For 2017 ... INDYCAR's "NEXT" Is Next

Will this finally be the year that Helio Castroneves captures the Verizon IndyCar Series season championship? In IndyCar competition, Castroneves has 23 wins and 38 poles, and placed second in the season standings four times, third two times and fourth four times - but never one series championship. Maybe more importantly, Castroneves won the Indianapolis 500 in 2001, 2002 and 2009, making him one of only nine total drivers, and the only active driver, to have won this iconic race at least three times. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2016)

For 2017 ... INDYCAR's "NEXT" Is Next

On New Year's Day, INDYCAR released the fourth chapter of its "Racing Heart" advertising campaign designed to kick off the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

Following three consecutive years showcasing the thrilling traits of the sport, INDYCAR's communications in 2017 will feature the next exciting chapter of on-track action, the next drivers to watch, the next technology and innovation.

The theme "NEXT" builds upon the successful season concepts "RIVALS," "SPEED" and "LEGENDS." With the turning of the calendar, a brand video teasing the new communication plan was shared via social and digital media.

INDYCAR's "NEXT" is next.

"We're confident and focused on INDYCAR's future," said C.J. O'Donnell, chief marketing officer of INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "The theme 'NEXT' will effectively deliver our message of continued growth and expresses the momentum our sport has experienced the last three seasons."

INDYCAR's growth since 2013 has been highlighted by a 55 percent increase in overall television viewership across all Verizon IndyCar Series broadcasts on ABC and NBCSN. The series also has experienced increases in event attendance, including six record crowds during the 2016 season.

The theme "NEXT" was developed for the upcoming Verizon IndyCar Series season in cooperation with brand agency partner Johnson & Wolverton and will be prominent in television, digital, print, radio and social platforms.

The theme also speaks to INDYCAR's expanded audience reach.

INDYCAR's success as the fastest-growing form of motorsport in the United States today has come through embracing its core audience, fans who have loved Indy car racing for decades. Studies show the brand attributes of the Verizon IndyCar Series - the speed, sound and thrilling nature of the sport - also resonate with the next generation of fans and that youth movement allows INDYCAR to expand its target audience to Gen X and Gen Z like never before.

The initial emphasis will be on 2016 series champion Simon Pagenaud and new American star Alexander Rossi, the winner of the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil this past May. Plus, there will be excitement for driver/dancer James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Graham Rahal and several other bold drivers.

INDYCAR will use the excitement emanating from the next century of Indianapolis 500s at every event across the 17-race season, including the next track to join the momentum: Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis.

The Verizon IndyCar Series schedule begins March 12 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and will be highlighted by the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on May 28.
(ht: IndyCar)

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Verizon IndyCar Series, Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Graham Rahal, Simon Pagenaud, Alexander Rossi, Indianapolis 500, "Racing Heart", "NEXT", ABC, NBCSN, The EDJE

#GPofNOLA Could Have Been Named The NOLA Mudder 47 (Laps)

Tony Kanaan goes off course during the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana at NOLA Motorsports Park. Image Credit: Joe Skibinski for IndyCar

#GPofNOLA Could Have Been Named The NOLA Mudder 47 (Laps)

The inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana was ushered in with great anticipation and hype for a 75 Lap affair. This great uplift was to be dampened (literally) by a track that suffered from the improper, or unplanned for, wick-ing of pooling water caused by rain in several key places.

True, the track facility (2.74-mile, 13-turn road course) was reclaimed from low ground swamp area near the city of New Orleans which is what characterizes the geography at the end of the Mississippi River. With this in mind, why wasn't the facility better prepared for the track to become a race-able surface in a more even way around the track.

Gabby Chaves (No. 98 Bowers & Wilkins Brian Herta Autosport Honda) comes off course due to degrading track conditions during the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana at NOLA Motorsports Park. Image Credit: Bret Kelley for IndyCar

So full course YELLOW Flags (FCY) filled the air as much as the wet spray from the turbulent backsides of the second race-testing of the Chevy and Honda aero kits. This left (from notes) a total of 47 Laps completed of a scheduled 75 Lap race (called a 105 minute timed race on Lap 28 due to delays caused by FYCs) with only about a total of 26 Laps actually raced in anger. This left 21 laps upon which strategy and fuel conservation could be applied to the race day equation.

Bravo to Schmidt Peterson Motorsports who race with Honda engines and aerodynamics and were able to place both of their drivers on the podium. James Hinchcliffe was able to notch his first win in 2015 and his fourth overall IndyCar career victory while British born James Jakes finished third, his first podium finish since he finished second at Belle Isle-2 in 2013 - his second career top-five IndyCar finish.

Of the 47 Laps logged, Hinchcliffe did not go in for fuel during the last 34 laps that were run ... keeping clean and fuel management were the keys to his success.

The mudder part of the race was on display as cars left the track and hit ARAMCO barriers, slid off the track on corners then kept the tires spinning, flailing grass and chunks of mud while creeping back to a paved surface to soldier on.

One of the most controversial incidents happened on Lap 44 which turned out to be the last GREEN Flag restart - after cruising around the track another three laps on FCY.

The final full course YELLOW Flag came from a massive incident between Sebastien Bourdais, Simon Pageneud, and Ryan Hunter-Reay as the drivers attempted to go three-wide in turns 3 and 4.

Pageneud slid off the track into the mud, and then back on the track in the next right-hand corner, collecting Hunter-Reay and Bourdais sending all three cars across the grass.

Bourdais slides to the tire wall and hits broadsides cracking the hull of his No. 11 Dallara (all preceding crash images by Bret Kelley for IndyCar).

Post Race Incident Quotes:

Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet): “Really too bad about the finish because the Penske Truck Rental Chevy was really fast. It handled great in traffic and we looked like we were heading toward a good result. I'm not sure what Hunter-Reay was thinking there. He just drove us off the track and I'm just glad everyone is OK. I want to thank the fans for staying with us this weekend despite the weather. I think the No. 22 Chevy team will be able to come back strong at Long Beach.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 DHL Honda): “We had a great race going, had some good clean racing there with (Graham) Rahal, (Will) Power — even (Simon) Pagenaud, we went side by side through Turn 10 there, it was some good racing. Then we got down to Turn 3… I’m peddling the car all the way out, it’s loose, there’s just no more room for (Pagenaud) to be out there.  (Sebastien) Bourdais, is on my left, I don’t know where to go at that point. I’m using my regular racing line – (Pagenaud) stuck his nose out there (and was off the racing line)… And just cleans us all out. I’m happy all three of us are uninjured. (Pagenaud) said I ran him out of room, but there just was no room in the first place. I don’t know what to say to that — it’s certainly a racing incident but there wasn’t a whole lot of room there to begin with. Disappointing way to end the day, we were looking for a strong finish with the DHL Honda.”

