2015 Verizon IndyCar Team-By-Team Preview: Team Penske

Fresh off their first title in eight years, Team Penske looks to win back-to-back title for the first time since 2000-01. Will Power will carry the #1 on his Verizon Chevrolet as he defends his title. Juan Pablo Montoya returns for his second season with the team. Hélio Castroneves is on the brink of making history in his 18th season in IndyCar and 16th with The Captain. Joining the three-headed monster from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports is Simon Pagenaud as the Frenchman is in search of silverware of his own.

2014 Team Penske Review:
Wins: 5 (St. Petersburg, Belle Isle 1 & 2, Pocono, Milwaukee).
Poles: 8 (Barber, Belle Isle 1, Texas, Houston 2, Pocono, Milwaukee, Sonoma, Fontana).
Final Championship Position: 1st (Will Power), 2nd (Helio Castroneves), 4th (Juan Pablo Montoya), 5th (Simon Pagenaud).

2015 Drivers:

Will Power
The Australian finally broke through in 2014. While three victories are below average for Power, he completed all but one of the 2,395 laps run in 2014. Power led IndyCar in 2014 in victories (3, tied with Hunter-Reay for most), podiums (7), top tens (15), poles (4), Fast Six appearances (6, tied with Hunter-Reay for most), races led (11), laps led (623) and average finish (6.44). In the categories Power did lead he was at the top of as he was tied for the second most top fives (8. Scott Dixon had 11), had two fastest laps only one behind Pagenaud, Castroneves and Josef Newgarden for the lead and was second in average start (7.64. Castroneves was 6.05).

Numbers to Remember: 4921. Amount of days between Team Penske's last victory with car #1 and St. Petersburg. That victory came on October 7, 2001 at Houston with Gil de Ferran.

16. Power is currently tied for 16th on the all-time IndyCar win list with Ted Horn and Bobby Rahal at 24 career victories.

4. Since being a full-time Penske driver in 2010, Power averages four victories a season.

Predictions/Goals: Everybody believes the floodgates have opened now that Power got his first title. On sheer talent, Power will be a championship contender once again but it will all come down to the difference in aero kits. If Honda comes out and scorches Chevrolet, it could be a long title defense for Power. If Chevrolet continues their dominance of Honda, you can pretty much pencil Power in for being in contention when the series gets to Sonoma. Winning an Indianapolis 500 will put Power in Roger Penske's good graces for eternity and I bet that is on top of Power's list of things to do in 2015 now that he has a title.

Hélio Castroneves
For the second consecutive season, Castroneves finished runner-up in the IndyCar championship and he did it with only one victory to his name. Consistency has kept Castroneves in the fight the last three seasons as he has 38 top tens in the 52 races in the DW12-era. However, since 2012 Castroneves has only 13 podiums compared to Ryan Hunter-Reay's 18, Power's 17 and Scott Dixon's 16 in the same time period. He won at Belle Isle and was within 0.060 seconds of his fourth Indianapolis 500 victory.

Numbers to Remember: 5. Hélio Castroneves is five starts away from his 300th career IndyCar start. He would become the seventh IndyCar driver to reach the 300-start milestone joining Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Jr., Al Unser, Michael Andretti and Johnny Rutherford. The Grand Prix of Indianapolis is tentatively set to be Castroneves' 300th IndyCar start.

1.7. Average amount of victories per season for Castroneves.

5. Castroneves ended 2014 with five consecutive finishes outside the top ten after entering the final five races as the championship leader. This is Castroneves' longest stretch of race with out a top ten since 1999-2000 when he finished the final four races of 1999 (Laguna Seca, Houston, Surfers Paradise, Fontana) and 2000 season opener (Homestead) outside the top ten. Twice has Castroneves gone longer than five races between top tens. In 1999, Castroneves had a slump of six races finishing outside the top ten (Milwaukee, Portland, Cleveland, Road America, Toronto and Michigan) and in his rookie season back in 1998, the Brazilian had seven consecutive finishes outside the ten (Michigan, Mid-Ohio, Road America, Vancouver, Laguna Seca, Houston and Surfers Paradise).

Predictions/Goals: This is a defining season for Castroneves. He has been in championship contention the last two seasons by doing the bare minimum. With another teammate, resources will be spread just a little thinner. The last time a driver won an IndyCar title with only one victory or fewer was the inaugural IRL season when Buzz Calkins and Scott Sharp were co-champions. Calkins had one victory and Sharp went winless that year. Expect Castroneves to take a step back in 2015 as Castroneves is set to turn forty on May 10th.

Juan Pablo Montoya
After almost 14 years away from IndyCar, Juan Pablo Montoya returned and it felt as if he Colombian never left. He did struggle on road and street courses at the start but was the best on ovals with a victory from pole position at Pocono be the highlight to his season. He was one of the best drivers on fuel mileage in 2014 and it nearly paid off at the Indianapolis 500 only to have a pit lane speeding penalty end his chance to go 2-for-2 in his Indianapolis 500 starts.

