Monday 11 December 2017

More news on the 2018 Season



Michael Shank Racing and driver Jack Harvey will embark on a six-race Verizon INDYCAR Series program next season. The announcement, made last Friday at the PRI Trade Show in the Indiana Convention Center, is the latest step for Shank as he continues to build towards a full-time Verizon INDYCAR Series program. “It’s a big step for my team. We’ve been trying to do it for a long, long time,” said team owner Michael Shank. “We felt it was the right time, the right situation, everything was kind of lining up to do it the right way. We’ve been in business for 23 years racing cars solely for a living and we’ve taken conservative steps every step of the way. We saw this as a shot to be competitive, not over reach our budget and try to build something over the next two years.”
The car, which will carry sponsorship from SiriusXM and AutoNation, will also have technical support from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Shank said Friday the team recently acquired a new chassis, which will be assembled at the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports before being handed off to MSR.“I’m good with taking small steps. It’s that conservative side that has served us well,” Shank said. “It has gotten us a lot of wins and poles and things in sports cars. We have a lot to prove in IndyCar though. We have the right people in place already, equipment is ordered and the technical alliance has started to work, so we’ll see.”
Shank said the team will kick off the season at in St. Petersburg, Fla., before heading to Long Beach, Calif., and then Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 500. Three additional races will be announced at a later date. Curb Records, CAP and Associates, Rocky Fork Co. and Roberts Service Group will also serve as sponsors for the Verizon INDYCAR Series program.
Harvey returns to Michael Shank Racing after joining the team to compete in the Indianapolis 500 last season. He started 27th and finished 30th after a crash on lap 65. He also made two additional starts with Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports, scoring a best finish of 14th at Watkins Glen Int’l.“I’m extremely lucky with AutoNation and SiriusXM that they have stuck with me this year and this relationship is growing and building,” Harvey said. “It’s a multi-year agreement with the two teams I raced with last year. I like Michael a lot as person,” Harvey continued. “He’s been extremely successful in everything that he has done. I know Sam so well because he brought me from Europe to North America in the first place. This is a great collaboration of people.”

Photo and Media from IndyCar Media

Monday 4 December 2017

25 Years on.




The 2018 Verizon INDYCAR Series race at Phoenix Raceway will commemorate the 25th anniversary of legendary driver Mario Andretti’s final Indy car victory, nearly 25 years to the day it happened.

Andretti, whose 52 career wins rank second only to A.J. Foyt’s 67 in Indy car annals, drove to the checkered flag at Phoenix Raceway on April 4, 1993. A full schedule of events surrounding the Phoenix Grand Prix on April 6-7, 2018, will honor Andretti’s achievement and the track’s deep Indy Car history. The weekend culminates with the April 7 race under the lights featuring the current stars of the Verizon INDYCAR Series and the cars with the highly anticipated new universal aero kit.
“There’s no more important name in motorsports than Mario Andretti,” said Bryan Sperber,president of Phoenix Raceway, the 1.022-mile oval that has hosted 63 previous Indy Car races dating to 1964. “He is also a cultural icon and his name resonates around the world with fans and non-fans alike. To be in a position to host the anniversary celebration of his final open-wheel victory at Phoenix Raceway is truly special. I can’t wait to welcome back the drivers and race cars that created history here 25 years ago.”  



Driving the No. 6 Kmart/Texaco Havoline Lola/Ford (shown above), Andretti led 39 of 200 laps in the 1993 Valvoline 200 at Phoenix. He won by a lap over Raul Boesel in a race that featured eight eventual Indianapolis 500 winners – Andretti, Eddie Cheever, Emerson Fittipaldi, Buddy Lazier, Arie Luyendyk, Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan and Al Unser Jr. – as well as the likes of Jimmy Vasser, Lyn St. James, Robby Gordon and Teo Fabi. Nigel Mansell, the reigning Formula One champion who had become Andretti’s teammate that season at Newman/Haas Racing, was injured in a practice crash and did not race.
The win made Andretti the oldest Indy car winner on a traditional race course, at 53 years, 1 month, 7 days. The oldest winner on any type circuit was Louis Unser in the 1953 Pikes Peak Hill Climb when it was part of the AAA-sanctioned national championship. Unser was 57 years, 5 months, 22 days old at the time.

Andretti’s hall of fame career in Indy cars spanned 31 years (1964-94). He holds the record for most races (407), laps led (7,595), podium finishes (144) and pole positions (67). He is the first driver to win an Indy Car race in four consecutive decades and collected four season championships. The legendary driver excelled in all forms of motorsports, winning the Formula One world championship in 1978, collecting sports car wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 12 Hours of Sebring, the USAC Dirt Champ car circuit, as well as winning Nascar’s pinnacle event, the Daytona 500, in 1967. Phoenix Raceway will celebrate Andretti’s remarkable accomplishments on race weekend through special merchandise, trading cards, a tribute panel and special commemorative items for fans. Among the plans is a reunion of drivers who participated in the 1993 Indy car race. Fans attending will be able interact with legends of the sport such as Bobby Rahal, Lyn St. James and Arie Luyendyk in a panel discussion and autograph session. In addition, cars from the 1993 Indy Car field will be on display at the track for fans to enjoy.

The Phoenix Grand Prix is the second race on the 2018 Verizon INDYCAR Series schedule. For ticket information, visit PhoenixRaceway.com .

Media Supplied.



The Borg Warner on the Road



For the first time in its 82-year history, the Borg-Warner Trophy has left the United States. The iconic prize, which features the faces of every Indianapolis 500 winner -- along with former Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman -- is currently in Japan for a 15-day celebration of Takuma Sato's victory this past May in the 101st running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing."the Indy 500.