Sebastien Bourdais (No. 11 Team Mistic E-Cigs-KVSH Chevrolet):  “It was a weird race obviously. We held our own throughout the race getting as high as fourth. The Mistic-Circle K car ran good in the wet and ran good as the track transitioned. Then the race just became a succession of cautions with restarts after restarts during which I made a couple of spots and lost a couple of spots. Because of all the cautions there were different strategies and as they played out we ended up having to pit when everybody behind us had already done so. The guys in back cycled to the front and we cycled to the back with the leaders. Then with all the cautions, the guys in back were able to stretch their fuel and on the last restart I was on the inside and Ryan (Hunter-Reay) came up and made it three wide with Simon (Pagenaud). Ryan pushed Simon into the grass, he then came back on track with no control and could not avoid collecting me ending our race. It was never going to be a good day, but now with the damage to the car it is a shame because this was going to be my Indy 500 car.”

The #5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda front wing aero kit of James Hinchcliffe bathed in New Orleans purple, green and gold, Mardi Gras style, winner's circle confetti at the Verizon IndyCar victory podium. Image Credit: Chris Jones for IndyCar

The race also had its share of missing and damaged aero kit parts, but through it all, drivers that kept their cars clean, advanced during restarts, and stayed away from the mud were rewarded with great results.

Pos   Driver                      Team/Engine         Time/Gap
1      James Hinchcliffe     Schmidt/Honda     1h47m19.4896
2      Helio Castroneves     Penske/Chevrolet     +0.4279
3      James Jakes     Schmidt/Honda     +0.8452
4      Simona de Silvestro     Andretti/Honda     +1.2924
5      Juan Pablo Montoya     Penske/Chevrolet     +1.7564
6      Tony Kanaan     Ganassi/Chevrolet     +2.2638
7      Will Power     Penske/Chevrolet     +3.0958
8      Graham Rahal     Rahal/Honda     +4.3495
9      Josef Newgarden     CFH/Chevrolet     +5.7352
10      Luca Filippi     CFH/Chevrolet     +7.2115
11      Scott Dixon     Ganassi/Chevrolet     +7.8421
12      Carlos Munoz     Andretti/Honda     +9.0899
13      Marco Andretti     Andretti/Honda     +9.7817
14      Charlie Kimball     Ganassi/Chevrolet     +15.7221
finished the race, above - retired from the race, below
15      Gabby Chaves     Herta/Honda    
16      Carlos Huertas     Coyne/Honda    
17      Stefano Coletti     KV/Chevrolet    
18      Sage Karam     Ganassi/Chevrolet    
19      Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti/Honda    
20      Simon Pagenaud     Penske/Chevrolet    
21      Sébastien Bourdais     KV/Chevrolet    
22      Takuma Sato     Foyt/Honda    
23      Francesco Dracone     Coyne/Honda    
24      Jack Hawksworth     Foyt/Honda
(ht: motorsport.com | nextgenindy.com)

The return of  Simona de Silvestro for a second race (in a race by race commitment) to an Andretti Autosport seat gave the accomplished female driver and the team its highest finishing order in this young 2015 season. A commitment to have a car ready for her this next weekend for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, a track where she has won at and performed well, has not been announced. It would be a shame a deal can not be made by race time April 17 - 19 - Race Broadcast, Apr 19 4:00 PM ET.

Two races in the books where Carbon Fiber and Terra Firma have played a major role at bringing out full course YELLOW Flags. Let's hope we all can be treated to a competitive full run through the streets of Long Beach and see for ourselves if the new aerodynamics of the cars limit the potential of passing because of low mushroom cloud "muddy air" turbulence placed on the trailing car.

If this is the case, IndyCar will be taking a big step backwards toward a lack of fan enjoyment due to IRL style nose-to-tail railroad car racing that was prevalent during the Dallara "Crapwagon" era.

... notes from The EDJE

A Detroit Grand Prix 2-Fer Benefits Penske Racing's Verizon Champ Bid

Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves led a race-high 42 laps in Race 2 t the Detroit Grand Prix, including the final 35 as he steadily pulled away to the point he could save his tires and make the final pit stop without the usual degree of pressure. Image Credit: David Yowe via Motorsport.com (2014)

A Detroit Grand Prix 2-Fer Benefits Penske Racing's Verizon Champ Bid

One week after Andretti Autosport served notice that it intends to capture the Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) championship with its win utilizing a "Flood The Zone" 5-car strategy in the INDY500, Penske Racing answered back in their own 2-race Grand Prix on their own track at the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle.

Andretti Autosport rolled into Detroit on a high created by winning one of motor culture's biggest prizes ($2.5 million winner's share) with the highest single race championship points payouts (double) for all the cars that finished - the 98th Indianapolis 500. Andretti Autosport 2012 IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay beat Penske Racing's 3-time INDY500 champion Helio Castroneves by the second smallest margin (0.06 seconds/about 3 feet separating the end of the DHL DW12 from the trailing Pennzoil DW12) with three additional Andretti Autosport cars landing at P3-Marco Andretti (so, that's two on the podium), P4-Carlos Munoz, and P6-Kurt Busch.

Up until about Lap 175 of 200 laps, Andretti Autosport was in contention to place all five cars fielded in the top 10 positions ... that is until a wild restart crash that saw Ed Carpenter in P3, Townsend Bell P4 and James Hinchcliffe at P5 - that had Bell passing, and ahead of Carpenter, who touched Bell, while Hinchcliffe trailed into an inside position setting up an impossible 3-wide competition through Turn-1 - sending Carpenter and Hinchcliffe careening into the wall.

Ryan Hunter-Reay came to the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle with a 40 point lead over his closest rival, Will Power. If this weekend were just a single race weekend event, the ability to erase this type of deficit would be nearly impossible. In fact, after the two practice sessions, the lap times the two drivers were logging (Power at P4 with a 1:17.8966 and RHR at P5 with a 1:18.1674 fastest lap) would have one guess that even with two races and double the points being awarded, this would still be a nearly impossible task.

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle RACE 1:

Celebrating his best result in a season filled with frustration, Graham Rahal is happy to douse Detroit Race 1 winner, Will Power, from his P2 Podium position. Image Credit: Verizon IndyCar Series (2014)

This excerpted and edited from Crash.net -

Power overcomes poor qualifying to win  
Being mired down in 16th place on the grid in Detroit proved no obstacle to Will Power in his pursuit of a second Verizon IndyCar Series race win in 2014 
By crash.net - 31 May 2014

It had not been the best build-up to the first race of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle for Will Power, with Penske president Tim Cindric earlier admitting that the team was struggling to find pace in the #12 car this weekend as they qualified in a lowly 16th position.

A few hours later and the car - and driver - were transformed, thanks to tapping Power's team mate and polewinner Helio Castroneves for set-up tips and then by adopting a race strategy that gave them a fighting chance, thanks to a healthy amount of good fortune along the way.

Castroneves held the early lead of the race despite struggling to get off the grid for the formation laps, while fellow front row man James Hinchcliffe lost an early duel with Jack Hawksworth down into turn 1. There was an early yellow on lap 5 when Power made contact with Simon Pagenaud: the Australian was distracted by a simultaneous threat to the right from Marco Andretti and ended up pinching Pagenaud into the wall which left the #77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsport car in the turn 4 run-off with broken suspension.

