AUGUST 28, 2024

(Photo of Will Power, winner of the BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland, by Joe Skibinski)

Will Power and Team Penske made their point Sunday by winning the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland in dominant fashion: The race for the Astor Challenge Cup is far from over. Power earned his series-leading third victory of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in the No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Business Chevrolet and gained ground on championship leader Alex Palou with three races remaining. He drove to a 9.8267-second victory over the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing DHL Honda of Palou on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course at Portland International Raceway. Two-time series champion Power, who started second, earned the 44th win of his Hall of Fame career on the heels of disappointing consecutive finishes of 12th in July at Toronto and 18th last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway. “Very rewarding,” Power said. “I came here determined, so did the whole team. We wanted to get qualifying right and then execute in the race. It’s not a last-ditch effort, but really if Palou finished ahead of us today, it was going to be very difficult. We’re going to keep fighting ahead here. A couple of bad races before this, but let’s see if we can get a championship.” The three remaining races are all on ovals – the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader Aug. 31-Sept. 1 at the Milwaukee Mile and the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway. The INDYCAR SERIES hasn’t raced at the Milwaukee Mile since 2015 or Nashville Superspeedway since 2008. Watch the Extended Race Highlights from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media)

(Photo of Alex Palou by Travis Hinkle)

Two-time and defending series champion Alex Palou leads Will Power by 54 points – the maximum number a driver can earn in one race. Colton Herta slipped from second to third in the championship standings, 67 points behind Palou, after finishing fourth in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian.

(Photo of Josef Newgarden by Travis Hinkle)

Josef Newgarden completed the podium by finishing third in the No. 2 Team Penske TireRack.com Chevrolet, with Colton Herta fourth in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian. Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top five in the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing American Legion Honda.

(Formula1.com)

Lando Norris (No. 4 McLaren F1 Team) was thrilled to bounce back from a tricky start to take his second F1 victory at the Dutch Grand Prix, with the McLaren driver hailing his car as “unbelievable” after crossing the line more than 20 seconds up the road from Max Verstappen (No. 1 Oracle Red Bull Racing). After a slow launch when the lights went out, pole-sitter Norris lost out on the lead to Verstappen as Max surged ahead into Turn 1. The Briton started to close in, however, as the laps ticked down before overtaking the reigning world champion on Lap 18 of 72. From there Norris enjoyed a dominant drive to the checkered flag and, reflecting on how it felt to be a race winner again after stepping out of the car, the 24-year-old – who claimed his debut win in Miami back in May – answered: “It feels amazing once again. I wouldn’t say a perfect race because of Lap 1 again, but afterwards the pace was very strong, the car was unbelievable today. I could get comfortable; I could push and get past Max which was the main thing and just go from there. Honestly quite a straightforward race, still tough but very enjoyable.” Charles Leclerc (No. 16 Scuderia Ferrari) finished third. Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to Formula1.com)

(IMSA)

Paul Miller Racing drivers Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers made it back-to-back wins at VIRginia International Raceway – this time in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class – with Sunday’s victory in the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. Snow drove the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 across the finish line 3.368 seconds ahead of Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Ford Mustang GT3. It’s the first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO win for the Paul Miller team since it advanced to the class after winning the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) championship last year. It’s also the first win for PMR, Snow and Sellers since they won at VIR a year ago. The second-place finish for Rockenfeller, co-driver Harry Tincknell and the No. 64 Mustang marked the first podium finish for Ford since re-entering WeatherTech Championship competition this season. The No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, with drivers Alex Riberas and Ross Gunn, recovered from the penalty to finish third.

In GTD, the No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 claimed the team’s first WeatherTech Championship win behind co-drivers Kenton Koch and Mikael Grenier. Koch was among the first to pit in the race, and the undercut helped the No. 32 overtake the pole-sitting No. 55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 for a lead that Koch and Grenier never relinquished. The No. 32 finished 0.897 seconds ahead of the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin shared by Zacharie Robichon and Roman De Angelis. Loris Spinelli, in the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, churned past four other GTD competitors following a restart with 22 minutes to go to nab third place in the car he shared with Misha Goikhberg.

All four WeatherTech Championship classes – GTP, LMP2, GTD PRO and GTD – return to action Sept. 22 at the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The season concludes Oct. 12 with the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Watch the Extended Race Highlights from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to Mark Robinson/IMSA Media)

(Trans Am)

Chris Dyson was flawless at the Mission Foods Watkins Glen SpeedTour at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, claiming the pole with a record-breaking lap and leading every single circuit in his No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang. TA points leader Paul Menard (No. 3 Menards/Masterforce Tools Ford Mustang) was never far behind, however, relentlessly chasing Dyson with less than a car length between them. After a stunning battle, Dyson ultimately drove to the GYM WEED Winners Circle, claiming his second victory of the season and third-career victory at The Glen. It was Dyson's 25th-career TA victory and he is currently fourth on the all-time win list for the class. The three-time champion led every lap of the race after earning his third pole of the season. Dyson hails from New York State, with his CD Racing shop located in Poughkeepsie, and considers Watkins Glen one of his home tracks. (Thank you to Trans Am Media)

 

(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