Numbers to Remember: 13.8. Montoya's average finish on street courses. That is improved from 15.5 when he started the 2014 season.

342. Amount of points Montoya scored on ovals in 2014, the most of any driver.

244. Amount of points Montoya scored on road/street courses in 2014, 12th most.

Predictions/Goals: Road and street courses are one area the Colombian clearly has to improve on if he hopes to win the title. He has ovals down pat and should be a contender in all six on the 2015 schedule. While, Montoya should have a fair amount of success and score at least one victory, he won't be in contention for the championship. He should be on the fringe of the top five of the championship.

Simon Pagenaud
After three seasons with Schmidt Peterson and Honda, Simon Pagenaud has jumped ship to Penske and Chevrolet. Since returning to IndyCar in 2012, the Frenchman has finished in the top five of the championship each season. He has also won two races the last two seasons and he scored his first career pole at Houston 1 last year. Pagenaud was the top finishing Honda driver in 2014. This is the second consecutive year in which Honda has lost their top-finishing driver in the championship from the year before. In 2014, Honda lost Scott Dixon to Chevrolet after they won the title in 2013.

Numbers to Remember: 17,444. The amount of days between the last IndyCar victory for car #22 and St. Petersburg. The last victory for the #22 was Wes Vandervoort on June 25, 1967 at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. It was the only victory of Vandervoort's IndyCar career.

6. Total victories for the #22 in IndyCar with six different drivers.

0. Amount of times Pagenaud has scored consecutive podiums in IndyCar.

Predictions/Goals: Just like Castroneves, this is a defining season for Pagenaud. After running so well for Schmidt Peterson, a team in terms of funding and resources far behind the likes of Penske and Ganassi, Pagenaud now has all he needs to make that next step and win a championship. There are no excuses as to why he shouldn't win a title. Pagenaud has eight top tens in 17 ovals starts but that is one area in which he will need to improve if he hopes to dethrone Power. His should be in the thick all the way to Sonoma.

The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series seasons gets underway on Sunday March 29th. ABC's coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 3:30 p.m. ET.

2015 Verizon IndyCar Team-By-Team Preview: CFH Racing

IndyCar's two little-teams-that-could have merged into a potential spoiler in the 2015 season. Ed Carpenter Racing and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing have combined their resources and will now fly under the flag of CFH Racing. The two car team will run Chevrolet power and will see a familiar face around IndyCar get an extended stay in the series that he has long been waiting for.

2014 Ed Carpenter Racing Review:
Wins: 3
Poles: 1 (Indianapolis).
Final Championship Position: 8th (The #20 in the Entrant champion). 22nd (Ed Carpenter). 23rd (Mike Conway). 26th (J.R. Hildebrand).

2014 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Review:
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 2nd (Iowa).
Poles: 0
Best Start: 2nd (Texas, Mid-Ohio, Sonoma).
Final Championship Position: 13th (Josef Newgarden). 31st (Alex Tagliani).

2015 Drivers:

Josef Newgarden
The Tennessean finished a career best 13th in the championship and finished the season with three consecutive top ten finishes. He had a rough stretch in May and June but he and SFHR made their own success, working pit strategy into their favor at Pocono where they finished eighth and taking tires under the final caution at Iowa, which led to a charge from the back of the top ten to second in the final nine laps. He would make his own success again at Milwaukee, after going a lap down when taking his final pit stop, Newgarden charged from 12th to fifth and unlapping himself in the process in the final dozen laps.

Numbers to Remember: 25. As in 25 drivers who took more than 51 starts to get their first career victory.

51. Josef Newgarden has made 51 career IndyCar starts. St. Petersburg will make his 52nd career start.

67. Amount of career starts Newgarden should have if he qualifies for all 16 races in 2015.

14. Amount of drivers who took more than 67 career starts to get their first career victory.

10.588. Newgarden's average starting position in 2014.

17.526. Newgarden's average starting position in 2015.

Prediction/Goals: Newgarden has to win a race in 2015 as he enters his fourth season. He has had plenty of track time at each track and based off last year, he now has an advantage with the Chevrolet engine. The aero kits could negate the advantage in engine but that still remains to be seen. The merger with Ed Carpenter Racing should only help in his quest for his first career victory. I think Newgarden will breakthrough for that first career victory and will be a contender for a top ten finish in the championship.

Ed Carpenter
Ed Carpenter's first season of running only the ovals paid off. Second consecutive pole position for the Indianapolis 500, victory at Texas, two podiums, three top fives and four top tens. He finished ten points ahead of Mike Conway, who made 12 starts in the #20 Fuzzy Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet in 2014. He finished 29 points behind Sebastián Saavedra who started every race in 2014.