A few of the cars toward the back of the field - Power among them - opted to pit under the caution, but the leaders stayed out and the race resumed on lap 8. However there was another early caution on lap 15 when Mike Conway understeered into the wall at turn 12 - meaning that both of the 2013 race winners were early retirements this time - and the leaders found it hard to pass up the opportunity to pit under yellow a second time.

The two drivers who stayed out were Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti, who duly resumed in the lead ahead of Power and the rest of the cars that had pitted on lap 6 that included Mikhail Aleshin, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Charlie Kimball, while Castroneves found himself down to eighth just ahead of Hinchcliffe.  
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The pit stops cycling through had put Castroneves back out in front when a new caution materialised on lap 36 for Josef Newgarden getting into the tyre barrier and wall at turn 7. The clean-up proved longer than expected because of water that had spilled out of the tyres when they were hit, and that brought the fuel window to reach the finish tantalisingly close - several cars including Ryan Briscoe and Marco Andretti tried pitting under the yellow for fuel top-ups in case the rest of the race ended up with an excess of cautions to make an extreme fuel conservation strategy viable.

The leaders stayed off pit road under the caution only to come in shortly afterwards in accordance with their pre-arranged race strategies: Castroneves and Hinchcliffe came in on lap 46 and dropped to 15th and 16th respectively as a result, which ended up removing both from contention for the race win in the latter stages of the race.

Effectively the field was now split into three groups of differing strategies: Power led the race ahead of Tony Kanaan and Graham Rahal, all of whom needed to pit shortly and had no intention of easing off their fuel use. From sixth on down was the second group headed by Marco Andretti and Justin Wilson who were going to try and make it home on fumes; and then there were the former leaders Castroneves and Hinchcliffe who led the lack of cars who could make it to the finish but who now lacked track position.

Power came in for his final stop on lap 53 with 18 laps remaining, and a fast stop saw him re-emerge just ahead of Andretti.
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Graham Rahal driving the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's No. 15 DW12 Honda, gave Penske Racing's Chevy-Powered DW12 Will Power a chase over the final 10 laps to capture a P2 Podium position at Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit Race 1 at Belle Isle race's end. Image Credit: Graham Rahal Instagram

The final ten laps saw Power on the ragged edge as he was forced to apply every bit of his talent to hold off Rahal to the chequered flag. Kanaan was well out of this battle and was five seconds off the pair as Power successfully clinched the win by just 0.3308s from Rahal.

"Just a great job by the team, putting me in a position to use our speed," said Power. "It's a massive win. It's a massive win for me, massive win for the team and especially for Roger and for Chevy. They've been trying to win here for a long time and we finally did it with a Honda trying to charge by."

"We've been fighting awfully hard to just finish where we have been finishing and so to finally get a result like this it means more than words," said Rahal, who had been suffering a frustrating season up to now in 2014.
----
"That was hard work, very hard work," admitted Power. "I'm very exhausted."
[Reference Here]

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle RACE 2:

Helio Castroneves and Chevrolet were the class of the field in Detroit on Sunday as he led his Chevy-Powered competitors, Penske team mate Will Power / Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing's Charlie Kimball, to the checkered flag and podium in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit Race 2 Belle Isle. Image Credit: Team Chevy (2014)

This excerpted and edited from Racer -

IndyCar: Castroneves finds redemption in Belle Isle race 2  
By: Robin Miller - Racer.com - Sunday, 01 June 2014

Helio Castroneves may have had the fastest car Saturday and, due to some untimely caution flags, he wound up finishing fifth while teammate Will Power came from 16th to first.

The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner definitely had the fastest car Sunday afternoon at Belle Isle and nothing could deter him from victory lane.

Starting third in the Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet, Castroneves completed a Penske perfect weekend with a dominating drive in the second of the Chevrolet Dual at Detroit. The 39-year-old veteran took the lead on lap 35, stretched his advantage to 13 seconds and then overcame a couple of late restarts to score the 19th win of his career and tie Rick Mears for 11th on the all-time win list. He led the final 35 laps and was clearly in a class of his own.
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Power, who made four pits stops and suffered a drive-through penalty for contact with Josef Newgarden on the opening lap, battled back to take second in the Verizon Dallara-Chevrolet.  
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Polesitter Takuma Sato led the first 10 laps in the AJ Foyt Racing Dallara-Honda but as his strategy went awry, he fell back in the pack, got spun by Ryan Briscoe, and eventually tagged the tire wall with five laps left to wind up 18th.

Mike Conway, with a first and a third at Detroit a year ago, crashed out of Saturday's race but qualified his Ed Carpenter Racing car fourth Sunday morning. He looked like the only driver with the pace to give Castroneves fits but a long stint on fading optional tires was not the way to go, and he plummeted down the field. He finished 11th.

Indy winner Ryan Hunter-Reay suffered through a miserable weekend. He crashed in qualifying Saturday and finished 16th in the first race. He smacked the wall in almost the same place Sunday on his first flying lap, started 21st and dropped out in 19th place with ECU failure.
[Reference Here]

Best descriptive Tweet:

With Penske Racing holding down the top two positions in the championship points race over Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay in P3, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' Simon Pagenaud P4, and Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti P5, one has to get past Andretti's Rookie Carlos Munoz and Penske's Juan Montoya before reaching any Target Chip Ganassi driver. Last year's IndyCar champion Scott Dixon sits behind seven other drivers after seven races with eleven races to go ... just not the right direction for Scott or Chip.

Next weekend the Verizon IndyCar Series takes the show to the high banked tri-oval turns in Fort Worth, Texas, site of the most close finishes in IndyCar where Helio Castroneves grabbed onto, and held the championship points lead until the last race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana last year.

This excerpted and edited from NBC Sports -

IndyCar title chase may shape up as a battle of mental chess match
Tony DiZinno Jun 2, 2014, 1:30 PM EDT

This weekend saw Power take on the role of the villain, the masked avenger who made contact with Pagenaud on Saturday (no penalty, just as he also did not receive one in Long Beach) but did make contact with Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal on Sunday (which did trigger a penalty).

Meanwhile Castroneves came out revitalized with arguably his best weekend in the series in years. He’s won races with the DW12 before, yes, but not with as much “he’s still got it” pace and gusto as he delivered both races this weekend, particularly Sunday. It was a seriously impressive mental bounce back after losing out in Indy.

Power’s mind has long been hard to decipher. He’s consistently been IndyCar’s out-and-out fastest driver since he joined Team Penske, but he’s never been fully able to keep it all together over the course of the season, and hasn’t yet captured an elusive championship. This year, he’s not making any friends, and he’s not focusing on points – only on driving the best he can every race. It remains to be seen whether that mindset will ultimately pay dividends.

