IndyCar
Scott Dixon leads Day 2 of practice for Indy 500
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Six time and reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion Scott Dixon is atop the speed charts after two days of practice for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
Dixon’s No. 9 PNC Bank Grow Up Great Chip Ganassi Racing Honda turned a fast lap of 226.829 MPH with teammates Marcus Ericsson fourth fastest in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda (226.007) and Tony Kanaan fifth in the No. 48 American Legion Honda (225.774). Alex Palou was 8th fastest in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda.
“I think as most will say, the big times don’t really mean much,” said Dixon. “You just kind of get a bit lucky and throw them up, but I think our cars definitely have good speed, all four in the top 8 there, which is good to see. Again, I think it doesn’t mean too much, but as far as race stuff, at least being able to get speed out of the car is always kind of nice.”
The different agendas of practice were on full display as some teams focused on race runs while a few even worked through qualifying simulations.
“We’re obviously working on what we need for the race,” said Kanaan. “We went out with the teammates, did a few long runs. Nothing out of the ordinary, just really trying to figure out what we need for next weekend.”
The good day for the Ganassi guys stole a little bit of thunder away from Ed Carpenter Racing.
ECR was second and third fastest on the speed chart Wednesday. Conor Daly was second at 226.372 in the No. 47 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet, while team owner Ed Carpenter was third at 226.103 in the No. 20 SONAX Chevrolet.
“I think the team has done an incredible job,” said Daly. “Both of our cars were fast last weekend, which is great, and I think our cars have a lot of speed here, as well.”
ECR is surging during the Month of May, as Rinus VeeKay won the GMR Grand Prix for the team last Saturday.
“I think anytime you win a race, it’s so hard to win races in this series, so anytime a driver or car on your team wins a race, I think it does lift everyone up,” said Carpenter, the only owner-driver in series. “You don’t get to celebrate the Indy GP as long as you do some other races because we’re just turning the page and getting ready for the 500, but I think it makes it easier for the guys that come in to work excited about spending most of their hours out here for the rest of the month, and they deserve it.”
The speed charts showed the unpredictable and competitive nature of this year’s deep field, which features nine “500” winners. 2018 Indy 500 winner Will Power, who led practice Tuesday at 226.470 mph, was 15th today at 224.785 in the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet.
Practice resumes from noon-6 p.m. (ET) Thursday. It’s the last day before boost levels are elevated in the engine turbochargers for Fast Friday practice and Crown Royal Armed Forces Qualifying on Saturday and Sunday.
NASHVILLE, TN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Scott Dixon is sitting second in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Championship standings after winning Sunday’s Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville.
“It was a wild day,” said Dixon. “We had a good start. I thought things were going well, and then we came in for the first stop, and the air jacks failed or the hose failed. We went all the way to the back and got into the chaos in turn five or six and just got rolled over the back and hit pretty hard.”
Dixon’s No. 9 PNC Bank crew assessed the damage and the 6-time Series Champion made four pit stops to fix the wounded machine.
“Actually, we couldn’t get the wheel off because it was stuck on the brake caliper,” explained Dixon. “Took the team a lot of time to get that off, but then it ripped a bunch of the underfloor off of the car as well and all the strakes.”
Dixon returned to the fight and inherited the lead when Josef Newgarden hit pit road for fuel and held off Scott McLaughlin following a restart with 2-laps to go to pick up his second win of the year and 53rd of Dixon’s career, which gives him sole position of second-place on the All-time INDYCAR wins list. A.J. Foyt is the All-Time leader with 67 wins.
Dixon and the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda started 15th in the field and picked up a number of spots at the start of the race and settled into top 10 as McLaughlin, who started on the pole, took control out front early.
McLaughlin led 22-laps but dropped into the middle of the field in the middle part of the race.
“We had a fast car,” said McLaughlin. “I was in control early in the race and I knew early in the race I had a car that could pass. We had one costly pit-stop that put me back to 16th. I was pissed off and dropped the hammer.”
McLaughlin however couldn’t get Dixon on the final restart.
“I probably played it a little safe,” said McLaughlin. “The opportunity was there a couple of times but we both would’ve ended up in the fence if I would’ve taken it. To go toe-to-toe with Scotty was phenomenal and a very cool thing for my racing career.”
