Indy Racing League on Any Sport Any Time
Monday, May 6th, 2013
James Hinchcliffe (Chuck Carroll, Wikimedia Commons)
James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ontario is heading into the 2013 Indianapolis 500 as a serious contender.
On Sunday in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Hinchcliffe won his second race of the season by winning the Sao Paulo Indy 300 and moved from tenth to fourth in the 2013 IndyCar standings.
Hinchcliffe started fifth on the started grid yesterday (on the inside of row three) , and won the race despite only placing first on only one of the 75 laps. That lap however was the last lap of the race as Hinchliffe made a brilliant inside pass to move past Japan’s Takuma Sato.
Hinchcliffe showed a great deal of tenacity and resiliency on Sunday. He was in the middle of the pack for a major portion of the race, and was only in fourth place with about ten laps to go. Then Hinchcliffe built up some remarkable speed and passed Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud, before finding his way on Sato’s bumper.
Sato was harshly criticized by the NBC Sports Network for blocking Newgarden and Hinchcliffe in attempts to pass. If Sato had won the race, there might have been some controversy.
On May 26, Hinchcliffe will try to be the second Canadian (after Jacques Villeneuve in 1995) to win the Indianapols 500. Hinchcliffe finished sixth last year. Earlier this season, Hinchcliffe won his first career race in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Tags: indianapolis 500, james hinchcliffe, josef newgarden, sao paulo indy 300, simon pagenaud, takuma sato
Posted in Indy Racing League |
Tuesday, March 26th, 2013
James Hinchcliffe (Chuck Carroll, Wikimedia Commons)
The last couple of years James Hinchcliffe has been on the brink of greatness. He has steadily improved in the auto racing world and seen himself steadily climb in his efforts of being the next one. Over the last couple of decades, Canada has seen outstanding results in IndyCar as Jacques Villeneuve and Paul Tracy have performed admirably, and Canadian auto racing fans were waiting for Hinchcliffe to finally shine.
However questions remained how long it would take for Hinchcliffe to be near the conversation. I guess that time is now.
On Sunday, Hinchcliffe became the first Canadian since Tracy in 2007 to win an IndyCar race. The pride of Oakville, Ontario won in the neon coloured Go Daddy race car that Danica Patrick has made famous by winning IndyCar’s opening race of 2013 in St. Petersburg, Florida. He did it by passing legend Helio Castroneves and put himself in the position to be a force to be reckoned with.
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Tags: danica patrick, helio castroneves, indycar, jacques villeneuve, james hinchcliffe, paul tracy
Posted in Home, Indy Racing League |
Monday, February 18th, 2013
Danica Patrick (Scott Mecum, Wikimedia Commons)
For the first time ever, a woman has won the pole for the Daytona 500. On Sunday, Danica Patrick of Beloit, Wisconsin, recorded a lap of 196.434 miles per hour.
It was Patrick’s greatest accomplishment in NASCAR. Patrick, who races for Stewart-Haas, was 0.142 seconds faster than Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports.
In 2005 Patrick became the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500. She went on to finish third in the 2009 Indianapolis 500 race and became the first woman to win an IndyCar race when she won the Indy Japan 300 in 2008.
Patrick was making NASCAR headlines off the track in 2013 because it was recently reported she was dating NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Patrick divorced from her husband Paul Hospenthal in November. She is also known very well off the track for her sexy godaddy.com commercials.
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Tags: dale jarrett, danica patrick, daytona 500, indianapolis 500, jeff gordon, matt kenseth, NASCAR, ricky stenhouse
Posted in Indy Racing League, More |
Friday, September 21st, 2012
According to the Canadian Press, there will no longer be an Edmonton IndyCar race. On Friday, it was confirmed that Montreal’s Octane Motorsports will no longer produce the 2013 race.
Octane was reportedly not pleased with the amount of spectator support and interest from local businesses in recent years.
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Posted in Indy Racing League |
Saturday, September 15th, 2012
The Edmonton Eskimos will try to snap a two game losing streak to their provincial rivals, the Calgary Stampeders, when they face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Ivor Wynne Stadium this afternoon (TSN, 1pm).
The Eskimos may be sitting last in the Western Division at 5-5, but with a victory can move an important six points up on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a possible opportunity to cross-over in the East come playoff time, if they cannot make up ground on the 5-5 Saskatchewan Roughriders.
This week the Eskimos and Tiger-Cats also made a trade. Edmonton acquired fullback Darcy Brown from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for defensive back Ricardo Colclough and a sixth round pick in the 2015 Canadian Football League draft.
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Tags: baltimore ravens, british columbia lions, british women's open, chris gimenez, dallas cowboys, daniel nestor, darcy brown, davis cup, detroit lions, Edmonton Eskimos, hamilton tiger-cats, inbee park, ivan nova, izak van der merwe, james shields, jiyai shin, kevin smith, lesean mccoy, marco andretti, matt stafford, michael vick, milos raonic, montreal alouettes, new york jets, New York Yankees, philadelphia eagles, pittsburgh steelers, raven klaasen, ricardo colclough, san francisco 49ers, Saskatchewan Roughriders, seattle seahawks, tampa bay rays, toronto argonauts, vasek pospisil
Posted in ATP World Tour, CFL, Indy Racing League, Ladies Professional Golfers Association, MLB, More, NFL |
Sunday, July 22nd, 2012
Helio Castroneves (Wikimedia Commons)
Canadian Alex Tagliani might have a tough time sleeping over the next while.
