More news on the 2018 Season

Michael Shank Racing and driver Jack Harvey will embark on a six-race Verizon INDYCAR Series program next season. The announcement, made last Friday at the PRI Trade Show in the Indiana Convention Center, is the latest step for Shank as he continues to build towards a full-time Verizon INDYCAR Series program. “It’s a big step for my team. We’ve been trying to do it for a long, long time,” said team owner Michael Shank. “We felt it was the right time, the right situation, everything was kind of lining up to do it the right way. We’ve been in business for 23 years racing cars solely for a living and we’ve taken conservative steps every step of the way. We saw this as a shot to be competitive, not over reach our budget and try to build something over the next two years.”

The car, which will carry sponsorship from SiriusXM and AutoNation, will also have technical support from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Shank said Friday the team recently acquired a new chassis, which will be assembled at the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports before being handed off to MSR.“I’m good with taking small steps. It’s that conservative side that has served us well,” Shank said. “It has gotten us a lot of wins and poles and things in sports cars. We have a lot to prove in IndyCar though. We have the right people in place already, equipment is ordered and the technical alliance has started to work, so we’ll see.”

Shank said the team will kick off the season at in St. Petersburg, Fla., before heading to Long Beach, Calif., and then Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 500. Three additional races will be announced at a later date. Curb Records, CAP and Associates, Rocky Fork Co. and Roberts Service Group will also serve as sponsors for the Verizon INDYCAR Series program.

Harvey returns to Michael Shank Racing after joining the team to compete in the Indianapolis 500 last season. He started 27th and finished 30th after a crash on lap 65. He also made two additional starts with Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports, scoring a best finish of 14th at Watkins Glen Int’l.“I’m extremely lucky with AutoNation and SiriusXM that they have stuck with me this year and this relationship is growing and building,” Harvey said. “It’s a multi-year agreement with the two teams I raced with last year. I like Michael a lot as person,” Harvey continued. “He’s been extremely successful in everything that he has done. I know Sam so well because he brought me from Europe to North America in the first place. This is a great collaboration of people.”

Photo and Media from IndyCar Media

Back Home Again

Beloved Indianapolis 500 Icon Nabors Passes Away

Actor-Entertainer Sang 'Back Home Again in Indiana' during Pre-Race Ceremonies for 36 Years

Actor-entertainer Jim Nabors, one of the most beloved figures in Indianapolis 500 history for his stirring pre-race rendition of "Back Home Again in Indiana," passed away Thursday, Nov. 30 at his home in Hawaii. He was 87.

Nabors sang the iconic tune 36 times between 1972 and 2014 during pre-race ceremonies for the Indianapolis 500. Although born in Alabama, Nabors was considered a true Hoosier due to his performances at the "500" but even more so because of his warmth, grace and generosity, and his very close relationship with the Hulman-George family, owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"Jim Nabors was such a kind, caring man, and we will miss him greatly," the Hulman-George family said. "Jim was born in Alabama, but he became a Hoosier to all of us almost immediately after he began his superb performances of 'Back Home Again in Indiana' starting in 1972. He loved coming back home to the Speedway almost every May for more than 40 years and seeing his friends and race fans, who loved him dearly. Jim was not only a treasured friend, but truly a cherished member of our family.

"We will never forget his genuine kindness, sincerity and loyalty. He was a wonderful man who inspired millions of people across the globe every May and throughout his entire life."

Nabors was best known for his television portrayal of bumpkin Gomer Pyle in the "The Andy Griffith Show" in the early 1960s and for his starring role in the popular spin-off television comedy "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." from 1964-69. His catchphrase on both shows, "Gollllll-ly!" was flavored with the Southern drawl of his native Alabama.

But Nabors also had an extensive background in singing with his rich baritone in cabaret and night club performances before his acting career. He sang on episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." and on televised variety shows and theater performances for many years.

