Josef Newgarden at Watkins Glen 2017

Josef finished 18th after starting 3rd
 

Josef locked up his tires exiting the pits on what should've been his final pit stop.  Unfortunately he hit the pit exit wall and was then rear-ended by Sebastien Bourdais.  He made repairs and continued but finished 18th.  :(

Laps completed: 58 
Laps Led:  1
Average Speed:  113.539 mph
Pit Stops: 7


Josef is still 1st in the Indycar season standings,
3 points
ahead of second place, Scott Dixon

Next up, the season finale at Sonoma Raceway
2016 Sonoma:  6th
Previous Races at Sonoma: 5
Average Finish: 16th


post by Alexandra (age 10)

PS:  I have been to 4 races that Josef has finished in 2nd place.
  I told him before the race at Watkins Glen that I hope to see him win a race in person sometime. 
He is so nice that after not doing well in the race and all his interviews he came up to the fence by the pits where I was standing and said he was sorry he didn't win the race for me to see.  
Thanks, Josef.
That's why I will always be your biggest fan!!!

Indycar Grand Prix at Watkins Glen 2017

 The forecast called for a 100% chance of rain so we were expecting an exciting Indycar race in the wet.  It didn't rain, but the Indycars still put on an exciting race.  One young American, Alexander Rossi won for the first time on a road course, and another, Josef Newgarden, hit the pit exit wall and saw his points lead dwindle to just three.  A lot of the strategy came down to car set up for the impending rain that never came.  Those cars that set up for a more wet race were hindered on the straightaways by too much downforce.

 

POLE SITTER:   Alexander Rossi (first career pole)

TOP TEN

1. Alexander Rossi: Coming on very strong at the end of the season.  Sixth in points.
2. Scott Dixon: His second P2 in a row after a few weeks off the podium.
3. Ryan Hunter Reay: His third podium of the year, tying his best finish of the season.

4. Helio Castroneves: Has finished in the Top 10 in all but one race this season.

5. Graham Rahal: His sixth Top 3 in the last 10 races.

6. Will Power: A solid finish has him still in championship contention.

7. Charlie Kimball: His second 7th in a row gives him 5 Top 10s this season.

8. Max Chilton: His sixth Top 10 in 2017.

9. Simon Pagenaud: His lowest finish in the last nine races.

10. Carlos Munoz:  His third Top 10 in a row.

Different Teams:   Andretti Autosport (2), Ganassi (3), Penske (3), Rahal Letterman, A. J. Foyt Racing

Different Countries:   USA (4), New Zealand, Brazil, Australia, Britain, France, Colombia

 4 Chevys   6 Hondas

  

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed:  118.865 mph

Time:  1  hour 42 minutes  4 seconds

Margin of Victory:  0.9514 seconds

Lead Changes:  8 among 6 drivers
Rossi (32), Castroneves (13), Pigot (8), Hunter Reay (4), Dixon (2), Newgarden (1) 

Total Passes:  150 total 141 for position

Fastest Lap:   144.572 by Sebastien Bourdais

4 Cautions for 9 Laps

Most Improved:  Max Chilton 11 positions

Penalties: 2
Charlie Kimball - pit safety infraction
Takuma Sato - Failure to obey race control

Josef Newgarden wins in Indycar at Gateway

Josef Newgarden wins at
Gateway Motorsports Park!!

For the third time in the last four races Josef stood atop the podium at the end of the Indycar weekend.  A daring pass of his teammate, Simon Pagenaud, that saw the two touch wheels, gave him the lead and he held off Scott Dixon for his fourth win of the season.

Love racing @IndyCar's under the lights, and awesome to be back racing @GatewayMSP. Thanks to all the race fans who came out! Good night.

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) August 27, 2017

Laps completed:  248
Laps Led:  170
Average Speed:  139.465 mph
Margin of Victory:  0.6850 seconds
Pit Stops:  4

Josef had the fastest lap of the race at 182.691 mph.

Josef was 2nd in the first practice and 1st in the final practice.
He qualified 2nd.


Josef is still 1st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
in the Indycar season standings
31 points
ahead of Scott Dixon.


Up next for Josef
the Indycar Grand Prix at the Glen.

