Archive for March 2013

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) development driver Kyle O’Gara, a Roncalli High School Senior, announced today in front of his classmates on the south side of Indianapolis that he would be taking them all with him to Coors Lite Carb Day for the Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 on May 24.

O’Gara, 18, will make his Firestone Indy Lights debut at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway through a partnership between SFH Racing Development and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM), a team that has won seven of 10 total runnings of the Firestone Freedom 100 at IMS and six of the last 11 series championships.

“It’s a dream come true for me to be racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” O’Gara said. “Sam Schmidt has proven over and over that his team knows how to put together a car that can win in Firestone Indy Lights competition, and I’m excited to be apart of that and learn as much as possible.”

While O’Gara has spent a good portion of his high school career traveling for his race schedule, he has always worked closely with Roncalli High School to ensure he maintained a 4.0 GPA. To show support for Roncalli, the left side of O’Gara’s helmet for the Firestone Freedom 100 will be painted in Roncalli colors and carry the red “R,” while the right side will feature the orange, white and green Irish paint scheme he has carried since he was eight years old.

One of O’Gara’s Freedom 100 sponsors, SportEvents.com, is providing all Roncalli High School students and faculty with tickets to the Freedom 100.

“It’s going to be so cool to see my school out at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, especially since a lot of them might not typically go,” O’Gara said.“

The O’Gara family has been involved in racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for more than 35 years in various capacities from mechanics and crew chiefs to engineers, race strategists and team owners. Kyle O’Gara will be the first O’Gara to race at the famous track however, excluding his famous sister-in-law Sarah Fisher.

“It will be very rewarding to watch Kyle drive over the yard of bricks after knowing and working with him for so long,” Fisher said. “Being part of most of his racing efforts to date, it's been exciting to see him moving up the ladder. This rung will be the most fun so far, knowing what his next steps could be. I'm tremendously proud of him and look forward to standing on the grid with him at Indianapolis.”

In October of 2012 O’Gara successfully completed his Firestone Indy Lights rookie test with Fan Force United at Kentucky Speedway. He will test with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports at Auto Club Speedway in April and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in early May.

O’Gara’s Freedom 100 effort will be backed by Direct Supply and local Indianapolis companies Indiana Members Credit Union, Rotondo Weirich Enterprises Inc., Peterman Heating & Cooling, SportsEvents.com, Business Art & Designs and Indy Trading Post. A primary sponsorship announcement for O’Gara’s car is expected in the coming weeks.

Practice and qualifying for the Firestone Freedom 100 begins on May 23. The 11th running of the Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will take place on May 24.

Josef Newgarden’s Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg ended abruptly due to gearbox issues after completing 50 laps through the Streets of St. Petersburg.

Newgarden and the No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) with Hartmoor Polo Water Dallara/Honda/Firestone car started the season-opening IZOD IndyCar Series race from 16th. He gained three spots early in the race and ran consistently in the 13th position through the first caution flag on lap 20.

His pace remained steady as he reached a race-high of 12th place. While running 12th on lap 51, Newgarden radioed the crew and informed them the clutch wasn’t engaging. He returned to the pits with the No. 67 machine after receiving assistance from the Holmatro Safety Team.

Once back in the pit box, SFHR discovered the car had a gearbox failure. The team attempted to put the car into gear manually, but failed. Shortly after the track went back to green on lap 55 (of 110), Newgarden and the No. 67 SFHR team officially retired from the race. He ended the day in 23rd position.

“It was difficult to have a result like today because I think we had a great race car,” Newgarden said. “We were trying to take our time, work at a steady pace and let the race come to us. The clutch problem happened pretty early in the race, only about halfway. It is a shame to have a mechanical issue; you don’t want to start a season that way. We’ll be back stronger next race. We learned a lot this weekend that we can apply to the next race and the season.”

James Hinchcliffe earned his first IZOD IndyCar Series victory at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday. Hinchcliffe rolled down the pits with a fist pump as Newgarden cheered his fellow driver and friend from the SFHR pit box. Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti followed Hinchcliffe to the checkered flag for the remaining two spots on the podium. Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon rounded out the top five finishers.

Next up for Newgarden and SHFR is the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park on April 7.

Josef Newgarden narrowly missed advancing to the second round of IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg today and will embark on the first race of his sophomore season with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) from the 16th starting position.

The 22-year-old's fastest lap of 1:02.1592 through the 1.8-mile, 14-turn scenic street course on the St. Petersburg harbor ranked him eighth in his qualifying group.

Newgarden will start next to Graham Rahal in the eighth row for Sunday's race.

"We had an okay qualifying session. It would have been great to advance," Newgarden said. "I think we lost a little bit of time from the practice session to qualifying. This is the first race of the season and we have a lot to learn. Hopefully we can learn a few more things in the warm-up session tomorrow morning that will help us in both the race and the other street courses we're going to later in the season."

Newgarden earned his season-best finish in 2012 at St. Petersburg as a rookie one year ago where he finished in the 11th position after qualifying 19th overall. Now in his second season with SFHR and the IZOD IndyCar Series, Newgarden is ready to capitalize on everything he learned as a rookie.

"It feels great to be back in the car with SFHR and kicking off the season at St. Pete," Newgarden said. "I love the atmosphere here because there are so many fans. I'm so excited to be here racing. I know my engineers are pumped up, and all the guys on the team are pumped up. It's just good to get the year started off."

