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More quick vids from Road to Indy TV…
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First, statistical guru Steve Wittich from TrackSide Online and TSO Ladder has his own report from St. Pete for the Road to Indy races:
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https://twitter.com/RoadToIndyTV/status/1106677494005055490
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continued…
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More quick vids from Road to Indy TV…(part 2)…
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Next, Road to Indy TV introduces the 2018 USF2000 Champion, Kyle Kirkwood, who was also the 2018 F3 Americas Champion in an incredible year:
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https://twitter.com/RoadToIndyTV/status/1107640749938626560
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continued…
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More quick vids from Road to Indy TV…(part 3)…
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Finally, Road to Indy TV will feature Indy Lights veteran driver and Queen’s University Physics grad Dalton Kellett in a series of technical introductions they call RTI 101:
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https://twitter.com/RoadToIndyTV/status/1108118782113972224
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Great news from COTA - Toby is in!..
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One of the best things about the Indy Lights races at St. Petersburg was the series debut of England’s Toby Sowery, who drove his first two races for BN Racing, teaming with fellow rookie David Malukas. While David has a full season lined up with Bryn Nuttall’s new Lights team, Toby was having a one-and-done weekend, using Team Pelfrey equipment and with nothing else lined up, following.
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Toby Sowery
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Despite stepping into a Lights car for the first time on the St. Pete race week, Sowery pulled down a P2 and a P3 in the # 2 IL-15 for BN Racing / Team Pelfrey. Apparently, that terrific performance has at least gotten him 2 more races, this weekend at Circuit of the Americas, as the Lights come to support the IndyCars in their track debut at Austin.
Sowery will be sponsored this weekend by Gap Guard - a well-known Team Pelfrey sponsor - and Rich Energy. Let’s hope he builds on his success and stays on the grid for more of the season.
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Good luck, Toby!
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If you missed the IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas…
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…you missed a great one! There was action all over the track, from beginning to end. It’s rare to get a race with virtually no lulls at all, but Austin produced such a race.
In fact, all 5 races that we watched - the two Stadium Super Truck races, the two Indy Lights races and the IndyCar race were terrific racing entertainment. If this is what Austin has to bring, we’re going to love going there, anytime.
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Here is a great example of the racing we saw. Young Pato O’Ward, making his 2019 debut in the Carlin # 31 Chevrolet, hounding and finally taking Graham Rahal for Rahal Letteman Lanigan for the position: (make sure to expand the view to full screen. It’s worth it)
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https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1110183422100688896
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Dave Furst interviews the Austin race WINNER Colton Herta…
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https://twitter.com/DaveFurst/status/1109934004944412672
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Neat kid, great WIN!
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Just in case you hadn’t heard, Danica Patrick is returning to Indy, this year…
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…no, not as a driver but rather as an analyst and race host for NBC. Danica will join host Mike Tirico in the studio to analyze race day, contributing to NBC Sports’ pre-race, in-race, and post-race coverage. She will also be there on Pole Day on Sunday, May 19 to watch the Firestone Fast Nine and the setting of the pole.
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Danica Patrick
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This is a great pick by NBC. No one was faster or more enthusiastic about Indy than Danica. Great to see you back!
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Road to Indy TV has a few quick vids for you…
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If you saw the terrific IndyCar race on Sunday but missed the two Indy Lights races on Friday and Saturday, you missed two races that easily equalled the thrilling and action-filled race of the big cars, with the only difference being the number of competitors on track.
While we can’t bring you the races we do have the Road to Indy TV’s race re-caps of both events, here:
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https://twitter.com/RoadToIndyTV/status/1110301068339105792
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Road to Indy TV has a few quick vids for you…(part 2)…
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…and here is the quick re-cap of Race 2:
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https://twitter.com/RoadToIndyTV/status/1110301515128934400
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None of the Road to Indy series will be at either the next IndyCar race - Barber - or the following race at Long Beach, so we have to wait for the Indianapolis Grand Prix, May 9-11, for more such entertainement, but there, we will again get all three series - Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000 and USF 2000, and we can hardly wait.
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Stuff we love…
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Among the racing that Austin fans got to see at Circuit of the Americas, last weekend, were USAC Quarter Midgets - small versions of USAC open-wheel Midget racers that are the first training ground for kids who aspire to a career on the Midget and Sprint tracks that dot the landscape all over America.
COTA asked several of the kids to become Grid Kids for the start of the IndyCar race and our guys couldn’t have been nicer to them, taking the time to have pictures taken with the kids. The kids were understandably thrilled to death to be on the grid with their heroes.
In order, Mario Andretti, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden and Zach Veach with .25 midget drivers:
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It’s stuff like this that endears IndyCar drivers to their fans. We love it!
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At the end of the COTA weekend, IndyCar released a highlight reel from the race…
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…and we featured it in the Austin race thread, but that race was so full of highlights that NBC has just released an extended version of the race highlights, and we have that here:
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Truly, the whole race was a highlight reel. It’s weekends like these that lead so many sports writers to claim that IndyCar is the most exciting and competitive racing in the world. We agree!
