IndyCars - The off-season: Series news and comment until the March 2014 kick-off

The Sports Roundtable and Bar
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Friday at Indy - The P-5 pracitce session is complete and it was the fastest one of all…

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…and that’s by design, as IndyCar gave all the cars an extra bit of boost that produced roughly 50 more horsepower - the same as will be done in qualifying - and that naturally produced fast times - fastest of the week - as everyone worked on their qualifying set-ups today. Since this is a unique test the results are NOT combined with all the other tests. The day stands alone.

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Here are the results of the P-5 session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta - time of 00:38.8262s for a speed of 231.802mph

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2 - Robert Wickens [R], Schmidt Peterson Motorsports - time of 00:38.8379s for a speed of 231.732mph

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3 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 00:38.9499s for a speed of 231.066mph

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4 - Oriol Servia, Scuderia Corsa with RLL - time of 00:39.0884s for a speed of 230.247mph

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5 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 00:39.1679s for a speed of 229.780mph

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6 - Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser/Sullivan
7 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
8 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
9 - Stefan Wilson, Andretti Autosport
10 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport

11 - Gabby Chaves, Harding Racing
12 - Helio Castroneves, Team Penske
13 - Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing
14 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
15 - Kyle Kaiser [R], Juncos Racing
16 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
17 - Ed Jones, Chip Ganassi Racing
18 - Charlie Kimball, Carlin
19 - Jay Howard, SPM / AFS
20 - Danica Patrick, Ed Carpenter Racing

21 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
22 - Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport
23 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
24 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
25 - Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing dba Thom Burns Racing
26 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
27 - Zachary Claman DeMelo [R], Dale Coyne Racing
28 - Zach Veach [R], Andretti Autosport
29 - James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
30 - JR Hildebrand, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

31 - Pippa Mann, Dale Coyne Racing
32 - Max Chilton, Carlin
33 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
34 - James Davison, Foyt with Byrd / Hollinger / Belardi
35 - Jack Harvey [R], Meyer Shank Racing with SPM

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Notable:

  • Two interesting names in that TOP TEN - Oriol Servia, who is proving that experience counts, and Stefan Wilson who is proving that a dearth of full-time driving doesn’t have to slow you down. The tall man was FAST today, and showed a lot of commitment.

  • While these times pretty much prove who can go the fastest during the race, they DO NOT prove who will be on pole. For that, you need the no-tow list for the day, as that is representative of what a car will do alone - like when they are qualifying.

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We have that no-tow list for the day in the next post.

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Friday at Indy - The no-tow list was compiled for the day…

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…and we have it here. The importance for tomorrow - the first day of qualifying - is that what counts in qualifying is how fast you are when you’re alone out there, without the draft of another car to suck you up to speeds you cannot do on your own. This list is more the list to see who might be getting pole on Sunday, following qualifying tomorrow.

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Here was the order of speed from the P-5 session WITHOUT a tow and with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 00:39.1679s for a speed of 229.780mph

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2 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 00:39.3024s for a speed of 228.994mph

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3 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - time of 00:39.3259s for a speed of 228.857mph

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4 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 00:39.3459s for a speed of 228.740mph

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5 - Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser/Sullivan - time of 00:39.3603s for a speed of 228.657mph

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6 - Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing
7 - Danica Patrick, Ed Carpenter Racing
8 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
9 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
10 - Robert Wickens [R], Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

11 - Helio Castroneves, Team Penske
12 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta
13 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
14 - Matheus Leist [R], A.J. Foyt Enterprises
15 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
16 - Charlie Kimball, Carlin
17 - Zach Veach [R], Andretti Autosport
18 - JR Hildebrand, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
19 - Zachary Claman DeMelo [R], Dale Coyne Racing
20 - Oriol Servia, Scuderia Corsa with RLL

21 - Ed Jones, Chip Ganassi Racing
22 - Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport
23 - James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
24 - Max Chilton, Carlin
25 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
26 - Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing dba Thom Burns Racing
27 - Jack Harvey [R], Meyer Shank Racing with SPM
28 - Gabby Chaves, Harding Racing
29 - Stefan Wilson, Andretti Autosport
30 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

31 - Jay Howard, SPM / AFS
32 - Pippa Mann, Dale Coyne Racing
33 - Kyle Kaiser [R], Juncos Racing
34 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
35 - James Davison, Foyt with Byrd / Hollinger / Belardi

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Notable:

  • And just like that Team Penske makes a bid to take pole on Sunday, with Helio Castroneves the only guy on the team not to make the TOP NINE…and he’s close. The TOP NINE on Saturday will go for the pole on Sunday.

