JULY 17, 2024

(Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR)

Add Iowa Speedway to the list of tracks where Will Power has won an NTT INDYCAR SERIES race. Power put that one on his impressive list with a victory in Sunday’s Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade. In doing so, Team Penske’s two-time series champion pushed his career race win total to 43, giving him sole possession of fourth place in the sport’s history. Power tied Michael Andretti’s career total last month with a victory at Road America. Sunday’s race was Power’s 19th attempt at the short oval east of Des Moines, Iowa. He had won an event-leading seven poles, but finishing second on four occasions, including last year, had been his best race result. His last oval-track victory was nearly five years ago at Pocono Raceway. He now has 10 career oval wins. “I’ve been trying to win this race for years (and) years,” said Power, who started deep in the 27-car field due to brushing the wall in Saturday’s qualifying session. “So, I’m over the moon (happy).” Power, 43, drove from the 22nd starting position and then received quick service from his No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Business Chevrolet crew to beat series leader Alex Palou during the final exchange of pit stops under green conditions. Power’s time advantage over Palou in that sequence was about nine-tenths of a second, according to information collected by NTT DATA. The separation between Power and Palou at the finish line was .3915 of a second. Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, the winner of Saturday night’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart, finished third. He led the race’s first 94 laps to push his two-night consecutive laps led total to 259. “Massive fuel (saving),” Power said of how he moved up through the field. “Honestly, (I was) just sitting in the pack. I had a really good car – a really fast car – so I sat back and used that pace to save fuel and get a massive (fuel) number." With the victory, Power cut Palou’s lead in the standings to 35 points with six races remaining. Watch the Race Highlights from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media)

(Photo of Scott McLaughlin by Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR)

Scott McLaughlin wanted to win Saturday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Iowa Speedway, but after doing so he acknowledged wanting something much more, something he has been driven to earn since arriving in the U.S. nearly four years ago. McLaughlin has wanted to belong in this series. “I didn’t want to call myself an INDYCAR driver until I won on an oval,” he said after winning the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart. “So, I’m going to call myself an INDYCAR driver now.” McLaughlin (No. 3 Team Penske XPEL Chevrolet) earned that distinction in style, too, dominated the 250-lap race and holding off Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren) through a series of late-race restarts. Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet), who had won four of the past five Iowa races and nine of the past 12 oval races, including the past two Indianapolis 500s presented by Gainbridge, finished third with six-time series champion Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Bank Honda) finishing fourth. Look at those McLaughlin had to fend off: They’re among the best oval racers in this series with a combined 39 such victories. Yes, McLaughlin now belongs. “That’s a big deal today,” the New Zealand-born Team Penske driver said. “I’ve been working for that for a couple of years. It takes a lot of hard work.” McLaughlin led the final 164 laps for his sixth career series victory. He also became just the third active driver to win a series race at this track, joining Newgarden and O’Ward. His margin over O’Ward at the finish was .4814 seconds. McLaughlin gets a chance at the Iowa sweep on Sunday when he starts the Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade from the pole. He also will have another chance to climb higher in the standings as Saturday’s win pushed him forward three positions to fifth place with seven races remaining. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media)

(IMSA)

Two hours and 40 minutes of racing came down to a 0.658-second margin of victory Sunday for Tom Dillmann and Nick Boulle. Dillmann weaved his way through traffic after a final restart with nine minutes left, eventually holding off Felipe Fraga to claim a victory in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class at the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Despite the narrow margin of victory, Dillmann and Boulle and the No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 controlled the lead for all but the first 10 minutes. Their first win of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season helped Dillmann and Boulle close in on the leaders in the LMP2 driver standings. They’re now, unofficially, just 12 points behind Fraga and Gar Robinson in the No. 74 Riley ORECA. “All in all, it was a good points day,” Robinson said. “We’ll move on from here and go to Road America.” Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to Jeff Olson/IMSA)

(IMSA)

There was nothing unlucky Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports claimed its 13th IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race win at the legendary road racing venue near Toronto. Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia dominated the Grand Touring Daytona PRO (GTD PRO) class of the Chevrolet Grand Prix to earn the inaugural IMSA victory for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, the first-ever Corvette built to international GT3 homologation for sale to customer teams. Making the triumph even sweeter, the No. 3 Corvette led home the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller entry shared by Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg for a 1-2 Corvette finish in GTD PRO ahead of season points leaders Seb Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA)

(IMSA)

Spencer Pumpelly calls himself a “guest” driver for the Heart of Racing Team. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, he displayed exemplary manners. Pumpelly guided the Heart of Racing’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo to a front row starting spot for the Chevrolet Grand Prix, then co-drove with Windsor, Canada, native Roman De Angelis to the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class victory in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship event. Pumpelly’s last win in IMSA competition came at the 2015 Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Meanwhile, the Heart of Racing tasted the champagne just three weeks ago at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen with its No. 23 GTD PRO class entry, but the No. 27 GTD contender had gone nearly a year without visiting victory lane. At CTMP, which De Angelis considers his home track, Pumpelly took the lead from Motul Pole Award winner Frankie Montecalvo on the second lap and the No. 27 was essentially never headed again. De Angelis held an 11-second lead over Philip Ellis in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT3 when a caution flew with about a quarter-hour remaining in the two-hour, 40-minute race. In the short eight-minute green flag sprint to the finish, he pulled out an impressive 5.060-second advantage over Ellis, with Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff taking third place in the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO. Despite finishing second at CTMP after winning four of the first five races in GTD this season, Ward and Ellis extended their comfortable cushion in the class standings to 340 points over Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher (No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3), the fourth-place finishers on Sunday. The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the IMSA SportsCar Weekend, August 1-4 at Road America near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA)

(motorsportcollector.com)

Editor-in-Chief's Note: I wanted to take this opportunity to mention George Levy's fantastic new book, Texas Legend - Jim Hall and his Chaparrals. This Official Biography of Jim Hall is simply one of the finest biographies I have ever read, and it stands as the definitive work chronicling the life and achievements of Jim Hall. Full disclosure, Jim Hall is and has been one of my all-time favorites, and Levy's book does Jim justice like no book before it. It is filled with details and anecdotes never revealed until now. I highly recommend this book for enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike. It is a superb effort and well worth the read. -PMD 

Editor's Note: This is our dearly departed billboard, which we had at Road America for several years. Peter gifted the phrase "America's National Park of Speed" to the track, which now uses it proudly in all of its communications. -WG

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG