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INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 30 — Four drivers and other members of several prominent Firestone Indy Lights teams made positivecomments after getting a first-hand look at a new paddle-shift system that Team E Racing tested on its Firestone Indy Lights car last week.

Drivers Rusty Mitchell and Conor Daly tried the system out at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Fla., during a private test last Monday, Oct. 24. Mitchell, Joel Miller and the 2011 Star Mazda champion, TristanVautier, also drove Team E’s paddle-shift-equipped No. 17 during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test, which was held on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway here Friday and yesterday, Oct. 28-29.

A paddle-shift system utilizes two “paddles,” or levers, mounted behind the steering wheel. With a paddle-shift system the driver can keep both hands on the steering wheel and use his fingers to upshift and downshift electronically with the paddles instead of taking his right hand off the steering wheel to move a traditional gear shift, which is usually mounted to the right of the seat and selects the gears in the transmission mechanically. With the system Team E tested last week, Pro-Shift’s PS3 system, the right-hand paddle is used for upshifts and the left-hand paddle is used for downshifts. A solenoid and an auto blipper (downshift) are part of the bolt-on package too. "Readmore"

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LAS VEGAS, Oct. 16 — Anders Krohn started sixth and finished seventh in Belardi Auto Racing’s Liberty Engineering Racing Special No. 9 in the Firestone Indy Lights season finale Sunday morning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

He set the second-fastest lap of the race in the process with a time of 28.4002 seconds for the 1.544-mile oval for an average speed of 195.717 miles per hour. His fastest lap came on lap 65 of the 67-lap race, which was won by Victor Carbone over Esteban Guerrieri and Jorge Goncalvez.

Krohn, a native of Stavanger, Norway who lives in Houston, advanced from eighth to seventh in the series’ final point standings with his ninth top-10 finish in the 14-race series. "Readmore"

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LAS VEGAS, Oct. 16 — Unofficially Team E Racing’s Rusty Mitchell set the fastest lap ever run by a Firestone Indy Lights car during practice Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and he turned in his best qualifying performance to date in the series later that day when he qualified fourth. Unfortunately he got caught up in an accident when another driver lost control of his car with only eight laps down in Sunday’s Firestone Indy Lights season finale, and Mitchell ended up in 12th place in the final rundown.

Although the rookie from Midland, Texas only competed in six of the 14 races he placed 14th in the 2011 point standings with Team E’s No. 17, which is sponsored by Motorola and Petro Communications. He had four top-10 finishes.

Mitchell had never driven on Las Vegas’ 1.544-mile oval before the first practice session on Thursday, but he topped the charts in the third practice session on Friday when he was timed in 28.5257 seconds in a multi-car draft for an average speed of 194.856 miles per hour. That was surpassed in Sunday’s race, but it was the fastest lap run in practice or qualifying for the top step in the Mazda Road to Indy ladder system."Readmore"

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LAS VEGAS, Oct. 10 — Team E Racing hopes its driver, Rusty Mitchell, comes away with a winning hand in Sunday’s Firestone IndyLights season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Mitchell, a rookie this year in Firestone Indy Lights, is from Midland, Texas. That’s about 400 miles from Robstown, Texas, the birthplace of Texas hold ‘em poker, and Mitchell plays the game almost daily.

“I play poker live about twice a week, and on line almost every day,” Mitchell said.

“Three or four years ago I made it to the final table in a World Series of Poker circuit tournament in New Orleans,” Mitchell added. “I was the first one out at the final table, but I tripled my money on the buy-in. It wasn’t much — a little over $100 I think — but it was fun.” "Readmore"

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SPARTA, Ky., Oct. 3 Anders Krohn was using the outside lane to make one of his typical exciting charges through the field in Sunday’s Firestone Indy Lights race at Kentucky Speedway, but unfortunately it was short-lived because he got caught up in an unavoidable five-car accident in Turn 2 on the first lap.

Krohn, a native of Stavanger, Norway who lives in Houston, was examined, X-rayed and released from the infield care center with only a bruised left knee.