Numbers to Remember: 8.333. Carpenter's average start in 2014.

9.666. Carpenter's average finish in 2014.

122. Carpenter led 122 laps in 2014, sixth most in IndyCar.

98.1. Carpenter completed 98.1% of a possible 1448 laps across the six oval races in 2014.

Predictions/Goals: Carpenter's goal should be convincing Pocono, Fontana, Texas, Milwaukee and Iowa to stay on the schedule for a long, long time and his next goal should be to convince IndyCar to work out deals with Phoenix, Michigan and Richmond so he can add more races to his schedule. As for on-track, Carpenter should aim for six top tens in six oval race and of course should be aiming for victory at the Indianapolis 500. Carpenter definitely can win a race but with so few chances it would not be surprising if he doesn't get a victory in 2015. He will definitely be in contention in a few races though.

Luca Filippi
Mike Conway has moved on to become a full-time driver in Toyota's FIA World Endurance Championship program and this has opened the door for Luca Filippi to finally get his much awaited substantial IndyCar program. The Italian has made eight IndyCar starts, four with Bryan Herta Autosport in 2013 after Alex Tagliani was fired and four with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing last year at the Houston and Toronto doubleheaders. His best finish is tenth at Houston 1 in 2013.

Numbers to Remember: 12.91. Mike Conway's average finish in 2014.

7.66. Luca Filippi's average start in his four starts last year.

4914. Amount of days between the last IndyCar victory for an Italian and St. Petersburg. The last Italian victory was Max Papis at Laguna Seca on October 14, 2001.

310. There have been 310 IndyCar races since Papis' Laguna Seca victory.

1. Mike Conway made one Firestone Fast Six appearance in 2014 (Belle Isle). Luca Filippi made one Firestone Fast Six appearance in 2014 (Houston).

Prediction/Goals: Filippi has the talent to win in IndyCar and having an extended time with one team and engineers should benefit the Italian. Having a teammate will also play into Filippi's favor. Filippi will get a few top fives and will make a few appearances in the Firestone Fast Six. Conway scored 252 (38.8%) of a maximum 648 points last year. Filippi's goal should be to score at least 40% of the maximum points, which would be 236 of 590.

The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series seasons gets underway on Sunday March 29th. ABC's coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Musings From the Weekend: Color Wheel

From traveling to having family visit, I did not get to sit and watch as much motorsports as I was hoping to this weekend but I still got to see Supercross and half of Pirelli World Challenge opening weekend from Circuit of the Americas. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

Color Wheel
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. got me thinking about this. The two-time Daytona 500 winner tweeted a photo of his father after he tried on a firesuit from his father's rookie season in NASCAR.

Tried on daddy's 1979 rookie firesuit a while back. Smelled every bit of 36 years old. 🙊🙊#whoworeitbetter #DaleSr pic.twitter.com/7oG65dbLAI
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) March 2, 2015

The firesuit didn't catch my eye, the car did. That paint scheme is beautiful. Sky blue base, yellow on top. Why can't today's paint schemes look as good as they once did?

At the end of last June, I wrote about how IndyCar teams should be know by their liveries the same way soccer clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern München are known by their kit or NFL teams such as the Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers or Dallas Cowboys by their jerseys. Team shouldn't be changing for sponsors. Manchester United is a red club. They didn't change their primary color to yellow when Chevrolet took over as shirt sponsor. Chevrolet knew what they were getting themselves into and after all, Manchester United is one of the most recognizable sports teams in the world.

No IndyCar team or driver is nearly as recognizable as Manchester United is and they never can be if teams keep switching liveries every week. How many different liveries did Tony Kanaan run in 2015? What about Simon Pagenaud? A fan needs to be able to turn on a race and know by color which driver is which. Let's go back to Dale Earnhardt. He was the man in black with the silver stripe on the bottom. Richard Petty and his family were known for Petty blue. IndyCar needs the same with their teams.

Each team should have a primary base color. Over the weekend I was thinking Penske could be the "black team," Ganassi could be red, Andretti could be yellow, CFH could be green, Schmidt Peterson orange, Foyt white, Rahal Letterman Lanigan blue and so on. For teams with multiple cars, you would then have a secondary color to distinguish who is who. If Penske is the "black team" then Will Power could have white be his distinguishing color, Hélio Castroneves could have yellow, Juan Pablo Montoya red and Simon Pagenaud blue. If Ganassi is the "red team," Scott Dixon's car could be red and white, Tony Kanaan red and blue, Charlie Kimball red and orange and Sage Karam red and black. Solid colors could still be allowed. Andretti could have Ryan Hunter-Reay in an all yellow car, Marco Andretti car could yellow and blue, Carlos Muñoz yellow and red and the fourth car for a yet-to-be-named driver could be yellow and white. The distinguishing color could be based on the sponsorship on the car while keeping the primary color as a way for fans to recognize which team each driver belongs to.

