MAY 31, 2017

(Photo by Mike Harding/INDYCAR)
Takuma Sato (No. 26 Andretti Autosport Panasonic Honda), Marco Andretti (No. 27 Andretti Autosport United Fiber & Data Honda), Fernando Alonso (No. 29 McLaren-Honda-Andretti Honda) and Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Sato's win in the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 was certainly inspired and in many ways satisfying. Read more about it from Peter in this week's "Fumes." Marco finished eighth, while Alonso and Hunter-Reay suffered blown engines.

(Photo by Mike Harding/INDYCAR)
Castroneves, who was going for his fourth win in the Indy 500 - which would have tied him with A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears for most wins, all time - had an eventful day. He overcame a black-flag penalty for jumping a restart and avoided mayhem in two major race incidents to finish second at Indy for the third time. Castroneves is now one of seven drivers with three Indianapolis 500 runner-up finishes, and it was the 41st second-place finish of the Brazilian's 20-year Indy car career, which ranks second all time.

(Photo by Chris Jones/INDYCAR)
Talented Indy rookie Ed Jones (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Boy Scouts of America Honda) leaves the pits on the way to an impressive - and career-best - third. The 23-year-old Jones charged from the rear of the field after having the rear wing assembly on his Honda replaced during a pit stop.

(Photo by Chris Jones/INDYCAR)
Despite going a lap down early with handling issues, Max Chilton (No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Gallagher Honda) led the most laps (50) before finishing fourth. It was the best showing of the 26-year-old Brit's two-year Verizon IndyCar Series career. "I don't think anyone has ever won this race without a little bit of luck," said Chilton. "When we did end up getting out front, the car was really quick and you can see why this place is so special and so electric in that moment. ... To come from a lap down to lead and have a chance to win here at Indy is a massive accomplishment for the whole team." 

(Photo by Mike Harding/INDYCAR)
Fernando Alonso, the two-time F1 World Champion who skipped the F1 Monaco Grand Prix to fulfill a dream to drive in the Indy 500, started fifth, ran up front most of the day and led 27 laps in the No. 29 McLaren-Honda-Andretti Honda resplendent in the original Papaya Orange McLaren factory livery. Alonso's race came to a premature conclusion 24th place with a blown engine after 179 laps. (One other item: Alonso was named Rookie of the Year over Ed Jones. The wrong call. -PMD)

The Payout. How they finished and what they won at the Indianapolis 500:

1. Takuma Sato, Honda, 200, Running, $2,458,129
2. Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $770,629
3. Ed Jones, Honda, 200, Running, $535,629
4. Max Chilton, Honda, 200, Running, $484,129
5. Tony Kanaan, Honda, 200, Running, $438,129
6. Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $255,805
7. Alexander Rossi, Honda, 200, Running, $420,629
8. Marco Andretti, Honda, 200, Running, $384,629
9. Gabby Chaves, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $235,305
10. Carlos Munoz, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $364,129
11. Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $395,129
12. Graham Rahal, Honda, 200, Running, $361,129
13. Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 200, Running, $355,629
14. Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $349,129
15. Sebastian Saavedra, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $210,305
16. JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $345,129
17. Pippa Mann, Honda, 199, Running, $200,305
18. Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 194, Running, $200,305
19. Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 186, Running, $334,129
20. James Davison, Honda, 183, $355,129
21. Oriol Servia, Honda, 183, Contact, $200,305
22. James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 183, Contact, $349,129
23. Will Power, Chevrolet, 183, Contact, $388,129
24. Fernando Alonso, Honda, 179, Mechanical, $305,805
25. Charlie Kimball, Honda, 166, Mechanical, $339,129
26. Zach Veach, Chevrolet, 155, Mechanical, $200,805
27. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 136, Mechanical, $351,629
28. Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 125, Mechanical, $202,805
29. Buddy Lazier, Chevrolet, 118, Contact, $200,305
30. Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 65, Contact, $334,129
31. Jack Harvey, Honda, 65, Contact, $205,805
32. Scott Dixon, Honda, 52, Contact, $446,629
33. Jay Howard, Honda, 45, Contact, $200,305

Race Statistics:
Winners average speed: 155.395 mph
Time of Race: 3:13:03.3584
Margin of victory: 0.2011 of a second
Cautions: 11 for 50 laps
Lead changes: 35 among 15 drivers

(GPUpdate.net)
Sebastian Vettel (No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari) insists Ferrari's strategy to run him longer than teammate Kimi Räikkönen (No. 7 Scuderia Ferrari) was not planned (at least not by him), as he jumped his rival through the pit-stop phase at the Monaco Grand Prix and went on to win the race. It was the first win for Ferrari in Monaco since 2001. Räikkönen, who started from the pole, finished second, but he clearly wasn't happy with the Scuderia's decision. It seemed like Bush League Bullshit to us, too, a crafty way of orchestrating team orders. Lewis Hamilton giddily threw gasoline on the fire by saying that, "It's clear to me that Ferrari have chosen their number one driver, so they are pushing everything to make sure that Sebastian will maximize all of his weekends." Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team) recovered from the 13th starting position to finish seventh , after dropping out in Q2 in qualifying. "With the leading car, it is very hard for him to get jumped by the second car," Hamilton continued, "unless the team decide to favor the other car, so that is very clear." Daniel Ricciardo (No. 3 Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer RB13) finished third.

