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Chaves Confirmed To '500' Ride With New Team

The worst kept secret in INDYCAR was finally announced...

Napa Returns With Rossi

A.J. Foyt Racing announced...

Carpenter Signs Pigot

Ed Carpenter Racing announced...

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Honda Unveils Superspeedway Aero Kit

Honda's 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series Superspeedway Aero Kit, which will be ran by all 17 of their entries in next month's Indianapolis 500, was unveiled today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A few photos...











Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Jeff Gordon To Pace Indy 500

(Photo: Courtesy of IMS)

Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles, Chevrolet vice president of motorsports Jim Campbell and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon announced on pit lane at IMS that the 5-time Brickyard 400 winner will pace the field for the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

"Indy is hallowed ground for racers like me and I couldn't be more thrilled to drive the Corvette Z06 pace car around the track that helped drive my success over the years," Gordon said. "The Indianapolis 500 is one of the most celebrated races of the year and an event I always dreamed of racing while growing up in California and in nearby Pittsboro. I've won five NASCAR races at IMS and the track will always be a special place for me, so to be able to participate in such a historic day will be something I remember for the rest of my life."

Gordon will lead the 33-car field to the green flag behind the wheel of a 650 supercharged horsepower, seven-speed transmission, production spec Chevrolet Corvette Z06. 2015 will mark the 14th consecutive year a Chevrolet vehicle paces the Indianapolis 500.

After the green flag, Gordon says he'll watch a few laps with his family before jetting off to Charlotte to compete in NASCAR's Coke 600 that night.

Rookie Orientation and practice for next month's Indianapolis 500 begins Sunday.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Daly Signs '500' Deal

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has announced the signing of former GP2 driver and Indiana native, Conor Daly, to the team Indianapolis 500 roster.

"I am ecstatic to partner with Schmidt Peterson Motorsport for the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500.  I have had a great relationship with Sam Schmidt since driving for him in Indy Lights and I've always wanted a shot with his Verizon IndyCar Series team. It's an honor to make my second attempt at running the Indy 500.


Daly, who made his single '500' start in 2013, will run the No. 43 entry with backing from a long-time sponsor with Richard Petty's NASCAR program.

Daly's first on-track activity will come Sunday, May 3 during INDYCAR's Verizon IndyCar Series open test at IMS.

The announcement of SPM's 3rd entry becomes the 32nd of an expected 34 entries to next month's 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

INDYCAR Announces NOLA Penalties

INDYCAR, the sanctioning body of the Verizon IndyCar Series, announced later Wednesday afternoon the penalties and infractions from Sunday's Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was penalized 3 drivers points and placed on probation for 3 races for violating Rule 9.3.3 (avoidable contact).
9.3.3. Avoidable Contact - The Primary responsibility for avoiding contact with a Competitor resides with the overtaking Competitor and the secondary responsibility resides with the Competitor(s) being overtaken. A Competitor who fails to demonstrate their responsibility and initiates a maneuver that results in contact with another Competitor may be penalized.
Dale Coyne Racing's Francesco was fined $10,000 and placed on probation for 6 races for violating Rule 7.10.1.8 (contact with personnel).
7.10.1.8 Contact with personnel or hitting equipment and causing it to contact personnel
Marco Andretti of Andretti Autosport was fined $500 for violating Rule 1.6.5.1.1 (competition meeting: drivers told they would be fined for not keeping helmet visor down during pit stop).
1.6.5.1.1. Competition Meetings - INDYCAR may conduct one or more meetings of Drivers, team managers, spotters and chief mechanics to discuss general application, construction, and interpretation of the Rules and any specific Rules applying to a particular Event.
Drivers weren't the only competitors condemned for actions at NOLA. 3 crew members were each fined $500 for violating safety rules.

