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)

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 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.

 

 

 

 

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)

 

   

 

 

GP of Indy recap

 Josef crashed in the first turn in the first lap at the GP of Indy.  
Nothing else matters. 

That would have been the only thing the GP of Indy race recap would have said if our little sister Alex was writing it.

Thankfully, we wrote it. This is our version.

2015 Marked the second running of the GP of Indianapolis. Will Power was the winner after starting on the pole and leading 65 of the 82 laps. 
 Graham Rahal came in a strong second (1.502 seconds behind). 
Juan Montoya finished in 3rd.

 

The top 10 Finishers

1.  Will Power:  Started from pole for the 38th time and collected his 25th Indycar win

2.  Graham Rahal:  His second 2nd place finish in a row pushed him to 5th in points


3.  Juan Pablo Montoya: Juan's third podium finish this season

4. Sebastien Bourdais:  His fourth Top Ten in the five races this season
 

5. Charlie Kimball:  He matched his finish of fifth from the 2014 Indy GP

6. Helio Castroneves:  Overcame the Turn 1 incident he triggered to finish strong

7. Tony Kanaan:  A fourth Top Six this season has Tony 6th in the season points standings

8. Stefano Coletti:  The first Top Ten for this rookie driver from Italy


9. Takuma Sato: Started way back in 22nd


10. Scott Dixon:  Ran a great race despite being damaged in the first turn melee

Top Ten included..

* Three Penske Drivers & Three Ganassi Drivers
* Drivers from 5 different teams
 * Drivers from 8 different countries

* 8 Chevys and 2 Hondas (The top ten qualifiers were all Chevys)

* 1 rookie (Stefano Coletti)


Other:

*  Will Power became the 5th different winner in 5 races this season

*  There was only 1 caution. The 5th race this season that had 2 or fewer cautions

*  This win was the 2nd win for Team Penske this season ( The first was Montoya in St. Pete)

*  There were 11 lead changes among 6 different drivers

*  Average Race Speed: 116.842 MPH

*  Fastest Lap 123.911 MPH (James Hinchcliffe)


Shout Out To...
JR Hildebrand had a great run going for CFH Racing in his first Indycar race in a year.  JR ran 6th most of the day before a small issue caused him to pit late in the race dropping him to 21st. 

 

GP of Houston 2014

The Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston is here!!

One weekend, 2 days, 2 races!

 

Thanks to NBCSN and Verizon

Practice for the Houston

and all other races this season

will be live on Indycar.com,

and are announced by Paul Page!

(so cool to watch the coverage live and hear Paul Page's commentary!)

 

 

 

Helio, Scott Dixon and Will Power preview the races.

 

Catch both races on NBCSN
Saturday & Sunday, June 28 & 29 at 3:00 EST

Saturday's qualifying will be tape delayed
at 2:00 EST on NBCSN.


 

GP of Alabama Qualifying

 

Will Power earned the 33rd Pole of his Indycar career while having the fastest time in qualifying for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.  Only 3/10ths of a second separated him and the other Firestone Fast Six drivers.

 

 

 For the 2nd time in two races, James Hinchcliffe will start 2nd and Josef Newgarden will start 4th as Sarah Fisher Hartman's Racing's single car team hung with the big boys of Penske, Ganassi and Andretti on the 2.3 mile course.

 

 

 

Top Six

 

1. Will Power (Penske)
2. James Hinchcliffe (Andretti Autosport)

3. Ryan Hunter Reay

4. Josef Newgarden (Sarah Fisher Hartman)

5. Scott Dixon (Ganassi)

6. Helio Castroneves (Penske)

 

Visit the Indycar page for full Qualifying Results

 

Other Stuff:

*  Sebastien Bourdais was penalized and lost his two quickest laps for impeding Ryan Hunter Reay in the Round of 12. He will start 12th.

*  Will Power is now tie with Dario Franchitti on the Indycar pole winners list with 33 and will start on pole for the 3rd time in 5 races at Alabama.

*  All 3 of Penske's cars and all 4 of Andretti's will start in the Top 9

*  James Hinchcliffe will start 2nd for the 6th time in his Indycar career (he has never won the pole)




Mazda Road to Indy Series Races

 

*  Zach Veach started on pole and won the Indy Lights 1# race

 

*  RC Enerson won both USF2000 races

 

*  Spencer Pigot won both of the Pro Mazda races


 

 

Don't miss the race on April 27th at 2:30 on NBC Sports Network

GP of St. Pete Recap

Will Power continued his winning streak from last season to three races by winning the GP of St. Pete by holding of Ryan Hunter Reay and teammate Helio Castroneves for his 22nd career win.
Scott Dixon and Simon Pagenaud rounded out the top five.  (Mikhail Aleshin was the highest rookie finishing in 12th)

It was great seeing the cars back in action and with only two cautions (back to back) after the first 75 laps were run under green, it was a lot of good racing. 

