Archive for October 2012

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) development driver Kyle O’Gara took a big step in his career at Kentucky Speedway on October 18 when he strapped into a Firestone Indy Lights car for the first time.

At 17 years old, O’Gara turned just under 100 laps on the 1.5-mile tri-oval to pass his rookie orientation test for the Firestone Indy Lights series.

“I was a little nervous but it was just another step in the right direction for my career,” O’Gara said. “Getting used to using the clutch coming out of the pits and shifting was a big learning curve since I’m used to driving midgets which stay in one gear.”

O’Gara drove a car prepared by Fan Force United/ SFHR Development, with assistance from sponsors Service Central, SFHR Development, IUPUI and RW Motorsports.

SFHR IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden was on hand with open wheel veterans Sarah Fisher and Tyce Carlson to lend guidance.

“It was great to be part of a big day for Kyle,” Sarah Fisher said. “From a coaching standpoint, he was consistent. He got right to the driving line and continued to bring the speed up to a level that his engineer Mike Colliver was impressed with.”

Mike Colliver, who served as an engineering consultant for the test, noted O’Gara’s consistency during the test.

“Kyle settled right in and did exactly what we asked of him,” Colliver said. “He gave great feedback. We were able to do a lot of short runs to make changes on the car so he could see how it adapted to the changes. If he didn’t get up to speed as quickly as he did I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

O’Gara’s quickest lap was just under 189 mph, which would have put him in the top-ten for qualifying at the last Firestone Indy Lights race at Kentucky Speedway.

O’Gara felt right at home driving at Kentucky Speedway, the site of Sarah Fisher’s first IndyCar pole and SFHR’s first IZOD IndyCar Series win.

“It meant a lot to me for my first open wheel test in a rear engine car to be at Kentucky Speedway,” O’Gara said. “It’s a track I’ve always dreamed of driving at and it has a lot of great memories for SFHR.”

In 2013, O’Gara and SFHR Development are working toward a partial oval schedule in Firestone Indy Lights in addition to a mixed USF2000 and USAC schedule.

Josef Newgarden and Nathan O'Rourke may be in the spotlight at the Robo-Pong 200 as former winners of the event, but there's one more Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing employee in the running. Gearbox mechanic Jon Laski will be competing in the 200-mile event with co-driver Simon Short, and Laski stands to lose more than just bragging rights if he doesn't have a good showing.

Earlier this week SFHR's crew chief Anton Julian made three bets with Laski in regard to his performance in Robo-Pong. Each bet is worth $50, and if Laski loses all three bets he has to pay up $150 and wear a pink firesuit in public for a week. The bets are:

• Laski must qualify in the top-30
• Laski must not get lapped by O'Rourke in the first stint of the race
• If he doesn't have mechanical problems, Laski must not lose to O'Rourke.

SFHR driver Josef Newgarden and his head engineer Nathan O'Rourke are used to playing on the same team to ensure the No. 67 SFHR Dallara/Honda/Firestone car is at the top of its game. However, they have maintained a healthy level of competition the entire year on challenges ranging from iRacing competitions to hair follicle count. After facing off 10 times, Newgarden and O'Rourke are tied with five victories each.

The final challenge of the season comes down to Sunday's Robo-Pong 200, where the two will face-off on different teams in the biggest kart race of the year at New Castle Motorsports Park. Newgarden will be teamed up with co-driver Mark Dismore, Jr. and O'Rourke will join forces with IZOD IndyCar driver Ed Carpenter for the 200-mile race. Both teams will be driving karts built by the same person and will share set-up data. With an even playing field, driver skill will be the difference between winning or going home a loser.

Newgarden has predicted that his lap times will be 0.5-0.6 seconds faster than O'Rourke. O'Rourke on the other hand believes that Newgarden will only be 0.2-0.3 seconds quicker. While there has been no trash talking, Newgarden did say this: "I think if anything Nate's just sad that he has to run with Ed and not me."

Take a look at Newgarden and O'Rourke's stats below to see who you think will pull off the victory: