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Atlantic, F2000 and F1600 Set for Florida Winter Swing

Formula Promotions logo

Salem, NH – Palm trees will greet teams for the second annual Winter Exhibition for the Atlantic, F2000 and F1600 Championship Series, organized by Formula Race Promotions. Drivers are set to begin testing this Thursday at Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR) in Florida as part of a two-weekend winter season, with Sebring scheduled for Feb. 19-21.

Close action dominated the F1600 Formula F Championship Series rounds at Palm Beach International Raceway in 2015 (Photo courtesy of Formula Race Promotions)

Close action dominated the F1600 Formula F Championship Series rounds at Palm Beach International Raceway in 2015 (Photo courtesy of Formula Race Promotions)

With warm temperatures to look forward to for teams and drivers flocking south, the racy and confrontational Palm Beach layout will offer three days of track time with a pre-season feel, culminating in a spectator-focused Saturday with three races on the schedule.

Just like in 2015, the weekend will offer a glimpse into what will be a highly competitive F1600 Formula F Championship Series season.

Florida-based Team Pelfrey will enter at least two cars, with Kaylen Frederick and Phillippe Denes in the No. 80 and No. 81 Mygale/Hondas, respectively. Pelfrey has consistently run four cars in F1600 competition and won the 2014 F1600 Championship.

Thirteen-year-old Frederick will relish the winter weekends, as he will join the points-paying F1600 field at VIR in June, missing Road Atlanta and Watkins Glen due to age restrictions. His career highlights include claiming pole position at the 2013 Rotax MAX Challenge/Pan-Am Championships at NOLA Motorsports Park and second and third place finishes at the 2014 Rotax Summer Shootout at Miller Motorsports Park.

It was at this event last year that eventual race winners Jordan Cane, from Team Pelfrey, and Kyle Kirkwood, driving for Chastain Motorsports, clashed while fighting for the lead, with Tonis Kasemets taking the victory, while K-Hill’s Austin Mack showed off the pace that would give him a Watkins Glen victory, charging through the field for a podium finish.

K-Hill Motorsports is back after a strong race-winning season in 2015, entering Calvin Ming in the No. 4 Mygale/Honda, and Neil Verhagen in the No. 91, as well as fielding Joe Colasacco in the No. 3 entry.

At 14-years-old, Verhagen already has a year of racing under his belt, bringing five wins and a runner-up finish in the Skip Barber Winter Series to the grid.

In addition, Brian Graham Racing announced 15-year-old Roman De Angelis will compete in both Florida weekends in the team’s Piper/Honda. De Angelis is widely regarded as one of Canada’s karting standouts.

F2000 Championship Series action at Palm Beach International Raceway in 2015 (Photo courtesy of Formula Race Promotions)

F2000 Championship Series action at Palm Beach International Raceway in 2015 (Photo courtesy of Formula Race Promotions)

n the F2000 Championship Series, a growing entry list is highlighted by front-running Austin Mack, driving for K-Hill. Mack finished on the podium at Palm Beach last season.

As well, Black Mount will make his F2000 debut in a K-Hill Motorsports Van Diemen.

2015 PBIR winner Quinlan Lall has since transferred to BRDC F4 in the UK.

The Atlantic Championship Series are the most powerful machines that will race at Palm Beach International Raceway this coming weekend. (Photo courtesy of Formula Race Promotions)

The Atlantic Championship Series are the most powerful machines that will race at Palm Beach International Raceway this coming weekend. (Photo courtesy of Formula Race Promotions)

The fastest cars of the weekend’s activities, the Atlantics, will take to the track with Ryan Norman highlighting the entry list.

Another entry from a deep K-Hill Motorsports presence, Norman has been running strong at SCCA Majors events and looks to take that pace to the Atlantic Championship Series grid in his No. 48 Swift 016/Mazda.

Norman will be joined by Skylar Robinson, a late entry to the field. Robinson has race wins in both the F2000 and F1600 Series.

Official practice and testing begins on Thursday, Feb. 11, with Friday offering up more track time for teams to get back into the swing for 2016. Saturday becomes more focused, with morning qualifying sessions followed by afternoon races.

Source: Formula Race Promotions PR

You can follow the F1600 Formula F Championship Series on their website, Twitter and Facebook.
You can follow the F2000 Championship Series on their website, Twitter and Facebook.
You can follow the Atlantic Championship Series on their website, Twitter and Facebook

My Mazda Road to Indy: Meet Nicolas Dapero

PALMETTO, Fla. – Argentine Nicolas Dapero grew up in Buenos Aires in a family that had no auto racing background. But with help from fellow countryman Ricardo Juncos and the Juncos Racing driver development program, the 18-year-old will make his debut in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires this season. Learn how a family friend started the young Dapero on the auto racing path, what his expectations are for 2016 (and 2017!) and how he gives back to needy families in his home country.
After spending a season as a development driver in 2015, Nicolas Dapero is joining Juncos Racing for a full Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire campaign in 2016. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

After spending a season as a development driver in 2015, Nicolas Dapero is joining Juncos Racing for a full Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire campaign in 2016. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

What first got you interested in karting? How did you get into racing?
I wanted to do motocross, racing dirt bikes, but my father didn’t let me because he thought it was too dangerous. A friend of my sister’s raced karts and I asked how to do that. It was hard at first, because no one in my family raced so they didn’t know anything about the sport but the family of my sister’s friend helped them. My family has really helped me and supported me.
I started karting when I was 11 years old, on the same team as my sister’s friend. At first it was just something fun to do on the weekends, but then we decided to do it more seriously. I tested a lot that first year and then the next year, started racing.
Take us through your racing career to date.
In 2012, I raced in the ROTAX of Buenos Aires, along with two smaller karting championships so I was racing every weekend to try and learn as much as I could. The next year I raced in Argentina and some in the U.S. and in Europe to get more experience. In 2014, I won the ROTAX Argentina Championship. I also started in formula cars that year, and for me that was the beginning. I wanted to learn more and to go to a better formula series so we started in the Formula Renault 2.0 series in Argentina. It wasn’t that competitive, and we decided to go to the Formula 3 series in Brazil. We did a lot of testing in the F3 car and I learned a lot.
What got you interested in the Mazda Road to Indy and the Pro Mazda series? 
When I did Formula Renault we decided to go to either Europe or to the U.S. to get more experience before going to F3. My manager knew Ricardo Juncos so we looked at Pro Mazda and the Mazda Road to Indy. We decided that it was a good idea because Europe was so expensive. We tested in the Pro Mazda car for the whole year that I was doing F3.
We decided to go to Pro Mazda with the idea that one day we’ll be in IndyCar. That is the goal. We take this very seriously because the Pro Mazda championship is very serious. If you don’t do the Mazda Road to Indy, it’s very hard to get into IndyCar.
What are your expectations for 2016?
I want to learn a lot, get a lot of experience and be as quick as I can. Juncos Racing is the best and we have a really good relationship. Then in 2017, I will go for the championship.
Are you looking forward to living in the U.S.?
We used to come to America for holidays. I will move to Florida starting in March, before the season starts. I know the country pretty well and I’m used to it.
What kind of activities do you like to do away from the race car?
I work with TECHO, an organization working to fight poverty in Argentina. They support youth volunteers in helping families in need. We work alongside the families, helping them to build houses.
What is your favorite race (or racetrack) and what is your best memory about that race/track?
I tested all over the U.S. last year and I know almost all the tracks that we’ll race on. The one I prefer the most is Mid-Ohio. It’s a tough track with all the high-speed corners so that’s my favorite.
What do you do to relax?
In my free time, I like to play golf and spend time with my friends.

DAVEY HAMILTON, JR. MOVING TO INDY LIGHTS IN 2016 WITH MCCORMACK

DAVEY HAMILTON, JR. MOVING TO INDY LIGHTS IN 2016 WITH MCCORMACK

McCormack Racing logo

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (February 5, 2016) – 18 year-old King of the Wing Sprint Car Series champion Davey Hamilton, Jr. has come to terms to compete for Jack McCormack & McCormack Racing in the 2016 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires.  The third generation driver originally from Boise, ID will be making his debut campaign in a single seater.

Hamilton hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps as the latest American racer to translate asphalt Open Wheel & Sprint Car success into an INDYCAR career.  Hamilton, Jr.’s 2015 concluded with his fifth Sprint Car win of the year at Madera in November en route to the King of the Wing Western Sprint Car Series championship and third in the national championship.

His father Davey, Sr. has competed in 11 Indianapolis 500s with a best finish of fourth.  He also finished second in series points in back-to-back seasons in 1997 and 1998.  He remarkably finished ninth in the 2007 edition of the 500 after a six year comeback from a devastating crash at Texas Motor Speedway.

“This opportunity with Jack McCormack is something I have been looking forward to for a long time,” Hamilton, Jr. said.  “We are working hard to be on the grid in March to challenge for wins and ultimately an Indy Lights championship.  We still have some work to do financially but we’re pushing hard.”

Davey Hamilton, Jr. and McCormack have announced that they have a tentative agreement to compete in the full 2016 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire championship. (Photo courtesy of McCormack Motorsports)

Davey Hamilton, Jr. and McCormack have announced that they have a tentative agreement to compete in the full 2016 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire championship. (Photo courtesy of McCormack Motorsports)

McCormack’s racing history goes back to 1966 in drag racing before a successful career in engineering and car ownership across IMSA, IndyCar, Indy Lights, and USAC.  McCormack has worked with a diverse range of top drivers such as Sam Posey, Skip Barber, Pancho Carer, Roger McCluskey, Jerry Sneva, Roger Mears, Tom Sneva, Geoff Brabham, and Dick Simon.

