helio castroneves « Edmonton Sports Blog

Posts Tagged ‘helio castroneves’

Could this be a breakout year for Hinchcliffe?

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 |

Helio Castroneves wins the 2012 Edmonton Indy

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 |

Franchitti wins third Indianapolis 500

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 |

Power wins Edmonton Indy

Sunday, July 24th, 2011

Will Power (Wikimedia Commons)

Australian Will Power is the 2011 Edmonton Indy champion.

Power, who was second on the pole, passed Japan’s Takuma Sato early in the race and held on for the lead convincingly throughout the rest of the competition.

It was an excellent day for team owner Roger Penske as Power finished first and his teammate Helio Castroneves of Brazil finished second.

Overall, the Edmonton Indy was significantly cleaner than the Toronto Indy, where there were less crashes. But I felt from a fan perspective, it wasn’t all that exciting near the top of the leaderboard. When Castroneves moved his way to second place, he didn’t make a strong attempt to catch Power, basically because they were teammates.

As for Danica Patrick, it was an excellent day for her as she moved her way up to ninth from starting 22nd on the grid. There has been a lot of speculation that Patrick might be moving to NASCAR next season, but she made an attempt to dismiss those rumors while in Edmonton.

As for the Canadians, it was a disappointing day for Paul Tracy of Scarborough, Ontario, who was in a crash with Sebastian Saavedra very early on. James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ontario was 15th and Alex Tagliani of Montreal was 17th.

Tags: danica patrick, edmonton indy, helio castroneves, roger penske, will power
Posted in Indy Racing League |

Weekend Sports Preview–July 23-24–Edmonton Indy, RBC Canadian Golf Open, Stamps & Esks, MLB, Senior British Golf Open

Saturday, July 23rd, 2011

Tony Kanaan (Wikimedia Commons)

Over the last two years, some of the most interesting IndyCar races have happened in Edmonton. Two years ago, Brazilian Tony Kanaan suffered first and second degree burns to his body when a splash of fuel got into his cockpit and ignited him and his car.

Then last year, Brazilian Helio Castroneves, who was the leader after 92 laps, was black flagged for blocking on the restart and finished tenth. The eventual winner was New Zealand’s Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner.

Fast forward to 2011, where Dario Franchitti of Scotland has been the driver so far on the IndyCar circuit. He won two weeks ago in Toronto, and has also won in St. Petersburg, Florida and Milwaukee. He leads Australian Will Power by 55 points.

Organizers have changed the layout of the 2011 Edmonton Indy, giving competitors more opportunities to pass.

The race starts Sunday at 12:45pm on TSN.

Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:

Saturday & Sunday–10am–Senior British Open–TSN–I wasn’t go to watch this, but now I will. Rod Spittle of St. Catharines, Ontario is the co-leader with Americans Mark Calcavecchia and Lee Rinker. Spittle shot a -5 on Friday to tie for the lead at -7. The emergence of Spittle, 56 years of age, is remarkable because he never played on the PGA Tour. He won the Canadian Amateur in 1977 and 1978, but decided to sell insurance instead of turning professional. Now he is one of the world’s top senior golfers.

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Tags: adam hadwin, anthony calvillo, arizona diamondbacks, arkee whitlock, atlanta braves, british senior open, Calgary Stampeders, calvin mccarty, chad campbell, daniel porter, dario franchitti, david hearn, Edmonton Eskimos, edmonton indy, helio castroneves, jamel richardson, jerome messam, john axford, kavis reed, kyle kendrick, lee janzen, lee rinker, madison bumgarner, mark calcavecchia, mat latos, michael thompson, milwaukee brewers, montreal alouettes, paul goydos, philadelphia phillies, pittsburgh pirates, prince fielder, rbc canadian open, Ricky Ray, rod spittle, ryan braun, san diego padres, san francisco giants, Saskatchewan Roughriders, scott dixon, st. louis cardinals, tony kanaan, will power
Posted in CFL, Home, Indy Racing League, MLB, PGA |

Greatest Indianapolis 500 memories

Saturday, May 28th, 2011

Scott Goodyear (Bing Images)

Before I write this blog, I would like to let all my readers know I am not a huge auto racing fan. I rarely watch NASCAR and have not really got into Formula One since Jacques Villeneuve of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec won the Formula One Championship in 1997.

That said, there is something special about the Indianapolis 500, and a reason I have watched the race since 1991.

I have not watched the Indianapolis 500 every year since then however. When Tony George formed the Indy Racing League in 1994, and CART drivers, including Paul Tracy, (a good friend of Prospect Magazine) decided to boycott the race starting in 1996, I stopped watching it too. Tracy did compete in 2002, and I was glad to watch then.

But over time, some of my greatest auto racing memories have come watching the Indianapolis 500.

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Tags: al unser jr., alex tagliani, barry green, helio castroneves, indianapolis 500, jacques villeneuve, paul tracy, sam schmidt, scott goodyear
Posted in Home |