Hunter-Reay is arguably IndyCar’s most versatile driver, as he excels on any of road courses, short ovals and big ovals. If he has even the tiniest of weak points, it’s on street courses, where he’s been plagued either by mechanical issues or slight mistakes the last year and a half. After Indy, RHR had a weekend nearly as bad as AJ Allmendinger’s last year in Detroit, and now must find a way to recover in Texas.

Pagenaud and Dixon are similar in that they both have a seriously steely resolve and exterior, and haven’t let issues get to them this year, at least publicly. Dixon’s Sunday drive from 22nd and last to fourth was one of those classic “don’t forget how good the Iceman/defending champion is” type-performances. Pagenaud, too, came back on Sunday following a rough Friday and Saturday.

What about Castroneves? He might have the best mindset going forward. At 39, he’s closer to the end of his career than the beginning. He nails the game outside of the cockpit; he’s still IndyCar’s most recognizable star on a national level and he’s won everything he’s ever needed to in IndyCar. Except, of course, that elusive first championship.

The Brazilian is basically IndyCar’s walking, talking version of Pharrell’s “Happy!” but there’s still a burning desire to be the best when he straps his helmet on. He’s driving so much calmer, cooler and consistently than he was three years ago.

If Power and/or Hunter-Reay self-destruct around him, Dixon can’t make up the 140-plus point deficit (he’s 142 back now, and we’ll know likely by Pocono whether he still has a shot) and Pagenaud isn’t consistent enough to match the “big teams,” Castroneves may well samba into this year’s title.

Marco Andretti’s the remaining driver in the top five still with a shot at the title, but he’s at the point where he has to win – particularly at Pocono, given double points there – before you can really begin to factor him into title contention. Given his results consistency level though, you can’t rule him out of it, either.

How drivers and teams manage this summer stretch, both on-track and in their heads, will be fascinating to watch. 
[Reference Here]

The season now begins in earnest ... no excuses. Tune in to Twitter, RaceControl.IndyCar.com and/or NBC Sports to catch the action and assess to see who wants this championship the most:

6 JUN Friday - Practice 1 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM ET

Qualifications 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM ET

Practice 2 7:45 PM - 8:15 PM ET

7 JUN Saturday - Race 8:30 PM - 10:45 PM ET

... notes from The EDJE

Ryan Hunter-Reay … From ‘Rookie Move’ To Indy500 Winner

"GOT MILK?!!!" - Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay pours the traditional award of a post race winner's quart of milk over his head in celebration of being the 98th winner of the Indy500. Partial Caption & Image: Eric Schwarzkopf (2014)

Ryan Hunter-Reay … From ‘Rookie Move’ To Indy500 Winner

The Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) 2014 championship season has been a real roller-coaster ride for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay (RHR), through these first five races of an 18 race season.

The lowest point for RHR and Andretti Autosport had to have been at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. With Ryan Hunter-Reay followed by James Hinchcliffe running strong in the lead for most of the race, Josef Newgarden threatened this march to the eventual win through a superb final pitstop from his Sarah Fisher Hartman crew to leapfrog to the lead on Lap 56 in Turn1.

On cold tires, Newgarden had a little wheel spin coming out of the Fountain Turn (Turn3) and RHR placed his nose diving into the apex of Turn4 causing a crash into the wall and collecting several drivers ... ending the races of Newgarden, Himself, Hinchcliffe, Kanaan, and etc. causing Andretti Autosport team-mate Hinchcliffe to say on a post wreck television pitlane interview: "a rookie move" "sad for Newgarden, TK etc."

RHR was a total goat for the move and he even had his team owner, Michael Andretti, was visibly very upset at messing up what would have been a double-podium finish for his team at the 40th running of the Long Beach Grand Prix. Of course ... Ryan Hunter-Reay, at the time, did not apologize.

The Indy500 opening ceremony along the front straight-away at the Pagoda. Image Credit: P29 qualifying/P23 finishing AJ Foyt Racing No. 41 driver Martin Plowman (2014)

Enter Alabama and the reworked, and famed, "Month Of May" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which, for the first time, featured a dedicated road course race, The Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and The Greatest Spectacle in Racing ... the Indy500.

Just four weeks ago, Ryan Hunter-Reay was crowned the winner of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at the Barber Motorsports Park.

After a huge crash marred the standing start of the  inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Simon Pagenaud went on to win where Ryan Hunter-Reay finished second and Helio Castroneves was third.

So far, so good for RHR who was looking to redeem himself ... but was still points behind Penske Racing's Will Power who had benefited from Ryan's "rookie move" at Long Beach with the win and a strong position on the VICS season points lead.

Ryan Hunter-Reay shares an intimate moment with his young son, Ryden, on pitlane before the Indy500. The Andretti Autosport family had custom firesuits made for the drivers who had young ones attending the race ... duplicated down to the very logos their father's suits had on them - to scale. Image Credit: @Liz Kreutz via Twitter

This excerpted and edited from The Detroit News -

Ryan Hunter-Reay excited to follow up Indy 500 triumph with race in Detroit
By David Goricki - May 26, 2014 at 11:44 pm - The Detroit News

Ryan Hunter-Reay is giving American motor sports fans a hero to cheer for in the IndyCar series.

Hunter-Reay will take the Belle Isle race track this weekend for the Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader with the prestigious title of Indianapolis 500 champion.

Basically, Hunter-Reay beats Castroneves by a mere 3 feet. Image Credit: INDYSTAR

Hunter-Reay, 33, became the first American to win the Indy 500 since Sam Hornish in 2006, and he earned the win in thrilling style, passing three-time champion Helio Castroneves on the final lap Sunday, then holding him off to win by less than a car length for the second closest finish in race history.

Penske Racing's 3-time Indy500 winner Helio Castroneves consoles himself just after the end of one of the most memorable Indy500 races since maybe the 1960's. An Indy for the ages. 150 laps without a yellow flag - followed by a crazy wild series of yellows and a red flag - followed by an intense battle between RHR and Castroneves. Helio started to get out of his car and then just dropped back in and held his head for a minute in complete disbelief. Somebody had to finish 2nd ... Caption & Image Credit: Norm DeWitt (2014)

Hunter-Reay talked about his win at Indy, his busy schedule and how he is excited to come to the Motor City in a few days during a phone interview Monday afternoon.

“I was running on instincts the last four or five laps, just went as hard as I could,” said Hunter-Reay, talking about how the lead changed hands several times between Castroneves and himself. “Helio knows how to win at Indy and he was tough to hold off. We ran hard but clean against each other and I felt we put on an excellent show.

“It feels so great to be an American Indy 500 champion. I idolized the Unsers, Andrettis and A.J. Foyt, all legends while growing up, had all their posters on my wall so hoisting that flag was so cool.”

Yes, Hunter-Reay quickly IS becoming the face of the IndyCar series, winning the series championship in 2012 and now the Indy 500. He has won eight races during the past three seasons, more than any other driver, and holds a 40-point lead over Penske driver Will Power (274-234) for the top spot in the standings.

