Race Control Hits I Tunes

Race Control Magazine now officially on I Tunes.

Race Control magazine the newest IndyCar fan magazine on the planet now offers you yet another way to read our publication. We now have a free app on the I Tunes store and from there you can download the magazine each and every issue. So yet another way to read Race Control backing up your choices of ZINIO and Amazon .com you now have an App so grab your copy today.

Race Control Issue 2

On Sale NOW

Race Control your total IndyCar fix is now on sale with its latest Bumper 148 page edition. Its a full recap of the 102nd Indy 500 , features  on the series and so much more.
Grab a copy today via ZINIO.com and simply search race control from the main page and you are on your way its really that simple

Heres the link to get you there to make it even easier.


https://www.zinio.com/nz/race-control-m34249

Iowa IndyCar Qualifying

Iowa Corn 300 qualifying results

NEWTON, Iowa - Qualifying Saturday for the Iowa Corn 300 Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 0.894-mile Iowa Speedway, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, and speed in mph:  
  
1. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 182.391 mph
2. (1) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 181.160  
3. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 180.681  
4. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 180.313  
5. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 179.801  
6. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 179.526  
7. (6) Robert Wickens, Honda, 178.883  
8. (10) Ed Jones, Honda, 178.720  
9. (20) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 178.717  
10. (30) Takuma Sato, Honda, 178.708  
11. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 178.478  
12. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 178.410    
13. (14) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 178.008  
14. (26) Zach Veach, Honda, 177.809  
15. (18) Sebastien Bourdais, Honda, 177.681  
16. (88) Gabby Chaves, Chevrolet, 176.466  
17. (23) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 176.245  
18. (21) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 175.210  
19. (98) Marco Andretti, Honda, 174.548  
20. (19) Zachary Claman De Melo, Honda, 174.339  
21. (59) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 173.449  
22. (4) Matheus Leist, Chevrolet, 168.724    

Issue 2 of Race Control the IndyCar fans magazine is due out this week at zinio.com

Issue 1 still on sale

https://www.zinio.com/race-control-m34249

Iowa Thoughts

This weekends Iowa event.

Some thoughts to ponder on as  we head towards this weekends event at Iowa.

• There have been six different winners in the 10 previous Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2018: Sebastien Bourdais (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (ISM Raceway, Barber Motorsports Park and Road America), Alexander Rossi (Streets of Long Beach), Will Power (INDYCAR Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500), Scott Dixon (Raceway at Belle Isle-1 and Texas Motor Speedway) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Raceway at Belle Isle-2). Dixon's win at Texas on June 9 gave him sole possession of third on the all-time Indy car victory list with 43 wins.

• The Iowa Corn 300 will be the fourth oval race on the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule. The previous three races were won by Josef Newgarden (ISM Raceway), Will Power (Indianapolis 500) and Scott Dixon (Texas Motor Speedway). The remaining two oval races will take place at Pocono Raceway (Aug. 19) and Gateway Motorsports Park (Aug. 25).

• The Iowa Corn 300 will be the 12th Verizon IndyCar Series event at Iowa Speedway. Ryan Hunter-Reay is the only active driver to win at Iowa Speedway more than once. Hunter-Reay has three wins (2012, 2014 and 2015). Past winners Josef Newgarden (2016), James Hinchcliffe (2013), Marco Andretti (2011) and Tony Kanaan (2010) are also entered in the event.

• Andretti Autosport has won seven of the 11 previous races at Iowa Speedway, including six of the last eight races (Dario Franchitti 2007, Tony Kanaan 2010, Marco Andretti 2011, Ryan Hunter-Reay 2012, 2014 and 2015 and James Hinchcliffe 2013). Chip Ganassi Racing has two wins (Dan Wheldon 2008 and Franchitti 2009). Ed Carpenter Racing, which won the event in 2016 with Josef Newgarden, and Team Penske, which won last year's race with Helio Castroneves, have each won at Iowa once.

• Ryan Hunter-Reay and Dario Franchitti are the only drivers to win at Iowa Speedway and win the Verizon IndyCar Series championship in the same season. Hunter-Reay accomplished the feat in 2012 and Franchitti in 2007 and 2009.

• No driver has won the Verizon IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway from the pole.

