Latest news with #JavaHouse
Fox News
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Fox News
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS: Alex Palou, Colton Herta & more after Java House Grand Prix of Monterey
Check out the post-race interviews from Alex Palou, Colton Herta and more after the NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Java House Grand Prix at Monterey.
Fox Sports
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Practice Shots: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
INDYCAR Alexander Rossi considers WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca his home track. The 33-year-old grew up in Nevada City, California, just under four hours from the scenic road course. His first visit came at the age three, when his father, Pieter, brought him to the famed Monterey circuit. While Rossi doesn't remember much from that early experience, the trips continued as he grew older, ultimately inspiring his path into motorsports. "That's just something we did every year -- go to the CART race at Laguna," Rossi said. "I fell in love with the sport.' One of those visits proved pivotal. "When I was 10 years old, we were walking around the exhibitors, and Las Vegas Motor Speedway had a booth,' Rossi said. 'They were offering a sign-up sheet for a three-day go-kart clinic. It was actually my 10th birthday, and we signed up right there at the track. The rest is kind of history." Rossi is back for this weekend's Java House Grand Prix of Monterey (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, FOX Deportes and INDYCAR Radio Network), expecting family in attendance, a dynamic that brings added responsibilities off the track. This weekend is also unique in that Java House, the primary sponsor of his No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, is also the title sponsor of the event. 'It's busier,' Rossi said. 'It's kind of reminiscent of a week of May schedule in some respects. But it's also a good problem to have. 'It's not something that any of us should complain about. You just manage it. The team does a really good job of making sure there's adequate time to focus on the engineering and performance side, meeting the obligations that Java House and that whole group will set out.' Rossi, an eight-time winner in the series, is 13 races into his first season with Ed Carpenter Racing following 147 combined races with Andretti Global (2016-2022) and Arrow McLaren (2023-2024). He's 18th in points with four top-10 finishes. Despite a rough start to the weekend, hitting the Turn 6 barrier during Friday's practice, Rossi remains optimistic. His track record at Laguna Seca is solid with a third-place finish in 2024, his third straight at the track. 'To be able to have a home race and the car that I drive is also the title sponsor of the event is sort of like a perfect dream scenario,' Rossi said. Drivers Get First Look at Laguna Seca Here are three observations about the first practice in preparation for Sunday's 95-lap race. · The Laguna Seca racing surface was notoriously abrasive -- a cheese grater of a track that delivered thrilling races as drivers tiptoed around the 2.238-mile road course. A 2023 repave changed the dynamic, changing how drivers approached the circuit in recent years. But Friday's session showed that the track is once again proving tricky, with several drivers overstepping the limit and noticing increased tire wear. Devlin DeFrancesco, Rossi, Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden each had off-track excursions during the session. · Pato O'Ward carried his momentum into Monterey by leading the opening practice session. Championship points leader Alex Palou was fourth in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The two have gone head-to-head on natural road courses this season, finishing 1-2 with Palou beating O'Ward on two separate occasions. continued this momentum by leading the opening practice session. · Palou and Colton Herta have combined to win four of the last five Laguna Seca races. Herta was second fastest in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Global. He finished runner-up to Palou last year. RLL Poised for Laguna Seca Breakout Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing believes it's poised for a breakout. Maybe that comes in this weekend's 95-lap race. Team owner Bobby Rahal knows the 2.238-mile circuit well – he is the all-time winningest driver at Laguna Seca with four victories(1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) and also earned his first major race win at the track in the 1979 Can-Am Series. His son, Graham Rahal (No. 15 WWEX Group Honda) is one of only six drivers -- Palou, Colton Herta, Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin, andKyle Kirkwood -- to reach the Firestone Fast Six at least four times this season, with all of Rahal's appearances coming in the last five races. He finished fourth at the Monterey track in 2021 and enters off a seventh-place finish last week in Toronto. Rahal's teammate Louis Foster (No. 45 Droplight Honda) has made it to the final round