Love hearing Paul Page announcing again, check out this highlight video to hear him.

A few of the reasons why the GP of St. Pete was so awesome:

      ·         The top ten included drivers from 7 different teams and 7 different countries

·         To keep it interesting there were 5 Chevys and 5 Hondas in the top 10

·         It was cool to see Dario Franchitti back at the track helping the Ganassi drivers (but boy we really miss watching him drive)

·         It was great to see A.J. Foyt smiling as his driver (Takuma Sato) led the first 26 laps of the race

·          It was Will Powers 22nd career Indycar win tying him for 19th on the all-time win list with Tony Bettenhausen and Emerson Fittipaldi.

·         Josef Newgarden started last and got off to a slow start but it was exciting watching him move up 13 spots to finish 9^th

Other Stuff:

            *   Juan Pablo Montoya finished 15^th in his first race back in an Indycar in more than a decade

·         It’s going to take us a while to get used to the team changes and new car paint schemes, like Bourdais is driving Kanaan’s car and Kanaan is driving Dario’s car and Dario isn’t driving a car at all. 

·         Will Power gave his fellow racers an ‘accordion lesson’ they won’t soon forget. But everyone knows restarts can be tricky.

·         We saw Tricky made his rounds in St. Pete and tweeted lots of cool selfies with drivers and VIPs over the weekend….way to go Tricky!

·         Great to see Kurt Busch win at Martinsville, can’t wait to see him driving in the Indy 500!!!

Don’t miss the next Indycar race,
the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13^th!

4:00 pm on NBCSports
Indy Lights race on at 2:30

 

 



Indycar End of Season

 

 

Will Power wins his third race of the season.

 

Scott Dixon wins his third Indycar Championship.

 

Only 8 cars finish the race due to accidents, blown engines and who knows what else.

 

It was exciting!

 

Carlos Munoz won the Indy Lights race and

 

18 year old Sage Karam won the Indy Lights Championship

in his rookie season.

 

Can't wait till next season!

More from The Grand Prix of Baltimore

Other Stuff from around the GP of Baltimore.
 

Makenna and Alex were thrilled their favorite drivers,
Tristan Vautier and Josef Newgarden
were starting side by side in row 3.

 

 

Our first 'Behind the Scenes in Indycar' interview. 

Krystin Wiggs, the PR person for Simon Pagenaud's winning team (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) sat down with us the Friday before the race to answer some questions.

 

 

 7 Indianapolis 500 wins in one place.

Rick Mears ('79, '84, '88, '91) and Castroneves ('01,'02,'09) 

talking in the paddock.

 

Indycar invades Camden Yards.

 

We spent lots of time in the Paddock.  

 Lots to see and it was air conditioned.

 

Almost ran into Power and Castroneves on their scooters.

A map on the sidewalk. 

We wished we had our mini Indy cars along!

 

Lots of great places to watch all the action!

 

 

 

 Did we mention,

 

WE LOVED THE GP OF BALTIMORE!!!

 

 

The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio

What's going on at Mid-Ohio?

 

* Ryan Hunter Reay won his third pole of the 2013 season and will start P1 in Sunday's Honda Indy 200.

* Another strong start to the weekend for Ganassi weekend with all three of their cars in the top 5.   The top 6 are Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Scott Dixon, Marco Andretti, Charlie Kimball and Dario Franchitti.

* Rookie Luca Fillipi (driving in his first ever Indycar race) had the fourth fastest lap in Group 1 qualifying but didn't advance because he had a minor crash which stopped the qualifying session.  Indycar rules state that if a driver causes a halt to a session he lose his fastest two laps.
He will start 24th.

* Another Indycar rookie, James Davison will start 17th driving in his first Indycar race.

* You can watch the Honda Indy 200 at Mid Ohio live on NBC Sports Network live at 3:00 today. 

*  Tune in to NBC Sports a little earlier at 2:00 to watch 20 year old Gabby Chaves start on his first pole at the Indy Lights Mid Ohio race. (The race takes place at noon today.)