• Four drivers have competed in every Verizon IndyCar Series race at Iowa: Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan. All but Castroneves are entered this year. Fifteen drivers entered have led laps at the track (Kanaan 523, Josef Newgarden 394, James Hinchcliffe 245, Dixon 126, Andretti 94, Will Power 57, Ryan Hunter-Reay 54, Graham Rahal 19, Ed Carpenter 18, Charlie Kimball 17, Simon Pagenaud 13, Takuma Sato 7, Sebastien Bourdais 6, Alexander Rossi 4 and Max Chilton 4).

• Ryan Hunter-Reay finished on the podium in five of the last six Iowa Speedway races (2012-2015 and 2017)... Josef Newgarden has finished on the podium in three of the last four races at Iowa (2014-2016)...Tony Kanaan has finished on the podium in five of his last eight races at Iowa... Marco Andretti has finished on the podium in four of his 11 starts at Iowa Speedway...Scott Dixon has started on pole three times (two earned) and has nine top-10 finishes at Iowa in 11 starts, but he has never finished better than third.

• Five drivers - Spencer Pigot and rookies Zachary Claman De Melo, Matheus Leist, Zach Veach and Robert Wickens - will be competing at Iowa Speedway for the first time in the Verizon IndyCar Series. All but Wickens raced at Iowa in Indy Lights. Leist won at Iowa in 2017.

Race Control - Issue 2

Race Control Issue 2 out soon.

Here is a sneak peak of our cover for Issue 2 of Race Control - The Indy Car Fan magazine. Its due out now in just a few days time and its a massive bumper 2018 Indy 500 Edition and so much more as well. 

We will let you in on it over the next few days.

You will once again be able to get it via ZINIO and it is still not too late to grab a copy of Issue 1.

Here is the direct link for you all.

https://www.zinio.com/race-control-m34249

Race Control's June Promo Spot

Race Controls Magazines June Promo.

As we head into the arrival of Issue 2 of Race Control the IndyCar fans magazine check out the very latest promo spot from the team behind the magazine.

Remember its simple to read Race Control
Go to ZINIO.com and then search in the search field Race Control or follow the link below

https://www.zinio.com/race-control


Enjoy the video

Race Control magazine is GLOBAL

News of Global Reach for Race Control.

Race Control magazine your IndyCar fan fix is now truely global with ZINIO.

The worlds largest on line magazine store today confirmed that Race Control magazine can now be found in these following countries.

USA

Australia

New Zealand

Canada

UK

Spain

France

Russia

Germany

South Africa

Japan

Argentina

You will find it under the Sports and also Car and Motorcycle  listings or simply enter into the search fields at the top of the screen 'Race Control' and the search will take you directly to the magazine page. Need to find ZINIO thats simple too just search zinio from your browser and you will find it. Magazines purchased via zinio can be read on any device (os or android) or tablet and PC. Its so simple and you can read it anywhere and save to read hundreds of times again.

Issue 1 is currently on sale and Issue 2 will hit the store in just over two weeks from now in a massive bumper Indy 500 Edition and so much more.

Race Control. Your magazine.

Its here and its here now.

Race Control Magazine -- The IndyCar fan magazine.
No matter where in the world you live it can be found for you on line and NOW.

All via zinio.com  the worlds largest on line magazine store

Simply search Race Control in the search field and bingo you will find it.

Issue 1 is currently on sale now and Issue 2 our Bumper 2018 Indy 500 Edition due out in just a few weeks time.

Its a magazine created for you the fan so enjoy.

Check us out also on Facebook under Racecontrol and become a friend for all the very latest updates

https://www.facebook.com/racecontrol/

The 500 Final Results

13 Million plus USD Prize Pool.

Here it is the final results of the 102nd Indy 500 and how the prize pool got shared among those that started the great race in 2018.

Don't forget Issue 1 of Race Control on sale NOW at zinio.com search race control you will enjoy the read. and our Indy 500 bumper edition Issue 2 will be out very soon covering not only Indy but this weekends race in Detriot.

Power takes 3rd Indy GP win.

Power makes history with third INDYCAR Grand Prix win, 200th Indy car win for Team Penske

Will Power etched his name further into the INDYCAR Grand Prix record books while extending the legacy of team owner Roger Penske in Indy car history.

Power won the Verizon IndyCar Series race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the second straight year and third time overall - each victory coming from the pole position. Power's triumph by 2.2443 seconds over Scott Dixon also marked Indy car win No. 200 for Team Penske, nearly double that of any other team.

