VICS 2018 At St. Pete - Funny Thing Happened On The Way To A Champion's Coronation

The nose graphic that appears on the wasp-like livery on the Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan - No. 18 Team Sealmaster Honda Dallara of the first winner of the first race of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series today at Saint Petersburg - Sebastien Bourdais. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2018)

VICS 2018 At St. Pete - Funny Thing Happened On The Way To A Champion's Coronation

The tenth edition of the best carry-over (non IMS) race from the original schedule of the Indianapolis Racing League (IRL), the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, featured twenty-four very capable cars and drivers filling the field packed with seven past Indy Car champions representing thirteen season championships riding along side seven rookies where three of them made it into the 3rd Round Firestone Fast Six in Knock-Out qualifications is a really, really big deal. Last year's winner of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (replay) was 4-Time IndyCar season champion, Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais.

The Verizon IndyCar Series, in order to make racing more competitive and in control of the driver in this top level of American motorsport, tightened up the body skin specification on the Dallara DW12 chassis by introducing the two year project now known as the Universal Aero Kit (UAK).Welcome the age of the UAK on the DW12 Dallara.

2017 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden describes the 2018 Universal Aero Kit on stage during the 2018 INDYCAR unveil at the North America International Auto Show in Detroit. Image Credit: Joe Skibinski

The past Verizon IndyCar Series season champions include Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012), AJ Foyt Racing driver Tony Kanaan (2004), Chip Gannasi Racing driver Scott Dixon (2003, 2008, 2013, 2015), Team Penske drivers Will Power (2014), Simon Pagenaud (2016), Josef Newgarden (2017), and the aforementioned Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan driver Sebastien Bourdais (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) - 7 series champions covering 13 season titles.

The rookies entering into the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season's first race are Firestone Grand Prix P1 Verizon Pole Award winner, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Canadian driver, 29 year old Robert Wickens, Firestone Fast Six P3 Qualifier AJ Foyt Racing Brazilian driver, 19 year old Matheus Leist, Firestone Fast Six P4 Qualifier Ed Carpenter Racing British driver, 24 year old Jordan King, Andertti Autospot American driver, 23 year old Zach Veach, Michael Shank Racing/Schmidt Peterson Motorsports British driver, 24 year old Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing Canadian driver, 19 year old Zachary Claman DeMelo, and Juncos Racing Austrian driver, 26 year old René Binder.

The traditional first race of the season, for nine years now (since 2009, the race has served as the season opener, with the exception of 2010, when it was the second race of the season), held around the airport, streets and harbor of Saint Petersburg, Florida proved to all what everyone had suspected. A different kettle of fish from most of the Dallara DW12 era racing - less downforce, great body strength, very fast in a straight line. The UAK is very pleasing to drive - from the opinion of most all of the drivers.

Most observers assumed that experience held within championship winning teams, the teams with the greatest financial backing, history, testing, and experienced drivers would hit this opening opportunity with suffocating domination.

To nearly everyone's surprise this was not the case when the rookies, took the Verizon P1 Pole Award (Wickens became the third rookie in 25 years to win the pole for his IndyCar debut), and two additional positions in the Round 3 Firestone Fast Six in road/street format Knock-Out qualifications. Left out to watch from the sidelines were such impressive champion drivers as Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Simon Pagenaud, and last year's champion Josef Newgarden.

Robert Wickens affixes the Verizon P1 Award emblem on his car after winning the pole position for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Image Credit: Chris Jones

The cars slip and slide ... the in-car camera shots show that the steering wheel gets as much a workout as peddles in a spinning class. More driving is required from all of the drivers in this series making the product on the track more entertaining than it has been in recent history. And, to be honest, the racing has been very good since the introduction of the first Dallara DW12 platform.

EXAMPLE - Opening Laps:

On the first lap of the race, Will Power attempted a Turn 1 pass and through Turn 2 became lose and spun without contact, Tony Kanaan gets lose in Turn 5 and as he straightens out, taps Zach Veach with wing parts flying. Lap 2 has RHR coming out of the pits ahead of traffic after a quick controller change because the one installed did not allow for accelleration and Charlie Kimball becomes unsettled after bouncing on the curb entering Turn 13 and comes to a stop off of the track at Turn 14 - Full Course Yellow.

Restart on Lap 6 has three rookies leading in P1, P2, and P3 - King, Wickens, & Leist - Beginning Lap 7 Spencer Pigot spins going into Turn 1 bringing out a Full Course Yellow.

Restart Lap 11 has Jordan King leading the field to the third start of racing at St. Pete, followed by Wickens, Rossi, Leist, and Hinchcliffe ... not a champion in the bunch - and only one fully established driver of over three seasons in the series.

Wickens passes in Turn 1 as King goes wide ... Rossi loses a place back to P4. The first Champion is settled in at P7 with Scott Dixon  ... now at Lap 13.

So the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season begins on the temporary street circuit at St. Petersburg.

To give one additional insight on just how busy, or as Eddie Cheever on the broadcast put it ... CHAOS filled, the events of the Firestone Grand Prix of Saint Petersburg race were, just take a look at the video shot list released as a usable media asset by the Verizon IndyCar Series after the race.