2016 Finish:  2nd

GO JOSEF!  GO JOSEF!  GO JOSEF!

posted by Alexandra (age 10) 

Indycar Pocono 500 2017

Will Power came from a lap down to win the Pocono 500 after holding off teammate Josef Newgarden in the final laps.

Takuma Sato started on pole for the second time this year but quickly dropped toward the back as the Indycars ran 6 wide on the front straightaway.  Ryan Hunter Reay and Helio Castroneves quickly sliced their way through the field after starting in the back due to qualifying crashes on Saturday.

There were a mesmerizing 590 passes including 42 lead changes among 10 drivers (7 Hondas and 3 Chevys), but in the end it was two of the Chevy powered Penske drivers going for the win.

 

 

 

  

TOP 10

1.  Will Power: His second win in a row at the Tricky Triangle.
2. Josef Newgarden: Couldn't quite get his third win in a row, but extended his points lead with three races to go.

3. Alexander Rossi: His second podium in last three races moved up to 8th in season points.
4. Simon Pagenaud: Only driver to have completed all the laps so far this season.

5. Tony Kanaan: His third Top 5 this season.

6. Scott Dixon: Has finished out of the Top 5 in 6 of the last 7 races, but is still 2nd in points.

7. Helio Castroneves: He has only finished out of the Top 10 once this season.

8. Ryan Hunter Reay: Cleared to drive on race morning after spending the night in the hospital after a hard crash in qualifying, RHR impressed by charging to the front and leading the race.

9. Graham Rahal: Has finished in the Top 10 in the last 8 races, and had a exciting back and forth battle with Tony Kanaan for the lead during the race.

10. Carlos Munoz:  His first Top 10 since the Indy 500.  The second race in a row one of the A.J. Foyt cars finished in 10th.

Different Teams: 5  (Penske (4), Andretti (2), Ganassi (2), RLL, A. J. Foyt)

Different Countries: 6   Australia, USA (4), France, Brazil, (2) New Zealand, Colombia

5 Chevys  5 Hondas

  

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed:  183.737 mph

Time: 2 hour 43 minutes 17 seconds

Margin of Victory:  0.5268 seconds

Lead Changes:  42 among 10 drivers
Dixon (51), Rossi (44), Power (34), Kanaan (32), Hunter-Reay (12), Rahal (9), Andretti (9), Newgarden (4), Hinchcliffe (3), Hildebrand (2)

Total Passes: 590 total 524 for position

Fastest Lap:  218.325 by Tony Kanaan

3 Cautions for 17 Laps

Most Improved: Helio Castroneves 13 positions

Penalties:: 3
James Hinchcliffe (Pit Safety Infraction), Max Chilton (Work in a Closed Pit), Conor Daly (Full Service in a closed pit)

Josef Newgarden Mid Ohio 2017 Indycar

Josef Newgarden wins at MidOhio!!!

During his interview after he won the race at Toronto for the second time, Josef mentioned how he would like to win at a different track (he's also won twice at Barber).  Newgarden got his wish after a great pass on teammate Will Power on lap 13 gave Josef the lead.  He never looked back.

Man I love driving Indy Cars on a Sunday.

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) July 30, 2017

Laps completed:  90
Laps Led:  73
Average Speed:  114.677 mph
Margin of Victory:  5.1556 seconds
Pit Stops:  3

He had the fastest leader lap of the race at 123.101 mph.



Josef is now 1st 
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
in the Indycar season standings.


Up next for Josef the ABC supply 500 

2016 Finish:  4th
Average finish in 4 Races at Pocono:  4.75
 

GO JOSEF!  GO JOSEF!  GO JOSEF!

posted by Alexandra (age 10) 

Indycar at Mid-Ohio 2017

Young Indycar star Josef Newgarden made a fantastic pass of polesitter Will Power on lap 13 and dominated the rest of the race, leading 73 of the 90 laps at Mid Ohio.  He finished over 5 seconds ahead of his teammate to take the 6th win of his career.

