

Mid-Ohio Information:

Spotter GuideEntry ListCircuit MapINDYCAR/MRTI ScheduleFull Track SchedulePit Lane AssignmentsLights Entry List

IndyCar Results: Practice 1Practice 2Qualifying – – Race

Lights Results: P1QualifyingRace 1Race 2

Dixon goes from worst to first to take the win at Mid-Ohio – Chip Ganassi Racing grabbed their first win of the season thanks to a little bit of great strategy, luck, and amazing driving from Scott Dixon to go from last on the grid in qualifying to the top step of the podium. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/3/14)

Harvey wins again in Lights Race 2 at Mid-Ohio – Jack Harvey dominated the second Indy Lights race almost as strongly as he did the first at Mid-Ohio to grab his 2nd career win of the weekend and career in the series. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/3/14)

Harvey wins Lights Race 1 at Mid-Ohio – Zach Harvey won his first career Indy Lights race today with a dominant performance from pole. Gabby Chaves used an early flurry of passes to move up through the field and finish an impressive P2. Full results at the link. – Indy Lights – (8/2/14)

Bourdais wins IndyCar pole at Mid-Ohio – Sebastien Bourdais won the pole at Mid-Ohio in a wet and wild qualifying process that featured many run-offs and multiple red flags. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/2/14)

Bourdais tops the charts in practice 2 at Mid-Ohio – KVSH’s Sebastien Bourdais was fastest in the second Verizon IndyCar Series practice of the weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The rest of the top five were Carlos Munoz, Takuma Sato, Justin Wilson, and Ryan Briscoe. The session was red flagged for a significant period of time when Simon Pagenaud ended up in a gravel trap without contact. Mike Conway’s 22 laps were the most of any driver in the session. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/1/14)

Veach leads the way in Lights practice 1 at Mid-Ohio – Andretti Autosport led the way in each major INDYCAR series’ first practice of the weekend as Zach Veach was fastest in P1 for the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires at Mid-Ohio. Harvey, Razia, Chaves, and Meyer completed the top 5. Full results at the link. – @RoadToIndyTV – (8/1/14)

RHR quickest in practice 1 at Mid-Ohio – Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay was fastest in the first Verizon IndyCar Series practice of the weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The rest of the top five were Simon Pagenaud, Scott Dixon, Mikhail Aleshin, and Sebastien Bourdais. Graham Rahal’s 23 laps were the most of any driver in the session. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/1/14)

IndyCar’s Mid-Ohio Preview – IndyCar’s preview of all the action at Mid-Ohio this weekend gives a full run-down on a BUSY weekend of racing. – INDYCAR – (8/1/14)

Kanaan to sport Glad colors this weekend – Tony Kanaan’s No. 10 machine will be yellow and black this weekend at Mid-Ohio with Glad sponsorship. Picture at the link. – @CGRTeams – (8/1/14)

Briscoe to have all-blue livery at Mid-Ohio – The No. 8 of Ryan Briscoe will have a new all-blue chrome livery for NTT Data this weekend at Mid-Ohio. Picture at the link. – @CGRTeams – (8/1/14)

Pocono 50/50 on IndyCar return in 2015 – That’s what track president Brandon Igdalsky told the Philadelphia Daily News. A decision will be made soon according to Igdalsky: “In the next few weeks. We’re deep into our 2015 planning. We would like to be on IndyCar’s schedule and they like being at Pocono.” He mentioned there are a couple other dates besides July 4th weekend that are possibilities for the track. – Philly.com – (7/31/14)

Daly to shakedown IL15 at Putnam Park today – Conor Daly will shakedown the new IL15 Indy Lights car today at Putnam Park in Greencastle, IN. Project manager Tony Cotman believes Daly will be a good judge of the car’s performance. “The thing that interested me in Conor is that he’s driven in so many different series,” Cotman said. “I feel with him we’ll get an honest baseline of where we sit.” The next test will be at Mid-Ohio on Monday. – INDYCAR – (7/30/14)

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Miller’s Mailbag 7/30/14 – RACER’s Robin Miller’s weekly fan Q&A is great as always. Many different topics are covered after an off weekend in the Verizon IndyCar Series. – RACER – (7/30/14)

Pruett previews IndyCar “silly season” – RACER’s Marshall Pruett does a tremendous job of previewing the upcoming “silly season” as drivers and teams figure out plans for next season. The two biggest names to watch are Pagenaud and Hinchcliffe. The potential for an open seat at Andretti would be the biggest opening on the paddock. He goes on to preview other teams as well. A must read. – RACER – (7/30/14)

IMS getting creative to fill seats – Good piece from ABC on how Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles continue to try new things to bring people to the race track. In the piece he adds that it’s unlikely that the track adds lights or moves the NASCAR race to the road course any time soon. “Our brand is, especially with IndyCar and NASCAR, on ovals, so I think it would be difficult to move it to the road course, too,” said Boles. – ABC News – (7/30/14)