Dixon knew he had to get a good restart because his car was battered and bruised.
“The car was bent and broken, but for us I think strategy-wise to take no tires on that last stop was probably the key,” said Dixon. “We were able to jump a couple and have enough fuel to get towards the end, and to the end, but it was very difficult to drive. The car just had no grip. Each time we had a restart, I was just praying for another accident. Some of those came. Some of them didn’t. Another lap with McLaughlin would have been extremely tough to hold him off. He was just super fast, and I think just in a better situation.”
Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palou, the defending Series Champion, finished third after leading the second portion of the race.
“I think Nashville is kind of like the Indy 500 where there are so many things happening, and you just need to survive and have a good car and a car in one piece at the end,” said Palou.
The win leaves Dixon six-points behind leader Will Power in the Championship standings. Palou’s third place finish leaves him 33-points out of the lead with three races to go.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES event is the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Saturday, Aug. 20 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. Live coverage on the USA Network and the INDYCAR Radio Network of the last oval race of the season starts at 6 p.m. ET.
NEWTON, IA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Pato O’Ward won race two of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader at Iowa Speedway, beating Team Penske’s Will Power by 4.2476-seconds.
O’Ward was in the position after Penske’s Josef Newgarden crashed after leading 148 of the first 234-laps.
“I knew we had the pace to win one,” said O’Ward. “The problem was just trying to get up to Josef. One thing is getting up to him, and one thing is passing him. I’m glad he’s okay. We took advantage of the opportunity that presented itself. I just walked away with it. I knew we had the pace to do it.”
“Man, I want to cry,” said Newgarden. “So sad for my team. I don’t know what happened. It was a good run. I feel terrible for us. I don’t know; something went wrong there.”
Newgarden was treated and released at the infield care center but later collapsed in the Motorhome lot and hit his head. He was admitted overnight in Iowa for observation before being released the following day. Newgarden’s status for Saturday’s race on the road course at Indianapolis is pending INDYCAR Medical Team clearance.
Newgarden’s Penske teammates Will Power finished second followed by Scott McLaughlin in third.
“The car was really good,” said Power. “I probably could have been more aggressive in that second-to-last stint because it seemed like there’s a lot less deg. Must have cooled or the track took a lot of rubber or something. The track was really fast.”
“Midway through the race today, the car was a bit of a handful and I wasn’t too happy,” said McLaughlin. “Managed to get my head down, did some really good pit exchanges, managed to get ourselves into P4 there before the last caution. Then P3 on Dixon, which was a fun pass. I really enjoyed that. It was a really good exchange with him all race.”
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES Race is the Gallagher Grand Prix on Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the INDYCAR/NASCAR Doubleheader weekend.
(Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden picked up his fourth win of the season taking race one of the HyVee Doubleheader NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Iowa Speedway.
Newgarden beat Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward by 6.1784 seconds en route to his 24th career victory.
“I love this place,” said Newgarden. “I mean, not just because we’re good here. Obviously that makes it better, but it’s a really fun track to race at. You have two lanes to run on, sometimes three. That’s abnormal for us in a lot of ovals we go to. It’s the most exciting race we get to partake in in INDYCAR from an oval standpoint.”
“I thought we had a little bit more for Josef in the end,” said O’Ward. “He was really strong. I had to use my tires a bit much. I think Will was on the same train battling with me and Palou, Marcus. So, I think we used up our tires a little bit more than what Josef did. He had a little bit more to give in the end.”
Power, the race’s pole-sitter, finished third.
“Last restart is what hurt me the most, trying to keep guys behind,” said Power. “Had a couple of big yaw moments on the rear tire early. Pounded on that rear too much to stay ahead. Then went loose, really loose. I had some big saves. I was happy to end up third actually.”
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay finished fourth in the No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile Chevrolet, his second top-four finish in his last three starts. Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon followed his victory last Sunday at the Honda Indy Toronto by finishing fifth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
“It was a tough day,” said Dixon. “Our car was really good on the long run. We’ve got a lot of work to do tonight to get our cars better.”
Race 2 of the Doubleheader is Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
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