IndyCars - Indianapolis: Twisting left and right inside the great oval

[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Indianapolis - Indy Pro 2000 holds their 2nd race of the weekend…

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…and the WINNER was Reece Gold for Juncos Hollinger from his P4 start. P2 went to Colin Kaminsky for Pabst Racing from his P8 start while P3 went to Nolan Siegel for DEForce Racing from his P3 start.

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Jack William Miller for Miller Vinatieri led the field from pole down to Turn 1 where at least 3 cars all tried to funnel into the turn, spun and collected each other. They included Braden Eves for Jay Howard, Enaam Ahmed for Juncos Hollinger and Jordan Missig for Pabst. Missig was out while Enaam was damaged and pitting and Braden dropped from P7 to the rear. Before the caution flew to retrieve Missig Louis Foster for Exclusive Autosport in P2 tried a move on Jack in Turn 7 and spun him out. Jack dropped to P12 while Louis dropped to P5. The caution then came out and slowed the field. Nolan was now in P1 with Reece in P2 and Colin in P3. Kiko Porto for DEForce went to P4 while Salvador de Alba for Jay Howard had moved from his P14 start all the way to P6.

On the lap 5 restart Reece got a great jump and moved past Nolan for the lead in Turn 1, with Colin following through. Jack moved from P12 to P10 and Braden moved from P13 to P12. On lap 6 Jack moved to P8 past Jonathan Brown for Turn 3 Motorsports, while Braden moved in to P11 past teammate Wyatt Brichacek. Lap 7 saw Reece set Fastest Lap as he inched away from Colin. On lap 8 Louis was finally called in for a drive through penalty for his lap 1 punt of Jack. Sal was able to pass Jonathan Brown and Jack followed him through to take over P6. Braden moved into P9.

On lap 10 Jack reset Fastest Lap. and two laps later he was past Sal for P5 in Turn 7/8. Lap 14 saw Braden move into P7 past Yuven Sundaramoorthy for Pabst. On lap 16 Braden then took P7 from Jonathan in Turn 1 but the Irishman reclaimed the spot in Turn 7. a lap later Yuven was also past Braden for P8 and a lap later Wyatt was past Braden for P9. Lap 21 saw Yuven then take over P7 from Wyatt in Turn 1 but 3 laps later Wyatt reclaimed the position in the same spot. On the final lap Braden was able to reclaim P9 from Jonathan while Reece came to the line 1.48 seconds ahead of Colin who was 1.35 seconds ahead of Nolan.

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Notable:

• The WIN was the 2nd of the year for Reece Gold and it puts him in 2nd place in the points, behind Nolan. Louis Foster finished P13 and is now 3rd in the points, 3 behind Reece.

• Colin Kaminsky is on a limited budget this season and will likely not make all the races, but he is maximizing those he can. He now has 3 podiums on the season, so far.

• Rookie Nolan Siegel remains the points leader by wisely taking what he can get, each race, instead of dive-bombing for a WIN when it isn’t there.

• Great drive by Jack William Miller to recover all the way from P12 to his P5 finish, but he will mourn the loss of the possible WIN from pole.

• Braden Eves also made a great effort to recover from P13 but didn’t manage his tires as well as Jack and only recovered to P9 at the end.

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Your happy podium - That’s Colin Kaminsky in P2 on the left, Reece Gold in P1 in the middle and Nolan Siegel in P3 on the right:

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Indy Pro 2000 will hold Race 3 later today, once the grid is set by this race and by the qually session. Next up, the IndyCars hold the P-3 practice…

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[MarkyS]

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The Road to Indy has set the Grid for USF2000 Race 3…

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…to be run later today, based on the 2nd-fastest qually lap or the fastest race laps from races 1 and 2 and we have it here.

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Here is the way USF2000 will grid for Season Round 7:

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Row 1

pole - Jagger Jones [R], Cape Motorsports

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2 - Alex Quinn [R], Velocity Racing Development

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Row 2

3 - Michael D’Orlando, Cape Motorsports

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4 - Thomas Nepveu, DEForce Racing

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Row 3

5 - Jace Denmark, Pabst Racing

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6 - Bijoy Garg, DEForce Racing

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Row 4

7 - Myles Rowe, Pabst Racing
8 - Simon Sikes, Legacy Autosport

Row 5

9 - Joey Brienza [R], Exclusive Autosport
10 - Billy Frazer, Exclusive Autosport

Row 6

11 - Spike Kohlbecker, Turn 3 Motorsports
12 - Christian Weir, Turn 3 Motorsports