  • Sebastien Bourdais has struggled for most of the week but is poised to make TOP NINE on Saturday and that means he goes for the pole on Sunday. That is exactly what happened to him last year, when he had his devastating crash in qualifying. It has to be on his mind.

  • Danica Patrick is trying to make this the best 500 she has ever had - one to retire on - and she’s doing great.

  • 35 cars will try to qualify on Saturday. Only 33 will make the race. That means the bottom two on Saturday go home. The bottom five of this list have to be a little concerned. They will be working hard overnight in the garages.

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Weather MAY play a role on Saturday and maybe on Sunday. Once the grid is set the following day will be the super-practice, when all 33 entrants in the race will be out and going all out to prepare themselves for the race.

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IndyCar has released the highlight reel from Fast Friday…

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…and it includes the hard wall-smack that James Davison had in Turn 2 today, driving the # 33 for Foyt w/Byrd-Hollinger-Belardi. While nasty-looking, it didn’t hurt James and it shouldn’t keep him from attempting to qualify.

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Racer magazine’s Marshall Pruett and Robin Miller speak of Fast Friday…

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…and the implications it has for qualifying on Saturday and Sunday.

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Qualifying on Saturday will be streamed on WatchESPN between 11:30am and 3:00pm EASTERN time. Then ABC will pick up on it from 4:00pm to 6:00pm EASTERN time, to highlight it and close it out.

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American Santino Ferrucci to drive the Dual at Detriot this June for Dale Coyne…

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When Pietro Fittipladi had his hard shunt at Spa Francorchamps a few weeks back during qualifying for a WEC SportsCar race, (a brake failue) it meant that the carefully-crafted schedule for who would drive the # 19 Paysafe Honda for Dale Coyne Racing went out the window. Initially, scheduled for Zachary Claman DeMelo to drive, the Detroit races will now be driven by Santino, who is an F2 driver in Europe for Trident and also a reserve driver for Haas Formula One.

Santino Ferrucci

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Ferrucci’s management saw the opportunity for the 19-year-old Connecticut native to get a crack at the IndyCars and contacted Dale Coyne and the deal was quickly pulled together. So far, this is going to be two and done. IndyCars slot in between F2 and F1 on power and performance and Santino’s friend, Pietro Fittipaldi, told him he should be able to handle the speeds, but handling Detroit is something else. Bell Isle is a particularly difficult street circuit, due to the bumps. Its going to be a challenge.

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Here, Santino speaks with Chris Medland for Racer magazine. Chris regularly interviews Santino in Europe, so it’s old home week between the two. Santino is especially eager to work with his teammate Sebastien Bourdais:

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Welcome to the fray and have FUN!

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Saturday at Indy - Day 1 of qualifying is complete…

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…and we have the names of the 33 drivers who will be in the race and the 2 who will not. We also know the names of the 9 drivers who will compete for pole on Sunday. Rain delayed the proceedings for about two hours today, but eventually they got it all in.

The procedure is simple: Go out and do a warm-up lap, then lay down 4 hot laps. The speeds of those laps are averaged and the fastest driver is on top, with everyone else lining up in descending order.

