IndyCar: Early Season Report

Your podium at the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Coming into the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season everyone was anxious to see how the new Chevrolet and Honda aero kits would do perform. Fans, media and even drivers were unsure of what exactly we would see in the opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Heck, when I asked James Hinchcliffe how his car would react when passing another car, the friendly Canadian said, "I will find out when I make the first pass."

When the green flag dropped, things got exciting pretty quick. While the race was hampered by a string of caution periods for parts of Honda wings on the track and other debris, the closing segment proved exciting as Team Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya ultimately outdueled reigning series champion and teammate Will Power for the win. Only a third-place finish by Tony Kanaan broke up a Penske weep of the top-four as Helio Castroneves was fourth and Simon Pagenaud fifth.

James Hinchcliffe wins in New Orleans

From there, it was on to the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana at New Orleans Motorsports Park. While a new venue is always exciting for teams, drivers, fans and media, the rainy weather throughout the weekend greatly hampered the event. With replacement aero kit parts at a premium, teams were hesitant to test the wet weather conditions in practice, and Saturday's qualifying was rained out. While the passionate fans from Cajun Country braved the conditions throughout the weekend, Sunday's race was again marred by yellow flags due to wet conditions.

Hinchcliffe was able to execute the pit strategy to perfection, and scored his first victory since Iowa 2013. The Mayor would be joined on the podium by Castroneves and his SPM teammate James Jakes.

Scott Dixon takes the win at Long Beach

Weather-wise, the series' annual trip to Long Beach could not have been more different than NOLA. Also, the Long Beach weekend served up a series of intriguing surprises, one being INDYCAR mandating that the Chevrolet winglets removed from the front wings. Granted, the lack of the winglets did not prove detrimental, as Chevy teams finished the race in the top 7 spots. But Chevrolet is deeply thinking of how to resolve their issue.

There was also the shock announcement Friday morning at Long Beach that Rocky Moran, Jr. would race for Dale Coyne Racing. Moran had been a standout junior open wheel racing start in the late 1990s and early 2000s but unable to break into either CART or the Indy Racing League at the time. The announcement that Moran would be racing was warmly received by many in the paddock who had been around during that time.

Conor Daly was brought in as a last-minute replacement at Long Beach for Rocky Moran, Jr.

Sadly, for Moran the debut would be short-lived, as he sustained a broken thumb during Friday practice. DCR would replace Moran with Conor Daly who would finish a respectable 17th.

In the race, Helio Castroneves would lead the early going from pole, before surrendering the lead to Scott Dixon. Through a bit of misfortune, Team Penske was forced to hold the Brazilian on pit road during his first pit stop to avoid a collision with an incoming Tony Kanaan. The delay allowed Dixon to jump Castroneves, and from there the Kiwi would score his 36th career victory.

This weekend we return to the beautiful Barber Motorsports Park, where Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay has taken the checkered flag the past two seasons, for round 4. While the Indy Cars did not take to the track Friday, there was other action aplenty. Spencer Pigot took pole for the Legacy Indy Lights 100. In Cooper Tires U.S. F2000 Powered by Mazda Aaron Telitz overtook both second-place Jake Eidson and leader Victor Franzoni in the closing laps to score an impressive victory.

As for today, rain is in the forecast. With Barber being an undulating track, we imagine the wet weather will not compromise the events too much.

Otherwise, I will be on site at Barber throughout the weekend. Stay tuned to AR1 for the latest news and information.

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