News for the Week of June 11 – June 17, 2018

Report: Tirico to host NBC broadcast of 103rd Indy 500 – Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star reports Mike Tirico will host NBC’s television broadcast of the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 2019. Full report at the link. – Indianapolis Star – (6/15/2018)

Report: Alonso talks not the only reason for Andretti F1 visit – Joe Saward reports for Motorsport Week that negotiations with Fernando Alonso weren’t the only reason for Andretti Autosport boss Michael Andretti’s trip to the Formula 1 race in Montreal last weekend. Saward says Andretti visited with F1 ownership group Liberty Media and the financially beleaguered Force India team on the trip. Force India is in dire need of a takeover and Michael Andretti wasn’t the only Andretti Autosport executive to to make the trip. Full report at the link. – Motorsport Week – (6/13/2018)

Negotiations still in progress for Texas to remain on schedule for ’19 – Drew Davison of the Star-Telegram reports Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage wants INDYCAR to return to the track in 2019 but a deal is not in place quite yet. Gossage still wants the track to have the first race after the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. “I would certainly fix that,” Gossage told the Star-Telegram. “It’d be good for Indycar; it’d be good for Texas Motor Speedway.” Full story at the link. – Star-Telegram – (6/13/2018)

Fire damage to Leist’s car “cosmetic” – RACER’s Marshall Pruett reports the damage to the AJ Foyt Racing car for Matheus Leist was minimal after his dramatic fire during the DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. “It could have been way worse for sure,” team president Larry Foyt RACER. “We’ll have the tub tested and twisted to make sure. The roll hoop piece that was on fire isn’t part of the main tub structure; it’s a bolt-on and it comes off. Integrity wise, where the engine mounts to the tub, it’s all fine. It was a lot of cosmetic stuff.” Full story at the link. – RACER – (6/13/2018)

Miller’s Mailbag 6/13/18 – RACER’s Robin Miller’s weekly fan Q&A is a great read as always. – RACER – (6/13/2018)

Franzoni tops Lights Road America test – 1070 The Fan’s Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee radio show from 6/12/18 is a great listen as always. Paul Tracy is a guest on the show.. – 1070 The Fan – (6/13/2018)

Franzoni tops Tuesday Lights Road America testing – Juncos Racing’s Victor Franzoni was fastest in the Indy Lights test at Road America on Monday with a lap of 1:52.7325. The rest of the Top 5 was O’Ward, Norman, Urrutia, and Telitz. Full results at the link. – Indy Lights – (6/13/2018)

Franzoni tops Monday Lights Road America testing – Juncos Racing’s Victor Franzoni was fastest in the Indy Lights test at Road America on Monday with a lap of 1:53.5403. The rest of the Top 5 was O’Ward, Herta, Norman, and Telitz. Full results at the link. – Indy Lights – (6/12/2018)

Alonso further teases IndyCar interest – After another mid-race retirement in the Formula 1 race in Montreal on Sunday, Fernando Alonso responded to a tweet from Graham Rahal saying the Spaniard should come to the Verizon IndyCar Series next year with a GIF that certainly displayed longing interest in that being a possibility. The nature of social media renders the meaning of this post almost useless, but it is exciting to see Alonso continue to show interest in INDYCAR. Check out the sequence of Twitter posts at the link. – Fernando Alonso – (6/11/2018)

The Open Wheel’s Texas photo gallery – The Open Wheel’s photo gallery from the Verizon IndyCar Series DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway is available at the link. – The Open Wheel – (6/9/2018)

Dixon wins and takes championship lead at Texas – Chip Ganassi Racing Teams’ Scott Dixon dominated the second half of the DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway to earn the win and the championship lead. The rest of the Top 5 was Pagenaud, Rossi, Hinchcliffe, and Hunter-Reay. There were cautions in the race for Leist, Wickens & Carpenter, and Power & Claman De Melo. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (6/9/2018)

Newgarden wins the pole at Texas – Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden won the pole for the DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway with a two-lap average of 220.613mph. The Top 5 in qualifying were Newgarden, Pagenaud, Power, Wickens, and Bourdais. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (6/8/2018)

RLL announces multi-year extension with Graham Rahal – “Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced a multi-year contract extension with driver Graham Rahal today. Rahal has driven for the team full time since 2013 and has earned six wins, 27 podium finishes and 48 top-5 finishes in his Indy car career to date. In the past three Verizon IndyCar Series seasons, he has finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in season-ending standings and two of those seasons was the highest ranked Honda-powered driver and was second highest in the other.” Full release at the link. – RLL – (6/8/2018)

SPM building for future with Wickens – RACER’s Marshall Pruett has an excellent story on Schmidt Peterson Motorsports evolution of their Verizon IndyCar Series program and the processes in place to retain a budding star like Robert Wickens as teams such as Team Penske have allegedly inquired about his services. “It’s a multi-year deal and we don’t have any intention of letting him go,” SPM co-owner Sam Schmidt told RACER. “He’s everything we could possibly hope for and more. Sometimes you roll the dice and make a mistake. Fortunately, we didn’t.” Full story at the link. – RACER – (6/8/2018)

News From Last Week