He ended up 13th in the final standings in the race, which was won by Stefan Wilson over 2011 champion Josef Newgarden and Jorge Goncalvez. Krohn started 13th too, as he went to the back of the field after an engine change following time trials on Saturday.

After a disappointing qualifying run that saw Krohn end up 12th with an average speed of 186.503 miles per hour, the engine change did the trick. Krohn used the outside lane to get a fabulous start in the race, as he quickly passed Bryan Clauson, David Ostella and Rusty Mitchell and was working on the next pack of cars."Readmore"

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SPARTA, Ky., Oct. 3 - Team E Racing’s Rusty Mitchell did a masterful job to avoid getting caught up in a five-car accident at thestart of Sunday’s Firestone Indy Lights race at KentuckySpeedway, and ended up finishing eighth to continue his record of never placing outside of the top 10 in an oval-track race.

Mitchell, of Midland, Texas, was forced to drop out of the 67-lap race with 35 laps complete due to a rare mechanical problem. The initial indications are it might have been a problem with the car’s ring and pinion or its clutch.

The car, which is sponsored by Motorola and Petro Communications, was very fast here. Mitchell set his fastest lap of the race on lap 19 with a time of 28.1102 seconds for the 1.48-mile oval, which is an average speed of 189.540 miles per hour. That was faster than the fastest lap set by the second-place finisher, Josef Newgarden, who became the series’ 2011 champion when he took the green flag. It was also faster than the fastest race lap of the fifth-place finisher, Bryan Clauson, who topped both of the practice sessions here on Saturday."Readmore"

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BRASELTON, Ga., Oct. 1 - Mitch Landry got a top-five finish in class, Kasey Kuhlman accomplished his goal of qualifying better and John Ellis got valuable experience as Wright Motorsports’ rookies completed the last doubleheader of the season in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama Thursday and Friday at Road Atlanta.

Landry, of Lake Charles, La., finished fourth in the Gold Cup division in Thursday’s race and ended up third in the class’s final point standings. He earned the same number of points as the class runner-up but placed third when the tiebreaker was applied. The tiebreak was the total number of class victories. Landry’s car, the No. 54 2009 Porsche 997 sponsored by VersaCrane and Deep South Crane & Rigging, finished second at Lime Rock, Conn., and had 11 top fives in the 15 races, but Eduardo Cisneros had four class victories so he finished second to the champion, Madison Snow.

Kasey Kuhlman of Cincinnati finished seventh unofficially for the year in the top class, Platinum Cup. He placed eighth in Thursday’s race but like Landry he was out early in Friday’s 45-minute event."Readmore"

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SPARTA, Ky., Sept. 27 - Both horses and horsepower will be in the spotlight in Kentucky this weekend.

Kentucky Speedway, which will host Firestone Indy Lights as part of the Kentucky Indy 300 this weekend, is centrally located in the middle of horse country in Sparta. Louisville, home of Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby, is about 50 miles east. Lexington, which has a plethora of Thoroughbred horse farms and the Kentucky Horse Park, is about 50 miles west.

Equestrian sports and motorsports have a lot in common, and sometimes equestrians and racers are members of the same family. Those family members often find life is a constant balancing act, since there’s only so much free time in any given week, only so many weekends in a year, and only so much money to spend.

That’s the way it’s been for Mike and Gayle Mitchell of Midland, Texas throughout their 30-year marriage. The females in the family have gravitated to equestrian pursuits, while the men are focused on motorsports."Readmore"

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SALINAS, Calif., Sept. 20 - Wright Motorsports’ Kasey Kuhlman of Cincinnati recorded an eighth and a sixth-place finish last weekend in the IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama doubleheader at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. His teammate, Mitch Landry of Lake Charles, La., placed third and sixth in the Gold Cup division in the same races.

Wright Motorsports is based in Batavia, Ohio.

Kuhlman drives the No. 15 2011 Porsche 997 advertising Kuhlsport and the Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati. Landry’s car is the No. 54 2009 Porsche 997, which is sponsored by VersaCrane and Deep South Crane & Rigging.