"It's amazing," said Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. "It just shows what sort of team that Penske is, and it's a real honor to drive for Roger. We're given the equipment week in and week out to win, so I can't thank him enough for the opportunity he's given me."

Power led 56 of 85 laps on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile permanent road course to collect his 33rd career victory (ninth all time). Thirty of those triumphs have come since joining Team Penske in 2009, tying the 37-year-old Australian with Helio Castroneves for the most with the team.

Power chased down race leader Robert Wickens, who started second in the No. 6 Lucas Oil Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda, and made a daring outside pass heading into Turn 1 on Lap 51 to take first place. Seven laps later, Power's crew barely got him out of the pits in front when nearly the entire field made final stops for fuel and tires under the second and last full-course caution of the race.

From there, Power kept Wickens and then Dixon in his mirrors to the finish - all the while stretching his tank of Sunoco E85 ethanol to the checkered flag.

"I had to save a lot of fuel at the end and go fast because I knew how good Dixon is at saving fuel and going fast. The Chevy had great fuel mileage," said Power, the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion. "Man, I've never driven so hard for an entire race. I was 100 percent the whole time. Yeah, I'm exhausted. Every lap was like a qualifying lap."

Team Penske made its Indy car debut on June 15, 1968, at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, with driver Mark Donohue. Three years later, Donohue delivered the team's first win at Pocono Raceway. In 1972, Donohue drove to the first of what is now a record 16 Indianapolis 500 wins for Team Penske. Adding the four INDYCAR Grand Prix victories, 10 percent of Team Penske's Indy car wins (20 of 200) have come at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Penske, the 81-year-old mastermind of the team, downplayed the achievement of the 200th win. He gave credit to Power and his crew while also looking ahead to the prize he craves most - another Indianapolis 500 win.

"What a great day for the team," Penske said. "The greatest drivers have performed for us. IMS is the most special place to secure our 200th win. I could not think of a better setting. The most important win now is No. 201."

Dixon, bidding to pick up a 42nd career victory that would tie him for third all-time with Michael Andretti, was satisfied to finish runner-up for the 39th time in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda - particularly after a disappointing qualifying effort on Friday locked him into the 18th starting position.

"It was a great result today for the PNC Bank car and the whole team," the four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion said. "Everyone on the Ganassi team never quits, never gives up and we were able to make up a lot of spots and finish second. 

"I think that was the worst I've ever qualified without crashing or having a technical issue. Good day in the points for the No. 9 team. I love having this race open up the month for us here at Indy."

Wickens continued to impress in his rookie season, collecting a second podium and third top-four finish in five races. The 29-year-old Canadian admitted that trying to race hard while conserving fuel in the final stint was a learning experience.

"It was the first time in my career I've had to save fuel like that, but in the end, happy with the podium," Wickens said. "Would have liked to be a bit further up, but hard to complain."

Sebastien Bourdais finished fourth in the No. 18 Team SealMaster Honda, using his push-to-pass overtake boost on the final lap to zip past Alexander Rossi (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda) for the position. Helio Castroneves, making his Verizon IndyCar Series return following a full-time switch this season to Team Penske's sports-car program, placed sixth in the No. 3 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

The race tied an INDYCAR Grand Prix record with seven different leaders and featured 214 on-track passes with the 2018 car's universal aero kit - an increase of 96 passes from a year ago. 

There were two full-course caution periods for eight laps. The first came on the opening lap when Castroneves and teammate Simon Pagenaud touched, and Jordan King ran into the back of Pagenaud. The second caution waved on Lap 56 when Josef Newgarden spun trying to pass Bourdais.

Newgarden finished the race in 11th place, but continues leading the standings. The reigning series champion is two points ahead of Rossi, 26 up on Bourdais and 31 ahead of Dixon.

Following two days off to convert the cars and Indianapolis Motor Speedway to superspeedway oval configuration, practice for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil begins on Tuesday. Qualifying to set the 33-car field takes place May 19-20. 

Mazda Road to Indy results

Colton Herta (Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing) outdueled Santi Urrutia (Belardi Auto Racing) to the win the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race on the IMS road course for the second straight day. After six races, Herta trails Andretti Autosport teammate Pato O'Ward by one point in the standings.

Parker Thompson (Exclusive Autosport) drove to his second win of the season in the second Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires race of the weekend. Thompson opened a 22-point advantage in the standings over Rinus VeeKay (Juncos Racing) after six races.

