More Front Wing

On this week’s More Front Wing podcast, we’re joined by Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon as he takes a close look at the pit lane safety violation penalty he drew in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Dixon tells us that his views on the incident haven’t changed in light of the new evidence that’s emerged since the weekend, and he also spoke about the lack of clarity and consistency from IndyCar race control that he and teammate Dario Franchitti have been quite vocal about.

In addition, More Front Wing Co-editors Paul Dalbey and Steph Wallcraft review many other aspects of Sunday’s action-packed race, including what it might mean for Verizon Team Penske’s Will Power now that he’s finally put a notch in the win column in 2013, the stand-out performances throughout the remainder of the grid, IndyCar’s problem with its unwillingness to allow drama to develop, the interesting tale of the Firestone tires, and much more. We also look ahead to the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT and talk about the changes in the entry list and make our picks for who may be the one to eventually come away the victor.

To listen, use the player below or search for More Front Wing on iTunes.

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On this week’s More Front Wing podcast, we welcome JR Hildebrand for the first time, who is preparing to pilot the No. 98 Barracuda Racing machine in this weekend’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. The race at Sonoma Raceway will be Hildebrand’s first since Indianapolis, and we discussed several aspects of his transition through the process of losing his ride to getting a new shot, including his opinions on how things transpired with Panther Racing, whether he considered giving up racing for academia, and how a return to IndyCar was the singular focus of his racing career. He also talked about watching some of the drivers he raced against in the junior formula claim their first IndyCar wins this season and what that means to him as he looks to continue his career as an IndyCar driver.

In addition, Paul and Steph review the current status of 2014 schedule rumors, take a look at who’s in which seat for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, and make some predictions heading into the weekend.

To listen, use the player below or search for More Front Wing on iTunes.

On this week’s More Front Wing podcast, Josef Newgarden of Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing joins us to talk about his sophomore season in the IZOD IndyCar Series thus far, where the team has found success and where there’s room to improve. We reviewed in detail his performances at two of his stand-out events this year, Brazil and Pocono, and he told us about how the team could capitalize on the upcoming weekend at Sonoma Raceway with the resources of a teammate — ALMS champion Lucas Luhr — in their corner.

We’re also joined by the 2013 Pro Mazda champion, Andretti Autosport’s Matthew Brabham, who took a look back at a spectacular season at what went right and what could have (but largely didn’t) go wrong. He discussed how working with a team that operates on every level of the Road to Indy gives everyone at the organization an advantage over the competition, and he also let us in on the role his family plays in his career and how they helped him keep his eyes on the Pro Mazda prize.

Finally, Paul and Steph take a look at what we learned about the August 13th open test at Sonoma Raceway and analyze some of the ongoing rumors in the IndyCar silly season.

To listen, use the player below or search for More Front Wing on iTunes.

On this week’s More Front Wing podcast, we’re very pleased to welcome Luca Filippi, who drove his first IZOD IndyCar Series race this past weekend for Bryan Herta Autosport at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Filippi shared with us his thoughts on spending his first few working days in the IndyCar paddock with the Barracuda Racing team, what the similarities and differences are between driving an IndyCar and the GP2 cars he’s more familiar with in Europe, the mentality of a young driver replacing deposed veteran Alex Tagliani, and much more.

Paul and Steph also reflect on Charlie Kimball’s first IZOD IndyCar Series win and look more closely at a number of the other talking points coming out of Mid-Ohio such as the immense teamwork demonstrated at Chip Ganassi Racing, the two-stop versus three-stop decision and the impact that adjusting the length of the race had on the outcome, the close engine manufacturer championship battle, and much more.

To listen, use the player below or search for More Front Wing on iTunes.

On this week’s More Front Wing podcast, we start things off with an in-depth chat with the driver of the #83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing machine, Charlie Kimball. Kimball recounted his team’s early season struggles and more recent resurgence from a behind-the-scenes perspective, and he also shared some other details of the inner workings of one of IndyCar’s most successful organizations. He also discussed his thoughts on the double-header weekends, standing starts, and what he thinks it’s going to take to make that one final step up to the top of an IZOD IndyCar Series podium. (The blog we discuss at the end of the interview, by the way, is charliekimball.blogspot.com.)

Following that, Paul and Steph are joined by a surprise guest (even to us!) from NBC Sports Motorsports Talk, long-time friend of the podcast Tony DiZinno. The three of us examined the time sheets from Wednesday’s open test at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and extrapolated those into a preview of the upcoming race weekend there — which, of course, included a three-ways-to-Sunday analysis of exactly how likely it is that Scott Dixon will repeat. We also looked at some of the other major headlines in the Series at the moment such as Lucas Luhr joining Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing for Sonoma, Kurt Busch looking to join the grid for Fontana, the current status of engine use by all entrants and how the rules around engine changes may impact the championship end game, and much more.

To listen, use the player below or search for More Front Wing on iTunes.