IndyCars - Elkhart Lake: It's time for the annual visit to the "National Park of Speed"

[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon at Elkhart Lake - the IndyCars hold their final practice…

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…before the Sunday race. As with any post-qualifying practice, it is hard to know what each team is trying to accomplish. Are they testing last-minute race set-ups? Are they still looking for outright speed? Are they doing tire testing? The fast guys in this practice may be fast guys in the race, but they will NOT 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 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:47.6312s for a speed of 134.258mph

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2 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:47.6457s for a speed of 134.240mph

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3 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 01:47.6707s for a speed of 134.209mph

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4 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:48.0311s for a speed of 133.761mph

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5 - Max Chilton, Carlin - time of 01:48.0533s for a speed of 133.734mph

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6 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
7 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
8 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
9 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
10 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

11 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
12 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
13 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
14 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
15 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
16 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
17 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
18 - Oliver Askew, Ed Carpenter Racing
19 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
20 - Kevin Magnussen [R], Arrow McLaren SP

21 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
22 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
23 - Will Power, Team Penske
24 - Cody Ware [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
25 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• We know for certain that Oliver Askew was tasked with running on Firestone alternate reds for as long as he could, so as to guage how long the tires could be expected to last with good performance, by watching his lap times fall off. We also know the other teams know that, so Oliver did the duty pretty much for everyone.

Oliver Askew - helpful

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Colton Herta

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This was the last on-track activity of the day. Sunday morning will start with USF2000 Race 2. The grid for that is in post # 12…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning at Elkhart Lake - USF2000 holds Race 2 of their weekend…

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…and what a wild one it was! At the end we have first-time WINNER Thomas Nepveu for Cape Motorsports from his P7 start. P2 was Simon Sikes for Marotti Autosport / Legacy Autosport from a P10 start, while P3 went to Josh Pierson for Pabst Racing from his P5 start.

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The 1st lap saw a scrum causing a few drivers lose their front wings down the front straight as the green flag dropped, with Kiko Porto for DEForce leading from pole. By the time the cars were in Turn 7 the full-course caution was on. Up front, Prescott Campbell for DEForce was by teammate Nolan Siegel to take P2 from him. Nepveu was already up to P4, past teammate Michael d’Orlando. Simon Sikes had moved all the way to P7. Biggest loser was Yuven Sundaramoorthy for Pabst, who dropped from P9 to P23. On the lap 4 restart Nepveu was past Nolan Siegel in Turn 1 to take P3 and then passed Prescott Campbell and Kiko Porto in Turn 5 to take the lead. Simon passed Josh Pierson for P6 while Jace Denmark for Pabst and Christian Brooks for Exclusive Autisport were both by Josh Green for Turn 3 Motorsports, who fell to P10.

On lap 5 Nolan, Simon and Jace all got the drop on Kiko, as they moved into P3, P4 and P5 respectively, while Porto fell off to P10. Lap 6 saw Simon and Jace move past Nolan, who fell to P5 while Brooks passed Josh Pierson to take over P7. One lap later Simon took over the P2 spot from Prescott Campbell, while Michael d’Orlando lost his front wing and dropped like a stone. By lap 8 Yuven had reclaimed all the way up to P12 while Kiko was back up to P7. Nolan was likely punted by Christian Brooks in Turn 8 and spun while Brooks lost his wing and headed for the pits, allowing Josh Pierson to take P3. By lap 10 Yuven was in P10 and Kiko was in P5 while Thomas Nepveu and Simon Sikes were side-by-side for the lead for much of the lap.

On lap 11 Kiko passed Jace to take over P4, but by the end of the lap Josh Green passed both Jace and Kiko to take P4. Spike Kohlbecker had by now recovered to P7 but Yuven then nipped him to take over the position. On the final lap, lap 12, Nepveu and Sikes were again side by side, all the way from Turn 1 through Turn 5, with Thomas remaining in the lead. Jace took P7 from Spike. Simon caught Thomas at Turn 14 and the two ran up the front straight beside each other, with Thomas WINNING by a half a car length.

It can hardly get better than this! Great competition from the kids of USF2000.

