Racin’ thoughts after first week of playoffs and an end to a season:
Driver gets off to a decent start in a race; he and crew chief improve performance as race wears on; look pretty good but not great heading into final scheduled pit stop of the day; kick crap out of everybody else on the [...]

By John Sturbin | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
His Saturday dawned with a contract extension and ended with a late-night championship. It was the 500 miles of racing in-between that were a blur for Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series driver’s champion.
“I have no idea (how I won this championship),” Hunter-Reay said after his fourth-place finish in [...]

With the exception of front-row starters Marco Andretti and Ryan Briscoe, INDYCAR’s “fresh engine rule” will re-shape the starting grid for Saturday night’s IZOD IndyCar Series season-ending MAVTV 500, almost to the point of confusion.
Fourteen drivers – including championship leader Will Power and runnerup Ryan Hunter-Reay – will incur 10 grid-spot penalties from the sanctioning [...]

Championship leader Will Power exited a day-long practice at Auto Club Speedway with a pronounced psychological advantage over runnerup Ryan Hunter-Reay, as preparations continue for Saturday night’s IZOD IndyCar Series MAVTV 500 INDYCAR World Championships season-finale.
Team Penske’s Power emerged as third-fastest of 22 cars testing during an eight-hour private session Wednesday around the D-shaped, 2-mile [...]

Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport made a late-race charge to get the IndyCar Series victory in the Grand Prix of Baltimore on Sunday.
The victory for Hunter-Reay, combined with a sixth-place finish by points leader Will Power of Team Penske, sends the series to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. for the final race of the [...]

RacinToday.com
IndyCar Series championship points leader Will Power earned the pole for the Grand Prix of Baltimore for the second consecutive year, and with the bonus point takes a 37-point lead over Ryan Hunter-Reay into the penultimate race of the season.
Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, posted a series track-qualifying record lap of [...]

RacinToday.com
Defending race winner and IZOD IndyCar Series championship points leader Will Power led shortened opening day of practice for the Grand Prix of Baltimore.
Power turned a lap of 1 minute, 21.4572 seconds in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car during a 30-minute practice after course issues shortened morning practice and forced series officials to [...]

RacinToday.com
Ryan Briscoe, who started next to teammate and pole sitter Will Power, held off Power on a pair of late restarts and won the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma by 0.4408 of a second for his first victory since Texas in 2010.
Briscoe became the seventh different winner in 13 IndyCar Series races this season.

“We [...]

RacinToday.com
Will Power won the pole for the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma for the third consecutive year Saturday.
Power, who has won the past two races at Sonoma from the pole, set an IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying record for the 2.385-mile, 12-turn layout with a lap of 1 minute, 17.2709 seconds in the Firestone Fast [...]

RacinToday.com
Texas Motor Speedway officials announced the Fort Worth track’s 2013 season schedule Tuesday and it includes an IndyCar Series event.
Despite speculation about its future at Texas Motor Speedway, the IZOD IndyCar Series will return for its 17th season with the Firestone 550 on Saturday, June 8. The event will be an INDYCAR/NASCAR doubleheader weekend as [...]