IndyCars - Indianapolis: They do turn right at Indy, too, sometimes

The Sports Roundtable and Bar
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Spotter’s Guide - Changes in livery since Long Beach…

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There will be a number of new looks, this weekend, with some schemes we haven’t seen before, but others will be familiar.

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Joseph Newgarden was in the Hitachi car of black and white at Long Beach, but jumps back into the Fitzgerald car for the GP of Indy, black with green accents:

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Helio Castroneves always runs the Pennzoil car at Indy, including the GP of Indy:

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Colton Herta was in the red and white King Taco car at Long Beach but jumps into the Gess car of green and white for the GP:

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Ed Jones has been in the Autoweek car since the season began but jumps into the Preferred Freezer Services car for the GP and for the Indy 500:

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Graham Rahal was in the black, red and white TOTAL car in California but jumps into a Mi-Jack-sponsored car for the GP. It looks much like teammate Takuma Sato’s car, but doesn’t have “Panasonic” sponsorship on the engine combing:

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Sebastien Bourdais was in his usual SealMaster car for Long Beach but tries a new sponsor, Geico, for the GP of Indy. The car is blue and white:

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Will Power is usually in the Verizon car of black and white but has a new '5G" car for Verizon, this weekend.It is mostly black with red accents:

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Santino Ferrucci has been in a chrome silver car sence the season started, but sponsor Cly-Del is opting for a white car with red wings for Indianapolis:

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Simon Pagenaud was in the black DXC Technology car in California but returns to the familiar Menard’s yellow car for the GP of Indy:

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Saturday Morning at Indianapolis - USF2000 closes out their weekend with Race 2…

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…and it was action-filled, as Cape Motorsport’s Braden Eves keeps his perfect season alive with another WIN from pole. P2 was teammate Darren Keane who finally had enough luck to finish well from his P2 start. Hunter McElrea for Pabst Racing gets his 4th podium of the year, ending where he started, in P3.

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The race started badly for Zach Holden of BN Racing, as he was pitting with a mechanical when the green flag fell, but the rest of the field got through Turn 1 cleanly. Action began on lap 2 as Manuel Sulaiman for DEForce dropped back from P4 to P8 and Colin Kaminsky for Pabst Racing dropped from P7 to P10, while Jak Crawford for DEForce went from P5 to P4, Cameron Shields for Newman Wachs went to P 5 from P8, Alex Baron for Legacy Autosport moved from P12 to P6 and teammate Dakota Dickerson went from P14 to P7 - all in Turn 1. In the next lap Sulaiman dropped even further, down to P14.

Lap 5 saw Jack William Miller for Miller Vinatieri spin in Turn 7, but recover. Very quickly Matt Round-Garrido for Jay Howard Driver Development also spun in Turn 7 and was beached, bringing out a Full-Course Caution. On the lap 7 restart Alex Baron passed Cam Shields for the P5 spot, but two laps later Shields took the spot back in Turn 1. By the time the two cars were in Turn 4/5, Alex was again back around Shields and Dakota Dickerson followed him through, leaving Sheilds in P7. One lap later Dakota took Alex for P5.

On lap 11 Hunter was able to take Darren Keane for P2 in Turn 1, but shortly after, Jack William Miller and Colin Kaminsky clashed in the turn, putting Miller into the wall and bringing out another F-C Caution. On the lap 14 restart Darren regained P2 from Hunter and Alex regained P5 from Dakota. One lap later Manuel Sulaiman, on a charge back to the front, speared Reece Gold for Cape Motorsports in Turn 1, spinning Reece but taking Manuel out with a broken wing. Another caution was thrown to retrieve him.

Eves survived in the lead for yet another restart on lap 18 but Eduardo Barrichello for Miller Vinatieri surprised Alex Baron and jumped from P8 past the Frenchman to take P5 from him. Two laps later the race ended, with Eves about 0.5 seconds to the better of Darren.