In the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda Kyle Kirkwood (Cape Motorsports) held off Alex Baron (Swan-RJB Motorsports) in the second race of the weekend, in a reversal of the first race finishing order. Kirkwood leads Baron by 13 points in the championship after four races.  

Don't forget Issue 1 of Race Control the all new IndyCar fan magazine launches this week. Look out for it on ZINIO.com simply search Race Control from this Thursday. A link will be posted here as well. Its a must read for the month of May.

The Chase for the 2017 IndyCar Title

Countdown to the 2017 Indy Car Championship.

This Sunday in the U.S. will see yet another classic Indy Car Series year come to an end and yet again another championship that goes to the wire and once again it makes a very strong statement about the quality of this series and the drivers that compete in it. For the winner the title and the Astor Cup. Sonoma plays host to the Grand Final for the third year in a row and the 2.385 mile permanent road course with up and down hill climbs will be a great challenge to all. 85 laps will make up the race distance, with a total of 150 seconds of useable push to pass activation for the drivers. Seven sets of Firestone primary tires and four sets of the alternate compound. Teams must use one set of each during the race. That’s kind of almost the easy bit.

Point’s leader is Josef Newgarden going into this the final round of the series this weekend at the Sonoma racetrack just across the bay from the city of San Francisco. He is the new boy on the block in terms of been in this type of position at this time of the year and will that pressure come into play. At the last round leaving the pit at Watkins Glen certainly saw signs of increased pressure as he battled with team mate Will Power out of the pit resulting in an error from Newgarden and hitting the pit lane exit wall. A margin of just 3 points over the 4 time champ Kiwi Scott Dixon who lies in a very strong second after a very dramatic season, who in turn is only 19 points ahead of Helio Castroneves in third he trails the leader by 22. Pausing here for just a second and looking at the top 3. Newgarden an awesome year with four wins in his first full series with Team Penske strong performances but never had the pressure a championship weekend brings. Dixon been there before, won the championship four times and his stats are simply mind blowing. 286 Indy Car starts won the series four times 41 wins overall, 26 poles, 96 top 3 finishes and 140 top 5’s and across his Indy Car life he has lead 5031 laps of racing simply outstanding oh yes and the 2008 Indy 500 title as well. Castroneves on the other hand 3 Indy 500 wins but never claimed a championship so will history repeat itself one has to wonder and this very well maybe his last full time Indy Car season so it very much is a now or never for the very likeable Brazilian.

Moving outside of the top 3 and there are four others that can in theory win the crown and with the final event a double points race there is 100 points on the table for the win plus bonus points for laps lead and poles. In a small side note if Newgarden and Dixon were to tie Dixon would win based on more bonus points rather than race wins. Back to the other contenders then. Current camp Simon Pagenaud is still in the game that’s for sure and while he sits fourth he is only 34 points away from the top of the table, he was also the race winner in 2016 and set a new qualifying record then as well so he is very much suited to this track. Fifth is the last of the four Penske drivers Will Power at 68 points behind the leader and its still possible that’s for sure. One can of course remember Power coming together with Montoya a few years back (2015) costing JPM the title and gifting it to Dixon on a tiebreaker and count back so team boss Roger Penske won’t be wanting that same out come. Then to sixth place and still in with a chance is Alexander Rossi for Andretti Autosport some 84 points behind the leader but the most recent race winner and on a bit of a roll after resigning with the team for next season and rounding out the points chances is Graham Rahal 94 points behind the leader and really out of the chase as it requires too many other things to happen.

So four Penske drivers all in with a chance surround Dixon all Chevy powered to his lone Honda powered entry before the next Honda powered car of Rossi and with little teammate support around him. This of course is both good or bad however time will tell but if there was ever a need for Kennan (9^th), Kimball (17^th) and Chilton (12^th) to get up front now is the time to steal points and protect the team leader while the bunch of Penske drivers race for a tile or trip each other up.

Honda v Chevy and its really anyone’s game in that department but maybe slightly leaning towards Chevy on the Road Course rather than Hondas aero package more suited to the ovals.

No matter what Sunday will bring a championship title and a crown to one of these drivers, if it happens to be Dixon he becomes a five-time winner.

