pressdog.com

Pippa Mann Uses Her Social Media Tools, Copes with Driving Uncertainty

Pippa Mann waits to qualify for the Indy 500 in 2013.

Pippa Mann's fans are convinced of several things ..

1.) She's among the most fan-friendly, accessible drivers in IndyCar. The Ipswich, England, native now lives with her husband in Indianapolis turns up at virtually every fan event she's invited to in Indy. She's also a regular attender of most Tweet ups and other fan gatherings at most IndyCar race locations, even if she's not driving that weekend.

2) She uses her tools ... in the social media realm. From having twitter-based conversation with fans to writing columns for Racer Magazine and her own site, to Behind-the-Scenes photo galleries and Facebook updates, Pippa relentlessly works the social media channels to connect with fans.

3) Despite the struggles and trials that the majority of IndyCar drivers go through -- not to mention the harsh critics and haters sniping from the anonymous shadows -- Pippa remains remarkably positive in public.

Josef Newgarden Credits Continuity for Improvement, Confesses to Being a Lifelong “Dork”

Josef Newgarden gets recognized at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

pressdog: You were P8 in Texas and P11 at Milwaukee, it seems like you have an improvement trend going.

Josef Newgarden: Yeah, absolutely. We’ve had some good results. Detroit Race 1 was good for us. We’ve had the potential to do even a little better. We got unlucky in Texas, but other than that I think we’ve had the potential to be in the top 5 at every event, even challenge for a win. So it’s there.

The consistency of us doing that every weekend and showing that we can make it happen, it’s only been good for us and it’s going to eventually get us into that consistent place where we are finishing inside the top five and contending week in and week out with the top guys.

Marco Andretti -- Working Hard in the Right Places, Jonesing for a Win, Feeling Iowa Love

Marco Andretti, part of an Andretti Autosport team that has had Iowa Speedway wired from the first race here in 2007, is looking for his second win at Iowa and career win Number 3.

I talked to Marco on Friday about his evolved approach to racing that includes a sustained effort to not overdrive and to control his "grab the car by the throat" natural urges, the impact of heat and wind on drivers and cars, how he handles fan expections and much more, 

pressdog: About Milwaukee, what goes through your head as a driver when you know something is screwy with your car? After the F bombs …

Sam Hornish Talks about NASCAR, IndyCar and Winged Sprints

Sam Hornish Jr. posses for a photo after his qualifying run at Iowa Speedway.

Sam had just finished his qualifying run at Iowa Speedway on June 8 that would eventually have him starting P2 when I ambushed him for a quick Q&A.

Below are his thoughts on how to handle rain delays, IndyCar and the Indy 500, his progress as a NASCAR driver, Iowa Speedway and the prospect of climbing aboard a 900-horsepower, festival of racing rage (410 sprint car).

pressdog: How do you handle rain delays?

Sam Hornish: Try to keep yourself hydrated and fed. When you’re not sure what is going to happen with the rain sometimes you lose that focus of doing the things that you need to so that you are on top of the game when you get in the race car so that you have the right meal in you and that you are hydrated and all those different things.

IndyCar Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay Talks about Success of 2012, Challenges of 2013

Ryan Hunter-Reay's charge to the 2012 IndyCar championship included three wins in a row -- Milwaukee, Iowa and Toronto --  another win at Baltimore and a white-knucke finish at Fontana.

Read for RHR's comments on how he really started feeling the pressure after rival Will Power hit the wall in Fontana, life as a new father, his realtionship with the Indy 500, how the DW12 went from "not the prettiest girl at the dance" to a grade of "A" in 2012, the state of IndyCar and more.

Thanks large to fans who sent in questions for RHR, which are answered below. Thanks also to Andretti Autosport's Ryann Rigsby for rigging the interview.

Sebastien Bourdais Talks F1, Lotus, Toronto and Twitter

Is Sebastien Bourdais really an enigma wrapped in a riddle surrounded by four Vanderbilt Trophies? Or is he just a bit taciturn? More a speak-when-spoken-to kind of guy? And what about that tenure in F1? Was it painful and disappointing or more "frustrating" and "unfortunate?"

It turns out the somewhat bookish appearance of Bourdais actually fits him pretty well. The angular Bourdais with his rectangular glasses is a bit of a science geek, always wondering how the car works and what makes it react as it does. And he's a collaborator -- someone who likes to work the engineers and others to massage his cars into optimum setups for his driving style. That strong character trait may have made him the square peg in a round F1 hole.

The Vanderbilt Cups -- trophies for his four consecutive Champ Car World Series Championships -- give Bourdais literal street cred, as do his 31 wins in 73 starts in Champ Car, an outlandish 42% winning record.

Today Bourdais drives for Dragon Racing in the IndyCar series, sharing a car with teammate Katherine Legge. He talked about all this and more Monday:

De Silvestro Encouraged By Belle Isle, Options Open for 2013

Give Simona De Silvestro an A+ with five gold stars for her attitude in the 2012 IndyCar series. As the only Lotus-engine team, Simona's straight line speed is a woeful seven miles per hour off the Honda and Chevy pace on road and street courses. On ovals she's lapped early, and there's nothing in the world she can do about it as a driver.

Yet despite the underpowered car, De Silvestro was upbeat in an interview Friday, talking about making the best of things, savoring her recent good run at Belle Isle, looking forward to possible new engine updates in a few weeks.

Katherine Legge on 2012, Taking Criticism and Being The Mentor

Katherine Legge's 2012 season has not gone according to plan, let alone dream. As Legge said last week during an interview at Iowa Speedway: "nothing's ever easy, right?" But struggle is nothing new for Legge, who says she's "always had to fight as hard as I can for what I’ve done, and it’s been really hard. And sometimes I think I’m stupid for pursuing it at all costs."

Hinch on Being Funny, Wearing Green and Growing Facial Hair

Whether he's setting IndyCar fans a blaze with comic video stylings, working his way to Rookie of the Year Awards or taking over a sponsor for You Know Who, Canadian James Hinchcliffe (@Hinchtown) brings a refereeing sense of fun and fan focus to IndyCar.

So is life all yuks and videos about dog washing machines? Or is there a Dark Side to Hinch? Key quote:

Hinch: The biggest thing is, a large motivator behind creating Hinchtown to begin with was from what I saw of people in this business. Drivers they took themselves too seriously. Don’t get me wrong, I very much take my job seriously and my racing seriously. But at the end of the day, I have the coolest job of anybody on Earth. These guys were wandering around like they were miserable for even being there; I just didn’t get it. So I sort of created Hinchtown as a way to let people know that this is what I do and I really enjoy doing it and I’m going to be myself when I’m doing it.

Thanks to Andretti Autosport PR operative Ryann Rigsby for helping connect me with Mr. Hinch. Check the full interview below ..

Shannon McIntosh Talks Team, TrueCar and Twisties

The irrepressible Shannon McIntosh fills her Twitter stream (@Shannon_Mac) with everything from references to #babytiny, grateuitous use of hashtags (#rude!) and photos of junker Cars of the Day.

The dimunative USF2000 driver is an Ohio girl transplanted to Florida who jets here and there for magazine shoots, clandestine sponsor meetings and race car driving. Shannon wakes up "gregarious."

Now she's got a new sponsor (TrueCar.com), a new team (Pabst Racing) and a new level of schwerve as she enters her second season of USF2000 racing. Read what she had to say Thursday ..