Saturday’s race was the series’ usual 45-minute contest, but Sunday’s race was 75 minutes long. "Readmore"

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LEXINGTON, Ohio, Sept. 20 - The Gleason brothers started at the back of the field in the Street Tuner class in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season finale at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last Saturday, but they brought their car home ninth in the two-hour-and-30-minute race that was part of the EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank.

Although Chris Gleason Jr. of Wayne, Pa. started 24th, he and his brother Kevin of Johnstown, Pa. were still able to record their fifth top-10 finish of the year, which included a victory at Watkins Glen, N.Y. in June.

Although they’re both rookies in the series and they didn’t compete in all 10 races, Kevin Gleason finished eighth and Chris Gleason Jr. was 12th out of 150 Street Tuner competitors nationwide for the season. Their entry, a Volkswagen GTI fielded by APR Motorsport, placed fifth in the team point standings, and the Gleasons were among the drivers who helped VW finish second in the manufacturer point standings for the year. Kevin Gleason finished third and Chris Gleason Jr. finished fifth in the 2011 MESCO Building for the Future Rookie of the Year point standings too. "Readmore"

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LEXINGTON, Ohio, Sept. 12 - Kevin Gleason turned in a spectacular drive from 18th to first in the Spec Miata finale at the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) National Championships presented by Toyo Tires Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The event turned out to be a character builder rather than a victory for the popular driver from Johnstown, Pa., however, because he was forced to drop out of the race with mechanical difficulties while he was leading. .

It was a disappointing end to a weekend that saw Gleason and the Jim Locke Automotive team overcome a host of challenges in the preliminary action and in the race itself, which attracted an impressive field of 39 competitors.

The weather posed a big challenge too, as rain began to fall on the pace lap. Rain has a way of being a great equalizer, but Gleason was on slicks and Mid-Ohio’s 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course has earned its reputation as one of the most challenging race courses in the country even under ideal conditions. "Readmore"

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BALTIMORE, Sept. 6 - Team E Racing’s Rusty Mitchell ofMidland, Texas finished seventh Sunday in the FirestoneIndy Lights race atthe inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix.

The team battled some problems in practice and qualifying andMitchell brushed the wall once in the race, so the Tampa Bay, Fla.-based team was glad to be able to finish the event and bring home a top-10 finish for the car’s sponsors, Motorola and Petro Communications.

"Once again Rusty has shown his maturity in taking care of his equipment on a new and very difficult Baltimore street circuit,” said Neil Enerson, the team owner. “He is wisely using the races in this abbreviated season to gain experience and confidence in the Team E Motorola No. 17. Rusty has finished all fours races in which he has competed this season." "Readmore" IMS photo: Shawn Gritzmacher

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BALTIMORE, Sept. 5 - If Sunday’s Baltimore Grand Prix Firestone Indy Lights race would have been justfour laps shorter rookieAnders Krohn would have won his first race in theseries. Unfortunately the Viking made one small mistake on a lap 31 restart while leading, and he ended up sixth at the checkered.

Right until the end Krohn was definitely in line for a podium finish.

The Houston-based driver qualified fifth and ran in that spot for the first three laps in Belardi Auto Racing’s Liberty Engineering Racing Special No. 9. He moved up to fourth place on lap four after Peter Dempsey spun in Turn 6 while running third. Krohn held fourth for five laps and then he advanced to third on lap nine when the eventual winner, Gustavo Yacaman, made a mistake in Turn 3. "Readmore" IMS photo: Shawn Gritzmacher

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BALTIMORE, Aug. 31- When Team E Racing’s Rusty Mitchell takes his first stroll around Baltimore’s Inner Harbor tomorrow afternoon, people watching will be the furthest thing from his mind.

He won’t be shopping, watching street performers, visiting a museum, touring an old ship, enjoying the aquarium, eating crab cakes or taking a cruise or a speed boat ride either.

All that will have to come another time. On Thursday Mitchell and his fellow Firestone Indy Lights drivers will be walking Baltimore’s new 2.1-mile street circuit for the first time, and they’ll all be focused on learning the fastest way around the track as quickly as possible. "Readmore"

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BALTIMORE, Aug. 31- Team E Racing believes it’s important to have friends, especially when you’re going somewhere you’ve never been.