McCormack Racing and Hamilton have spent much of the off season testing primarily at Buttonwillow Raceway in California.  After several weeks practicing a third-generation Indy Lights car, Hamilton took controls of the current fourth-generation IL-15 for numerous testing days.  Hamilton and McCormack will make a private oval test later this month before joining the series officially on February 24th for the test on the one-mile oval Phoenix International Raceway.

The team has tentative agreements in place to compete in the entire Indy Lights starting with the Streets of St. Pete March 1113.  Two separate Indy Lights races will be contested across opening weekend for the series.  Indy Lights’ 2016 agenda also includes oval races at Phoenix, Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Freedom 100 on Carb Day, and Iowa Speedway.

You can learn more about Davey Hamilton, Jr. on Facebook and Twitter along with www.DaveyJr.com  Visit McCormack Racing online at www.mccormackindycar.com

Davey Hamilton, Jr. thanks his sponsors Big Red, Lucas Oil, Rhino Rush Energy, and Impact Racing for their support.

 

My Mazda Road to Indy: Meet Jordan Cane

My Mazda Road to Indy: Meet Jordan Cane

A weekly series providing an inside look at new faces on the Mazda Road to Indy, the only driver development program of its type in the world.
Cane-2
PALMETTO, Fla. – At a mere 14 years of age, Brit Jordan Cane turned some heads last year in his first season in a car (and only his fourth year racing) as he earned seven F1600 victories for Team Pelfrey despite missing the first two events due to age restrictions. This year Cane, who was brought up just a few miles from the Goodwood circuit in England, will step up to the Mazda Road to Indy, competing for Team Pelfrey in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda.
You were 11 when the racing bug hit with a trip to Goodwood?
I’d always loved cars, but I never thought of racing. I was 8 years old when I first encountered the Festival of Speed at Goodwood. I went again when I was 11, and that sealed the deal for me. I wanted to take this up as just a hobby at first. I wanted to do pit biking (motocross) because my best mate was going to buy a pit bike, but my dad said no because he’d really hurt himself on a dirt bike when he was young. He asked if I’d ever thought of karting, and that’s where the seed was planted. We went to a cadet course at Thruxton every Sunday for a month. In the first session, I was the slowest on track. But at the second session, I broke the track record. I took the test for a license and my hobby turned into a career.
Take us through your racing career to date.  
After the cadet course, I won a club cadet championship. That helped us make the decision to go into the top level of British karting. We switched mid-season to a Mini Max because I got too big for the cadet kart. I won a couple of races and finished 10th out of 33 karts despite a good amount of bad luck. We decided to make the move to cars at that point going to Skip Barber courses.
It was quite a big shock. You have much bigger surroundings and the car is much faster than a kart. Everything is maximized in a car, but Skip Barber taught in a way that got the best out of me. After three days at Road Atlanta and two days at Lime Rock, I felt very confident in myself and I felt that I could compete in cars. It made the feeling that I wanted to be a race car driver even stronger.
How did you connect with Team Pelfrey?
It’s a funny story, and it shows that it’s a very small world. My very first karting mechanic had tested with Team Pelfrey in Pro Mazda and he recommended that I contact them. That’s how the relationship started. From the first test, we bonded really well. I was 10 times more confident at the test because of the Skip Barber program. I signed with them to do F1600 and everything just went from there. The team felt I had potential to win races, so we signed with them.
You had a very good year in F1600 even though you missed the first two race weekends.
You have to be 14 to run in F1600, so I missed the first two events. It was quite hard to get used to running with 20 other cars, but we got there in the end. We had two fifth-place finishes the first weekend at Virginia and the season went upwards from there. I finished fifth in the first race of the Mid-Ohio weekend and won the second one, which was the first race win of the season for the team. We ended up with seven wins and 10 podiums at the end of the season, which was a huge confidence booster for me and for the team.
Obviously it’s a natural progression from F1600, especially with Team Pelfrey, but what attracted you to the Mazda Road to Indy and the USF2000 series?
I think the Mazda Road to Indy offers something no other racing series does which is the scholarship program. You can’t get that anywhere else and that’s what persuaded me and my dad to race here for another two years, to fight for the championship. If you look at where I was two years ago, it’s been a game changer for me. On the American path, IndyCar is definitely the goal.
How difficult has it been to be away from home? It’s a big transition, coming to the States.
My parents bought a vacation house in Florida before I was born and we spent our summers here so we’re not your typical tourists. This is more like our second home. It was hard at first, almost like a different culture, but we did it at such a young age that we bonded with American culture. We go back and forth from America to England for every race, so it’s a bit of a jump. We have a lot of air miles! I go to a regular public school at home and they’ve really supported me, even though I will miss 75 days of school this year. The work piles up, and I have to catch up no matter where I am. It’s hard being away from home, because my family is everything to me. And I’m in the gym five times a week and on the simulator twice a week so the commitments are huge.
What are your expectations for 2016?
I want to win races, but I’d be happy with a top five in the championship. I went into last year as a learning year and I’ll take that same approach this season. What will be will be, but of course, I’ll try to win every race.
What kind of activities do you do away from the race car?
I’ve always had a dog, so I love dogs. I wanted to do something to help so we approached the Dog’s Trust. (Note: founded in 1891, Dog’s Trust is the largest dog charity in the United Kingdom.) I’m working with them, doing media bits and talks. They work on getting dogs re-homed and fighting animal cruelty.
Do you have a “hidden” talent?
I used to play drums, so that was my forte three or four years ago. But I was also Junior Fishing Champion in Key West in 2009. My dad and I entered this competition and we won it. We won a pretty big trophy, which is currently the biggest trophy I have!
Who is your greatest inspiration – personal and/or professional?
Racing-wise, I’ve always been a Lewis Hamilton fan. For motivational purposes and someone who links to my life, it would be Jenson Button. He came from a more difficult background than I did and he still had the determination to make it work. Personally, it would be my dad. He came from a rough background, leaving school at age 18. He started his own business in a small work shed with a welder and a saw. Before long, he was working on buildings like the Canterbury Cathedral and the Tower of London.
Source: Andersen Promotions PR

Carlin sophomore Ed Jones leads the way on day one of preseason Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire testing

The first official Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire test session at the Homestead-Miami Speedway began promptly at 9am in the same manner that 2015 season ended at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca; with the majority of the deep field capable of a podium on any given weekend.

It was only a single second that covered the six veteran and five rookie drivers during the first three hour session. Leading the way were veteran pilots Ed Jones (Carlin), Shelby Blackstock (Andretti Autosport) and Zach Veach (Belardi Auto Racing), with Jones lapping at a session best 1:15.036. Nipping closely at the heel’s of the trio of more experienced drivers were freshman Zachary Claman De Melo (Juncos Racing) and reigning Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire champion Santiago Urrutia (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian).

It was Carlin teammates Jones (55) and Felix Serralles (54) who turned the most laps in the morning session, while Urrutia only needed 22 laps to break into the top five on the 2.21 mile, 14-turn roval at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Full times for the morning session are as follows:

Rank Driver Team Top Lap Total Laps
1 Ed Jones Carlin 01:15.0360 55
2 Shelby Blackstock Andretti Autosport 01:15.3873 43
3 Zach Veach Belardi Auto Racing 01:15.5952 37
4 Zachary Claman De Melo (R) Juncos Racing 01:15.6821 40
5 Santiago Urrutia (R) Schmidt Peterson Motorsports 01:15.7130 22
6 RC Enerson Schmidt Peterson Motorsports 01:15.7821 38
7 Felix Serralles Carlin 01:15.8965 54
8 Dalton Kellett (R) Andretti Autosport 01:16.0225 39
9 Felix Rosenqvist (R) Belardi Auto Racing 01:16.0250 45
10 Neil Alberico (R) Carlin 01:16.0448 41
11 Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing 01:16.0719 29

We have been able to catch a few shots of driver’s new rides on social media.

Veach will be in the familiar Belardi Auto Racing No. 5. That is the same number that the 21 year-old’s good friend Gabby Chaves took to the Indy Lights championship while driving for Belardi in 2014.

Recent Carlin signee Neil Alberico will sport the No. 22 and for the test is in a primarily white livery with prominent Rising Star Racing branding. TSO expects to see other primary sponsors adorn the Mazda powered Dallara’s side pods throughout the season .

Puerto Rican sophomore Serralles made the move to Carlin during the off-season and it appears if he brought the No. 4 he drove last year with him from Belardi Auto Racing.

Rookie Dalton Kellett will continue with the familiar No. 28 he used with Andretti Autosport in Pro Mazda the past two seasons.

Unconfirmed Pro Mazda champion Santiago Urrutia is in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian ride that Scott Anderson drove in 2015, but it appears to be the chassis that Harvey drove last year as it retains the Racing Steps Foundation coloring from 2015.

Juncos Racing rookie Zachary Claman De Melo is listed as the No. 12 on the entry list, but as the No. 13 on timing and scoring.

Reigning FIA Formula 3 champion Felix Rosenqvist who is testing with Belardi Auto Racing is piloting the No. 14, in what appears to be a trade of the No. 4 and No. 14 between Belardi and Carlin.