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Here was the order of speed for the 33 drivers who made the field, with speeds for the TOP NINE: [R] denotes rookie; the speed is the average of all four qualifying laps

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1 - Helio Castroneves, Team Penske - speed of 228.919mph

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2 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing - speed of 228.692mph

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3 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - speed of 228.304mph

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4 - Will Power, Team Penske - speed of 228.194mph

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5 - Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser/Sullivan - speed of 228.090mph

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6 - Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing - speed of 228.052mph

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7 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - speed of 228.049mph

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8 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - speed of 227.782mph

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9 - Danica Patrick, Ed Carpenter Racing - speed of 227.610mph

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10 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
11 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
12 - Matheus Leist [R], A.J. Foyt Enterprises
13 - Ed Jones, Chip Ganassi Racing
14 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
15 - Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport
16 - JR Hildebrand, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
17 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta
18 - Jay Howard, SPM / AFS
19 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
20 - Robert Wickens [R], Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

21 - Kyle Kaiser [R], Juncos Racing
22 - Stefan Wilson, Andretti Autosport
23 - Gabby Chaves, Harding Racing
24 - Zach Veach [R], Andretti Autosport
25 - Charlie Kimball, Carlin
26 - Zachary Claman DeMelo [R], Dale Coyne Racing
27 - Jack Harvey [R], Meyer Shank Racing with SPM
28 - Max Chilton, Carlin
29 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
30 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

31 - Oriol Servia, Scuderia Corsa with RLL
32 - Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing dba Thom Burns Racing
33 - James Davison, Foyt with Byrd / Hollinger / Belardi

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Bumped out:

34 - Pippa Mann, Dale Coyne Racing
35 - James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

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Notable:

  • In the TOP NINE - aka “the Fast Nine” - There are all four drivers from Team Penske in their Chevys, all three drivers from Ed Carpenter Racing in their Chevys and Sebastien Bourdais and Scott Dixon in their Hondas. Really, the surprise here - and not much of one - is Danica Patrick, the top driver of the “refresher” group of non-full-timers.

  • Best rookie in the field today was Mattheus Leist for AJ Foyt in P12.

  • Pippa has been struggling since the beginning of the week, as has her teammate Conor Daly, and James Davison for Foyt with Byrd / Hollinger / Belardi, but Hinchcliffe - while struggling - didn’t look in jeopardy. On his final attempt he had a vibration that caused him to abort, and time ran out before he could make another run at it. Two years ago he was on pole. That’s Indy.

Not in the show for 2018, James Hinchcliffe and Pippa Mann

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On Sunday, all the times collected today will be thrown out and the drivers from P10 to P33 will re-qualify in order to determine where on the grid they will be for the race. The FAST NINE will then go out and compete for spots P1 through P9, and that’s how pole is determined.

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ABC will carry the last day of qualifying starting at 4:00pm EASTERN time.

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Racer magazine’s Marshall Pruett and Robin Miller speak with Sebastien Bourdais on qualifying, today…

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…and the French ace offered that he was conservative today and didn’t try to get the top time, because “I owed it to Claire” (his pretty wife) to make a safe run.

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IndyCar has released the Bump Day highlights reel…

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The IndyCars are qualified for the 102nd Running of the Indy 500…

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Here is the way they will grid for the 2018 Indy 500, with times for the TOP NINE: [R] denotes rookie; speeds are the average of four laps

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Row 1

P1 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing - speed of 229.618mph

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P2 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - speed of 228.761mph

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P3 - Will Power, Team Penske - speed of 228.607mph

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Row 2

P4 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - speed of 228.405mph

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P5 - Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser/Sullivan - speed of 228.142mph

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P6 - Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing - speed of 228.107mph

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Row 3

P7 - Danica Patrick, Ed Carpenter Racing - speed of 228.090mph

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P8 - Helio Castroneves, Team Penske - speed of 227.859mph

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P9 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - speed of 227.262mph

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Row 4

P10 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
P11 - Matheus Leist [R], A.J. Foyt Enterprises
P12 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta

Row 5

P13 - Zachary Claman DeMelo [R], Dale Coyne Racing
P14 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
P15 - Charlie Kimball, Carlin

Row 6

P16 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P17 - Kyle Kaiser [R], Juncos Racing
P18 - Robert Wickens [R], Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

Row 7

P19 - James Davison, Foyt with Byrd / Hollinger / Belardi
P20 - Max Chilton, Carlin
P21 - Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport

Row 8

P22 - Gabby Chaves, Harding Racing
P23 - Stefan Wilson, Andretti Autosport
P24 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Row 9

P25 - Zach Veach [R], Andretti Autosport
P26 - Oriol Servia, Scuderia Corsa with RLL
P27 - JR Hildebrand, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Row 10

P28 - Jay Howard, SPM / AFS
P29 - Ed Jones, Chip Ganassi Racing
P30 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 11

P31 - Jack Harvey [R], Meyer Shank Racing with SPM
P32 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
P33 - Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing dba Thom Burns Racing

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Notable:

  • This is Ed Carpenter’s 3rd career Indy 500 pole. He was the only guy to crack 230 miles per hour, which he did on lap 1 of the 4 laps.

