Indy Car News

INDYCAR ANNOUNCES PRE-QUALIFICATION PENALTIES

INDYCAR, the sanctioning body for the IZOD IndyCar Series, announced today it has fined 11 teams $10,000 each for not complying with Rules 1.1.1.3, 8.2.3.3, and 14.12.2 during pre-qualifying technical inspection for Indianapolis 500 Time Trials. 

The teams were found to be in violation of the three rules and were required by INDYCAR Officials to comply with the technical specifications before being allowed to make a qualifying attempt.

96th INDIANAPOLIS 500 BUMP DAY QUALIFYING QUOTES - May 20, 2012

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy Lotus HVM Racing Lotus): "It was all right. Not the speed we want for the month, but I think we're in the show, so that's a really good thing. We just have to focus on our program with the Lotus engine. We don't have the speed we want, but we've been creeping up to the other manufacturers, so that's a really positive sign. The Nuclear Clean Air Energy car was really good...

The Unofficial Grid for the 96th Running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, following Bump Day qualifications.

1   2  Ryan Briscoe         Chevrolet   226.484
2  27  James Hinchcliffe    Chevrolet   226.481
3  28  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Chevrolet   226.240

Indianapolis - RIS- May 20,2012 - Bump Day at Indianapolis turned out as expected. With the last nine cars vying for the last nine positions there was about as much intrigue at the Speedway today as a game of Tic-Tac-Toe.

At noon qualifications started at 1:10 eight of the cars were done. Only Ed Carpenter waited until 2:04 to make his run. The Carpenter crew had to burn the midnight oil to make the 20T backup car ready after Ed’s hard crash yesterday.

Row 9 will be, Sebastien Bourdais, Wade Cunningham, Oriol Servia
Row 10, will be, Ed Carpenter, Mike Conway, Katherine Legge
Row 11 will be, Bryan Clauson, Simona de Silvestro, Jean Alesi

The big question is will INDYCAR give the simply awful Lotus powered cars of Simona de Silvestro, and Jean Alesi some extra boost? De Silvestro was 12 MPH slower than the pole while Alesi was 16.39 MPH slower. Alesi said, “I am scared out there. Not for me, but I am a moving chicane out there at the Indianapolis 500. That is dangerous. I am not at all comfortable.”

96th INDIANAPOLIS 500 POLE DAY QUALIFYING QUOTES (Segment One) - May 19, 2012

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): "It wasn't too bad. The car was balanced pretty good; we got a little neutral in the corners. The way the configuration of the car is, it's pretty well stuck. The next step makes it slide. We're still struggling a little bit, but we're doing the best that we can."

96th INDIANAPOLIS 500 FAST NINE PRESS CONFERENCE

Briscoe, Hinchcliffe, Hunter-Reay, Power, Castroneves, Kanaan

Saturday, May 19, 2012

BRISCOE CLAIMS POLE FOR 96th INDIANAPOLIS 500

INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, May 19, 2012) - Ryan Briscoe had two hours to mentally prepare himself to qualify for the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 after crashing in practice on Pole Day 2011.

 Indianapolis - RIS - May 19,2012 - After having 32 qualification attempts to establish the first 24 on the grid of the 96th running of the 2012 Indy 500. The Top Nine Shootout brought the live crowd at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to it’s feet.

Perhaps the biggest surprised of part one of qualifications is that none of the four Chip Ganassi teammates made it into the Fast Nine. While they are all solidly in the field they will not be competing for the first three rows.

FOR FULL RESULTS OF TODAY QUALIFICATIONS

The first part of the day did see Bryan Clausen, Oriol Servia and Ed Carpenter make contact with the outside walls. All the drivers have been checked and have been cleared to drive. Clausen and Servia’s cars were moderately damaged while Carpenter’s mount suffered significant damage. The three are expected to be back on the track tomorrow.

The fastest nine each get up to three attempts to improve their positions and make a run for the Pole. All of the earlier times are wiped out and the nine start from scratch.
Each car gets an extra set of Firestone Firehawks. All but one of the fast nine are Chevy powered only Sarah Fisher Racing’s Josef Newgarden represented Honda.

