JT – Indycar’s 2022 season ended over three months ago with Will Power capturing his second championship title at Laguna Seca. Scott Dixon finished 3rd in the standings, 39 points behind Power and 23 points adrift of Power’s Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden. With time to reflect, how does Scott view his 2022 season? SJ – Last season, I think he had mixed feelings about it. Obviously, the Indy 500 was devastating. (Dixon pitted on lap 175 after leading much of the race but a pit lane speeding penalty dropped him to the rear of the field, and he finished 21st.) Had he won Indy ..read more

JT – The 2022 Formula 1 and Indy Car seasons had yet to get underway when we last chatted for the blog. Four grand prix have now been raced in F1 as well as the first four races on the Indy Car calendar. Beginning with F1, the first races seem to have confirmed that cars can follow each other more closely. That has arguably made the racing a bit better although many would observe that any time there’s a new rules package as there is for 2022, the status quo is disturbed and the racing is more interesting for a period of time. Nevertheless, there does seem to have been some more passing, albeit ..read more

JT – Recently, the FIA replaced Michael Masi as F1 Race Director. His position became untenable following his decisions at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Eduardo Freitas, the long-time WEC/ELMS race director and Niels Wittich, DTM’s race director, will team to direct F1 races this season, alternating according to their schedules. What do you think of the move? SJ – I’m glad they did it. There seems to be mixed feelings in the F1 paddock, but I have the feeling that comes down more to what personal relationship some people had with him, rather than looking objectively at the job he did ..read more

JT – The season finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was set to be a battle between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for the championship.  Max Verstappen ended up winning the world title on the last lap of the race, overtaking Hamilton in the wake of a safety car to win the grand prix. On lap 53, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crashed bringing out the safety car. Hamilton stayed out without pitting, while Verstappen pitted behind him for a fresh set of soft tires. Following Verstappen's pit stop, he remained in second place with five lapped cars - Lando Norris, Fernando Alon ..read more

JT – It’s been a couple months since our last blog. Since then, racing has concluded for most international championships including Indycar where Scott Dixon’s Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palou won a hard fought battle for the title. Formula 1 continues apace with just two grand prix remaining. The championship battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton is still intense with Hamilton having cut Verstappen’s lead to 8 points after his wins in Brazil and Qatar. What’s your take on the last two Grand Prix’s and the season-long competition between the two drivers? SJ – Mercedes definitely ..read more

Photo: Planet F1 JT – The recent Belgian GP has been the subject of lots of controversy. Formula 1 officials decided to bring the race to a close after just two laps behind a safety car and hours of delay due to rain and low visibility created by the cars circulating at Spa. Nevertheless, they declared it an official race and awarded points to the drivers who, with no opportunity to gain or lose positions under the safety car, finished in the order they had qualified in the day before. That resulted in Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen taking the win with Williams’ George Russell finishing sec ..read more

Image: F1   JT – A couple months have passed since our last blog. The competition in Indycar in particular has been fierce and there has been renewed rivalry at the front of the F1 grid between Mercedes GP and Red Bull Racing. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finally has a consistent challenger. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has won five grand prix to Hamilton’s four with four wins in the last five races. By mid-July he had a healthy lead in the championship due to his driving, and the much-improved performance of the Honda-powered Red Bull and strategy miscues by Hamilton and Mercedes. You said ..read more

SJ Blog #111   JT – The 2021 racing season is now fully underway with all the major championships having at least one race under their belt. Indy Car began its season at Barber Motorsports Park and has logged four different winners in four races so far. At Barber Scott’s new teammate at Ganassi Racing, Alex Palou, made a strong debut, winning the race with Penske’s Will Power finishing 2nd and Dixon 3rd. Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta dominated the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, leading 97 of the 100 laps, taking the checkered flag ahead of Penske teammates Josef Newgarden and Simon Pag ..read more

               Photo: CNN.com  JT – 2020 proved to be a difficult year for global racing, with the pandemic exposing the sport to the same risks that hobbled nearly every aspect of life. But on the bright side most series in the U.S. and Europe were able to squeeze in a mostly full season of racing through the second half of the year with the exception of some series in Asia. Formula 1 managed to pull off a 17-race season. Lewis Hamilton took the drivers’ championship while Mercedes GP captured the manufacturer’s championship yet again. On track it ..read more

  Scott Dixon scored his 6th Indy Car championship title late last month, finishing 3rd at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg behind championship rival Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden who won the race and McLaren’s Pato O’Ward who finished second. It was a difficult race for Scott who had to gain ground on a slippery track after qualifying in 11th and keep pace with Newgarden who started 8th. There was quite a bit of action throughout the race with Scott having to dodge numerous crashes that occurred around him and use his judgment to know when to pass and when to avoid trouble. But as usual ..read more