Bus Bros. have early disappointment at Rolex 24 at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — (AP) — The Bus Bros. of IndyCar were quickly knocked out of contention in their debut Rolex 24 at Daytona because of a very early issue with their Tower Motorsports entry. Farano crashed the car last weekend in qualifying and then stalled the car Saturday less than 10 minutes after the race began. The race marks a new era for IMSA sports car racing with the debut of hybrid engines in the top GTP class. The GTP class has four different manufacturers — double the number in last year's race — with BMW and Porsche new to the class alongside stalwarts Acura and Cadillac. “I think the future’s really bright for sports car racing, and I think our timing is perfect to be involved,” said Andretti.
wftv.comFebruary execution date set for Missouri man who killed four
The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday set a February execution date for a suburban St. Louis man who was convicted of killing his girlfriend and her three young children nearly 18 years ago. Leonard Taylor is scheduled to be executed on Feb. 7 at the state prison in Bonne Terre. In May 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Jennings’ case, leading to the setting of an execution date.
news.yahoo.comPower breaks Andretti qualifying record in pursuit of title
Will Power broke Mario Andretti's record for poles on the day he most needed a big run. The greatest qualifier in IndyCar history is now one step closer to a second championship. Power grabbed his 68th career pole with Andretti watching from pit lane Saturday at Laguna Seca Raceway.
news.yahoo.comPenske's Will Power in tight title fight with no team orders
But there are plenty of Power fans — and probably Power himself — who believe the Australian could have had some breathing room in this title fight had Team Penske done him any favors. Power definitely did not have a car as good as McLaughlin's, but challenger Dixon was closing fast behind him in both the race and title fight. If Team Penske had called for “team orders” and asked McLaughlin to cede the lead to Power, he'd have 10 additional points over Dixon and Newgarden. The call Dixon considered a “no-brainer” never came and now Power must finish no lower than third to clinch the title. Team Penske has weaved through the team orders issue since Sunday at Portland, while Dixon admits that Chip Ganassi Racing races with the greater organization in mind.
wftv.comMcLaughlin wins in Portland as Will Power widens title lead
PORTLAND, Ore. — (AP) — Scott McLaughlin led a Team Penske rout at Portland International Raceway by scoring his third victory of the season in a 1-2 finish that moved Will Power one race closer to the IndyCar championship. McLaughlin led 104 of the 110 laps Sunday to pick up his third victory of the season. He trails only Penske teammate Josef Newgarden (five) in most series wins, but an inconsistent season has the New Zealander clinging to any title chances. McLaughlin goes to next Sunday's season finale at Laguna Seca in California ranked fifth in the standings, 41 points behind Power but still mathematically in the hunt. “We did exactly what we needed to do this weekend which was win and get maximum points,” McLaughlin said.
wftv.comMalukas dazzles racing through field and against Penskes
On fresh tires for the final run of the night, Malukas waited until two laps to go to experiment with the upper groove at Gateway. Although he ran out of time to catch Newgarden, Malukas was closing in quickly when Newgarden took his series-best fifth win of the season. Once the drama faded from social media, Malukas went back to big runs for tiny Dale Coyne Racing. Newgarden heaped praise on Malukas after the race and said Malukas, a Lithuanian-American from the Chicago area, could probably get a little more aggressive. “It’s definitely intimidating when there’s two Penskes in front of you.”___More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2022 The Associated Press.
wftv.comDixon eyes record-tying 7th championship after Nashville win
More important, Dixon jumped to second in the points standings and trails series leader Will Power by six points with three races remaining. O'Ward came to Nashville fifth in the standings but dropped to seventh and likely out of the championship picture with a 24th-place finish. But like teammate Dixon, Ericsson had a poor qualifying effort and struggled to come through the field from 18th. He'll enter the Xfinity Series race on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 8, driving for Big Machine Racing. Andretti is coming off the championship in the second season of Tony Stewart's Superstar Racing Experience all-star series.
