Indycar Pocono 500 2016

 
The rain got its hat trick on Sunday, as Pocono Raceway encountered it's third rain delayed race in three tries this season. 
 
Race day:
 Monday was a beautiful, but windy, day as Will Power and his team worked on improving the #12 car all afternoon until he found himself outclassing the field and getting his 4th win in the last six Indycar races.  Polesitter Mikhail Aleshin looked strong all day, but just couldn't catch Power at the end and instead ended the day runner-up (His best Indycar finish ever).

Defending race winner Ryan Hunter Reay started last after a crash in practice, but then flew through the field and into the lead by lap 49.  His car lost power on lap 164 and he coasted around to the pits before he could get it refired.  He went a lap down but a late race caution for debris allowed him to get his lap back.  Once again he charged through the field, passing Josef Newgarden for third on the final lap.  Given a few more laps, he may have had a chance at catching Power. 
 
Power walked away from the Monday race just 20 points back of his teammate Simon Pagenaud in the season championship, after Pagenaud uncharacteristically crashed on Lap 158.

 

 

Had the car & the drive to win today. Unbelievable. Electrical issue shut the car off while leading. Its just been one of those seasons.

— Ryan Hunter-Reay (@RyanHunterReay) August 22, 2016

 

      

 

Top Ten

1. Will Power Closed to within 20 points of leader Simon Pagenaud in the Indycar championship.
2. Mikhail Aleshin  Led the most laps (87) on route to his career best Indycar finish.
3. Ryan Hunter Reay  Came through the field twice to get on the podium.
4. Josef Newgarden Led 15 laps and ran in the Top 3 all day.
5. Sebastien Bourdais  His best finish on an oval since coming back to Indycar.
6. Scott Dixon  Started 19th and led 3 laps.
7. Carlos Munoz  Ran strong all day but faded at the end.
8. Juan Pablo Montoya  His first Top Ten in the last four races.
9. Tony Kanaan  Led 1 lap while finishing where he started.
10. James Hinchcliffe  His best finish in 3 starts at Pocono.


Different Teams: 6   Penske, Schmidt Peterson, Andretti, Ed Carpenter Racing, KV Racing, Ganassi

Different Countries: 8   Australia, Russia, USA(2), France, New Zealand, Columbia (2), Brazil, Canada

It may have been ANOTHER longer than expected weekend, but it was another great race. Congrats @12WillPower pic.twitter.com/RXpLl6P9uf

— The Rain King (@bigdalsky) August 22, 2016

Fun Facts

 

 Average Speed:  180.198 mph

 

 Time: 2 hour 46 Minutes

 

4 Cautions for 20 Laps

 

Fastest Lap:  218.499 by Will Power

 

 

Lead Changes: 29 among 9 drivers

(Mikhail Aleshin, Will Power, Ryan Hunter Reay, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Simon Pagenaud)



So glad to see Helio Castroneves uninjured after a scary pit road accident that left Alexander Rossi driving over his head.

Tributes to Justin Wilson and Bryan Clauson made the weekend special.    We saw so many people wearing Wilson shirts and socks, and watched Conor Daly drive around each lap in that #88 car.  It was sad but really special.

 

 

 

 

Mid Ohio Indycar 2016

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is best known to the Indycar nation for its high speeds and many turns.  As Indycars took to the track that so many call Scott Dixon's playground, Graham Rahal looked to defend his 2015 win there.
  As the green flag dropped, Simon Pagenaud, the pole sitter, led the field through the first corner for the sixth time this year.  He took the early lead as he and teammate Will Power pulled away from the field.  Around lap ten, strategy calls were made as teams decided to gamble and come to the pits early.  After pit stops, top contender Scott Dixon had contact with the #3 of Helio Castroneves, and Dixon's day was over.  At the restart, Josef Newgarden got clipped from behind and lost a rear bumper pod (sounds familiar).  He had to come into the pits, and lost a lap, but battled the leader and got back onto the lead lap around halfway through the race.  As strategy started to play out, Mikhail Aleshin took the lead and was driving away from the field.  Rookies Conor Daly, RC Enerson and Spencer Pigot all spent time near the front of the pack.
 As the end of the race neared, Mikhail Aleshin's team sent him out of his pit box and into Josef Newgarden, thus ending Aleshin's hopes at his first Indycar win. 
Simon Pagenaud regained the lead, and teammate Will Power put up a fight, but at the end, Pagenaud took his 4th win of the season.

Top Ten

1. Simon Pagenaud: Back on top for his fourth win of the season.

2. Will Power:  Has not finished lower than second in the past five races!

3. Carlos Munoz:  A great run all day for his second podium of the season.

4. Graham Rahal:  Another strong finish at his home track.
5. James Hinchcliffe:  His seventh Top Ten in 12 races this season.