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Notable:

• This is Thomas Nepveu’s first WIN as well as first podium. The super karter from Canada had a best finish of P5 prior to this.

• This is Simon Sikes’ best finish, as well, with a P4 in a short season in 2020 at Mid-Ohio, prior. This season he hadn’t yet cracked a TOP TEN. Simon is a Team USA Scholarship WINNER.

• This is 15-year-old sophomore Josh Pierson’s 5th podium of the year. A breakthrough WIN should come sometime this season.

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Your happy podium - That’s Simon Sikes in P2 on the left, Thomas Nepveu in P1 in the middle and Josh Pierson in P3 on the right:

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…And race WINNER Thomas Nepveu

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

1 - Kiko Porto, 220
2 - Yuven Sundaramoorthy, 206
3 - Josh Pierson, 193
4 - Michael d’Orlando, 191
5 - Christian Brooks, 182

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The next outings for USF2000 will be a triple-race weekend at Mid-Ohio, July 1-4, in support of the IndyCars. Next up, the Indy Lights close out their weekend with Race 2. The grid for this race is in post # 15…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning at Elkhart Lake - Indy Lights hold Race 2 of the weekend…

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…and having a nice recovery from Race 1, David Malukas for HMD Motorsports takes the WIN from his P2 start. P2 went to Rob Megennis for Andretti Autosport from his P5 start and P3 went to Danial Frost for Andretti Autosport, from pole.

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On the opening lap David immediately slotted in next to Danial and took over P1 in Turn 1, while Toby Sowery for Juncos Racing and Alex Peroni for Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development pushed past P5 starter Linus Lundqvist for Global Racing Group w/ HMD Motorsports to take over P5 and P6, with Linus dropping to P10. Rob Megennis dropped to P7 in the exchange. On lap 2 Rob moved past Alex to take over P6 in Turn 5 and then moved on Toby in Turn 6, passing him for P5. Alex tried to follow through and he and Toby touched, with Sowery going off and hitting the wall past Turn 6, bringing out a full-course caution. Alex headed to the pits for a new wing and rejoined at the rear.

On the Lap 4 restart Rob took over P4 from teammate Devlin DeFrancesco while David took off into a good lead. Teammates Linus Lundqvist and Benjamin Pedersen fought for the P6 spot all the way down the front straight with Linus taking it. On lap 5 Christian Bogle for Carlin / JHDD moved into P8, Sting Ray Robb for Juncos into P9 and Alex Peroni went to P10. By lap 6 Alex was taking Benjamin in Turn 5 for the P7 spot. At the end of the lap Kyle Kirkwood for Andretti, who had been challenging Danial for P2 , went off dramatically in Turn 14, as his left front suspension camber shims came loose. He rejoined and had to circulate slowly for a full lap to come around and pit for repairs. He would drop 4 laps down. His off put Rob Megennis into P3.

On lap 7 Alex took P5 from Linus.On lap 10 Rob tried the over/under on Danial in Turn 5 but failed to make it work and tucked in behind Danial again. On lap 12 Alex moved into P4 past Devlin DeFrancesco. By lap 15 Megennis and Frost battled for the P2 spot all the way from Turn 1 to Turn 3 with Rob finally getting it. On lap 19 Linus took Devlin on the front straight for P5. On the final lap, lap 20, Alex battled Danial for the P3 spot the whole lap, but Frost held on to sail in P3. David WON by 4.5 seconds over Rob, who was 3.4 seconds over Danial.

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Notable:

• With this WIN, David retakes the lead in the series points, with Linus and Kyle Kirkwood tied for 2nd. The 3 are covered by 8 points.

• This P4 was Alex Peroni’s 5th TOP FIVE finish this season. His recovery from the lost wing was stellar. Sooner or later he’s going to WIN a race, this season.

• For the last few weeks Rob Megennis has been coached by Road to Indy ace Anders “the Viking” Krohn and it’s clearly been making a difference. Rob is a lot more confident and aggressive and he’s getting results. With this 2nd podium of the weekend Rob moves into a tie for 5th place with teammate Devlin DeFrancesco.