Shot List:
Aerial of St. Petersburg
Fans
Grand marshal Helio Castroneves gives the start command
Green flag
No. 12 Will Power spins
Power replay
No. 14 Tony Kanaan spins
Restart
No. 15 Graham Rahal and No. 21 Spencer Pigot incident
Replay of Rahal and Pigot incident
No. 23 Charlie Kimball goes off track
No. 6 Robert Wickens leading
No. 4 Matheus Leist incident
Team owner A.J. Foyt reaction
No. 18 Sebastien Bourdais leading
No. 9 Scott Dixon and Sato incident
Replay of Dixon and Sato incident
Wickens passes Bourdais for the lead
No. 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay on-board view of No. 60 Jack Harvey going off track
Harvey parked in the last turn
Wickens leading with No. 27 Alexander Rossi in pursuit
Wickens passes Rahal
Rossi gets wide in Turn 4
Slow-motion replay of Rossi wide
No. 32 Rene Binder incident
No. 59 Max Chilton incident
Final restart, Rossi and Wickens incident, Bourdais takes the lead
Replay of Rossi and Wickens incident
Checkered flag, Bourdais wins, crew reaction, Bourdais does donuts

Sebastien gives race winning TV interview before he exits the car in the Victory Circle. Image: INDYCAR (2018)

Bourdais pulls into pit lane and gets congratulated
Bourdais sound

Almost covers it except the race was really even more eventful than the shot list would indicate.

Image 1) Alexander Rossi cooks it in Turn 4 and hurts his attack - Robert Wickens in the foreground. Image 2) Rossi rejoins the hunt and passes Charlie Kimball in Turn 5. Images: INDYCAR (2018)

With the laps winding down, and Canadian driver Robert Wickens in the lead, being chased down by third year American driver and 2016 Indy500 winner Alexander Rossi, it looked as though the race was comfortably in hand, especially when Rossi, who was reducing the distance between Wickens and himself, slid and overshot the apex point at Turn 4, losing and attacking advantage (depicted above). 

"It was going to be pretty hard to reel him back in there," Alexander Rossi said - except the chaos wasn't over.

That is, until Rookie Rene Binder with 10 laps to go brought out a FULL COURSE Yellow (FCY) after his car went into the tires to set up one uneventful restart.

Max Chilton stalled moments later to set up a second FCY with two laps to go. Bourdais, sitting comfortably in third and happy to start the year on the podium, wasn't that happy; he thought someone would make a risky maneuver and wreck the field.

"Normally they don't allow push-to-pass on restarts," added Alexander Rossi at the post race media conference. "You'd normally have to do a timed lap before you did it, but because of the late call to go green that lap, they allowed it, and I actually got the call when I was in the middle of Turn 13 and 14. So I had a big jump on Rob (Wickens), and he got to the push-to-pass pretty late. The run was perfect for me going into Turn 1, and I knew there wasn't going to be many other opportunities. Obviously (Wickens) had a good car all day, and they did a great job. I made the pop. He defended the position, which he has the right to do, but in doing so, in moving the reaction, he put me into the marbles pretty late into the corner." Image: INDYCAR (2018)

Sure enough, Rossi contested the lead, hit Wickens going into Turn 1, and ended both of their victory hopes. Rossi recovered to finish third, while Rookie Wickens got stuck and finished 18th in the 24-car field.

Lost in all of this was the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver and past winner of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (2008) Graham Rahal, who had one of the worst performances in Knock-Out Qualifications for a road/street race. Graham Rahal ended up starting the race dead last in the No. 15 United Rentals Honda, had a strong race with good strategy with clean pit stops and ended up on the podium in P2!

"The United Rentals guys did a great job out there," said Graham Rahal in a post race interview. "Certainly, yesterday wasn't what we expect of ourselves, isn't what we hoped for. Last night, what can you do. Put your heads down, you work hard. Even this morning the car wasn't phenomenal in practice. With Tom (German, engineer) and the boys, they made great changes. Our guys had good pit stops and frankly good strategy. We had the pace when we needed it, we could save a lot of fuel when we needed it, we could make passes if we needed to. It just kind of all played out for us. We will take second (place) any day. It's the best start to a season I have had since I won here in 2008. Thank you to all the fans, the turnout was great this weekend. I hope you guys enjoyed the new car. We are going to put on some great shows this year as you can see."

For a coronation to happen, one needed aggressive racing, sliding cars, just a bit of side-to-side bumping along the way - the crown is then served to a four-time series season champion and, to add insult to injury, repeat Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg winner, Sebastien Bourdais.

The Verizon IndyCar Series is beginning its Southwest United States spring swing with back-to-back races at ISM Raceway with the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix (Friday April 6 - Qualifications 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM PT / Saturday April 7 - Race 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM PT) and then the rites-of-spring 44th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (Thursday April 12 - Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame honoring Juan Pablo Montoya and Helio Castroneves - 11:00 AM PT / Sunday April 15 - Race 1:00 PM PT).

... notes from The EDJE




TAGS: Alexander Rossi, Sebastien Bourdais, Graham Rahal, #INDYCAR, Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, @StPeteFL, @IndyCar, #FirestoneGP, #VICS, Verizon IndyCar Series, The EDJE

American Open-Wheel 2017 Championship Chances Book-Ended By Americans

Penske Racing's Josef Newgarden after hitting the podium (P3 - Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach) for the first time in his first year with professional open-wheel racing's elite team. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

American Open-Wheel 2017 Championship Chances Book-Ended By Americans

One of the main reasons the Indy Racing League was formed was to bring along and develop more race car drivers who were born in America to race at the highest levels of professional open-wheel motorsports.

Thirty-one years later we have come to the point in the Verizon IndyCar Series Championship that, with one double-points paying race, six (possibly seven) drivers have a chance at winning the The Astor Cup ... named maintained after one of the first major trophies in American auto racing.