wftv.comMcLaughlin wins Nashville pole; Grosjean, Lundgaard follow
IndyCar Nashville Auto Racing Christian Lundgaard comes through a turn during a practice session for the Music City Grand Prix auto race Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. Grosjean qualified second for Andretti Autosport, which had three drivers eliminated in the first round of qualifying. Lundgaard was a career-best third for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, which advanced all three of its drivers to the top 12. Lundgaard overcame a penalty in the second round and locked a tire in the final round and still managed to qualify third. Prior to Herta's spin, Andretti Autosport rookie Devlin DeFrancesco also spun to bring out a yellow that chewed up three of the 10 scheduled minutes in the qualifying group.
wftv.comIndyCar champ Palou says he's leaving Ganassi for McLaren
Shortly after Chip Ganassi Racing announced Tuesday it would exercise a team option to keep the star Spaniard next season, Palou and Arrow McLaren SP said they had agreed to a deal for 2023. It's an odd twist in a big week for the McLaren team. Palou emerged as a star last season by becoming the first Spaniard to win an IndyCar title while giving Ganassi a 14th series crown. “It's a great feeling to know I will keep working with Chip Ganassi Racing next season,” Ganassi's press release quoted Palou as saying. McLaren also issued a statement saying Palou would serve as a test driver for its F1 team in addition to his full-time IndyCar duties.
wftv.comMcLaughlin picks up victory in front of his visiting parents
IndyCar Mid Ohio Auto Racing Scott McLaughlin, center, celebrates in Victory Circle after winning an IndyCar auto race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, Sunday, July 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar) (Tom E. Puskar)LEXINGTON, Ohio — (AP) — Scott McLaughlin on Sunday picked up his second career IndyCar victory, which may go down as one of the most special wins of his career. It took four to see their only son drive his Team Penske entry to victory lane. “I really wanted to get a win here with Mom and Dad,” said McLaughlin, who had won three consecutive V8 Supercars championships in Australia. Simon Pagenaud won the last IndyCar race held in Canada before a two-year pandemic pause.
wftv.comIndyCar's depth creating plenty of unpredictable outcomes
Ericsson is second in the standings – three points behind leader Will Power – heading into Sunday's race at Road America. Scott McLaughlin won the opener at St. Petersburg, Pato O'Ward won at Barber and Colton Herta won on the Indianapolis road course. But he won his first pole since 2019 in qualifying and is trying Sunday at Road America to end his drought. This will be de Silvestro’s first IndyCar start of the season and 70th of her career. It will mark the first time Road America has been repaved since between the 1994 and 1995 seasons.
wftv.comINDY DAY 7: Kellett is first to crash in Indy 500 prep
IndyCar Indy 500 Auto Racing Scott McLaughlin, of New Zealand, talks with a team member during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Friday, May 20, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) (Darron Cummings)INDIANAPOLIS — (AP) — Dalton Kellett on Monday became the first driver to crash while preparing for the Indianapolis 500, ending a streak of six days without major incident. It prevented Wilson from making a qualifying run and he'll start last in the field Sunday. THEY SAID ITJimmie Johnson used a marvelous save on Sunday to stop his sideways racecar from crashing during his qualifying run. “I said his new nickname is Jimmie “Drift King” Johnson,” Daly said.
wftv.comBlistering speeds at fastest Indy 500 qualifying since 1996
Rain held off long enough on Saturday to complete the first round of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 on a soupy day that still produced eye-popping speeds not seen in 26 years at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rinus VeeKay and Pato O'Ward, a pair of young new stars, posted blistering qualifying averages of over 233 mph in a flex of Chevrolet horsepower. NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson qualified for his first Indy 500 and his Chip Ganassi Racing team showed it might be the strongest organization at Indy right now.
news.yahoo.comPower's late qualifying run puts him on pole for Indy GP
IndyCar Indianapolis Auto Racing Scott McLaughlin, of New Zealand, drives into the second turn during practice for the IndyCar auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Friday, May 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) (Michael Conroy)INDIANAPOLIS — (AP) — Will Power used the final lap of qualifying Friday to move past five drivers and take the pole for the IndyCar Grand Prix. "But I’m not surprised that it’s Will on the pole.”Two-time race winner Josef Newgarden, Power's teammate, starts third after limiting himself to one hard lap in the third and final qualifying group. FRUSTRATING DAYNobody was more upset about their qualifying position than defending race winner Rinus VeeKay or six-time series champ Scott Dixon. Before Saturday's race, the 22-year-old emerging star will turn laps in IndyCar's two-seat car piloted by 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti.