The post-lunch break session began at 1pm, but some time passed before anybody ventured out on track. In fact, half-way through the four-hour afternoon session and Kellet, Rosenqvist, Alberico and morning session leader Jones had yet to turn a lap.

However, the delay in getting out on track this afternoon didn’t slow down Jones, as he led his second straight session in the Carlin No. 11. Times during the afternoon session continued to fall as the teams and drivers made adjustments to their cars and driving lines.

Urrutia was the only driver to rejoin Jones in the top five as he duplicated his morning session effort of the fifth quickest time. Joining the two morning speedsters this afternoon were Rosenqvist, RC Enerson, and Serralles.

Veach (53) and Enerson (48) turned the most laps, while Rosenqvist only needed 26 laps to jump near the top of the time sheet.

The afternoon time sheet looked like this:

Rank Driver Team Top Lap Total Laps
1 Ed Jones Carlin 1:14.538 30
2 Felix Rosenqvist Belardi Auto Racing 1:14.708 26
3 RC Enerson Schmidt Peterson Motorsports 1:15.025 48
4 Felix Serralles Carlin 1:15.141 29
5 Santiago Urrutia Schmidt Peterson Motorsports 1:15.168 32
6 Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing 1:15.187 46
7 Zach Veach Belardi Auto Racing 1:15.221 53
8 Zachary Claman De Melo Juncos Racing 1:15.293 35
9 Shelby Blackstock Andretti Autosport 1:15.343 29
10 Neil Alberico Carlin 1:15.661 32
11 Dalton Kellett Andretti Autosport 1:16.583 43

The first day of testing during a brand new season can certainly provide a basic baseline for future, but it’s not a good idea to predict future results and pace from the first seven-hours of track time. Teams are often working on different programs and utilizing different tire strategies.

Combined times for the day were as follows:

Rank Driver Team Top Lap Total Laps
1 Ed Jones Carlin 1:14.538 85
2 Felix Rosenqvist Belardi Auto Racing 1:14.708 71
3 RC Enerson Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian 1:15.025 86
4 Felix Serralles Carlin 1:15.141 83
5 Santiago Urrutia Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian 1:15.168 54
6 Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing 1:15.187 75
7 Zach Veach Belardi 1:15.221 90
8 Zachary Claman DeMelo Juncos Racing 1:15.293 75
9 Shelby Blackstock Andretti Autosport 1:15.343 72
10 Neil Alberico Carlin 1:15.661 73
11 Dalton Kellett Andretti Autosport 1:16:23 82

However the combined times after testing concludes tomorrow should provide a “fairly” reliable guide to future pace. Tomorrow’s schedule is as follows:
9am – 12pm —> on-track testing
noon – 1pm —> lunch
1pm – 5pm —> on track testing

Thanks for reading and TSO will be back with more tomorrow.

Chili Bowl Friday Notes and Saturday Line-ups

By Patrick Stephan

Well, Friday was a little on the long side (like most of my race days), but certainly a lot of fun and very interesting.  I initially wrote this in pretty much chronological order, but, then things got weird and long, so I’ll put out the news first and save some other pieces for later.

Chili Bowl

Chili Bowl as seen from the pit area viewing stand!

Let’s start on a positive note:  Bryan Clauson won Friday’s qualifying night races, locking him in to Saturday’s A-main.  Clauson will again run the Indy 500 in 2016 for Jonathan Byrd’s Racing in partnership with Dale Coyne.  On top of that, he’s planning to run a couple hundred other events, winning on Friday night gets that off to a good start.

The full results from tonight are at the bottom of this story.

——

Ok, now the weird parts.

The Tulsa Expo Center raceway tractor driver got in to a confrontation with a fan who was heckling him.  The tractor driver in this case was Tony Stewart, who isn’t running short track events these days (he will resume in 2017 after concluding his full-time NASCAR career in 2016).  Stewart went in the stands to chat with the fan (who appears in the video to be a little on the tipsy side), and as words were exchanged, it looks like Tony puts his hands on the guy, who reciprocates.  At that point a security guard who was on scene pushed the guy a little harder and he leaned back (kinda sat, kinda fell) on to his grandstand seat.

Stewart moved closer to chat with the guy further and then it appears the situation resolved and Tony went back to working on the race track.

More on this one (including a couple videos) at:  NBCSports.com

My opinion on this confrontation,  which I did not witness in person:  First, Tony shouldn’t go in to the stands ever, even if he is smiling as he walks up the grandstand to chat.  BUT!!!  People shouldn’t yell stuff repeatedly at someone, either.  And word is he also showed my Stewart the “bird.”

The real bottom line though is that WAY more will be made of this incident than it deserves.  Really doesn’t seem like a big deal, except its Tony Stewart.  That brings out people that love him and hate him and with his past “anger” issues, it’s just not good for Tony, so again, he just has to avoid the situation, even though the rest of us would probably not hear much flack if we were to be involved in something similar.

——

Now, the next crazy thing that happened can be filed under, “huh?”

Just before the Friday night feature, the car #20a that was assigned Alex Shanks as the driver turned out to have been driven by Shane Cockrum.  That of course got Cockrum disqualified from tonight’s results and he’s out for the rest of the 2016 Chili Bowl.

Cockrum had already raced in Wednesday’s qualifying night and you don’t get to race more than one car here (if that were allowed, they’d have 600 entries).   Not sure on the “why?” for Cockrum and Shanks came tried this plan, but it didn’t work.  And that’s not surprising.  Even with the large field, it seems like everyone here knows everyone else, or knows someone that knows someone, so this didn’t seem like a great idea in the first place.  We can start with its just plain wrong, but the idea really goes downhill due to the low probability of it actually working.

Now, maybe there is some other explanation that makes more sense (though it’s still wrong), but I haven’t seen that anywhere just yet.

Update:   We did get the explanation from Shane this morning on his twitter account, “I sincerely apologize for my actions this evening. It was solely my decision and just in fun to create Chili Bowl excitement”

And ok, that is just as good an explanation as you’d expect here where crazy things not only happen, but to some degree they are pretty much expected.  And next….

——-

On the track, the racing was great as usual here, and the show moved along pretty well.  They did stop a few times as is expected to re-work the surface and they seemed to have it fairly well handled on Friday. I’d heard Tuesday and Wednesday they did that even more often, and the track stayed super fast all night, which actually made it even harder for passing. Which led to even more bumping and wheel banging.  It’s a tough decision for the promoters.  They need to let the track wear out a little to get decent passing, but too much and they’ll “lose it” and then we get dry-slick and no passing.  Gotta say though they do a good job for the most part making it about as fair as possible given the situation.

——-

Now, some of the background stuff (partial listing, I have a notebook full of stuff on who I saw, talked with, talked about, etc.)

First off, I got on the plane in Denver and got my first pleasant surprise of the day – a Southwest plane with just 83 passengers.  That was way undersold, and probably the least crowded flight in recent memory.  Last time I saw this many open seats was a flight to Japan (for the IndyCar Series race) during the SARS outbreak.

It is interesting that even with a whole bunch of race fans and race teams here (over 330+ entries alone), my rental car was a TOTAL of $28.00 for the weekend (including tax), and the Hilton Garden Inn at the airport was right at $100.00 a night (pretty reasonable for that chain).

Now, once you get to the Tulsa Expo Center some of the low price stuff goes away.  My two day pit pass was also a nice even $100.00.

After plopping that money down and signing the release, I walked into the 448,000 square foot Expo Center and found myself in the middle of the trade show.  Of course, I’d planned to be on the lookout for something IndyCar related and it took all of 5 seconds to find it.  The immediate winner was a Pippa Mann firesuit hanging at the Hinchman display.

Pippa Mann firesuit at the Hinchman display

Pippa Mann firesuit at the Hinchman display

Then, walking another 20 feet, I ran in to the PXP Racewear booth – being manned by PXP owners Terri and Dave “Poppy” Popielarz.  Terri is a racer, and she’s married to one also.  Poppy is a veteran IndyCar mechanic/crew chief and all around good guy is the team manager of Andretti Autosport’s Indy Lights program.  When not at the shop or the race track, clearly, you can find the Polielarz at the shop or a race track.  Dave races a dirt modified and Terri herself has an extensive racing background in addition to running the safety clothing company.

As Steve noted in his Indy Light’s run down, Andretti will run two full-time entries in 2016 for Shelby and Dalton Kellett, and it looking at additional entries if possible. Poppy confirmed that the team does have three Dallara IL-15 chassis now.

After a nice conversation with “Poppy” and looking over the very nice fire-resistant clothing available at PXP Racewear I walked through the gate in the pits and immediately to my left were the Sarah Fisher Racing development cars for Sarah and Kyle O’Gara.  I didn’t see Sarah at that time, but my Indy related chance meetings continued anyway.

I ran in to Chris Jones, staff photographer for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar, and he is filing a blog and shooting pictures this week at the Chili Bowl.  Go to http://blog.ims.com/

I would also run in to veteran open wheel reporters Dave Argabright and Robin Miller in the pit area.

Later in the day I was able to talk with Sarah Fisher and she told me that she was having a fun running the dirt midget, but she still didn’t have much experience in the car.  This was just her second time in the dirt midget (the first was here last winter).  She thought she was too timid last year and might have gone too aggressive this year.  Interesting in that I remember seeing Sarah running the pavement midget back in the day at PPIR and she was wicked fast.  That led in part to her making the move to IndyCar’s – first at Texas Motor Speedway.  I think I still have the T-shirt I bought from her mom at that race.