Indy 500 winner, Alexander Rossi as he sits in the cockpit of his Andertti Autosport prepared Honda-powered Dallara in the pits at the second race of the 2017 season - the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. All four Andretti Autosport cars did not finish the race due to mechanical or electrical issues. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

The six drivers, after just 16 races, go into Sears Point area of San Francisco bay at Sonoma Raceway with a mathimatical shot at the end of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma are framed by the points leader who is driving in his first year for Penske Racing, Josef Newgarden and, at 84 points down driving in his second year for Andretti Autosport, Alexander Rossi. If one wished to be a bit more generous - at 94 points behind the points leader is another American born driver, Graham Rahal driving for a single car team formed by Bobby Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan.

But let's be very honest, with 100 points awarded for the first car over the Start/Finish line, the top four points-holding drivers would have to NOT finish very early on in the 85 lap, 12 corner, natural-terrain road course, almost 203 mile, Grand Prix.

After 16 races of a 17 race season, the top six contenders who have an arguable mathematical chance at winning it all for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sept. 17. Image Credit: VICS

The stack ranking by season points is as follows - listing with post race INDYCAR Grand Prix At The Glen quotations:

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 2 DeVilbiss Team Penske Chevrolet) - 560  points: "It was kind of an eventful day for the DeVilbiss Chevrolet team. I felt like we were in a good position until that final pit stop. No excuse for it. It was my fault. I saw Will (Power) leave right in front of us and I just locked it up and slid over into the wall. Then Sebastien (Bourdais) got into the back of me. It's unfortunate, but there's nothing I can do about it. We'll go to Sonoma in a couple of weeks and race for it."

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 NTT Data Honda) - 557 points (-3): "It was definitely an exciting day for the No. 9 NTT Data car. I locked up the tires on the first stop and I don't think we got any fuel. We had to save fuel on the next stint as a result and battled our way back. I think we passed a lot of cars today and it was fun to contend with (Alexander) Rossi there for the win. Big congrats to him and good to see Honda run strong at Watkins Glen."

Helio Castroneves, followed closely out of Turn 6 by Scott Dixon and James Hinchcliffe, on his way to securing the Verizon P1 Pole Award at the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. For the third consecutive year, Hélio Castroneves qualified on pole for the event, setting a new track record in the process with a lap of 1:06.2254, at an average speed of 106.98 mph (172.17 km/h). Scott Dixon qualified in second, while Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified third. Finishing the Fast Six were James Hinchcliffe, Alexander Rossi, and Graham Rahal. Image Credit:Edmund Jenks (2017)

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet) - 538 points (-22): "The Hitachi Chevy was so awesome today, and it was a great job by the No. 3 car guys. We were really fast out there - it's been a long time since I was able to go flat out through the carousel in the race, but we were doing that today. We had some issues on the black Firestone tires, but we were able to recover and really pushed hard there to finish fourth. I feel really bad for Josef (Newgarden) with his incident. It's unfortunate for the team, but it's mixed feelings for me because it tightens up the championship. We definitely have a good chance heading into Sonoma and I feel really good about our setup there. We'll be ready to go for it and finish strong."

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 1 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet) - 526 points (-34): "We fought for the best finish we could today in the Menards Chevrolet. We were really prepared for a wet race, and if it would have been run in the rain, I think we would have been tough to beat. But we just had too much downforce to run in the dry and make up the ground we needed to. Still, everyone on the team did a good job to finish ninth and we come out of Watkins Glen still in the hunt for the championship. We know what it takes to win at Sonoma and that's what we'll be fighting for (in Sonoma)."

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) - 492 points (-68): "It was just an up and down day for the Verizon Chevrolet group. There were times the car was really fast, but that first set of tires didn't agree with the car at all. I thought the car was broken. It wouldn't do anything I wanted it to. After that, it was good. I can't be unhappy about sixth. I don't know what kind of legitimate chance at the championship I have, but stranger things have happened, I guess. We'll go to Sonoma and give it everything we have."

ALEXANDER ROSSI (No. 98 NAPA Auto Parts/Curb Honda) - 476 points (-84): "An amazing job by the whole team today. We had an issue in the beginning with some fuel, the fuel (probe), but whatever. It doesn't matter, the team recovered. We had the pace to do it, but it's pretty amazing. It's a huge team effort. I've talked so much about how much we've improved, I'm so happy we're finally able to win." (About battle with Scott Dixon at end of race): "We had a fast car. I knew we had a fast car because we were hitting a fuel number before the final stop and we had pace. I knew he was going to be pushing like hell at the end, and so it was really 12 qualifying laps, and I had the car to do it. We had time, we had the pace, the performance, the tire life, everything was going our way. A huge hats off to Andretti Autosport. Thank you to NAPA Auto Parts, thank you to Honda. We're coming really hard for 2018."

American born driver, Graham Rahal as he bounces over the rumble strips in Turn 5 at the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. He qualified 6th in the Firestone Fast Six and went on to finish the second race of the season at P10. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

And bonus driver ...