Nabors' journey to performing "Back Home Again in Indiana" was an anecdote he enjoyed telling. He was the guest of casino magnate Bill Harrah at the 1972 Indianapolis 500 when, on Race Morning, Nabors was approached shortly before pre-race ceremonies to sing during the festivities. He presumed he would be asked to perform the national anthem.

Instead, race officials asked Nabors to sing "Back Home Again in Indiana." He didn't know the lyrics, so he scrawled them on the palm of his hand and wowed the huge crowd with his performance.

Nabors returned to sing each year from 1973-78, becoming a big hit with fans and the Hulman-George family. Other singers performed the song from 1979-82, with Nabors returning in 1983 and 1984. Nabors was in Indianapolis to sing in 1986, but the race suffered two full days of rain delays. He was unable to return to sing when the race ran the following weekend.

In 1987, Nabors began a run of singing "Back Home Again in Indiana" for 27 of the next 28 years. He missed the 2007 race due to illness, and his rendition in 2012 was taped in advance and shown on the track's video boards since Nabors couldn't travel from Hawaii due to illness.

Nabors' final performance came in 2014, when he also joined IMS Chairman of the Board Emeritus Mari Hulman George to give the command to start engines for the 98th Indianapolis 500.

That gesture was a prominent example of the extremely close friendship between Nabors and the Hulman-George family, especially Mari Hulman George. Nabors, fellow actor and entertainer Florence Henderson and Mari Hulman George enjoyed spending time together for decades as an almost inseparable trio of best friends during all Race Weekend activities, such as the Public Drivers Meeting, 500 Festival Parade and Victory Celebration.

Nabors' common touch and humility also were displayed annually to thousands of IMS fans who loved him dearly as an institution of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." He always had a kind word for everyone and posed for countless pictures and signed seemingly limitless autographs. Nabors often visited the gift shop in the IMS Museum on Saturday of Race Weekend after the 500 Festival Parade, unassumingly walking in, waving and greeting excited IMS employees with genuine affection and enthusiasm about making his annual return to the Speedway.

"Everyone at IMS is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our dear friend Jim Nabors," IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. "Jim's stirring rendition of 'Back Home Again in Indiana' became as much of a tradition of the Indianapolis 500 as the command to start engines or the winner's bottle of milk.

"But more importantly, Jim was such a nice man. He was beloved by our fans because he loved the Speedway and the '500' just as much as them. He wasn't born in Indiana, but he was a true Hoosier. We always will remember Jim and extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends."

Nabors is survived by his husband, Stan Cadwallader.

Information from IMS Media.

The Championship at Sonoma

The chase for the 2017 Indy Car Championship.

It all comes down to the final race – again. Saturday in Sonoma saw Verizon Indy Car Series points leader Josef Newgarden withstand constant pressure from his nearest championship competitors, setting a track record to win the Verizon P1 Award in GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma qualifying.

Newgarden earned his first pole of the season and second of his six-year career with a scintillating last lap of 1 minute, 15.5205 seconds (113.691 mph) on Sonoma Raceway's 2.385-mile, 12-turn permanent road course. The championship bonus point Newgarden collected for winning the pole stretched his advantage to four points over Scott Dixon heading into Sunday's season finale that offers double race points.

It set up the dramatic run for the pole. Newgarden - the only Team Penske driver to use a new set of the Firestone alternate tires in the first round - was quickest in the Firestone Fast Six with another lap record completed on a used set of red-sidewall alternates despite his teammates each having a new set of the softer alternates at their disposal.

"We were behind the eight ball there, for sure, after the first round," Newgarden said. "We made the best decision we could as a group. There was no way we couldn't run the reds (in first-round qualifying) because we just had no idea what people were going to run.

For Dixon he scrapped though the first round of qualifying at a track where the Chevy aero kit seems to have the upper hand over the Honda set up. He did make it to the final section in qualifying the fast six, which was a positive sign apart from the gang of Penske drivers up front "The car was kind of decent to drive, but just couldn't carry the speed through the corners," said Dixon, seeking his fifth Verizon Indy Car Series championship. A win Sunday would accomplish the feat.

