Phoenix Grand Prix 2018 Indycar Season

POLE SITTER: Sebastien Bourdais

TOP TEN

1. Josef Newgarden: His 8th Indycar win (5th with Penske)
2. Robert Wickens: His first Indycar podium!
3. Alexander Rossi: His second podium of the season.

4. Scott Dixon: His 4th Top 5 in six races at Phoenix.

5. Ryan Hunter-Reay: His best finish in three attempts at Phoenix.

6. James Hinchcliffe: His first Top 10 at Phoenix.

7. Ed Carpenter: His second 7th in a row at Phoenix.

8. Tony Kanaan: His lowest finish in 6 races at Phoenix

9. Graham Rahal:  His second Top 10 at Phoenix.
10. Simon Pagenaud:  His lowest finish after a 1st and 2nd the past two years.

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

Different Countries:   USA (5), New Zealand, Brazil, France, Canada (2)

 4 Chevys   6 Hondas

  

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed:  147.395 mph

Time:  1  hour 44 minutes 

Margin of Victory:  0.9514 seconds

Lead Changes:   among 9 drivers
Power (80), Bourdais (60), Wickens (44), Newgarden (30), Hinchcliffe (20), Rahal (7), Hunter Reay (5), Pagenaud (3), Rossi (1)

Total Passes:  280 total 98 for position

Fastest Lap:   178.368 by Sebastien Bourdais

2 Cautions for 23 Laps

Most Improved:  Scott Dixon 13 positions

Penalties:4
Bourdias - Hit Personnel (Drive Through)
Rossi - Hit Personnel (Drive Through)
Leist - Hit Equipment (Post Race)
Lesit - Unattended Equipment (Drive Through)

Josef Newgarden Phoenix Grand Prix 2018

Josef started 7 and finished 1st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Josef stated 7 and in the first  lap he moved up to sixth.  He stayed in sixth place until lap 44 when he jumped up to P2.  He first led on lap 206 and led until lap 232 when Tim Cindric called him in to pit. Josef pitted from P1 and came back out in P4 and then made his way up to second and then tried to pass the leader (Robert Wickens) 3 times.  On the 3rd attempt he passed Robert Wickens and led to the end and...   WON!!!!!!! 😀😊



Laps completed: 250
Laps Led:  30
Average Speed:  147.395
Pit Stops:  4
Josef is currently 1st in the Indycar points standings,  

Up next for Josef the GP of Long Beach
where he finished 3rd in 2017 
and he has an average finish of 13 in 6 races.

GO JOSEF!  GO JOSEF!  GO JOSEF!

posted by Alexandra (age 10)


  

Josef Newgarden at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg 2018

Josef started 13th and finished 7th
In the 2018 Grand Prix of St. Pete.

Newgarden had his best finish in his 7th IndyCar attempt at the streets of St. Petersburg.  He ran in the Top Ten for much of the day but never really had a car to run up front.  





Laps completed:  110 of 110
Laps Led: 0
Average Speed:  86.171 mph
Time Back from Winner:  3.38 seconds
Pit Stops: 4
 
The highest that he ran during the race was 7th.
He was in the Top Five in the 2nd, 3rd and final practices.


He previous highest finish was 8th in 2017 and his average finish was 14th prior to 2018.




Josef is now 7th in the Indycar season standings 

Next up the Phoenix Grand Prix where Josef has 
finished 6th & 9th the last two years. 

GO JOSEF!!!
 
posted by Alexandra (age 10)

2018 Indycar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Indycar Grand Prix of St. Pete

Rookie Robert Wickens sat on the pole for his very first Indycar race and held that position for much of the race.  Alexander Rossi challenged him on the final restart with 2 laps to go and when they touched Wickens was left on the sidelines and finished 18th.  It was last year's winner, Sebastien Bourdais, who took advantage of the mishap and drove around Wickens and Rossi before the yellow flag flew and he got the 37th win of his Indycar career.

Top Ten

1. Sebastien Bourdais: A win in just his fourth race back from last year's serious injuries at Indianapolis.
2. Graham Rahal:  His first podium at St. Pete since his win back in 2008.

3. Alexander Rossi: His 3rd St. Petersburg race in IndyCar. His Highest finish at St. Petersburg.

4. James Hinchcliffe: His 7th St. Petersburg race in IndyCar. His 3rd top s in his 7 starts at St. Petersburg.

5. Ryan Hunter-Reay: His 6th top 5 at the St. Petersburg IndyCar race
6. Scott Dixon: One of the few tracks that Dixon has not won at in his fantastic career.
7. Josef Newgarden: His highest finish at St. Petersburg Indy Car race.  He won the Indy Lights St. Petersburg race in 2011.
8. Ed Jones: Two top tens in his two St. Pete starts.
9. Marco Andretti: Third top ten in last four races in St. Pete.

10. Will Power:  His tenth start at St. Pete.

Different Teams: 6 ( Penske 2, Andretti  Autosport 3, Schmidt Peterson, Dale Coyne Racing, Ganassi 2, RLL)

Different Countries: 7 (France, New Zealand, USA 5, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Australia)

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed: 86.207

 Time: 02:17:48

8 Cautions for 25 Laps

Lead Changes: 11 among 5 drivers (Sebastien Bourdais, Robert Wickens, Alexander Rossi, Jordan King, Ryan Hunter-Reay) 

Best Lap: 104.983 mph by Alexander Rossi on lap 87
Total Race Passes: 366

Josef Newgarden wins Indycar campionship

Indycar Season Finale at Sonoma

Championship leader Josef Newgarden sat on pole for just the second time in his career and his Penske teammates rounded out the top 2 rows.  It was no surprise that the race came down to Josef and his teammate Simon Pagenaud, who was on a unique 4 stop pit stop strategy while Josef pitted just three times.  In the end it was Simon Pagenaud who held off Josef Newgarden for the win as Josef became the new Indycar champion in his inaugural season with Team Penske.

 

POLE SITTER:   Josef Newgarden

TOP TEN

1. Simon Pagenaud: Finished 2nd in the 2017 Championship after his second win and 13th Top 5 of the year.
2. Josef Newgarden: His ninth podium of the year in route to his first Indycar Championship.
3. Will Power: His seventh podium of the year.  He finished 5th in season points.

4. Scott Dixon: Ten Top 5 finished for the year was enough to finish 3rd for the season.

5. Helio Castroneves: Finished 4th in season points with nine Top 5s.

6. Graham Rahal: Had twelve Top 10s for the season to finish 6th in points.

7. Marco Andretti: His

8. Ryan Hunter Reay: His sixth

9. Sebastien Bourdais: His

10. Conor Daly  Led three laps.  His fourth Top 11 in the final five races of the season.

Different Teams:   Andretti Autosport (2), Ganassi (1), Penske (4), Dale Coyne, Rahal Letterman, A. J. Foyt Racing

Different Countries:   USA (5), New Zealand, Brazil, Australia, France (2)

 5 Chevys   5 Hondas

  

FUN FACTS

 Average Speed:  104.968 mph

Time:  1  hour 55 minutes  52 seconds

Margin of Victory:  1.0986 seconds

Lead Changes:  6 among 3 drivers
Newgarden (41), Pagenaud (41), Daly (3) 

Total Passes:  161

Fastest Lap:   109.575 by Simon Pagenaud

0 Cautions

Most Improved:  Carlos Munoz 7 positions

Penalties: 1
Charlie Kimball - pit speed violation