three times, while DeFrancesco (No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda) has done so once. DeFranceso crashed early in the session but remains confident about his prospects for the rest of the weekend. He noted the car felt strong before the incident and expects to be competitive on Saturday. Foster, who was ninth fastest on Friday, is also the only rookie to advance to the Firestone Fast Six this season, highlighted by his maiden NTT P1 Award at Road America, a session where Rahal also made the final round and qualified fifth. The British driver has raced at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca four times in INDY NXT by Firestone, winning both races in 2024 from pole position. McLaren Moves Into Andretti Global's Former Shop Arrow McLaren took ownership this week of its future NTT INDYCAR SERIES headquarters and has begun renovations on the facility located on the west side of Indianapolis. The project will nearly triple the size of the team's current Indianapolis based race shop. The organization purchased Andretti Global's former facility and is expanding it from 74,000 square feet to 86,000 square feet. In comparison, Arrow McLaren's current shop operates out of a 33,000-square-foot space. The team plans to move into the new facility in January, ahead of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. JM Bullion Expands Kirkwood, Andretti Global Partnership JM Bullion joined Andretti Global as a sponsor on Kyle Kirkwood's No. 27 Honda for last weekend's Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, where Kirkwood started and finished in sixth place. This week, Andretti Global announced that JM Bullion will continue as a sponsor for this weekend's race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, as well as the Grand Prix of Portland on August 10. Kirkwood was seventh-fastest on Friday. Odds and Ends · The series returns to the track Saturday for practice at 11:30 a.m. ET and NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET. Both air on FS1, FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network. · Saturday holds significant importance, as 23 of the 27 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at Laguna Seca have been won from a top-three starting position. Since the series returned in 2019 after a 15-year hiatus (2005–2018), the winning drivers have started from first, first, 11th, 11th, and first on the grid, respectively. · Palou was third quickest in both pre-qualifying practice sessions last year. He'd go on to claim pole position and convert that into the race win. Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda) was third on Friday. He has four top-seven finishes on natural road courses in 2025 and seven top-10 finishes in his last nine races overall. · Arrow McLaren driver Christian Lundgaard and Andretti INDY NXT Team Principal, Rob Edwards, join FOX Sports INDY NXT by Firestone coverage this weekend. Lundgaard is the analyst for Saturday's 35-lap race and Edwards for Sunday. recommended Item 1 of 1
Fox Sports
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Practice Shots: Alexander Rossi, Rest of Field Get Friday Look at Laguna Seca
INDYCAR Alexander Rossi considers WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca his home track. The 33-year-old grew up in Nevada City, California, just under four hours from the scenic road course. His first visit came at the age three, when his father, Pieter, brought him to the famed Monterey circuit. While Rossi doesn't remember much from that early experience, the trips continued as he grew older, ultimately inspiring his path into motorsports. "That's just something we did every year -- go to the CART race at Laguna," Rossi said. "I fell in love with the sport.' One of those visits proved pivotal. "When I was 10 years old, we were walking around the exhibitors, and Las Vegas Motor Speedway had a booth,' Rossi said. 'They were offering a sign-up sheet for a three-day go-kart clinic. It was actually my 10th birthday, and we signed up right there at the track. The rest is kind of history." Rossi is back for this weekend's Java House Grand Prix of Monterey (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, FOX Deportes and INDYCAR Radio Network), expecting family in attendance, a dynamic that brings added responsibilities off the track. This weekend is also unique in that Java House, the primary sponsor of his No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, is also the title sponsor of the event. 'It's busier,' Rossi said. 'It's kind of reminiscent of a week of May schedule in some respects. But it's also a good problem to have. 'It's not something that any of us should complain about. You just manage it. The team does a really good job of making sure there's adequate time to focus on the engineering and performance side, meeting the obligations that Java House and that whole group will set out.' Rossi, an eight-time winner in the series, is 13 races into his first season with Ed Carpenter Racing following 147 combined races with Andretti Global (2016-2022) and Arrow McLaren (2023-2024). He's 18th in points with four top-10 finishes. Despite a rough start to the weekend, hitting the Turn 6 barrier during Friday's practice, Rossi remains optimistic. His track record at Laguna Seca is solid with a third-place finish in 2024, his third straight at the track. 