Sarah ran in the Thursday night qualifying program, finishing 6th in her heat race after starting 7th and then 7th in the C-main.

Now might be a good time to explain how this works.  First, there are 300+ entries so clearly everyone can’t race on the same day (well, until tomorrow).  80+ entries run each of the four qualifying nights (Tuesday through Friday nights).

There is a draw each night, which slots the drivers in to their heat race starting positions.  And this may be one of the most important parts of week for many.  How the rest of your week goes starts with how many passing points you can earn in your heat race. There will be 10-12 heat races a night, so figure around 8 cars in each heat.  Start last and pass a five cars and you have picked up considerable passing points.  The sweet spot seems to be starting something like fourth and winning your heat.

What you don’t want is what happened to the TSO sponsored entry of Chris Sheil.  He ran Wednesday and got spun and then hit in his heat race – breaking a radius rod and picking up a DNF. Negative passing points – ouch!

The top 40 in passing points in the heat races go to the four qualifying races later in the night.  The remainder of the field is assigned (based on points) to a pair of D and C-mains.  From there, you have to race your way forward, with a two cars from each D moving on to the respective C features, and the remainder of the field then left to see what points they picked up as that will apply to Saturday night’s “seeding”.  The top two from the C’s move to the B feature’s.

The B’s and most of the A is the remainder of the drivers who scored better points in their heats.

See it’s simple.  EXCEPT there are 300+ cars here!  That means Saturday’s racing program will start promptly well before noon with the first of 2 N-mains.  If you had a bad qualifying night, or even just bad luck that night (Chris Sheil told me he got spun in every race he ran, including the D), then you can make it all better by finishing in the top 4 in the N main, then doing it again in the M main and so on until you can just finish in the top 6 in the D, C, and B-main’s.   And bingo – you are in the feature along with the 12 drivers that locked in earlier in the week.  Easy as a Frito Pie – yes, I had one of these.  Yes, it was yummy!  No, it’s not good for you!

There are Frito's under the peppers, onions, and Chili.

There are Frito’s under the peppers, onions, and Chili.

Ok, check out the Friday night results, and the Saturday line-ups and I’ll be back sometime after midnight with the full rundown of Saturday’s action.

Chris is starting today in the M-main, and Sarah Fisher will go off 6th in an I-main, followed by her teammate Kyle O’Gara in 8th, and IndyCar mechanic Anton Julian in 9th.

Other IndyCar related notables include, Davey Ray who told me his Freedom 100 bid is progressing (more on that in a later update), as he starts 9th in an F-Feature.  Dillon Welch had a pretty good qualifying night and he’ll start 14th in B-Feature #1.  Getting to 6th will be tough, but there are sure to be lots of cautions – he just has to stay out of them as he tries to make it to one of the 6 spots that will get him in to the A-main.

——

http://www.chilibowl.com/profile/schedule/results.aspx?r=66045&rt=sch

 

1/15/2016 at Tulsa Expo Raceway

Midgets

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 63-Bryan Clauson[1]; 2. 47X-Tim McCreadie[5]; 3. 67Z-Kasey Kahne[3]; 4. 21-Daryn Pittman[2]; 5. 17G-Shane Golobic[7]; 6. 71G-Damion Gardner[13]; 7. 67-Tanner Thorson[10]; 8. 15X-Chad Boat[11]; 9. 73X-Jac Haudenschild[8]; 10. 05H-Hunter Schuerenberg[4]; 11. 21K-Cory Kruseman[9]; 12. 68-Ronnie Gardner[19]; 13. 14-Trevor Kobylarz[16]; 14. 11AG-Dave Darland[23]; 15. 27T-Tucker Klaasmeyer[18]; 16. 35S-Danny Faria Jr[17]; 17. 51W-Danny Sheridan[21]; 18. 15-Tim Siner[12]; 19. 9K-Kyle Schuett[22]; 20. 31B-David Budres[24]; 21. 80-Josh Hawkins[14]; 22. 98D-Clinton Boyles[20]; 23. (DNF) 88N-D.J. Netto[15]; DNS 20A-Alex Shanks…The 20a was found out to be Shane Cockrum, not Alex Shanks. Because of this, Shane has been DQ’d for the 2016 Chili Bowl Nationals.

B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 35S-Danny Faria Jr[2]; 2. 68-Ronnie Gardner[4]; 3. 51W-Danny Sheridan[1]; 4. 11AG-Dave Darland[11]; 5. 57T-Tyler Edwards[9]; 6. 37F-Bill Balog[3]; 7. 20-Tadd Holliman[7]; 8. 20S-Shon Deskins[15]; 9. 7E-Cory Eliason[14]; 10. 33-Davey Ray[8]; 11. 25M-Derrick Myers[5]; 12. 77D-Dean Drake Jr[13]; 13. 88D-Rusty Dukes[12]; 14. 13W-Tommy White[10]; 15. 75X-Matt Mitchell[16]; 16. (DNF) 5F-Rik Forbes[6]

B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 27T-Tucker Klaasmeyer[2]; 2. 98D-Clinton Boyles[5]; 3. 9K-Kyle Schuett[3]; 4. 31B-David Budres[6]; 5. 100-Shane Stewart[11]; 6. 51JR-Ryan Jamison[15]; 7. 87F-Brian McClelland[10]; 8. 1A-Kevin Ramey[9]; 9. 32D-Danny Jennings[8]; 10. 24F-Hunter Fischer[16]; 11. 11K-Gavin Harlien[14]; 12. 6-Bill Rose[13]; 13. 19-Jake Bubak[1]; 14. (DNF) 11E-Cory Elliott[4]; 15. (DNF) 19P-Alex Hill[12]; 16. (DNF) 2ND-Jeb Sessums[7]

C Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 77D-Dean Drake Jr[3]; 2. 7E-Cory Eliason[8]; 3. 20S-Shon Deskins[9]; 4. 75X-Matt Mitchell[11]; 5. 15F-Aaron Farney; 6. 57M-Landon Simon; 7. 7M-Anton Julian[1]; 8. 14S-Steve Schaberg[10]; 9. 5B-Andee Beierle[4]; 10. 48-Taylor Forbes[12]; 11. 9D-Sean Dodenhoff[6]; 12. 1B-Chris Windom[5]; 13. 22D-David Stephenson[7]; 14. 22H-John Heydenreich[2]

C Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 6-Bill Rose[5]; 2. 11K-Gavin Harlien[3]; 3. 51JR-Ryan Jamison[7]; 4. 24F-Hunter Fischer; 5. 15B-Danny Burke[1]; 6. 01J-David Ferguson[6]; 7. 0-Johnny Murdock[11]; 8. 1P-Terry Nichols[10]; 9. 74-Zach Merritt[2]; 10. 83S-Shane Weeks[9]; 11. 04-Marcus Thomas; 12. 101-Chuck McGillivray[4]; 13. 83G-Matt Gilbert[12]; 14. (DNF) 20X-Noah Harris[8]

D Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 57M-Landon Simon[6]; 2. 15F-Aaron Farney[2]; 3. 1TS-Tyler Shoemaker[8]; 4. 59E-Dex Eaton[10]; 5. 50LP-Michael Sosebee[4]; 6. 69P-Colby Estes[3]; 7. 71.5-Robert Bell[9]; 8. 9M-Cory Mallo[7]; 9. 5M-Sean Murphy[1]; 10. (DNF) 53-Brett Thomas[5]; DNS 76-Brad Noffsinger

D Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 04-Marcus Thomas[9]; 2. 24F-Hunter Fischer[7]; 3. 10X-Danny Smith[1]; 4. 17S-Ryan Secrest[8]; 5. 7T-Jack Hawley[6]; 6. 11Y-Travis Young[2]; 7. D6-Dakota Gaines[3]; 8. 6B-Brad Kraus[5]; DNS 85H-Shane Hollingsworth; DNS 52C-Isaac Chapple

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17G-Shane Golobic[1]; 2. 31B-David Budres[6]; 3. 11E-Cory Elliott[4]; 4. 32D-Danny Jennings[8]; 5. 83S-Shane Weeks[2]; 6. 51JR-Ryan Jamison[7]; 7. 69P-Colby Estes[5]; 8. 71.5-Robert Bell[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 71G-Damion Gardner[4]; 2. 9K-Kyle Schuett[3]; 3. 1A-Kevin Ramey[5]; 4. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[7]; 5. 6-Bill Rose[6]; 6. 1P-Terry Nichols[8]; 7. 9M-Cory Mallo[1]; DNS 76-Brad Noffsinger

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63-Bryan Clauson[6]; 2. 05H-Hunter Schuerenberg[5]; 3. 88D-Rusty Dukes[1]; 4. 14-Trevor Kobylarz[8]; 5. 14S-Steve Schaberg[2]; 6. (DNF) 7E-Cory Eliason[7]; 7. (DNF) 85H-Shane Hollingsworth[4]; 8. (DNF) 04-Marcus Thomas[3]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 73X-Jac Haudenschild[1]; 2. 87F-Brian McClelland[2]; 3. 25M-Derrick Myers[8]; 4. 15B-Danny Burke[4]; 5. 101-Chuck McGillivray[5]; 6. 20X-Noah Harris[7]; 7. 11Y-Travis Young[6]; 8. (DNF) 59E-Dex Eaton[3]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 27T-Tucker Klaasmeyer[2]; 2. 20-Tadd Holliman[1]; 3. 47X-Tim McCreadie[7]; 4. 51W-Danny Sheridan[6]; 5. 9D-Sean Dodenhoff[4]; 6. 0-Johnny Murdock[5]; 7. 6B-Brad Kraus[3]; 8. (DNF) 7T-Jack Hawley[8]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Tim Siner[7]; 2. 67Z-Kasey Kahne[8]; 3. 19P-Alex Hill[1]; 4. 13W-Tommy White[5]; 5. 01J-David Ferguson[4]; 6. 83G-Matt Gilbert[2]; 7. 57M-Landon Simon[3]; 8. (DNF) 24F-Hunter Fischer[6]

Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 5F-Rik Forbes[2]; 2. 80-Josh Hawkins[1]; 3. 21K-Cory Kruseman[8]; 4. 100-Shane Stewart[5]; 5. 74-Zach Merritt[6]; 6. 48-Taylor Forbes[3]; 7. 10X-Danny Smith[7]; 8. 17S-Ryan Secrest[4]

Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Daryn Pittman[5]; 2. 57T-Tyler Edwards[3]; 3. 88N-D.J. Netto[8]; 4. (DNF) 5B-Andee Beierle[1]; 5. (DNF) 7M-Anton Julian[7]; 6. (DNF) 5M-Sean Murphy[4]; 7. (DNF) 53-Brett Thomas[6]

Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 15X-Chad Boat[1]; 2. 67-Tanner Thorson[7]; 3. 68-Ronnie Gardner[3]; 4. 77D-Dean Drake Jr[2]; 5. 22D-David Stephenson[4]; 6. 11K-Gavin Harlien[8]; 7. D6-Dakota Gaines[5]; 8. 1TS-Tyler Shoemaker[6]

Heat 10 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Jake Bubak[4]; 2. 35S-Danny Faria Jr[3]; 3. 33-Davey Ray[2]; 4. 22H-John Heydenreich[5]; 5. 1B-Chris Windom[7]; 6. (DNF) 75X-Matt Mitchell[6]; DNS 52C-Isaac Chapple

Heat 11 (8 Laps): 1. 37F-Bill Balog[2]; 2. 11AG-Dave Darland[4]; 3. 20A-Alex Shanks[7]; 4. 98D-Clinton Boyles[6]; 5. 20S-Shon Deskins[3]; 6. 15F-Aaron Farney[1]; 7. (DNF) 50LP-Michael Sosebee[5]

Q1 (10 Laps): 1. 15X-Chad Boat[1]; 2. 21K-Cory Kruseman[4]; 3. 71G-Damion Gardner[3]; 4. 67-Tanner Thorson[5]; 5. 51W-Danny Sheridan[9]; 6. 15-Tim Siner[6]; 7. 20-Tadd Holliman[8]; 8. 13W-Tommy White[10]; 9. 57T-Tyler Edwards[7]; 10. 11AG-Dave Darland[2]

Q2 (10 Laps): 1. 63-Bryan Clauson[6]; 2. 05H-Hunter Schuerenberg[4]; 3. 88N-D.J. Netto[2]; 4. 80-Josh Hawkins[8]; 5. 27T-Tucker Klaasmeyer[3]; 6. 19-Jake Bubak[5]; 7. 98D-Clinton Boyles[9]; 8. 32D-Danny Jennings[1]; 9. 1A-Kevin Ramey[7]; 10. (DNF) 100-Shane Stewart[10]

Q3 (10 Laps): 1. 17G-Shane Golobic[2]; 2. 47X-Tim McCreadie[4]; 3. 14-Trevor Kobylarz[1]; 4. 67Z-Kasey Kahne[6]; 5. 35S-Danny Faria Jr[8]; 6. 68-Ronnie Gardner[9]; 7. 5F-Rik Forbes[3]; 8. 2ND-Jeb Sessums[7]; 9. 31B-David Budres[5]; 10. 88D-Rusty Dukes[10]

Q4 (10 Laps): 1. 73X-Jac Haudenschild[2]; 2. 20A-Alex Shanks[4]; 3. 21-Daryn Pittman[6]; 4. 9K-Kyle Schuett[1]; 5. 37F-Bill Balog[3]; 6. 11E-Cory Elliott[8]; 7. 25M-Derrick Myers[5]; 8. 33-Davey Ray[9]; 9. 87F-Brian McClelland[7]; 10. 19P-Alex Hill[10]

——–

Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Tulsa Expo Raceway – Tulsa, Okla.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Lucas Oil Championship Night

http://www.chilibowl.com/profile/news/?i=35461&r=66048&rt=sch

Car Count: 335

A-Feature

A Feature 1: Line-up

55 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Bryan Clauson-63
2-Christopher Bell-71
3-Alex Bright-77B
4-Rico Abreu-97
5-Tim McCreadie-47X
6-Jerry Coons Jr-5
7-Joey Saldana-17
8-Zach Daum-5D
9-Tyler Thomas-91T
10-Kasey Kahne-67Z
11-Thomas Meseraull-2X
12-Shane Cottle-71X

B-Feature: Top 6 advance to the A-Feature

B Feature 1: Line-up

20 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Daryn Pittman-21
2-Jonathan Beason-8J
3-Tracy Hines-24
4-Austin Brown-7B
5-Damion Gardner-71G
6-Chad Boespflug-57B
7-Justin Peck-5X
8-Blake Hahn-8K
9-Chad Boat-15X
10-Andrew Felker-11A
11-Joe B. Miller-3B
12-Brenden Bright-92
13-Hunter Schuerenberg-05H
14-Dillon Welch-99P

B Feature 2: Line-up

20 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-C.J. Leary-2A
2-Parker Price-Miller-9P
3-Shane Golobic-17G
4-R.J. Johnson-51J
5-Ricky Stenhouse Jr-17R
6-Chase Stockon-5S
7-Tanner Thorson-67
8-Matt Sherrell-35M
9-Justin Grant-38
10-Jake Swanson-68W
11-Jac Haudenschild-73X
12-Kyle Larson-71K
13-Harli White-17H
14-Alex Sewell-8

C-Features: Top 6 advance to the corresponding B-Feature

C Feature 1: Line-up

15 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Cory Kruseman-21K
2-Matt Westfall-14W
3-Brady Bacon-76M
4-Steve Buckwalter-25
5-Trevor Kobylarz-14
6-Chase Johnson-17J
7-Dominic Scelzi-05S
8-Josh Lakatos-6K
9-Tucker Klaasmeyer-27T
10-Spencer Bayston-39B
11-Tanner Berryhill-27H
12-Gary Taylor-05T
13-Danny Sheridan-51W
14-Dylan Westbrook-0S

C Feature 2: Line-up

15 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Andrew Deal-15D
2-Daniel Adler-50
3-Ronnie Gardner-68
4-Tony Bruce Jr-18
5-Anthony Nocella-29S
6-Alex DeCamp-17D
7-Dave Darland-11AG
8-Kevin Thomas Jr-39S
9-Paul McMahan-17M
10-Daniel Robinson-57D
11-Danny Faria Jr-35S
12-Nick Wean-78
13-Danny Stratton-47
14-A.J. Fike-69

D-Features: Top 6 advance to the corresponding C-Feature

D Feature 1: Line-up

15 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Tim Siner-15
2-Nick Knepper-55
3-Jake Blackhurst-37B
4-Colby Copeland-51X
5-David Budres-31B
6-Paul White-1PW
7-Scott Weir-7A
8-Jason McDougal-73
9-Clinton Boyles-98D
10-Darren Hagen-7H
11-Gage Walker-7XX
12-Larry Wight-99W
13-Wesley Smith-44X

D Feature 2: Line-up

15 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Justin Allgaier-7JA
2-Sammy Swindell-1
3-Kyle Schuett-9K
4-Tyler Brehm-0T
5-Seth Bergman-37
6-Tyler Courtney-11
7-Josh Hawkins-80
8-Sam Hafertepe Jr-15H
9-Sheldon Haudenschild-56J
10-Payton Pierce-39C
11-D.J. Netto-88N
12-Cameron Hagin-22E
13-Kevin Bayer-91K
14-Kyle Clark-9$

E-Features: Top 4 advance to the corresponding D-Feature

E Feature 1: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Tyler Edwards-57T
2-Matt Streeter-19S
3-Chris Andrews-91A
4-Tony Roney-1T
5-Ryan Jamison-51JR
6-Robert Sellers-4C
7-Dustin Morgan-93
8-Austin Nemire-91N
9-Tadd Holliman-20
10-Steven Shebester-82M
11-Alex Bowman-55B
12-Tyson Hall-5H

E Feature 2: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Shane Stewart-100
2-Robert Ballou-7R
3-Trey Marcham-73T
4-Johnny Herrera-75
5-Bill Balog-37F
6-Tim Crawley-4J
7-Chase Briscoe-0
8-Anton Hernandez-37X
9-Brian McClelland-87F
10-Dalton Camfield-10C
11-Chett Gehrke-11C

F-Features: Top 4 advance to the corresponding E-Feature

F Feature 1: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Shon Deskins-20S
2-Chad Wheeler-88
3-Jake Neuman-3N
4-Don Droud Jr-44
5-Danny Jennings-32D
6-Sean Watts-11S
7-Brad Loyet-5
8-Taylor Courtney-21A
9-Davey Ray-33
10-Logan Scherb-51S
11-Tom Harris-4H
12-Michele Melton-21M