  • Two rather big surprises on the day were James Davison, who did a lot better than his Saturday times might show and Alexander Rossi who did a lot worse than his Saturday times might show.

  • While Team Penske and Ed Carpenter Racing are clearly on it, the Best-of-the-Rest team has to be AJ Foyt Enterprises which posted P10 with Tony Kanaan, P11 with Matheus Leist and Davison’s P19. Matheus - a product of Indy Lights - was the best rookie qualifier.

Brazilian Matheus Leist

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Monday - weather permitting - will be the last full day of practice and all the teams will have all their cars out doing race simulations, with long runs on full tanks of fuel, to see what will happen on race day. This practice always looks exactly like a race, with a full field of cars running around at speed.

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Monday at Indy - The last full day of practice before Carb Day…

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All 33 cars entered in the 2018 Indy 500 came out to run race simulations today, with long runs and full tanks of fuel, as if they were in the race and that’s always the way it looks on this Monday following qualifying. It looks like a segment pulled out of the race itself, with cars following other cars and cars passing other cars. It’s all to try to be ready for next Sunday - the 102nd Running of the Indy 500. Since it’s the last snapshot of the field before Carb Day, we present it as a stand-alone, instead of combined with all the other sessions.

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Here was the order of speed for the P-8 practice session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing - time of 00:39.7419 for a speed of 226.461mph

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2 - Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Enterprises - time of 00:39.9781s for a speed of 225.123mph

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3 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:40.0320s for a speed of 224.820mph

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4 - Charlie Kimball, Carlin - time of 00:40.0745s for a speed of 224.582mph

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5 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:40.0878s for a speed of 224.507mph

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6 - Will Power, Team Penske
7 - Helio Castroneves, Team Penske
8 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta
9 - Zachary Claman DeMelo [R], Dale Coyne Racing
10 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing

11 - Sebastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser/Sullivan
12 - Stefan Wilson, Andretti Autosport
13 - Kyle Kaiser [R], Juncos Racing
14 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
15 - JR Hildebrand, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
16 - Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport
17 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18 - Matheus Leist [R], A.J. Foyt Enterprises
19 - Danica Patrick, Ed Carpenter Racing
20 - Gabby Chaves, Harding Racing

21 - Jack Harvey [R], Meyer Shank Racing with SPM
22 - Jay Howard, SPM / AFS
23 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
24 - Zach Veach [R], Andretti Autosport
25 - Robert Wickens [R], Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
26 - Ed Jones, Chip Ganassi Racing
27 - Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter Racing
28 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
29 - Max Chilton, Carlin
30 - James Davison, Foyt with Byrd / Hollinger / Belardi

31 - Oriol Servia, Scuderia Corsa with RLL
32 - Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing dba Thom Burns Racing
33 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske

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Notable:

  • Since no one is privy to what each team had for their program for the day, it is impossible to know exactly why everyone ended up where they did, but it is also true that Sage has always been very fast at Indy.

  • Zachary Claman DeMelo continues to prove the wisdom of letting him fill in for injured Pietro Fittipaldi on the Dale Coyne squad. He even bettered his teammate Sebastien Bourdais today, and was the fastest rookie, to boot.

  • The only real drama on the day happened to Robert Wickens for Schmidt Peterson, who lost it in Turn 2, drifting into the SAFER barrier. He then slid up the backstretch for quite a distance before the car veered sharply right and into the outside wall. Wickens was okay but the car suffered repairable damage to both sides. It will be ready for the race, for sure.

Rookies with an eventful day - ZCD (left) and Robert Wickens - and P1 Sage Karam (right)

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The track will be silent for the next 3 days as the drivers fan out across America to promote the race. Look for them. They may be coming to your town. On Fridasy - Carb Day - they will be back on track for 1 hour - the final session before the race. Also on Carb Day the Indy Lights will hold their great race at the Speedway, the Freedom 100.