Primary, non-changing team colors could allow teams to stand out. KV could become the "purple team," Dale Coyne Racing could be the "teal team" and Bryan Herta Autosport could be the "magenta team." The teams could bring back all the wild and wacky colors from the days of IROC. Anything that will help the teams stand out. If IndyCar ever gets new teams then teams could have the same colors but just be more specific. Rahal Letterman Lanigan can still be the "blue team" but a team joining IndyCar could become the "sky blue team" or the "navy blue team." CFH can still be the "green team" but another team could be the "British Racing Green team" or "pine green team."

Alternate liveries would still be allowed but limited compared to the current situation to make them as special as they once were. In NASCAR, it was cool every now and then to see a driver running a different looking car, especially at the All-Star Race but now it seems Jeff Gordon is in a different looking car each week because of a sponsor and there is nothing special about those paint schemes when they are changed like they are underwear. Keep the alternate liveries to less than 20% of the schedule. For the other 80% of the schedule, keep the liveries or paint scheme the same, just change the stickers on the car if sponsors are rotating for the sake of identification for fans.

GT3: The Way to Be
Pirelli World Challenge's season started this weekend and while I think we all wished IndyCar joined them this weekend at Circuit of the Americas, it was great to see another series start. If I were an IndyCar team owner, I would expand my operation to include a GT3 program. One, the potential is endless. A car could run PWC full-time or GTD starting next year or a mix of both. You could run Blancpain Endurance and/or Sprint Series. A host of other endurances races from around the globe are open to GT3 teams. Personally, I would just run the North American Endurance Cup races (Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans) and then a full-season of PWC with the trips to the Bathurst 12 Hour, Spa 24 Hour and, if the team does well enough, PWC pays for a trip to the Baku World Challenge, the season finale for the Blancpain Sprint Series.

Two, IndyCar has about 30 to 40 drivers trying to fill 22-25 full-time rides. Instead of having J.R. Hildebrand, Conor Daly, Justin Wilson, Ryan Briscoe, Oriol Servià, Simona de Silvestro and a handful of Indy Lights drivers who were never given a great shot at IndyCar (Wade Cunningham, Dillon Battistini, Jonathan Summerton, Richard Antinucci) sit on the sidelines doing nothing but an Indianapolis 500 one-off if they are fortunate, give them some seat time. All these drivers have talent and are competent. Let them show off their skills and potentially have their career blossom whether it is in IndyCar or sports car racing.

It makes more sense for a team to expand to GT3 than Indy Lights or Rallycross. By having a plethora of series to choose from, a GT3 program opens a team up to sponsors from all across the world. Many GT3 series have adapted to the changing tides of race viewership. Knowing the difficulty of getting traditional TV space, many of these series and one-off races have turned to the World Wide Web and stream their races online to the world. A few places geo-block races (CBSSN has been screwing the U.S. and Canada from the Blancpain GT Series) but many don't. The times are changing and being on top of streaming coverage while NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula One are stuck in the mud on the matter could benefit GT3 series such as PWC in the future.

Quick Hits
PWC ran a week too early at Austin. Next week is the start of the South by Southwest, a weeklong festival featuring music, film and interactive media. Circuit of the Americas should take advantage of all the people heading to Austin for the festival, get IndyCar and PWC to share a weekend, have concerts each night of the race weekend like they do for the United States Grand Prix weekend and potentially become the place to be for SXSW. It would be a great chance for both series to get new fans and make CoTA a place not just motorsports but for all type of events.

I have brought this up before but why does the Truck series run at Las Vegas in October all by themselves while the top two NASCAR division run in March? There isn't an IndyCar weekend at Las Vegas in autumn anymore. Move the Truck race to Friday night in March that way they don't have a month off between races.

Sad to hear Fabio Leimer lost his Super Formula ride. He is a talented driver who has done all that he had to do on track to be in a top series but unfortunately motorsports is more than just winning races. I hope he has a ride somewhere nice this season.

It was great to see Brian Vickers back on track. Let's hope his health doesn't keep him out of car again for the rest of his career.

Ryan and Beccy Hunter-Reay welcomed their second child, another baby boy into the world on March 5th. If the birth fell exactly nine month after conception that means the child was conceived on June 5th, just 11 days after Hunter-Reay's Indianapolis 500 victory. I wonder how many Indianapolis 500 winners have had children born within the first two weeks of the March after their Indianapolis 500 victory? Racer Magazine's David Malsher had a name suggestion.

Housekeeping
Look for three 2015 Verizon IndyCar Team-By-Team Previews this week. First preview would be posted on Tuesday with the other two following on Wednesday and Thursday.