F Feature 2: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Kevin Ramey-1A
2-Logan Jarrett-29J
3-Jimmy Light-23
4-Johnny Brown-21S
5-Cory Eliason-7E
6-Cody Ledger-35L
7-Cody Brewer-96
8-Brian Shirley-3S
9-Hunter Fischer-24F
10-Dylan Peterson-25P
11-Raven Culp-3C
12-Nick Drake-55D

G-Features: Top 4 advance to the corresponding F-Feature

G Feature 1: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Derrick Myers-25M
2-Chris Urish-77U
3-Tyler Nelson-88T
4-Harley Hollan-14H
5-Bill Rose-6
6-Chance Morton-7CM
7-Kevin Chaffee-99
8-Austin Prock-41P
9-Rusty Dukes-88D
10-Michael Koontz-17K
11-Merril Lamb-7RS
12-Chris (Critter) Malone-7CH

G Feature 2: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Gavin Harlien-11K
2-Robert Dalby-4RD
3-Jeff Flesher-6C
4-Travis Berryhill-11B
5-Dean Drake Jr-77D
6-David Gough-6A
7-Michael Faccinto-35F
8-Darin Snyder-11F
9-Jake Bubak-19
10-Keith Rauch-51F
11-Mason Zeigler-3FF
12-Jeff Stasa-91

H-Features: Top 4 advance to the corresponding G-Feature

H Feature 1: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Tommy White-13W
2-Michelle Decker-7D
3-Zach Hampton-35X
4-Shawn Jackson-7J
5-Alex Hill-19P
6-Mark Lowrey-86
7-Blake Edwards-17E
8-J.J. Yeley-1ST
9-Rik Forbes-5F
10-Justin Dickerson-21D
11-Ryan Hall-2
12-Hannah Adair-23A

H Feature 2: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Cory Elliott-11E
2-John Hunt-10J
3-Danny Smith-5$
4-Derek Hagar-13
5-Matt Mitchell-75X
6-Kyle Jones-2K
7-Austin Archdale-53H
8-Wyatt Burks-2W
9-Jeb Sessums-2ND
10-Coby Hughes-87H
11-C.J. Johnson-45X
12-T.J. Smith-35B

I-Features: Top 4 advancing to the corresponding H-Feature

I Feature 1: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Aaron Farney-15F
2-Evan Sewell-31E
3-Tim Barber-3T
4-Billy Lawhead-27K
5-David Ferguson-01J
6-Sarah Fisher-67SF
7-Tony Rossi-14T
8-Kyle O’Gara-27R
9-Anton Julian-7M
10-Justin Melton-11J
11-Glenn Styres-0G
12-Chase Hill-11H

I Feature 2: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Danny Burke-15B
2-Riley Kreisel-93K
3-Jerry Hammock-81
4-Billy Wease-56
5-Landon Simon-57M
6-Chris Dyson-16K
7-Colten Cottle-5C
8-Eric Heydenreich-22R
9-Johnny Murdock-0
10-Zach Blurton-2J
11-Zac Taylor-12K
12-Kade Morton-8M

J-Features: Top 4 advance to the corresponding I-Feature.

J Feature 1: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Steve Schaberg-14S
2-Randi Pankratz-8R
3-Travis Scott-2S
4-Shannon McQueen-7
5-Zach Merritt-74
6-Mason Keefer-7K
7-Jeff Crook-5J
8-David Camfield Jr-16C
9-Taylor Forbes-48
10-Taylor Simas-62
11-Kenney Johnson-46
12-Donovan Peterson-11XS

J Feature 2: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Terry Nichols-1P
2-Evan Pardo-54
3-J.J. Ercse-4M
4-Casey Shuman-32
5-Andee Beierle-5B
6-Tyler Seavey-57
7-Doug McCune-9U
8-Riley Adair-14B
9-Shane Weeks-83S
10-Rick Shuman-9E
11-Joe Janowski-17KT
12-John Klabunde-77J

K-Features: Top 4 advance to the corresponding J-Feature

K Feature 1: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Sean Dodenhoff-9D
2-Ashley Hazelton-15A
3-Jarid Blondel-98
4-Harlan Hulsey-21H
5-Chuck McGillivray-101
6-Matt Johnson-85
7-Wade Seiler-7SS
8-Chad Frewaldt-4F
9-David Stephenson-22D
10-Mitchell Frewaldt-313
11-Katlynn Leer-77X
12-Josh Tyre-7F

K Feature 2: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Marcus Thomas-4
2-Dave Camfield Jr.-86C
3-Joe Rinne-0Z
4-Aaron Pierce-3BX
5-Chris Windom-1B
6-Brad Thompson-41
7-Ty Hulsey-21T
8-Jeromy Hefler-69J
9-Matt Gilbert-83G
10-Troy Betts-22B
11-Steve Davis-2D
12-Jeremy McCune-56Y

L-Features : Top 4 advance to corresponding K-Feature

L Feature 1: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-John Heydenreich-22H
2-Isaac Schreurs-92S
3-Jared Sewell-44J
4-Nate Wait-35W
5-Danny Smith-10X
6-David McIntosh-14E
7-David Jones-76J
8-Scott Evans-118
9-Dex Eaton-59E
10-Eric Saunders-349
11-Garrett Aitken-32A
12-Matt Rossi-51R

L Feature 2: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Noah Harris-20X
2-Mitchell Faccinto-35MF
3-Brent Rees-3M
4-Garrett Saunders-29
5-Tyler Shoemaker-1TS
6-Chase Jones-22
7-George White-10
8-Kevin Olson-70K
9-Ryan Secrest-17S
10-Brian Peterson-7X
11-Bobby Brewer-5BB
12-John Ricketts-5R

M-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding L-Feature

M Feature 1: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Michael Sosebee-50LP
2-Chris Stockham-44C
3-Holly Porter-9H
4-Justin Henderson-17W
5-Travis Young-11Y
6-Kip Hughes-GO
7-Larry Bratti-30T
8-A.J. Bruns-27B
9-Robert Bell-71.5
10-Tyler Robbins-35T
11-Mindy McCord-56Z
12-Pat Schudy-7S

M Feature 2: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Jack Hawley-7T
2-James Burke-31
3-Dustin Weland-3
4-Shane Sellers-4D
5-Colby Estes-69P
6-Shaun Shapel-84
7-Tim Kent-37T
8-Chris Sheil-12
9-Dakota Gaines-D6
10-Frankie Guerrini-3F
11-Don O’Keefe Jr-0K

*N-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding M-Feature *

N Feature 1: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Brad Kraus-6B
2-Mark Chisholm-56X
3-Morgan Frewaldt-926
4-Logan Arnold-43
5-Philip Dietz-44D
6-Dustin Golobic-26
7-Brett Thomas-53
8-Kurt Blackaby-83
9-Zane Lawrence-76Z
10-Kory Schudy-7W
11-Alex Schriever-25J
12-Aaron Reutzel-2RS

N Feature 2: Line-up

10 laps
Start-Driver-Car
1-Cory Mallo-9M
2-J.D. Black-7JR
3-Nick O’Neal-19N
4-Sean Murphy-5M
5-Mitchell Gladman-0M
6-Richard Harvey Jr-59
7-A.J. Johnson-0B
8-Shane Hollingsworth-85H
9-Aaron Dromgoole-P40
10-Ariel Biggs-11R
11-Isaac Chapple-52C
12-Brad Noffsinger-76

 

 

 

 

Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire silly season update #1 – January 14, 2016

 

By Steve Wittich

The 2015 edition of the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire championship saw a thrilling three-way duel between Spencer Pigot, Jack Harvey and Ed Jones come down to the final weekend of the year at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the 2016 championship is shaping up to be even better.

There was a total of 16 different drivers that got behind the wheel of the brand new Mazda powered Dallara IL-15 in 2015, with 11 of those being full season entries. With what TSO is hearing from team owners, both of those numbers should increase this year. There are currently eight confirmed drivers, with 16 expected entries and 21 “possible” best case scenario entries.

After falling to seven and eight car grids only two short years ago, breaking the 20 car plateau would be a huge accomplishment for Dan Andersen and his dedicated staff. TSO had one team tell us that 20 entries would go a long way to solidifying the Mazda Road To Indy as legitimate option among top level European talent. That can only help grid size moving forward.

The next official on-track activity for the teams and drivers is an open test on January 26 and 27 that will occur at Homestead Miami Speedway.

Below are some team and driver breakdowns.

Juncos Racing

Juncos Racing logo

  • Confirmed (2)
  • Total expected (2)
  • Total possible (2)

After a false-start that saw three drivers make six forgettable appearances in 2012, Juncos Racing made a proper leap from their Pro Mazda success into the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire championship in 2015. Leap might not actually be descriptive enough. The two car team led by former driver Ricardo Juncos vaulted into the 2015 Indy Lights championship when Spencer Pigot scored six wins and the championship in his rookie season.

Pigot and fellow rookie Kyle Kaiser were led to six wins, four poles, and 13 podiums by three former drivers: Juncos (team principal), Ernesto Gonella (technical director) and CR Crews (team manager).  Pigot, the recipient of the $1million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship has moved onto the Verizon IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, but Kaiser will return and will be joined by rookie Zachary Claman Demelo.

Kyle Kaiser will be back in the familiar Juncos Racing No. 18 to chase the $1million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Kyle Kaiser will be back in the familiar Juncos Racing No. 18 to chase the $1million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The 19 year-old Kaiser will be entering his second Indy Lights and fourth overall Mazda Road To Indy season.  The Santa Clara, California native made a big jump in performance between his first and second Pro Mazda seasons and will look for a similar improvement between his freshman and sophomore Indy Lights campaigns.