 

 

 

 

TOP 10

1.  Josef Newgarden: Had an average finish of 14th in 5 previous starts at Mid-Ohio

2. Will Power: His fourth 2nd place finish at Mid Ohio.

3. Graham Rahal: His third podium of the Indycar season.

4. Simon Pagenaud: Tenth Top 5 in thirteen races has him 8 points out of the lead in the season championship.

5. Takuma Sato: His fourth Top 5 this season.

6. Alexander Rossi: His sixth Top 10 in the last 9 races.

7. Helio Castroneves: CHas finished in the Top 10 in 12 of 13 races this season.

8. Ryan Hunter Reay: Coming on strong for the end of the season with his third Top 10 in the last three races.

9. Scott Dixon: An 8th, 9th and 10th in last three races has him drop to third in season points.

10.  Conor Daly:  His second Top 10 in the last five races.

Different Teams: 5  (Penske (4), RLL, Andretti (3), Ganassi, A. J. Foyt)

Different Countries: 6 USA (5),  Australia, France, Japan, Brazil, New Zealand

5 Chevys  5 Hondas

  

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed:  114.677 mph

Time: 1 hour 46 minutes 20 seconds

Margin of Victory:  5.1556 seconds

Lead Changes:  8 among 3 drivers
Newgarden (73), Power (14), Rahal (3)

Total Passes:  81

Fastest Lap:  123.220 mph by Alexander Rossi

1 Caution for 4 Laps

Most Improved: Mikhail Aleshin 7 positions

Penalties:: 1
JR Hildebrand (work in a closed pit)

2017 Honda Indy Toronto

Indy Toronto 2017

The streets of Toronto were no match for three of the 'young guns' of Indycar racing as Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi and Canadian James Hinchcliffe grabbed the seats on the podium.  A first lap tangle involving points leader Scott Dixon and Will Power left the three remaining Penskes, and Graham Rahal in the top spots.  It was a well timed pit stop that gave Newgarden the lead on lap 25 and he held that position for most of the rest of the race.
The win gave Josef his 2 win of the year racing for Roger Penske, and the fifth win of his 6 year Indycar career.


 

 

  



Honda Indy Toronto
TOP 10

1. Josef Newgarden: His first win at Toronto for Roger Penske.

2. Alexander Rossi:  His best finish since winning the Indy 500 in 2016

3. James Hinchcliffe:  His third podium of the season.

4. Marco Andretti:  His first Top 5 since Fontana 2015
5. Simon Pagenaud:  His best finish at Toronto since a 4th in Race 1 in 2014

6. Ryan Hunter-Reay:  Just his 4th Top 10 this season

7. Max Chilton:  His highest finish since a fourth at this year's Indy 500

8. Helio Castroneves:  His worst finish at Toronto since Race 2 in 2014

9. Graham Rahal:  His worst finish since he finished 12th at this year's Indy 500

10. Scott Dixon:  His worst finish at Toronto in the last 8 races there.
 

______________________________________________________

Different Teams: 5  (Penske (3), Andretti (3), Schmidt, Ganassi (2), RLL )

Different Countries:  USA (5), Canada, France, Britain, Brazil, New Zealand
3 Chevys   7 Hondas

  

FUN FACTS

 

 Average Speed:  95.79 mph

Time: 1 hour 35 minutes 5 seconds

Lead Changes:  4 among 4 drivers
 Josef Newgarden (58), Helio Castroneves (24), Simon Pagenaud (2), Max Chilton (1)

Number of Passes:  105 
 

                 Fastest Lap:  106.741 by Simon Pagenaud

 Cautions 2 for 9 Laps

 

Most Improved: Ryan Hunter Reay   10 positions

Penalties: 2
Scott Dixon (more than required work), Esteban Guitierrez (blocking)

Josef Newgarden Iowa Corn 300 Indycar 2017

Josef finished 6th after starting 16th
at the Indycar Iowa Corn 300
 

Josef steadily made his way through the field after a poor qualifying result and he had made his way into the Top 10 by lap 68.   For the rest of the race he ran about sixth and couldn't quite replicate his fantastic runs at Iowa that he had the past three seasons.

Congrats to the silver fox @h3lio on the win! And great work @Team_Penske across the board!

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) July 10, 2017

Laps completed:   300 of 300
Laps Led:  1
Average Speed:  139.479 mph
Finish time behind the winner:  11.05 seconds
Pit Stops:  6

Newgarden was fastest in the first practice session and 5th in the second practice session.


