IndyCars - Indianapolis: They do turn right at the Speedway, sometimes

[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Indianapolis - USF2000 closes out their weekend…

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…with Race 3, and it was another great battle to the end, with Kiko Porto for DEForce racing taking his first WIN of the season. P2 went to Christian Brooks for Exclusive Autosport while P3 went to Michael d’Orlando for Cape Motorsports, earned in the last few corners of the last lap.

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Yuven Sundaramoorthy for Pabst racing took the field down to Turn 1 from pole and everyone got through cleanly, with Kiko able to pass first Josh Green for Turn 3 Motorsport and then Spike Kohlbecker for Ignite Autosport and take over P4. Josh Green followed Kiko and took P5, with Spike slotting into P6. As the field got through Turn 3 the tail end had hell break loose, as it looks like several cars checked up and Simon Sikes for Marotti Autosport / Legacy Autosport got into the back of Grant Palmer for Exclusive Autosport. Also going off with damage were Myles Rowe for Force Indy, Dylan Christie for Turn 3, Bijoy Garg for Jay Howard, and Nolan Siegel for DEForce. Of all those cars, only Nolan was able to rejoin, and on the lead lap. A full course caution came out to collect the cars.

On the lap 7 restart Brooks took Yuven for the P1 spot in Turn 1 while Kiko passed Josh Pierson for Pabst Racing to take over P3. Thomas Nepveu for Cape Motorsports and teammate Michael d’Orlando took P6 and P7 respectively past Spike Kohlbecker. On lap 8 Kiko moved past Yuven in Turn 1 to get P2. On lap 9 Kiko caught up to Christian at Turn 7 and stayed aside him all the way through Turn 10, where he took over the P1 spot. At the same time Josh Pierson was by Yuven in Turn 7 to take over P3. Michael d’Orlando passed Thomas Nepveu for P5.

For the next several laps there was passing in the rear but the front stayed stable to the last lap. On the final lap Yuven took P3 from Josh Pierson in Turns 1 and 2 but by the time they were at Turn 7 Josh was taking P3 back, with Michael d’Orlando joining the battle. The three cars ran inches apart through Turns 8, 9 and 10 where Michael got past both cars on the inside to take over P3 with Josh slotting into P4 and Yuven in P5.

At the line Kiko was 0.45 seconds ahead of Christian who was 4 seconds ahead of Michael. Another terrific race to the end!

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Notable:

• This is KIko’s first WIN of the season. The young Brazilian sophomore had 4 podiums, including a WIN, in his 2020 rookie season.

• Michael d’Orlando went from P11 to P3 - another great passing clinic.

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Your happy podium - That’s Christian Brooks in P2 on the left, Kiko Porto in P1 in the middle and Michael d’Orlando in P3 on the right:

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving the Road Course at Indianapolis:

1 - Christian Brooks, 163
2 - Yuven Sundaramoorthy, 149
3 - Kiko Porto, 141
4 - Josh Pierson, 132
5 - Michael d’Orlando, 120

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The next outing for USF2000 is at Lucas Oil Raceway for the Freedom 75 on Carb Day of the Indy 500 weekend, May 28th.

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Next up, the final IndyCar warm-up before the race, this afternoon…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Indianapolis - the IndyCars hold final Warm-Up…

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Warm-up is always a bit of a mystery because one never knows what each team or driver is trying to accomplish. Are they trying last-minute changes to help a slow car? Are they checking their race set-up for consistency? No one will tell and no one knows, but it’s still fun to see who’s on top.

Here was the order of speed for the final race warm-up: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

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2 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

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3 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing

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4 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

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5 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan

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6 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
7 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
8 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
9 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
10 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

11 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
12 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
13 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner
14 - Will Power, Team Penske
15 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
16 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
17 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
18 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
19 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
20 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing

21 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
22 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
23 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Arrow McLaren SP
24 - Charlie Kimball, AJ Foyt Enterprises
25 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing

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Next up, Indy Pro 2000 closes out their weekend. The grid for that race follows…

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M

[MarkyS]

Saturday at Indianapolis - Indy Pro 2000 grids for Race 3 of the weekend…

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The grid for Indy Pro 2000 Race 3 was set by taking either the driver’s 2nd fastest qualifying lap OR their fastest Race 2 lap - whichever was best. That will almost always be the qually lap.