Now, it’s on to the Motor City where Honda-powered drivers have won the last two years, spoiling the party of title sponsor Chevrolet and Roger Penske, car owner of Chevrolet-powered cars driven by Castroneves, Power and Juan Montoya.

“I love coming to Detroit,” said Hunter-Reay, who finished runnerup to Mike Conway in Race No. 1 last year and 18th in the second race. “It’s 180-degree opposite from Indy (2.5-mile oval). It’s a bumpy course, physically demanding, a street course similar to Toronto or Houston. There’s also a lot of points on the line so it’s going to be important and exciting.”
----
Hunter-Reay ended Ganassi/Target racing’s run of four consecutive series championships in 2012 when he won four of the final six races to slip past Power by a 468-465 margin to become the first American to become series champion since Hornish in ’06.
----
When Hinchcliffe was asked of the Long Beach fiasco in days leading up to the Indy 500, he replied: “Every driver is competitive and will go for it (lead) when an opportunity presents itself and Ryan will make that right move nine out of every 10 times. He’s the complete package, a very rounded driver. He knows how to get everything out of the car on qualifying and brings it on race day.”

Well, Hinchcliffe was also in position to win the Indy 500 with less than 30 laps remaining Sunday when he took out pole sitter Ed Carpenter while both were in the top 5. Hinchcliffe made it a three-wide situation and the two collided, taking them both out.

When Andretti and Hunter-Reay were in the press conference Sunday, the topic of Hinchcliffe’s move came up.

“Hey, he was going for it. It’s the Indy 500,” Andretti said of Hinchcliffe. “Had he pulled that move off, he’s in position to win the race.”

“Not enough patience,” joked Hunter-Reay. “Rookie move. James is a great friend of mine (laughing).”
----
Yes, it is a game changer, a reason Hunter-Reay was set to open the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, then appear on “The Today Show” before heading to Dallas Wednesday to promote a future race. And, an appearance on the David Letterman Show follows the Belle Isle doubleheader next week.

“It’s been crazy, not time to take a breath yet,” Hunter-Reay said. “I only had four hours of sleep.”

Well, that’s what happens Ryan when you win the Indianapolis 500. In fact, your life will never be the same.

[Reference Here]

So there is a fully redeemed Ryan Hunter-Reay in the VICS season points lead with Andretti Autosport team-mate James Hinchcliffe pulling a "rookie move' to change the complexion of the entire event.

The finishing drivers accomplishments in the top ten positions reads like a Who's Who in American motorsport racing at its highest levels.

As stated by The EDJE on Facebook soon after the event:

What a grand race for the DW12 era - Ryan Hunter-Reay and 3-time Indy500 winner Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves battle the last six laps to the end with RHR taking the win by the 2nd closest margin in 98 years.

Look at the names in the top 10 as well - Marco Andretti on the podium, Andretti Autosport's Carlos Munoz gets a 4th after finishing last year in P2, Penske Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya ... fresh from NASCAR finishes ahead of NASCAR driver stand out Kurt Busch who, again, drove a car fielded by Andretti Autosport. Four-time ChampCar World Series Champion Sebastien Bourdais at 7th followed by Penske Racing's former 2014 points leader Will Power ... who seems to be getting the hang of ovals, last row starter and Mazda Ladder rookie Sage Karam in 9th with J.R. Hildebrand in tenth who was going to win last year's race until he hit the wall on the last corner of the last lap handing the win to Tony Kanaan.

W-O-W !

Ryan Hunter-Reay can now lay claim to something that Helio Castroneves can not say for himself ... with this win during the "Month Of May", RHR has an Indy500 and an IndyCar season championship in his trophy case ... nice move!

... notes from The EDJE

Conway Passes From P17 To Win The 40th Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach

Mike Conway is the second driver for a one-car team. He was brought on to bring a winning edge to road and temporary street courses while the owner/driver, Ed Carpenter, focuses on his specialty of left-turn only racetracks. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2014)

Conway Passes From P17 To Win The 40th Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach

The annual springtime motor sports ritual that set the table for modern day temporary street automobile racing events held its fortieth edition last weekend and it ended predictably ... sort of.

The 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach ended script-like to the casual observer, in that this street course favors drivers who figure out how to get the most out of off-camber concrete corners cradled in unforgiving walls of tire-lined concrete and rewards them with multiple wins - or at the very least, a high finishing order good for Verizon IndyCar Series championship points.

The podium finishing order would buttress this contention with Ed Carpenter Racing's street and road course driving specialist Mike Conway bringing home his second win here in three years, followed closely by Penske Racing's Will Power who was already a two-time winner, in 2008 and 2011, and keeping pace at P3 was Andretti Autosport rookie driver Carlos Munoz who had won here at Long Beach last year when he was in IndyLights.

Qualifications, however, delivered decidedly different results. A hat-trick of poor performance had the winning drivers of the last three years of the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach missing out on the second round of Knock-Out qualifying structure which ends with the fastest six survivors of the previous two rounds race for the best time to settle the top six positions of the special 40th Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach standing start East of the Start/Finish line on Shoreline Drive.

Will Power stated that this year, he will not be worrying about the championship but only on wins. He has come to realize after being the 'bridesmaid' for so many championships that winning is the only thing. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2014)

With last year's winner AJ Foyt Racing's Takuma Sato lining up at P15, 2011 winner Conway sitting at P17, and 2012 winner Power holding station at P14, it looked as though the script would favor a winner from the top ten positions - assuming few local Yellow Flags, great weather, and little passing.

This would leave the prediction to be a new winner presumably from Andretti Autosport's James Hinchcliffe, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing's Josef Newgarden, BHA / BBM with Curb-Agajanian rookie driver Jack Hawksworth, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Simon Pagenaud, Target Chip Ganassi Racing and 2013 ICS champion Scott Dixon, Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti, and Dale Coyne Racing's Justin Wilson, or a repeat win from pole sitter Andretti Autosport 2012 ICS champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, Penske Racing 2001 TGPLB winner Helio Castroneves, and KVSH Racing 4-time champion and past 2005, 2006, and 2007 TGPLB winner Sebastien Bourdais.

After showing that he is really ready to drive in the big leagues through P2 finishing position at the big show ... the 2013 Indy 500, Carlos proves he's ready for the temporary street courses as well with a podium finish at the 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. 5 starts | 2 Top 5 finishes | 2 Top 10 finishes. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2014)

This excerpted and edited from New Track Record -

IndyCar edgy at Long Beach
By Mark Wilkinson - New Track Record, Published 14 April, 2014

The Verizon IndyCar Series has taken on a country club feel in recent years.  The drivers are all buddies. Before the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, James Hinchliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay even joked on camera about flipping a coin to see who was going to lead the first lap.  I wonder if those two still had their senses of humor after the race.

