In a dual ceremony that took place at both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, some of the biggest names in Indianapolis 500 history unveiled the race's 2011 logo, celebrating the 100th running of the storied event and the 16th under IZOD IndyCar Series sanctioning.
Johnny Rutherford, a three-time winner of the event, helped IMS president/CEO Jeff Belskus reveal the logo at the track. The Pebble Beach ceremony was led by fellow three-time winner Bobby Unser, 1963 winner Parnelli Jones, 1985 winner Danny Sullivan, and open-wheel icon Dan Gurney.
The logo primarily features a blue banner with white letters, a black "500," and golden wings, with a red banner highlighting the 100th anniversary of the event. The IMS Creative Services department, which designed the logo, took various design elements from race logos used in the 1920s and 1930s.
Also present at the Pebble Beach ceremony was a restored 1965 Lotus-Ford, detailed exactly like the one with which Scot Jim Clark won that year's event. Its presence at the event further exhibits a revived fascination with Indy for the British company, which re-entered the sport this year as primary sponsor of Takuma Sato's No. 5 KV Racing Technology Dallara-Honda. Lotus has also announced its intention to build an aerodynamic kit for the Dallara safety cell that will be used in the 2012 IndyCar season and beyond.
Showing posts with label Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Show all posts
Friday, August 13, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Carb Day a Certified Success
Miller Lite Carburetion Day, the final day of on-track activity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the Indianapolis 500, was a rousing success.
From the ZZ Top concert to the IZOD Pit Stop Challenge, there was a little bit of something for everybody at the speedway on Friday, and crowds accumulated by the thousands to watch.
Final practice before the Indianapolis 500 started at 11 am, and all 33 IZOD IndyCar Series cars taking part in the race ran some final tune-up laps. The two fastest drivers were Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, followed by Will Power, a surprising Bruno Junqueira, and defending race champion Helio Castroneves. Only the Ganassi cars turned sub-40 second laps.
The IZOD Pit Stop Challenge featured 12 of the top teams in the sport competing against one another in a bracket to see which team has the fastest pit crew. Helio Castroneves won, giving owner Roger Penske his 12th Pit Stop Challenge victory, but runner-up Hideki Mutoh put up an excellent fight, advancing all the way without the benefit of a first-round bye as Castroneves had. Penske's pit crews had some moments of brilliance, turning a sub-8 second stop for Will Power in the first round and an 8.001 second tune-up for Castroneves in the final.
The Firestone Indy Lights Series also had some on-track competition on Friday, with its flagship race, the Firestone Freedom 100. Pippa Mann had become the first woman to qualify on pole at Indianapolis in any event, but her hopes of taking the third Freedom 100 win in the past four years for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, and their fifth overall, were dashed by an accident with Jeff Simmons on lap 3.
Wade Cunningham, in a one-race deal for Schmidt, and Charlie Kimball, running for AFS Racing, went down to the wire for the race victory, trading the lead multiple times in the last ten laps. Cunningham gained the point for good on lap 35 of 40, but never was able to stretch out a lead. Regardless, it was Cunningham's third Freedom 100 win, his second in a row, and made him look a highly attractive prospect for any team in need of a strong oval driver later this year.
From the ZZ Top concert to the IZOD Pit Stop Challenge, there was a little bit of something for everybody at the speedway on Friday, and crowds accumulated by the thousands to watch.
Final practice before the Indianapolis 500 started at 11 am, and all 33 IZOD IndyCar Series cars taking part in the race ran some final tune-up laps. The two fastest drivers were Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, followed by Will Power, a surprising Bruno Junqueira, and defending race champion Helio Castroneves. Only the Ganassi cars turned sub-40 second laps.
The IZOD Pit Stop Challenge featured 12 of the top teams in the sport competing against one another in a bracket to see which team has the fastest pit crew. Helio Castroneves won, giving owner Roger Penske his 12th Pit Stop Challenge victory, but runner-up Hideki Mutoh put up an excellent fight, advancing all the way without the benefit of a first-round bye as Castroneves had. Penske's pit crews had some moments of brilliance, turning a sub-8 second stop for Will Power in the first round and an 8.001 second tune-up for Castroneves in the final.
The Firestone Indy Lights Series also had some on-track competition on Friday, with its flagship race, the Firestone Freedom 100. Pippa Mann had become the first woman to qualify on pole at Indianapolis in any event, but her hopes of taking the third Freedom 100 win in the past four years for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, and their fifth overall, were dashed by an accident with Jeff Simmons on lap 3.
Wade Cunningham, in a one-race deal for Schmidt, and Charlie Kimball, running for AFS Racing, went down to the wire for the race victory, trading the lead multiple times in the last ten laps. Cunningham gained the point for good on lap 35 of 40, but never was able to stretch out a lead. Regardless, it was Cunningham's third Freedom 100 win, his second in a row, and made him look a highly attractive prospect for any team in need of a strong oval driver later this year.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
United States Grand Prix Back on F1 Calendar
Autosport.com reports that 2012 will see the return of the United States Grand Prix to the Formula 1 calendar. The race will be held at a yet-to-be-constructed road course in Austin, Texas.
The event marks the return of F1 to the United States after a rocky eight-year relationship with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, marred in one year by a disastrous Michelin tire compound that rendered the majority of the cars in the field unsafe to drive.
This will be the first time since 1980, the last year of competition at Watkins Glen, that a Formula 1 race will be held on a purpose-built road course. Since then, the majority of American F1 events have been street races; Indianapolis' event took place on a road course built inside the famed oval. However, this will be the first time that a track has been built specifically for F1 competition.
The Austin race deal is a ten-year contract that ends after the 2021 event.
The event marks the return of F1 to the United States after a rocky eight-year relationship with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, marred in one year by a disastrous Michelin tire compound that rendered the majority of the cars in the field unsafe to drive.
This will be the first time since 1980, the last year of competition at Watkins Glen, that a Formula 1 race will be held on a purpose-built road course. Since then, the majority of American F1 events have been street races; Indianapolis' event took place on a road course built inside the famed oval. However, this will be the first time that a track has been built specifically for F1 competition.
The Austin race deal is a ten-year contract that ends after the 2021 event.
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