Here is the way Indy Pro 2000 will grid for Season Round 7, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Reece Gold [R], Juncos Racing - time of 01:20.2499s

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P2 - Braden Eves, Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:20.2843s

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Row 2

P3 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Jay Howard Driver Development - time of 01:20.4909s

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P4 - Enaam Ahmed [R], RP Motorsport USA - time of 01:20.6921s

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Row 3

P5 - Kyffin Simpson [R], Juncos Racing - time of 01:20.7237s

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P6 - Wyatt Brichacek [R], Jay Howard Driver Development - time of 01:20.7342s

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Row 4

P7 - Hunter McElrea, Pabst Racing
P8 - Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports

Row 5

P9 - Artem Petrov, Exclusive Autosport
P10 - Manuel Sulaiman, Juncos Racing

Row 6

P11 - Colin Kaminsky, Pabst Racing
P12 - James Roe [R], Turn 3 Motorsport

Row 7

P13 - Jack William Miller [R], Miller Vinatieri Motorsports

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Notable:

• As there was no driver who had a faster Race 2 lap than their 2nd best qually lap, this grid is identical to the grid for Race 2.

Reece Gold

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next up, the race…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Indianapolis - Indy Pro 200 closes out their race weekend…

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…with another barn-burner and at the end the WINNER was Christian Rasmussen for Jay Howard Driver Development - his 2nd WIN of the weekend. P2 went to Reece Gold for Juncos Racing and P3 went to Braden Eves for Exclusive Autosport.

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On lap 1 Christian passed both Braden Eves and Reece Gold in Turn 1. Enaam Ahmed for RP Motorsport USA also snuck by Braden to take over P3 from his P4 start. Artem Petrov for Exclusive Autosport jumped from P11 to P10 while Wyatt Brichacek for Jay Howard Driver Development dropped from P6 to P13 with some trouble, though he kept running. On lap 2 Artem took P9 from Jack William Miller for Miller Vinatieri, while Manuel Sulaiman for Juncos Racing took over P8 from Colin Kaminsky for Pabst Racing. On lap 4 Reece set Fastest Lap chasing Christian.

Lap 5 saw Hunter McElrea for Pabst Racing pass Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports for P6 in Turn 1. In lap 8 Artem took P8 from Manuel Sulaiman while Christian reset Fastest Lap up front. On lap 10 Artem passed Jacob Abel for P7. One lap later Manuel also passed Jacob to take P8, then Jacob fell again, this time to Jack William Miller. Medanwhile, Christian started to open up a gap back to Reece, but on lap 17 Reece reset Fastest Lap to remain close.

On lap 19 Braden finally collected Enaam in Turns 6 and 7 to retake P3. Lap 20 saw Artem get P6 from Hunter McElrea. Two laps later the Russian was also past Kyffin Simpson down the Hulman Straight to take over P5. On lap 23 Jack WIlliam Miller slowed while going down the front straight, with the possibilty the track would go yellow and bunch the field, but he made it to the end of the straight, where he was able to pull off out of the way, and we stayed green. On lap 24 Enaam set the final Fastest lap in an effort to catch Braden but it was not to be and 1 lap later Christian crossed the line 0.63 seconds ahead of Reece who was 1.1 seconds ahead of Braden.

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Notable:

• This was Christian’s 3rd WIN of the season ant it gets him very close to points leader Braden Eves.

• This was Enaam Ahmed’s best Road to Indy finish yet.

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

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

1 - Braden Eves, 171
2 - Christian Rasmussen, 168
3 - Artem Petrov, 144
4 - Reece Gold, 137
5 - Hunter McElrea, 125

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The next outing for Indy Pro 2000 is at Lucas Oil Raceway for the Freedom 90 on Carb Day of the Indy 500 weekend, May 28th.

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Next up, the Indy Lights close out their race weekend. The grid for that is in post # 19…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis - the Indy Lights close out their race weekend…

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…and the WINNER was pole-sitter David Malukas for HMD Motorsports, leading from green to checkers. P2 went to Toby Sowery for Juncos Racing from his P3 start while P3 went to Alex Peroni for Carlin from his P4 start.

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INDY NXT

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David led the field into Turn 1 on the opening lap and everyone got through cleanly. On lap 2 Toby took Linus Lundqvist for GRG w/ HMD Motorsports for the P2 spot. Kyle Kirkwood for Andretti Autosport jumped from his P6 start to P5 past Sting Ray Robb for Juncos, while Devlin DeFrancesco for Andretti Steinbrenner jumped past teammate Danial Frost and then Sting Ray, to take over P6. Meanwhile, Rob Megennis for Andretti took P9 from Benjamin Pedersen for GRG w/ HMD Motorsports. During the lap David locked up his front tires in Turn 1 but held onto the lead. On lap 4 Danial Frost took P7 from Sting Ray.

On lap 5 Linus made a move on Toby in Turn 1 but it didn’t pay and he went off course into the grass. He rejoined in P6, behin Devlin. That advanced P4 starter Alex Peroni to P3 and the podium was effectively set. One lap later Linus took Devlin for the P5 spot in Turn 1. On lap 7 Sowery set Fastest Lap in his attempt to stay within Push-to-Pass range to Malukas. On lap 10 Megennis passed Frost in the Turns 10 -12 complex to take over P 7.