Humor is nothing new in IndyCar.  Eddie Sachs was known as “the clown prince of racing” in the 60′s.  Bobby Unser was not only shockingly honest as a racer and an announcer, he was also a born storyteller.  Still is.  A.J. Foyt’s humor was always sharp and biting.  Still is.  So it is nothing new that today’s racers are funny.  What’s different is the politically correct way they interact.  The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach certainly changed all that.

To spice up the broadcast, NBCSN brought in Paul Tracy, four-time Long Beach winner and notorious truth-teller.  Everyone just knew he would stir the pot a little bit.  Sadly, PT was just another talking head, saying nothing controversial.  Sigh.  I am sure he will get the message to go find the real Paul Tracy.

This all leads us to how a pretty good race became an entertaining one.  Bad moves led to bad feelings, sheepish honesty, and a few apologies that may or may not have been accepted.  Hopefully, it will lead to a little ill will.  Then maybe Paul Tracy can get on board and put the hammer down on some people.
----
The irony in the series is delicious right now.  The top dogs were forced to act like contrite backmarkers. Scott Dixon apologized for pushing Justin Wilson into the wall and the apology was UNACCEPTED.  Will Power apologized for punting Simon Pagenaud with his usual it’s-my-fault-that-it’s-your-fault line and the apology was UNACCEPTED.  Ryan Hunter-Reay apologized by saying a real racer goes for it when he sees the chance at exactly the wrong spot and his apology was UNACCEPTED.  I just love to see the shifty-eyed apologies of schoolboys caught in the act without a plausible story to tell.  Not ironically, Graham Rahal was his usual self and refused to accept any blame for anything.  Never change, Graham.  Both Michael Andretti and James Hinchcliffe were less than pleased with Hunter-Reay’s antics.

Simmering feuds, unaccepted apologies, and possibly a little bit of hate await us at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.
----
It’s good to see some of the politically correct veneer come off the series.  This is the racing and these are the racers people want to see.
[Reference Here]

Paul Tracy wasn't all that exclusively PC during the broadcast ... he did muse that if a Beaux Barfield sensibility toward Race Control had been in play when he was driving, he would have been penalized way less and won a whole lot more races.

Also, The Mayor of Hinchtown momentarily became the Sheriff and was laying down the law when he said he really didn't expect such a 'Rookie Move' and that he felt sorry for Newgarden, himself and all of the other drivers that had to be caught up in the mess at Turn #4.

THIS is entertaining competition for all … not wimpy, even though the whole deal looked as though it went by the script — few local Yellow Flags, good weather, and little passing until Lap 56. If that actually happened (save one rookie move), Ryan Hunter-Reay would have been a repeat winner with James Hinchcliffe (would have remained a Mayor) at P2, and Newgarden’s cold black tires would have warmed up and he probably would own the last position on the podium.

A big 'rookie move' wreck in Turn 4, a blocked track Yellow Flag on Lap 56 of 80, and passing from P17 ... past P16 Penske Racing's 1999 TGPLB winner Juan Montoya, P15 Taku, P14 Power, P13 Kanaan, P12 Servia, P11 Munoz, and etc. through to P1 holder TCGR's Scott Dixon (who had to stop for fuel on Lap78), Mike Conway establishes Ed Carpenter Racing as an early odds-on contender for a team championship in 2014 with a repeat win for the 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach ... predictably, just like the script.

... notes from The EDJE

Castroneves Gains A New P3 Chaser At #GPoB With Pagenaud Win

Helio Castroneves gets ready to keep the IZOD IndyCar Series championship points lead as the only driver to complete every lap of every race of the season so far. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Castroneves Gains A New P3 Chaser At #GPoB With Pagenaud Win

Ever go to a hockey game and have a fight break out? How about go to a late season open wheel championship points chase and have a massacre and a bunch of vehicle carnage pop up?

Many who follow and witnessed the last IZOD IndyCar Series championship race probably felt they were treated to both type of events at the race in the streets, the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT (Twitter hashtag - #GPoB).

James Hinchcliffe as he launches off of the chicane that begins the front straight-away. The IZOD IndyCar DW12 cars reach a high speed of around 180mph with the chicane ... maybe over 200mph without. Image Credit: John Cote via motorsport.com

With only four races left in the 19 race season, the bumpy, uneven-surfaced, chicane and tight hairpin element-ed 2.04 mile 12-turn temporary street track delivered a tough championship test for all men, a woman, and Dallara DW12 machine which seemed to be shaping up to deliver an eleventh new winner in a season, tying a record that had been standing for over a decade (2000 and 2001 CART/ChampCar seasons).

Going in, four-time ChampCar World Series season champion Sebastien Bourdais felt he could be the upset winner this weekend in Baltimore. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

In the morning warm-up, Dragon Racing's four-time past ChampCar champion Sebastien Bourdais was very quick after damaging his car by hitting the corner tires in the chicane during qualifications. Bourdais started the race from P22 of a 24 car field and through skillful and aggressive driving managed to work his way through the many YELLOW Flags (six full course cautions with almost every car sustaining some damage) on restarts to lead the race for 19 laps. "SeaBass" ended up on the podium at P3 ... but not without a fight. "We had a fast car. We had a fast car all the way to the end of the race. That car got beat up pretty good, so by the end it was pretty ragged. I am just really happy for the guys. Yeah, it would have been awesome to win and in so many ways I guess we should have or would have. But you know, it’s the podium………another one, and its really important for the group. For the spirits, for Jay, for the sponsors: McAfee, TrueCar, and Chevy. Still pretty happy because when you start nearly dead last and you make it to the podium, pass a bunch of people and make it stick at the end – its pretty sweet."
(ht: rpm2night.com)

Simona de Silvestro scored her best finish of the season by taking the checkered flag in fifth place behind the wheel of the No. 78 Nuclear Entergy Areva KV Racing Technology Chevrolet to give Team Chevy two of the top-five finishers. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Another triumph performance was delivered by the only female pilot in the 24 car field. After qualifying P17, KV Racing Technology's Simona de Silvestro driving the #78 Nuclear Energy Areva Chevy managed to stay out of trouble and get past some pretty capable drivers, including the Indy 500 winner and team-mate Tony Kanaan finished at P5. "I'm definitely really happy with P5. It was kind of a crazy race. I don't think we had the fastest car out there, but we had a pretty good call on the pits when we got stuck in one of the wrecks. After that we were able to move forward and had some pretty good restarts. The Nuclear Clean Air Energy car was really good at the end, so I'm pretty happy with it for sure. Not a bad way to celebrate my birthday."
(ht: rpm2night.com)

What really marked this race was the IZOD IndyCar Series championship fight and the held over controversy from the previous race at Sonoma Raceway about pitboxes and pitbox etiquette. Clear yellow paint and dotted 45 degree outer edge lines defined the smaller pitboxes all throughout pitlane. A new rule was added to the rule book that clarified the movements of pit workers during competition so as to make the racing safer for everyone.