The Montreal driver had the lead in the Edmonton Indy late in the race, but had a slow time coming out of the pits, and gave up the lead to eventual winner Helio Castroneves of Brazil, the three-time Indianapolis 500 champion and winner at St. Petersburg, Florida earlier this year.
To make matters worse for Tagliani, he would later be passed by Japan’s Takuma Sato, Australian Will Power and American Graham Rahal before the end of the race.
Tagliani was looking for his first win since 2004 when he won a CART race in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Next year Sportsnet has the rights for the 2013 IndyCar series, and should strongly consider using its own broadcast team for the races in Toronto and Edmonton.
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Tags: alex tagliani, edmonton indy, graham rahal, helio castroneves, takuma sato, will power
Posted in Indy Racing League |
Saturday, July 21st, 2012
Dan Uggla (D.B. King, Wikimedia Commons)
One of the most remarkable comebacks in sports history happened on Friday night in Washington.
Down 9-0 after five innings, the Braves stormed back to outscore the Nationals 10-1 in the last four innings before winning 11-10 in extra innings.
Dan Uggla led the Braves attack by going three for four, scoring four runs and recording the game winning run in the eleventh inning.
With the win, the Braves improve to 51-41, and are 2.5 games back of the Nationals in the National League East. The two teams will also play a very intriguing doubleheader on Saturday (11am and 5pm on Peachtree TV).
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
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Tags: adam scott, atlanta braves, brandt snedeker, british open, bubba watson, dan uggla, edmonton indy, james hinchcliffe, keegan bradley, philadelphia phillies, ryan hunter-reay, san francisco giants, tiger woods, washington nationals, webb simpson, will power
Posted in Indy Racing League, MLB, PGA |
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012
Ryan Hunter-Reay (Wikimedia Commons)
A three game winning streak happens many times in sports, but seldom do you see a three race winning streak in IndyCar racing.
But that is where Ryan Hunter-Reay of Dallas, Texas finds himself at the present time after winning in Milwaukee, Iowa and Toronto. The Andretti Autosport rider has passed Australian Will Power into first place in the driver’s standings and has a commanding lead at the moment of 34 points.
While Americans have dominated NASCAR over the years, Americans have not shown great consistency on the track in IndyCar. Not since Jimmy Vasser in 1996 has an American won a season championship. Sure Americans won on the old IRL circuit, but I argue that you cannot give those drivers credit because the drivers in the Champ Car World Series and CART Championship Series were simply better.
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Tags: edmonton indy, jimmy vasser, ryan hunter-reay
Posted in Indy Racing League |
Friday, July 6th, 2012
The Edmonton Eskimos will look to improve on their 1-0 record when they play the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium Sunday at 5pm on TSN.
However, even though both teams got into the win column last week, I was much more impressed with Saskatchewan than Edmonton.
The Roughriders completely dominated the Tiger-Cats in recording a 43-16 victory. The Eskimos have struggled mightily over the last few years in Regina and I expect most the same this weekend.
One thing the Eskimos do have going for them right now is their overall team defense. Edmonton has a chance if they force Darian Durant to be as disorganized as Ricky Ray was last week.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching:
Saturday–Women’s Wimbledon Final–(3) Agnieszka Radwanska–POL vs. (6) Serena Williams–USA–TSN–7am–There is a possibility this tennis match may not even take place at all. Radwanska, according to the Associated Press, has a serious respiratory illness right now and was forced to cancel her press conference today because of her health condition. Williams has the 2-0 advantage head to head, including an easy 6-4, 6-0 win in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Wimbledon. With the win, Radwanska will move into the world’s number one ranking.
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Tags: agnieszka radwanska, andy murray, Calgary Stampeders, CFL, cristie kerr, Edmonton Eskimos, ian millar, james hinchcliffe, jenny chuasiriporn, jon cornish, michelle wie, nik lewis, ROGER FEDERER, ryan hunter-reay, Saskatchewan Roughriders, se ri pak, serena williams, suzann pettersen, toronto argonauts, will power, Wimbledon
Posted in ATP World Tour, CFL, Indy Racing League, Ladies Professional Golfers Association, More |
Saturday, June 23rd, 2012
We are now down to six teams at Euro 2012 in Poland and the Ukraine. Yesterday Miroslav Klose scored a key insurance goal for Germany in the 68th minute en route to a 4-2 quarterfinal win over Greece.
With the win, Germany advances to the semi-finals and will play the winner of England and Italy, who will play tomorrow (Sunday, TSN, 12:45pm).