RIS PHOTO GALLERIES OF THE 2012 INDY 500

Here are the IZOD IndyCar Series qualification results from Pole Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ryan Briscoe is Team Penske's 11th different driver to win the Indy 500 pole. Briscoe's pole run secures Team Penske its 25th pole in the last 39 races (64%). Team Penske has won every pole (5) so far this IZOD IndyCar Series season.

IndyCar qualification results at 4:00 prior to the Top-9 Shootout.

The first-to-last qualifying chronology for Pole Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

INDIANAPOLIS -RIS- The first day of qualifying for the 2012 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race is nearly complete.

Phase One - the establishment of the Top-24 of the 33-car field - has completed. Phase Two - the Top-9 Shootout - follows at 4:30.

The final two hours of qualifying saw waved-off attempts by Wade Cunningham and Sebastien Bourdais.

INDIANAPOLIS -RIS- A full pass has been made through the qualifying order, and every driver hoping to compete in the 2012 running of the Indianapolis 500 has had at least one chance to qualify.

INDIANAPOLIS -RIS- Qualifying for the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500 is on hold at the moment following an accident involving rookie Bryan Clauson.

USAC star Clauson had just finished the third lap of a sizzling qualifying run (sixth best overall at that point) when the rear end of his #39 Angie's List Dallara/Chevy started sliding out. Like a good dirt-tracker, Clauson kept his foot in it, but the car eventually snapped back, and the car backed hard into the Turn One SAFER barrier. It slid across the track, coming to a stop in Turn Two.

Final IndyCar practice speeds from the last practice session prior to Indianapolis 500 pole qualifying.

Qualification Order for the 96th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race

QP    Car   Driver                 Best Speed       Best Date
1     11    Tony Kanaan             225.322     18-May
2     78    Simona de Silvestro     212.516     18-May
3     14T   Mike Conway               N/A         N/A
4     38T   Graham Rahal              N/A         N/A
5     6     Katherine Legge (R)     219.430     18-May

FAST FRIDAY LIVES UP TO ITS NAME AS ANDRETTI SETS MONTH'S TOP LAP

Marco Andretti believes he has a car capable of winning the 96th Indianapolis 500 no matter where he qualifies for the race.

But winning the pole for the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" could go a long way to making the goal a reality.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will pay homage to the men and women of the United States military during Armed Forces Day on Sunday, May 20, which also is the final day of qualifying for the 96th Indianapolis 500.

96th INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESS CONFERENCE: KV RACING TECHNOLOGY

96th INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESS CONFERENCE: TEAM PENSKE

96th INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESS CONFERENCE: CHIP GANASSI RACING

96th INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESS CONFERENCE:

96th INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESS CONFERENCE: ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT

Indianapolis - RIS - May 18, 2012 - The seventh and final full day of practice for the 96th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race is in the books. With the added ten kilopascals turbo boost pressure INDYCAR’s wish for a faster Fast Friday came true.

The added 40 to 50 horsepower along with an absolutely perfect day weather wise, combined to blast the speeds from the 221 and 222 we have been seeing all week to 226 and 227 we are seeing today.

Marco Andretti has been at the top of the charts most of the day with his 227.540. Andretti was followed by Ryan Briscoe at 226.835 and Helio Castroneves in third at 226.716

Andretti said, “We have been working hard on consistency, trying to get four laps in a row. It would mean the world to me to win the pole. I did come here to win the race.”

Ryan Briscoe said, “You could feel the added power. Mostly as you leave the pits. On the track you are flat out so it feels the same there.”

While the speeds may have been with the aid of tows it now looks like we will see 226’s for qualifications tomorrow.

Qualifications start at noon tomorrow when the first 24 cars will be able to lock into the grid. Each car gets three attempts to complete their run. At 4:30 EDT the fastest nine will then have a shootout for the final order. Again getting up to three attempts for a spot in the first three rows.