Will Power was fastest of the day and earned the pole position and Verizon P1 Award for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with a time of 1.01.2070, followed by Takuma Sato (1:01.5776) and Simona de Silvestro (1:01.7670).

SFHR returns to the track to kick off the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season on March 24 for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The race will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 12pm ET.

Follow @SFHRindy on Twitter for real-time updates from the No. 67 car.

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) will have no problem staying properly hydrated on the sunny Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. thanks to water company Hartmoor Polo signing on as primary sponsor for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Hartmoor Polo will grace the sidepods of the No. 67 SFHR Dallara/Honda/Firestone car for the first race of the IZOD IndyCar Series season and stay with the team throughout the year as the official team water supplier.

Hydration is key for drivers as temperatures in the cockpit of an IndyCar quickly rise to uncomfortable levels during race conditions.

"It's crucial to stay hydrated in a race car because elements of your performance can start to drop off as you become dehydrated," said Sarah Fisher, co-owner of SFHR. "We're happy to welcome a new partner to the SFHR family and are looking forward to drinking Hartmoor Polo water all season long."

SFHR returns to the track to kick off the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season on March 24 for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The race will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 12pm ET.

Follow @SFHRindy on Twitter for real-time updates from the No. 67 car.

Josef Newgarden has packed away his rookie "incognito" season and is ready to start fresh in the No. 67 car for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg this weekend.

"We had all this down time, and now it feels like there's no time to get everything done for the race weekend," Newgarden said. "There's so much to still do with just a few days left. I'm currently really busy getting packed!"

Let's hope the sophomore star does not forget his helmet before heading south for the Streets of St. Petersburg, the first IZOD IndyCar Series race of the 2013 season.

"We're just so much more prepared as a team this year," Newgarden said. "We've had a lot of time to enable us to catch up. We dove into the season quickly last year without as much time to prepare. We've refined the car and gone over everything from the driver and car standpoint, so we've refined the process to be stronger this year."

Newgarden's highest finish of the 2012 season was at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, where he placed 11th.

"I love the environment in St. Pete," Newgarden said. "It's filled with a ton of IndyCar fans with good weather in a great city. The track is a high braking track. The braking in the car on that circuit is challenging, which also makes it very technical."

In four races last season, Newgarden turned the fastest lap of any driver. At the Indianapolis 500 he qualified seventh, which made him the quickest rookie qualifier. In 2013, Newgarden and SFHR will proudly attack the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule again backed by Honda power.

With sophomore status comes higher expectations for the No. 67 SFHR Dallara/Honda/Firestone car, and with less than five days remaining until the Honda Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, SFHR is itching to get back to the track after a lengthy winter pause.

"I'm looking forward to the race weekend and the process you have to go through during the weekend with your team," Newgarden said. "It's so much fun to go through practice, qualifications and the race to get the weekend down to a good result over the three days. It's a blast to work with the team and get ready. Everyone's been chomping at the bit and we're hungry to start this year. We want to see the results this year from all of our efforts."

NBC Sports Network will air The Honda Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 24.

Follow @SFHRindy on Twitter for real-time updates from the No. 67 car.

LAS VEGAS (March 13, 2013) -- Century 21 Real Estate LLC, the franchisor of the world's largest real estate sales organization, today announced it will take its CENTURY 21® Agents: Smarter. Bolder. Faster® campaign to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when it will team up with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR). CENTURY 21 will serve as the primary sponsor for IZOD IndyCar Series driver Josef Newgarden's car in the Indianapolis 500.

SFHR co-owner Sarah Fisher joined CENTURY 21 System members today in Las Vegas at its Global Conference to unveil the car design for the 2013 Indianapolis 500. Newgarden's Dallara/Honda/Firestone car will forgo its traditional No. 67 in favor of No. 21, the world's largest real estate sales organization's signature number, for the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing."

The No. 21 CENTURY 21 Dallara/Honda/Firestone car will debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 12, when the track opens for practice. The 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place on May 26, and be broadcast on ABC television.

"Our sponsorship of the No. 21 car in the Indianapolis 500 provides another outstanding opportunity to highlight our Smarter. Bolder. Faster. campaign," said Bev Thorne, chief marketing officer, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. "Whether it's the Super Bowl, the Olympics, U.S. Soccer, or the Indy 500, we want to showcase the capabilities of our sales professionals in front of the largest audience possible."

The Indianapolis 500 is the world's largest single-day annual sporting event with more than 300,000 people in attendance each year.

"Being part of a team that brings new partners to IndyCar is an honor for us here at SFHR," said Fisher. "We are very proud to represent such a strong brand whose household name resonates well beyond their industry. It will be a "Smarter. Bolder. Faster." Indy 500 for us painted in the CENTURY 21 colors."

The CENTURY 21 marketing campaign is a perfect fit for Newgarden, who as a 21-year old rookie turned heads at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2012 by topping the speed charts on multiple practice days.

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) was established in 2008 and is owned by former driver Sarah Fisher, the youngest woman ever to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the first woman to run a full IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, and businessman Wink Hartman. SFHR has competed in the IZOD IndyCar Series since 2008, earning its first victory in 2011 at Kentucky Speedway.

Century 21 Real Estate LLC (CENTURY21.com) is the franchisor of the world's largest residential real estate sales organization, providing comprehensive training and marketing support for the CENTURY 21 System. The System is comprised of approximately 7,100 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 73 countries and territories worldwide with more than 100,000 sales professionals. Century 21 Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services.