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Mikhail Aleshin

JR Hildebrand Breaks Hand After Contact with Mikhail Aleshin

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Last-lap contact between Mikhail Aleshin and JR Hildebrand sent Hildebrand’s No. 21 Preferred Freezer Services Chevrolet into the Turn 1 tire barrier. According to INDYCAR Medical Director Dr. Geoffrey Billows, the Ed Carpenter Racing driver sustained a broken bone in his left hand, was not cleared to drive and will be re-evaluated later this week. Aleshin was penalized by INDYCAR for blocking and moved back one position in the final results to 12th place.

“I was making a move on Mikhail Aleshin and I could tell he was struggling,” Hildebrand said. “I was out of push-to-pass so I was trying to make a proper, full-out pass down the front straightaway. He had been starting to move over, not a major blocking maneuver but enough to assert his line. He hit the brake a lot earlier than I was expecting and I ended up running into the back of him.

“In doing so, it ripped the steering wheel from my hand and I ended up tweaking (the hand). … Hopefully, I can get back to it here before the next race.”

SOURCE: INDYCAR

Mikhail Aleshin Becomes First Russian to Win Indy Car Pole Position

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Mikhail Aleshin made Indy car history, becoming the first Russian driver to win a pole position in Verizon P1 Award qualifying for the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.

The Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver averaged 220.445 mph over two laps in the No. 7 SMP Racing Honda to collect his first pole in his 31st career Verizon IndyCar Series start. Aleshin will lead the field to the green flag for the 200-lap marathon on the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle” oval in what will be the 13th race to be completed on the 16-race schedule (3 p.m. ET Sunday, NBCSN and Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network).

“It’s obviously very difficult to explain what I feel now,” the reserved 29-year-old from Moscow said. “It’s a lot of emotions definitely. It’s my first pole in INDYCAR and I am so happy to bring the No. 7 SMP Racing car up there.

“The team did an amazing job. We had a couple of moments in Turn 1, but I decided to keep it flat and see what would happen. (Hitting) the wall didn’t happen, but pole position happened. Amazing.”

Aleshin led a contingent of the top five qualifiers representing five teams. Also, in fitting with the ongoing 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, today’s top six qualifiers hail from six nations.

American Josef Newgarden, currently fourth in the point standings, qualified second at 220.195 mph in the No. 21 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka/ECR Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing. It continued strong showings for Newgarden on superspeedway ovals in 2016. He qualified and finished third at the 100th Indianapolis 500 in May and qualified fifth and was running up front at the rain-suspended Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway in June when he was involved in a crash.

Newgarden believed he could have won the pole today had he not asked for a setup change just before qualifying.

“I think where we rolled out with would have been enough,” Newgarden said. “It’s my fault that we changed it. I’m disappointed about that. You always want the pole. We have a great chemistry and group with our people, but sometimes I mess up.

“Congrats to Mikhail, great job by him. We didn’t have enough today, but tomorrow is what counts.”

Takuma Sato will start third in the No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda (220.067) – the best qualifying effort for the Japanese driver since he won the pole for the second Chevrolet Dual in Detroit race in 2014. Brazil’s Helio Castroneves will start next to Sato in Row 2 after logging two laps at an average of 219.781 mph in the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet.

“Very, very happy about our qualifying run,” Sato said. “We had a very good baseline car. We tested here a couple weeks ago, which helped massively, and we gained a good understanding for the strong superspeedway package that Honda worked so hard on and it looks like we have a pretty strong car.”

Row 3 will consist of Colombia’s Carloz Munoz in the No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda (219.647) and Canada’s James Hinchcliffe, Aleshin’s teammate in the No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda (219.463).

Verizon IndyCar Series championship leader Simon Pagenaud qualified 14th in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet (217.721). Pagenaud holds a 58-point lead over teammate Will Power, who qualified eighth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevy (218.617).

Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won the 2015 ABC Supply 500, was uninjured in a crash during morning practice but his car – the same chassis that won the 2014 Indianapolis 500 – could not be repaired in time to make a qualifying attempt. Hunter-Reay will start the race in 22nd position in the No. 28 DHL Honda for Andretti Autosport.

Two other drivers – Charlie Kimball and Juan Pablo Montoya – also crashed in morning practice but were able to make qualifying attempts. Montoya, the 2014 Pocono winner, will start 15th in the No. 2 Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet and Kimball 16th in the No. 83 Tresiba Chevy.

SOURCE: INDYCAR

Rookies Pass 2014 Indianapolis 500 Rookie Orientation Program

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Kurt Busch gets buckled in for Rookie Orientation Program at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- Photo by: Chris Owens
Kurt Busch gets buckled in for Rookie Orientation Program at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — Photo by: Chris Owens

Carlos Huertas eventually agreed with team owner Dale Coyne that the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race isn’t one to pass up.

“I was a bit unsure because I never did it before and because I had a late start to the season I couldn’t prepare for the ovals well,” said the 22-year-old Verizon IndyCar Series rookie from Colombia. “This race is different because you get a lot of practice, which helped in the decision. If I’m well-prepared, I’m ready to do it.”

Huertas participated May 5 in the formal Indianapolis 500 Rookie Orientation Program at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He totaled 77 laps.

Other full-season Verizon Indy Car Series drivers Jack Hawksworth (Bryan Herta Autosport) and Mikhail Aleshin (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) were joined by Martin Plowman (A.J. Foyt Racing) and 2013 Indy Lights champion Sage Karam (Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom Racing) on the 2.5-mile oval.

“Being on the oval is weird to start with because everything is so different,” said Huertas, who noted that a decision about competing in the other five oval races will be made after the ‘500.’ “I think the speed was OK. I was just working on the lines and understanding what to do. I think everything is very new, but I think I did OK.”

The program is designed to provide the first-year competitors an opportunity to get acquainted with their cars and the racetrack through three speed phases set by INDYCAR — 10 laps at 200-205 mph, 15 laps at 205-210 mph and 15 laps at 210-plus mph. Driver stewards also monitored car control, placement and a consistent driving pattern.

“It was actually harder for me to go slower (in Phase 1) because you had to lift and I don’t like to lift,” said Aleshin, who also will compete in his first oval race in the No. 7 SMP Racing car. “This is so important and it’s all set now for working with the car in practice for the Indy 500. This will be the first oval race in my career and how awesome is it that it will be the Indy 500?”

All but Karam, whose car developed a mechanical issue that prevented the 19-year-old from Nazareth, Pa., from completing all three phases, completed the program. Per Indianapolis 500 rules, Karam will be allowed to finish the third phase on the first day of practice May 11.

Additionally, NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, who completed his refresher course on the oval April 29 in an Andretti Autosport car, recorded 114 laps and went through some rudimentary pit stops with the No. 26 car crew.

Busch, 35, will attempt to become the fourth driver to attempt the “double” — competing in the 98th Indianapolis 500 and the evening stock car race in Concord, N.C., on May 25. He won the latter in 2010. John Andretti, Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart have each done it, with Stewart — co-owner of Busch’s No. 41 Sprint Cup car at Stewart Haas Racing — becoming the first in 2001 to complete all 1,000 miles. A day earlier, Busch was involved in a multi-car crash in the stock car race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Cars will be on the racetrack for the opening of practice about 18 hours after the checkered flag flies for the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the reconfigured road course. Qualifications are May 17-18.

Source: INDYCAR