(Photo by Shawn Gritzmacher/INDYCAR)
Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet Turbo V6) won his third Verizon IndyCar Series race of the season at the Honda Indy Toronto on Sunday. It was also his third win on the streets of Exhibition Place. Power held off Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Pennzoil Chevrolet Turbo V6) on a last-lap restart by 1.5275 seconds - after a fortuitously timed pit stop - to collect his 28th career Indy car win, moving the 35-year-old ahead of Johnny Rutherford alone into 13th on the all-time victories list. One win ahead of Power are Castroneves and retired great Rick Mears, now a Team Penske driver coach. Power now sits second in the standings despite missing the season opener, 47 points behind teammate Simon Pagenaud. "Getting close, that's good," said Power. "It's good to get this momentum for the team going forward for the rest of the championship. Five (races) to go, all good tracks for me. If we can close that gap going into Sonoma, we can do this, we can win this championship, absolutely."
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Pennzoil Chevrolet Turbo V6) overcame a punctured left-front tire midway through the race to record his 40th career runner-up finish - second all-time to Mario Andretti's 56. Castroneves is third in the standings, 74 points behind Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Team Penske PPG Automotive Refinish Chevrolet Turbo V6), who finished ninth. "It's a shame (about the puncture)," Castroneves said, "but don't get me wrong, the Pennzoil Chevrolet machine was really strong. Second (in the race) is better than third."
(Photo by Shawn Gritzmacher/INDYCAR)
James Hinchcliffe (No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Arrow Electronics Honda Turbo V6) thrilled the partisan Toronto crowd by finishing third in his hometown race. His previous best at Toronto was eighth place in six previous races. "For once in my career here in Toronto we caught a lucky break," Hinchcliffe said. "It's not just that I haven't had great luck here, I've had insanely bad luck here. Today we were on the other side of that. It's part of Indy car racing."
(Nigel Kinrade/LAT Photo USA ©2015, courtesy of Toyota Racing)
Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Dollar General Toyota Camry) started 18th and came through the field for the win in the New Hampshire 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday. He finished 1.982 seconds ahead of Tony Stewart (No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Haas Automation Chevrolet SS). Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion) finished third. The winning Toyota Camry driven by Kenseth failed a post race laser inspection system (LIS) platform exam. Further evaluation will take place this week at NASCAR's R&D Center to determine if there will be any penalties issued. UPDATE: The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team has been docked 15 championship points after Kenseth's Camry failed the postrace laser inspection system (LIS) platform. Kenseth has been docked 15 points in the drivers' championship and crew chief Jason Ratliff was fined $25,000. Kenseth drops from eighth to ninth place in the standings. Get more NASCAR news here.
(www.crash.net)
Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda Team RC213V) won a wild German MotoGP on Sunday. The Repsol Honda rider ran off track in the wet early stages of the race but then stormed back through the field after an early change to slicks on a drying track. Cal Crutchlow (No. 35 LCR Honda RC213V) equaled his best ever MotoGP finish with second, while Andrea Dovizioso (No. 4 Ducati Team Desmosedici GP) took third from Scott Redding (No. 45 OCTO Pramac Yakhnich Ducati) on the final lap.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Editor-In-Chief's Note: Up next on the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar is the Northeast Grand Prix this weekend, at Lime Rock Park, in Lakeville, Connecticut. Why IMSA is bringing back three of it four classes (GTLM, PC, GTD) to run at this venerable race track is beyond me. The short, 1.5-mile, seven turn circuit is notoriously tight and with a busy grid of IMSA cars slated to race it will be extremely crowded. You can expect overtaking incidents and on-track carnage to ensue. -PMD
America's National Park of Speed.
I was getting caught up on the Pirelli World Challenge Races at Road America, and thought I saw the Autoextremist.com sign at Turn 5. Could you please show a picture of it, and the story behind it? I am a huge fan of both Road America and your website!
DR
Scottsdale, Arizona
Editor-In-Chief's Note: I first went to Elkhart Lake's Road America in 1967, when my brother Tony was racing a "A" Production Corvette in the SCCA June Sprints National races. I've been going ever since. If you have traveled around to race tracks as much as I have - including the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany - you will come to appreciate Road America, simply the most stunning natural-terrain road racing circuit in North America. With a track layout that has been unaltered since it was first opened in 1955 - which, believe me, is a rarity - and a park-like setting that is simply unrivaled, Road America is the race track for road racing enthusiasts in this country. To me, Road America looks and feels like a national park, and the track's theme line - America's National Park of Speed - is something I came up with to best describe the feeling you get when you're there. We first used it on that Autoextremist billboard in Turn 5 and I'm proud to say that it has become a fixture there. I gave the theme line to the track to use several years ago and I encouraged track president George Bruggenthies and his talented staff to use the theme consistently in all of their communications, and it's really starting to pay dividends. It's gratifying to hear the theme on TV broadcasts and to see it in-person when you're at the track. -PMD