Monthly Archives: September 2014

A large and enthusiastic crowd enjoyed seeing more than 250 classic cars that were on display Saturday, May 14 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 Celebration of Automobiles.

Many of these machines have won awards in Concours d’Elegance competition at such venues as Pebble Beach and Amelia Island.

The cars participating in the Celebration were divided into two divisions, one a general collection and the other presenting for the first time anywhere classic cars produced by the 24 manufacturers that competed in the first Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 1911.

A team of judges revealed its choices for the best of show in several categories Saturday evening at the elegant Condon-Skelly Celebration of Automobiles dinner, where several exquisite trophies were presented to winning car owners. 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli Jones led the judging panel, with three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford and 1985 “500″ winner Danny Sullivan also serving as judges.

Over 75 vintage Indy cars were also on hand and were able to get track time on the historic speedway on Friday afternoon.

Year Make Car Name 1908 Amplex Model D-5 1911 National #17 1911 Stoddard-Dayton S48 Speed Car 1913 Mercer 1914 Peugeot 1915 Duesenberg Board Track Racer 1923 HCS/Miller 1923 winner 1926 Miller 1932 Hudson Martz Spl #29 1932 Snowberger Hupp Comet 1933 Duesenberg Jack C. Carr Spl. 1935 Miller Ford #35 1935 Rigling Pirrung Spl. 1938 Clyde Adams Woestman Spl #59 1938 Miller Miller/Offy #61 1946 Novi Governor 1948 Kurtis Kennedy Tank 1948 Kurtis-Kraft Don Lee Spl. #35 1949 Watson Granatelli Corp Spl #43 1950 Kurtis Tuffy #15 1951 Tomshe Bardahl #78 1952 Kurtis Kraft Hinkle Spl #5 1952 Kurtis Kraft Auto Shippers Spl #34 1953 Kurtis Kraft Bardahl Spl #15 1954 Watson Phillips Bob Estes Spl #16 1955 Ford Sumar Car Hauler 1956 HOW Special #1 1957 Kurtis Kraft 500G 1957 Kuzma Greenman-Casale Indy roadster 1959 Epperley Bowes Seal Fast #33 1960 (Watson) Ewing Joe Hunt Magneto Spl #76 1960 Meskowski Schmidt Spl #44 1960 Kurtis / Epperly Bowes Seal Fast Spl #5 1961 Epperley Autolite Spl #5 1961 AJ Watson Sun City Arizona Spl #2 1961 Kuzma – Sonny Meyer Jim Robbins Co. #17 1961 Chenoweth / Chevy San Diego Steel Products 1961 Elder Crawford Mirror-Glaze Spl #96 1961 Kuzma Champ car 1963 AJ Watson #46 1963 AJ Watson #39 1963 AJ Watson 1964 MG/Huffaker Liquid Suspension #53 1964 Huffaker Liquid Suspension 1965 Watson Wynn’s #4 1966 Lola #26 1966 Eisert #96 1967 Vollstedt 67B Bryant Heating & Cooling #21 1967 Gerhardt Federal Engineering Spl #10 1968 Gerhardt Autocar #26 1968 Lotus Lotus Wedge Turbine #60 1968 Gilbert #92 1970 Kuzma American Marine #14 1970 Lola Sunoco #66 1971 Brawner / McGee Gilmore Racing Team #64 1972 Eagle-Offy Sunoco Penske #66 1972 Foyt Coyote Brayton #61 1972 Eagle-Finely SPORT #92 1972 Eagle-Offy STP 60 1977 Penske PC-6 Norton-Gould #1 1978 Penske PC-6 Gould #71 1981 Eagle-Cosworth AAR Mead #49 1982 Finley Eagle Pace Electronics #36 1983 Eagle – Cosworth Coors Silver Bullet #19 1984 March 84C Miller High Life 1984 Lola Lola T-800 1986 March 86C Marlboro #20

1987 March 87C Life of Indiana #87

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Media StaffIndyCar Series

Will Power is looking to wrap up his first Verizon IndyCar Series championship.  [John Wiedemann Photo]

The battle for the Verizon IndyCar Series championship will be settled Saturday at the MAVTV 500 in Fontana, California, but what looks like a lock for point’s leader Will Power could prove to be a bit more challenging than the Aussie would like.

The 33-year-old Power, who has led Team Penske-Chevrolet teammate Helio Castroneves in the title chase since the MidOhio round four weeks ago, has been in this position before. He has gone into the season’s finale in the top spot three times (2010, 2011 and 2012), but has failed to win the title each time.

With Power leading Castroneves by 51 points as they head to the double-point’s race at the Auto Club Speedway’s high-speed, two-mile, D-shaped oval, memories of last Sunday’s Sonoma road course race must be fresh in their minds.

Power spun on cold tires after a restart midway through the event, lost eight positions, but recovered to finish tenth on fresh tires.

Castroneves was involved in two incidents, one involving multi-car contact, soldiered on, and finally finished 18^th.

Power did maintain his lead in the title chase, but what if those kind of things happen to the pair at a place like Fontana?

