INDYCAR NEWS AND NOTES – Oct. 16, 2014

Today’s Verizon IndyCar Series and Mazda Road to Indy headlines:

1. Inside the numbers – Power wins at impressive clip

2. Hinchcliffe takes Deadmau5 for ride on IMS Road Course

3. Hunter-Reay to be inducted in Broward Sports Hall of Fame

4. Bell hosts weekly series of athlete tests

5. Four karters selected for USF2000 test day

6. Of note

1. Inside the numbers – Power wins at impressive clip: Over the last five years, no driver has won more Indy car races than Will Power.

Twenty of the Australian’s 24 career Indy car wins have come since he joined Team Penske as a full-time Verizon IndyCar Series driver in 2010.

Power’s five-year rise from race winner to title contender, and finally, the Verizon IndyCar Series champion, is impressive and so is his winning percentage over that time – 23.256 percent.

Power’s winning percentage stacks up favorably against the greats of the sport.

A.J. Foyt, who holds the all-time record for victories in Indy car history with 67, won at an 18 percent clip. Power, for his part, has won 24 out of the 139 times he’s strapped into an Indy car – 17.26 percent of the races he’s started.

Power’s winning percentage isn’t unparalleled among his contemporaries, though.

Sebastien Bourdais’ domination of the Champ Car World Series from 2004-2007 resulted in 31 wins over 69 starts (nearly 45 percent), and even with one win since his full-time return to Indy car racing, the Frenchman’s winning percentage remains close to 25 percent — which is on par with the PGA winning percentage of Tiger Woods.

INDY CAR DRIVER WINNING PERCENTAGES: (Min 100 starts)

Others to note:

OTHER SERIES:

FORMULA 1

All-time winning percentage

Juan Manuel Fangio    24        51        47.06%

Current driver

Sebastian Vettel          39        136      28.676%

NASCAR CUP        

All-time winning percentage

Herb Thomas               48        228      21.053%

Current driver

Jimmie Johnson           69        466      14.807%

2. Hinchcliffe takes Deadmau5 for ride on IMS Road Course: An average work day for James Hinchcliffe and Joel Zimmerman, a progressive house music producer known as Deadmau5, is anything but average.

On Oct. 15, Zimmerman got a chance to compare the two, when he traded his iconic mouse-style headdress called “mau5head” for a racing helmet and Hinchcliffe took him for a high-speed ride through the esses of the 14-turn road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Hinch knows this track like the back of his hand,” Zimmerman said. “He knows the brake points and when to stretch. This was nutty.”

Despite both Hinchcliffe and Zimmerman being natives of Toronto, it wasn’t until their meeting at a rainy Indianapolis Motor Speedway – nearly 600 miles from the Canadian hometown – that the 27-year-old racing driver and the 33-year-old musician were formally introduced.

While this wasn’t Zimmerman’s first time in the Indy car 2-seater, having taken a ride on the Streets of Toronto prior to the Honda Indy Toronto, this time he felt the rhythm of racing.

“In drummer territory, you have to keep the time,” he said. “You have to be on it. You have to meet certain cues.”

Though this concept is comparable to motorsports, there are major differences for a typical day on the job for Hinchcliffe, vs. one for Zimmerman: If Zimmerman messes up while working on a music track, it’s safe to start over. But if Hinchcliffe slips up on track, it can be dangerous – a detail not missed by Zimmerman.

“The screams weren’t too distracting,” joked Hinchcliffe, “Joel’s been in quick cars before so he has an appreciation for what we’re doing here. In the wet it gives you a whole different perspective. The risks you have to take in the wet are much greater.”

But Hinchcliffe played it safe and after four fast laps through the Grand Prix of Indianapolis course, Zimmerman jumped out of the car with a huge grin and a jolt of adrenaline.

“Are you going to brake or what?” said Zimmerman about Hinchcliffe’s reaction time. “You have to know the absolute latest moment that you can slam on your brakes. It’s really about timing. As he told me, every millisecond counts.”

3. Hunter-Reay to be inducted in Broward Sports Hall of Fame: Ryan Hunter-Reay is a Verizon IndyCar Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner.

Later this month, he’ll add another title – Broward Sports Hall of Famer.

The Verizon IndyCar Series standout, a lifelong resident of Fort Lauderdale, will be inducted into the Broward County Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 28 alongside Olympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross and Pro Football Hall of Famer Dwight Stephenson among others.

The Broward County Sports Hall of Fame recognizes coaches, athletes and pioneers who are, or have been, Broward County residents. Past members include Dara Torres, Chris Evert, Whitey Ford, H. Wayne Huizenga and Dan Marino.

4. Bell hosts weekly series of athlete tests: Indy car racer and NBCSN Verizon IndyCar Series analyst Townsend Bell is the host of “What’Cha Got” — seven weekly episodes airing Sundays during ESPN FC on ESPN2.

The short episodes feature six MLS players swapping their daily rides for a turn behind the wheel of a Lamborghini on a circuit in the parking lot of an MLS stadium. The Eastern and Western Conference players with the best time will compete in the final, airing Dec. 7, with a year-long lease of the Lamborghini as the prize.

5. Four karters selected for USF2000 test day: Four finalists from a group of 12 karters have been named to the inaugural Mazda Road to Indy and MAXSpeed Group Driver Advancement Program.

The drivers are each awarded a one-day Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda test Jan. 28 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with the support of both Mazda Road to Indy and MAXSpeed Group personnel.

Selected by a panel of judges were Oliver Askew, 17, of Tequesta, Fla.; Christian Brooks, 14, of Santa Clarita, Calif.; Sabre Cook, 19, of Grand Junction, Colo.; and Austin Versteeg, 15, of Sandy, Utah. All are competitors in the United States Rotax MAX Challenge program.

“Karting is such an important element to the health and growth of motorsport in North America,” said Verizon IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe, who was a member of the judging panel along with Indy Lights champion Gabby Chaves. “The talent pool was deep and all of them should be proud of what they have accomplished and of making it into the finals.”

The partnership between the Mazda Road to Indy and Rotax MAXSpeed Group was announced in June to foster the next wave of up-and-coming drivers. Rotax is the largest racing series in the world in any form of motorsports with more than 15,000 drivers competing each year.

6. Of note: Verizon IndyCar Series drivers Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves and Sebastian Saavedra, along with 2014 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires champion Gabby Chaves, are the early entrants in Juan Pablo Montoya’s annual charity karting event Nov. 29 in Colombia. … Castroneves’ partner, Adriana Henao, will run in the New York Marathon on Nov. 2 as part of a fundraiser to support relief efforts of Haitians affected by the 2010 earthquake and more recent storms. To contribute, visithttps://www.crowdrise.com/thelongrunforhaiti