'To be able to have a home race and the car that I drive is also the title sponsor of the event is sort of like a perfect dream scenario,' Rossi said. Drivers Get First Look at Laguna Seca Here are three observations about the first practice in preparation for Sunday's 95-lap race. · The Laguna Seca racing surface was notoriously abrasive -- a cheese grater of a track that delivered thrilling races as drivers tiptoed around the 2.238-mile road course. A 2023 repave changed the dynamic, changing how drivers approached the circuit in recent years. But Friday's session showed that the track is once again proving tricky, with several drivers overstepping the limit and noticing increased tire wear. Devlin DeFrancesco, Rossi, Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden each had off-track excursions during the session. · Pato O'Ward carried his momentum into Monterey by leading the opening practice session. Championship points leader Alex Palou was fourth in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The two have gone head-to-head on natural road courses this season, finishing 1-2 with Palou beating O'Ward on two separate occasions. continued this momentum by leading the opening practice session. · Palou and Colton Herta have combined to win four of the last five Laguna Seca races. Herta was second fastest in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Global. He finished runner-up to Palou last year. RLL Poised for Laguna Seca Breakout Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing believes it's poised for a breakout. Maybe that comes in this weekend's 95-lap race. Team owner Bobby Rahal knows the 2.238-mile circuit well – he is the all-time winningest driver at Laguna Seca with four victories(1984, 1985, 1986, 1987) and also earned his first major race win at the track in the 1979 Can-Am Series. His son, Graham Rahal (No. 15 WWEX Group Honda) is one of only six drivers -- Palou, Colton Herta, Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin, andKyle Kirkwood -- to reach the Firestone Fast Six at least four times this season, with all of Rahal's appearances coming in the last five races. He finished fourth at the Monterey track in 2021 and enters off a seventh-place finish last week in Toronto. Rahal's teammate Louis Foster (No. 45 Droplight Honda) has made it to the final round three times, while DeFrancesco (No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda) has done so once. DeFranceso crashed early in the session but remains confident about his prospects for the rest of the weekend. He noted the car felt strong before the incident and expects to be competitive on Saturday. Foster, who was ninth fastest on Friday, is also the only rookie to advance to the Firestone Fast Six this season, highlighted by his maiden NTT P1 Award at Road America, a session where Rahal also made the final round and qualified fifth. The British driver has raced at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca four times in INDY NXT by Firestone, winning both races in 2024 from pole position. McLaren Moves Into Andretti Global's Former Shop Arrow McLaren took ownership this week of its future NTT INDYCAR SERIES headquarters and has begun renovations on the facility located on the west side of Indianapolis. The project will nearly triple the size of the team's current Indianapolis based race shop. The organization purchased Andretti Global's former facility and is expanding it from 74,000 square feet to 86,000 square feet. In comparison, Arrow McLaren's current shop operates out of a 33,000-square-foot space. The team plans to move into the new facility in January, ahead of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. JM Bullion Expands Kirkwood, Andretti Global Partnership JM Bullion joined Andretti Global as a sponsor on Kyle Kirkwood's No. 27 Honda for last weekend's Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, where Kirkwood started and finished in sixth place. This week, Andretti Global announced that JM Bullion will continue as a sponsor for this weekend's race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, as well as the Grand Prix of Portland on August 10. Kirkwood was seventh-fastest on Friday. Odds and Ends · The series returns to the track Saturday for practice at 11:30 a.m. ET and NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET. Both air on FS1, FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network. · Saturday holds significant importance, as 23 of the 27 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at Laguna Seca have been won from a top-three starting position. Since the series returned in 2019 after a 15-year hiatus (2005–2018), the winning drivers have started from first, first, 11th, 11th, and first on the grid, respectively. · Palou was third quickest in both pre-qualifying practice sessions last year. He'd go on to claim pole position and convert that into the race win. Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda) was third on Friday. He has four top-seven finishes on natural road courses in 2025 and seven top-10 finishes in his last nine races overall. · Arrow McLaren driver Christian Lundgaard and Andretti INDY NXT Team Principal, Rob Edwards, join FOX Sports INDY NXT by Firestone coverage this weekend. Lundgaard is the analyst for Saturday's 35-lap race and Edwards for Sunday. recommended Item 1 of 1