"Good to make it through to where we did," Dixon added. "It was definitely hard work, a big credit to the team. Sixth position, you can definitely make lots happen from there. I think in '15 we started ninth when we won that race (and the championship). Definitely you'd want to be a little further up, but that's the way it goes."

The starting order for the race and the grid for the last race of the championship season looked like this and with that the die was set for the one race shoot out for the championship title.

1. (2) Josef Newgarden,                                     Chevrolet,                  01:15.5205 (113.691) 
2. (12) Will Power,                                            Chevrolet,                  01:15.5556 (113.638)
3. (1) Simon Pagenaud,                                    Chevrolet,                   01:15.6356 (113.518)
4. (3) Helio Castroneves,                                  Chevrolet,                  01:15.8032 (113.267)
5. (26) Takuma Sato,                                         Honda,                       01:16.2208 (112.646)
6. (9) Scott Dixon,                                             Honda,                       01:16.3978 (112.385)
7. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay,                                 Honda,                       01:16.1815 (112.705)
8. (98) Alexander Rossi,                                     Honda,                      01:16.1934 (112.687)
9. (15) Graham Rahal,                                        Honda,                      01:16.1968 (112.682)
10. (18) Sebastien Bourdais,                               Honda,                      01:16.5811 (112.116)
11. (27) Marco Andretti,                                     Honda,                      01:16.8221 (111.765)
12. (10) Tony Kanaan,                                        Honda,                       01:16.9718 (111.547)
13. (4) Conor Daly,                                             Chevrolet,                   01:17.1016 (111.360) 
14. (8) Max Chilton,                                            Honda,                       01:16.7581 (111.858)
15. (83) Charlie Kimball,                                     Honda,                       01:17.1417 (111.302)
16. (5) James Hinchcliffe,                                    Honda,                       01:16.9539 (111.573)
17. (20) Spencer Pigot,                                        Chevrolet,                  01:17.2662 (111.122)
18. (19) Ed Jones,                                                 Honda,                      01:17.0231 (111.473)
19. (7) Jack Harvey,                                             Honda,                       01:17.2722 (111.114)
20. (21) JR Hildebrand,                                     Chevrolet,                   01:17.1602 (111.275)
21. (13) Zachary Claman DeMelo,                    Honda,                        01:17.2814 (111.100)
22. (14) Carlos Munoz,                                     Chevrolet,                   01:17.2507 (111.145)

Sunday dawned a great sunny warm morning clearing skies after early morning fog and an atmosphere you could cut a knife though as everyone along the paddock area could sense there was to be a lot on the line today. The morning warm up pretty much went in a flash with nothing major to report. Newgarden looking calm and busy taking selfies in the pit lane before jumping in the car, Dixon had a slightly concerned look but proved to be very fast in the session.

A few hours later and it was race time, the anthems played, the driver intros happened and the day time fireworks went with a bang and the then it was game time 85 laps and pretty much winner take all.

For Team Penske, it was to become the perfect day. Simon Pagenaud won the race to conclude the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Teammate Josef Newgarden finished second to wrap up the championship.

Pagenaud, the 2016 champion driving the No. 1 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet, beat Newgarden to the finish line by 1.0986 seconds to win the 85-lap race at Sonoma Raceway. It was the Frenchman's 11th career victory and second straight on the 2.385-mile, 12-turn permanent road course. A year ago, Pagenaud won from the pole position at Sonoma to sew up his first championship. It did manage to get a little tense when after the last batch of pit stops came and the NO 1 car took the lead as Newgarden looked to have a shot of passing him but was reminded via team radio to be smart and smart he was.

He clinched his first title and the $1 million champion's prize by finishing second in the race. The 26-year-old Tennessean held off Pagenaud by 13 points in the final standings to become the first American driver to win the championship since Ryan Hunter-Reay five years ago. If ever Indy Car needed to sell the series within its own country yet again the have the most ideal way to do it and market this new champ.

