(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Felix Rosenqvist (No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing NTT DATA Honda) out-dueled Pato O’Ward (No. 5 McLaren SP ARROW Chevrolet) in a thrilling late-race battle to score his first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory in the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR Doubleheader Race 2 on Sunday, July 12, at Road America. Rosenqvist’s drive ended the undefeated start to the 2020 season by his teammate, Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Bank Honda). But the 28-year-old continued the dominating start for Chip Ganassi Racing, which has won all four NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. “It feels so good,” Rosenqvist said. “It’s been a long time. We’ve been close so many times. This race was for my 10 car crew, the NTT DATA crew. Also Honda. I’m really proud to be powered by NTT and Honda this year. It’s been really good. Every race just hasn’t had a lock, just hasn’t come together until now. Today we went all for it. Super pace, the car was fantastic. It’s four out of four for Ganassi, which is huge.” Rosenqvist, the 2019 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year, completed a stirring comeback to pass O’Ward on the second-to-last of the 55 laps of the race, pulling away to win by 2.8699 seconds at the checkered flag. His previous-best finish was second last year at Mid-Ohio and Portland. O’Ward dominated the day until that point, winning the NTT P1 Award for pole in qualifying Sunday morning at "America's National Park of Speed" and leading 43 of the 55 laps. But as the end of the race neared, O’Ward’s used Firestone red tires, the alternate compound option, began to fall off and allowed Rosenqvist to close the gap quickly. Still, 2018 Indy Lights champion O’Ward, who is racing in his first full-time season, scored his best career finish in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. “I gave it everything, every little bit I had,” O’Ward said. “I was pushing, pushing, pushing, but I just couldn’t keep Felix behind me. I really want to thank Arrow McLaren SP, Team Chevy. The car was really, really good. We just missed that little extra in keeping the rear tires under us. But we’re here. We got some good points this weekend, and we’re looking forward to Iowa. We like running up front. I think we showed that we have everything to do it. I’m excited for the rest of the season.” Following Rosenqvist and O’Ward on the podium was Alexander Rossi (No. 27 Andretti Autosport AutoNation/NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda) with his best finish of the season after a terrible start to the year. Next up for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is another doubleheader weekend beginning next Friday, July 17, at Iowa Speedway, a .875-mile tri-oval. The first race begins at 8:30 p.m. (ET, NBCSN) Friday, with Race 2 of the Iowa INDYCAR 250s scheduled for 8:30 p.m. (ET, NBCSN) on Saturday. (Thank you, as always, to the folks at INDYCAR Media.)
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Five-time series champion Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Bank Honda) continued his undefeated start to the 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season by winning the REV Group Grand Prix Race 1 on Saturday, July 11, at Road America. With the win, Dixon became the first driver to win three-straight NTT INDYCAR SERIES races since Simon Pagenaud completed the feat in 2016. “I don’t know how that happened, man,” Dixon said. “We came out of the pits (on Lap 28), and they said, ‘You and Power are first and second.’ I was like: ‘How? How?’ I know we had huge out laps and a big in lap, as well. Definitely proud to be powered by Honda here. The car is difficult to drive. Huge thanks to everyone on the PNC crew. We dialed it in a bit during the race but still really tricky on the rears. Hard to keep them under you. But it looked like a lot of other people were struggling, as well. That was awesome, man.” Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) finished second on the 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural-terrain road course, 2.5386 seconds behind Dixon. Rookie Alex Palou (No. 55 Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh Honda) rounded out the podium with the best finish of his young career. The win was Dixon’s 49th career INDYCAR victory, inching him closer to Mario Andretti, who sits second on the all-time series wins list with 52 victories. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media.)
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Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas) cruised to a dominant win in the Styrian Grand Prix on Sunday at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Hamilton's first victory of the year followed a spectacular performance in wet qualifying, in which he took pole by more than 1.2 seconds. It was Hamilton's 85th Grand Prix win. Hamilton led from pole position and was only headed during pit stops, as teammate Valtteri Bottas (No. 77 Mercedes-AMG Petronas) overtook Max Verstappen (No. 33 Red Bull Racing Honda) late in the race for second. It was a disastrous day for Scuderia Ferrari as Charles Leclerc (No. 16 Scuderia Ferrari) crashed into Sebastian Vettel (No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari), taking both cars out of the race on lap one. Leclerc apologized for the move, but Ferrari is in deep trouble already in the abbreviated 2020 F1 season.
(Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Cole Custer (No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) stormed to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday afternoon at Kentucky Speedway, emerging from a late-race restart with a sensational four-wide move just after the white flag. Custer led just five of the 267 laps in the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart. The first-year driver also won at the 1.5-mile Kentucky track in Xfinity Series competition last year. Martin Truex Jr. (No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) wound up second, .271 seconds behind at the checkered flag. Matt DiBenedetto (No. 21 Wood Brothers Menards/Quaker State Ford) finished third in a tremendous run. Aric Almirola (No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) led the most laps — a career-best 128 — and won Stage 1. He faded to eighth-place at the end, snapping a streak of five consecutive top-five finishes. The Cup Series’ next event is the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race, scheduled for this Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM). The NASCAR All-Star Open qualifier is set earlier Wednesday (7 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) to round out the invitational field. The next points-paying race for the Cup Series is scheduled next Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) at Texas Motor Speedway. (Thanks to NASCAR Media.)
(Trans Am by Pirelli)
Tomy Drissi (No. 8 Burtin Racing Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro) took advantage of Ernie Francis Jr.’s mid-race misfortune to win Sunday’s Ryan Companies presents the Jed Copham Tribute Weekend at Brainerd International Raceway. The victory marked Drissi's ninth overall Trans Am win (four in the West Coast Series, five in the National series) in Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli competition. Francis Jr. (No. 90 One South Florida Ford Mustang) pulled to an 18.6-second lead in a bid for a third-consecutive triumph in 2020, while Drissi was involved in a terrific battle with Amy Ruman (No. 23 McNichols Company Corvette) for second. That proved to be the fight for the win, as Francis went out with mechanical problems shortly after Drissi passed Ruman for second. “I was patient today,” said Drissi, whose last victory was a Watkins Glen in 2018. “Burtin Racing gives me a lot of confidence. We would not be as fast without Lucas Oil Slick Mist. It’s great to be P1 at Brainerd. I am sorry that Ernie had the misfortune. It has been 10 years since I was here, and they have done a wonderful job, it looks amazing. It was like Jed (Copham) was riding along with me in the car. I finished second last time I was here, so it is great to be on top!” For lap after lap, Ruman managed to hold off Drissi, but he managed to get by in the Cloverleaf Corner on the 19th lap. Losing her power steering in the closing laps, Ruman still finished second, 46.612 seconds back. “It was a good battle with Tomy,” Ruman said. “I wish we had more mid-race and at the end. We lost power steering and a lot of grip. Giving Jed a tribute was our pleasure today.” Simon Gregg (No. 59 Derhaag Motorsports Camaro) finished third. Next up for Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli will be a return to Road America on August 6-8 with the NASCAR Xfinity Series. (Thanks to Trans Am Media.)
(Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Twenty-four-year-old Chase Elliott (No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) earned his first NASCAR All-Star Race win Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway — holding off Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) in the closing laps. Elliott led 60 of the 140 laps en route to the $1 million paycheck. He and his father, Bill Elliott, join the father-son combination of Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to have won the sport’s midseason All-Star exhibition. Interestingly, Bill won the race when it was held in Atlanta and Chase’s victory was in Bristol, Tennessee — those are the only two times the event took place at a track other than Charlotte Motor Speedway. The season’s driver standings leader, Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) finished third. “Oh my gosh, there’s no feeling like it, nothing like it,” a smiling Elliott said after climbing of his Chevrolet. “Bristol is an electric atmosphere unlike any place we go to. We’re going to celebrate this one for sure. There’s nothing like Bristol. There’s nothing like the lights here. There’s nothing like racing here. I’ve never won here — what a race to do it. Just really proud of our team tonight and rebounding. … All those No. 9 hats and T-shirts up in the stands — love to see it.” (Thanks to Holly Cain/NASCAR Wire Service.)