Newgarden wins IndyCar finale but can't deny Dixon 6th title
Newgarden won the season finale, using a spectacular two-car pass for the lead in a valiant effort to win a second consecutive title. Dixon has won two of the last three championships, a run interrupted last year when Newgarden won his second title. Newgarden tied Dixon with his series-best fourth win of the season but Newgarden was in too large of a hole to catch his rival. It came to a close in front of a sold-out 20,000 spectators, the largest crowd of the season for IndyCar. There was nothing Newgarden could do, even on a day he did everything he had to, to deny Dixon a sixth championship.
IndyCar back in St. Pete seven months later to finish season
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – IndyCar opened the second week of March giddy to finally start its season. The entire industry left St. Pete in March unsure how IndyCar could survive. Yet here IndyCar is, back on the St. Pete streets preparing to crown a champion in Sunday's season finale. Now this cruel 2020 season closes right back at St. Pete, the only street course to survive the schedule disruptions and where it all fell apart in March. Askew missed two races but returned for St. Pete, his final race in another unpopular firing by Arrow McLaren.
Newgarden's stays in championship fight with 1st Indy win
INDIANAPOLIS – Josef Newgarden doesn't intend to just give up on his season title defense. With the Harvest GP win, Newgarden moved within 40 points of what once was a seemingly safe 120-point lead of five-time series champ Scott Dixon with two races remaining. Both will run the final two races this season in those cars, and both are already getting started on next season, too. He's had six straight top-10 finishes including a win from the pole at Mid-Ohio and has moved up to third in points. After starting the season with three straight wins, he's finished 10th, 10th and ninth in the last three races, putting his sixth series title back in play.
Pato O'Ward inching toward first IndyCar Series victory
The start-and-stop uncertainty of this IndyCar season has not bothered Pato O'Ward, leader of a young fleet of drivers new to the series but capable of keeping up with the veterans. Had the pandemic not decimated the IndyCar schedule, O'Ward might have built some momentum to have already earned his first series win. O'Ward was entered in one Formula 2 race then Red Bull moved him to Japan's Super Formula category. They asked me to come to Austria like five, six days before the race," O'Ward said. Sam Schmidt's race team had been overhauled via a partnership with McLaren, and McLaren boss Zak Brown moved fast to grab O'Ward.
An Andretti wins first Indy 500 pole for family in 33 years
Marco Andretti sits in his pit box before the start of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)INDIANAPOLIS Marco Andretti has won the pole for the Indianapolis 500 in a lightning-fast first step toward snapping the infamous Andretti Curse at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mario Andretti won his third and final pole for the Indy 500 in 1987, when grandson Marco was an infant. Mario Andretti scored the only Indy 500 win for the family in 1969; Michael Andretti fell short in 16 tries and the Aug. 23 race will be Marco Andretti's 15th attempt. Andretti will sit on the front row alongside two former Indy 500 winners.
Marco Andretti breaks 233 mph on 'Fast Friday' at Indy
Marco Andretti packs up his gear following practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)INDIANAPOLIS The horsepower boost sent speeds skyrocketing over 233 mph early on Fast Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Andretti Autosport cars quickly jumped to the top of the board with Marco Andretti logging a lap of 233.491 miles per hour (375.77 kilometres per hour). It's the fastest lap in a practice which is considered unofficial since Sebastien Bourdais went 233.116 mph in 2017. The first thing you need is speed and then you need to put the four laps together," Andretti said.
Back on track: IndyCar delayed debut all-in-one Texas affair
FILE - In this June 8, 2019, file photo, Josef Newgarden does a burnout after winning the IndyCar auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. IndyCar opens its pandemic-delayed season with an all-in-one-day show Saturday on the fast high-banked 1 -mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway, more than eight months after the 2019 finale. Only Indianapolis Motor Speedway has hosted IndyCar races longer than TMS, which has had races each year since opening in 1997, including the season finales from 1999-2004. Hinchcliffe put together a three-race deal with Andretti Autosport that includes the Indianapolis 500 after he abruptly lost his ride with Arrow McLaren last year. Kanaan is closing out his IndyCar career with the TK Farewell Tour," racing at oval tracks and the Indianapolis 500.