It’s the month of May and ‘homecoming’ for the IndyCars. #TrackTalk previews the IndyCar Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Can Will Power repeat? In 2018 the ‘month of May’ turned out to be the month of Will Power. Since the IndyCar Grand Prix inception, no driver has managed to win both the Grand Prix and the Indy 500. Power changed that by sweeping both races. He’s off to a strong start to 2019, but is yet to win a race. Can he find the same magic as last year?
Can Colton Herta bounce back? And speaking of sweeping the month of May, IndyCar racing’s newest (and youngest) winner, Colton Herta, completed the Indy Light’s sweep in 2018, winning both races on the road course along with the Freedom 100. Herta’s been fast at every track; can he bring home his second win this weekend?
Bet heavily on a Penske: Four of the five IndyCar Grand Pix have been won by Penske drivers. And of those five races, only Will Power (3) and Simon Pagenaud (2) have won. The smart money is on Will Power to take his 4th win, but I wouldn’t count out current series point’s leader Josef Newgarden. And if that isn’t enough, Helio Castroneves returns to a Team Penske IndyCar as a warmup for the Indy 500.
TrackTalk’s pick to win the IndyCar Grand Prix: We’re putting our money on a Penske. We think either Newgarden or Power will take the checkered flag.
New colors for Sebastien Bourdais: Geico Insurance is back at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the title sponsor of Sebastien Bourdais’ Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan car. Can this new paint job bring a little luck? Geico graced Tony Kanan’s winning Indy 500 entry. They’re no strangers to success at the Brickyard.
Patricio O’Ward joins the Red Bull Junior Team: What a whirlwind year it has been for IndyCar rookie, Patricio O’Ward. A strong showing in his debut at the 2018 finale at Sonoma, signing a fulltime contract with Harding Steinbrenner for 2019 only to part ways before the beginning of the season, and then signing an 11th hour part time deal with Carlin Racing. You can now add member of the illustrious Red Bull Junior team to his resume. What does this mean? That remains to be seen, but when you’re part of the same program that brought along Formula One drivers like Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel, one has to imagine that a Formula One test is in O’Ward’s future. Will we also see Red Bull logos on his car at Indy? Full article from Racer.com can be found here.
Victor Genova is a freelance motorsports writer and the host & founder of the Media People Podcast. You can follow him on Instagram @vicgenova
