“There’s no other racing series like this in the world and that’s what I like about it is every week – you need to change and adapt and be ready to really think outside the box on how you set the vehicle up, how you need to be as a driver and how you need to approach the race weekend making changes each week”, Hunter-Reay said.
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“If you can imagine loving something so much, more than anything else in life and then losing your love for it. It’s kind of an odd thing to happen, and then you regain it”.
Newgarden believes things really began clicking two seasons later, in 2014, and have been steadily rolling upward since.
Practice sessions for the Verizon IndyCar Series start Friday on the streets surrounding Exhibition Place with qualifying taking place Saturday before the race on Sunday. He’s not only the defending champion but is coming off a win last week in the Iowa Corn 300, where he led for 282 of 300 laps.
The IndyCar Series points leader finished his fastest lap in one minute 1.7081 seconds.
Hinchcliffe, who races the No. 5 Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, comes into the race 13th in points and was 19th fastest in Friday morning’s practice, which was topped by Sebastien Bourdais. I know I’m leaving some time on the table in sections just from where I’m at. Each partner brings something new to the event – especially for fans.
Newgarden was sporting a wrap on his right hand as a result of a broken hand and right clavicle caused in a crash at Texas last month. He’s been downgraded from a brace because it took up too much room in his auto and he couldn’t grip the wheel. “The hand is the biggest thing, because when you get hit by curbs and everything, it just hurts”.
As a kid, I would run around, chasing drivers to get autographs on the spotter guide, wanting to get them all like a signature treasure hunt. But the intricacies of all four different street courses – St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Detroit and now Toronto – lends itself to different variations in setup.
“I think, to answer your question, I think we have a good street course auto. But getting to a street course now, this is proving to be the biggest challenge”, he explained.
The 29-year-old is banking on a good qualifying session this weekend as a key to victory. “(The) goal this weekend is to finish in (the) top six”, Newgarden said.
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“We at Andretti Racing had a bit of an off year here last year so we need to improve on that”. “If we can do that then we just need to have a clean race and then we’ll fight for a podium or a win”. “I’m hoping that’s going to be the case”.