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Notable:

  • While the race started better that Race 1 the action was pervasive, with passing all through the large field. Eves never lost the lead but he was the only guy to keep station, throughout the entire race, due to his good restarts after the three cautions.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Darren Keane in P2 on the left, Braden Eves in P1 in the middle and Hunter McElrea in P3 on the right:

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving the GP of Indianapolis:

1 - Braden Eves 127
2 - HunterMcElrea 94
3 - Manuel Sulaiman 65
3 - Darren Keane 65
5 - Zach Holden 54

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The next event for the USF2000 kids will be a series test on the oval at Lucas Oil Raceway, on Monday, the 13th of May, in preparation for the race there on May 25th, during the Indy 500 weekend. Next, Indy Pro 2000 closes out their weekend with Race 2. The grid for this is in post # 11…

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Saturday morning at Indianapolis - Indy Pro 2000 holds Race 2 of the weekend…

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…and rookie Rasmus Lindh for Juncos Racing takes his 2nd WIN from pole of the weekend. P2 was teammate and veteran Sting Ray Robb while P3 went to Danial Frost for Exclusive Autosport, grabbing his 2nd P3 for the weekend.

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Rasmus and Sting Ray celebrate the Juncos 1-2

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On the opening lap Nikita Lastochkin for Exclusive Autosport made a bold move in Turn 1, going from P6 to P3. Trying to defend, P3 starter Kyle Kirkwood for RP Motorsport Racing lost a front wing and needed to pit. By lap 2 Danial Frost was by Nikita and into P3. At that point the podium was set. By then Parker Thompson for Abel Motorsports had been able to go from his P13 start to P7. The cars then circulated without change for several laps.

On lap 16 Phillippe Denes for FatBoy Racing! took P9 from Antonio Serravalle for Pserra racing / JHDD. On lap 19 Parker took away P6 from Jacob Loomis of JDL Racing in Turn 13, but the battle continued, with Loomis eventually leaving the track. That allowed Moises de la Vara for DEForce Racing to catch the pair and pass Parker for P6.

On lap 21 both Moises and Parker passed Ian Rodriguez for RP Motorsport Racing to take over P5 and P6 respectively. Two laps later Parker finally passed Moises to take over P5. That was the last pass of the race. Rasmus WON by almost about 2 seconds over Sting Ray, with Danial only half a second off Sting Ray’s tail.

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Notable:

  • With all his USF2000 TOP FIVE runs, it was assumed that once Rasmus Lindh started winning races he would keep doing it. This weekend seems to prove that theory.

  • Despite an ill-handling car all weekend, Parker Thompson was able to salvage a P5 from both races, keeping himself in title contention.

  • Following his lap 1 damage, Kyle Kirkwood was able to rejoin, but a lap down. He finished P13.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Sting Ray Robb in P2 on the left, Rasmus Lindh in P1 in the middle and Danial Frost in P3 on the right:

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving the GP of Indianapolis:

1 - Rasmus Lindh 109
2 - Parker Thompson 98
3 - Danial Frost 85
4 - Sting Ray Robb 83
5 - Kyle Kirkwood 68
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The next event for Indy Pro 2000 will be a series test on the oval at Lucas Oil Raceway, on Monday, the 13th of May, in preparation for the race there on May 25th, during the Indy 500 weekend. Next, the Indy Lights hold their final race of the weekend. The grid for this race is in post # 20…

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Saturday Noon at Indianapolis - The Lights hold their final race of the weekend…

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The WINNER, going away, was rookie Rinus VeeKay for Juncos Racing in his 2nd series WIN. P2 was veteran Zachary Claman for Belardi Auto Racing, his 3rd podium of the year, while P3 was rookie Oliver Askew for Andretti Autosport in his 4th podium of the year.

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At the start of the race P2-starter Rob Megennis for Andretti Autosport was all over pole-sitter Rinus VeeKay, as the two ran side-by-side almost to Turn 7, but Rob ran out of racing room in the turn and hit the grass. He would rejoin in P6. P3-starter Ryan Norman for Andretti had fallen to P7 in Turn 1 and he would also spin late in the lap, falling to P9. Taking over P2 was Zachary Claman, from a P6 start, with Oliver Askew into P3, Toby Sowery for BN Racing to P4 and Dalton Kellett for Juncos in P5. Rinus would begin to escape the clutches of Zachary’s Push-to-Pass incrementally.