In honor of Team E Racing’s entry in the Firestone Indy Lights race at the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix this weekend and in hopes of boosting the number of friends in Team E Racing’s Facebook group to over 1,000, the team has a special offer to fans 18 and older who are on Facebook and plan on attending the races at Baltimore this weekend.

Simply by inviting their friends to join Team E Racing’s Facebook group, two lucky fans will win Baltimore Grand Prix pit passes from Team E Racing!"Readmore"

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ELKHART LAKE, Wis., Aug. 22 - Wright Motorsports of Batavia, Ohio fielded two cars in the IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama doubleheader Friday and Saturday at Road America, and both took their drivers to podium finishes.

Rookie Kasey Kuhlman of Cincinnati turned in his best performances to date in the series with a pole position and a third- and a second-place finish in the top class, the Platinum Cup, in the twin 45-minute races that were part of the Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase. His No. 15 2011 Porsche 997 carries the colors of Kuhlsport and the Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati.

His teammate and fellow rookie, Mitch Landry of Lake Charles, La., finished third in the Gold Cup division on Friday and fifth on Saturday in Wright Motorsports’ No. 54 2009 Porsche 997, which is sponsored by VersaCrane and Deep South Crane & Rigging. "Readmore"

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LOUDON, N.H., Aug. 15 - Team E Racing’s Rusty Mitchell of Midland, Texas continued his excellent record of never finishing outside of the top 10 in an oval-track race with an eighth-place finish Sunday in the Firestone Indy Lights race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

It was his third race in this series, the top step in the Mazda Road to Indy program, and Mitchell’s sixth race on an oval ever.

Driving the Motorola/Petro Communications No. 17 fielded by Team E Racing, which is based in the Tampa Bay, Fla., area, Mitchell started seventh in the 100-lap race after struggling during practice on Thursday. He averaged 141.818 miles per hour in Sunoco Qualifying on Saturday."Readmore"» IMS photo by Chris Jones  

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LOUDON, N.H., Aug. 15 - Anders Krohn duplicated his best qualifying result of the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights season with a fourth-place starting spot in Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but he dropped out of the 100-lap race with only 77 laps complete due to an apparent engine failure.

The Houston-based driver’s official finishing position was 11th with Belardi Auto Racing’s Liberty Engineering Racing Special No. 9. In addition to Liberty Engineering the car is sponsored by Logi Trans Offshore Express, Trallfa, PM International Suppliers, Allied Building Products, ZAT Graphics, Eagles Canyon Raceway, OMP and Bell Helmets.

Krohn, a native of Stavanger, Norway, vaulted from fourth to third almost immediately when Bryan Clauson spun in Turn 2 on the first lap around the 1-mile oval. Krohn remained in third place for nearly a quarter of the race, from lap 1 through lap 21. At that point Gustavo Yacaman passed him to push him back to fourth. "Readmore"» IMS photo by Bret Kelley   

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TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Quebec, Canada, Aug. 8 — Anders Krohn improved four positions in Sunday’s Firestone Indy Lights race on the Trois-Rivières street circuit, as he started tenth and finished sixth in the Liberty Engineering Racing Special No. 9 fielded by Belardi Auto Racing.

Krohn, a native of Stavanger, Norway who resides in Houston, Texas, is sixth in the driver point standings heading into the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this coming Sunday, Aug. 14.

Unlike many of the courses he’s faced in his rookie season of Firestone Indy Lights, Krohn had driven at Trois-Rivières in the past in Star Mazda events. He needed to draw upon every bit of that past experience on Sunday, because he and his team were hampered by gearbox problems in the practice sessions last weekend. The lost time that would have been spent working on the car’s set-up and getting more experience on the course resulted in a tenth-place starting spot, so the bright red No. 9 started deeper in the field than it has in any other race so far this year."Readmore"»  

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BATAVIA, Ohio, July 26 - Wright Motorsports’ drivers held their own in the IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama doubleheader last weekend at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada.

Kasey Kuhlman of Cincinnati posted two top-10 finishes in the 45-minute races when he placed seventh on Saturday and ninth on Sunday with his No. 15 2011 Porsche 997, which carries the colors of Kuhlsport and the Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati.