"I don't even know what to say," said Newgarden, the driver of the No. 2 hum by Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet who made his 100th career start today. "It was all year and it took a lot to make it happen. Thank you to my teammates. They were giving me a lot of help to make sure we got this done. It's a huge team effort at Team Penske.

"To finally get it done is a dream come true."

The championship is the 15th for Team Penske, the most decorated team in Indy car history. Newgarden joins the likes of Tom Sneva, Rick Mears, Al Unser, Danny Sullivan, Al Unser Jr., Gil de Ferran, Sam Hornish Jr., Will Power and Pagenaud as Team Penske drivers to win an Indy car title.

"I've had so many great drivers, and as I said, I don't have a favorite," team owner Roger Penske said. "I can't compare (Newgarden) to anyone exactly. He's an American, which is special in this sport because many of the other drivers have come from overseas and different parts of the world. To see Josef kind of take this route and be at the top right now is pretty exciting."

The race ran caution-free for the first time in Sonoma Raceway history, which now spans 14 Indy car events. Newgarden and Pagenaud each led 41 laps. Pagenaud opted for a four-stop strategy to Newgarden's three pit stops, but the Frenchman made up the extra time in pit lane by turning faster laps on an open track.

Pagenaud completed all 2,331 laps this season, becoming just the second driver to finish every lap in a season. Tony Kanaan was the first, when he completed all 3,305 laps when he won the 2004 championship.

"We did what we had to do," Pagenaud said. "We tried. We won the race; it wasn't enough. It's a whole championship. You've got to be strong in every race and I guess Josef was a little stronger this year, so we'll come back. Thirteen points. Next year we'll come back and give him a hell of a competition again."

Power, the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion, gave Team Penske a race podium sweep by placing third in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske. Scott Dixon finished fourth in the No. 9 NTT Data Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing to clinch third in the standings, 23 points behind Newgarden. It is the 11th time in his 17-year career that Dixon, a four-time champion, has finished in the top three in points. The kiwi may not have won the title but by heck his stats are so impressive, 11 times in the top 3 at a season end just for starters wow. Big points lost at both Indy and Texas were without a doubt the areas where it perhaps got away from the very likeable kiwi. Speaking after the race  Dixon said "It just seems like the No. 3 car covered us. Every time we short-pitted they followed us and he was just a massive roadblock. Once we got into clean air, we were able to make up ground, but every time we got into traffic we got real loose. Huge credit to everyone on the NTT Data crew obviously not the way we wanted to finish. A big congrats to Penske and Josef (Newgarden) on a job well done."

Speaking of number 3 Helio Castroneves wrapped up fourth in the standings by finishing fifth in the race driving the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. Completing his 20th year racing Indy cars, the 42-year-old Brazilian is still in search of his first series championship.

By finishing third in the race, Power - the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion - earned fifth place in the standings.

In what really became a rather uneventful race it had plenty in it as the power of four Penske cars took on the lone Ganassi entry.

In the recent days since the event so much has happened, Castroneves tested the Penske sports car the very next day across the other side of the country in Florida and there is still some talk of him remaining in Indy Car full time and that announcement will come in the next few weeks. TK confirmed the move to A.J. Foyt racing for 2018 so someone (Daly or Munoz) wont be staying there, Sato was officially confirmed at Rahal Letterman Racing for next season, it’s a shame he wont be at Andretti Autosport in 2018 to build on a great year in 2017 and then the Ganassi news of Wednesday 20^th of only two full time cars in 2018 for Dixon stays while the others have either moved on or gone and hmm Brendon Hartley making it an all kiwi line up next season – well watch that space but the rumours are very strong that’s for sure. Ganassi saying on Wednesday its time to get back to running two strong entries and running them well. I think there is more to come in this story yet that’s for sure.

So recapping the race this is how it finished up.

