THE LINE - JULY 9, 2014

(Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar)
Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 2 Team Penske PPG Chevrolet) stormed to his first Indy car victory in nearly 14 years by winning the Pocono INDYCAR 500 fueled by Sunoco at Pocono Raceway. Montoya's average speed of 202.402 mph made it the fastest 500-mile Indy car race in history, eclipsing the previous 500-mile record set by Jimmy Vasser (197.995 mph) at Auto Club Speedway in 2002. The win was Montoya's first Indy car victory since Sept. 17, 2000, at Gateway International Raceway. Montoya, who a day earlier became the eighth different Verizon P1 Award winner this season, became the eighth different race winner through 11 rounds of the Verizon IndyCar Series season. He's also the first driver to win from the pole this season. "That's great for Juan; what a great race he ran," said team owner Roger Penske, who welcomed Montoya as the third driver at Team Penske this season after a 13-year absence in which he competed in Formula One and in NASCAR. "I want to thank Roger for believing in me after so many years out of an Indy car," said Montoya, who claimed his third Indy car 500-mile race victory.

(Photo By Chris Owens/IndyCar)
Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Hitachi Chevrolet) finished second at Pocono, 2.3403 seconds behind Montoya. "Congrats to Montoya. Are you kidding me? This guy is unbelievable," Castroneves said. "Coming back after all those years and winning a race? As soon as they signed him I knew he would be an asset, and a headache, for us. It's good (to have a) 1-2 finish - and we're tied in the championship. It's unbelievable." Pocono was the middle round of the Triple Crown series - which also includes the Indianapolis 500 and the season finale at Auto Club Speedway - and thus carried double points. Castroneves is now tied with Penske teammate Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) in the championship standings. Power led 69 laps but incurred a drive-through penalty on Lap 176 for blocking Castroneves. Power, who had to pit for fuel on Lap 189, finished 10th.

(Photo By Chris Owens/IndyCar)
Rookie Carlos Munoz (No. 34 Andretti Autosport Cinsay AndrettiTV.com HVM Honda) finished third for the third time this season and Ryan Briscoe (No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing NTT DATA Chevrolet) finished a season-high fourth. Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Target Chevrolet), the winner last year at Pocono Raceway, placed fifth.

(Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar)
It was Juan Pablo Montoya's first win of 2014 and the 12th of his Indy car career. It was also Montoya's third 500 mile win. He also won the Indianapolis 500 and Michigan 500 in 2000. It was Team Penske's eighth Indy car race win at Pocono Raceway. Other Team Penske race wins were: Mark Donohue (1971), Tom Sneva (1977), Bobby Unser (1980), Rick Mears (1982, 1985 and 1987) and Danny Sullivan (1989).

(FIA World Rallycross Championship)
Mattias Ekstrom (No. 10 EKS RX Team Audi S1) clinched his first-ever FIA World Rallycross Championship victory after a flawless drive in the Audi S1 Supercar at the fifth round of the World Championship presented by Monster Energy. Ekstrom, a double DTM Champion, is the fifth different winner and Audi is the fourth different manufacturer to win in this year’s World RX. The EKS RX Team driver is also the first this season to score maximum points after being placed highest in the intermediate classifications and winning both the semi-final and final. Norway’s Andreas Bakkerud (No. 13 Ford Olsberg MSE) and Petter Solberg (No. 11 Ford Olsberg MSE) were second and third, despite both drivers incurring punctures in a dramatic final race. A record-breaking crowd of 34,900 spectators attended the Volkswagen World RX of Sweden over the weekend, arguably the best known rallycross event in the world. Rallycross is hugely popular in Sweden because it was the first of the Nordic countries to embrace the sport back in 1973. Round six of the FIA World Rallycross Championship will take place at Mettet in Belgium next weekend (July 12-13) as the Championship prepares for its fourth race in five weeks.

(Laguna Seca/Mazda Raceway)
The thundering Can-Am cars (above photo taken in 1973) will be one of the featured groups this year at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion on August 14-17 at Laguna Seca (Mazda Raceway). The original Can-Am series attracted the world’s finest drivers of the era, including Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Jackie Stewart, George Follmer, Jim Hall, Mark Donohue, Jacky Ickx, Vic Elford and John Surtees, to name just a few. The Can-Am group is one of 15 race groups featured at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. They will be on track in Group 3B, racing on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

(Photo by Alison Padron)
Scott Speed (No. 77 Andretti Autosport 7UP Volkswagen Polo Rallycross) has held the points lead through the first three races of the 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross season. Heading into next weekend’s Volkswagen Rallycross NY, which will be held in the parking lots of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, on July 19-20, Speed's lead is just a single point over Nelson Piquet Jr. (No. 07 Team SH Racing N.O.- XPLODE Ford Fiesta ST Rallycross). The race will be live on Sunday, July 20, at 2:00 p.m. (EDT) on NBC.

(Global RallyCross Championship)
Red Bull Global Rallycross is dropping the Detroit round off of its 2014 schedule and replacing it with a double-header event in Los Angeles. Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles, previously scheduled for September 19-20 at the Port of Los Angeles, will be extended to a three-day event, replacing the series’ round in Detroit scheduled for August 2-3. The Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles weekend will now kick off on Friday, September 19, while dual finals will be run on Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21. Both events will be televised live on NBC.