Josef is now 5th in the Indycar season standings,
56 points out of first place.

post by Alexandra (age 10)

Josef Newgarden at Road America 2017

Josef finished 3rd and started 2nd
at the Indycar Kohler Grand Prix.
 

Josef ran up front all day at Road America and was the strongest of the four Penske entries, but in the end he didn't have enough to catch winner Scott Dixon. 


Laps completed:  55 of 55
Laps Led:  13
Average Speed:  123.42 mph
Finish time behind the winner:  0.5779 seconds
Pit Stops:  3

He had the fastest lap of the race at 139.664 mph.

Newgarden was fastest in the second practice session and in the top 5 in the other two practice sessions.

Loving RA. One of the best tracks in the world. @Team_Penske | @IndyCar | #CantStop

Photo ✖️ @emotiveimage pic.twitter.com/Fn0iQMlBuF

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) June 24, 2017

Josef is now 5th in the Indycar season standings,
61 points out of first place.

post by Alexandra (age 10)

Indycar 2017 at Road America

Indycar Kohler Grand Prix at Road America

 

Scott Dixon became the 8th different winner in ten races this Indycar season as he won for the first time at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.  It was Scott Dixon's 41st win of his career which leaves him in fourth on the Indycar All Time win list, just a single win behind Michael Andretti.

The four Penske drivers dominated the weekend and wound up in second through fifth place but it was Dixon's pass of Josef Newgarden on lap 31 that made the difference.

 

 

 

 



TOP 10

1. Scott Dixon: His 5th podium in 10 races this season.

2. Josef Newgarden: His second 2nd place this year.

3. Helio Castroneves: His ninth Top 10 in ten races this season.

4. Simon Pagenaud  : His eighth Top 5 in ten races.

5. Will Power: Sixth in the season championship.

6. Charlie Kimball: His best finish of the season.

7. Ed Jones: His fourth Top 10 in his rookie Indycar season has him 10th in points.

8. Graham Rahal: His lowest finish in the last four races.

9. Max Chilton: His fourth Top 10 this season.

10. Mikhail Aleshin: His third Top 10 of the season.

Different Teams: 5  (Ganassi (3), Penske (4), Coyne, RLL, Schmidt )

Different Countries: 8 New Zealand, USA (3), Brazil, France, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Britain, Russia
4 Chevys   6 Hondas

  

FUN FACTS

 

 Average Speed:  123.431 mph

Time: 1 hour 47 minutes 18 seconds

Lead Changes:  6 among 4 drivers
Scott Dixon (24)  Helio Castroneves (17)  Josef Newgarden (13)  Charlie Kimball (1)
 

                 Fastest Lap:  139.664 on lap 52 by Josef Newgarden (2)

 Cautions 2 for 3 Laps

 

Most Improved: Mikhail Aleshin 9 positions

Penalties: 3
Rahal (blocking), Andretti (pit speed violation), Power (blocking)

101st Indianapolis 500 Countdown

It's just 9 Days till the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500!

Qualifying is just a day away!

 

To catch all the action at the track go to the Indycar website and check out Race Control.
You'll be able to see all the practice and action live each day the that the track is open.  Generally noon to 6pm.

or

 

Check out the Gasoline Alley Cam to watch all the comings and goings in the garages at the great Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Josef Newgarden GP of Indianapolis 2017

Josef started 3rd in his 4th GP of Indianapolis,

but finished 11th
after two penalties for pit speed violations late in the race.

It was his highest finish ever in the Indy GP, but the lowest finish since he started driving for Roger Penske this season.


Josef's comment on the race:
Quote: "I don't know what happened. I think we ran into some sort of glitch and they dinged us two times for speeding on pit road. It was a tough day for us. We had a really fast Hum by Verizon car. We really didn't struggle with much today. We started a little slower than we had hoped, but at the end the car was a rocket. I’m disappointed for our guys because we did everything right and we had great stops, we just had a little glitch there. We had a great racecar and just couldn't capitalize. I think we had a car that could have been a podium car, maybe even a second-place car. We just didn't capitalize today. Congrats to Will though. He was strong all weekend long."



Josef is still 3rd in Indycar season points leading into the Indianapolis 500 on May 28th.
He is looking to improve on his third place finish in last year's 500.

2017 GP of Indianapolis

Will Power dominated the GP of Indianapolis to win it for the second time in three years and earn the 30th Indycar win of his career!