Row 7

13 - Dylan Christie, DEForce Racing
14 - Nicky Hays [R], Cape Motorsports

Row 8

15 - Viktor Andersson [R], Velocity Racing Development
16 - Jackson Lee, Cape Motorsports

Row 9

17 - Trey Burke, Joe Dooling Autosports
18 - Jacob Douglas [R], Exclusive Autosport

Row 10

19 - Chase Gardner [R], DEForce Racing
20 - Danny Dyszelski [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 11

21 - Jorge Garciarce [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
22 - Frankie Mossman [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 12

23 - Yeoroo Lee [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

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The race will follow the IndyCar P-3 practice…

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[MarkyS]

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The Road to Indy has set the Grid for Indy Pro 2000 Race 3…

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…to be run later today, based on the 2nd-fastest qually lap or the fastest race laps from races 1 and 2 and we have it here.

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Here is the way Indy Pro 2000 will grid for Season Round 7: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

pole - Jack William Miller, Miller Vinatieri Motorsports

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2 - Louis Foster [R], Exclusive Autosport

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Row 2

3 - Nolan Siegel [R], DEForce Racing

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4 - Reece Gold, Juncos Hollinger Racing

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Row 3

5 - Kiko Porto [R], DEForce Racing

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6 - Yuven Sundaramoorthy [R], Pabst Racing

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Row 4

7 - Braden Eves, Jay Howard Driver Development
8 - Colin Kaminsky, Pabst Racing

Row 5

9 - Enaam Ahmed, Juncos Hollinger Racing
10 - Jonathan Browne [R], Turn 3 Motorsports

Row 6

11 - Jordan Missig [R], Pabst Racing
12 - Wyatt Brichacek, Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 7

13 - Josh Green [R], Turn 3 Motorsports
14 - Salvador de Alba [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 8

15 - Lindsay Brewer [R], Exclusive Autosport
16 - Charles Finelli, FatBoy Racing!

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The race is scheduled to follow the final USF2000 race.

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[MarkyS]

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Satrday morning at Indianapolis - The IndyCars hold their P-3 practice…

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…also known as the "warm-up’, the post-qualifying session is always hard to read, because we never know what everyone is trying to accomplish with the session. Each team, each car may have a different program. Some are still looking for race pace while others are checking their primary / alternate tire strategy or something else. There is no way to say that the fastest guys in warm-up are the ONLY fast guys. Still, fast guys here will also be fast in the race, because they are fast in their race set-up, rather than a qually set-up.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCar warm-up, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:11.0839s for a speed of 123.522mph

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2 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing - time of 01:11.1970s for a speed of 123.325mph

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3 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:11.2391s for a speed of 123.253mph

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4 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:11.2552s for a speed of 123.225mph

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5 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 01:11.2630s for a speed of 123.211mph

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6 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
7 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
8 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
9 - Will Power, Team Penske
10 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan

11 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
12 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
13 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
14 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
15 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
16 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
17 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
18 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
19 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner
20 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing

21 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
22 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
23 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Arrow McLaren SP
24 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
25 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport
26 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
27 - Tatiana Calderon [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises

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The IndyCars will race at 3:00pm EASTERN time today and the race will be broadcast on NBC and on Peacock premium. Next up, USF2000 closes out their weekend with Race 3. The grid for this is in post # 22…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Indianapolis - USF2000 holds their final race of the weekend…

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…and sweeping the weekend was new driver Alex Quinn from England, driving for Velocity Racing Development from his P2 start. P2 went to Michael d’Orlando for Cape Motorsports from his P3 start while P3 went to Jagger Jones for Cape Motorsports from pole.

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On the opening lap Alex immediately attacked Jagger in Turn 1 and took the lead while Simon Sikes for Legacy Autosport and Bijoy Garg for DEForce Racing both got by Myles Rowe for Pabst Racing, putting him in P9. On lap 2 Jace Denmark for Pabst took Thomas Nepveu for DEForce for P4 while Myles recovered to P6 past Simon. On lap 5 Alex set Fastest Lap as he ran away while Michael d’Orlando took P2 from Jagger in Turn 7. On lap 7 Alex reset Fastest lap.

By lap 10 a battle for P7, P8 and P9 developed, with a gaggle of cars through several turns. Eventually, Billy Frazer for Exclusive Autosport took Simon sikes for the P7 spot in Turn 1 on lap 12. On lap 14 Bijoy Garg also got by Sikes to take over P8.