In closing the rumour mill of who is where in 2018 well that keeps getting hotter all the time. Penske down to three full time cars its pretty much out there now and it should and will see the departure of Helio while at Ganassi expect Dixon to be the only one of the current crop that stays while the others depart to shores unknown (apart from TK whom looks set to join AJ Foyt Racing, which is something he has always wanted to do and drive for AJ at Indy) and there is even talk of the team down sizing for 2018 to a two car team and the very very high chance it will be an all Kiwi team with Brendon Hartley set to join and drive the number 10 car heck roll on 2018 already and many hands to be played yet as well.

Photos:

Scott Dixon and the Astor Cup for the IndyCar Championship – Chris Owens Indy Car Media Services

The 2017 Indy Grand Prix

Will Powers weekend.

Saturday May 13^th and two weeks before the running of the 101^st Indy 500. The Grand Prix marks the fifth round of the 2017 Indy Car Championship and the thousands of fans were treated to a beautiful spring day. Starting with a cool crisp morning leading to a wonderful afternoon of sun and racing. After what the locals tell me has been weeks of rain the day was blessed with a superb day dry and no wind at all – just magic. Looking slightly ahead and Pole day for the 500 next week has a chance of the weather closing in again but hey a week is a long time isn’t it?

The vibe around the speedway was kind of hints of the upcoming 500 even though this race means so much in the championship the thought in people’s minds had to be in two days time we go in 500 modes. Many of the one off entries for the 500 sitting quietly in the garage area and looking gleaming in brightly coloured paint schemes.

I even found this collection of Andretti pieces ready for the arrival of one Mr Alonso.

Grand Prix day kicked off very early with all three-support classes in the Road to Indy Series having races. Pro Mazda kicked things off at 8am followed by US F2000 then the Indy Lights battled it out for 35 laps. Two drivers completed weekend victory sweeps in the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires development ladder races today. 

Oliver Askew of Cape Motorsports won for the second straight day on the IMS road course and for the fifth time in six Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship races this season. Victor Franzoni (Juncos Racing, making their 500 debut) captured his second race of the weekend in the Pro Mazda Championship. Askew and Franzoni lead their respective championships.

In Indy Lights also presented by Cooper Tires, the top level of the Mazda Road to Indy, Kyle Kaiser of Juncos Racing drove to victory a day after Nico Jamin of Andretti Autosport won the first race of the weekend. With today's win, Kaiser took over the championship lead by 13 points over Jamin.  All in all a very busy two days for these teams. The Indy Lights return for the annual Freedom 100 race on the famed oval on Carb Day Friday.

Watching cars go the other way around after years of covering the 500 takes a little bit of getting used to but it’s a good sight and the track is so super smooth and looked stunning. It certainly feels a lot different to any 500 day that’s for sure, why you might ask? Yes the crowd is a part of it, yes the direction is part of it too but most of all its that sound of hearing cars at 223mph+ on the throttle all the time and it’s a sound that you can only ever associate with this place.

To the Grand Prix and for kiwi fans of Scott Dixon it was heart-beating moments as he stalled on the first of the two formation laps. He got going within seconds and took his P4 qualifying position. It was to be all about Will Power who dominated the IndyCar Grand Prix on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course to collect win No. 30 in his 13-year Indy car career. The milestone victory pushed the 36-year-old Power ahead of current teammate Helio Castroneves and retired Team Penske legend Rick Mears for sole possession of 11th place on the all-time list. For the first time in the history of the event the field made it past turn one so a new record was set there as well.

Power, making his 175th career start, led 61 of the 85 laps in the caution-free race and cruised across the finish line 5.283 seconds ahead of Scott Dixon in the No. 9 NTT Data Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. Power has now won at least one race in 11 straight seasons and becomes the fifth different driver to win in as many Verizon IndyCar Series races this season.

"It feels really good to finally have a good day," Power said. "Everyone on this team has been working really hard. We should have had a couple of wins by now.

"I think that is (win) No. 30; that is a good number. I want to make it 31 by the end of this month."

Power owned the Grand Prix weekend. He was fastest in every practice session, earned the pole position Friday with a track-record lap in Verizon P1 Award qualifying and set a race record speed average of 120.813 mph. Amassing the maximum possible points, Power advanced two positions into fifth in the standings in his quest for a second series championship.

"After (morning) warm-up, I was thinking, 'Wow, I've actually been quickest in every session. Yeah, it would be amazing to win the race.'

"It's funny, momentum, once your whole team and crew believes that you have a shot at winning races - which we have had all year - but when you execute it, it definitely gives them confidence. It's just good (to) get a win and very, very good for everyone."