After a year spent racing in Europe, Canadian Zachary Claman DeMelo will move back to North America to chase the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire championship with Juncos Racing (photo courtesy of Formula Renault)

After a year spent racing in Europe, Canadian Zachary Claman DeMelo will move back to North America to chase the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire championship with Juncos Racing (photo courtesy of Formula Renault)

After a standout karting career, Claman DeMelo, a 17 year-old spent 2015 in Europe racing in various Formula 3 and Formula Renault 2.0 series.  The Montreal, Quebec native recently participated the Chris Griffis Memorial Test at Circuit of the Americas and turned in an impressive performance that saw him only one tenth of a second off the top time set by his new teammate Kaiser.

Andretti Autosport

Andretti Autosport logo

  • Confirmed (2) – Dalton Kellett – Shelby Blackstock
  • Total expected (3)
  • Total possible (4)

After persevering as a one car team in 2015, Andretti Autosport will be back in 2016 with a more traditional multi-car team. Shelby Blackstock returns to the Indianapolis based team in 2016 and the sophomore will be paired up with Andretti Autosport Pro Mazda veteran Dalton Kellett, who is making the step up to Indy Lights. The two-time Indy Lights championship winning team desires to be a four-car effort this year and believes that goal is still in reach.

Shelby Blackstock waits patiently to head out on track at the recent Chris Griffis Memorial Test at Circuit of the Americas (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Shelby Blackstock waits patiently to head out on track at the recent Chris Griffis Memorial Test at Circuit of the Americas (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Blackstock and the team took two-thirds of a season to get their heads around the new IL-15 chassis but the Nashville, Tennessee native showed improved pace beginning at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course; scoring three top-six finishes in the last four races of the year.

The extra data provided by USF2000 and Pro Mazda grad Kellett, a 22 year-old from the Toronto, Ontario area, in the second car should help the team move forward substantially in 2016. Kellett is a veteran of 58 Mazda Road To Indy starts and recently moved to Indianapolis, Indiana after completing a degree in engineering physics at the prestigious Queens University in Kingston, Ontario.

Dalton Kellett got his first taste of a Mazda powered IL-15 at Circuit of the Americas during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in November (2015) (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Dalton Kellett got his first taste of a Mazda powered IL-15 at Circuit of the Americas during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in November (2015) (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Blackstock and Kellett have been engaged in a vigorous off-season testing program that has seen them turn laps at Circuit of the Americas, Phoenix Raceway, Sebring Raceway and Road America.

Carlin

carlin-logo1

  • Confirmed (2) – Ed Jones – Felix Serralles
  • Total expected (3)
  • Total possible (4)

European junior formula stalwarts Carlin didn’t waste any time making their mark in America with the trio of Ed Jones, Max Chilton and Nelson Piquet scoring score four wins, seven poles and 13 podiums during the teams debut Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire season.

Trevor Carlin did tell TSO at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca that he would like to field four cars in 2016, and with two cars already confirmed that scenario certainly becomes a stronger possibility, although a three car team is also a possibility.

Ed Jones will return to a brilliant blue Mazda powered Carlin car for his second season in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire series. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Ed Jones will return to a brilliant blue Mazda powered Carlin car for his second season in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire series. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

After spending the first four years of his formula car career in Europe, Jones will return to Carlin for a sophomore Indy Lights season and a chance to win the championship that the Dubai born driver missed by only 33 points in 2015. After three wins, seven podiums, three poles, 148 laps led and four quickest race laps in 2015, the 20 year-old will be join RC Enerson as one of the early favorites for the $1,000,000 Mazda Motorsports advancement scholarship in 2016.

Felix Serralles will move to Carlin for his sophomore season in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire championship (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Felix Serralles will move to Carlin for his sophomore season in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire championship (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Joining Jones in Carlin brilliant blue will be fellow Indy Lights sophomore Felix Serralles. The Ponce, Pueto Rico native got his racing start in the U.S.A. (USF2000 and Skip Barber), but in 2011 made the move to Europe where he remained until coming back to race in the Indy Lights championship for Belardi Auto Racing. The 23 year-old had an up-and-down rookie campaign that included one win, two podiums and more often than not, pace that did not equal results. If the Milwaukee Mile winner can cut down on DNF”s, he should find himself in the championship hunt.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports logo

  • Confirmed (1) – RC Enerson
  • Total expected (4)
  • Possible (5)

The seven-time Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire championship winning team will be aiming to win their first overall crown since Sage Karam won the title in 2013. TSO has learned that the team who won three races in 2015 is once again planning on a four car assault in 2016.

The No. 7 Lucas Oil sponsored Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian car of RC Enerson will open the 2016 Indy Lights championship as one of the favorites (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The No. 7 Lucas Oil sponsored Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian car of RC Enerson will open the 2016 Indy Lights championship as one of the favorites (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The team will be led by confirmed sophomore driver RC Enerson who scored a win and five podiums on the way to a fourth place championship finish as an 18 year-old rookie in 2015.  The New Port Richey, Florida native and his engineer Doug Zister have formed a cohesive unit and will start the season at St. Petersburg as one of the favorites to win the $1,000,000 Mazda Motorsports advancement scholarship and a seat in the Verizon IndyCar Series.

The team is expected to announce their remaining drivers very soon and have tested Santiago Urrutia, Henrique Baptista, Heamin Choi and James French for the remaining seats.

Belardi Auto Racing

Belardi Auto Racing logo

  • Confirmed (1)
  • Total expected (2)
  • Total possible (3)

Blaredi Auto Racing had a mixed results in 2015, but were still able to extend their consecutive seasons with a win streak to three when Felix Serralles won the oval event at the Milwaukee Mile.  The Brownsburg, Indiana based team joined the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire series for the first time in 2011, and won their first race with Peter Dempsey at the wheel of a thrilling Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2013.  The Brian Belardi owned and John Brunner managed team, who captured the 2014 Indy Lights crown with Gabby Chaves, has one confirmed entry and are expected to field a second car, with a third car being a long shot.

Joining the team, rejoining the Indy Lights series, and becoming an automatic championship contender will be Zach Veach.  The 21 year-old has three wins, five poles and 10 podiums in two previous Indy Lights seasons with Andretti Autosport.

Zach Veach returns to the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire series with Belardi Auto Racing after a one year hiatus. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Zach Veach returns to the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire series with Belardi Auto Racing after a one year hiatus. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The Stockdale, Ohio native was forced to miss a season open wheel competition when a potential Verizon IndyCar Series ride failed to materialize at the last minute, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t keep busy.  The avid rock climber contested an TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race, served as an instructor at the MINI Performance Motoring School at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, drove an IndyCar two seater, and served as a driver analyst on the INDYCAR Radio Network. (it must be nice to be young)

 

Team Pelfrey

Team Pelfrey logo

  • Confirmed (0)
  • Total Expected (2)
  • Total Possible (2)

With the announcement in October that they would be absorbing the 8Star Motorsports Indy Lights program, Team Pelfrey will become the only Mazda Road To Indy team currently competing on all three steps of top level American open wheel ladder.

Team Pelfrey principal Nigel Tuckey did confirm to TSO that their plan was to enter two cars in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire championship in 2016.

The Indy Lights program will be based out of the former 8Star Motorsports shop in Pompano Beach, Florida, while the Pro Mazda and USF2000 operations will continue to be operated out of the team’s current home base in Palmetto, Florida. Team manager Gary Neal, engineer Yves Touron and an experienced team of mechanics from the 8Star operation that won two Indy Lights races in 2015 have remained with the new organization and they should be competitive from the first practice in St. Petersburg.

The team has not confirmed any drivers, but have recently tested with Juan Piedrahita, Scott Hargrove, and Felix Rosenqvist.

 McCormack Racing

McCormack Racing logo

  • Confirmed (0)
  • Total possible (1)

McCormack Racing and team namesake Jack McCormack have a long history in open wheel racing dating from the late 1960’s when the 73 year-old began a long association with Sam Posey. The Cohasset, Massachusetts born McCormack was crew chief for Posey in everything from Can-Am to F5000 to Indy Car before going on to work as a chief mechanic for names like Dan Gurney, Warner Hodgdon, John Menard, George Bignotti and Dick Simon. Based in California, McCormack Racing was a part of the Indy Lights series in the mid-90’s with driver Rob Wilson before McCormack started his own business and scaled back on racing.

In 2014, the Indianapolis, Indiana based team set up a their race shop and procured a previous generation Indy Lights chassis and also purchased a brand new Dallara IL-15. Over the past year, Davey Hamilton, Jr. (D.J.) has been testing in the old chassis and has recently started to test the IL-15 at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in Southern California.  D.J., who recently graduated from high school in Indiana has had some success in high horsepower, high downforce race cars, winning a number of winged sprint car races on the West Coast.

At the same time Hamilton, Jr. was testing the IL-15, Pete Callaway got his first taste of an open-wheel car while testing the previous generation Dallara.  Callaway, who has an engineering degree from Northeastern University is the General Manager of California operations for Callaway Cars. Callaway Cars are known for: creating high performance packages for the Chevrolet Corvettes, Camaro and Silverado, providing advanced engineering solutions to automotive OEM’s and building and racing the GT3 Chevrolet Corvette in Europe.