By lap 6 Rob was past Dalton and into P5. Dalton would spin off trying to regain and lost P6 to David Malukas for BN Racing. By lap 18 Rob was up to and past Toby Sowery to take over P4. Rinus was now clear of Zachary and Zachary had cleared enough distance to Oliver to keep Oliver from using his own Push-to-Pass, in either offense or defense. That left Oliver vulnerable to attack from Rob and attack he did.

By lap 30 Rob had closed and used enough Push-to-Pass to catch Oliver on the front straight. He made a feint to take him on the inside, but Askew moved in reaction and blocked him. Two laps later Race Control made Oliver give up the P3 spot to Megennis, but now Rob was out of P-to-P and Oliver had one left. He used it to pass Rob in Turn 1 and retake the P3 spot. That was the last pass of the race. Rinus was way down the road, some 6.5 seconds from Claman, who was more than 4 seconds clear of Askew.

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Notable:

  • With this WIN Rinus just barely takes over the Championship lead - 1 point on Oliver Askew. Each now has two WINS apiece.

  • Rob Megennis and Zachary Claman now have 1 WIN apiece and they occupy 3rd and 4th in the points.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Zachary Claman in P2 on the right, Rinus VeeKay in P1 in the middle and Oliver Askew in P3 on the leftt:

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…and their faces, left to right, Rinus, Zachary amd Oliver

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving the GP of Indianapolis:

1 - Rinus VeeKay 146
2 - Oliver Askew 145
3 - Rob Megennis 125
4 - Zachary Claman 124
5 - Toby Sowery 110

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The next event for the Indy Lights will be a series test on the 2.5-mile Indy oval on May 20th, in anticipation of the Freedom 100 at Indy on Carb Day of the Indy 500 weekend, May 24th. Next, the IndyCars race! The grid for this race is in post # 17…

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The IndyCar race - '‘A master at work…’'

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That is the way people are characterizing the WINNING effort of Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud who spent the last 20 minutes of the race passing 5 cars in front of him to take the lead on the penultimate lap from P2-finisher Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing. P3 was England’s Jack Harvey, giving Meyer Shank Racing their best-ever result in 14 IndyCar starts over three years.

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The weather was forboding from the start, though the entire field was on dry tires and the actual rain held off for most of the race. The racing was spectacular throughout with multiple passes, front to back, though Scott Dixon took the lead on lap 10 and held it the most often. At times an off-strategy was being played with the thought that rain may come at any minute and one needed to be prepared to run on the wets.

That allowed Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden to go from deep in the pack to the lead, at times, but as the strategies finally were affected by the varying amounts of coming rain and a few cautions, Newgarden ended up back where he started, and finished the race P15. By the end, the rain was enough to make everyone take on the rain tires, and that was where Pagenaud finally started to advance.

He was able to pass others, even when he was out of Push-to-Pass and they were not, and ultimately, that masterful rain drive sealed the deal for the French ace.

Another great race from the Indy road course!

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Notable:

  • This is Simon’s 3rd WIN at this course. The only other driver to WIN an IndyCar race here is teammate Will Power, and he too has 3 WINS… Penske pretty much owns the road course.

  • Not only was this the best IndyCar finish ever for Jack Harvey but it was also the best IndyCar finish ever for Matheus Leist, who was fast all day and pulled in P4, giving AJ Foyt their best finish in a very long time.

  • The two Ed Carpenter Racing boys, Spencer Pigot and Ed Jones, were also fast and seemed to swap position with each other more than once. They ended the day P5 for Spencer and P6 for Jones - great showings against stout competition.

  • Despite very little track time due to mechanical breakdowns all weekend, Patricio O’Ward for Carlin was able to put in the race’s Fastest Lap, but like Newgarden, he was on the wrong strategy and ended up the day in P19 from as high as P2, at times.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Scott Dixon in P2 on the left, Simon Pagenaud in P1 in the middle and Jack Harvey in P3 on the right:

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving the GP of Indianapolis:

1 - Josef Newgarden 182
2 - Scott Dixon 176
3 - Alexander Rossi 146
4 - Simon pagenaud 138
5 - Takuma Sato 132

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Sunday and Monday will be days of rest - or, at least no track activity. On Tuesday, testing for the 103rd running of the Indy 500 begins at the Speedway. The weather is predicted to be good.

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IndyCar has released a race highlights reel…

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Racer magazine’s Marshall Pruett and driver Sebastien Bourdais recall the day…

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