 

 Helio Castroneves was the only driver who looked to have a chance at the win, taking the lead from Will Power on pit stops, but a different tire strategy didn't work and he ended up fifth.  It was the first caution free race on the road course at IMS, and only two cars did not finish, both due to mechanical problems. 

 

 

 2017 Honda GP of Alabama

Polesitter:  Will Power

TOP 10 Finishers
 

1. Will Power:  Started on pole for the third time this year, and Finally got in the winners circle in 2017.

2. Scott Dixon: Five Top 5s in 5 races has his second in points.

3. Ryan Hunter-Reay: His second podium in 4 races on the IMS road course.

4. Simon Pagenaud:  Has finished in each position 1-5 through 5 races this season.

5. Helio Castroneves:  A strong run was ended with a tire strategy call.
6. Graham Rahal:  The second year in a row Graham moved through the field to finish well here.

7. Max Chilton: Ties his best Indycar finish ever.

8. Alexander Rossi:  His second top 10 in two races on the Indy road course.

9. Spencer Pigot:  His second Top 10 this season.

10. Juan Pablo Montoya :  A strong finish for his first race this season.

 

Different Teams: 5 Penske (4), Ganassi (2), Andretti (2), ECR(1), RLL (1)

Different Countries 7:  Australia, New Zealand, USA (4), France, Brazil, United Kingdom, Colombia
 

 5 Chevys and 5 Hondas

 

 

FUN FACTS:

 

5 Lead Changes among 2 Drivers

Average Speed: 120.813 mph
Cautions:  0
 Fastest Lap: 126.539 mph on lap 68 by Josef Newgarden

Penalties: 4 (1. Marco Andretti avoidable contact on lap 6)
(2. Mikhail Aleshin Hit pit equipment on lap 63)
(3. Josef Newgarden pit speed violation on lap 64 and 65)

 

A ROUGH DAY for

Early season points leader Sebastien Bourdais who had an engine problem on lap four and was the first car out of the race.
Josef Newgarden was caught speeding in the pits and subsequently had a problem that saw him speeding during his drive through penalty and then again through his second drive through penalty.  He ended up finishing 11th after a strong top 5 drive all day.


 

 

 

NEXT UP:

 

THE 101st running of the
INDY 500!!!!

Indycar 2017 Phoenix Grand Prix

2017 Phoenix Grand Prix

Simon Pagenaud got his first oval victory on the one mile oval of Phoenix Raceway.  Pitting late on a pit sequence gained him a lap on most of the field and he dominated the majority of the race leading 116 of the 250 laps.  Will Power finished second,  finally earning a good finish that has eluded him all season, and JR Hildebrand was impressive finishing P3 while driving with a broken hand.

 
 

2017 Phoenix Grand Prix

POLE SITTER:  Helio Castroneves

TOP 10

1. Simon Pagenaud: His first win on an oval!

2. Will Power: His second podium finish at Phoenix.

3. JR Hildebrand : A great finish for JR and for Ed Carpenter Racing.

4. Helio Castroneves: Another fourth place finish has him up to 6th in points.

5. Scott Dixon:  Another Top 5 but also his lowest finish so far this season.

6. Tony Kanaan:  His lowest finish in five starts at Phoenix.

7. Ed Carpenter:  A good return on ovals to start his season.

8. Charlie Kimball:  His first Top 10 of the season.

9. Josef Newgarden:  His fourth Top 10 of the season and still 3rd in points.

10. Carlos Munoz: The 25th Top 10 of his Indycar career.

Different Teams (4):  Penske, ECR, Ganassi, AJ Foyt

Different Countries (6):  France, Australia, USA(4), Brazil(2), New Zealand, Colombia)

 

Fun Facts

4 Lead Changes among 4 Drivers

(Pagenaud, Castroneves, Power, Newgarden)

Average Speed: 144.058 mph
2 Cautions for 32 Laps
 

Next Up...
THE MONTH OF MAY
The GP of Indianapolis on Saturday, May 13th
and
The 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500
Sunday, May 28th

Josef Newgarden wins GP Alabama 2017

Josef won the GP of Alabama!!!!
Again!  
Josef returned to the site of his very first Indycar win, Barber Motorsports Park, and won for the second time in three years!