One lap later Alex Quinn sailed in to his 3rd WIN of the weekend by a 2.2 second margin over d’ Orlando who was onl;y 0.47 seconds ahead of Jones.

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Notable:

• As we said at the start of the weekend, Quinn’s level of experience would have better been used in Indy Pro 2000, where the competition was closer to his level. Nevertheless, he so dominated this weekend in USF2000 that if he stays with the series he stands a chance of making up his 4-race deficit for starting the series late.

• The points battle is VERY tight at the top, with Billy Frazer having an outstanding weekend and climbing the ladder.

• This may be Myles Rowe’s last weekend of racing, unless he gets an infusion of cash to keep going. He currently stands 4th in the points.

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Your happy podium - That’s Michael d’Orlando in P2 on the left, Alex Quinn in P1 in the middle and Jagger Jones in P3 on the right:

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

1 - Jagger Jones, 132
2 - Billy Frazer, 131
3 - Michael d’Orlando, 130
4 - Myles Rowe, 127
5 - Jace Denmark, 116

Alex Quinn has 93 points.

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Next up for USF2000 is Round 8, the Freedom 75, at Lucas Oil Raceway - now known as Indianapolis Raceway Park - for the only oval on the year for the series. That race takes place on Carb Day for the Indy 500, May 27th. Next, the Indy Pro 2000 gang do Race 3. the grid for this is in post # 23…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Indianapolis - Indy Pro 2000 closes out their own weekend with Race 3…

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…and taking his first series WIN is Louis Foster for Exclusive Autosport from his P2 start. Taking P2 was Braden Eves for Jay Howard Driver Development from his P7 start while P3 went to pole-sitter Jack William Miller for Miller Vinatieri.

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On lap 1 Jack got away well and led the field into Turn 1 where Yuven Sundaramoorthy for Pabst Racing took Kiko Porto for DEForce for the P5 spot. On lap 2 Reece Gold for Juncos Hollinger took P3 from Nolan Siegel for DEForce. In Turn 7 Yuven then took both Nolan and Reece and claimed P3. Braden Eves then pushed Nolan back to P6. On Lap 3 Louie took Jack for the lead in Turn 1. On lap 5 Reece swept past Yuven to take over P3 while Colin Kaminsky for Pabst Racing took P8 from Kiko Porto. Louis began to open up a gap as Wyatt Brichacek for Jay Howard went from 12th to 10th past Jordan Missig for Pabst.

On lap 6 Enaam Ahmed for Juncos took P6 from Nolan Siegel while Wyatt moved into P9 past Kiko. Lap 9 saw Braden move past both Reece Gold and Yuven Sundaramoorthy in Turn 1 to claim P3. On lap 11 Wyatt moved again, taking P8 from Colin Kaminsky. Two laps later Brichacek was by Nolan Siegel in Turn 7 for the P7 spot. As Louis ran away, the battle for 2, 3, and 4 heated up on lap 14, as cars ran nose-to-tail. Enaam took Yuven for the P5 spot. A lap later Wyatt took Yuven and moved into P6. On lap 16 Braden finally took P2 from Jack in Turn 1.

By lap 17 Louis was 8.8 seconds ahead of Braden when Reece Gold suddenly started to slow on the front straight, dropping off from P4 with some sort of mechanical. For two laps he attempted to keep going, but eventually slowed to a halt near Turn 3, bringing out a full-course caution and erasing Louie’s huge lead. On the lap 22 restart Foster got away cleanly as Enaam got past Jack to take over P3 in the Turn 8/9 complex, but on lap 23 Enaam locked up going into Turn 1 as first Jack and then Wyatt passed him up and he fell to P5.

Two laps later Foster WON by 2.5 seconds over Braden, who was 4.1 seconds ahead of Jack - a fun race with lots of drama.

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Notable:

• Points-leader Nolan Siegel came home P6 which was just enough to maintain his lead over Louis in the title hunt. Despite his P15 finish Reece Gold is still 3rd in the point.

• This was Louis Foster’s 5th podium of the year but his first WIN.

• This was easily Wyatt Brichacek’s best race of his Road to Indy Career. Wyatt has always shown speed in practice and testing but rarely in races. If this is a new direction for him he could very quickly become a regular podium visitor. He was P4 today - his best career finish.