All eyes were on Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon and Penske Racing's Will Power since Dixon had lost points in his effort to chase down Will Power's team-mate, Helio Castroneves, after having to serve a drive-through penalty during the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma for hitting a Penske Racing crew member working in Power's pit located just in front of Dixon. With the pitboxes being 2 feet shorter, and the pitbox locations being reversed - Dixon in front of Power, many thought there would be an opportunity for Power to possibly graze a crew member in Dixon's pit.

On the track, however, is where a miscue by Will Power ended both Dixon's chances at gaining championship points and Power's race.

On a race restart, Will Power was sizing up then race leader, Sebastien Bourdais, for a pass not aware that Scott Dixon had the same exact design on Power's car just in front of the #9 Target sponsored Honda Dallara. Dixon popped out to the right, next to the wall, then Power popped out to the right and touched Dixon's front wing sending both cars into the inside trackside wall ending their race and bringing out another of the six full course cautions of the race.

Scott Dixon started the race 38 points behind after gaining a point for capturing the Firestone Fast Six pole award, but lost another 11 points leaving him down 49 points with three races left. Disappointing after starting the #GPoB P1 just to finish P19.

As for the championship points leader, Helio Castroneves started his PPG Team Penske Chevy from a P7 qualifying position but lost many positions and had to adapt to a different pit strategy due to an early race black flag stop and go penalty for a safety violation. He slid his car in his pitbox and hit a crew member.

With Scott Dixon being forced out of the race after getting collected by Will Power, and Ryan Hunter-Reay suffering a power outage in his car - stalling on the track ... Castroneves was able to distance himself from his top two competitors with a respectable P9 finish.

"Towards the end, I noticed that my main competitors were out," said Castroneves, who is seeking his first series title. “I know it could have been a bigger risk trying to finish further ahead. I felt that I had a target on my back. So I said, ‘I’m just going to take what I get,’ and that’s what I did. Sometimes it’s better to have only a few points instead of having a big accident and not even getting a point. So now we’re 49 ahead, and that’s what we’ve been doing the entire season."
(ht: The Baltimore Sun)

Castroneves now leads the IZOD IndyCar Series with 501 points. Dixon is still second. Hunter-Reay, the reigning series champion, dropped from third to fifth with 427 points.

The Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT from left to right - Josef Newgarden P2, Simon Pagenaud P1, and Sebastien Bourdais P3. Image Credit: Chris Owens via motorsport.com

In the end, the survivors came across the stripe after 75 hard fought laps with Frenchman Simon Pagenaud - #77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda leading the final seven laps (Will Power led the most laps with 31) after aggressively passing Marco Andretti on a race restart to win his second race of the season and overtake Ryan Hunter-Reay for third in the championship points behind Dixon, Tennessean Josef Newgarden - #67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda in P2 to notch his best finish in IndyCar as his brakes were fading, and Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais - #7 McAfee Dragon Racing Chevy in P3.

Favorite Tweet? ... Shane Rogers @upshifted - Random Stat: All 5 of the cars with the digit 7 in them, finished in the top 7. #indycar #GPoB.

How they finished the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT (75 Laps):

Pos  Driver               Team/Engine           Time/Gap
 1.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt/Honda    2h16m32.3443s
 2.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher/Honda          +4.1592s
 3.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon/Chevy          +7.9588s
 4.  Justin Wilson        Coyne/Honda          +10.7598s
 5.  Simona de Silvestro  KV/Chevy             +11.6017s
 6.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi/Honda        +21.4160s
 7.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti/Chevy       +22.8422s
 8.  Sebastian Saavedra   Dragon/Chevy         +25.5377s
 9.  Helio Castroneves    Penske/Chevy         +29.3117s
10.  Marco Andretti       Andretti/Chevy       +40.5499s
11.  Tristan Vautier      Schmidt/Honda           +1 lap
12.  Oriol Servia         Panther/Chevy           +1 lap
13.  EJ Viso              Andretti/Chevy          +1 lap
14.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter/Chevy         +1 lap
15.  Tony Kanaan          KV/Chevy              +2 laps*
16.  Stefan Wilson        Coyne/Honda            +3 laps
17.  Graham Rahal         Rahal/Honda           +7 laps*
18.  Will Power           Penske/Chevy           +8 laps

* Not running at finish

Retirements:

     Scott Dixon          Ganassi/Honda          52 laps
     Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti/Chevy         42 laps
     Dario Franchitti     Ganassi/Honda          22 laps
     Luca Filippi         Herta/Honda            12 laps
     James Jakes          Rahal/Honda             5 laps
     Takuma Sato          Foyt/Honda              4 laps

All drivers use Dallara DW12 chassis
(ht: autosport.com)

The next scheduled events in the IZOD IndyCar Series 2013 championship season are a doubleheader weekend at the temporary road circuit near Reliant Stadium (home of the NFL Texans) in Houston on October 5 and 6 - similar to the two-race weekends in Detroit and Toronto this year, the Shell/Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston could result in another wild, DW12 rubbing affair - and the season finale, MAVTV 500, is again at the superspeedway oval of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., on Oct. 19.

... notes from The EDJE

Honda Indy Toronto's Tale Of Two Races With One Result

TCGR's three-time IndyCar Champion wins race #32 in his career to mark a strong three race charge to challenge for the 2013 Championship. Image Credit: Honda Indy Toronto (2013)


Honda Indy Toronto's Tale Of Two Races With One Result

With a strong potential of a major points swing in the offing, the thrill of a first-time Standing-Start in IndyCar (ChampCar used them), Push-To-Pass (P2P), two tire compound (Reds/Blacks) strategy, and the 24 year history of exciting temporary street races as a backdrop, the double-header weekend of the 2013 Honda Indy Toronto did not disappoint.

Okay, so the first race of the weekend really was disappointing to not have the Standing-Start as advertised. Josef Newgarden's car failed on the grid sequence which created a 'called' ABORT of the Standing-Start. The cars were rolled off and the formation lap counted as a race lap with the Rolling-Start GREEN Flag which began Lap 2. It was ruled that the Standing-Start would replace the planned Rolling-Start for Race 2 for the second race on Sunday.

Honda Indy Toronto's Race 1, itself, was one of the most entertaining and competitive temporary street course races this season, and what seems to be happening more often than not, the driver to lead the most laps did not win. Marco Andretti comes to mind.

Dragon Racing's Sebastien Bourdais, four-time ChampCar Champion, qualified in P2, right next to four-time IRL/IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti for Honda Indy Toronto Race 1. SeaBass eventually ended up on the podium at P2 next to the two Target Chip Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon in P1 and Dario Franchitti in a confusing P3. Image Credit: More Front Wing via Twitter

In Race 1, Will Power was able to take over control of the race after Power took the lead from Sebastian Bourdais on Lap 32 shortly after the first cycle of green flag stops ended. Bourdais had managed to keep his advantage through the cycle, but was unable to stop Power from pulling off a tail-twitching inside pass in Turn 1 on the 1.75-mile Exhibition Place street circuit.

