Car FYI

Photo Credit: Chris Jones For three decades, Indy-style car racing has been an ingredient of summertime in Toronto (well, somewhat less last year since the race was positioned in June to accommodate the 2015 Pan-Am Games but the race was still held in reasonably warm temperatures). The 30th edition of the Toronto street race within Exhibition Place arrived with sensational momentum as current IndyCar stars including Canadian and 2016 Indy 500 pole sitter James Hinchcliffe prepared for the Verizon IndyCar Series’ only stop outside of the United States for 2016. Serving as the main event for the 2016 Honda Indy Toronto, the Verizon IndyCar Series 85-lap race on Sunday was set by the outcome of Saturday afternoon qualifying. Contending on a refreshed street course design for 2016 created as a result of construction within the event grounds, the pit road was most notably shifted from the right side of the track to the left side. The pit road location movement has also prepared to ...

Photo Credit: Dana Garrett For the 100th time, the event proclaimed "The greatest Spectacle in Auto Racing" allowed drivers, teams and some of the more advanced vehicles on the planet to compete on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's famed 2.5-mile rectangle. The 200-lap open wheel racing classic known as the Indianapolis 500 has only gained in prestige as names like Ray Harroun, Louis Meyer, Wilbur Shaw, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Rick Mears and Dario Franchitti represent a few of the challengers of the great 500-miler whose success at the track added a treasure trove of moments. The history of races dating back to 1911 and the promise of a vibrant 100th running of the open wheel competition was marked by sellout audience for the 2016 Indianapolis 500. In the 99 previous events, 67 drivers have gained the distinction for being an Indy 500 champion. Once the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS pace car piloted by Roger Penske stormed towards pit road, the green flag that fell on ...

Photo Credit: Chris Jones One week ahead of the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, the 33-car field was structured by two days of time trials. Sunday’s Fast 9 was established on Saturday by the quickest qualifiers of the day one qualifying session. Consisting of five Honda and four Chevrolet powered machines, qualifying for the momentous 2016 Memorial Day 500-mile event gave nine cars the opportunity for the coveted pole position with the best 10-mile run around the 2.5-mile oval track. The first of the nine cars to post a pole-challenging run, Simon Pagenaud in the #22 car for Team Penske set the early benchmark with a 229.139-mile per hour average speed through a four-lap qualifying run. Carlos Munoz quickly displaced Pagenaud from the top spot piloting an Andretti Autosport machine. Two cars after Munoz, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Josef Newgarden posted an effort resulting in a 230.700-mile per hour average qualifying time. Newgarden’s fast effort in the #21 Chevrolet-powered ...

Photo Credit: Chris Jones St. Petersburg, Florida once again serves as the launching pad for the Verizon IndyCar Series’ 2016 campaign. The 1.8-mile street course in the vibrant tourist hot spot provided the first opportunity for open wheel drivers in the North American-based series to compete with a clean slate. The first race of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series would be contested by 22 drivers (18 returning veterans and 4 rookies to the Series) for a 110-lap main event on Sunday. Two drivers for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Canada’s James Hinchcliffe and Russian driver Mikhail Aleshin made competitive returns to the cockpit for a full season. Hinchcliffe’s 2015 season came to an end at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway following a severe crash in practice for the Indy 500. Aleshin’s suffered injuries in a practice crash in the 2014 race at Auto Club Speedway that took the driver out of the car for a year. Mikhail Aleshin was back in Schmidt Peterson Motorsports car for IndyCar...