VeeKay wins pole at Barber as Rossi rebounds from crash
Rinus VeeKay led an upset in IndyCar qualifying to position himself to race for the win at Barber Motorsports Park. The Dutchman was the surprise pole-winner for Sunday's race following a qualifying session that saw most of IndyCar's top names fail to advance through the rounds. The first round on Saturday bounced both Will Power, a two-time winner at Barber, and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon.
news.yahoo.comPit concerns dissipate as IndyCar drivers crank up speed
Jimmie Johnson posted the fastest lap of his career Thursday as IndyCar drivers got back to work Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Boles said track workers spent five hours dragging tires through the apron in hopes of providing more grip.
news.yahoo.comNewgarden passes McLaughlin in final turn to steal Texas win
Roger Penske met Josef Newgarden in victory lane with six crisp hundred dollar bills to gift the race winner. Newgarden used the nonexistent high line to pass Scott McLaughlin in the final turn Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway and steal the IndyCar race his teammate had dominated. It was the 600th overall victory for Roger Penske across all of his platforms.
news.yahoo.comIndyCar title race flips to O'Ward in wild race at Gateway
The IndyCar championship flipped leaders Saturday night when Alex Palou was collected in an early three-car accident that moved Pato O’Ward to the point following O’Ward’s runner-up finish to winner Josef Newgarden at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Newgarden snaps streak on 50th anniversary of 1st Penske win
Josef Newgarden snapped his streak of late race misfortunes to win for the first time this season, earning the first IndyCar victory of the year for Team Penske on the same weekend the storied organization celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first win.
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 tightens championship race ahead of IndyCar finale
FILE - In this Friday, July 17, 2020, file photo, Scott Dixon gets ready for qualifying for an IndyCar Series auto race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Scott Dixon has controlled IndyCar’s title race since the start of this disrupted start-and-stop season. The American has whittled 85 points off of Dixon's lead and turned Sunday's season finale into a championship-deciding event. “It was like 20,000 scenarios -- 1% of the scenarios means we can win the championship,” Newgarden said. “Had I not spun, I think it would have been a different scenario going into the last race,” Dixon said.
McLaughlin makes long journey for overdue IndyCar debut
McLaughlin's pandemic-postponed IndyCar debut at last comes Sunday in the season finale at St. Petersburg, Florida. “I obviously never thought I’d get a chance this year due to the nature of the beast with COVID,” McLaughlin said Thursday before boarding yet another flight, this one headed to his first IndyCar race. It’s something that I’m just going to go in like a sponge, soak everything up, see what comes out of it. I’m pretty confident that I’m going to like the series, I’m going to like the cars, I’m going to like everything.”McLaughlin has accomplished all he can racing touring cars in Australia, where he's won 56 races, including last year's Bathurst 1000, and all those titles. He drives for Roger Penske in Supercars and in 2019 the boss asked McLaughlin if he was interested in driving an Indy car.
Dixon's struggles open door to Newgarden for IndyCar title
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)INDIANAPOLIS – Scott Dixon looked invincible in the first half of this IndyCar season. Now, the Iceman needs everything he can muster to clinch his sixth IndyCar title. And Dixon hasn't just completed every lap of every race this season, he's led in points every day of this strange, abbreviated season. As always, the (IndyCar) points title comes down to the last race." If Dixon does claim the title, he and Foyt both would have won their sixth crowns at age 40.
Power claims another pole at Indy, Dixon's woes continue
INDIANAPOLIS – Will Power will start from the pole Saturday at Indianapolis after posting the fastest lap in morning qualifying. It's his fifth pole this season and the 61st career pole, which is second all-time behind Mario Andretti (67). “We made a lot of changes last night," Power said, explaining he was not satisfied with Friday's car. And when Newgarden won Friday's race , with Dixon finishing ninth, the lead was trimmed to 40 points with two races remaining. “It will take more horsepower we'll use more in these conditions, where as in July it would have been easy to do a two-stop race," Power said.
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.
Andretti puts 2 cars at the front of Indy 500 qualifying
The Pagoda is seen before a practice session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)INDIANAPOLIS Andretti Autosport claimed the top of the speed chart midway through Indianapolis 500 qualifying, with former race winners Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi leading a strong Honda showing. Teammate Hunter-Reay was waiting on pit lane to make his run when Rossi radioed feedback from his four laps. Hunter-Reay made a quick adjustment then bumped Rossi with a qualifying run of 231.330 mph. We knew we had the speed, Hunter-Reay said.
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.
IndyCar's next wave proving kids are more than all right
Two-time and defending champ Josef Newgarden, who won the second race of the Iowa doubleheader, has yet to turn 30. Pagenaud, who like Newgarden drives for Team Penske, won the first Iowa race on Friday night. The natural ebb and flow of sports dictates there must be a wave of youngsters waiting to replace them. Not surprisingly, Ferrucci was fired by his Trident Racing team. Take the doubleheader this weekend, where Herta and VeeKay were in contention Friday night before a caution flag waved.
Roger Penske buys Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar
Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series have been sold to Penske Entertainment Corp. in a stunning Monday announcement that relinquishes control of the iconic speedway from the Hulman family after 74 years.Tony Hulman bought the dilapidated speedway in 1945 and brought racing back to the corner of 16th St. and Georgetown Ave. after a four-year hiatus following World War II.The speedway spun off multiple other subsidiaries, including the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Productions, which are also part of the deal to Penske Entertainment. Penske teams remained in CART, and CART teams were not welcome at the 500.Tony George, the grandson of Tony Hulman, has long run the speedway and its properties along with his sister and a board of directors. But matriarch Mari Hulman George, daughter of Tony Hulman, died last December and the family has now turned over all of its racing properties to Penske.The IndyCar Series is on an upward trend with improved television ratings and increased interest. CART was once the most popular form of motorsports in America, but NASCAR swallowed open wheel racing during the tumultuous times after Tony George created the Indy Racing League. The split fractured open-wheel racing in North America and it has never recovered even after CART conceded and merged into what is presently known as IndyCar.
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