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IndyCar has released Monday practice highlights…

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Racer’s Marshall Pruett & Robin Miller speak with 3-time Indy 500 WINNER Helio Castroneves…

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…following the end the the Monday all-skate full day of practice. No one knows this place and these cars better.

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On Monday, the Indy Lights were also on track at the Speedway…

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…as they had two sessions scheduled to practice for the Freedom 100, to be run this Friday - Carb Day - in front of thousands of area fans. As it turned out, they were only able to get in one of the two sessions, as rain took out the late afternoon session. It will be made up on Thursday, if everything goes as planned, just before the Lights qualify for the Freedom 100.

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Here was the order of speed for the P-1 session of Indy Lights, with times for all: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Dalton Kellett, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:45.4534s for a speed of 198.005mph

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2 - Pato O’Ward [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 00:45.8738s for a speed of 196.190mph

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3 - Victor Franzoni [R], Juncos Racing - time of 00:45.9394s for a speed of 195.910mph

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4 - Ryan Norman, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:46.2028s for a speed of 194.793mph

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5 - Chris Windom [R], Belardi Auto Racing w/ Byrd & Baldwin - time of 00:46.2179s for a speed of 194.730mph

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6 - Davey Hamilton, Jr [R], Team Pelfrey - time of 00:46.3486s for a speed of 194.181mph

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7 - Santiago Urrutia, Belardi Auto Racing - time of 00:46.9707s for a speed of 191.609mph

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8 - Colton Herta, Andretti Steinbrenner - time of 00:47.0207s for a speed of 191.405mph

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9 - Aaron Telitz, Belardi Auto Racing - time of 00:47.6218s for a speed of 188.989mph

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Notable:

  • Canadian Dalton Kellett is always fast at Indy. This is typically his best race of the year. Last season he was on the podium in P3 with WINNER Matheus Leist - now in the Indy 500 for AJ Foyt - and with P2 Aaron Telitz for Belardi.

  • Aaron and teammate Santi Urrutia are strangely slow at the moment. Aaron is more than 2 seconds slower than Dalton. Colton Herta is also slow, as he started this race in P2 in 2017.

  • Having a bad day was Chris Windom. He was running P3 early in the session when he lost the car in Turn 2 and smacked the SAFER barrier. The car cannot be repaired in time for the race so Chris is out, shortening the already-small field. Fellow Sprint Car champion Davey Hamilton, Jr. will have to carry the short-oval flag on Friday.

  • Dalton Kellett is both fast and smart. He earned his Engineering Physics degree at prestigious Queen’s University in Toronto in 2015.

Speedboy Dalton Kellett

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The Lights guys will practice once more and then qualify on Thursday for Friday’s great race.

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While we were watching qualifying at Indy, the PWC was racing in Canada…

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The Pirelli World Challenge GT division were at Canadian Tire Motorsports Part - aka Mosport - over the weekend to hold Rounds 4 and 5 of the GT class Sprint races of the season. We’re following the series because Mazda Road to Indy alum Canadian Scott Hargrove is competing in his rookie season, driving the # 96 Porsche 911 GT3 R for Pfaff Motorsports, and leading the points.

Round 4 was WON by fellow Canadian Daniel Morad driving the # 2 Mercedes-AMG GT3 for CRP Racing. P2 was Michael Christiensen in the # 24 Porsche for Alegra Motorsports and P3 was Daniel Mancinelli in the # 31 Ferrari 488 GT3 for TR3. Our guy Scott posted just off the podium in P4.

Danny Morad WINS in Canada

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Daniel Morad

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For Round 5 the WINNER was Portugal’s Alvaro Parente, driving the # 9 Bentley Continental GT3 for K-PAX Racing. Making it even better, Alvaro’s teammate, Rodrigo Baptista, came in P2 in the # 3 Bentley. K-PAX has had rotten luck this season, so this is a nice turn-around. P3 was Finland’s Toni Vilander in the # 61 Ferrari 488 GT3 for R. Ferri Motorsport. Scott Hargrove came home a distant P6.