Winners From The Weekend
You know about Olivier Beretta and Kevin Éstre but did you know...

Kevin Harvick won the NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Las Vegas.

Sébastien Ogier won Rally México, making him three-for-three this WRC season.

Kris Wilson and Michael Cooper split the Pirelli World Challenge GTS races from Austin.

José María López and Sébastien Loeb split the WTCC opener from Argentina.

Ryan Dungey won the Supercross race at Daytona.

Austin Dillon won the NASCAR Grand National race from Las Vegas.

Coming Up This Weekend
The Formula One season starts with the Australian Grand Prix from Melbourne.
Formula E makes their debut in the United States as they race around Miami.
NASCAR remains out west as they head to Phoenix.
AMA Supercross heads to Indianapolis.

2015 Pirelli World Challenge Season Preview

The 26th Pirelli World Challenge season opener takes place this weekend from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. A total of 116 cars are entered between the Grand Touring and Touring Car disciplines.

Forty GT cars are entered for the Austin doubleheader, 19 in GT and 21 in GTA. Ten GT Cup drivers will make it an even 50 cars on the starting grid this weekend. This is the first year for the GT Cup class. Thirteen manufactures are represented across GT and GTA.

Johnny O'Connell has won the last three GT titles and he will look to get a debut victory for the Cadillac ATS-VR GT3. He will be in the #3 Cadillac while Andy Pilgrim returns for another season of PWC driving in the #8 Cadillac. Last season's GT runner-up Mike Skeen returns to the #2 CRP Racing Audi R8. IMSA GTD regular Madison Snow will join Skeen at CRP Racing this weekend in a the #21 CRP Audi. Two other Audis are entered in GT for Austin are PWC veteran James Sofronas in the #14 Audi R8 LMS ultra and Guy Cosmo in the #23 M1 Racing LLC Audi.

K-PAX Racing ended 2014 with Robert Thorne scoring McLaren's first victory in PWC. Thorne is back with K-PAX as the McLaren 650S GT3 makes it's PWC debut. Joining Thorne at K-PAX is Frenchman Kevin Éstre, a champion in Porsche Carrera Cup France and Germany and finished second in the 2012 Porsche SuperCup championship.

Team Bentley Dyson Racing ended their debut season with Guy Smith picking the Continental GT3's maiden victory in the final round. Chris Dyson replaces Smith in the #16 Bentley and Butch Leitzinger returns for another season in the #20.

Ryan Dalziel swept last year's race weekend at Mid-Ohio in the #31 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3R and finished second in three of the other four starts he made in 2014. The Scotsman will attempt most of the PWC but has one conflict with his FIA WEC schedule with Extreme Speed Motorsports. The PWC round at Sonoma and FIA WEC round at Nürburgring are the same weekend.

Three Ferraris are entered in GT. Six-time Le Mans class winner Olivier Beretta will run the #61 R.Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia. Scuderia Corsa has entered the other two Ferraris with Duncan Ende in the #64 and Mike Hedlund in the #65.

The only cars that do not meet FIA GT3-specifications in GT are the RealTime Racing Acura TLX-GTs. Peter Cunningham will be in the #42 and Ryan Eversley will be in the #43.

Indy Lights race winner and occasional IndyCar driver James Davison will make his PWC debut in the AE Replay XD Nissan GT Academy Nissan GT-R GT3. Reiter Engineering has entered a Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL2 to be driven by Dutchman Nicky Catsburg. The lone Aston Martin in GT is the #28 LG Motorsport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 to be driven by Lou Gigliotti.

A few notable GT-A entrants. Christian Nielsen will run the #7 TRG Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3. Bret Curtis and Bill Ziegler will run the #32 and #95 Turner Motorsport BMW E89 Z4 GT3s respectively. Formula Three race winner Michael Lewis will drive the #41 Porsche 911 GT3R for EFFORT Racing. Drew Regitz moves from GTS to the #19 Audi R8 LMS Ultra for Stephen Cameron Racing. Risk Competizione will field the #62 Ferrari 458 Italia for Mexican Ricardo Perez. Brazilian Marcelo Hahn returns in the #0 Lamborghini Gallardo Extenso R-EX and Bryan Heitkotter will be teammate to Davison in the #05 Nissan GT Academy GT-R GT3.

NGT Motorsport will field a Ferrari in GTA for Henrique Cisneros and a Porsche in GT Cup for Eduardo Cisneros. Eduardo will be in the #29 with Henrique in the #30. GMG will not only field Sofronos in GT but Alec Udell in the #17 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Other notable GT Cup entries are the #18 TruSpeed Autosport Porsche of Phil Fogg, Jr. and #60 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Santiago Creed.

