AR1 IndyCar News & Notes

Tristan Vautier will have a fresh Honda engine this weekend in Iowa

Do you feel short-changed when writers are too lazy to craft a proper introductory paragraph? What about those who don’t even bother to coherently organize their thoughts in a logical, orderly manner?

Well, sorry.

Below, are a few notes on the Verizon IndyCar Series, bullet-point style.

• Yesterday, during my visit to Dale Coyne Racing, the team was changing motors on both the #18 and #19 Hondas. Both cars will have fresh motors for this week's Iowa Corn Indy 300 presented by DEKALB at Iowa Speedway.

• The car Pippa Mann crashed in practice for the Indianapolis 500 has an irreparable tub. It will not be raced again.

Mark Miles told the series' drivers he was none too pleased with some of the comments made after the MAVTV 500

• We are hearing that the series spoke with drivers this past weekend in Milwaukee concerning negative comments about the series. Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles of course pointed out during a media teleconference two weeks ago that he would be taking a firmer stance on drivers airing their grievances with the series publicly.

• We likewise hear the series is less than pleased with the manner in which a few journalists have expressed their dissenting opinions in recent weeks.

• To be clear, the two preceding points are simply information we have received, and in no way criticisms, endorsements, or commentaries on the manner in which any party has voiced their opinion.

• A recurring concern teams had about the shortened schedule this past weekend in Milwaukee was a wrecked car in qualifying. Every form of team personnel from drivers to crewmen said that if there had been a crash in qualifying, in which an engine had to be moved to a backup car, it would have been close as to whether the swap could have been made.

Juan Pablo Montoya at Milwaukee

• While championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya hasn’t been necessarily lighting the world afire of late (he hasn’t finished on the podium since winning Indy), no one else is exactly putting a ton of pressure on him. And someone will need to put a string of good weekends together in the remaining four races (yes, that’s all that’s left) to beat JPM.

• Arguably, more intriguing championship battle for can be found in the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Series, where Jack Harvey, Spencer Pigot and Ed Jones are separated by a mere 29 points with 5 races over three weekends remaining.

Brian Carroccio reporting for AutoRacing1