Wyatt Brichacek

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Your happy podium - That’s Braden Eves in P2 on the left, Louis Foster in P1 in the middle and Jack William Miller in P3 on the right:

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

1 - Nolan Siegel, 141
2 - Louis Foster, 138
3 - Reece Gold, 130
4 - Braden Eves, 120
5 - Enaam Ahmed, 114

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Next up for the IP2K gang is the Freedom 90 at Lucas Oil Raceway - now called Indianapolis Raceway Park - on Carb Day for the Indy 500, May 27th. Next, the Indy Lights hold Race 2…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis - The Indy Lights hold Race 2 for the weekend…

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Below is the grid for Race 2 for the Lights, based on either the 2nd best qually lap for Race 1 or the best Race 1 lap - whichever is faster. The race was started on time but weather moved into the area and due to lightning, the race was halted on lap 14, before they could reach the half-way point. As a result Race 2 will apparently be completed AFTER the IndyCar race. We will report on the complete race after it runs its course.

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Row 1

Pole - Linus Lundqvist, HMD Motorsports

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P2 - Hunter McElrea [R], Andretti Autosport

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Row 2

P3 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing

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P4 - Matthew Brabham, Andretti Autosport

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Row 3

P5 - Sting Ray Robb, Andretti Autosport

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P6 - Danial Frost, HMD Motorsports

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Row 4

P7 - Benjamin Pedersen, GRG w/HMD Motorsports
P8 - Antonio Serravalle, HMD Motorsports

Row 5

P9 - Jacob Abel [R], Abel Motorsports
P10 - Ernie Francis, Jr. [R], Force Indy

Row 6

P11 - Christian Bogle, HMD Motorsports
P12 - James Roe [R], TJ Speed Motorsports

Row 7

P13 - Kyffin Simpson [R], TJ Speed Motorsports
P14 - Ryan Phinny, Abel Motorsports

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Next up, the IndyCars race! The grid for this is in post # 15. The race is scheduled for broadcast on NBC starting at 3:00pm EASTERN time and can also be seen on Peacock premium.

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[MarkyS]

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The IndyCar race…Cue Patsy Cline…We need someone to sing, “Crazy”…

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Today’s race started out on a wet track, dried up later for much of it and then came a-floodin’ at the end, making for one of the most entertaining and nail-biting races in a long while as Andretti Autosport driver Colton Herta’s courage and strategy handed him a WIN from his P14 start. Coming in P2 from his P20 start was Simon Pagenaud for Meyer Shank Racing while P3 went to pole-sitter Will Power for Team Penske.

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It was a huge gamble to be the first to pit and take on slicks for a still-damp but slowly-drying track that gave Herta P1 from his P14 start. After that, he traded the lead at times with Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward while the drama happened all through the contest, as fate handed out 8 full-course cautions, the last ending the race under caution with two laps to go, but Herta was seemingly in full control out front, anyway, and virtually the only driver able to see much at all in the closing laps. Treacherous is the word.

Like Herta, it was a combination of strategy, skill and luck that had Pagenaud and Power on the podium at the end. Pato O’Ward went into the final moments in the lead as one of three drivers who bet the rain would end and remained on slicks, but even he had to give up the call after spinning while the race was under caution. He ended the day in P17.

For every team and every car on the team it was a matter of calls to change tires either at the right time or the wrong time and that determined how the race went for them.

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Herta comments:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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The highlight reel will not be sufficient to show all the drama that went on and all the stories that played out through the field:

2022 RACE HIGHLIGHTS // GMR GRAND PRIX AT THE INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

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Notable:

• With his P3 Will Power has now finished in the TOP FOUR in all five races for the year and that launches him into the points lead as we head to the Indy 500.

• Several cars lost many positions in the race, only to regain them later on and circumstances changed.

• Pagenaud was the biggest mover in the race, gaining 18 positions, but Marcus Ericsson gained 14, from P18 to P4, and Herta gained 13 himself. Conor Daly started P4, lost almost all the way back to the rear and then regained spots to finish in P5. Scott Dixon started 21st, went a lap down at one point and battled back to finish P10

• Jack Harvey had a splendid race going and was at or near the TOP FIVE most of the day but lost it all when he hit something or someone on the pit lane and was penalized.

• Points leaders Alex Palou and Joseph Newgarden had miserable days with Alex finishing in P18 and Josef in P25, helping Will Power to leap them both in the points chase.

• For rookies Callum Ilott in P7, Christian Lundgaard in P9 and Tatiana Calderon in P15 this was the best race of their IndyCar careers, so far.