INDIANAPOLIS -RIS- It is an Indianapolis 500 tradition for the major teams to hold a series of press conferences on the half-hour the morning before the last day of practice prior to pole day qualifying for the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and today was no exception. Here are some excerpts from the open-conference and one-on-one interviews...

IndyCar practice speeds from the final day of practice prior to Indianapolis 500 pole position qualifying.

Indianapolis - RIS - May 18,2012 -As is INDYCAR CEO, Randy Bernard’s habit, he stopped by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Media Center for an informal meeting with the media.

When questioned about there being 33 starters for the 500, “I am very optimistic. I think we will see 33 starters. It’s very important to the race. It broke three weeks ago we were not there. There is too many folks on the sideline that would like to be in this race.”

Bernard would not address the question of giving the Lotus powered cars more boost for the race, passing that question to Will Phillips and Beau Barfield of the INDYCAR technical staff. Yesterday Barfield said that was a decision to be made by INDYCAR executive management.

“I believe they (Phillips and Barfield) are exceutives. We hired the best people we could and those are the tough decisions they will have to make,” Said Bernard. “If they want to go to Chevy and Honda and get approval I have no problem with that. I don’t want to decide what they should to do.”

Indianapolis - RIS - May 18, 2012 - We have had our second apparent engine failure of the month. One hour into practice the number 30 car of Michel Jourdain had an apparent engine failure coming to rest at the end of the back straight, after turning a lap at 221.396 MPH.

This ties the “dun blowed up” score at one for Chevy and one for Honda. The other day the Honda of Graham Rahal let go.

Speeds today are up by a couple of miles of an hour with the increase in the turbo boost pressure granted by INDYCAR for just today, Fast Friday, Pole Day and Bump Day.

As of 1:15 Marco Andretti has the fast time of 225.916, and that was on his own.

Day seven of practice for the 500 is yet another beautiful weather day with the current temperature 73 and not a cloud in the sky.

TEAMS PREPARE FOR FAST FRIDAY AT INDIANAPOLIS

Following six days of practice totaling 35 sun-splashed hours on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it's time for teams to literally switch gears.

Indianapolis - RIS - May 17,2012 - Practice day six at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the weather continues to be, well in a word, remarkable. The temperature is 73 and not a cloud in the sky. The forecast for Fast Friday, Pole Day, and what is still referred to as Bump Day, in spite of the fact there is no one that will be bumped, is more of the same.

Fast of the day is Scott Dixon at 223.088 followed by Josef Newgarden at 222.709 with Will Power in third at a speed of 222.709. All were with massive tows as a large groups were working together on race setups.

Dixon said, “We are nice in traffic. We want to see groups for race setups. For the race I think we will see packs. It will be hard to get away.”

Today’s battle of the lumps was won by Honda today with 7 in the top ten.
Lotus powered cars again brought up the tail end of the field with Jean Alisi in 27th and Simona de Silvestro in 28th place.

Practice speeds from Thursday's practice for this weekend's pole qualifying for the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race.

INDYCAR APPROVES DRAGON RACING ENGINE MANUFACTURER CHANGE

INDYCAR, the sanctioning body for the IZOD IndyCar Series, confirmed today that it has approved an engine partner change for Dragon Racing. 

The team will transfer from Lotus to Chevrolet power for the entries driven by Sebastien Bourdais and Katherine Legge.  The change is effective immediately.

NEWGARDEN GOES FAST, THEN SPINS ON DAY 5 OF INDY 500 PRACTICE

INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, May 16, 2012) -RookieJosef Newgarden learned a valuable lesson about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as practice for the 96th Indianapolis 500 continued.

The 21-year-old Tennessee native's respect for the racetrack grew with 16 minutes left in the six-hour practice session May 16 when his car bobbled in Turn 4, did two complete spins and struck a glancing blow on the pit lane retaining wall. It was the first incident of contact of the month.

Other than a scare, it was a positive day for Newgarden, who topped the time chart for the third time this month.

