Aaron Telitz got a call he wasn’t expecting this week. But he’s glad he answered it.
Verizon IndyCar Series team owner Sam Schmidt called the two-time Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race winner with an opportunity to test a Verizon IndyCar Series car, and the Birchwood, Wisconsin native jumped at the chance.
“Obviously, this is an awesome opportunity for me, to get in an Indy car – especially coming off a rough start to the year at St. Pete, where I had speed without having results,” said Telitz, who will share the No. 5 Arrow Electronics SPM Honda with James Hinchcliffe on Friday on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course.
“It was a good bit of news to find out I’d be getting into an Indy car for the first time.”
Though Friday’s test is a Honda manufacturer day, Telitz’ chance with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports comes courtesy an INDYCAR program that grants Verizon IndyCar Series teams an extra test day if a current Indy Lights driver drives for half the day.
“Honestly, I haven’t quite wrapped my head around it,” he said. “I’m trying to stay as neutral as I can and consider it just another race car. Yes, it’s the car you’ve been dreaming about your entire life but at the end of the day, as a race car driver your job is to get into a car and do the best you can, so that’s what I’ll be focusing on this Friday.”
As for working with Hinchcliffe, Telitz hopes to contribute just enough to help the team achieve its goal of winning the series championship while raising his profile in the Verizon IndyCar Series paddock.
“It will be fun to drive Hinch’s car and I’m sure he’ll be a great help in getting me comfortable,” he said. “Hopefully we can have a productive test and help make the car faster for those guys for the rest of the year.”
Indy car champion Stewart elected to rebranded Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame
1996-97 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Tony Stewart was one of two NASCAR champion with Central Indiana ties elected to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame.
Stewart and five-time Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon were chosen from a ballot of 14 nominees by a panel of auto racing journalists, participants and historians.
Stewart, a Columbus, Indiana, resident who was a popular throwback to drivers from the 1950s and 60s, was a winner in every form of motorsports he attempted. Stewart was a standout driver in USAC, winning the national Midget series championship in 1994, and the Triple Crown (Silver Crown, Sprint Car, Midget) in 1995. He won three IndyCar events and the 1996-97 series championship. After taking his talents to NASCAR, Stewart won 49 races in the sanctioning body’s top series and three series championships.
Gordon, who attended Tri-West High School in Pittsboro, Indiana, won 93 races in NASCAR’s top series, including the Daytona 500 three times. He won the NASCAR series championship four times following a stellar career in USAC open-wheel racing where he was the 1990 national Midget series champion and 1991 Silver Crown titlist. The versatile driver added an overall win in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona to his stellar resume in 2017 and drove the Pace Car before the 2015 Indianapolis 500.
“We are thrilled that the first class of inductees with our new name and election criteria honor two drivers who mean so much to fans in Central Indiana and around the world,” said Tony George, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foundation.
Banc of California teams with Long Beach Unified to bring students to Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Approximately 100 high school students from the Long Beach Unified School District will get an up-close look at auto racing when they visit the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13.
The selected students - from Cabrillo, Jordan, Long Beach Poly, McBride, Millikan, Sato and Avalon high schools - are studying engineering, green power and business at their respective schools.
“Long Beach Unified is excited to be partnering with the Grand Prix Association and Banc of California in providing our students a work-based learning experience where students can see, feel, hear and learn about the skills and knowledge needed to build and maintain high-tech racecars,” said Peter Davis, assistant superintendent of high schools, LBUSD. “The students also learn about the variety of businesses and services needed to create an event like the Grand Prix. We value these experiences for our students because it opens the students’ eyes to the wide variety of occupations that are needed for building, maintaining and racing race cars. This experience will spark new interest and broaden the horizons of what professional opportunities are available to them after high school.”
The students will tour race paddocks at the Grand Prix, where race teams prepare their cars for the racetrack, as well as pit lane, the Lifestyle Expo and have a chance to watch the cars run on the track. They will also receive lunch and the opportunity to hear a number of guest speakers from the racing community, courtesy of Banc of California.
Racing champs Andretti, Sato join cast of ‘Mickey and the Roadster Racers’
Indianapolis 500 winners Takuma Sato and Mario Andretti will be teaming up with Mickey Mouse and friends when the second season of “Mickey and the Roadster Racers” debuts next month on Disney Jr.
Andretti, the racing icon who still drives the INDYCAR Experience 2-seater at events, will voice Mario Mousedretti, Mickey Mouse’s racing teammate.
Sato, Danica Patrick, Ana Beatriz and Pippa Mann will also appear as international race car drivers who serve as teammates to Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and others in the star-studded episode which debuts on Disney Channel. at 9:30 a.m., EDT/PDT on April 13.
Of note
Indy car champions Emerson Fittipaldi, Bobby Rahal, Jimmy Vasser and Bobby Rahal are among the drivers who will attend a reunion of racers who competed in Mario Andretti’s final Indy car win at April’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway. Other drivers slated to attend are Paul Tracy and Arie Luyendyk…Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire veteran Dalton Kellett will put his knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math to the test as a judge in the 30th Annual Hoosier Science and Engineering Fair this weekend in Indianapolis. Kellett, who races for Andretti Autosport, has an engineering degree from Queens University in Canada. He will be one of several judges critiquing the top high-school level science projects in categories such as Biology, Environmental and Engineering… Stefan Wilson confirmed an expansion in his partnership with Hull & Knarr LLP, a Greenwood, Indiana-based research and development tax credit firm. The firm will sponsor the No. 25 #Driven2SaveLives Andretti Autosport Honda during the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500. The sponsorship is the culmination of two years work on several engineering-based and business-development projects.