A full-course yellow on Lap 35 for contact between Tristan Vautier and Graham Rahal erased a two-second edge for Power, but he was able to hold off Bourdais on the next restart at Lap 40. Will Power went on to lead the most laps in the race when he was able to keep the lead until Lap 60 when he gave it up during Green Flag pit-stops to Sebastien Bourdais.

Soon after the Lap 40 restart, Scott Dixon was able to pass Bourdais in Turn 3, moving to P2 on the course. Through the same round of pit-stops where Power gave up the lead, to Dragon Racing's Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon came in last, extending his fuel run ... and filed in behind Bourdais and ahead of both teammate Dario Franchitti and Will Power. With Bourdais on the softer Reds, and Dixon on the Blacks standard compound tires, the showdown of tire wear and P2P began. Bourdais had no P2P left and Dixon had about 3 or 4 pushes left. After a couple of set-up attempts, on Lap 78 using one of the two remaining P2Ps while Bourdais was powerless on used-up Firestone Reds and without a Push-To-Pass to use in defense of the Target Chip Ganassi Honda. Dixon overtook race leader and held off the four-time ChampCar champion on a Lap 84 single-file restart to earn his 31st victory to tie Bourdais, Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy for seventh on the all-time Indy car list.

"These doubleheaders are tough; we got through Race 1. Just a crazy day," said Dixon, who earned the Verizon P1 Award with the fastest lap in qualifications for Race 2 earlier in the day. "This is what we need to get the momentum going."

As far as the Championship race within a race - In Race 1, Helio Castroneves extended his championship lead from 23 points to 41 with a fifth-place finish in the 12th event of the season, combined with Ryan Hunter-Reay's 18th-place result. Hunter-Reay encountered a myriad of problems, including stalling the No. 1 DHL Chevrolet twice leaving his pit stall and making contact with the Turn 3 tire barrier on Lap 79.

Honda Indy Toronto's Race 2 saw a ruled 'do-over' of the Standing-Start with the caveat that if the first attempt did not take for any reason, there would be at least one additional attempt. This ruling was not the only change in the interpretation of the rules by substitute, and former, Race Control head, Brian Barnhart. In Race 1, Barnhart first assessed a late race penalty on Dario Franchitti for blocking on Will Power as Power attempted a pass causing Power to tap the inside wall and miss Turn 3. This post-race penalty ruling was then later rescinded and everyone then knew that Race Control was not being headed by the current IICS Race Control captain, Beaux Barfield (who was unable to attend the Honda Indy Toronto weekend for personal reasons).

Also, the Standing-Start came off without a hitch, in that every car got rolling but Dario Franchitti suffered front wing damage and came in at the end of the first lap, took off his minimum two lap Firestone Red alternative tires, and put on the standard Blacks which he used for the balance of the 85 Lap race. Barnhart was an influence to the end of this race as well. He ruled that due to the fact that this was a two-race weekend, and that Red alternative tires were in short supply, Dario Franchitti would not be penalized for using Reds for only one lap as opposed to the mandatory two lap minimum as stated in the rule book. Most are having trouble with this typical Brian Barnhart autocratically-interpretable Race Control attitude. Question: Why does this Race Control captain always seem to make the race become more about Race Control decisions than the race itself?

Back to Race 2 which ran without any full course cautions for 64 of 85 laps. This has to be a Green Flag running record for the tight and treacherous 1.7-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit. In 24 years, the Honda Indy Toronto has never seen a race without at least one Yellow Flag full course caution.

Scott Dixon went on to win a most convincing race and many would consider, save the Standing-Start, was just a continuation of the race ran the day before. The Target Chip Ganassi driver put on a clinic of driver and car domination in Race 2 that had him leading every lap except for Lap 24 and 25 when Helio Castroneves stayed out during the first set of Green Flag pit-stops. All other pit-stops, Scott Dixon kept the lead due to his lead on the track - that's domination.

A second Yellow Flag full course caution was called when Ed Carpenter lost it in Turn 5 and slammed the wall on Lap 77, this had another restart incident happen on Lap 83 where the driver who was the pre-race P2 in the Championship points, Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay try to make a three-wide pass on the outside of Turn 1. As the middle car, which squeezed down on the inside corner car of Will Power, cleared, Power applied the pedal and his rear end twitched, tapping RHR's car and this sent the Yellow DHL DW12 into the wall to finish the race in P19.

As far as the Championship race within a race - Helio Castroneves was able to finish Honda Indy Toronto's Race 2 on the podium in P2. Scott Dixon ended up by winning three races in a row with his win at Pocono, moving him up three positions in the Championship points to P4, the win in the Honda Indy Toronto Race 1 moving him to P3 ahead of Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti, and this last win in Honda Indy Toronto Race 2 moving him to P2 ahead of Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay.

In a post race interview, Dixon was informed that he had also won the $100,000 SONAX Perfect Finish Award for winning both races of the Honda Indy Toronto. Dixon Quote - "$100 Grand is good but I'd rather have the points. Points ... is why were here." 

Before the weekend, Helio had a 23 point margin between him and all other drivers. Helio Castroneves now leads all drivers by 29 points for a net gain of 6 points - not a huge shift. The biggest shift in the standings has to be the movement up the championship points ladder of Target Chip Ganassi's three-time IndyCar Champion, Scott Dixon who moves 5 point's positions in just three races.

The biggest loser for the Honda Indy Toronto double-header weekend was Andretti Autosport who have had chances to lock up the championship points race due to their qualification's performance in recent race weekends, but have not been able to convert their most laps led or front-row owning qualification performance by their drivers to Championship points.

More Front Wing's Stephanie Wallcraft caught up with Andretti Autosport's James Hinchcliffe and he let her know in no uncertain terms that he is not a fan of double-header weekends. Said Hinch:

“I don’t think anybody likes them. Scott Dixon gets 100 points. How come we don’t have two races at Iowa (where Hinchcliffe not only won but dominated in much the same way the Target Chip Ganassi driver did in Toronto this weekend)? That would have been awesome for us.

“You have to have double-headers at all of them or none of them. I’ve said that since they announced these things. It’s not a fair way to do it. We as a team didn’t have particularly strong cars here, and we get penalized twice as much. And we’re going to go to Houston, and somebody’s going to nail it and have a really good day. It’s unfortunate that that’s how it works.

” Nobody in the series will ever warm up to these. They’re too hard on the drivers, they’re too hard on the teams. You get so little practice, it’s so tough to get the car set up right.”

After 12 of 19 races in the 2013 season, it looks as though this season will end as many of the last several season's have ended (not 2012) with a shootout between a Penske Racing and a Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver for the season's driving Championship.

Two races in one road/street course weekend seems like the IZOD IndyCar Series might be stretching the performance rubber-band a little too far. This weekend, while being a crowd-pleasing event for those in Toronto, sucked all of the attention off of the supporting World Challenge and Road to Indy races.

In the end, the two days of races paid double points to Scott Dixon for what translated to be a single tour de force 170 lap race through the streets of Toronto.

... notes from The EDJE