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda) - 466 points (-94): "It was a good day. There was a lot of passing because a lot of us expected rain and with the downforce levels being all over the board, there were some guys that were really draggy and some guys a little more rimmed. I was right in the middle. There was a lot of passing going on all over the place. We're going to fight on here. I didn't have anything to lose (in the championship fight) coming here but as we saw today with (Josef) Newgarden, things can happen so fast. We're out of winning the championship, but we're certainly not out of finishing the top three or four. We're seventh in the points. The way I look at it is, we didn't score points in the first four races of the year, but we were the hottest team through the middle of the season and it got us back in contention. We didn't score as many points as we would have liked, but we have a lot to be proud of. We're going to be in attack mode for sure. It's a shame the last two races didn't go our way when they should have because we would have been right in the middle of the title fight, but that's the way it goes. That's racing."
[ht: VICS]

All things considered, Penske Racing's Simon Pagenaud had a good outing at the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach. Defending race winner and 2016 VICS champion Pagenaud was penalized for interfering with one of his teammate Castroneves' laps and was stripped of his two fastest laps in the session, relegating him to last place (P21) on the grid. Simon went on to finish the only other West Coast race of the 2017 season at P5. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

The realistic gaming on all of this would give the highest probability at grabbing the championship to just the top three points holders at this time in the season. Newgarden, Dixon or Castroneves are all the odds on favorites ... but recent history of this double-points paying race places simple and realistic gaming at risk.

Two years ago, the top six drivers that had a shot at winning the title were Penske Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya, Rahal Letterman Lanigan's Graham Rahal (-34 points), Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon (-47 points), Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves (-58 points), Penske Racing's Will Power (-59 points), and Ed Carpenter Racing's Josef Newgarden (-95 points).

Justin Bell and Scott Dixon share an early season conversation at the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach media luncheon atop the parking structure just East of the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center South of E. Seaside Way. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017) 

This excerpted and edited from Motorsports Journal -

Dixon/Ganassi Triple-Down & Double-Up To Wrest Control At The GoPro GP of Sonoma
By Edmund Jenks - Motorsports Journal - Wednesday, September 02, 2015

In the media room, around the paddocks, and campgrounds around Sonoma Raceway at Sears Point, there were speculations as to who would win the Verizon IndyCar Series 2015 season finale race and, due to a double-points award, potentially win the season championship.

At no point in the lead up to this final race was there a story line that included Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, who sat at P3, 47 points behind Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya (JPM), not just winning the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma ... but further, the 2015 American open-wheel racing championship.

Almost all of the pre-race chatter centered on "just who" had what it would take to get the most points through qualifications, bonus points, and win the race (obviously, Will Power) ... or who had the charge to grab the championship and maybe the race from Penske Racing and JPM (obviously, Graham Rahal).

Scott Dixon, and the PR Department of Target Chip Ganassi Racing were the consummate ghosts. Little was being speculated about in pre-race press releases and interviews from this organization about their chances at the Sonoma Raceway finale and the IndyCar season.

However, at race's end and at post-race press conferences - the floodgates of strategic possibility thinking opened up ... and a few folks were surprised at the final tie-breaking results.
[Reference Here]

Penske Racing's Will Power would have been higher in the points race if he had been able to turn his 50th pole winning position into a full race performance. After a 14-year absence, the Verizon IndyCar Series returned to Gateway Motorsports Park paperclip style oval, outside of St. Louis, for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. On a lap 5 Green Flag restart, Will Power slid into the wall after being passed for the lead by teammate and eventual race winner (who qualified at P2), Josef Newgarden. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

Book-ended by Americans, you say?

Well, as it turns out, the other drivers have spent so much of their professional career in the United States that they are accepted as our kindred sons in American motor culture.

Scott Dixon will be hoping to get his 5th IndyCar championship making him second only to AJ Foyt (7).

Helio Castroneves who has three Indy 500 titles - placed second in the season standings four times, third two times and fourth four times ... but still has not won the championship.

Simon Pagenaud won the Verizon IndyCar Series last year and has been racing in sports cars and IndyCar for the last eleven years with another series championship in ChampCar Atlantics.

Lastly, Will Power, a staple in American racing series since 2005, was the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion - this year saw him eclipse Dario Franchiti in total races won in the series and added to his Verizon P1 Pole awards total to 50 which tied him with Castroneves for third on the all-time IndyCar pole list.

Looks as though we all will be treated to an All-American top seven drivers competing for the Astor Cup at Sonoma during the Verizon IndyCar Series finale.

Que the band for a stirring rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, shaped by the sound of 2.2-liter (134.35 cubic inches) V-6, twin-turbocharged, Max. bore diameter 95 millimeters engines.

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, Sonoma Raceway, Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Alexander Rossi, Graham Rahal, Penske Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, The EDJE

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

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

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

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

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

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

INDYCAR's "NEXT" is next.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

... notes from The EDJE



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

Naughty Or Nice For 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series Placed Under The Tree

Scott Dixon on 'pit-out' at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach ... a race he finally won for the first time in his IndyCar career. This race win helped Dixon to achieve his fourth American Open-Wheel Racing championship secured on lap 51 by never giving up the lead for the win of the final race, GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma held at Sonoma Raceway. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Naughty Or Nice For 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series Placed Under The Tree

To many who have followed professional American open-wheel automobile racing over these last fifty plus years, in terms of talent in the paddocks on both teams and drivers, the 2015 season would easily rank in the top five all-time seasons.

The 2015 season was the first season that featured the new rules governing aerodynamic body panels manufactured by Dallara but utilizing input and designs dictated/negotiated by the manufacturer of the engines used by each team - Chevrolet or Honda. Once each team was given the solution of body and wing parts to use on the racing platform, within limits, the teams could decide upon the configurations and settings allowed.

One million possible adjustment combinations with the Honda/Dallara aero-package. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Early in the season, the cars that ran Honda seemed to be a bit behind Chevrolet on in and out cornering speed ... to wit Honda put forth, (paraphrased) our wing and body panels can be configured in about a million different ways given all of the options available. The problem with this potential breadth of choice options, once a proper engineering set up has become competitive with the more simple approach settled on by Chevrolet, about 999,000 options for adjustment become useless or irrelevant.