 

Josef started seventh and ran really strong all day long.  He made some really neat passes during the race including one on Scott Dixon for second place in the closing laps.   When Josef's teammate Will Power had to pit for a cut tire, Josef got the lead.  Scott Dixon was right behind him with twice the amount of Push to Pass seconds left, but Josef still managed to hold him off for the final 12 laps.  It was Josef's 4th win of his Indycar career and his first driving for Roger Penske.

Josef is currently 3rd in the Indycar points standings, just 7 points behind leader Sebastien Bourdais.

 

Up next for Josef the Phoenix Grand Prix

where he finished 6th last year in his first visit there.

 

GO JOSEF!  GO JOSEF!  GO JOSEF!

 

posted by Alexandra (age 9) 

2017 Indycar GP of Alabama

Josef Newgarden repeated his 2015 race winning drive at Barber Motorsports Park, giving him his first win driving for Roger Penske!

 Will Power sat on the pole and dominated much of the race before a punctured tire forced him to pit with just over a dozen laps remaining.  Newgarden inherited the lead and held off a hard charging Scott Dixon. 

 

 

 2017 Honda GP of Alabama

Polesitter:  Will Power

TOP 10 Finishers:

 

1. Josef Newgarden:  His first win in just his third start for Penske Racing gives him the fourth Indycar victory of his career.

2. Scott Dixon: Worked hard trying to chase down Josef Newgarden but ended up with his 5th second place finish in 8 races in Alabama.

3. Simon Pagenaud:  Relegated to saving fuel in the closing laps the defending race winner had to settle for 3rd.

4. Helio Castroneves: His 5th Top Five in 8 starts at Barber.

5. Alexander Rossi: His best finish this season.

6. James Hinchcliffe: Ties his best finish at Barber (from 2016 and 2012).

7. Tony Kanaan: His first Top 10 this season.

8. Sebastien Bourdais:  Retains his points lead for Dale Coyne Racing.

9. Takuma Sato:  His first Top 10 in eight races at Barber.

10. Mikhail Aleshin: His best finish since Pocono 2016.

 

Different Teams: 5 Penske (3), Ganassi (2), Andretti(2), Schmidt (2), Dale Coyne

Different Countries 7:  USA(2), New Zealand, France(2), Brazil(2), Canada, Japan, Russia

 

 

Fun Facts

 

8 Lead Changes among 5 Drivers

Average Speed: 108.809
Cautions: 2 for 7 laps

Fastest Lap: 121.272 by Will Power

Penalties: 1  Zach Veach (Drive Thru for Work done in Closed Pit)

 

SHOUT OUT TO:

Zach Veach who was racing in his first Indycar event!
Zach raced clean all day and ran as high as fourth.
We can't wait to see him run in the 101st Indy 500 next month and hope to see him in many more Indycar races in the future!

ANOTHER ROUGH DAY for
Marco Andretti couldn't get the car out of first gear to start the race and ended up running around the whole race 3 laps down.

 

 

 

NEXT UP:

 

Phoenix Grand Prix

Saturday, April 29th

Josef Indycar update Long Beach 2017

Josef started 8th and finished 3rd
at Indycar's GP of Long Beach

It is his first podium driving for Team Penske and his highest finish ever on the streets of Long Beach.

Josef ran as high as 2nd during the race and was strong all day, but just didn't have enough to try to race for the win.

 

Josef's last podium prior to Long Beach came in September 2016 at Watkins Glen while driving for Ed Carpenter Racing.

 

 

 

Josef is currently 5th in the Indycar points standings, 34 points behind leader Sebastien Bourdais.

 

Up next for Josef, Barber Motorsports Park where he won his first Indycar race in 2015 and finished on the podium in 2016!

 

GO JOSEF!!!!

 

posted by Alexandra (age 9)

 

Indycar GP of Long Beach 2017

James Hinchcliffe won the Long Beach Grand Prix, officially completing his comeback from the awful crash at Indianapolis in 2015 that almost took his life.  It was the fifth win of his Indycar career and his first win since April 2015 at the GP of Louisiana.    On the other side of the spectrum, it was one of the worst races in recent memory for the Andretti Autosport team as all four of it's drivers dropped out of the race with mechanical failures.  Most heartbreaking was Ryan Hunter Reay who was in running in second with just 6 laps to go when his car quit.  The Andretti drivers finished 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th.