Twenty cars are entered in GTS this weekend. Defending champions Blackdog Speed Shop are with out their champion driver. Lawson Aschenbach, winner of the last two GTS titles, will not return in 2015. Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples will run the #10 and #11 Chevrolet Z28 Camaros respectively. Another Camaro in the GTS field will be the #20 BestIT Racing entry driven by Andy Lee.

Jack Baldwin finished runner-up in last year's championship and returns in the #73 GTSport Racing Porsche Caymen. Buz McCall will be Baldwin's teammate in the #72 Porsche. Kia Racing fell short in the championship battle despite having Mark Wilkins lead late in the season. The Canadian returns in the #38 Optima but will have a new teammate as Ben Clucas replaces Nic Jönsson in the #36 Optima. Dean Martin is back for another season after winning three races in 2014 in the #50 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302.

Jack Roush, Jr. finished fifth in last year's championship and will have two new teammates at Capaldi Racing. Nick Esayian moves over from the TRG Aston Martins to the #34 Ford Mustang. Dan Martinson will be in his rookie season in the #33 Ford. TRG will field two Aston Martin Vantage GT4s this season. Kris Wilson will be in the #07 and Derek DeBoer will drive the #09. Lou Gigliotti will also compete in GTS this weekend in the #28 Vantage GT4. Vesko Kozarov will drive the #23 Skullcandy Team Nissan 370Z.

This will be the second time PWC has raced at Circuit of the Americas. In 2013, the series ran on the same card as the V8 Supercars weekend. Johnny O'Connell and James Sofronas split the GT races that weekend while Lawson Aschenbach and Andy Lee split in GTS.

GT/GTA and GT Cup will all run together while GTS will have their own separate races. The GTS races are at 1:20 p.m. ET on Saturday and 11:20 a.m. ET on Sunday. The GT/GTA/GT Cup races will be 3:45 p.m. ET on Saturday and 2:25 p.m. ET on Sunday. All races can be seen live via World-ChallengeTV.com.

2015 Verizon IndyCar Team-By-Team Preview: Schmidt Peterson Motorsports

For the third consecutive season, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports had a car finish in the top five of the IndyCar championship however Simon Pagenaud has moved on to Team Penske and the team now has James Hinchcliffe carrying the weight and expectations. Also gone from 2014 is Mikhail Aleshin. The Russians season was cut short after an accident in final practice at Fontana kept him from starting the race due to a concussion, broken clavicle, fractured ribs and chest injuries. He has been replaced James Jakes who did not compete in any series in 2014.

2014 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Review:
Wins: 2 (IMS Road Course, Houston 2).
Poles: 1 (Houston 1)
Final Championship Position: 5th (Simon Pagenaud), 17th (Mikhail Aleshin), 30th (Jacques Villeneuve).

2015 Drivers:

James Hinchcliffe
The Canadian left Andretti Autosport after three seasons and joins his third team in Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Hinchcliffe went winless in 2014 after picking up his first three career victories in 2013. He was among the best in qualifying,- as his average starting position was 7.91, third best but that did not transfer over in the races as his average finish was 12.388, tied for 11th best. Hinchcliffe finished 12th in the championship standings, matching his career worst, which came in his rookie season. In the other two seasons of Hinchcliffe's career he has finished eighth in the championship. Hinchcliffe has scored more points in each season he has competed in.

Numbers to Remember: 34. Amount of top ten finishes in Hinchcliffe's 68 IndyCar starts.

14. Amount of finishes outside the top twenty in Hinchcliffe's IndyCar career.

0. Career poles for Hinchcliffe.

9. Amount of times Hinchcliffe has started second.

Predictions/Goals: Hinchcliffe needs to translate great starting positions into finishes. He has had the speed in qualifying but seemed to be snake bitten in 2014. Getting his first career pole could go a long way for Hinchcliffe. He started second five times in 2014. Those 13 points (he started second for the Indianapolis 500 and pole is worth nine points at Indianapolis) would have vaulted Hinchcliffe up to ninth in the championship ahead of Marco Andretti, Sébastien Bourdais and Ryan Briscoe. Hinchcliffe doesn't finish 8th or 12th in the championship. He is a contender for the top ten of championship and could pull out a victory.

James Jakes
The British driver did not participate in any series in 2014. Jakes made 50 starts from 2011-13 driving for Dale Coyne Racing and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with his best finish being second at Belle Isle 2 in 2013. He started second in that race as well.

Numbers to Remember: 526. Amount of days between starts for Jakes, should he start at St. Petersburg. Last start was Fontana on October 19, 2013.

2493. Amount of days between Jakes' last victory in any competitive series and St. Petersburg. His last victory was in Formula Three Euro Series on May 31, 2008 at the Pau Grand Prix.