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It’s the return of the Grid Girl…
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Sometimes they’re called “Brolly Girls” as they often hold umbrellas. Most often they’re called “Grid Girls” and they grace race tracks all over the world, depite some pressure to end what some see as an anachronism.
But these lovely ladies are usually dedicated professional models who would be working somewhere else doing the same thing, if they weren’t on a race track and we gotta love 'em. In fact, at the old Hannity site we used to put up a pic of a Grid Girl everytime we got another thousand views of the thread.
We just hit our first 5,000 views, so it’s a good time to bring 'em back:
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These two Monster Girls lovelies pose man’s world’s oldest question - The blonde or the brunette? - We celebrate 5,000 views of the thread!
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Road to Indy TV has a few new short vids for us…
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Road to Indy TV covers all the doings in Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000 for the fans who want to see where up and coming IndyCar drivers principally come from and they do a great job of it.
This week we have three quick vids from them, starting with a meet and greet with Englishman Toby Sowery, who is doing a race-to-race gig for BN Racing in the Indy Lights, teaming with full-timer David Malukas and getting equipment from Dale Pelfrey of Team Pelfrey.
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Take a look:
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https://twitter.com/RoadToIndyTV/status/1111070212642738177
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Yeah, we know…heavy Brit accent, but you can play it a few times and it won’t cost you a dime.
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continued…
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Road to Indy TV has a few new short vids for us…(part 2)…
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Next, statistics guru Steve Wittich of website TSO Ladder brings you another “Story of the Moment” from the Indy Lights action at Circuit of the Americas…
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take a look:
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https://twitter.com/RoadToIndyTV/status/1111768450853154816
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Thank you, Steve.
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Road to Indy TV has a few new short vids for us…(part 3)…
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Finally, Belardi Auto Racing’s Lights driver, Dalton Kellett, brings us another tech feature as the Queen’s University physics grad does a “Road to Indy 101” feature - this one about tech inspection.
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Take a look:
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https://twitter.com/RoadToIndyTV/status/1112831747144773632
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Thanks, Dalton!
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As if driving 700 hp go-karts against each other wasn’t competition enough…
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IndyCar driver Jack Harvey, who drives for Meyer Shank Racing, has laid down a gauntlet, challenging Carlin’s Max Chilton and Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud to a round of skeet in Alabama, just before the Grand Prix of Alabama begins, this weekend.
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Take a look:
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https://twitter.com/jack_harvey42/status/1113136431373877252
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These guys have been goading each other all this last off-season and now they are finally going to shoot. We will try to keep abreast of how this goes down.
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Great news for Parker Thompson - he races this weekend at Barber!
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The Canadian Road to Indy ace driver from Red Deer, Alberta, got to open the Indy Pro 2000 season at St. Pete with a two-and-done deal for Abel Motorsports and he took maximum advantage of it, getting pole for both races and then WINNING both Season Rounds 1 & 2. He is now seeking the funds to run Season Rounds 3 & 4 for Abel at the Indianapolis Grand Prix, in early May
But in the mean time Championship-WINNING team JDX Racing has asked Parker to drive the # 3 Hertz-sponsored Porsche 991 GT3 Cup car in the 2 opening rounds of the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA series, this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, as the popular and competitive series supports the IndyCar race weekend.
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Parker Thompson
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This is a great opportunity for Thompson, who has never raced in tin-tops before. He has been focussed on getting to the top levels of open wheel but has lately decided to hedge his bets by exploring SportsCars, as well. He will take his rookie drives in the car that Mazda Road to Indy Shootout finalist Trenton Estep took to the title in Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA, last season.
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Parker’s mount this weekend - the JDX Racing Porsche 991 Cup car
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Trenton Estep
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Said Parker, “I haven’t been this excited to jump behind the wheel of a racecar in a very long time! It’s going to be a baptism by fire coming into a strong field in the Porsche GT3 Cup USA series with no prior experience, but I couldn’t have a better team behind me than the guys at JDX Racing.”
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True dat! Good luck, Parker. We’ll be rooting for you
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Little E is on board for the Indy 500…
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Announced today, NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. Has been asked to be a part of the NBC broadcast team for the 2019 Indy 500.The popular driver is a two-time Daytona 500 WINNER but has never had the opportunity to go the the Indy 500 - a bucket list item for Dale.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Junior will be a roving broadcaster on race day, in the Snake Pit, with the crowds in the grandstands, in the race pits and perhaps in the broadcast booth with regulars Leigh Diffy, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy - all great friends with the ace tin-top driver.
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This is the 2nd celebrity driver / commentator announced, following NBC’s grab of Danica Patrick, who will be in the studio with NBC host Mike Tirico on race day and pole day. (see post # 536).
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IndyCar drivers make for great.skeet shooters? Yeah, why not?..
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Back in post # 545 we found out that IndyCar drivers Max Chilton and Simon Pagenaud had been invited by IndyCar driver Jack Harvey to shoot skeet in Alabama. Was there a ringer in this group?
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take a look:
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In case you nissed it, here are the EXTENDED race highlights from Barber…
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Another great weekend for Barber Motorsports Park.
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