IndyCars - Elkhart Lake: History, challenge and beauty combined

The Sports Roundtable and Bar
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Sunday morning at Road America - Indy Pro 2000 hold Race 2 of their weekend…

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…and the WINNER was rookie Kyle Kirkwood for RP Motorsport Racing, sweeping the weekend. P2 was points-leader and fellow rookie Rasmus Lindh for Juncos Racing and P3 was veteran Parker Thompson for Abel Motorsports.

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KyleWin

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On the start, pole-sitter Rasmus Lindh took off with Sting Ray Robb for Juncos Racing in P2 getting swamped by P3 Kirkwood and P4 Thompson, who both passed the Idaho native, dropping him to P4 by the time they were all in Turn 1. Ian Rodriguez for RP Motorsport Racing was also by Nikita Lastochkin for Exclusive Autosport for the P5 spot. Very quickly, P7-starter Danial Frost for Exclusive was also by Nikita and Ian to take over P5, while Moises de la Vara for DEForce Racing then made the leap from P11 to P7 by pushing Nikita back one more spot, to P8.

On lap 5 Sting Ray recovered a bit by getting Parker Thompson for the P3 spot. Then Kyle Kirkwood finally got a good shot at Rasmus Lindh in Turn 5 and took the lead away from him. Rasmus would be inches away from him in pursuit for the rest of the race. On lap 9 Danial Frost pulled off the course with an electrical problem that stopped his race. Shortly thereafter, Sting Ray Robb reported to the pits with a mechanical that also eventually stopped his race, one lap from the end. That handed P3 back to Thompson, with Ian Rodriguez in P4 and Nikita Lastochkin in P5.

On lap 11 Kory Enders for DEForce Racing took over P6 as Moises de la Vara fell out with some problem, but soon Enders was himself sidelined. Jacob Loomis for JDL Racing took over P6 and Phillippe Dennes for FatBoy Racing! took over P7. The race ended with Kirkwood a mere half a second in front of Lindh, who was 7 seconds clear of Thompson.

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Notable:

  • This was Kyle’s 4th WIN at Road America in 4 starts, as he also swept in 2018 in his stellar USF2000 championship run. This one was the toughest to pull off, however, as Lindh gave him nothing. The sweep pulls him up closer in the championship hunt, from 5th to 3rd.

  • The DNF hurts Danial Frost in the title chase, dropping him from 2nd to 4th while Sting Ray Robb’s P10 moves him down two spots, also.

  • Parker’s podium helps him move up two spots in the title chase - but only 1 point ahead of Kyle Kirkwood. Lindh still holds a good lead.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Rasmus Lindh in P2 on the left, Kyle Kirkwood in P1 in the middle and Parker Thompson in P3 on the right:

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IP2KPodium

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With these results, here are your TOP FIVE in points, leaving Road America:

1 - Rasmus Lindh 190
2 - Parker Thompson 160
3 - Kyle Kirkwood 159
4 - Danial Frost 152
5 - Sting Ray Robb 121

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The next two outings for Indy Pro 200 will be at Toronto in mid-July, in support of the IndyCar race. In between the series will test at Mid-Ohio next week. Next up, the IndyCars race!. The grid for this is in post # 16…

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The IndyCar race - Complete domination!

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That’s the only way to characterize Alexander Rossi’s WIN today at Road America, as the Andretti Autosport driver lead every lap save one and crossed the finish line a full 28.4 seconds ahead of 2nd place Will Power for Team Penske. Pulling in third was series points-leader Josef Newgarden for Team Penske, salvaging the day with good points that kept him in the championship lead - barely.

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P2 starter Rossi took the lead from pole-sitter Colton Herta for Harding Steinbrenner on the opening lap, going around on the outside of turns 1, 2 and 3, and then began to sail off. Eventually Herta’s tire strategy and a slow pit stop cost him positions to Will Power and Josef Newgarden mid-race. Though the teen was always aggressive, his tires ultimately let him down and he finished the race in P8, falling more with each closing lap.

Rossi only relinquished the lead to P4 finisher Graham Rahal for Rahal Letterman Lanigan during a pit cycle in the caution-free and penalty-free race, and only for the one lap. Despite his being virtually alone for most of the race, the contest was full of action behind him, making for another great day at Elkhart Lake for race fans.

Among the most impressive drives was that of Scott Dixon, who muffed a dive into Turn 5 on the opening lap, locking up his tires, and was rewarded by being punted from behind and spun around by Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport. Dixon would spend a good deal of the race recovering the Chip Ganassi racing car to a P5 finish from his dead last 1st lap.

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Notable:

  • This was Rossi 2nd WIN of the season and the other one was his utter domination of Long Beach. Is the Californian setting a pattern for wins?

  • This was Will Power’s best result of the year, but both he and Newgarden admitted they had absolutely nothing for Rossi, though they had a great inter-team battle between themselves. Penske’s other driver, Simon Pagenaud, also had a very eventful day and wound up P9, keeping his 3rd in the points status.

  • The only DNF was Marco Andretti for Andretti Autosport who conked out and pitted with an electrical gremlin on lap 18. The rest of the field was in it for the whole race and battling hard to the end.

  • The fastest lap of the day was turned in by Colton Herta on lap 30, so the kid was digging all the time - and looked like it!

  • Felix Rosenqvist was the best of the rookie class with a P6 finish that puts him in the lead on Rookie of the Year points.

  • Minutes after the checkered flag the track was inundated with a rain squall. The weather gods wanted it a dry race for the huge crowd of fans.

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Rossi gets sprayed by his crew in Parc Ferme
Rossi

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

1 - Josef Newgarden 402
2 - Alexander Rossi 395
3 - Simon Pagenaud 341
4 - Scott Dixon 308
5 - Will Power 294

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The next outing for the IndyCars is the Honda Indy Toronto, July 12-14, with the full support of the Road to Indy ladder series.

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IndyCar has released a highlights reel…

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