17.4. Jakes' average IndyCar career finish.

5. Amount of top tens finishes in Jakes' career.

Predictions/Goals: While Jakes has been consistent and has proved to be a competent driver, I don't see him coming off a sabbatical and improving much from his last season in IndyCar. Perhaps he can breakthrough for a top ten or two and has a makes the Fast Twelve on a few occasions but he will be trailing Hinchcliffe in most sessions. He will be in the bottom quarter of full-time drivers in the championship.

The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series seasons gets underway on Sunday March 29th. ABC's coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 3:30 p.m. ET.

2015 Verizon IndyCar Team-By-Team Preview: A.J. Foyt Racing

After winning their first race in over a decade in 2013, A.J. Foyt Racing took a step back in their second season with Takuma Sato behind the wheel of the #14 ABC Supply Co. Honda. The team will expand to two cars as ABC Supply Co. expands their support and the Texas-based team will bring in sophomore Jack Hawksworth.

2014 AJ Foyt Racing Review:
Wins: 0.
Best Finish: 4th (Sonoma).
Poles: 2 (St. Petersburg, Belle Isle 2).
Final Championship Position: 18th (Takuma Sato), 34th (Martin Plowman).

2015 Drivers:

Takuma Sato
Sato started off 2014 on a bright note with pole position and had he worked pit strategy a little bitter, the Japanese driver might have had his second career victory but he had to settle for seventh. He had another season full of accidents. Five of his seven retirements were because of accidents and he was the first retirement in three consecutive races during the summer. The only bright spot in the middle of the season for Sato was pole position at Belle Isle. He made a slight rebound in California with back-to-back top ten finishes at Sonoma and Fontana, only the seventh time Sato scored consecutive top tens.

Numbers to Remember: 14. The amount of starts away Sato is from hitting the century mark in IndyCar. Mid-Ohio is tentatively the race where he would reach that milestone.

29. Amount of finishes outside the top twenty for Sato in his IndyCar career. That is just over a third of his career finishes (33.72%).

16.6. Sato's average finish in the IndyCar Championship Standings.

Predictions/Goals: Don't hold your breath on a big change from Sato. Expect the usual four to five races outside the top twenty. Sato will have a handful of races where he is quick and at the front of every practice and qualifying session and he will come through with a top five but those races will be few and far between. It's hard to imagine Sato getting a fourth year with Foyt if his third is anything like his first two.

Jack Hawksworth
The British driver moves over from Bryan Herta Autosport to A.J. Foyt Racing for his second season in IndyCar. Hawksworth's best finish in his rookie season was third in Houston 2. The 2012 Star Mazda champion had a great run at Long Beach end with contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay while he started second at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and led a bunch of laps before settling for seventh. He finished sixth in Houston 1 and Toronto 2. The Brit picked up his first career top ten on an oval at Milwaukee where he finished tenth. Hawksworth's did have a hiccup when he suffered a heart contusion after a practice accident Pocono forcing him to miss that race, however Hawksworth did not miss any other races.

Numbers to Remember: 4. Amount of Fast Twelve appearances for Hawksworth in 2014.

2. Hawksworth had two retirements in 2014.

11. Hawksworth was running at the finish of 11 consecutive races to end the season. Sato was running at the finish of 11 races all of 2014.

Predictions/Goals: Hawksworth finished a position ahead of Sato in 2014, 16 points clear and he missed a race. The goal should be to beat his teammate again in 2015. The introduction of aero kits will throws a monkey wrench in everything we saw the last three but the one thing we did learn is Foyt does have the equipment and personnel to compete with the best but they have lack a driver who can consistently bring the car home in one piece. Hawksworth might be that guy and, depending on who comes out on top in the aero kit battle, he could break into top fifteen of the championship.

The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series seasons gets underway on Sunday March 29th. ABC's coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Musings From the Weekend: Uniqueness

One day of March in the books and another few inches of snow on the ground in my neck of the woods. Spring will be here in a matter of weeks, as will Formula One and IndyCar but until then it's the final days of trudging through below freezing temperatures, bundled up in scarves and mittens. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

Take Over Leap Day
Mark Miles keeps talking about how he wants the IndyCar season to end on Labor Day weekend and have the IndyCar season finale as synonymous with the September holiday as the Indianapolis 500 is with Memorial Day.

Why not try to own Leap Day? No one has ever tried to own Leap Day because it's only once every four years but that could play into IndyCar's favor with the right approach. It could be a quadrennial race with a big, seven-figure payout. Of course the series would have to find a sponsor who also sees the benefits and the uniqueness of a Leap Day race to fund the endeavor.

Location poises an issue for a Leap Day race. First off, it's still February and most of the United States hasn't started thawing out. Second, next year February 29th falls on a Monday. A Monday afternoon race would draw no spectators or television audience but a Monday night race has promise meaning the Leap Day race would have to be run on an oval. Road courses wouldn't be completely ruled out of hosting the Leap Day race. Leap Day 2020 falls on a Saturday meaning a road course would be possible but Leap Day 2024 is a Thursday, which would probably have to be an oval. In the likelihood the race falling on a weeknight, it would have to be run as a one-day show. A two-hour practice in the afternoon followed by qualifying around an hour before the race with green flag by 7:30 p.m. ET. When Leap Day falls on a weekend, it could be treated like a normal race weekend.