Alvaro finally wheels the big Bentley to a WIN

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Alvarao Parente

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While Scott didn’t get on the podium, he was able to keep his series points lead, because most of the podium guys are not his closest points rivals, though Toni Vilander is 2nd in the points. Scott leads the series at 188 points. Toni has 182 points and Danny Morad has 165 points.

Points-leader Scott Hargrove with his Pfaff Porsche 911 GT3 R

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The next races for the PWC will be this coming weekend, as the series goes to historic Lime Rock Park, Connecticut. It is a “SprintX” weekend, so it will be 2 mini-endurance races and Scott will be joined by German Porsche ace Wolf Henzler in the # 96 Porsche.

Wolf Henzler

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Also, while we were watching the IndyCars qualify, the Supercars were racing at Winton…

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The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship held Season Rounds 13 and 14 at Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria, last weekend as they did the Winton SuperSprints. Round 13 was a 40-lap event while Round 14 was 67 laps.

The WINNER in Round 13 was Rick Kelly for Nissan Motorsports, driving the # 15 Altima L33 from a P4 start. It was Rick’s first WIN in many years. P2 was Scott Pye in the # 2 Holden Commodore ZB for Walkinshaw Andretti United from a P4 start and P3 was Shane Van Gisbergen in the # 97 Holden for Triple Eight Race Engineering. Shane started the race from P14.

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Rick Kelly finally brings the Altima to P1

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It was pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin for DJR Team Penske who led most of the race in the # 17 Ford Falcon FG/X, but Kelly was lurking in P2 late in the contest when a safety car came out and on the restart Kelly got by McLaughlin who tumbled to P5 as next Scott Pye, Shane Van Gisbergen and his own teammate Fabian Couthard ate him up. While Pye and Van Gisbergen both had better tires than Kelly, he was not going to be denied the win.

Left to right, P1 Rick Kelly, P2 Scott Pye and P3 Shane Vsan Gisbergen

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For Round 14 the WINNER was Fabian Couthard for DJR Team Penske in his # 12 Ford Falcon FG/X from his P2 start. Shane Van Gisbergen had another good race, coming in P2 from his P7 start in the # 97 Holden while P3 was pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin in his # 17 Ford.

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Fabian Couthard dominates the race for DJR Team Penske

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Scott McLaughlin messed up the start and was jumped by Fabian before the first corner. By Turn 4 Scott had dropped to P8 as Fabian motored off. On the first pit stop Scott took on less fuel and then stormed out hot to begin recouping his losses. Shane Van Gisbergen also kept advancing from as far back as P9 at one point until he found himself chasing down McLaughlin, by then in P2. He was able to get him in Turn 10 on lap 50. However, Shane could not make up ground on Fabian, who was the class of the field. This was Fabian’s first WIN since his victory at last year’s Sydney SuperSprint in August.

P1 Fabian Coulthard (left) and P3 Scott McLaughlin

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Our gal in supercars, IndyCar driver Simona de Silvestro, had a decent race going in her # 78 Nissan Altima for Team Harvey Norman in Round 13. Starting P23, she had advanced to P18 when she got involved ion a three-way scrape at the exit of Turn 9 on lap 34 that resulted in Lee Holdsworth spinning and James Golding going off and on. Golding was initially blamed, but post-race, Simona was docked 20 seconds and that dropped her to a P22 finish. In Round 14 she started P21 and ended P23 when her Nissan broke the steering - all in all, a forgettable weekend.

Simona de Silvestro

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Following this weekend, here are the TOP FIVE in series points, leaving Winton:

1 - Scott McLaughlin 1487
2 - Shane Van Gisbergen 1356
3 - Craig Lowndes 1188
4 - David Reynolds 1169
5 - Jamie Whincup 1123

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The next rounds for the Supercars will be the CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown - another SuperSprint event - at Hidden Valley Raceway, south of Darwin in the Northern Territory. Rounds 15 and 16 will be 42 laps and 70 laps, respectively. The racing will be June 15-17.