Indianapolis Star
15-07-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
Ed Carpenter Racing building new race shop in Westfield's Grand Park as IndyCar trend continues
In what's become an ever-growing trend in the IndyCar world, Ed Carpenter Racing announced Tuesday its plans to build a larger headquarters, shifting its operations from the northwest side of Indianapolis to Grand Park in Westfield as part of the Grand Park District Master Plan that will situate the new ECR headquarters as part of the existing Grand Park Sports Campus. ECR will become the only IndyCar team located in Hamilton County. The new team shop will be located just south of the Grand Park Event Center on the west side of Grand Park Boulevard. The 76,000 square-foot facility will house ECR's racing operations and advanced engineering and technical development spaces and will also come with both a retail and fan engagement component, offering a public viewing space into the team's operations. The shop will also offer an on-site Java House cafe, incorporating the team's sister company even deeper into the ECR family, as well as the first city-funded parking garage in Grand Park. Just last fall, ECR announced the addition of co-owner Ted Gelov to the team's ownership group that already included its namesake Ed Carpenter, Tony George and Stuart Reed. Gelov is the owner of Heartland Food Products Group, which is also based in Hamilton County and boasts both the Splenda and Java House Coffee brands, among others. Since coming on, the addition of Gelov has brought not only an influx of funding to aid in building a deeper team, tackle research and development projects and hire series veteran Alexander Rossi, but the team has undergone a rebrand, with its cars sporting some of the few consumer-facing sponsors on the grid each weekend. 'Establishing ECR's permanent home at Grand Park is a defining moment for our organization,' Gelov said. 'This new headquarters will not only serve as the foundation for our racing operations and technical development, but also as a place where fans can truly connect with our team, our partners and the sport of IndyCar. As a long-time Hamilton County resident and business owner, I'm proud to invest in this community and help bring a new level of energy, innovation and opportunity to Westfield.' Added Carpenter: 'We are very excited about this project and how it will impact the growth of ECR into the future. The opportunity to build a world-class facility within Grand Park was something we could not pass up. The demographic of Grand Park and its annual visitors is not only a great opportunity for our team to reach new fans, but also a great opportunity for IndyCar itself as we continue to capitalize on the current momentum of our sport." ECR expects to break ground on the new project in early 2026, with its completion pegged for early 2027. The IndyCar paddock's "new shop rat race" kicked off in late 2020 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announcing its ambitions to shift from its longtime headquarters in Brownsburg into a new facility in Zionsville. The team broke ground in May 2021, and RLL moved in following the 2022 season. In the several years since, Andretti Global has three times shifted gears on plans for a new shop, first breaking ground on the corner of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport in Fishers before those build plans were entirely redone over the ensuing 15 months. The team announced in March 2024 its refined vision on the space, but that new sprawling state-of-the-art headquarters will now be used by the Cadillac F1 team once its completed in early 2026. Within the last couple weeks, Andretti Global's IndyCar and Indy NXT teams have moved into the IndyStar's old Pulliam Production Center as it continues work on an extensive internal and external facelift of the shop space. Just over two years ago, Arrow McLaren purchased Andretti Global's longtime old shop, which it will gut, re-do and move into in the offseason ahead of the 2026 IndyCar season now that its old owners have vacated the building. In early 2022, Meyer Shank Racing shifted into a new race shop in its home of Pataskala, Ohio, just outside Columbus. And in this past offseason, IndyCar's newest team Prema Racing moved into a new shop in Fishers as it began racing in the U.S. full-time for the first time in the team's decades-long history. Also this past offseason, A.J. Foyt Racing merged its Texas-based and Speedway-based teams into one in the team's shop just a stone's throw away from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