6. Conor Daly:  Led 22 laps for a total of 56 laps led this season.

7. Spencer Pigot:   The best finish of his young Indycar career.
8. Charlie Kimball:  Ran strong after starting fifth.  His 8th Top Ten this season.

9. Takuma Sato:   A great run till a incident with Bourdais took them both out of the Top Five.
Sorry @TakumaSatoRacer . I just got too close and locked up behind, my bad...

— Sébastien Bourdais (@BourdaisOnTrack) July 31, 2016

 10. Josef Newgarden:  A great run to finish tenth after two incidents that were not his fault, had him fighting from the back all day.

Different Teams: 8 ( Penske, Andretti Autosport, Rahal-Letterman, Schmidt Peterson, Dale Coyne Racing, ECR, Ganassi, A.J. Foyt Racing)

Different Countries: 7 (France, Australia, Brazil, USA (5), Canada, Japan)

 

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed:  110.853 mph

 Time: 1 hour 50 Minutes

2 Cautions for 10 Laps

Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers (Mikhail Aleshin, Pagenaud, Daly, Montoya, Power)

Best Lap: 105.728 mph by Helio Castroneves

THOUGHTS:

RC Enerson did a fantastic job all weekend in his first Indycar race.  The nineteen year old got up to speed quickly in practices and racing strong till he unfortunately ran out of fuel.

Huge shoutout to my teammate @RCEnerson , the dude was fast all weekend and made no mistakes. Should be really proud of that #USA #youngguns

— Conor Daly (@ConorDaly22) August 1, 2016

Mikhail Aleshin ran a super race and we really hoped to see him win his first Indycar race.

Kudos to Roger Penske for letting his drivers race out on the track and not giving any team orders.
 

Indycar at Road America 2016

Indycars returned to the beautiful 4-Mile Road America course for the first time since 2007. 
The 14-turn track was a favorite among the Indycar veterans and rookies alike.


 

 Will Power kept his momentum going from his win in Detroit Race 2 by winning his second pole of the 2016 season.  (He won the pole in St. Pete, but did not start due to illness).   Power led the field to green for the 50-lap, 202 mile race at Road America and he dominated the early stages.  Top championship and race contender Scott Dixon had engine issues on lap six, and called it a day. At the first round of pit stops, Takuma Sato had already moved up 7 positions, and Josef Newgarden, with his broken hand and collarbone, had moved up five. Later, Takuma spun and ended up 17th.  Up front, Simon Pagenaud took the lead for a few laps, but near the end, he too had engine problems.  He finished 13th.  As the checkered flag dropped, Will Power took his second consecutive win for 2016, and Josef Newgarden toughed out the pain and brought it home admirable 8th. 
The points standings saw Scott Dixon dropped to 4th, with 5th and 6th place closing in.  The top three spots in the championship are occupied by Penske's Simon Pagenaud, Helio Castroneves and Will Power.  

 Road America Top Ten

1. Will Power:   'Powers his way to third in points despite missing the first race of the season.

2. Tony Kanaan:  His best result since a second at Fontana last year.

3. Graham Rahal:  His second podium in two races at Road America.  (The other coming when he was just 18).

4. Ryan Hunter-Reay:  Fought the flu all weekend to finish a strong 4th.

5. Helio Castroneves:  Moved to second in season points, 74 back of his teammate Pagenaud.

6. Charlie Kimball:  His sixth Top 10 of the season.

7. Juan Montoya:  A hard fought position after a fantastic battle with Josef Newgarden in the closing laps.
8. Josef Newgarden:  Impressed alot of people as he was the biggest mover of the race, moving up 12 positions, despite the pain from his broken clavicle and hand.

9. Spencer Pigot:  Best run of his Indycar career!

10. Carlos Munoz:  Started 8th and ran around there most of the day.

Different Teams: 5 ( Penske, RLL, Andretti, Ganassi, Ed Carpenter Racing)

Different Countries: 4 (Australia(1), Brazil(2), USA(5), Columbia(2))

 

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed: 121.6 mph

 Time: 1 hour 39 Minutes 10 Seconds

Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers (Power, Pagenaud, Rahal)

Best Lap: 138.787 by Max Chilton

THOUGHTS:
Great runs but bad luck for...

Conor Daly who had a strong weekend and was running in the Top 8 all day when a rear wishbone gave out sending him speeding into the barrier.  Luckily he was unhurt. (21st)

Max Chilton was doing great and had the fastest lap of the race.  Unfortunately he ran out of fuel and lost 2 laps.  (20th)

And more bad luck....

Gabby Chaves had trouble with his pit speed telemetry and received a Drive Thru pit speed violation, and then another while on his first drive thru penalty.  He lost a lap. (19th)

Scott Dixon.  After qualifying second, he had an issue on Lap 6 and was out of the race. (22nd)