1. (3) Simon Pagenaud,                                     Chevrolet,                   85, Running 
2. (1) Josef Newgarden,                                     Chevrolet,                   85, Running
3. (2) Will Power,                                               Chevrolet,                   85, Running
4. (6) Scott Dixon,                                             Honda,                         85, Running
5. (4) Helio Castroneves,                                   Chevrolet,                    85, Running
6. (9) Graham Rahal,                                          Honda,                         85, Running
7. (11) Marco Andretti,                                      Honda,                          85, Running
8. (7) Ryan Hunter-Reay,                                   Honda,                          85, Running
9. (10) Sebastien Bourdais,                                Honda,                          85, Running
10. (13) Conor Daly,                                          Chevrolet,                    85, Running
11. (15) Charlie Kimball,                                   Honda,                         85, Running
12. (14) Max Chilton,                                        Honda,                         85, Running
13. (17) Spencer Pigot,                                     Chevrolet,                   84, Running
14. (20) JR Hildebrand,                                     Chevrolet,                   84, Running
15. (22) Carlos Munoz,                                     Chevrolet,                   84, Running 
16. (12) Tony Kanaan,                                       Honda,                        84, Running                 
17. (21) Zachary Claman DeMelo,                  Honda,                         84, Running
18. (19) Jack Harvey,                                        Honda,                        84, Running
19. (18) Ed Jones,                                              Honda,                        69, Off Course
20. (5) Takuma Sato,                                          Honda,                        62, Off Course 
21. (8) Alexander Rossi,                                    Honda,                        60, Running
22. (16) James Hinchcliffe,                               Honda,                         52, Electrical 

Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 104.968 mph
Time of Race: 1:55:52.6840
Margin of victory: 1.0986 seconds
Cautions: 0
Lead changes: 6 among 3 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Newgarden 1-17 
Daly 18-20 
Pagenaud 21-29 
Newgarden 30-39 
Pagenaud 40-47 
Newgarden 48-61 
Pagenaud 62-85 

Verizon IndyCar Series point standings: Newgarden 642, Pagenaud 629, Dixon 621, Castroneves 598, Power 562, Rahal 522, Rossi 494, Sato 441, Hunter-Reay 421, Kanaan 403.

Coming soon I will review the 2017 season and look back at some of the stand outs of the great season it was and now we count down to 2018. Ganassi already back into it this weekend with an official test planned with the 2018 aero kit.

Media quotes via Indy Car Media Services.

Photos David Turner

New aero kit receives rave reviews in debut test.

After just one day of testing on Tuesday 25th July at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway its all positive news on the new aero kits for the IndyCar Series in 2018.

If the first day of on-track testing is any indication, the new Verizon IndyCar Series car is well on its way to making Indy car racing in 2018 even better.

Juan Pablo Montoya and Oriol Servia turned more than 100 laps each on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in their respective Chevrolet- and Honda-powered Dallara IR-12s equipped with the universal aerodynamic bodywork kit making its public debut ahead of being used by all competitors next season.

Afterward, approval of the new car's bolder, sleeker look and performance was unanimous from everyone involved. Buy-in from the two test drivers - among the most veteran and respected around - was essential and secured from the outset.

"From Lap 1, it just felt at home," said the 43-year-old Servia, who has driven Indy cars since 2000. "The car felt great. I was flat on it out of the pits, which just says how good the car felt right away.

"I think it's going to be a fast, good racer."

The sanctioning body for the Verizon IndyCar Series, announced in April 2016 its intent to move away from aero kit competition to a universally supplied kit in 2018. Dallara, a series chassis supplier since 1997, was named to produce and supply the universal kit.

"It's exciting because, for the first time in the car, it drives really, really well," said Montoya, 41 and a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner. "I think they addressed a lot of the things and the car looks great. I think having one aero kit for everybody is great for the sport. The car looks good and it drives really good."