On lap 12 Benjamin retook P9 from Sting Ray. Kyle Kirkwood was the next guy to set Fastest Lap in lap 14, in an effort to stay with the three leaders and ahead of Linus. For the rest of the race the TOP FOUR were close to each other but held station. On the last lap Toby made his charge on David in a last ditch effort to pass for the lead, using his remaining Push-to-Pass. He was beside David into Turn 12 and stayed with him all the way to the finish line, but Malukas was ahead by a scant 0.02 seconds at the line for the WIN. Alex was 0.6 seconds off Toby in 3rd.

What a finish!

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Notable:

• After the race David offered that his tire lock-up in Lap 2 caused a vibration that kept getting worse throughout the race and he worried the Coopers wouldn’t make the distance. The WIN is his 3rd WIN in 2021 and 3rd WIN in his Lights career.

• Sowery now has 2 podiums for 2021 to add to his 7 - including a WIN - in his rookie season in 2019.

• This is Alex Peroni’s first Road to Indy podium.

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Your happy podium - That’s Toby Sowery in P2 on the left, David Malukas in P1 in the middle and Alex Peroni in P3 on the right:

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

1 - David Malukas, 151
2 - Linus Lundqvist, 140
3 - Kyle Kirkwood, 124
4 - Toby Sowery, 105
5 - Alex Peroni, 101

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The next outings for the Indy Lights will be Season Rounds 7 and 8 at Belle Isle in Detroit, in support of the IndyCars, June 12-13.

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Next, the IndyCars race! The grid for that is in post # 16…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis - the IndyCar race…

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The IndyCar race saw the 5th different WINNER in 5 outings and the 3rd first-time WINNER of 2021, as Rinus VeeKay took the # 21 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing to the WIN of the GMR Grand Prix from his P7 start. P2 was rookie Romain Grosjean for Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing from pole, while P3 went to Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing from his P3 start.

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Romain led the most laps of the race from the start but starting on lap 48 of the 85-lap race VeeKay took the lead from Grosjean in Turn 1 and slowly built up an impressive 9 second gap to the Formula One ex-pat. Saving a bit of fuel at the end, the WIN was reduced to 4.9 seconds at the line, but VeeKay was solidly in control for his entire tenure at the top. His biggest fear was rain, which never really materialized, despite some sprinkles in the latter half of the race.

The difference in the result may have been due to the different tire strategies of the two lead teams, as Grosjean started the race on alternate reds, while Rinus started on the primary blacks and went to the reds at the south end of the race, giving him more grip at the end than the Frenchman, who was on primaries at the finish.

The race was almost without cautions, but Conor Daly for Ed Carpenter Racing was punted off course by Simon Pagenaud for Team Penske in Turn 1 of the first lap and needed a tow out of the grass. He never recovered from his damage and was the only DNF of the race. Grosjean deftly handled both his first rolling start from pole and the restart after the caution, despite his worries about it.

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Said Rinus of the WIN, “We had an awesome start to the weekend, and I knew we had the car. The car was so fast. It’s just the perfect day. I don’t know what to say. Grabbing our first podium here a year ago, and now a win.”

The biggest loser of the day was Jack Harvey for Meyer Shank Racing who was stellar all day and running in P2 until his car developed a flat right rear tire as he left the pits, necessitating a slow drive-around and a second visit to get it changed, putting him all the way back to the end of the field.

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Here are some race highlights…

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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It’s hard to believe that Rinus was a champion European karter in 2016, started out in USF2000 in 2017, (Vice-Champion), went to Indy Pro 2000 in 2018 (Champion), then Indy Lights in 2019 (Vice-Champion), and was already an IndyCar rookie in 2020. That kind of incredible advancement in formula cars in so little time is truly remarkable. The 20-year-old is special…and now an IndyCar race WINNER.

The Road Course at Indianapolis consistently produces great racing, due in no small part to the two long straights that produce tempting passing opportunities while also presenting danger. Today’s race was proof of that, as have been all GP races on the course.

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

1 - Scott Dixon, 176
2 - Alex Palou, 163
3 - Josef Newgarden, 148
4 - Pato O’Ward, 146
5 - Graham Rahal, 137
6 - Rinus VeeKay, 135
7 - Simon pagenaud, 130
8 - Scott McLaughlin, 123
9 - Will Power, 118
10 - Colton Herta, 117

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The next outing for the IndyCars is the 105th running of the Indy 500, at the end of May. Practice for that begins this coming week.

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