A member of Dale Coyne's crew violated Rule 1.2.7.2(f) (fueling without visor down).
1.2.7.2. Crew Members and Other Competitors Participating in a Pit Stop – Over the wall crew members, and any Member physically participating in the refueling process and/or tire changing process during a pit stop shall wear:
f)Full-face helmet (fuelers only)
Andretti Autosport had a member violate Rules 7.9.6 (failure to attend tire during pit stop) and Rule 7.9.11 (equipment must remain in assigned pit).
7.9.6. Equipment and tires on the Track side of pit wall must be attended by a crewmember at all times. The outside front tire changer must have his/her foot on the tire until the Car enters the pit.

7.9.11 Except as otherwise provided by the Rules, all personnel and equipment must remain within the assigned pit.
The 6th and final penalty from the weekend went to a member of KVSH Racing for violating Rule
1.2.7.2(g) (over the wall without a helmet).
1.2.7.2. Crew Members and Other Competitors Participating in a Pit Stop – Over the wall crew members, and any Member physically participating in the refueling process and/or tire changing process during a pit stop shall wear:
g)INDYCAR-approved helmet
(Over-the-wall Competitors only)

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Servia And Saavedra Land Rides

IndyCar veterans Oriol Servia and Sebastian Saavedra woke up Tuesday morning to announce their plans for the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

Oriol Servia was first to make his plans known, courtesy of an 8am press release from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

"I honestly couldn't be any happier to announce that I will be entering the 99th Indianapolis 500 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing,” said Servia. “There is a saying in Spanish "A la tercera va la vencida" (Third time lucky) that I feel fits our effort very well. This will be our third attempt together to cross the most famous brickyard first after 500 miles. The first two efforts were very promising and encouraged all parties to go for it again with the most ambitious aspirations. I have followed closely all the changes that the team has gone through over the winter and I am really excited as I have worked with most of the new hires. I believe the whole team is perhaps the strongest and most talented group in the whole Indy car paddock. I must thank the whole team and especially the bosses, Mr. Rahal, Mr. Letterman and Mr. Lanigan for their confidence and support. I can't wait to jump in the car and team up with Graham again. This will be a great month of May."

Three hours later Chip Ganassi Racing Teams announced their season plans for the No. 8 car. And those plans include Sebastian Saavedra. Saavedra will run the entry this weekend in Long Beach and he road course round at Indianapolis. Sage Karam, who competed the first two races in the car, will run Barber and the remaining schedule until the season finale at Sonoma where the plans are still up in the air.

Saavedra comes to Ganassi with backing from Gary Peterson and his AFS sponsorship package.

“We’ve been committed to Sage and to running the No. 8 car in the full Verizon IndyCar Series season since day one, and this plan reflects our continued investment in the series and in the team,' said team owner Chip Ganassi. "Sage continues to grow his race craft in his development role with us, and we look forward to having both he and Sebastian contribute to the No. 8 team moving forward this season.”

In addition, Saavedra will run a 5th Ganassi-backed entry in the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500. It's likely the car will be farmed out through another Chevrolet team.

The Servia and Saavedra news bumps the current confirmed Indianapolis 500 entries to 31, which will likely grow to 34 before opening day. The complete 2015 car/driver chart can bee viewed HERE.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Hildebrand Back At Indy

Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing announced Tuesday morning the signing of JR Hildebrand to run the team's third entry in May's Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

The 27-year-old American will run the No. 6 Chevrolet with primary sponsorship from Preferred Freezer Services. PFS returns to back Hildebrand at Indianapolis as they did last year when he started 9th and finished 10th in his 4th '500' start.

Hildebrand will be joined by teammates Ed Carpenter and Josef Newgarden, all of whom have been very fast at Indianapolis the last few seasons.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Andretti Sign De Silvestro For Indianapolis

Andretti Autosport announced Thursday afternoon the signing of Simona De Silvestro to the team's 5th entry into next month's 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

The deal came together with backing and primary sponsorship from TE Connectivity, a $14 billion global technology company.

De Silvestro, who'll run the No. 29 Honda, ran the season opening race in St. Petersburg in Andretti's No. 25 entry. Justin Wilson has been previously announced as the No. 25 pilot for both the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Indianapolis 500. In addition to Wilson, the Swiss driver and former F-1 test driver will team with series regulars Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and Carlos Munoz.