Potential Drivers;

After finishing second in the 2015 Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire championship, Neil Alberico is focused on moving up to Indy Lights in 2016 (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

After finishing second in the 2015 Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire championship, Neil Alberico is focused on moving up to Indy Lights in 2016 (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Over the course of his four year Mazda Road To Indy career, Neil Alberico has proven that he certainly has what it takes to step-up the ladder to Indy Lights. The Rising Star Racing sponsored 23 year-old will be getting a chance to show-off his skills behind the wheel while testing with a front-running team next week. Quick hands, a heavy right foot and a positive attitude have led the Los Gatos, California native to 10 wins and 21 podiums in USF2000 and Pro Mazda.

—–

Daniel Burkett, a 20 year-old and a veteran of three season in Mazda Road To Indy recently announced that he would be joining sports car team C.J. Wilson Racing on a full-time basis in 2016.  From Winnipeg, Manitoba, Burkett has been tabbed to share a Porsche GT4 Cayman in the Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge GS Class. But… TSO would not be surprised to see him in a few non-conflicting Indy Lights races.

—–

Brazilian native Henrique Baptista tested with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports at Palm Beach International Raceway in December. The 23 year-old has been racing in Europe and has spent the last two years racing in various Formula 3 series.

—–

Heamin Choi gets ready to test with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian at Circuit of the Americas during the recent Chris Griffis Memorial Test (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Heamin Choi gets ready to test with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian at Circuit of the Americas during the recent Chris Griffis Memorial Test (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

After contesting a partial Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda season in 2012, Heamin Choi spent the next two season successfully racing sports cars in Asia. The South Korean born driver rejoined the Mazda Road To Indy while piloting a Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian Indy Lights car in the 2015 finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The 32 year old has tested with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian during the off-season, and is hoping to put together a full-season deal to run with the Indianapolis, Indiana based team.

—–

James French, an IUPUI Engineering Motorsports major, was the second driver to test a Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian machine during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test at Circuit of the Americas this past November and was immediately on pace, finishing the test only one second off experienced Indy Lights pilot Kyle Kaiser. The 23 year-old’s name will be a familiar one for fans of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship where he will once again contest a full Prototype Challenge season with Performance Tech. However, the Sheboygan, Wisconsin native did tell Dave Kallmann of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he will at minimum be taking part in the Indy Lights races at his home track of Road America, with an eye to adding more races if the budget can be found. Some sort of ride share with Scott Anderson would make a lot of sense.

—–

After getting a taste of an Indy Lights car with Juncos Racing during the recent Chris Griffis Memorial Test at Circuit of the Americas, it appears that Pro Mazda veteran Jose Gutierrez will be making the switch to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.  The 19 year-old announced that he would be joining PRI Motorsports to contest the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Championship in Prototype Challenge machinery.

—–

Canadian Scott Hargrove made his Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire debut and St. Petersburg in 2015, and is working hard to get back in a car for the 2016 season. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Canadian Scott Hargrove made his Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire debut and St. Petersburg in 2015, and is working hard to get back in a car for the 2016 season. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Scott Hargrove, the 2013 Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda champion and 2014 Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire vice-champion began the 2015 Indy Lights season with a one-off appearance at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with 8Star Motorsports where he ended the weekend with a solid fourth and sixth. Hargrove could not find the funding to continue for the rest of the season, but did keep himself busy by taking part in the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin championship.  The 20 year-old has 13 wins in 18 races in the last two seasons of the popular one-make championship that utilizes the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The British Colombia driver did share with TSO that he had a very successful December test with Team Pelfrey and that he is working every angle to get back in an open wheel car for 2016.

——

Juan Piedrahita is always smiling and could turn up at his third Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire team in three seasons (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Juan Piedrahita is always smiling and could turn up at his third Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire team in three seasons (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Although Juan Piedrahita has contested an impressive 82 Mazda Road To Indy races across the three series, he is still only 23 years-old. The steady Columbian native who started his Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire career with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian but moved to Belardi Auto Racing last year scored one podium on the way to an eighth place finish in the championship. The driver who is popular among his peers and is always smiling has been testing this offseason with Team Pelfrey and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him end up with the Gary Neal led squad.

——

After sitting out of top level competition for almost two full seasons, former GP3 driver Ethan Ringel stepped back into the fray by contesting the full 2015 Indy Lights season with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian. It took a while, but by the end of the season, the 21 year-old had begun to get the rust knocked off on the road and street course circuit. However, rust was certainly not a problem on the ovals. The Orlando, Florida resident made a stunning oval debut at the Freedom 100 in May, taking the pole and just missed out on a win by placing second to his more experienced teammate. Rob Howden’s very informative Road To Indy Insider blog reported that Ringel’s family has still not made a decision on whether to return to Indy Lights in 2016. This does confirm what TSO has also been hearing.

——

Reigning FIA Formula 3 European Championship and two time Macau Grand Prix winner Felix Rosenqvist recently tested a Mazda powered Dallara IL-15 with Team Pelfrey. The 24 year old who is managed by former F1 and Indy Car driver (and Scott Dixon’s manager) Stefan Johannsen has scored a remarkable 41 (yes, that reads 4-1) Formula 3 victories over the past four seasons. The native of Varnamo, Sweeden will be contesting the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA in the Prototype Challenge class. A move to the U.S.A. by one of the best European formula car drivers would be a big deal, and that he is even considering it shows the impact that Andersen Promotions is having on the Mazda Road To Indy and the Verizon IndyCar Series.

https://twitter.com/FRosenqvist/status/677255523025031168

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After winning four races in Pro Mazda, including two oval races, Weiron Tan is trying to find the budget to move up to Indy Lights (Photo Courtesy of IndyCar)

After winning four races in Pro Mazda, including two oval races, Weiron Tan is trying to find the budget to move up to Indy Lights (Photo Courtesy of IndyCar)

Andretti Autosport Pro Mazda driver Weiron Tan made an immediate splash upon joining the Mazda Road To Indy at Cooper Tires Winterfest in February 2015, as the former Caterham F1 Academy driver won twice and came home second three more times. Tan, from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was one of the quickest drivers all year in Pro Mazda, but got off to a bit of a rocky start before settling down and scoring four wins, including the series only two oval races, on the way to a fourth place championship finish. The 20 year-old’s manager informed TSO that Tan is planning on staying in U.S.A. for 2016 and would like to move up to Indy Lights if the budget can be found, but that a return to Pro Mazda for a championship assault isn’t out of the question.

——

After four years racing in Europe Santiago Urrutia made the most of his first season in the U.S.A., winning the 2015 Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire championship. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

After four years racing in Europe Santiago Urrutia made the most of his first season in the U.S.A., winning the 2015 Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire championship. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Not much was known about Uruguayan pilot Santiago Urrutia going into the 2015 Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire championship, but that won’t be the case when the smooth and consistent pilot moves up to Indy Lights. After missing Cooper Tires Winterfest, the Eliseo Salazar mentored driver won three times and stood on the podium 10 times on the way to winning the Pro Mazda Championship and Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship that comes with it. The 19 year-old has been testing with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian and is expected to be confirmed as a teammate to RC Enerson in the very near future.

We’ll be back soon with Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire and Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda silly season updates.

KAYLEN FREDERICK JOINS TEAM PELFREY F1600 TEAM

TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 14, 2016) – Team Pelfrey announced today that Kaylen Frederick will compete in the F1600 Formula F Championship Series. This will be Frederick’s first season in open-wheel racing.

“I’m excited to join Team Pelfrey, a powerful team on the SCCA F1600 Pro circuit that participates in all steps of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder. Team Pelfrey is a renowned team with professional presence and seasoned experience in racing across the USA. Joining a proven and established team like Team Pelfrey will not only help develop my driving capabilities, it will push my skills to the front. I’m keenly motivated to get in the yellow F1600 and push for wins.” said Frederick.

The 13-year-old arrives at Team Pelfrey after testing with multiple F1600 teams in 2015. The Marylandian had a successful career in karting, competing in WKA SKUSA Pro Tour and US Rotax Max Challenge since 2010. His career highlights include claiming pole position at the 2013 Rotax MAX Challenge/Pan-Am Championships at NOLA Motorsports Park and second and third place finishes at the 2014 Rotax Summer Shootout at Miller Motorsports Park.

Frederick will drive the No. 80 Pilot ONE Racing-sponsored Team Pelfrey Mygale Honda once he becomes of age for his SCCA license. His debut will be rounds 7-9 at Virginia International Raceway, June 3-5.

“Pilot ONE Racing has supported me as a young driver talent throughout my karting career and development in Formula cars. As my longstanding sponsors, I look forward to championing their colors throughout my driver development years in Mazda Road to Indy or European race series.”

Frederick’s dedication to motorsports began when he was seven years old in Summit Point Karts. By age 10, he was well on his way to a successful karting career, leading Frederick to the F1600 Formula F Championship Series at the age of 14.

“I’m looking forward to the great Pelfrey Power team environment to share this experience with and promote my growth & skills. The thing I’m looking forward to most is climbing into the Pelfrey F1600 and driving. And winning. Each, every, and any day.”

The 2016 season will see Team Pelfrey become the only team to operate at every level of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder, as well as the F1600 Formula F Championship Series.

For more information about Team Pelfrey and today’s announcement, please visit team-pelfrey.com and follow us on Twitter @TeamPelfrey.

Source: Team Pelfrey PR

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