Dixon made his 275th career start and extended his consecutive starts streak to 212 races, breaking a tie for the second-longest all-time run with Jimmy Vasser. Only Dixon's current teammate Tony Kanaan - who started his 270th straight race today - has run more Indy car races consecutively.

"I think today we got the most out of it," said Dixon, the four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion. "The car was pretty strong, we had good pace, but we just couldn't hold on to the rears. I think the Honda was just too much for the (Firestone alternate) red tires for the most part.

"Good points for everybody on the NTT Data car, great day for Honda. Obviously not a win, but very close." Again in my eyes Dixon and his team are the number one men at Ganasii that’s for sure.

Ryan Hunter-Reay moved from eighth on the starting grid to finish a season-best third in the No. 28 DHL Honda. It marked the 100th top-10 finish of the Andretti Autosport driver's career and gave the 36-year-old American a feeling of momentum heading into Indianapolis 500 competition that starts with practice on Monday.

"It's certainly a nice feeling," said Hunter-Reay, the 2012 Verizon IndyCar Series and 2014 Indianapolis 500 champion. "This group isn't happy if we're not on the top step (of the podium), but we've had a lot of bad luck this year, a lot of misfortune. It's been a frustrating start to the year, but we kept our heads down and today we came home with a solid result.

"This is nice to roll into the next two weeks, preparing for the biggest race in the world."

Pagenaud now has 191 points to Dixon's 181. Team Penske drivers Josef Newgarden (152), Castroneves (149) and Power (145) hold the third through fifth spots, respectively.

Teams will spend tomorrow Sunday setting cars into oval spec and the track will also be returned to oval spec ready for Monday’s first practice for the 500, the season is now alive.

While I have the chance a big shout out to two men turning heads in this series. The Julian brothers from New Plymouth New Zealand. Blair who is crew chef for Scott Dixon and has been with Scott all this time since he arrived in the US and risen to the role of Crew Chef and his brother Anton now returning to the series after been the Crew Chef at Andretti Autosport then Sarah Fisher Racing, Anton makes a one off appearance as Crew Chef this time for someone you might of heard of Mr Alonso. Well done boys, know your mum and dad are very proud.

Carb Day Notes from Indy

Kanaan leads Carb Day practice for 100th Indy 500

He may be starting 18th in Sunday's 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, but Tony Kanaan believes he has a car that can win the historic race.

Kanaan, who will start on the outside of Row 6 in the No. 10 NTT Data Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, was fastest in today's Miller Lite Carb Day practice with a best lap of 226.280 mph on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. 

Carlos Munoz was second at 224.772 mph in the No. 26 United Fiber & Data Honda, just ahead of Kanaan's teammate, Scott Dixon, third at 224.606 mph in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet."I'm happy with my car," said Kanaan, the 2013 Indy 500 winner. "Obviously, I have to pass 17 people before I get really happy with my car. After the struggle in qualifying, we really focused - me and Dixon - on the race. And you can see both of us at the top there."If anybody counts us out (for Sunday's race), it will be a big mistake."

                                                  Scott Dixon during Carb Day running.

Munoz, who will start the race from the middle of the second row, said Carb Day practice confirmed the strength of his car."Today was just a check to see the car was running good," said Munoz, who finished second to Kanaan as an Indy 500 rookie in 2013. "Everything was running good. The conditions will be different on Sunday. Every practice and qualifying I've been on the top of the charts, but that doesn't matter."

Verizon IndyCar Series points leader Simon Pagenaud, riding a three-race winning streak, was 22nd in today's practice with a speed of 222.581 mph in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevy.

Juan Pablo Montoya, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion and two-time race winner, was 13th at 223.571 mph in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevy. Teammate Helio Castroneves, the three-time Indy 500 winner, was 10th at 223.959 mph. Will Power, runner-up to Montoya in last year's race, had the fourth-fastest speed (224.384 mph) in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Ryan Hunter-Reay was fifth (224.327 mph) in the No. 28 DHL Honda. Pole sitter James Hinchcliffe was 12th fastest at 223.925 mph in the No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda. More than 1,300 laps were turned in the 70-minute session, with Pagenaud and Charlie Kimball (No. 42 Tresiba Chevy) each logging 52.