So on this issue ... who's Nice or Naughty?

The manufacturer, the engineering staff who figured out the best set-ups?, or the overall rules package crafted by the Verizon IndyCar Management?

In an effort to place the gifts of this season under the tree, Josh Farmer's Championship Racing Radio in show #4, with Edmund Jenks, seeks to discuss the Best (Nice) and Worst (Naughty) of this 2015 breakout season that began with an out of country race cancellation in Brazil without having a make-up race be run at any time for the balance of the season.

The discussion in show #4, however, will not focus on Verizon IndyCar Management but, rather, the races run, teams, and drivers.

Management, for the most part, may qualify for a lump of coal beginning with their policy of "Race Control By Committee" which had the person who was in charge of this policy - Derrick Walker - resign from the position after 2/3ds of the season had been put to bed ... with cookies and milk.

Championship Racing Radio 4: Naughty or Nice?

Time of show: (45 minutes at the maximum)
Intro: (Less than 5 minutes) introduce ourselves.
Rest of show: Best/worst of the 2015 IndyCar season in the theme of Naughty or Nice list. We both talk about who we think is the best driver


●    Nice List

○    Best Driver – Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon - The driver from Auckland, New Zealand kept his cool and capitalized on an unbelievable mistake by Team Penske midway through the race. That allowed Dixon to win his fourth Verizon IndyCar Series championship with a victory in season finale's Go Pro Grand Prix of Sonoma race (ht: Bruce Martin)

○    Best Race – Farmer - MAVTv500, Auto Club Speedway | Jenks - Honda Indy Grand Prix Of Alabama, Barber Motorsports Park (road/street course) - MAVTv500, Auto Club Speedway (superspeedway, oval course)

○    Best Rookie – Farmer - Bryan Herta Autosport's Gabby Chaves | Jenks - Bryan Herta Autosport's Gabby Chaves – Total Laps was 2nd best after Ryan Hunter Reay (2211 – RHR 2218) - Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Sage Karam - Honorable Mention 12 races – 2 Top 5 / 2 top 10 – excitement generated – No ride this season with 3 seats open – SPM / KV Racing / Dale Coyne

○    Best Move –  Penske Racing's Will Power – Sonoma for the Verizon P1 Pole Award - Will Power saw the performance CFH Racing's Josef Newgarden was able to do by placing Black sidewall tires on his Dallara so Will ordered up a set be placed on his Chevy and with the last seconds of qualifications winding down, snatched the Verizon P1 Pole Award away from Newgarden.

○    Most Improved driver – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal – He improved so much as a driver, it made him marriageable – Courtney Force and Graham got married Nov. 21, 2015 and are honeymooning in Fiji and New Zealand.

Ryan Briscoe before he took to the track at the MAVTv500, Auto Club Speedway. Image Credit: Ken Manfred (2015)

○    Best underdog – Farmer - Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' Conor Daly (points for Detroit) - Dale Coyne Racing's Tristan Vautier (showed great promise behind substitution runs) | Jenks - Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' Ryan Briscoe – 8 Races – ½ season – 1 Top 5 / 4 Top 10 / 2 DNF … one DNF at ACS on last lap caused by Ryan Hunter Reay


●    Naughty List

○    Worst Driver – Farmer - Dale Coyne Racing's Francesco Dracone (never finished in the Top 20) | Jenks - KV Racing Technology's Stefano Colitti – 16 Races with 5 DNF / Dale Coyne Racing's Francesco Dracone – 5 Races with 2 DNF - Josh Farmer compared Francesco Dracone as being "as slow as Milka Duno." Edmund Jenks asked Josh, "So you believe that Dracone is Milka Duno without the mascara? ... as far as we know, right?

○    Worst Race – Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana "NOLA"

Penske Racing's Simon Pagenaud leaves the track after contesting space with Ryan Hunter-Reay and take a mud ride. This image, with Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti in the foreground, was taken at the beginning of an accident that colored the late stages of the shortened race at NOLA. Image Credit: Bret Kelley - VICS (2015)

○    Worst Move - Farmer - Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay (2015 P6) - The final full course YELLOW Flag came from a massive incident between Sebastien Bourdais, Ryan Hunter-Reay (RHR), and Simon Pageneud (on the outside) as the drivers attempted to go three-wide in turn 3. RHR ended up pushing Pagenaud off of the track | Jenks - Penske Racing's Will Power - Diving move in Turn 10 at St. Petersburg on teammate Juan Pablo Montoya with many laps remaining in the race. It turns out that these two drivers got together during the final race of the season at Sonoma Raceway. Given that both drivers were in the hunt for the championship, one wonders if these points were able to be retained, would Scott Dixon have his 4th IndyCar crown.

Pageneud slid off the track into the mud, and then back on the track in the next right-hand corner 4, collecting Hunter-Reay and Bourdais sending all three cars across the grass.