Today, France will play Spain (TSN, 12:45pm). The French are in complete disarray after a loss to Sweden in the round robin. It is interesting that the inner turmoil in France comes after the disastrous 2010 World Cup, where expectations were very high and they simply failed to deliver.
The other sports competition I will keep an eye on this weekend is the IndyCar race tonight at the Iowa Speedway (TSN2, 7pm). James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ontario currently sits in second place in the overall standings. Indy 500 Champion Dario Franchitti has the pole.
Tags: dario franchitti, euro 2012, indycar, james hinchcliffe, miroslav klose
Posted in Indy Racing League, Soccer |
Monday, June 4th, 2012
If you tuned in like I did yesterday to watch the IndyCar race in Detroit, your initial reaction would be is how?
How could IndyCar officials allow the best open wheel drivers in the world compete on such a lousy track?
According to the Associated Press, the track was shoddy. According to me, the track was a lot worse than shoddy. When you literally have large chunks of asphalt and concrete coming off the track with ease, and pot holes and grooves easily being exposed, it is a shame the race even started in the first place.
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Tags: edmonton indy, james hinchcliffe, scott dixon
Posted in Indy Racing League |
Saturday, June 2nd, 2012
Dylan Armstrong (Wilson Wong, Wikimedia Commons)
This weekend is a big tuneup for Canadian Olympic medal hopeful Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops, British Columbia. The reigning Diamond League Champion is set to compete in the 2012 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon (Saturday, NBC, 1pm) , a major track and field event in Armstrong’s preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Armstrong will also be competing this weekend against a very deep field–reigning Olympic Gold medallist Tomasz Majewski of Poland, and Americans Ryan Whiting (World Indoor Champion), Christian Cantwell (2009 World Champion) and Reese Hoffa (2007 World Champion). Hoffa has the seasonal best throw of 21.73m.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
Saturday–ATP–French Open Tennis– Men’s Third Round–(13) Juan Monaco–ARG vs. (19) Milos Raonic–CAN–9am–TSN–For the first time in his career, Canadian Milos Raonic has advanced past the first round of the French Open. In his win Thursday, Raonic defeated American Jesse Levine 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. Levine, a native of Ottawa, has publicly stated he considers himself 100% American, making him a present day Greg Rusedski (represented Great Britain despite being born in Montreal), as a player that turned away completely from his Canadian roots. Monaco will be the slight favourite due to his experience on the clay. He has been on the ATP Tour now since 2004 and the clay is his best surface.
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Tags: boston celtics, christian cantwell, dario franchitti, dylan armstrong, french open, james hinchcliffe, jonathan quick, juan martin del potro, juan monaco, kevin garnett, los angeles kings, martin brodeur, Miami Heat, milos raonic, new jersey devils, novak djokovic, prefontaine classic, rajon rondo, resse hoffa, ROGER FEDERER, ryan whiting, tomas berdych, tomasz majewski, will power
Posted in Amateur Sports, ATP World Tour, Indy Racing League, More, NBA, NHL |
Sunday, May 27th, 2012
Ashley Judd (Wikimedia Commons)
Dario Franchitti of Great Britain is now the history books.
On Sunday, Franchitti won his third Indianapolis 500, joining Helio Castroneves of Brazil, as the only race car drivers born outside the United States to have won the world’s most significant auto race thrice.
Three drivers have had the opportunity to drink milk in the winner’s circle four times– Al Unser, A.J. Foyt and Rick Mears.
But on Sunday it was Franchitti’s time to go into the spotlight. The Target Chip Ganassi rider started 16th, but was able to make up the time. New Zealand’s Scott Dixon finished second. Both Franchitti and Dixon dominated the second half of the race.
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Tags: a.j. foyt, al unser, ashley judd, dario franchitti, helio castroneves, indianapolis 500, rick mears, scott dixon
Posted in Indy Racing League |
Saturday, May 26th, 2012
James Hinchcliffe (Wikimedia Commons)
The 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 runs this weekend (Sunday, ABC, 9am) with Australian Ryan Briscoe on the pole.
But the big news for Canadian sports fans is who will be driving second. James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ontario will be starting in the second position for Andretti Autosport. Meanwhile Alex Tagliani of Montreal will be riding 11th.
Not at the 2012 Indianapolis 500 are the defending champion, Dan Wheldon, who died at a race in Las Vegas and Danica Patrick who is in NASCAR.
However there are three ladies in the race. Brazilian Ana Beatriz is driving in the 13th position, England’s Katherine Legge is 30th and Switzerland’s Simona de Silvestro is 32nd.
Australian Will Power who leads the IndyCar point standings so far this season will start fifth.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
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Tags: albert montanes, alex tagliani, ana beatriz, boston celtics, brandon gormley, dan wheldon, french open, indianapolis 500, james hinchcliffe, juan martin del potro, katherine legge, loik poudrier, london knights, michael chaput, philadelphia 76ers, ryan briscoe, shawinigan cataractes, simona de silvestro, texas rangers, toronto blue jays, will power
Posted in Amateur Sports, ATP World Tour, Indy Racing League, MLB, More, NBA |
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