Montoya's car was prepared by Team Penske and Servia's by Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, though INDYCAR is retaining control of the cars until testing is complete in late September. INDYCAR officials watched with nervous excitement as the two cars took to the track for the first time shortly after 9 a.m. ET and methodically worked through the test checklist. By 5 p.m., the checklist had been completed and a potential second day of testing Wednesday was deemed unnecessary.

"We were pleased," said Bill Pappas, INDYCAR's vice president of competition/race engineering who headed up the technical development of the universal kit. "It matched up with our numbers that we predicted in the wind tunnel and CFD (computational fluid dynamics), so we were very happy for that."

Pappas said the test list included short runs by each car to "ensure that there weren't any surprises," followed by longer runs on the 2.5-mile oval to check for durability issues. Everyone at INDYCAR and Dallara felt confident the test would be a success, but there are never givens in racing.

"This is my first experience being part of a car being designed," Pappas said. "Obviously, Dallara did a great job helping us, but you hold your breath until the first competitive laps are run."

Mission accomplished, at least for the first phase of testing. Additional tests for the two cars are scheduled for Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Aug. 1), Iowa Speedway (Aug. 10) and Sebring International Raceway (Sept. 26). But the fact that this opening test was completed in half the allotted time is reason to celebrate, if only for a short time.

"Everything we had planned to do in two days, we already accomplished in the first day," Servia said. "We did lots of laps, long runs, and the car feels good. The car feels very benign. 

"It just feels right and we're not having any issues or moments out there. Very consistent. My second long run, I think, was one of my most consistent runs I've done at this track in all of my years."

The 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season resumes this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Kiwi Scott Dixon still leads the series as it hit the final events of the series and once again it looks like it will go right to the wire at Sonoma for the final round and the crowing of the 2018 Champion.

Press Quotes and Photos supplied from Indy Car Media 

Will Power sets the pace at Barber Test.

Testing in Style.

                                       

What a test session it was held on Tuesday 21st March.

A full day of testing at Barber Motorsports Park pointed to the conclusion that the intense competition that the Verizon IndyCar Series has witnessed in recent seasons is going to be even closer and more unpredictable for the remainder of the 2017 season.

Twenty-two cars turned a total of 1,147 laps on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn scenic permanent road course today, in advance of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama - the third of 17 races on this year's schedule, set for the weekend of April 21-23.

And while two-time Barber race winner and three-time pole sitter Will Power wound up fastest after six hours of on-track action, it was by no means decisive. The top 14 drivers on the combined speed chart were separated by less than a half-second.

Power set the best lap of the day moments before the checkered flag waved, at 1 minute, 7.7518 seconds (122.211 mph) in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. The Aussie nudged out second-year Verizon IndyCar Series driver Max Chilton (No. 8 Gallagher Honda) for top honors by less than a hundredth of a second.

"It just shows how tight it is between Honda and Chevy now," Power said. "It's tough, man. We just went through a bunch of stuff (during the test day) to see what it does and I think we got some good answers here. I think we've got a good car for here, I feel good about my setup."

Chilton, driving for the Chip Ganassi Racing team that switched to Honda from Chevrolet in the offseason, put down a lap of 1:07.7591 (122.198 mph) to finish second on the leaderboard.

"Good day apart from Power spoiling the fun at the end of the day, but it's all good fun," Chilton said. "It was a good test day. ... We got a lot done. 

"We actually were struggling a lot with the car all day, that's why we took a long, long lunch break to sort of change the car," Chilton added. "Then we definitely made steps forward, did a few fine-tunes. It's amazing, you make a few changes and you jump yourself up the board."

Two of Power's teammates at Team Penske, Josef Newgarden and Juan Pablo Montoya, finished third and fourth on the speed chart. Newgarden is in his first full season with the renowned team, replacing Montoya, who will drive for Team Penske at the two Indianapolis Motor Speedway races in May.

Newgarden, whose fast lap was 1:07.8402 (122.052 mph) in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevy, said it took him time to adapt to the new tire supplied by Firestone for the Barber circuit.

