Race Report: Honda Indy 200
LEXINGTON, Ohio—Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a challenging course when you start at the sharp end of the grid because it is so difficult to pass. Starting in the back, A.J. Foyt’s team knew they had their work cut out for them. Matheus Leist and Tony Kanaan slipped through a mid-pack tangle at the start to gain four positions in their ABC Supply Chevrolets before the first lap was completed. The race strategists decided on a three-stop race versus a two-stop race so that fue
Qualifying Report: Honda Indy 200
LEXINGTON, Ohio—Disappointment and frustration summed up the feelings in the Foyt camp after qualifying today at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the picturesque, 13-turn, 2.258-mile permanent road course, nestled halfway between Cleveland and Columbus. It was particularly frustrating for Matheus Leist whose No. 4 ABC Supply Chevrolet seemed to improve over the course of the weekend from where he started Friday morning. Leist was 19th in the first practice and seventh in the secon
Notes & Quotes: Honda Indy 200
Mark Stewart joined AJ Foyt Racing in January of this year. He currently works on the No. 14 ABC Supply Chevrolet driven by Tony Kanaan. We asked him a few questions… Where were you born and raised? MS: “North side of beautiful Phoenix, Arizona.” How did you get involved in racing? Where did it start for you? MS: “My first involvement in racing was bike racing with my family, we spent a majority of our Friday and Saturday nights at Black Mountain BMX. Then later we ventured i
Race Report: Iowa 300
NEWTON, Iowa—Torrential downpours and track weepers slowed the start of the Iowa 300 for four and a half hours which was set to start at 6:15 PM CT. The 10:45 PM start may have set a record for the start of an NTT IndyCar Series race. When the race concluded at 1:15 AM, Tony Kanaan posted his second top-10 finish of the season (10th) while Matheus Leist placed 16th. Josef Newgarden won the race in dominant fashion. “We came here with a goal to finish in the top 10 and I think
Qualifying Report: Iowa 300
NEWTON, Iowa—Under hot and sunny skies, Tony Kanaan posted his best qualifying effort of the season but he was disappointed in the run which will see him line up 13th in the Iowa 300 at Iowa Speedway tomorrow evening. Kanaan had posted a time that was seventh quick in the morning practice (he was never out of the top 10), so he was optimistic about his chances in qualifying, hence his disappointment. “Frustrating, I think I could have been a little bit better,” said Kanaan, w
Notes & Quotes: Iowa 300
Andrew Copeland joined AJ Foyt Racing in 2010 as a mechanic. He currently works on the No. 4 ABC Supply Chevrolet driven by Matheus Leist. We asked him a few questions… Where were you born and raised? AC: “I was born in New Orleans where my Dad was attending seminary at the time. About a year later, in December 1980, my family moved to Nigeria where my parents served as missionaries. From 1980-1999 I spent most of my childhood growing up in Nigeria and some years in South Car
Race Report: Honda Indy Toronto
TORONTO—Good news. Bad news. The Honda Indy Toronto won’t show the great results but dig deeper and the lap times recorded by Matheus Leist were on par with those cars running in the top five, certainly the fastest laps of the weekend for the No. 4 ABC Supply Chevrolet. Unfortunately, a mid-pack accident on lap one in turn 8 triggered by one car trying to make it three-wide in a turn barely wide enough for two caused a bottleneck which caught out both Tony Kanaan and Leist wh
Qualifying Report: Honda Indy Toronto
TORONTO – Toronto is one of the favorite venues in the NTT IndyCar Series for the ABC Supply Racing drivers Tony Kanaan and Matheus Leist but this weekend has been frustrating for both of them. After qualifying today on the 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit, Leist will start 19th and Kanaan 22nd in the Honda Indy Grand Prix. At the start of the qualifying session, a problem with shifting gears cost Leist some time on track and he was only able to get one run in. Unhappy with
Notes & Quotes: Honda Indy Toronto
Alejandro (Alex) Diaz became involved in auto racing after four years of working as an engineer in the automotive industry in Detroit. Finishing his post graduate work at the University of Michigan, Diaz had earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Florida International University. A Miami native, Diaz recalled: “One early memory (of racing) was attending the 2002 CART Indy car series race in downtown Miami. Seeing the cars run through the streets of Miami and hearing t
