IndyCars - Elkhart Lake: A facelift for the National Park of Speed

[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon at Road America - Blue Marble Radical cup holds Race 2…

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…and we have the podiums from all three classes:

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Platinum class was WON by Steve Jenks. P2 went to Alain Derzie and P3 went to Indy Al Miller

Pro 1500 class was WON by USF2000 pilot Danny Dyszelski from pole. P2 went to Nick Persing and P3 went to Aurora Strauss.

Pro 1340 class was WON by Gavin Sanders. P2 went to Robert Ciprioni and P3 went to Jace Bacon.

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Danny came in P1 in class and P7 overall. He should be on pole for Race 3 on Sunday. With the WIN he opens up his points lead over Nick Persing by a little bit more.

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Danny Dyszelski

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Danny’s Pro 1500 class SR3

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The Radicals will come out for Race 3 on Sunday right after the IndyCar race - last action of the weekend.

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This was the last activity of the day.

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[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning at Road America - USF Pro 2000 closes out their weekend…

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…with Race 2, and it produces a new series WINNER, as German driver Lirim Zendeli for TJ Speed Motorsports takes the WIN from his P3 start. P2 went to Brazilian Kiko Porto for DEForce Racing in a great drive from a P13 start while P3 went to Ireland’s Jonathan Browne for Turn 3 Motorsports from his P5 start.

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It’s RARE, but it happens: On the warm-up lap before the start of the race pole-sitter Christian Weir for TJ Speed and P2 Michael d’Orlando must have actually collided somewhere on track while they were scrubbing off their tires, as they both peeled off to the pits and the start was waved off. Weir would actually rejoin a lap down but d’Orlando was out. This put Zendeli on the pole for the lap 2 start, with Louka St. John for Turn 3 beside him in P2. On the start Francesco Pizzi for TJ Speed passed Louka for P2 and Jonathan Browne followed through to P3. By the time the cars were in Turn 5 Myles Rowe for Pabst Racing next passed Louka for P4 and Ricardo Escotto for Jay Howard Driver Development followed him through to P5. Jace Denmark for Pabst took P9 from Kiko Porto and Jordan Missig for Pabst, who started the day in P17, followed through to take over P10. Lirim set Fastest Lap trying to gap the field. On lap 3 Jackson Lee for Turn 3 took P6 from Salvador de Alba for Exclusive Autosport while Reece Ushijima for JHDD took P8 from Louka St. John. Kiko Porto reclaimed P11 from Jordan Missig. Yuven Sundaramoorthy for Exclusive claimed P13 from teammate Joel Granfors.

On lap 4 Myles Rowe took P3 from Jonathan while Salvador took P6 from Jackson, with Reece following through to P7. Joel Granfors reclaimed P13 from Yuven with Nicolas Montiero for NeoTech Motorsports following into P14. Francesco Pizzi set Fastest Lap. On lap 5 Jace Denmark took P8 from Louka St. John as Myles Rowe set Fastest Lap. On lap 6 Christian Weir reset Fastest Lap, trying to unlap himself. Lap 7 saw an intense battle for P5 in Turn 5. As Salvador de Alba challenged Ricardo Escotto, he spun, pushing out Jackson Lee and Louka St. John. Sal would drop to P15, Louka to P16 and Jackson was out of the race. Reece ended up in P5, Kiko in P6 and Ricardo in P7 as the full course caution flew to collect Lee. On the lap 9 restart Jonathan took P3 from Myles Rowe with Kiko following to take P4. Jordan Missig took P6 from Ricardo and Joel Granfors took P9 from Jace Denmark.