Newgarden's best lap of 40.3977 seconds (222.785 mph) led Andretti Autosport teammates Marco Andretti (222.108 mph), Ryan Hunter-Reay (221.763) and James Hinchcliffe (221.638) as teams continued working on race set-ups with the new Dallara chassis.

Josef Newgarden made his rookie Indianapolis 500 experience this month even richer. Fastest practicer on Saturday and Monday, he was quickest again today with a top speed of 222.785 mph, the second-best of the month.

And he added to today’s triumph with the stigma of becoming the first accident of the month.

About fifteen minutes before the close of practice, Newgarden followed Tony Kanaan into Turn Four, and as Newgarden exited the turn, the rear of his Dollar General Dallara/Honda slipped slowly out on him.

INDIANAPOLIS (Tuesday, May 15, 2012) - Another wild Happy Hour at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway led to the fastest speeds of the month as teams continued preparations for the 96th Indianapolis 500 Mile race.

Marco Andretti, driving the No. 26 Team RC Cola Chevrolet for Andretti Autosport, led the way with a lap of 40.2367 seconds (223.676 mph) - the fastest lap of the four days of practice.

Helio Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske Chevrolet, was second with a lap of 222.025 mph and James Hinchcliffe (221.864) was third in the No. 27 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. Graham Rahal's No. 38 Service Central Honda was fourth fastest (221.855) with Ryan Hunter-Reay fifth in the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet (221.814).

Indianapolsi - RIS - May 15,2012 - The fourth day of practice for the 96th running of the 500 Mile Race is complete. The “Big Guns” are just starting to make their muscle known. Andretti Autosports five car armada worked hard today on race setup as did the Penske trio, while the Target Chip Ganassi double-pair of Dixon and Franchitti, and Rahal and Kimball split the day, working both alone and with groups.

Marco Andretti took the top spot with a speed of 223.676, albeit with a huge tow from fellow drivers. Helio Castroneves slotted in second at 222.025 and James Hinchcliffe third at 221.864

The battle of the engine manufacturers is pretty even with 5 Chevys and 5 Hondas in the top ten, however, Chevys poster the top three makers. Simona de Silvestro was the solo representative of the hapless Lotus marque with an effort only good for 30th place.

Thirty cars took to the 2.5 mile course today turning a total of 1602 incident free laps were completed on this 30th anniversary Gordon Smiley’s fatal accident as well as the 20th anniversary of Jovy Marcello’s fatal accident here at the Speedway. There has now been a total of 5173 lap completed for the month.

Practice speeds from the fourth day of practice for the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Marco Andretti emerges as top dog, setting the fastest speed of the week in the new Dallara DW12. The lap speed was set late in the day as Andretti ran in a tow with his Andretti Autosport teammates.

While the Chevies ran up front, Graham emerged as the fastest Honda in fourth overall.

Be sure to check out RIS Photos in our Gallery --

INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, May 14, 2012) - Speeds continue to climb as IZOD IndyCar Series drivers and teams took advantage of a third consecutive day of sunny and warm conditions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Rookie Josef Newgarden topped the speed charts for the second time in three days in his No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda. The 21-year-old from Hendersonville, Tenn., recorded a lap of 40.4519 seconds, 222.486 mph, fastest of the month so far as teams used the final hour of practice to work on race setups.

Andretti Autosport teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay (221.639) and Marco Andretti (221.519) were second and third, respectively, in their Chevrolets with the Honda of 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon (221.499) and Chevrolet of Sebastian Saavedra (220.785) rounding out the top-five.

In all, 29 drivers recorded 1,199 incident-free laps on the famed 2.5-mile oval. Indianapolis 500 practice continues on May 15 from noon - 6 p.m.

DAY 3 NOTEBOOK:

 

Pleepleus The Monkey, from the HDNet television show "Drinking Made Easy," was the honorary starter today. A segment for an episode of the show that will air in October is being filmed today at IMS.

Show co-hosts Zane Lamprey and Steve McKenna also are at the Speedway for the segment.