Ericsson takes Indy GP's top spot amid start time change
IndyCar Indianapolis Auto Racing Marcus Ericsson, of Sweden, heads into the first turn during practice for the IndyCar auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Friday, May 13, 2022. He qualified 18th for Saturday's race, which will start about 30 minutes earlier than originally scheduled. Race organizers moved the start time because of the possibility of late afternoon rain. Ericsson eclipsed rookie Callum Illot late in the session, breaking what had been Chevrolet's dominant performance in Friday's qualifying. ___More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2022 The Associated Press.
wftv.comNewgarden passes McLaughlin in final turn to steal Texas win
Indy Car Texas Auto Racing Racers vie for position at the beginning of the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday, March 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Larry Papke) (Larry Papke)FORT WORTH, Texas — (AP) — Josef Newgarden used the nonexistent high line to pass Scott McLaughlin in the final turn at Texas Motor Speedway and steal the IndyCar race his teammate had dominated. The Sunday win gave Team Penske back-to-back victories to open the season and 600 overall wins across all its platforms. It's jeopardized the future of IndyCar at Texas, which has hosted the series since 1997 and its existing contract expired Sunday. It was the highest IndyCar finish for Johnson, a seven-time NASCAR champion and the all-time winningest driver at Texas with seven wins.
wftv.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.comErratic driving upends IndyCar's championship race
Alex Palou stood in the darkened infield watching a replay of the crash that had knocked him out of the final oval event of the season and, consequently, swallowed the last of his lead in the IndyCar standings. The rest of the field roared on without him Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway after Palou was caught in a three-car accident triggered by yet another sketchy restart. Sloppy racing and botched restarts have been a problem all season in IndyCar — remember, eventual race winner Marcus Ericsson drove up and over Sebastien Bourdais even before the field got to the restart line at Nashville earlier this month — and a rash of impatient and overaggressive driving has jumbled the championship fight.
news.yahoo.comMusic City launches a smash hit event in IndyCar return
With apologies to Detroit, Music City morphed into Motor City as IndyCar stormed into town and proved again downtown streets and bridges and zipping around NFL stadiums are where the series needs to race. IndyCar drivers were treated as celebrities almost on par as the country music stars that call the city home wherever they went -- and they were seemingly everwhere. James Hinchcliff rode his electric scooter to the track every day and was called out by fans on the sidewalk. “These were race fans. The Cup Series had not raced in the Nashville area since 1984 when the last premier series event was held at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
wftv.comEricsson soars to victory in inaugural Music City Grand Prix
The 30-year-old Swede won as darkness fell in Nashville with six-time IndyCar Dixon making a late run. But Ericsson got a break when Herta clobbered his car into the tire barriers with five laps left, ending his dominant weekend. He was gaining on Ericsson and had a potential go-ahead pass on the horizon when he crushed his car. Johnson destroyed his car in the morning practice session for his second wreck of the weekend and was forced to use a backup car. The team fields cars this season for Pato O’Ward, who was second in the points standings headed into Sunday’s Music City Grand Prix, and Felix Rosenqvist.
wftv.comNewgarden 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.
Ericsson scores 1st IndyCar win at action-packed Belle Isle
IndyCar Detroit Auto Racing Marcus Ericsson, right, of Sweden, celebrates with team owner Chip Ganassi after winning the first race of the IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix auto racing doubleheader on Belle Isle in Detroit, Saturday, June 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) (Paul Sancya)DETROIT — (AP) — Marcus Ericsson raced to his first IndyCar victory Saturday in the action-packed opener of the doubleheader at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park. The Swede became the seventh driver to win through seven IndyCar races this season, and he's the fourth first-time winner this year. The seven different winners through seven races ties an IndyCar record set in 1958 and matched in 2000 and 2017. Ericsson benefitted from the second red-flag stoppage, this one with six laps remaining when Romain Grosjean crashed in Turn 9.
wftv.comGrosjean moves to IndyCar with Coyne after 9 seasons in F1
AdGrosjean has tried to make comparisons from the F1 race in Austin to IndyCar's two events at the Texas track. Coyne had been talking to Grosjean even before the Bahrain crash about the move to IndyCar. AdThe Coyne organization has not won an IndyCar race since Sebastien Bourdais won the 2018 season opener, but Grosjean is excited to join a team that has a chance in each race. Haas is not a race-winning contender in F1 and Grosjean texted this week with former teammate Magnussen about the thrill of being competitive again. “I really want to keep racing and racing fast cars and I believe that's the case in IndyCar.
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.
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.
Dixon, Ganassi out to continue IndyCar domination in Iowa
The IndyCar series will welcome fans for the first time of the year during the REV Group Grand Prix doubleheader Saturday and Sunday, July 11-12, at Road America in Plymouth, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)NEWTON, Iowa Few people can appreciate the level of success that Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist have had during the IndyCar team's pandemic-challenged 30th anniversary season more than Tony Kanaan. Then consider the 45-year-old Kanaan sees the 39-year-old Dixon in the gym almost every day, each pushing each other to stay fit and young. Dixon went on to win his third straight race after triumphs at Texas and on the road course at Indianapolis. All of it will take place Friday, with the first lap determining where drivers start in the opening race and the second lap where they start the second.
Postponed Indy 500 puts short-track drivers in spotlight
A fan watches as cars practice on a short dirt track at Gas City I-69 Speedway, Sunday, May 24, 2020, in Gas City, Ind. The roaring engines and flying dirt pellets briefly brought Gas City I-69 Speedway back to life Sunday. Seventy-five miles away, the Indianapolis 500 was devoid of a crowd, the singing of Back Home Again in Indiana," even A.J. I went to my first Indianapolis 500 in 1969, and I love the 500," track promoter Jerry Gappens said. We're not the Indianapolis 500 but at least we have racing and that's a good sign."