On lap 10 in Turn 5 Jordan went after Myles in Turn 5 but spun out, dropping to P15, as Reece Ushijima took P5 from Myles, instead. Francesco set a new Fastest Lap. On lap 11 Jack William Miller for Miller Vinatieri passed Salvador for P12 as Jordan Missig pitted with damage. On lap 12 Myles reclaimed P5 from Reece as Jace Denmark took P7 from Ricardo and Nicolas Montiero took P10 from Yuven. On lap 13 Jace took P6 from Reece. On lap 14 Kiko Porto started a pass in Turn 3 and completed it in Turn 5, taking P2 by passing first Francesco Pizzi and then Jonathan Browne. Joel Granfors took P7 from Reece and Ricardo followed through to take P8. Salvador took P10 from Nicolas and Yuven followed through for P11. On the final lap, lap 15, Myles took P4 from Francesco Pizzi in the Kink while Joel Granfors took P6 from Jace Denmark. Lirim crossed the finish line a solid 3.59 seconds ahead of Kiko who was only 0.29 seconds ahead of Jonathan Browne at the line.

A great race with multiple battles throughout the field.

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Notable:

• Lirim has been knocking on the door with flashes of brilliance at times, but this was his first complete race, where he controlled it from start to finish and it paid big time. With both Formula 3 and Formula 2 experience, he certainly has the racecraft to excel. Let’s see if the door is now open for him.

• We’ve been waiting for Jonathan Browne to break out and this may be that moment. He’s had a couple of P4s this season but this is the first series podium for the sophomore.

• Myles Rowe is driving smart. Lately, he will take what he can get, rather than dive bomb for a result, and is thus adding to his points lead with every race.
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  Your happy podium - That’s Kiko Porto in P2 on the left in P2, Lirim Zendeli in the middle in P1 and Jonathan Browne in P3 on the right:

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With these results, here are the TOPFIVE in points leaving Road America:

1 - Myles Rowe, 209
2 - Francesco Pizzi, 161
3 - Kiko Porto, 159
4 - Joel Granfors, 154
5 - Salvador de Alba, 142

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Next up for USF Pro 2000 will be a double header at Mid-Ohio, in support of the IndyCar race weekend, June 28-July 2. Next, the IndyCars hold the P-3 practice, aka the morning Warm-Up…

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[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning at Road America - The IndyCars hold their P-3 practice…

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…also known as the Morning Warm-Up. As with any post-qualifying practice, it is hard to gauge where everyone is, because no one is going for qualifying speed anymore. Teams and cars may be looking to collect data for all sorts of other reasons. So, the fast guys in Morning Warm-Up will be fast in the race. They just won’t be the ONLY fast guys in the race.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-3 practice, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren - time of 01:41.7917s for a speed of 141.960mph

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2 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:41.8080s for a speed of 141.938mph

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3 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 01:42.0323s for a speed of 141.626mph

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4 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren - time of 01:42.0458s for a speed of 141.607mph

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5 - Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:42.2233s for a speed of 141.361mph

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6 - Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
7 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
8 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
9 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
10 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske

11 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
12 - Marcus Armstrong [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
13 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
14 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
15 - Agustin Canapino [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
16 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Carpenter Racing
17 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
18 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
19 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
20 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport

21 - Devlin DeFrancesco, Andretti Steinbrenner
22 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren
23 - David Malukas, Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
24 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
25 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
26 - Santino Ferrucci, AJ Foyt Enterprises
27 - Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing

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Notable:

• Of course, Alexander Rossi is sending a message: “I am still the king of Road America”, and he just might be.

• Both Will Power and Scott Dixon were also sending a message: “We may have had a horrible Saturday but we are still Will Power and Scott Dixon, and don’t doubt it.”

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Alexander Rossi - The king of Road America?

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The race is scheduled for 1:00pm EASTERN time on the USA Network with concurrent broadcast on Peacock Premium. Next up, Indy NXT holds their race. The grid for this is ion post # 17…

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[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning at Road America - Indy NXT holds their race…

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…and we have our first two-time WINNER as Nolan Siegel for HMD Motorsports takes the WIN from his P4 start. P2 went to Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports from a P6 start while Hunter McElrea for Andretti Autosport came home P3 all the way from a P13 start.