Crashing at 200 mph usually has greater consequences than it does at a road course, and spinning on cold tires is a driver error that could spell an end to any title hopes.

There are five drivers mathematically eligible for the title, but once Power starts the race Saturday, Ryan Hunter-Reay and 2013 Verizon champion Scott Dixon will be eliminated.

Enter Simon Pagenaud, who is aware that the Indy car title has been decided at the final race in each of the past nine years.

The French driver is third, 81 points behind the leader after finishing third at Sonoma.  But Fontana isn’t Sonoma, and the Schmidt Peterson Hamilton-Honda driver is more of a road racer than he is an oval master.

All of this may be a moot point however, as Power needs only a sixth-place finish to secure his first title.

But mechanical trouble, poor handling, crashes or ?? could hold the key to who will come home the champion.

“We maintained the points lead (after Sonoma), and we’re going to Fontana. I’ve got to focus on the job at hand and get the most out of every situation,” explained Power, who hopes those “situations” won’t dash his title hopes for a fourth time.

Stay tuned.

MAVTV 500 NOTES:

• Power and Dario Franchitti are the only two drivers to win from the pole at Fontana.
• This will be the 13^th Indy car race held here since the inaugural event in 1997; CART (1997-2002) and IRL/IndyCar (2002-2005 & 2012-2014).
• Power and Ed Carpenter are the only previous Fontana winners entered.
• No current IndyCar team has more than one win here.
• This will be the last chance for drivers Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe, Tony Kanaan, Carlos Munoz and Graham Rahal to grab a win this season. Hinchcliffe visited victory lane three times in 2013 and Kanaan won once.
• CART driver Gil de Ferran holds the all-time qualifying record here at 241.428 mph (2000). Castroneves holds the IRL/IndyCar record at 226.757mph (2003).  Friday’s qualifying will be two-laps, total time.
• This is the sixth year in a row that a Team Penske driver is eligible for the title going into the final race.
• TV: Race, Saturday, NBCSN, 9:00pm ET / Qualifying, Friday, 7:00pm ET (taped).
• Radio: IMS Radio Network, Sirius 213/XM 209.

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Marcos Ambrose leads a pack of cars during the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International last season. [Credit: John Harrelson/NASCAR via Getty Images]

by Dan Margetta and John Wiedemann

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is back to turning left and right as the famed road course at Watkins Glen hosts the RACE NAME Sunday afternoon.

CHEEZ-IT 355 at The Glen Watkins Glen International 220.5 miles (90 laps) Sunday, August 10, 12pm ET ESPN, 1pm ET

MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90

The Watkins Glen road course presents another wildcard race that could produce a surprise winner. It also represents perhaps the last chance for those road racing specialist type drivers to earn a coveted Chase spot before the cut off in a few weeks.

If you enjoyed the drama of pit and fuel windows that was a part of the race story in the last couple weeks, you may be able to enjoy the same.  Normal road course strategy has crew chiefs figuring out their pit windows and short pitting.

Here are some of the drivers that we thing you should be watching this weekend.

Marcos Ambrose

Dan Margetta:  All eyes are on Marcos Ambrose this week as this race could be a make or break event for his NASCAR career. Already heavily rumored to be heading back to Australia next season, a win this week would put him in the Chase and go a long way towards solidifying this team. Ambrose is supposedly the best road racer on the tour but has little to show for it in the win column. The skills are there to win this week if the performance matches the potential.

Tony Stewart

John Wiedemann:  Tony Stewart was always a guy that you expected to see at the front of the pack at a road course.  But the last three seasons at Watkins Glen were not the results Stewart would be looking for, two finishes around twentieth and missing last year’s race due to his broken leg.  Stewart returns to the Glen with a need for a win.  Still on the outside looking in to the field of Chase qualifiers, that win would boost Stewart into the play off group.  Stewart’s history at the road course is stellar with five wins and an average finish of 7.9.  This race is certainly one that could see Stewart in victory lane.

Clint Bowyer

DM:  Speaking of guys that need to win to make the Chase, Clint Bowyer definitely fits that category. He’s a very good road racer and should be a strong candidate to capture the elusive first win of the season. Don’t count out Clint Bowyer on Sunday just because he doesn’t look or act like a road racer. He could surprise people on Sunday.

Kurt Busch

JW:  Kurt Busch has yet to win at Watkins Glen in the Sprint Cup Series and this weekend could be his time to find victory lane.  Besides the issues that have befallen the entire Stewart-Haas team, all of the cars have had one thing, and that is speed.  There might not be a better driver to handle the speed on a road course than Kurt Busch.  Looking at his statistics doesn’t necessarily give one hope for a victory, but I would throw all that out this weekend.  Besides, when Kurt Busch is fast, he is fun to watch.

Kyle Busch

DM:  You would think the aggressive Kyle Busch on a road course would be like a bull in a china shop, but surprisingly Kyle Busch runs well here. He won last year and lost the year before on the final lap. Look for Kyle Busch to try to tame Watkins Glen once again and drive to victory lane for a second straight year.