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

Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves in the pits at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Qualified well at many 2015 venues but just could not make the performances stick. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

○    Most disappointing driver - Farmer - Penske Racing's Simon Pagenaud (high hopes not realized - 2015 P11) - CFH Racing's Ed Carpenter (better set up with Conway last year - 2015 P27) | Jenks - Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves (2015 P5) - What was more surprising: Helio going without a win for only the second time in the past 16 IndyCar seasons, or his comparative disappearance at Indianapolis, where he's always expected to vie for the win? It's probably his not visiting Victory Lane, especially considering it was one of Helio's best-ever seasons in terms of qualifying. His four poles were complemented by the fact he never started worse than fifth through the first 11 races and his average starting spot was a dazzling fourth for 16 races. He lost Long Beach only because of a long pit stop to avoid contact. As for Indianapolis, other than his thrilling duel with RHR in 2014, the three-time winner has not been a factor at IMS the past few Mays but this year was more puzzling because of Chevy's obvious advantage. Finishing seventh and leading only two laps is not what three-time Indy kings are made of and it was the only oval he never really looked like a factor (ht: Racer, Robin Miller)

After a 14 months total transformation that shrouded the exterior with ribbons of stainless steel and an interior pack with priceless vehicles and cutting edge technology, the Peterson Automotive Museum at the gateway of Los Angeles famed museum row has reopened on time on budget and packed with hundreds of new sites sounds and experiences for visitors of all ages. This image is what one sees traveling South on Fairfax just before Wilshire Blvd.. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015) #thepetersenmuseum #petersen #mpg #thepetersen

A photo posted by Edmund Jenks (@the_edje) on Dec 3, 2015 at 7:43pm PST

●    Anything else that we might want to cover - If anyone finds themselves in the Los Angeles area over the holidays, make a special trip to the newly renovated and re-opened Petersen Automotive Museum which resumed operations December 7, 2015.

Named 10 best automotive museums in the world by CNN.

Precious Metal display room at the Petersen Museum. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

The Petersen Automotive Museum

EVERYDAY 10AM - 6PM

6060 WILSHIRE BLVD
LOS ANGELES, CA 90036

(323) 930-CARS (2277)

Here's hoping that all who happen to follow Verizon IndyCar Series never see a lump of coal and are always thought of by Santa Claus as ... Nice!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.


... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Verizon IndyCar Series, Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Stefano Colitti, Francesco Dracone, Will Power, Verizon P1 Pole Award, Barber Motorsports Park, Auto Club Speedway, Derrick Walker, Josh Farmer, Championship Racing Radio, Edmund Jenks, Petersen Automotive Museum, 

Dixon/Ganassi Triple-Down & Double-Up To Wrest Control At The GoPro GP of Sonoma

Target Chip Ganassi Racing owner, Chip Ganassi, and Verizon IndyCar Series 2015 season champion, Scott Dixon share some GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma race and 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season championship winner's circle euphoria before official GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma race trophy presentations begin. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Dixon/Ganassi Triple-Down & Double-Up To Wrest Control At The GoPro GP of Sonoma

In the media room, around the paddocks, and campgrounds around Sonoma Raceway at Sears Point, there were speculations as to who would win the Verizon IndyCar Series 2015 season finale race and, due to a double-points award, potentially win the season championship.

At no point in the lead up to this final race was there a story line that included Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, who sat at P3, 47 points behind Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya (JPM), not just winning the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma ... but further, the 2015 American open-wheel racing championship.

Almost all of the pre-race chatter centered on "just who" had what it would take to get the most points through qualifications, bonus points, and win the race (obviously, Will Power) ... or who had the charge to grab the championship and maybe the race from Penske Racing and JPM (obviously, Graham Rahal).

Scott Dixon, and the PR Department of Target Chip Ganassi Racing were the consummate ghosts. Little was being speculated about in pre-race press releases and interviews from this organization about their chances at the Sonoma Raceway finale and the IndyCar season.

However, at race's end and at post-race press conferences - the floodgates of strategic possibility thinking opened up ... and a few folks were surprised at the final tie-breaking results.

Target Chip Ganassi's race strategist, Mike Hull in the Winner's Circle with race winner and 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series Astor Cup winner, Scott Dixon. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Post Race Press Conference:

THE MODERATOR: The mindset going in, [describe] what you needed to accomplish today.

MIKE HULL: I'm sorry, I can only do two things at once. We knew we had to win the race. We knew that before we arrived here. We did get the opportunity to come, IndyCar extended the opportunity with the rule book for us to come here and test two weeks ago. We spent half a day with Scott on the racetrack, and Friday we used all day and we virtually wore the tires out trying to understand what we would need today, and that's what we did today, and we worked on what we call the mechanical balance of the race car to achieve what we achieved today.

It just really is important when you have a driver like Scott as an owner like Chip and people that work for us and a sponsor like Target that you do get the most out of every day, and I think that's what we did today, but it started well before today in terms of having a race-able product.
----
Q. Mike, a couple of drivers told me it's very difficult to overtake here. Was your strategy before the race built on pit stops to bring Scott to the front?

MIKE HULL: [Mike pulls out a sheet of graph paper - and waves it - with three pitstops noted on it] ... Pit on lap 61, that's what ‑‑ well, we came in on 62, so even we make a mistake.

We wanted it to be a three‑stop race, so what we did was we worked really hard from the very beginning of the weekend to create a three‑stop event for us this weekend, and we knew we had to get to 61. If we could get to 61 as everybody thinned out on the racetrack with the track position gained throughout the stops, we thought we had a chance to win the race. We didn't think it would turn out quite the way it did in terms of we thought there would be two or three other guys there trying to make it hard on us, and at the end it was a little easier than what we thought to be honest about it, but it was still very difficult. I think what you do as a race team when you deal with strategy is you look at what you have. If you know you have a driver and car capable of winning the race, then what you simply do is work for the pit windows that you need to have to achieve something at the front.

But the bottom ‑‑ the denominator is we had to win. We had to win the race.
(ht: VICS)

During the race broadcast on NBCSN, Mike Hull was interviewed at the TCGR pit box immediately after the second round of pitstops where Scott Dixon was able to leap-frog pass from P3 (behind P1 - Will Power and P2 - Josef Newgarden) to the lead of the race on a 6 second timed pit stop - (paraphrased) "All I asked from our pit crew before the race was 18 seconds of work. We train for hours and hours for just this circumstance and I needed for them to give me three pitstops at 6 seconds apiece - two down, one to go!"