Mid-Ohio surface changes drastically over the weekend – The drivers of the Verizon IndyCar Series say that Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is one of the toughest on the circuit because of the dramatic change it goes through as more laps and rubber are put down. “The course is challenging,” said Helio Castroneves. “The course is tough because with the lapping it gets more grip.” Here’s what Takuma Sato had to offer: “Mid-Ohio is a very tricky place, though. The track conditions change so much. I’ve never experienced that variation of the track changing so much on any other circuit, and I don’t know why.” – Mansfield News Journal – (7/30/14)

Two Columbus Blue Jackets to serve as grand marshals for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio – Blue Jackets Jared Boll and James Wisniewski will serve as Grand Marshals for the Verizon IndyCar Series event this weekend. “It’s great to have Jared and James serve as our grand marshals for this year’s event,” said Craig Rust, President of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. – Mid-Ohio – (7/29/14)

Mid-Ohio spotter guide released – The official Verizon IndyCar Series spotter guide for Mid-Ohio has been released and is available at the link. The race will feature new liveries for Tony Kanaan (Glad) and Jack Hawksworth (The Collection Auto Group – thecag.com). Charlie Kimball will return to the same orange and blue NovoLog FlexPen colors that he won the race in last year. – Mid-Ohio IndyCar Spotter Guide – (7/29/14)

Daly seat fitting for upcoming IL15 test is today – Conor Daly’s seat fitting is Tuesday, July 29th for his upcoming test of the new Indy Lights chassis, the IL15. The link contains a picture of the fitting. – @WilkinsCo – (7/29/14)

Foyt considering Lights return – RACER Magazine reports that A.J. Foyt Racing is mulling a return to the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires with the new chassis implemented in 2015. “There’s a lot of interest there – we think Dallara’s built a good car for the series and that it would be a really good training ground for us with mechanics and anyone looking to come up to the IndyCar Series with us,” said team manager Larry Foyt. – RACER – (7/29/14)

Latest IndyCar race winners have struggled in following weeks – NBC’s Tony DiZinno points out that the last five winners of Verizon IndyCar Series races haven’t fared too well in subsequent races. Since Carlos Huertas’ win in Houston, only one of the last six race winners has managed a top 5 finish. Check the link for all of the numbers. – NBC Sports – (7/29/14)

IndyCar working on reducing driver hand and wrist injuries – “INDYCAR continues testing and evaluation of three mechanisms that either independently or in unison could be utilized to reduce the incidence of Verizon IndyCar Series driver hand and wrist injuries.” Good article on the series’ efforts to improve driver safety. – INDYCAR – (7/28/14)

Baron to miss out on Mid-Ohio Lights race – Alex Baron, winner of the last Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires race, will not be with Belardi Racing for the Lights race at Mid-Ohio. He will be replaced by South Africa’s Axcil Jefferies. That’s the only major change of the 11 entries. Matthew di Leo won’t be at the event after making his first appearance of the season at Toronto. – Indy Lights – (7/28/14)

Official Mid-Ohio schedule released – The Verizon IndyCar Series will be on track multiple times each day from Friday through Sunday in an action packed weekend of racing. Check out the full Verizon IndyCar Series and Mazda Road to Indy schedule at the link. The Pirelli World Challenge series will be on the track as well. – INDYCAR – (7/28/14)

Work on new Speedway roundabout begins today – A $15 million roundabout project in the town of Speedway, IN begins today at the intersection of 16th Street, Main Street, and Crawfordsville Road right outside of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Those who have visited IMS before know the dangers of this intersection and will greatly appreciate the need for improvement. The “Gateway” project is supposed to be finished in November. – Inside Indiana Business – (7/28/14)

Montoya finishes 23rd in return to Brickyard – Juan Pablo Montoya finished 23rd for Team Penske in Sunday’s Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at The Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com. Other former IndyCar Series participants Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick finished 28th and 42nd. – ESPN – (7/28/14)

Toronto to June, Houston out? – According to this report from Dean McNulty, Toronto will solve their date conflict issue next year but taking Houston’s late June date as that event backs out of their contract. Toronto is looking for a new date due to the Pan-Am Games and other conflicts next year while Houston wasn’t happy with their summer date this year and inability to make a night race work financially. While this still isn’t official, the writer calls the move “pretty much a formality.” – Sun Media – (7/26/14)

IndyCar rookies Karam and Hawksworth perform well at Brickyard Grand Prix – BHA rookie Jack Hawksworth beat former IndyCar driver and teammate Bruno Junqueira to win the Prototype Challenge class for his RSR team. Sage Karam finished his stint in P1 overall before pit strategy took his team’s car out of contention and had to settle for 2nd place overall. – INDYCAR – (7/26/14)

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