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Callum Ilott (left), Christian Lundgaard and Tatiana Calderon (right)

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points going into the Indy 500:

1 - Will Power, 170
2 - Scott McLaughlin, 154
3 - Alex Palou, 154
4 - Josef Newgarden, 140
5 - Scott Dixon, 133

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The next outing for the IndyCars is the Indy 500, May 29th, right here at IMS. Until then the teams will be open-testing at the Speedway, starting this week. Next, the Indy Lights complete their suspended race from this early afternoon…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon - The Indy Lights hold Race 2…

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As mentioned in post # 27, the Indy Lights Race 2 was started on time but had to be stopped after 14 laps due to lightning in the area. It was restarted following the IndyCar race and when it was over the WINNER was Linus Lundqvist for HMD Motorsports, from pole. P2 went to Andretti Autosport’s Christian Rasmussen from his P3 start while P3 went to Andretti’s Sting Ray Robb from his P5 start.

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When the race started the track was dry. It all happened quickly in Turn 1 when Matty Brabham for Andretti was able to go from P4 to P2 past teammate Hunter McElrea. Rasmussen followed through to P3 while Hunter dropped to P5 behind HMD’s Danial Frost. Sting Ray fell from P5 to P10 in the turn while Ernie Francis for Force Indy went from P10 to P6, Ben Pedersen for GRG w/HMD fell from P7 to P11 and James Roe for TJ Speed went from P12 to P7. On lap 2 Antonio Serravalle for HMD passed Roe to Take P7. On lap 3 Jacob Abel for Abel motorsports took P9 from Robb, while Rasmussen took P3 from Danial. On lap 6 Robb rand Jacob came together in Turn 2 damaging Jacob’s wing. He would pit for a new one and rejoin. Robb then passed Ben to take the P8 spot. On lap 11 Hunter then got by Danial for P4.

At this time the race was suspended for the lightning in the area and then resumed, after the IndyCar race. The track was wet and rainy when the race resumed and all cars were allowed to restart on rain tires.

On lap 16 the race went green. Hunter McElrea missed Turn 1 and had to use the escape route. He dropped from P4 to P5 in the process, but shortly after, Matty Brabham spun on track and dropped out of P2 all the way to P13. Christian Bogle for HMD also spun and was beached, needing a full-course caution to retrieve him. On the lap 20 restart Ernie spun in Turn 3 but rejoined. Trying to avoid him, James Roe and Jacob Abel went off track with Roe getting stuck - another FCC to get him out. On the lap 23 restart Ben passed Danial in Turns 1 and 2 for P3 and Hunter followed through to P4. Jacob moved past Ryan Phinny for Abel Motorsports to take P10. A lap later Abel past Ernie for P9. In Turn 12 Rasmussen missed the turn and dropped from P2 to P4.

On lap 26 Robb moved past Danial for P5 in Turn 1 while Jacob took P8 from Matt Brabham. Linus was slowly opening up an unassailable gap. On lap 27 Rasmussen took P3 from Hunter in Turn 1. On lap 28 he then took P2 from Pedersen on the front straight. On lap 30 Robb moved into P4 past Hunter and a lap later moved into P3 past Ben. On lap 33 Jacob struck again and took P7 from Kyffin Simpson for TJ Speed. On lap 34 Abel hit again and was into P6 past Danial. On the final lap Abel did it once again and took P5 from Hunter.

On lap 35 Linus cruised in to the WIN 3.59 seconds ahead of Christian Rasmussen who was 4.02 seconds ahead of Sting Ray Robb.

A great race with two distinctly different halves - one a dry race and one in the wet.

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Linus on the WIN:

INDY NXT

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Notable:

• Linus opens up his points lead, now 33 points over Danial Frost.

• This was easily Jacob Abel’s best Indy Lights race to date. He was able to do whatever he needed, to make up spots in the rain. Had he not needed to pit for a new wing in the first half he might have made the podium. He might have WON.

Jacob Abel

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Your happy WINNER with family, friends and teammates:

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

1 - Linus Lundqvist, 174
2 - Danial Frost, 141
3 - Sting Ray Robb, 137
4 - Benjamin Pedersen, 131
5 - Matthew Brabham, 119

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The next outing for the Indy Lights will be the double-header at Belle Isle, Detroit, in support of the big cars, June 4th and 5th.

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This was the last activity of the race weekend. IMS gave us a highly entertaining weekend. The IndyCar race will long be remembered but every one of the Road to Indy races were great fun, with great racing throughout. Thanks, Indy!!

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