"Very different feeling form the car today than I've ever had at Barber and that requires a lot of work," said the 2015 Barber race winner. "But we had a good day and the Verizon No. 2 car was fast. I think it has a lot of speed in it, it's just a matter of how we get that out of the car and how to make it consistent so that I can put the lap together for qualifying."

Montoya was fourth quick in the No. 22 Team Penske Chevrolet (1:07.8406, 122.051 mph) despite it being his first time in an Indy car since the 2016 season finale six months ago. For the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, it was like riding a bike.

"I feel like I drove the car yesterday," Montoya said. "It's kind of fun. I've been out of the car since September, but I feel fine. I have a new crew, new guys, new engineer. It's working really well."

Andretti Autosport drivers Marco Andretti, Takuma Sato and Ryan Hunter-Reay finished fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively, on the day. Sato was fastest in the three-hour first session, but was among the 19 drivers who improved their times in the second practice as teams honed in on setups. Push-to-pass was also activated on all cars for the final hour of the second practice, giving a 60-horsepower boost whenever it was used.

Sebastien Bourdais, winner of the March 12 season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, was 13th fastest overall today. Defending Barber winner and series champion Simon Pagenaud ran 10th.

The next race on the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule is the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The famous street-course on April 9th. The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama follows two weeks later at Barber Motorsports Park.

	Barber Open Test Barber Motorsports Park                                            Combined Results of Practice                                                            2.3 mile(s)                                  Verizon IndyCar Series March 21, 2017

Rank  Car Driver Name C/A/E/T Session Time Speed Total Laps

1       12 Power, Will D/C/C/F Practice 2 01:07.7518 122.211 54

2        8 Chilton, Max D/H/H/F Practice 2 01:07.7591 122.198 57

3        2 Newgarden, Josef D/C/C/F Practice 2 01:07.8402 122.052 47

4       22 Montoya, Juan Pablo D/C/C/F Practice 2 01:07.8406 122.051 47

5       27 Andretti, Marco D/H/H/F Practice 2 01:07.9664 121.825 54

6      26 Sato, Takuma D/H/H/F Practice 2 01:07.9835 121.794 52

7       9 Dixon, Scott D/H/H/F Practice 2 01:08.0255 121.719 46

8      28 Hunter-Reay, Ryan D/H/H/F Practice 2 01:08.0935 121.598 52

9      15 Rahal, Graham D/H/H/F Practice 2 01:08.1172 121.555 64

10     1 Pagenaud, Simon D/C/C/F Practice 2 01:08.1876 121.430 62

11     10 Kanaan, Tony D/H/H/F Practice 1 01:08.2163 121.379 47

12     3 Castroneves, Helio D/C/C/F Practice 2 01:08.2235 121.366 50

13    18 Bourdais, Sebastien D/H/H/F Practice 2 01:08.2308 121.353 42

14    19 Jones, Ed (R) D/H/H/F Practice 2 01:08.2488 121.321 53

15    98 Rossi, Alexander D/H/H/F Practice 1 01:08.3353 121.167 65

16    7 Aleshin, Mikhail D/H/H/F Practice 1 01:08.4181 121.021 52

17   20 Pigot, Spencer D/C/C/F Practice 2 01:08.4217 121.014 52

18   5 Hinchcliffe, James D/H/H/F Practice 2 01:08.4951 120.885 65

19   4 Daly, Conor D/C/C/F Practice 2 01:08.6138 120.675 56

20   21 Hildebrand, JR D/C/C/F Practice 2 01:08.6952 120.532 61

21   14 Munoz, Carlos D/C/C/F Practice 2 01:08.7088 120.509 42

22    83 Kimball, Charlie D/H/H/F Practice 2 01:08.8144 120.324 27

(R) Rookie

Total Laps for Combined Sessions: 1147

(C)hassis: D=Dallara | (A)erokit: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (E)ngine: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (T)ire: F=Firestone 

Press info from Indy Car Media Services, photo from the David Turner collection Indy 2017. Max Clinton at Indy May 2016 qualifying day.