Now that's a Triple-Down.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal as he follows TCGR's Tony Kanaan up the drag strip straight after exiting the Carousel turn during the early part of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)  

This excerpted and edited from Tribute Racing -

Dixon takes victory and championship after wacky race in Sonoma
By: Josh Farmer - AUGUST 30, 2015

After a two hour Wild West showdown, Scott Dixon eventually emerged as the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series champion after taking the win in the GoPro Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway.

Pole sitter Will Power picked up from where he left off in qualifying yesterday as he jumped into an early lead over Josef Newgarden. The drama started early as the leaders made their first pitstops on lap 15. Newgarden came in right behind Power but was blocked by Power’s Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud as stopped right in front of Newgarden. Newgarden sped out through Pagenaud’s pit stall and only lost a small amount of time to Power.

Meanwhile, a few teams including Sebastian Saavedra and Marco Andretti, elected to roll the dice on strategy and stretch their fuel longer than the lead contenders before the lead cycled back around to Power on lap 25.

Penske Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya is running P4 on Lap 9 with Target Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon closing in from P5 to track him down in the Bus Stop complex of turns. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

A yellow flag for Luca Filippi’s throttle failure on lap 33 brought the field down down pit road. At this point, Scott Dixon’s Target Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew saw that it was time to go to put their driver in position to take the championship and performed a trademark Ganassi pitstop to get the Kiwi to the front of the queue.

A number of drivers on an alternate strategy stayed out which put the drivers had been leading the race down the leaderboard. The race would get dramatic as Juan Montoya rear ended Power, damaging his front wing and bringing out a yellow while Tony Kanaan would take the lead.

Kanaan held the lead on the restart but the same strategy that put him in the lead took him out of it when he pitted on lap 51, which handed the lead over to Dixon.

With Montoya burried in the field, Dixon assumed the points lead and would need a clean final pitstop and no mistakes on the track. On lap 63, the crew did exactly that and was perfect while his closest rival Newgarden stalled on pit road, taking him out of contention.

With Dixon up front, Montoya’s efforts were beginning to shrink but drama involving his season long championship rival, Graham Rahal.

Rahal had been struggling to find the handle on his car for much of the day but found himself in seventh place, his hopes still alive.

His hopes came to an end when Sebastien Bourdais rear ended him at the end of the dragstrip and spun him out. With Rahal out if the picture and Bourdais assesed a penalty for avoidable contact, Montoya soon found himself in a tiebreaker scenario with Dixon.

He would still need to pass one more car to get the points lead: Ryan Briscoe.

Montoya’s black tires would seem to prove better than Briscoe’s red tires and he chopped a few tenths a lap off his lead while Dixon was smooth sailing up front.

Dixon crossed the line 6.1115 ahead of Ryan Hunter Reay and it was enough to take the championship as Montoya couldn’t get to Briscoe.
----
Hunter-Reay claimed his second straight podium while Charlie Kimball capped of the season with his third podium of the year.

Tony Kanaan claimed fourth and Ryan Briscoe completed his fill in duties for James Hinchcliffe with a fifth place finish.

Montoya would have to settle for second in the championship, followed by teammate Power and Rahal, who entered the race second in points. Helio Castroneves made it three Penske cars in the top five. A strong end to the season lifted Ryan Hunter-Reay to sixth in the standings while Josef Newgarden’s pit miscue dropped him to seventh in points.
(Reference Here)

The transporter for Penske Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya was located right across from the garage station of Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon. Here, Montoya is sitting on the stoop, watching the garage across the way (see reflection in mirrored door behind JPM). Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Sour grapes flooded the wine country racetrack's paddock area with the talk about the influence of having this race be awarded with twice the number of points given out for the results of the season finale race.

This excerpted and edited from STUFF -

IndyCar runner-up Juan Pablo Montoya questions Scott Dixon's series triumph
By: stuff.co.nz - Last updated 11:20, September 1 2015

IndyCar series runner-up Juan Pablo Montoya has questioned whether Scott Dixon was a deserved winner, saying the Kiwi had a "s**t" season.

Montoya was furious the crucial final race at Sonoma on Monday carried double points.

Dixon won, and his Colombian rival finished sixth at Sonoma, so lost the championship on countback [tie-breaker] after leading all season.

Montoya did not take it in good humour, lashing out at the post-race press conference.

"Dixon had a s**t season all year and had one good race, and we paid the penalty."

Montoya wants the double-points system reconsidered, though he holds little hope that it will be changed.

"We'll see if they [IndyCar] change it, but they like the excitement for the last race," he said.

"Is it fair? No, but we go into the last race of the year knowing it's a double‑points race.

"Is it fair for a normal championship? No, it's not fair, but it's the rules they want to play with, and if you don't like the rules, don't race."
----
"It sucks, but when you make the last race double-points on a road course and you change the tyre and you do everything you did for this weekend and you put so many variables, it doesn't even matter what you do all year."

Dixon, who was one of six drivers still in with a title chance, won the 2003, 2008 and 2013 series.

He has finished runner-up in the series twice and has been third four times in a 13-year IndyCar career.

WHAT DIFFERENCE DID DOUBLE POINTS MAKE?

