Editor-In-Chief's Note: Needless to say, IndyCar's return to Road America - "America's National Park of Speed" - was a tremendous success by every measure. Drivers, team owners, sponsors and of course the enthusiast fans themselves - who have been clamoring for the return of major league open-wheel racing to America's most iconic natural-terrain road racing circuit for years - basked in the glow of how a big-time racing event should look and feel. That IndyCar is already slated for a return in 2017 is a given, but what else can the series take away from the tremendously successful weekend at Road America? For one thing, very few oval tracks - other than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, of course, or temporary street circuits for that matter - capture the essence of Indy car racing like the famous U.S. and Canadian natural-terrain road courses. Watkins Glen has been added to the schedule, which is a very good thing, but IndyCar shouldn't stop there. Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio, Portland, and perhaps even Mosport and Road Atlanta should be considered as part of the permanent IndyCar schedule as well. It shouldn't be that hard, really. Skip over the "potential" venues that are doomed to be one-hit wonders from the start - aka Boston - and take the racing action to the tracks that already have a loyal following. IndyCar doesn't have to be on its death bed, as Road America proved convincingly last weekend, but it needs to play to its strengths in order to gain some real momentum again. -PMD
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Will Power celebrates in Victory Lane following his win in the KOHLER Grand Prix of Road America Verizon IndyCar Series race on Sunday in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. "America's National Park of Speed" was in all of its glory as fans thronged the iconic natural-terrain road course in the Kettle Moraine region of Northern Wisconsin for the return of IndyCar. The fans were treated to a magnificent day and some intense, hard-fought racing on America's greatest road course. Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet Turbo V6) led 46 of the 50 laps around the blistering fast 4.014-mile circuit but he had to fight off a late charge by Tony Kanaan (No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing NTT Data Chevrolet Turbo V6) to win by 0.7429 of a second following a Lap 44 restart. It was Power's second straight race win in the 2016 season and the 27th of his 11-year Indy car career, tying the Australian with Johnny Rutherford for 13th place on the career victories list. "You always dread that late restart, but I thought, 'I'm going to make the absolute most of it and do the best I can and try to get a jump.'" Power said. "I knew I had push-to-pass in hand, which I thought before the race is going to be the key here, to keep that for the end, and that's what I did. "Very satisfying race. Very satisfying because I felt like I'm back where I was, and that's a good feeling for me."
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Tony Kanaan (No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing NTT Data Chevrolet Turbo V6) turns into Turn 7 during the KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America. It was Kanaan's best finish in six Road America races and best finish of 2016. He drove a tremendous race. "Will (Power) did a really good job of saving his push-to-passes until the last lap," said Kanaan, the 2004 series champion and 15-time race winner. "We had the red (alternate) tires (in the closing laps), which was a little quicker and we were just chasing Will down. Towards the end, we had one push-to-pass which gave us extra power, but he had three so he had an advantage on us. But what a great race."
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Graham Rahal (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Gehl/D-A Lubricant Honda Turbo V6) on his way to a third-place finish at Road America on Sunday. Rahal led two laps during an early pit stop sequence, but suffered the consequences of a different tire strategy by not saving his one new set of Firestone alternates until the end of the race. "It's great to get a good result," Rahal said. "I'm pleased with what we did today and accomplished for the Gehl team. We just made the wrong tire call and it definitely hurt. It is what it is and we still came out of here third."
(Photo by Shawn Gritzmacher/INDYCAR)
Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda Turbo V6) apexes Canada Corner (Turn 12) during the KOHLER Grand Prix of Road America. He finished fourth.
(Photo by Shawn Gritzmacher/INDYCAR)
A huge crowd was on hand at "America's National Park of Speed" on Sunday. Road America and INDYCAR officials were ecstatic about the fan turnout and excitement shown throughout the KOHLER Grand Prix weekend. George Bruggenthies, the track president and general manager, didn't have final attendance figures but was certain the race drew the largest attendance in track history. "The crowds really came out," Bruggenthies said. "I have to congratulate the Road America staff and the whole team that does all the operations here. They worked very hard preparing. I think we delivered. The crowd came out and they had a great time. Beautiful race, I think they'll be back." The Verizon IndyCar Series will return to Road America in 2017.
(Photo by Shawn Gritzmacher/INDYCAR)
Victory Lane littered with confetti following Will Power's victory in the KOHLER Grand Prix of Road America.
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett for GM/Chevrolet Racing)
Tony Stewart (No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Code 3 Associates/Mobil Chevrolet SS) delivered a scintillating race win on Sunday in the Toyota-Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. He out-dueled Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing FedEx Cares Toyota Camry) by executing a dramatic last-lap pass - which slammed Hamlin into the outside Turn 11 wall - for his first victory since June 2, 2013, at Dover, ending a 84-race losing skid. Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion) finished third. Watch a video here.
(Subaru)
Watch the full video of the record-shattering lap of the Isle of Man TT Course by Mark Higgins, in the 2016 Subaru WRX STI Time Attack car. Higgins broke the lap record two weeks ago on the famed 37-mile Isle of Man TT Road Course with an average lap speed of 128.73 mph and a time of 17 minutes and 35 seconds. This breaks the previous record held by Higgins of 116.47 mph and a time of 19 minutes and 26 seconds. The video is available on Subaru of America’s YouTube channel under "2016 Subaru WRX STI Isle of Man TT – Flat Out" here.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Ford has announced that its factory-supported Ford GT GTLM/GTE PRO racing program will run for a minimum of three more years in both IMSA and FIA WEC competition, through the 2019 season. “We wanted to make sure everyone knows that we are committed to sports car racing globally with WEC and IMSA,” said Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president and chief technical officer. “The stated goal of our Ford GT program was to win Le Mans, and we're very proud that we were able to do that in our first year. To commit to a full, four-year assault on both the IMSA and WEC championships shows how serious we are about taking Ford GT racing around the world. We are in motorsport to win races and championships, but just as importantly we are using it to develop our engineering expertise and help develop advancements for production vehicles like EcoBoost engines, advanced aerodynamics and lightweight materials that consumers can use in Ford production vehicles going forward.” The first-year program currently consists of two Ford GT race cars in IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship competition, and two Ford GT race cars in the FIA World Endurance Championship.