San Francisco Chronicle
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F.'s window onto the world has three must-visit eateries
Perhaps we've been taking food too seriously. It's become a form of art, an obsession: California cuisine, celebrity chefs, rising stars, Michelin stars, the good life in Wine Country. Maybe we forget sometimes about ordinary American food, like what they serve at Frankie's Java House eatery and bar on the waterfront next to the ballpark. The featured dish is a smashburger, and you can get a hot dog and beer for $10 and a shot for $5. California cuisine? How about a fish taco? Unlike the French Laundry, reservations are not required, especially on slow days when the Giants are not playing down the block. On game days, customers are three deep at the bar. No Michelin stars, but 3.7 on Yelp. 'It's really a little oasis,' said Pat Belding, the manager and sometime bartender. 'And it's been here forever.' Frankie's is one of a string of three small eateries on the waterside of the Embarcadero between the Ferry Building and Oracle Park. One is the Hi Dive at Pier 28, where Bryant Street runs into the bay, the second is Red's Java House, not far away at Pier 30-32. Frankie's, a few blocks south, is the third. There are other, better, classier places in the neighborhood, but these three stand out, mostly because they have a San Francisco style to them, hard to define, part salt water and fog and inexpensive food and a sense of the city 'reminding people of what San Francisco was and is,' Belding said. Of all the places in San Francisco that have changed, the waterfront has changed the most. In its prime, the Embarcadero was the city's window onto the world, the piers lined with ships. The customers in the little waterfront joints were longshoremen and sailors interested in beer and cheap eats. The oldest of the waterfront places was the Java House at Pier 40, opened in 1912. Tom McGarvey and his brother Mike owned it for a while. They also owned the better known Red's Java House, not far away. Eventually, Philip Papadopolous bought the Pier 40 Java House. That was in 1984 and the waterfront was in decline; the ships had all moved to Oakland, the warehouses that filled the neighborhood had shut down and the Embarcadero was lined with rusty railroad tracks. The Java House was just a waterfront shack in the middle of nowhere. When Sotiria, Papadopolous' wife, saw the place, she burst into tears. But the family, including Philip's wife and daughters, made it work, especially after the baseball park opened in 2000 and changed everything. A new day. But things change. After a run of 33 years, the Papadopolous family sold the business to Michael Heffernan, an insurance executive who is a member of an old San Francisco family. The place was a bit rundown, colorful but grungy. Heffernan put in a new bar, beefed up the menu and opened up more outdoor seating. It was newer and better — and it was renamed for Mike's father, Francis Michael Heffernan. Everybody called him 'Frankie,' a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan and an admirer of martinis. I dropped by the other afternoon to have a look around. A quiet summer day, a touch of fog but warm by the bay. The Giants were on the road, and the grounds crew at Oracle Park were cleaning up after a big concert a couple of days earlier. The concert, featuring the Colombian pop superstar Shakira, is a reminder that history is still being made on the old waterfront. The Chronicle said she was the first Hispanic artist to draw a sellout crowd of over 35,000 to Oracle Park. 'A cultural milestone,' the paper called it. Good for business, too. Frankie's was packed. Frankie's is in the food and drink business, and Belding describes the menu as 'Simple bar food.' Every restaurant has a signature dish. Frankie's is the smashburger, which is different from the conventional hamburger, which is usually larger. A smashburger is thinner; the meat has been pressed down, or 'smashed,'' with a spatula or press which gives it a unique flavor. Smashburger historians say the dish was invented in Colorado in 1975, and caught on slowly. Now, they are all the rage. 'Smashburgers are having a moment,' Martha Stewart wrote the other day. Frankie's uses a taco press to do the smashing but Belding says the secret is grilled onions, good quality meat 'and our own special sauce.' He also admires the clam chowder. 'My wife's from Boston and she likes it,' he said. The bar offers 15 or so beers on tap. The biggest seller: 805 brewed in Paso Robles. Also, Barebottle: a craft beer brewed in San Francisco. Baseball and concerts last only in spring and summer; the rest of the time waterfront places have to depend on the South Beach neighborhood of about 5,000 people who live nearby, people out for runs on the Embarcadero and weekend sailors with boats in the South Beach Harbor — regulars who keep these places alive. One of them is Jason Lalley, who lives not far away. 'I like it here,' he said. 'I like the food and the company,'' he said. A simple answer.