The only incident of the session came when Pippa Mann spun and crashed in Turn 4, backing her No. 63 Susan G. Komen Honda into the SAFER Barrier. Mann was uninjured. "I'm absolutely fine," Mann said. "I just really feel sorry for the crew. I was trying to find some clean air in pack running there, got a little too low on the inside. Dropped the ball and gave them some work to do overnight. "The good news is the damage wasn't too bad," Mann added. "Hopefully it's the right rear corner, rear attenuator, rear wing and that's all we have to fix."

The 33 cars now sit idle until race day Sunday.

                                                  Carb Day Crowd topping 100,000

Stoneman wins Freedom 100 in closest IMS oval finish in history.

Dean Stoneman edged Ed Jones by 0.0024 of a second to win the Freedom 100 in the closest finish in Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval history, in the premier event on the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires schedule. Starting fifth, Stoneman pushed his way to second place by Lap 9 in the No. 27 Andretti Autosport Dallara IL-15. He passed pole sitter Jones for the lead on the next lap and, while Stoneman led 30 of the final 31 laps at the start-finish line, the pair swapped the point numerous times throughout the race.

Jones took the lead on the final restart, a one-lap shootout following a caution to retrieve the stopped car of Heamin Choi. Stoneman and Jones raced side by side heading into Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap, setting up a drag race down the frontstretch to the checkered flag. The margin of victory was a few inches. "It was an amazing race," said Stoneman, who collected his second straight Indy Lights win after capturing the second race of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis doubleheader May 14. "On that last lap it was pretty close. I knew in the race I was consistent and knew where to position my car to finish the race in the lead."

Afterward, Jones felt he should have taken the outside line for the race to the checkers. "I probably chose the wrong lane, it was my fault," Jones said. "I feel like if I had gone outside maybe I would have held momentum and been able to hold him off. Unfortunately, I made the wrong call. That's what cost us."

Castroneves' crew wins pit stop challenge record eighth time

Team Penske and driver Helio Castroneves won the TAG Heuer Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge, earning a $50,000 prize. Castroneves celebrated his eighth win in the contest by climbing the fence in front of the Tower Terrance grandstand.

Castroneves beat Mikhail Aleshin of Schmidt Peterson with Team Pelfrey in the final round. This is the 17th win for Team Penske in the annual competition for Indy 500 pit crews that started in 1977. The winner of the competition has gone on to win the Indianapolis 500 six times, most recently with Castroneves in 2009.  "I went for it. I was able to stop really deep," Castroneves said. "I was able to slide in just perfect. The Pennzoil boys, the Team Penske boys, really. ... they are the fastest. All the credit to those guys. Very happy to be part of this organization."

The crew for Castroneves in the contest was made up of members from the cars of Castroneves and teammate Simon Pagenaud.

"This team has been outstanding in the pit stop competition," team owner Roger Penske said. "They work every day at the shop. We took our best guys and put them together on the two cars. ... This gives us momentum for Sunday."

Pole day or Final Qualfying and drama at Indy.

Pole day for the 100th Indy 500.

The massive Sunday crowd

What a difference a day makes as they say.

Clear skies returned to the town of Speedway on Sunday and the warmth as well.  Today marked the day of the final sorting of the gird for next weekends race and the 100th Indy 500. Another day with another great crowd and again numbers not seen at the track on a day like this in recent years. A great attraction was the addition of many of the pace cars from over the years on display today and the history alone in these cars was amazing to see and ponder the development of the car over the years.

The morning provided another practice run for everyone and the only drama to come from that was the news that shortly after the season finshed the call was made to do an engine change on the Scott Dixon Car. There was an error in the data download on the engine that raises concern so the call was made to change it out. A rapid job by the team enabled this to happen and happen with time to spare. DIxon had been fifth fastest in the morning practice so was showing good speed once again in the warmer day. An overnight rebuild on the Max Chilton entry saw him back on track with good lap times and now locked into next weeks race.

The Ganassi team change out tub on Chiltons car

Qualfying started with the slowest to fastest plus the fast nine shoot out later in the day to come as well. Clear skies and a tempurture of 24c so a nice Sunday May afternoon.

The first drama came with the fifth car on track and the AJ Foyt entry of Alex Tagliani who spun on the start of his first of the four timed laps coming out of turn four and hitting the pit in wall. He was okay but the car was not and a bit of damage to the front of the tub is a concern and a likely tub change out will be required.

The damaged car of Tagliani

From there on in it was pretty routine as the field went about sorting out the running order for the race. 