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.comFelix Rosenqvist earns much-needed pole at slick Texas track
IndyCar Texas Auto Racing Rinus Veekay passes Alexander Rossi on the fourth turn during the first practice round of the IndyCar Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas on Saturday, March 19, 2022. Jimmie Johnson, the all-time winningest driver at Texas with seven wins in NASCAR, qualified 18th in his IndyCar oval debut. For Rosenqvist, it was his second career pole since joining IndyCar in 2019. It makes a high line that is far too slick and dangerous for the IndyCar drivers. Very few drivers dared to even coast into the second lane during Saturday morning practice.
wftv.comMcLaughlin wins 1st IndyCar race in St. Pete season opener
McLaughlin, the three-time Australian V8 Supercars champion, made his IndyCar debut at St. Pete in the 2020 season finale and declared the experience “far out!" Palou couldn't get close enough and McLaughlin followed DeFrancesco across the finish line for another win for Team Penske. McLaughlin stood atop his car in victory lane to celebrate but then tumbled off it to the ground in his excitement. “What a day, I'm out of breath.”It's a marked turn for Team Penske, which didn't get an IndyCar driver into victory lane into the 10th race of last season. NEXT UP: IndyCar is off until its March 20 race at Texas Motor Speedway, which will be the IndyCar oval debut for Jimmie Johnson.
wftv.comMcLaughlin beats teammate Power to win first IndyCar pole
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — (AP) — Scott McLaughlin circled qualifying as the area he had to improve upon in his second season of IndyCar. McLaughlin beat Team Penske teammate Will Power, one of the best qualifiers in series history, to win the pole Saturday for the season-opening race through the downtown streets of St. Petersburg. The pole is the first for McLaughlin, who moved from racing supercars in Australia to IndyCar last season, but never got the results he expected. “I know it’s only qualifying, but I love qualifying,” McLaughlin said. Grosjean's car actually drove under Sato, who took the seat that Grosjean vacated at Dale Coyne Racing after one season in IndyCar.
wftv.comDixon paces Carb Day as Team Penske finally shows speed
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings) (Darron Cummings)INDIANAPOLIS — (AP) — Scott Dixon ran to the top of the board in the final practice before the Indianapolis 500 and called it a day with 45 minutes remaining in the session. “Hopefully it runs this good in the race,” Dixon said after his lap at 228.323 mph put the six-time IndyCar champion in control of Friday’s practice. That’s it, it’s over.”Rain disrupted the traditional “Carb Day” practice but IndyCar was able to get cars on track for almost two hours later Friday afternoon. Seeing the struggles, not him, but the team are going through for qualifying pace,” Dixon said. Conor Daly, meanwhile, was fourth fastest on the day in yet another strong showing for Ed Carpenter Racing.
wftv.comRahal team penalized after Indy 500 photo shoot causes crash
IndyCar said it was unaware of a Rahal photo shoot and so the track was “hot” for the entire field. McLaughlin and Simona de Silvestro saw the three Rahal cars ahead as they sped through the corner and both immediately slowed to roughly 170 mph. Herta could not see the Rahal cars and it was too late when he noticed McLaughlin and de Silvestro had slowed. The Australian rookie Penske driver told the Rahal team he hoped the photo turned out well while tweeting a replay of the incident. “There’s enough experience from these young guys, they’re quick enough, that I wouldn’t be surprised if one of us won the Indy 500,” Herta said.
wftv.comPhoto shoot nearly causes crash during Indy 500 practice
IndyCar Indy 500 Auto Racing Scott McLaughlin, of New Zealand, waits by his pit box during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Wednesday, May 19, 2021, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) (Darron Cummings)INDIANAPOLIS — (AP) — A photo opportunity for Rahal Letterman Lanigan caused the first hiccup in preparations for the Indianapolis 500 when Colton Herta and Scott McLaughlin nearly crashed Thursday trying to avoid the on-track stunt. The track opened as scheduled for practice and defending race winner Takuma Sato slowed alongside Indy 500 teammates Graham Rahal and Santino Ferrucci for a three-wide photo opportunity on Indy's frontstretch. Both Herta and McLaughlin immediately returned to pit lane for repairs, with Herta estimating he'd miss at least an hour of practice. ___More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
wftv.comMcLaughlin 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.