John Ellis of Charlottesville, Va., who like Kuhlman competes in the Platinum class, was the model of consistency with 16th-place finishes both days. His 2011 Porsche 997 is sponsoredby Sagewater. "Readmore"»    photo:Duane Sampson

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BROWNSBURG,Ind., July 25 - Brian Belardi,owner of Belardi Auto Racing,announced today that the Brownsburg, Ind.-based teamwill field a USF2000 car for 15-year-old Luigi Biangardi of Barrington, Ill. in the final six races of the2011Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 NationalChampionship Powered by Mazda.

Biangardi will drive the team’s No. 9 Van Diemen Mazda as the teammateto the series’ latest winner, as Belardi Auto Racing’s Wayne Boyd won the most recent USF2000 race last month at the Milwaukee Mile.

Biangardi’s car will be sponsored by Inject-It.com and Gulfstream Properties and the team’s primary sponsor, Liberty Engineering.

The team is fourth in the USF2000 team point standings midway through the 12-race season."Read more"»

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MILLVILLE, N.J., July 24- The Gleason brothers started at the rear but rose as high as seventh in the B+ Foundation Heroes 200 Continental Tire Challenge race’s Street Tuner division Saturday at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Although they tried their best to bring home a top-10 finish with their APR Motorsport Volkswagen GTI No. 181, they finished 12th when the race ended under caution after two hours and 30 minutes of competition conducted under typical hot and humid summertime conditions.

Chris Gleason Jr. of Wayne, Pa. qualified 24th Saturday morning, just three days after he and his wife, Tara, welcomed their first child into the world when Shea Elizabeth Gleason was born Wednesday afternoon. His qualifying time for the 2.25-mile road course was 1:35.744, but he ended up starting the race in 29th spot in the Street Tuner class due to a blown hose on the pace lap.

Despite the weight of a full tank of fuel he posted his fastest lap of the race on lap three with a 1:36.502. He and Tim Probert tangled in Turn 2 on lap 14 and spun, but both continued and they didn’t bring out a full-course caution. Unfortunately Gleason’s car’s alignment was thrown off and the car lost a brake-cooling duct, which handicapped its performance the rest of the distance."Read more"»

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EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada, July 24- With 106 points up for grabs in the only doubleheader of the season, Saturday and Sunday’s Edmonton Twin 100s were very important to Anders Krohn and his fellow Firestone Indy Lights drivers. Krohn was forced to deal with many different challenges during his first visit to the Edmonton City Centre Airport circuit and he had an up-and-down weekend, so he was content to still be in the same position in the point standings as he was at the beginning of the weekend — seventh — after 13th and sixth-place finishes at Edmonton.

Rain washed out both practice sessions on Friday, which didn’t help anyone learn the reconfigured course that was all new to Krohn in the first place. But all that was put aside when he learned of the terrorist attack that had occurred in his home country, Norway, and he spent the rest of Friday checking on his family and friends in that country and learning more about the tragedy.

On Saturday morning he was fourth in the practice session with a time of 1:26.2051 (92.876 miles per hour), but he was also hit by Stefan Wilson in that session. He ended up sixth in Sunoco qualifying about an hour and a half later with a 1:23.8790 (95.452 miles per hour) for the 2.24-mile, 13-turn airport course. His Belardi Auto Racing/Liberty Engineering Racing Special No. 9 actually ended up fifth in the starting line-up, however, after another competitor’s car failed the post-qualifying tech inspection. "Read more"»

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LAKEVILLE, Conn., July 11 - Wright Motorsports’ Mitch Landry of Lake Charles, La., posted his best finish to date in IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama Gold Cup action when he placed second in the second half of a wild series doubleheader Saturday at Lime Rock Park.

Earlier in the day Landry finished fifth in class in the first half of the doubleheader with his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup No. 54. The car is sponsored by VersaCrane and Deep South Crane & Rigging and it’s based at Wright Motorsports’ headquarters in Batavia, Ohio.

Each race was 45 minutes long."Read more"»

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