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Your happy podium - That’s Rob Megennis in P2 on the left, David Malukas in P1 in the middle and Danial Frost in P3 on the right:

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Race WINNER David Malukas

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

1 - David Malukas, 235
2 - Kyle Kirkwood, 227
2 - Linus Lundqvist, 227
4 - Toby Sowery, 171
5 - Rob Megennis, 156
5 - Devlin DeFrancesco

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The next outings for Indy Lights will be at Mid-Ohio for a series test on June 30th and then a double-header race weekend at Mid-Ohio July 1-4, in support of the IndyCars. Next up, the final weekend race for Indy Pro 2000. The grid for this is in post # 14…

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[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning at Elkhart Lake - Indy Pro 2000 closes out the weekend…

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…with another passing clinic on display through the field. WINNING was Christian Rasmussen for Jay Howard Driver Development from his P3 start while P2 went to Reece Gold for Juncos Racing from P2 and P3 went to teammate Kyffin Simpson, from P8.

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On the first lap Manuel Sulaiman for Juncos Racing took off from pole with Reece Gold chasing him. As the cars entered Turn 5 Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports got caught out and lost two positions to end up P6. By the end of the lap Christian was by Reece in Turn 14 for P2. On lap 2 Artem Petrov for Exclusive Autosport moved past teammate Braden Eves in Turn 1 for P4. In Turn 5 he jumped past Reece for P3. On lap 3 Manuel and Christian battled over the P1 spot from Turn 5 past Turn 6, with Manny holding on. On lap 4 Reece recovered the P3 spot from Artem in Turn 1 with an outside pass, and then chased down Christian and Manuel. Kyffin Simpson lit a fuse and set Fastest Lap as he passed both Artem and Braden in Turn 5 to take the P4 spot. By the end of the lap it was a close battle for P1 between Sulaiman, Rasmussen and Gold.

On lap 5 Christian was by Manuel for P1 in Turn 1. The top five cars all collected at Turn 5 with Reece getting by Manuel for P2, but Artem punted the rear of Simpson as they all slowed for the turn, knocking off his own front wing and skating into the run-off, bringing out a full-course caution to collect the Russian. On the lap 7 restart Reece got P1 from Rasmussen with an outside pass in Turn 1. Jacob Abel took P5 from Braden Eves in Turn 6 and James Roe for Turn 3 Motorsports took P7 from Hunter McElrea for Pabst Racing. By the end of the lap Simpson and Rasmussen were tangling over P2 from Canada Corner to Turn 14, with Ras holding on. On lap 8 James Roe hit the curbing wrong and went off in Turn 7, hitting the walls and bringing out another caution.

On the lap 11 restart Christian again took P1 from Reece in Turn 5 while Jacob took Manuel who had to check up. Manuel fell to P8, behind Hunter McElrea, Braden Eves and Wyatt Brichacek for JHDD. Lap 12 saw Braden then take P5 from McElrea. On lap 13 Braden passed Jacob for the P4 spot in Canada Corner, while Manuel recovered P6 from Wyatt, with Hunter Yeany for Velocity Racing following him through. Lap 14 saw Christian reset Fastest Lap trying to keep Reece behind him. He did it, and crossed the line on Lap 15 1.4 seconds ahead, with Reece 0.5 seconds ahead of Kyffin.

The Road to Indy races were all spectacular, all weekend, with action all through the field - this one, no less than any - great racing!

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Notable:

• This is Christian Rasmussen’s 5th WIN and 7th podium this season, putting him squarely in the points lead. Braden Eves’ P4 help to stem the bleeding.

• This was Reece Gold’s 6th podium, but he’s still looking for his 1st WIN, this season.

• This was Kyffin Simpson’s 2nd podium, but if he keeps driving this way it won’t be his last.

• Artem Petrov was mad at his P2 result yesterday and drove with great aggression today. It probably made him push too hard, causing his off and DNF.