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The race started with Kyffin Simpson for HMD Motorsports leading from pole. As the cars entered Turn 1 Simpson went wide and got a ton of air as other cars passed him. He dropped to P7. By Turn 3 P3 starter Reece Gold for HMD took P1 with Nolan following him into P2. P5 starter Louis Foster for Andretti Autosport was in P3 and Colin Kaminsky for Abel Motorsports dropped from P2 to P4. Jacob Abel remained in his P6 starting position. On lap 2 Louis took P2 from Nolan while Jacob took P4 from Colin. Hunter took P7 from Christian Rasmussen for HMD. Near the end of the lap Jamie Chadwick for Andretti in P9 got pushed out of Canada Corner by Josh Pierson for HMD and slid into the gravel. She was able to drive out but dropped to the bottom of the order. On lap 3 Colin went off defending in Turn 13 and got back on but dropped from P5 to P13. On lap 4 Kyffin also went off and on and dropped from P5 to P10. By this time Hunter McElrea had inherited P5. Christian Rasmussen tried to take him in Turn 5 but locked up his brakes and fairly ruined his left front tire in the process.

On lap 5 Nolan took P2 from Louis in Turn 1. Kyffin took P9 from Danial Frost and Josh Pierson took P12 from his HMD teammate Josh Green. On lap 6 Jacob Abel took P3 from Louis Foster in Turn 1 as the battle for first between Reece Gold and Nolan Siegel intensified. On lap 7 Nolan took the lead from Reece in T5. Matteo Nannini for Juncos Hollinger took P12 from Enaam Ahmed for Cape Motorsports and Christian Bogle for HMD followed through to P13. On lap 8 James Roe for Andretti took P6 from Christian Rasmussen, whose left front tire was worsening. By lap 9 Nolan was a full second ahead of Reece. On lap 10 Rasmussen’s tortured tire finally let go as he approached the Kink and he slid over into the wall, taking himself out of the race. A full-course caution was called to retrieve him.

On the lap 14 restart Nolan got away well. Jacob Abel took Reece Gold for P2. In Turn 5 Hunter got by first Louis Foster and then Reece Gold to take over P3. Josh Pierson took P9 from Danial Frost. On lap 15 Ernie Francis for HMD / Force Indy went off in Turn 6 but got back on, dropping from P7 to P11. Jagger Jones for Cape Motorsports took P12 from Enaam Ahmed. On lap 17 Colin passed Josh Pierson for P9 in Turn 5 and Jagger followed through for P10. By Turn 6 Colin was forced over and Jagger took P9 from him. By lap 18 Jacob was closing up on Nolan with Hunter closing up on Jacob, but Nolan put hi head down and opened up the gap again and as they crossed the finish line on lap 20 Siegel was 1.27 seconds ahead of Abel whol was 0.75 seconds ahead of McElrea.

A great race with action from the lead to the tail.

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Notable:

• As stated, Nolan Siegel becomes the first repeat WINNER in the series this year, and had he not had the mechanical failure two laps from the end of Detroit Race 1, it would be his third victory in a row. In any case, with Christian Rasmussen’s DNF today, Nolan takes a nice lead in the points leaving Road America.

• This is Jacob Abel’s best result, too and he is getting stronger with every race. A WIN cannot be far off.

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Christian Rasmussen’s left front tire gives up:

INDY NXT

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Road America:

1 - Nolan Siegel, 229
2 - Christian Rasmussen, 189
3 - Hunter McElrea, 173
4 - Jacob Abel, 168
5 - Danial Frost, 158

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The next outing for the Indy NXT will be in support of the IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, July 28-June 2. Next up, the IndyCar race. The grid for this is in post # 18

NOTE: The race is broadcast starting at 1:00pm EASTERN time on USA Network - not NBC - with concurrent broadcast on Peacock Premium
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[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Road America - The IndyCar race…

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…was WON in a solid fashion by Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing from his P3 start. P2 went to Josef Newgarden for Team Penske from a P4 start and P3 went to Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren from his P2 start.

