Been a busy last 24 hours for Verizon IndyCar Series news. Here’s a quick roundup:
- Pocono set to return: In the process-of-elimination to determine a potential August date for the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule, it appears Pocono Raceway has won out over for sure The Milwaukee Mile, and potentially Gateway International Raceway as well, to fulfill Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles’ figuring of 15 tracks and 16 races for the 2016 schedule. NBCSN IndyCar pit reporter Robin Miller wrote on Tuesday that Pocono would fall on the August 21 date, the same weekend as it fell this year, in a piece for RACER.com. The status of Gateway remains uncertain, while MotorSportsTalk has sent in questions to the president of the Wisconsin State Fair Park regarding any potential Milwaukee update, with no response. A formal Pocono confirmation and expected confirmation of Iowa and Toronto’s dates would round out the 2016 schedule, once IndyCar formally releases it.
- Klotz on the move: The exodus from Andretti Autosport continues, with news veteran team manager and strategist George Klotz will move to A.J. Foyt Enterprises, as first reported by Motorsport.com’s David Malsher. Klotz is one of a number of employees on the team side that has left the organization in the last several weeks, and his presence should be welcomed at Foyt, where he’ll likely again have Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth to work with. Hawksworth, as we reported last week, will test Oct. 26 at Barber Motorsports Park as he closes on a deal for a second season with the team.
- Under-the-radar testing this week: Multiple teams are testing this week, but while the Road America test got a bunch of fanfare a couple weeks ago, tests in Sebring and Texas this week aren’t quite making the rounds as much in the public eye.
- New sponsor for Boston: The Grand Prix of Boston announced that LogMeIn Inc. (NASDAQ: LOGM) will serve as the presenting sponsor for the inaugural event, to be held Labor Day weekend 2016. This is the latest in a series of partnerships with local businesses and vendors, based in the Greater Boston area.
- Cool moment for Daly: Earlier this week, Conor Daly got to sample A.J. Foyt’s 1961 Indianapolis 500 winner at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Daly, who started five IndyCar races this year, posted a couple cool photos on Twitter (garage, pit lane)
- Three Andrettis and Ludacris. Really. File this one under things you don’t see every day but is still pretty freaking cool. We know Marco Andretti has a number of cool friends from the entertainment community, including Ludacris. As the Andretti Kart Racing facility opened in Atlanta this week, “Luda” posed for a pic with all three generations of Andrettis - Marco along with father Michael and grandfather Mario. It’s an Instagram pic you have to see to believe.