As the afternoon went on pretty much most people slotted roughy where they had been the day before. Montoya having a few issues with a plastic rubbishy bag on tag but overall close to the day before. Then however came the top nine and the fast nine shoot out.

The air was pretty cold sun staring to go down and suddenly we had three. Newgarden taking the pole with a few runners to go and it was tension time. Oh yes tension was a rising.

Hunter Reay was fast but not quite enough, then cam Hinchcliffe was the last car out and make the  word was high drama USA v Canada a driver that was nearly lost to the sport one year ago in practice  on the Monday. Fastest yesterday and in the end fastest today. They sat out practice so to not  confuse 

themselves with the changing track conditions and they backed them selves for a good shot and they got it. A dream in many ways , perhaps a changing of the guard or history at the  500.

James Himchcliffe at Indy 2014

                 

Now attentions turn to Monday afternoons practice and the cars in race spec full tank runs, cars in packs and traffic and race set up and what will it bring. 30 of the 33 could easy win this thing it's. tight field and it will be a great race.  The crowds will be massive and hopefully the weather gods will be kind.

The feeling seems rain will hit Indy by Thursday but then again that's Thursday and Sunday is Sunday and race day as well it's going to be a classic and crowds like never before.  So in the end this is how the 10tth grid will look and is a classic line up fitting of this race.

1. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 02:36.0063 (230.760) 
2. (21) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 02:36.0470 (230.700)
3. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 02:36.0821 (230.648)
4. (29) Townsend Bell, Honda, 02:36.1950 (230.481) 
5. (26) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 02:36.3264 (230.287) 
6. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 02:36.7471 (229.669) 
7. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 02:36.8205 (229.562) 
8. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 02:37.1096 (229.139) 
9. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 02:37.1265 (229.115) 
10. (77) Oriol Servia, Honda, 02:37.1638 (229.060) 
11. (98) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 02:37.5679 (228.473) 
12. (14) Takuma Sato, Honda, 02:37.8747 (228.029) 
13. (9) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 02:37.9007 (227.991) 
14. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda, 02:37.9161 (227.969) 
15. (6) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 02:37.9809 (227.876) 
16. (42) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 02:38.0180 (227.822) 
17. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 02:38.1141 (227.684) 
18. (10) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 02:38.2906 (227.430) 
19. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 02:38.2919 (227.428) 
20. (20) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 02:38.4325 (227.226) 
21. (19) Gabby Chaves, Honda, 02:38.4566 (227.192) 
22. (8) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 02:38.8100 (226.686) 
23. (24) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 02:38.9851 (226.436) 
24. (18) Conor Daly, Honda, 02:39.0721 (226.312) 
25. (63) Pippa Mann, Honda, 02:39.2877 (226.006) 
26. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 02:39.4002 (225.847) 
27. (61) Matt Brabham, Chevrolet, 02:39.4846 (225.727) 
28. (88) Bryan Clauson, Honda, 02:39.8111 (225.266) 
29. (16) Spencer Pigot, Honda, 02:40.1087 (224.847) 
30. (25) Stefan Wilson, Chevrolet, 02:40.2833 (224.602) 
31. (41) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 02:40.2878 (224.596) 
32. (4) Buddy Lazier, Chevrolet, 02:42.0498 (222.154) 
33. (35) Alex Tagliani, Honda, No time (No speed) 

IndyCar Champs thoughts on eve of Qualifying for the 500

Race day draws closer.

Its about to go up a notch as the countdown to the 100th running of the Indy gets closer. After a week of practice on the famed oval with a day totally washed out with rain today saw the last pre qualifying practice runs to bring this phase of the pre race build up pretty much to an end. Saturday morning marks a final practice and then it's firmly game time.

Qualifying phase one starts Saturday local time and marks one of the two days in qualifying but a big day for everyone and a real chance to see what everyone has been working on this past week.

Today saw the Honda powered teams take 10 of the top 12 spots for the day but it was Chevy power Penske driver Will Power that was quickest today as dark skies hung around the speedway.

Current IndyCar series champ summed up his day with these words "We're fairly comfortable with where we are. The Target car feels decent, but the speed we're looking for maybe isn't really there right now. To be honest, out of the Chevys, (Will) Power is really the only one in his own league right now. I think out of the top 10 in no-tow speeds, there are only three Chevys. Hopefully things change before qualifying tomorrow but right now our race is for the top nine."

Catch all the events from the 100th Indy 500 here each day.