Venue rotation might not be a bad thing though. All other quadrennial events such as the Olympics and World Cup rotate and maybe, just maybe IndyCar can grow to the point that they have tracks bidding to host the Leap Day Grand Prix. The real success of the event would come down to the purse. The winner's cut would have to be in the ballpark to what the Indianapolis 500 pays to win to make the race special. Once every four years the drivers and teams getting an extra shot at a special pay day could be intriguing.

Think about Leap Day. It's normally just that blip every four years that makes a year 366 days long but we always know it's going to come and went it is going to happen. If IndyCar tied an event to that date and always had a race on February 29th, it will eventually start to stand out. The uniqueness of the race would get make it as synonymous with the Leap Day as the Indianapolis 500 is to Memorial Day.

IndyCar has raced on Leap Day before. The 2004 IRL season opener from Homestead-Miami Speedway fell on Leap Day. Sam Hornish, Jr. won the race on his Team Penske debut with Hélio Castroneves finishing second and Dan Wheldon rounding out the podium. Tora Takagi finished fourth with Tomas Scheckter rounding out the top five. The next time Leap Day is scheduled to fall on a Sunday is 2032.

Oh Mexico
Remember when NASCAR went to Mexico City? When the Grand National Series first went to Autodrómo Hermanos Rodríguez it quickly became my favorite race of the year because it was unique. After that first race in 2005 with Martin Truex, Jr. coming out on top but not before Jorge Goeters stole the show by stealing pole position in front of the home crowd, I honestly thought the Cup Series was going to be in Mexico the following year.

Flash forward ten years and not only is the Cup series not in Mexico, the Grand National series stopped going after four years before moving to Montreal where the race around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve lasted six years. Currently, the only national touring division race to occur outside of the United States is the Truck race at Mosport.

After seeing the weather in Atlanta this weekend, I wish NASCAR were going to Mexico. The NASCAR media talks about how good the NASCAR road courses races are, why not add another? There are plenty of tracks that could drop a race to make room for Mexico City. Pocono, Michigan, Dover, Loudon and Kansas don't all have to have two Cup races. Keep the ball rolling after Daytona and go to Mexico City. From restrictor plates to road course. It would fit in perfectly with NASCAR's western swing of Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fontana. Plus, NASCAR has the emergence of Daniel Suárez and if he ends up being the next big thing at Joe Gibbs Racing, a race in Mexico City could be even bigger than that race in 2005.

NASCAR is never going to return to Mexico but they have nothing to lose by sending the Cup series south of the border for an additional road course race. If only they had seen that a decade ago.

Speaking of NASCAR
Bravo for shortening the Grand National race at Atlanta to 250 miles. It was completed in an hour and forty minutes. Almost every NASCAR race should be shortened. Other than the Daytona 500, Southern 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Brickyard 400 no Cup race should be longer than 350 miles.

Television time is precious and it's probably the main reason why each series has knockout qualifying. Knockout qualifying doesn't exist for the drama of cars not making the next round and multiple cars on track but because it can be packaged nicely in a one-hour TV window instead of dragging on for an hour and a half or two hours.

Major League Baseball games average over three hours and they are doing all they can to pick up the pace to take a half hour off the average length and NASCAR should be doing the same. Truck races should take 90 minutes to complete, Grand National races two hours and Cup races around two and a half hours. Less can be more and I think that is the case for NASCAR.

Winners From The Weekend
You know about Jimmie Johnson but did you know...

Jamie Whincup and Fabian Coulthard split the Saturday races at V8 Supercars season opener at Adelaide with James Courtney winning the Sunday race and leaving with the championship lead.

Jack Aitken and Weiron Tan split the Pro Mazda Winterfest round from Barber Motorsports Park. Aitken took the Winterfest title by a point over Tan.

Frenchman Nico Jamin won the U.S. F2000 Winterfest title after taking the final race at Barber. Victor Franzoni won the first race.

Ryan Dungey won the second Supercross race from Atlanta.

Kevin Harvick won the Grand National race from Atlanta. Matt Crafton won the Truck race.

Coming Up This Weekend
First, Daylight Savings begins next Sunday across most of the United States so don't forget to set your clocks forward.
The Pirelli World Challenge season opener takes place at Austin.
NASCAR makes their traditional late-winter visit to Las Vegas.
World Rally comes to North America for Rally México.
World Touring Car Championship season kicks off in Argentina.
Supercross heads to Daytona for Bike Week.