Brad Keselowski

JW:  Brad Keselowski doesn’t need another win, doesn’t need a good finish because he is all set for the Chase.  But, with nothing to lose, Keselowski can let it rip and that should make for an exciting weekend.  The Blue Duece has a great road course history, thanks mostly to Rusty Wallace, and Keselowski has picked up right where Rusty left off.  Keselowski hasn’t won yet, but with three top fives and an average finish of 6.5, you can bet that victory lane is a place that Brad is headed.

AJ Allmendinger

DM:  AJ Allmendinger is my long shot pick this week. An accomplished road racer with wins in both sports cars and Indycars , Allmendinger is pretty good in a stock car as well. He does have some Nationwide Series wins on road courses and could wind up being a wildcard type Chase entry with a victory on a Sunday.

Martin Truex Jr.

JW:  Martin Truex Jr. is still looking to turn this season around and once again, this weekend is a track that he should be able to accomplish that.  Kurt Busch finished 9th last year in the car that Turex is now racing.  Truex himself scored his best finish last season at The Glen with a third place run after qualifying third as well.  In eight races, Truex has scored five top ten finishes and has qualified in the top ten the last three seasons.  For me, this is still a wait and see kind of deal for Truex, but I believe he will turn his season around soon.

The close action and high speed of the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda heads to mighty Road America this weekend.  [Photo courtesy IMSA]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 6, 2014) – The drivers in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda may face a second, equally formidable foe besides each other at the next two rounds of the championship Aug. 9-10.

Rounds 9 and 10 are taking place at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, one of the fastest, mightiest natural road courses in the world. The 14-turn, 4.048-mile circuit features many corners that demand big speed and even larger commitment to maintain momentum on the track’s long straightaways.

It’s a circuit perfectly suited for the powerful equipment combination of Èlan DP02 chassis, Mazda engines and Cooper tires used by drivers and teams in the series, as the two rounds at Road America are highly anticipated and marked on calendars months in advance when the series schedule is released.

Road America also could be the site of another important step in the eventual coronation of Mikhail Goikhberg as the 2014 series champion.

Goikhberg, from North Vancouver, British Columbia, has built a 53-point lead over Robert Alon – a gap of more than two and one-half rounds of points – with five victories in the first eight races of the season in the No. 10 JDC Motorsports car. His only major setback of the season took place at the last event, in mid-July at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, when he was eliminated on the first lap in Round 7 after a collision with Hayden Duerson. But Goikhberg rallied to finish second in Round 8.

Alon, from Encino, California, has become a breakout star of the series in his first season of car racing after starting his career in karting. He has steadily climbed the standings into second in the No. 9 Performance Tech Motorsports entry, with two second-place finishes in the last four rounds.

Another first-year driver in the series, Tony Bullock, is third in the standings with 82 points. Bullock, from Auburn, California, earned his first career victory in June at Kansas in the No. 12 car fielded by another series rookie, ONE Motorsports.

Craig Duerson is seeking a return to form at Road America in the No. 27 Performance Tech Motorsports machine. Duerson, from Gulfport, Mississippi, is fourth overall with 74 points and looks for his first podium result since finishing second at Kansas in early June.

A three-way race for fifth will continue at Road America. Andrew Novich, from Novato, Calif., is fifth with 68 points in the No. 61 Comprent Motor Sports car. Christian Potolicchio, from Hallandale Beach, Fla., climbed to sixth with 67 points in the No. 2 8Star Motorsports car after a strong weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park that included his first podium finish of the season.

Series rookie John Falb, from Las Vegas, is seventh overall at 65 points in the No. 77 ONE Motorsports entry. Falb earned his first career overall podium finish by placing third in Round 8 at CTMP.

Falb also has finished on the podium of the Lites 1 Masters (drivers age 40 and older) class in the last five rounds to seize control of that championship from Craig Duerson. Falb leads Duerson, 114-106, with Lamont Harris third with 93 points in the No. 65 8Star Motorsports entry.

Brian Alder, from Marysville, Ohio, has dominated the Lites 2 class in his No. 22 BAR 1 Motorsports entry this season and leads the class with 156 points after sweeping both rounds last month at CTMP.

But Jerome Mee, Todd Slusher and Ludovico Manfredi continue to push Alder in the growing Lites 2 class. Manfredi, from Key Biscayne, Florida, won at Watkins Glen in the No. 30 MOMO entry, while Mee, from Bellaire, Texas, earned his first victory of the season at CTMP in the No. 95 Alta Velocita Racing car.

Practice starts at 9:40 a.m. (CT) Friday, Aug. 8, continuing at 1:15 p.m. that afternoon. Qualifying completes a busy Friday for the series at 4:05 p.m. The 30-minute Round 9 of the season takes the green flag at 10:40 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 9. Round 10, a 45-minute race, starts at 8:05 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 10.

For live updates on all the action, follow @IMSALive on Twitter.

For more information about Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, visit www.imsa.com, follow hashtag #CTPL @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.