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Thursday at Indy - The Indy Lights practiced and qualified for the Freedom 100 today…

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The Lights held two practice sessions in good weather and then qualified for Friday’s Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The COMBINED practice sessions had this order of speed: [R] denotes rookie; the best session for each driver is in ( )

1 - Ryan Norman, Andretti Autosport (1)
2 - Dalton Kellett, Andretti Autosport (1)
3 - Pato O’Ward [R], Andretti Autosport (2)
4 - Santiago Urrutia, Belardi Auto Racing (2)
5 - Davey Hamilton, Jr [R], Team Pelfrey (1)
6 - Victor Franzoni [R], Juncos Racing (1)
7 - Colton Herta, Andretti Steinbrenner (2)
8 - Aaron Telitz, Belardi Auto Racing (2)

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Following the practices, the guys qualified. This was one warm-up lap, followed by two hot laps. The two laps are averaged and the fastest guy is on pole, with everyone lining up in the order of speed.

Here is the way they will grid for the 2018 Freedom 100, with times for all: [R] denotes rookie; the time is for two laps and the speed is the average of the two laps.

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Row 1

Pole - Dalton Kellett, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:32.2947s for a speed of 195.027mph

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P2 - Pato O’Ward [R], Andretti Autosport - time of 01:32.3548s for a speed of 194.901mph

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Row 2

P3 - Ryan Norman, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:32.7499s for a speed of 194.070mph

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P4 - Victor Franzoni [R], Juncos Racing - time of 01:32.7552s for a speed of 194.059mph

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Row 3

P5 - Santiago Urrutia, Belardi Auto Racing - time of 01:32.7659s for a speed of 194.037mph

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P6 - Colton Herta, Andretti Steinbrenner - time of 01:32.8927s for a speed of 193.772mph

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Row 4

P7 - Davey Hamilton, Jr [R], Team Pelfrey - time of 01:33.1183s for a speed of 193.302mph

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P8 - Aaron Telitz, Belardi Auto Racing - time of 01:33.1346s for a speed of 193.269mph

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Notable:

  • Dalton has finished the Freedom 100 in P3 twice before. He knows his way around the big oval. Pato O’Ward, however, is a true rookie at the Speedway.

  • Aaron Telitz was P2 in last year’s Freedom 100, to Matheus Leist’s P1. This slow showing has to be the car - not the driver.

  • Davey Hamilton jumped out of his Indy Lights car and into a helicopter to go and qualify for the Pay Less Little 500 Sprint Car race to be held at the quarter-mile oval at Anderson Speedway in Anderson, Indiana. The Little 500 will be held on Saturday. And, by the way, Davey copped pole!

Dalton Kellett

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The Freedom 100 airs live at 12:30 p.m. EASTERN time Friday on NBCSN.

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Thursday at Indy - The kids get a great clinic…

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Every year at this time the veterans of IndyCar hold an oval racing clinic for the kids in both Pro Mazda and USF2000, as both Mazda Road to Indy series are about to hold their first oval race of the year at Lucas Oil Raceway, on Friday night. For most of these kids this will be their first ever oval race and the invaluable information dispensed at the clinic is the first learning they will have about ovals.

Led by Gerardo Bonilla, Director of Competition for the Lucas Oil School of Racing, the guys informing the class were well-respected by everyone in the room. They were 2017 IndyCar Champion Josef Newgarden, 2017 Indy Lights Champion Kyle Kaiser, and veteran IndyCar / SportsCar driver Johnny Unser. The clinic included a series of videos covering a wide range of topics including the proper racing line on ovals, overtaking, drafting, handling, restarts and the crucial roles played by spotters. In addition, drivers Newgarden, Kaiser and Unser offered a wealth of advice and information gained from their own experiences.

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Left to right, Josef Newgarden, Johnny Unser, Kyle Kaiser, Dan Anderson, President of the MRTI, John Doonan, Racing Director for Mazda and Gerardo Bonilla:

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The panelists all received a standing ovation at the conclusion of the clinic. Most of these young drivers will never ask for this information, as it may make them feel like it might tarnish their reputations. To have it freely given to them by the series annually is one of the things that makes IndyCar and the Mazda Road to Indy so great for young talent.