POLESITTER:  Helio Castroneves - His 3rd consecutive pole at Long Beach.

Top Ten

1. James Hinchcliffe: His 5th career win!
2. Sebastien Bourdais:  Leading the season points after a 1st & 2nd in the first two races of the season.
3. Josef Newgarden: His first podium driving for Roger Penske.

4. Scott Dixon: An early change in pit strategy cost him a chance at the win. 

5. Simon Pagenaud:  A great finish after starting last & suffering a flat tire early in the race.
6. Ed Jones:  The best start for an Indycar rookie since Nigel Mansell in 1993.
7. Carlos Munoz:  A strong finish in his second drive for A. J. Foyt
8. Spencer Pigot:  Ran in the Top Ten run all day after started back in 19th.
9. Helio Castroneves:  Had the fastest lap of the race at 104.542 mph
10.  Graham Rahal:  His best finish at Long Beach since 2013.

Different Teams: 7 (Schmidt Peterson, Dale Coyne Racing, Penske, Ganassi, A.J. Foyt Racing, Ed Carpenter Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan)

Different Countries: 7 (Canada, France (2), USA (3), New Zealand,  United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Brazil)

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed:  90.845 mph

 Time: 1 hour 50 Minutes 29 Seconds

3 Cautions for 11 Laps

Lead Changes: 6 among 3 drivers (Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter Reay, James Hinchcliffe)

Best Lap: 104.542 by Helio Castroneves

St Petersburg 2017 Indycar season

The 2017 Indycar season started off on the beautiful, sunny streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.  In typical fashion, Penske's Will  Power started from the pole (his 7th pole in the last 8 races at St. Pete!).
An incident in Turn 3 on the opening lap involving drivers, Carlos Munoz, Graham Rahal, JR Hildebrand, and Charlie Kimball allowed Power to lead the first four laps, but as soon as it went green James Hinchcliffe took the lead.   Hinchcliffe maintained the lead until a yellow came out again on lap 26 during a pit stop cycle. The drivers that had not pitted yet were at a disadvantage and Simon Pagenaud found himself in front after having been in ninth for the first part of the race.  Sebastien Bourdais, also benefitted from the yellow and by lap 37 he was in the lead where he remained for most of the rest of the race.  Winning his first race driving for the Dale Coyne Racing team. 

Top Ten

1. Sebastien Bourdais: A great win in his first ride with the Dale Coyne Racing Team since 2011.
2. Simon Pagenaud:  The reigning Indycar champ led 13 laps and started the season strong.
3. Scott Dixon:  Caught out by the first caution Dixie once again showed his racing skill battling back to finish 3rd.

4. Ryan Hunter-Reay: His 4th top 5 in the last 6 races at St. Pete.

5. Takuma Sato:  A great finish in his first race for Andretti Autosport.
6. Helio Castroneves:  His lowest finish in the last 6 races at St. Pete.
7. Marco Andretti:  A solid start to his season with Bryan Herta on his radio.  His highest finish since Iowa in 2015. 
8. Josef Newgarden:  Couldn't recover from getting caught out by the first yellow, but got his highest finish ever at St. Pete driving his first race for Team Penske.
9. James Hinchcliffe:  Had a very strong car but got caught out by the first yellow.

10. Ed Jones:  A good start to his Indycar career for the 2016 Indy Lights Champion.

Different Teams: 5 ( Penske 3, Andretti  Autosport 3, Schmidt Peterson 1, Dale Coyne Racing 1, Ganassi .)

Different Countries: 7 (France 2, New Zealand, USA 3, Japan, Brazil, Canada, United Arab Emirates)

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed: 95.391 mph

 Time: 2 hour 4 1/2 Minutes

2 Cautions for 8 Laps

Lead Changes: 8 among 5 drivers (Sebastien Bourdais, James Hinchcliffe, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Takuma Sato)

Best Lap: 104.384 mph by Scott Dixon on lap 82

 

THOUGHTS:

Will Power overcame a pit infraction on Lap 16 to run strong all race, only to have his race end on Lap 99 due to mechanical problems.  He finished 19th.