Actual championship standings

1 Dixon 556
2 Montoya 556
3 Power 493

Standings without double score for Sonoma

1 Montoya 528
2 Dixon 506
3 Rahal 478

Standings with no double scores at all *

1 Montoya 478
2 Dixon 474
3 Rahal 448

* Montoya got double points for winning the Indianapolis 500
(Reference Here)

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal had a season for the ages. Driving the troubled Honda-powered and aerodynamically outfitted Steak 'N Shake Dallara, he entered the race just 34 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya in P2 and finished P4 in the season championship after his car was pushed off of the track by four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais. Here, Rahal finishes the Bus Stop complex of turns on his way to finishing P4 in the VICS championship. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

For Graham Rahal's part, he agrees with JPM on the assessment about double points being awarded for any race (from post-race transcript):

Q. Graham, Juan came in here and not a fan of the double points. He was not, at least. But aside from that, how do you think the championship from that standpoint is going?  Should they drop them from Indy or keep them just at Indy and drop them from the end?

GRAHAM RAHAL: I don't think any race should have double points.

Q. What about the double‑header part?

GRAHAM RAHAL: Those are two races. Just like Indy, why there's points for qualifying is stupid. I know what they're trying to do, trying to make it more interesting, trying to get everybody ‑‑ but everybody is already hanging out on the line, and all you're doing is benefiting the big teams. Like for instance, us, it killed us this year. Definitely is not to our advantage.

Obviously there's two sides to me here on this weekend because obviously if it had been single points or normal points, I'd have been in trouble. I think it made it interesting, you know, at the end. If I look, I finished fourth. If I'd finished one more position up, I think I would have tied Power for third and fourth, and obviously the No. 1 and 2 tied, and I think we would have beat Power on a head‑to‑head on a tiebreaker, I think. But it was interesting.

However, I don't think any race should be valued above another. I know people will say the Indy 500 should, but I think every race is equally important if you're looking at a championship. Anyway, just my take.

Just like we tried the double‑file restarts and all that stuff. We don't need gimmicks in this sport to make it exciting I don't think.
(ht: VICS)

The No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport Honda Dallara driven by soon to be 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series Rookie-Of-The-Year Gabby Chaves as it negotiates the Bus Stop complex of corners (with wheel up) at Sonoma Raceway during the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma season finale race. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Besides that it was a great day for Scott Dixon and the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series championship, it was also a great day for Bryan Herta Autosport and their rookie Mazda Ladder Series driver, Gabby Chaves.

Post Race Press Conference:

GABBY CHAVES (No. 98 Bowers & Wilkins / Curb Honda): "It was a very eventful race for us. We barely made it to the start.

Actually we didn't even make the starting grid, so we started about half a lap back. We had a battery problem so that was unfortunate. We think we had the right strategy and had the right pace, but once we started being it was just like we didn't really know where to go and it was hard to get rhythm behind other cars that we were much faster than.

Twice we got caught out by a yellow flag, right as we were pitting and had to bail out from pitting. We obviously lost position trying to do that and screwed up our strategy.

It was just a rough day all around, but I think our pace is good and we have to work on a few things.

I am happy with the way our Bryan Herta Autosport team worked out this year and we couldn't do it without our sponsors, Bowers & Wilkins, Castrol Edge, Deltro Electric, Alarm.com, and of course having Honda in our car. It was a fun season and I look forward to what 2016 has to bring." (ht: VICS)

Scott Dixon signs a hat during the post race - post championship press conference. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Post Race Press Conference:

Q. You made both championship, first Champ Car and then IndyCar later on when it was founded. Is there anything in those championships from the technology point of view, you're very impressed, aero package, engine, whatever?

CHIP GANASSI: Well, I mean, all of it is. It's a matter of ‑‑ I think from our point of view, we're just the race team. I mean, we look at the rule book, this guy to my right and I, you look at the rule book each year and you figure out what the rules are, and you go out and try to win races with what the sanctioning body gives you, what the drivers give you, what the engine manufacturers give you, what the tires give you. You've got all these sort of inputs and you've got to take all those sort of inputs and you have to make something of it, and whoever makes the best of that package, whatever it is, is going to be the champion at the end of the year. And that's how it's been for every championship.

Each one ‑‑ none are the same. None of the championships are the same because the rules are different, a little different each year. The points systems are different. You know, the technology is different. We've done it with different engine packages, we've done it with different tires, we've done it with different cars and we've done it with different drivers.

My hat's off to Mike here on my right for putting the team together so many times over the years that just takes all these inputs that you have from different constituencies in the sport. In actual fact we have very little control ‑‑ teams have no control over the sanctioning body, we have no control over the rules, we have no control over the engines, we have no control over the tires.

We give our opinion, but I think rarely ‑‑ if we give our opinion, they do the opposite, you know. But it's just a matter of taking all those things that they give you and putting them in a ‑‑ I refer to it as baking the pie.

You put all those ingredients together and you put it in the oven and at the beginning of the season. You hope at the end of the season the pie comes out good, and fortunately it did here today.
(ht: VICS)

What a fitting end to an arguable Top 5 best ever competitive season, in the history of American open-wheel racing championship seasons.

With a "Triple-Down" strategy on 6 second pitstops combined with a "Double-Up" on awarded race points for bonuses and finishing place, we are able to crown and add a rare 4-Time open-wheel series champion through a tie-breaker, based on winning three races, during this 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series championship season.

BRAVO ... that was one great pie!

... notes from The EDJE


TAGS: GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, Scott Dixon, Sonoma Raceway, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Mike Hull, Chip Ganassi, Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power, Graham Rahal, Penske Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, The EDJE, Josh Farmer, STUFF,