AUGUST 23, 2017

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
In a spectacular IndyCar race, Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet), who was down a lap at one point, held off charging Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske Fitzgerald Glider Kits Chevrolet) to win the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway for a second straight year on Sunday. Power defeated Newgarden by 0.5268 of a second to become the first Indy car driver to post back-to-back wins on the three-turn, 2.5-mile oval in the event's 24-race history. It was also Power's third triumph this season and the 32nd of his 13-year career, moving the 36-year-old Australian into sole possession of ninth place on the all-time Indy car victory list ahead of Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy. The race was one of the best IndyCar oval races in recent memory, and an example of IndyCar racing at its best. "It seriously means a lot. I love racing on ovals," said Power, whose win today is his sixth on an oval track. "Every oval win I get, I really, really enjoy because we don't have many of them. "To come back and win it again in a very different way this year - it was a crazy race, exciting to me - but feels fantastic to go back-to-back."

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Josef Newgarden before the race at Pocono on Sunday. "It was a good day for points," said Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Fitzgerald Glider Kits Chevrolet. "Tough when you have an opportunity to potentially win a race at the end of it, but I don't think we had enough for Will, to be honest with you. "I'm happy for Team Penske. It's a 1-2 at the end of the day, so keeping it in the family. When one car wins, we kind of all win." The battle for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship is tight, with three races remaining. Newgarden leads Scott Dixon by 18 points, Helio Castroneves by 22, Simon Pagenaud by 26 and Power by 42. The top 15 drivers in the standings remain mathematically alive for the title.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Alexander Rossi (No. 98 Andretti Autosport/Curb Honda) led 44 laps and applied serious pressure at the end of the race, finishing third, his second podium finish in the past three races. "It's a really good result, but when you come so close to a win, it's sometimes difficult to swallow," Rossi said. "Looking back to where we were at Pocono last year, when we had a strong car and didn't finish, to come back to be on the podium is a testament to Andretti Autosport and the entire team and the work that they've done all year."

(Shawn Gardner/Getty Images)
Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing M&Ms Caramel Toyota) held off Erik Jones (No. 77 Furniture Row Racing 5-Hour Energy Extra Strength Toyota) to complete a sweep of all three NASCAR touring series - and his 40th career Cup win - with Saturday night’s victory in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. In winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series main event at the .533-mile, high-banked concrete track, Busch completed a big week that saw him win Wednesday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event and Friday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race. Having accomplished the same feat at Bristol in 2010, Busch was the only driver in NASCAR history to achieve the three-series sweep in the same week at the same track. Now he’s the only driver to have done it twice. Slicing through traffic on the final 79-lap green-flag run, Busch crossed the finish line 1.422 seconds ahead of Jones, a Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, who will join the race winner as a teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing next year. Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing FedEx Ground Toyota) finished third and Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing DeWalt FlexVolt Toyota) came home fourth, making it a big night for Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing.

(Acura images)
The 2018 Acura ARX-05 completed two days of testing at Road Atlanta this week, as Acura Motorsports and Team Penske began an intensive development program for the new prototype in advance of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Juan Pablo Montoya was at the wheel of the ARX-05 throughout the two-day test. The outing was the first for the new prototype following an initial shakedown run last month at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. "Overall, it was a good test," said Matthew Niles, senior engineer and project leader for Honda Performance Development. "We were close to the area of total solar eclipse [on Monday], so we had to stop running for a bit as the sun was dimmed.  We went on to complete all of our run plan, and feel we have a good base to build on going forward." This week's initial run was the first of a series of tests, to be conducted at a variety of circuits, planned by Team Penske and Honda Performance Development, the racing arm for both Acura Motorsports and Honda Racing in North America. The competition debut of the Team Penske Acura prototypes will take place at the season-opening Daytona 24 Hour race (Rolex 24) in January 2018.  In addition to Montoya, reigning IMSA prototype champion Dane Cameron will also be part of the 2018 lineup, with remaining drivers to be announced.