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IMSA goes racing this weekend and IndyCar drivers will be there…

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This weekend the IndyCars will race at Detroit in the Dual at Detroit - the only two-race weekend for the series. The racing on Belle Isle will be supported by the Trans Am series, the Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - the P-class and GTD-class only. For IMSA, this is known as the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix

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As usual with IMSA racing, there will be several IndyCar folks in the race - some of them are even current drivers. Let’s see who they are for this weekend, starting with the P class:

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Juan Pablo Montoya will drive the # 6 Acura ARX-05 DPi for Acura Team Penske with co-driver and former IMSA champion Dane Cameron. This car came in P2 in class and overall at the last race at Mid-Ohio.

Juan Pablo Montoya

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Helio Castroneves, fresh off the Indy 500, will drive the sister car, the # 7 Acura ARX-05 DPi for Acura Team Penske. His co-driver is former IMSA champion Ricky Taylor. This car WON the P class and overall at Mid-Ohio in early May.

Helio Castroneves

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Pro Mazda alum Pipo Derani will jump into the # 22 Nissan DPi for Tequila Patron Extreme Speed Motorsports with co-driver Johannes van Overbeek.

Luis Felipe Derani

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IndyCar driver Sebastian Saavedra and Indy Lights veteran Gustavo Yacaman are the squad in the # 52 Ligier JS P2 for AFS / PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports. This car was the best-finishing LM P2 car at Mid-Ohio this month.

Sebastien Saavedra (left) and Gustavo Yacaman

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USF2000 alum Robert Alon is the driver in the # 85 ORECA LMP2 for JDC-Miller Motorsports. His co-driver in the car is Simon Trummer.

Robert Alon

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Tristan Vautier gets to resume racing in the # 90 Spirit of Daytona Cadillac DPI V.R., finally repaired and ready to race after crashing heavily at Sebring in March. His co-driver is young Matt McMurry.

Tristan Vautier

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There are TWO Indycar folks in the GTD class this weekend. They are:
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IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth is one of the pilots in the # 15 Lexus RCF GT3 for 3GT Racing. His co-driver in the car is David Heinemeier Hansson.

Jack Hawksworth

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IndyCar driver Katherine Legge has been running the season in the # 86 Acura NSX GT3 for Meyer Shank Racing on a race-by-race basis, as the car doesn’t have season-long sponsorship. So far, Kat and her co-driver Alvarao Parente have managed to make every race.

They were NOT going to be at Detroit, however, but at the last minute Autonation, the sponsors for the Meyer Shank Indy 500 car for Jack Harvey, decided to go IMSA racing this weekend, too! They will sponsor the car. This is great news for Legge, who sits 2nd in the series points. However, Alvaro will be racing in Europe in the Blancpain series, so he will be replaced in the car with the capable Mario Farnbacher for Detroit.

Katherine Legge

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Look for coverage of the IMSA practice and race in the upcoming Dual in Detroit thread.

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It’s OUT! - Mazda Road to Indy TV does the Freedom races from late May…

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The Mazda Road to Indy held three races on Carb Day for the Indy 500, last month - The Freedom 100 for the Indy Lights, the Freedom 90 for Pro Mazda and the Freedom 75 for USF2000. The gang from MRTI-TV covered them all and here is their Episode # 5 of the season:

Hosts Tony Laporta and Rob Howden report from Speedway, Indiana. Tony first looks at a few helmets from Kyle Kirkwood, Lucas Kohl, Dave Malukas and Sting Ray Robb. Tony then enters an eating contest with Kyle Kirkwood. Tony and Rob then report on the races themselves.

Following that, Rob does a “False Grid…True Talk” segment featuring Ryan Norman, Santiago Urrutia, Harrison Scott, Rinus VeeKay, Alex Baron and Keith Donegan. Finally, Rob gives us his “insider” feature.

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Good one, guys!

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The Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks raced last weekend at Detroit…

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…and while we linked to those races in the Detroit thread, we have them here in full.

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Here is Race # 1:

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And here is Race # 2:

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Following these two events, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Detroit:

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1 - Matthew Brabham 292
2 - Gavin Harlien 244
3 - Arie Luyendyk, Jr. 221
4 - Robbie Gordon 207
5 - Jeff Hoffman 193

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Next up for the SSTs will be in support of the IndyCars this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, where the SST track includes a portion of the TMS oval and a cross-over, where the trucks jump over each other.

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