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Pole-sitter Colton Herta led the most laps of the race with authority and never seemed to be challenged but he made his last pit stop on lap 40 (of 55) and Palou stopped with most of the rest of the field on lap 41. That extra lap really cost Herta the race because he was too short of fuel to defend at the end of the race and was eventually passed by Palou, Newgarden, O’Ward and Scott Dixon to come in 5th at the end.

But make no mistake, once Alex was in the lead it was a done deal. He drove away and hid, ending the race a solid 4 and a half seconds ahead of Newgarden.

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Notable:

• This is Palou’s 3rd WIN in 4 races in a row, missing only the Indy 500 and taking the Indy GP, Detroit and Road America. His 7th career WIN only serves to pad his points lead as we head into the 2nd half of the season. Marcus Ericsson, 2nd in points, finished a decent P6 but of course still lost ground to Alex.

• The CGR team has to be congratulated on some excellent work over the weekend, as they had to repair Palou’s heavily-damaged car from his P-2 practice wreck and also replace Scott Dixon’s heavily damaged car in his own P-2 wreck with Will Power.

• Dixon earned the drive of the race, overall, as he went from a P23 start to a P4 finish. Other good drives were Scott McLaughlin, P18 to P8 and Will Power, P22 to P13. Power also set Fastest Lap late in the race.

• The race had 444 on-track passes and a record 32 passes among the TOP FIVE. The repave got an “A” for smoothness and traction, on course, but the delta between on-course grip and off-course disaster was large, catching out a lot of cars during the weekend. We expect Road America to get even better in the next few years as it seasons in.

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Here are race highlights:

RACE HIGHLIGHTS // 2023 SONSIO GRAND PRIX AT ROAD AMERICA

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And, some interviews:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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INDYCAR on NBC

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Your happy podium - That’s Josef Newgarden in P2 on the left, Alex Palou in P1 in the middle and Pato O’Ward in P3 on the right:

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Road America:

1 - Alex Palou, 324
2 - Marcus Ericsson, 250
3 - Josef Newgarden, 243
4 - Pato O’Ward, 226
5 - Scott Dixon, 226

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Next up for the IndyCars will be the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, June 28th -July 2, with support from USF2000, USF Pro 2000, Indy NXT and Porsche Sprint Challenge.

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Next, Blue Marble Radical Cup closes out the weekend of racing…
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[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Road America - Blue Marble Radical Cup closes out all the racing with Race 3…

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The Radicals were great all weekend, providing the fans with great noise and solid visuals. They were the last on-track activity today, holding Race 3 as most of the race fans were wending their way home. Those who left missed some great racing. (NEVER LEAVE EARLY!!! All you are going to do is sit in your car, crawling along, when you could be watching racing and leave easily, later).

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Taking the WIN in the top Platinum class was Indy Al Miller, while P2 went to Alain Derzie and P3 went to Steve Jenks, who had started on pole.

In the Pro 1500 class our guy USF2000 driver Danny Dyszelski came home P5 overall and P1 in class, from pole! P2 was his title rival Nick Persing while P3 went to Robert Soroka. With the WIN Danny opens up his points lead a little more. Danny is ALSO the overall points leader for the entire series, by the way.

Taking the WIN in the Pro 1340 class with an overall finish of P14 from class pole was Gavin Sanders. P2 went to Robert Cipriani while P3 went to Ken Savage.

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Danny Dyszelski - TOPS in Pro 1500 in Race 3

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Danny at speed in his Pro 1500 SR3

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Next up for the BMRC will be the R4 event - a triple header on the streets of Toronto in support of the IndyCar race, July 14-16.

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That’s it for Road America for 2023. Thanks, Elkhart Lake. As usual, you were beautiful!

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