JULY 19, 2017
Monday, July 17, 2017 at 08:43AM 
(Photo by Joe Skibinki/INDYCAR)
Josef Newgarden talks with team owner Roger Penske in Victory Circle after winning the Honda Indy Toronto. Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske DeVilbiss Chevrolet) seized the lead by making his first stop just before a full-course caution flag waved on the street course at Exhibition Place. The Team Penske driver led 58 of the last 61 laps to win the Verizon IndyCar Series race by 1.8704 seconds over Alexander Rossi (No. 98 Andretti Autosport/Curb Honda). It was Newgarden's second win of the 2017 season and his second Toronto win in three years. Like today, Newgarden's 2015 Toronto triumph was also set up by a timely pit stop made prior to a full-course caution. "That is twice I have had good calls and got into the pits at the right time," Newgarden said. "Thank you to the guys and thank you to Tim (Cindric, race strategist) for making that call. We got it right, but it was all about managing the race after that. I thought we had a very fast car, we got a pretty good start and stayed out of the mayhem. Very, very happy for all of Team Penske, and this DeVilbiss Chevy was pretty bright, but it was pretty fast, too." For the second straight year, Toronto-area native James Hinchcliffe (No. 5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Arrow Honda) started sixth and finished third to the delight of the hometown fans. Hinchcliffe also benefited from making his first stop the lap prior to Newgarden. Marco Andretti (No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda) finished a season-best fourth. Newgarden's win today also tightened the season championship chase after 12 of 17 races. Points leader Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing NTT Data Honda) finished 10th after making first-lap contact with Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet), whose three Team Penske teammates now lurk within 23 points of first place. Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Hitachi Chevrolet) trails Dixon by three points after finishing eighth. Simon Pagenaud (No. 1 Team Penske DXC Technology Chevrolet) is 19 points behind Dixon after finishing fifth and Newgarden is 23 points behind. The Verizon IndyCar Series championship has been decided in the final race of the season every year since 2006. Next up for the Verizon IndyCar Series is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 30. It airs live at 3 p.m. ET on CNBC.
(AP/The Telegraph)
Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team) dominated the British Grand Prix at Silverstone from the pole in convincing fashion Sunday, becoming just the third man after Jim Clark and Alain Prost to win the race five times. Hamilton jabbed his critics after the race saying, “If you don’t know by now that my preparation is on point, then I guess you never will,” Hamilton said. “I’m going to keep enjoying my life the way I do, regardless of what people say.” Good for him. Valterri Botas (No. 77 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team) was second and Kimi Raikkonen (No. 7 Scuderia Ferrari) finished third. Hamilton now trails Vettel by just one point in the World Championship.
(Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing FedEx Office Toyota) captured his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season Sunday in the Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Hamlin led 54 of 301 laps taking the checkered flag with a .509-second margin of victory over a fast-closing Kyle Larson (No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Target Chevrolet), who started last. Hamlin’s third win at the 1.058-mile track was the 30th of his career in NASCAR’s premier series, marking the first triumph this year for Joe Gibbs Racing. “Just it’s a great feeling,” Hamlin said in Victory Lane. “I know we’ve been getting better and better as the year goes on, but definitely needed a win for the organization and for myself and just kind of get some momentum going with the playoffs coming up, so we’ve got to get going. Really, this is awesome.” “Finished second, but another hard‑fought race,” Larson said. “You know, this is the third time we’ve had to start last and drove up to second. I wish we could have been a spot better again, but really proud of my team and proud of the cars that they’re bringing for me to drive each and every week.” Martin Truex Jr. (No. 78 Furniture Row Racing WIX Filters Toyota) led a race-high 137 laps but finished third.
(crash.net)
Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley (No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid) took the overall win in the LMP1 class in the 6 Hours of Nurburgring on Sunday, round four of the World Endurance Championship. Neel Jani/Nick Tandy/Andre Lotterer (No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid) came in second and Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Jose Maria Lopez (No. 7 Toyota Gazoo S040 Hybrid) finished third. Oliver Jarvis, Ho-Pin Tung and Thomas Laurent (No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07 Gibson) took its third win of the season in LMP2, finishing fifth overall. Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado (No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE) won the GTE Pro class ahead of the two factory Porsche 911 RSRs, while Dempsey-Proton Racing prevailed in GTE Am with its No. 77 Porsche 911 driven by Christian Reid, Matteo Cairolli and Marvin Dienst.
(Mazda)
Mazda Motorsports has enlisted Joest Racing to lead its effort in the North American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under Daytona Prototype international (DPi) rules. Mazda Team Joest will now be the factory Mazda Prototype race team, and it will make its racing debut at the 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.
