Car FYI

Photo Credit: Joe Skibinski/IndyCar untitled As race day for the 105 th edition of the Indianapolis 500 at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway approached, a number of favourites emerged through the practices and qualifying session. Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon topped the lists of many analysts after he captured the race’s pole position . Dixon’s #9 Chip Ganassi Racing’s Dallara-Honda posting the fastest time in Friday’s Carb Day practice only solidified the logic of picking the New Zealander to win. Other names favoured for having the best chances to drink milk in Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s victory lane included Colton Herta, Rinus VeeKay, Alex Palou and Alexander Rossi. Besides Scott Dixon, it is surprising to conceive after the 2021 running of the 500-mile greatest spectacle in racing that another more veteran name wasn’t immediately entered into top contention prior to the green flag. Unlike the COVID-19 delayed 202...

Photo Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar untitled The 33-car starting grid for the 2021 Indianapolis 500 is now set ahead of the May 30 th event with drivers representing 17 countries. Perhaps the most coveted single pole position in auto racing, the prime starting spot for the Indianapolis 500 is something a driver has a week to bask in the honour. For what will be the 105 th running of the greatest spectacle in racing, New Zealander superstar Scott Dixon claimed the prestigious pole at the 2.5-mile speedway. His fourth time taking the first place spot, Scott Dixon and his #9 PNC Bank-sponsored Chip Ganassi Racing car succeeded in topping competitors in the contentious Fast Nine Qualifying session. In his four-lap/ten-mile time trial run, Dixon sailed around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with an average lap speed of 21.685 miles per hour or total time of 2 minutes and 35.3837 seconds. Dixon’s 19 th showing in the Indianapolis 500 has the 40-year-old, six-time Ind...

Photo Credit: Porsche AG untitled More than 65 years after James Dean’s fatal highway crash on U.S. Route 466, a verifiable piece has surfaced of the vehicle involved in the ill-fated Porsche 550 Spyder the 24-year-old actor drove in his last moments of life. Through an online auction being held on Bring A Trailer , buyers with a desire to obtain a rather ghoulish gearbox. The Porsche 550 Spyder was one of the first purpose-built race cars assembled to establish a name of what was once a small sports car located in Stuttgart, Germany. A derivative of Porsche’s 356 production car, the 550 Spyder’s compact, lightweight stature (the 550 was in reference to the vehicle’s weight in kilograms) combined with a mid-mounted 1,500 cc flat-four engine proved almost instantly superior in competition. Entering competition in 1953 by Porsche, the 550 Spyder cemented much of the early on-track success for the brand including a class victory at the 1953 24 Hours of...

Photo Credit: Daimler AG Nearing 80 years as a constructor of commercial trucks, Freightliner has a history for being an innovative name in the industry for heavy, work-duty vehicles. Starting with the creation of their first truck incorporating an all-aluminum cab, the brand is linked to pioneering the use of liquefied propane, the four-wheel drive Mountaineer tractor and more recently vehicle connectivity through factory-installed telematics. Freightliner’s Cascadia class 8 truck lineup has reflected much of the company’s current commitment to contemporary hauling since its introduction in 2007 featuring a lightweight, aerodynamic design as well as various cost-saving maintenance characteristics. Following the large vehicle’s debut, the Cascadia has been a frequent recipient of enterprising updates such as an optional in-cab exercise system and a technological productivity suite called Detroit Connect. In a project first seeing the light of day in 2018...

Photo Credit: CNW Group/The Lion Electric Co. In the rapidly growing marketplace for larger battery-electric vehicles, Canadians can take place pride in the efforts of a thriving Quebec-based company. Adopting their current name Lion Electric Company in 2017, the manufacturer was founded in 2008 as a producer of school and commercial buses in a suburb of Montreal called Saint-Jerome. Lion Electric’s current product portfolio has expanded to include a Class 6 and a Class 8 battery-electric truck suited for a variety of urban-oriented roles. Based around a similar front end and cab design, the Lion6 and Lion8 lineups are specifically developed as a fully electric platform. Lion Electric boasts lower maintenance and energy costs as advantages for their vehicles over diesel-powered trucks in addition to zero tailpipe emissions. With a 26,000-pound GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating), the Class 6 Lion6 model range is offered on 195-inch and 212-inch wheelbase length. T...

Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images untitled NASCAR is officially preparing to usher in a brave new path for their top-tier Cup Series with the introduction of their 7 th generation vehicle plan. In a press conference with examples of the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, the Ford Mustang and the Toyota Camry in the long-developed Next Gen stock car specifications set to debut next season, there was a deep sense of optimism amongst various parties involved. Key people with NASCAR including the sporting body’s president Steve Phelps, representatives from all three manufacturers as well as drivers Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin were present at an event detailing what will be a drastically different path in Cup Series racing. With almost two years of testing, fans of NASCAR had been bracing for the details of the Next Gen race car that would put to rest many traditions in the premier stock car racing league. Though the future NASCAR Cup Series stock car...

  Photo Credit: James Gilbert/Getty Images untitled On Wednesday of this week (May 5 th of 2021), NASCAR will formally present the sport’s newest Cup Series chariot. Originally called the Gen 7 car before adopting the moniker of the Next Gen car, the vehicle was initially planned to be part of the 2021 racing season but was pushed to 2022 due to the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 disrupting development as well as team finances to implement the Next Gen car. From the details already leaked about the Next Gen car, the 2022 Cup season is destined to deliver the biggest learning curve ever to drivers, team and fans. Ahead of the official unveiling of the car, indications of a new spec chassis, six-speed manual transmission, independent rear suspension as well as a larger diameter, single-lug wheels are radically going to reshape the operations of NASCAR Cup Series teams on and off the track. With anticipation building towards the planned on-track...