The Borg Warner trophy left its home at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum on late November and is flying to Tokyo for festivities to honor Sato as the first Japanese winner of 500 and to celebrate Honda's 12th 500 victory. According to the itinerary, stops on the Japanese tour include a variety of events in Tokyo, the Twin Ring Motegi race circuit and the Japanese cities of Nabari and Fukuroi.
"I think it is very special that the Borg-Warner Trophy is traveling to Japan," Sato said in a news release. "The trophy represents winning the greatest race in the world, and I am very proud to have won the 2017 Indianapolis 500 and have my image on the trophy. For nearly two weeks, the trophy will be seen throughout Japan by fans and media. I am honored to be the first Japanese driver to win the Indy 500 and extremely grateful the Borg-Warner Trophy will be traveling outside United States for the first time ever to celebrate my team's and Honda's accomplishments. Let's do it again next year, too!"



According to the release from the Speedway, the trophy will travel around 12,780 miles during its journey, which will end back at the IMS Museum on Dec. 12. 

Photo supplied from the IndyStar photographer Michelle Pemberton.

Back Home Again

Beloved Indianapolis 500 Icon Nabors Passes Away



Actor-Entertainer Sang 'Back Home Again in Indiana' during Pre-Race Ceremonies for 36 Years
Actor-entertainer Jim Nabors, one of the most beloved figures in Indianapolis 500 history for his stirring pre-race rendition of "Back Home Again in Indiana," passed away Thursday, Nov. 30 at his home in Hawaii. He was 87.
Nabors sang the iconic tune 36 times between 1972 and 2014 during pre-race ceremonies for the Indianapolis 500. Although born in Alabama, Nabors was considered a true Hoosier due to his performances at the "500" but even more so because of his warmth, grace and generosity, and his very close relationship with the Hulman-George family, owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
"Jim Nabors was such a kind, caring man, and we will miss him greatly," the Hulman-George family said. "Jim was born in Alabama, but he became a Hoosier to all of us almost immediately after he began his superb performances of 'Back Home Again in Indiana' starting in 1972. He loved coming back home to the Speedway almost every May for more than 40 years and seeing his friends and race fans, who loved him dearly. Jim was not only a treasured friend, but truly a cherished member of our family.
"We will never forget his genuine kindness, sincerity and loyalty. He was a wonderful man who inspired millions of people across the globe every May and throughout his entire life."
Nabors was best known for his television portrayal of bumpkin Gomer Pyle in the "The Andy Griffith Show" in the early 1960s and for his starring role in the popular spin-off television comedy "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." from 1964-69. His catchphrase on both shows, "Gollllll-ly!" was flavored with the Southern drawl of his native Alabama.
But Nabors also had an extensive background in singing with his rich baritone in cabaret and night club performances before his acting career. He sang on episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." and on televised variety shows and theater performances for many years.
Nabors' journey to performing "Back Home Again in Indiana" was an anecdote he enjoyed telling. He was the guest of casino magnate Bill Harrah at the 1972 Indianapolis 500 when, on Race Morning, Nabors was approached shortly before pre-race ceremonies to sing during the festivities. He presumed he would be asked to perform the national anthem.
Instead, race officials asked Nabors to sing "Back Home Again in Indiana." He didn't know the lyrics, so he scrawled them on the palm of his hand and wowed the huge crowd with his performance.
Nabors returned to sing each year from 1973-78, becoming a big hit with fans and the Hulman-George family. Other singers performed the song from 1979-82, with Nabors returning in 1983 and 1984. Nabors was in Indianapolis to sing in 1986, but the race suffered two full days of rain delays. He was unable to return to sing when the race ran the following weekend.
In 1987, Nabors began a run of singing "Back Home Again in Indiana" for 27 of the next 28 years. He missed the 2007 race due to illness, and his rendition in 2012 was taped in advance and shown on the track's video boards since Nabors couldn't travel from Hawaii due to illness.
Nabors' final performance came in 2014, when he also joined IMS Chairman of the Board Emeritus Mari Hulman George to give the command to start engines for the 98th Indianapolis 500.
That gesture was a prominent example of the extremely close friendship between Nabors and the Hulman-George family, especially Mari Hulman George. Nabors, fellow actor and entertainer Florence Henderson and Mari Hulman George enjoyed spending time together for decades as an almost inseparable trio of best friends during all Race Weekend activities, such as the Public Drivers Meeting, 500 Festival Parade and Victory Celebration.
Nabors' common touch and humility also were displayed annually to thousands of IMS fans who loved him dearly as an institution of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." He always had a kind word for everyone and posed for countless pictures and signed seemingly limitless autographs. Nabors often visited the gift shop in the IMS Museum on Saturday of Race Weekend after the 500 Festival Parade, unassumingly walking in, waving and greeting excited IMS employees with genuine affection and enthusiasm about making his annual return to the Speedway.
"Everyone at IMS is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our dear friend Jim Nabors," IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. "Jim's stirring rendition of 'Back Home Again in Indiana' became as much of a tradition of the Indianapolis 500 as the command to start engines or the winner's bottle of milk.
"But more importantly, Jim was such a nice man. He was beloved by our fans because he loved the Speedway and the '500' just as much as them. He wasn't born in Indiana, but he was a true Hoosier. We always will remember Jim and extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends."
Nabors is survived by his husband, Stan Cadwallader.
Information from IMS Media.