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Your happy podium - That’s Reece Gold in P2 on the left, Christian Rasmussen in P1 in the middle and Kyffin Simpson in P3 on the right:

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Race WINNER Christian Rasmussen

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

1 - Christian Rasmussen, 256
2 - Braden Eves, 238
3 - Reece Gold, 220
4 - Artem Petrov, 200
5 - Hunter McElrea, 180

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The next outings for Indy Pro 2000 will be a double-header at Mid-Ohio, July 1-4, in support of the IndyCars. Next up, the IndyCar race. The grid for this is in post # 19…

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[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Elkhart Lake - The IndyCar race…

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…will be remembered as the second heartbreaking race in a row for Josef Newgarden for Team Penske, who dominated the weekend practice, took pole and ran away with the race, only to lose it all in the final two laps with a mechanical, while Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi was perfect in pursuit all day and ready to take over and WIN from his P3 start. Coming in P2 was Colton Herta for Andretti Autosport from P2 while Will Power salvaged some Team Penske pride by completing the podium from his P4 start.

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This race was even more cruel to Newgarden than Detroit 2, where at least he collected great points for a P2, losing to Pato O’ Ward for Arrow McLaren SP in the closing laps after dominating, all day. By the end of today he was classified in P21. It was eerily reminiscent of Will Power’s loss in Race 1 of Detroit, when he too had a mechinical with two laps to go and finished P20, instead of P1.

Today, Josef dominated this race, too, leading by as much as 7 seconds before cautions erased his leads. Alway there and ready to pounce was Alex Palou who had taken P2 at the first stop for fuel, after spirited passing to get in position.

As with any Road America race, there was almost too much to catalog going on all over the track and the drama and the brilliance just kept coming. Eventually, there were multiple strategies playing out - including a hope for rain, which was possible. But there was little drama up in the race lead, where Newgarden seemed entirely in control, if not always in the technical lead. It was all going his way…

…until lap 52, when Dale Coyne driver Ed Jones’ left rear suspension collapsed in Canada Corner, bringing out the final yellow. As the race restarted with two laps to complete, Newgarden sputtered with a transmission malady at the end of the front straight and Palou flew by, as did the rest of the field, eventually and the deal was sealed.

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Notable:

• Palou was ecstatic, of course, but also believing he had enough to take the WIN from Newgarden in the last two laps. We will never know. He retakes the points lead from Pato O’Ward who was never happy with his car all weekend, and finished in P9.

• Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi, also not thrilled with his car, nevertheless made it work well enough to come home P4 from his P13 start. He stays 3rd in the points, as a result, while Newgarden is in 4th.

• Palou becomes the only other two-time WINNER this season, so far, joining Pato in that distinction.

• Oliver Askew, subbing for injured Rinus VeeKay, started P16 and ended P12 and even led for a few laps on an alternate fuel strategy. Rinus believes he will be back in the car by the July 4th weekend race at Mid-Ohio - next on the calendar.

• This was a very physical race, with lots of “hip checking”, aggresive passing and bumping. It was no-holds-barred racing out there, all day long.

• Newgarden had complained about a missed shift durintg the race and that was apparently what killed him at the end, as the tranny failed to drop out of 5th gear, eventually unable to change any gear. He was so disconsolate that it took many minutes for him to collect himself for interviews - very unlike Josef Newgarden. Eventually, he spoke:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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Your happy podium - That’s Colton Herta in P2 on the left, Alex Palou in P1 in the middle and Will Power in P3 on the right:

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

1 - Alex Palou, 343
2 - Pato O’Ward, 321
3 - Scott Dixon, 296
4 - Josef Newgarden, 261
5 - Simon Pagenaud, 255
6 - Rinus VeeKay, 243
7 - Colton Herta, 242
8 - Marcus Ericsson, 239
9 - Graham Rahal, 228
10 - Takuma Sato, 206

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Next up for the IndyCars will be the annual trek to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, July 1-4, with full support from the Road to Indy.

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When Race Highlights are released, we will post them here. In the mean time, THANK YOU Road America for another great weekend of racing. You never disappoint!

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M

[MarkyS]

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IndyCar has released Race Highlights…

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NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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So many highlights not in here - just too many to put in a 5-minute reel. Better to look for the 1/2 hour compressed race reel.

Between the Road to Indy and the big cars, this series provides one of the best products in motorsports, and that’s proven weekend after weekend.

On to Mid-Ohio!

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