(Getty images/NASCAR)
Austin Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet) stretched his fuel to the absolute limit to win Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of Dillon's career and it returned the "No. 3" Chevrolet owned by Dillon’s grandfather, Richard Childress, to Victory Lane for the first time since the late Dale Earnhardt won his last race on Oct. 15, 2000, at Talladega. “I was just trying to be patient with the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson),” Dillon said. “I could see him saving. I thought I’d saved enough early, where I could attack at the end, but I tried to wait as long as possible. And when he ran out, I figured I’d go back in and save where I was lifting, and it worked out. I ran out at the line, and it gurgled all around just to do one little spin and push it back to Victory Lane.” Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing M&Ms Red, White & Blue Toyota) was second and Martin Truex Jr. (No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota) finished third. Editor-In-Chief's Note: I have purposely refrained from writing about NASCAR of late because I really don't see the point. Why? It's the same as it ever was and it isn't getting any better. The ugly reality for the brainiacs in Daytona Beach is that NASCAR is in such deep trouble it is shocking, and they apparently don't have a clue as to what to do. The infusion of the Monster Energy "attitude" may be bringing a positive change at the individual race events, at least to a degree, but it doesn't translate to TV. At all. That the Coca-Cola 600 was at the NASCAR industry's "home" track, at least in terms of the people working in the industry - and it was a dismally boring show - should have set-off alarms within NASCAR, but the organization seems impervious to bad news. NASCAR should have announced after the rain delay that they were going to cut the race distance by 100 miles, but no, the organization is just too arrogant to realize that it is squandering every last reason to watch. (The reason for being for the 600-miler at Charlotte has grown obsolete, but NASCAR is incapable of realizing that too.) And the 2018 schedule? So the big radical idea is that they're going to run on a "new" road course in Charlotte in the fall as part of the insipid "Chase?" NASCAR steadfastly refuses to add another proper, natural-terrain road course - like Road America - because if either ISC or Speedway Motorsports can't "control" the venue, NASCAR isn't the least bit interested. So instead we get a manufactured road course "roval" that's part of the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval. Rumors suggest (and I hope it's true) that IMS might insist that NASCAR run on its road course next time, because attendance at the last few Brickyard 400s has been pitiful and beyond embarrassing. I don't like the IMS road course all that much, but I'm actually encouraged that NASCAR may have little say in the matter. The bottom line is that NASCAR is in serious danger of falling into irrelevance. Too many races, too many repeat visits to the same tracks, too little technology and not enough road races on the schedule. The list of impediments to true progress never changes. If NASCAR doesn't move to cut its schedule dramatically and make other radical - and desperately needed - changes, I firmly believe it will go back to being a regional racing series by 2022. -PMD

(Pirelli World Challenge)
Dane Cameron and Spencer Pumpelly (No. 4 Magnus Racing Audi RS 8 LMS) took advantage of a strategy call to leave their car out a lap longer before making a driver change to take the lead and then the victory in the 60-minute SprintX Round 6 competition at the Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of Lime Rock Park. Jordan Taylor and Michael Cooper (No. 8 Cadillac Racing ATS V.R) finished second in the 62-lap event. With the win by Audi, it is the fifth different manufacturer to win in five SprintX rounds held so far in 2017. Alvaro Parente and Ben Barnicoat (No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3) finished third.

(FIA World Rallycross)
Norway’s Petter Solberg (No. 11 PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Volkswagen GTI Polo RX) took an emphatic win at Lydden Hill in Kent last weekend – round five of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy. Solberg’s teammate Johan Kristoffersson (No. 3 PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Volkswagen GTI Polo RX) made it a one-two for Volkswagen Sweden, while Andreas Bakkerud (No. 13 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Focus RS RX) finished third. Kristoffersson’s runner-up position catapulted the Swede to the top of the drivers’ standings – four points ahead of Mattias Ekstrom who finished fourth in his No. 1 Audi S1 EKS RX Quattro.

(INDYCAR)
INDYCAR has released the "NEXT" concept images (street courses, road courses and short ovals, above and below) of the car that will be used by all Verizon IndyCar Series competitors in 2018. "The newest images give more definition to the sleek and bold look of the universal aerodynamic bodywork kit that will fit to the current Dallara IR-12 chassis in 2018," says INDYCAR. The supplier of the universal kit has yet to be finalized, but it has been reverse-designed to start with a look of past Indy car favorites while also incorporating the latest technological and safety advancements. INDYCAR will begin testing the car by mid-summer. Verizon IndyCar Series teams will still choose between Chevrolet and Honda engines for competition in 2018. As with the current aero kits provided by Chevrolet and Honda through the end of this season, the universal car will come in two configurations: one for superspeedway ovals and the other for street courses, road courses and short ovals. Editor-In-Chief's Note: INDYCAR is in desperate need of a third manufacturer. Where is it? And here's a suggestion, lose the term "universal" and in a hurry. It suggests not special, and that's the last thing INDYCAR needs. -PMD

 

(INDYCAR images)
This is the new INDYCAR bodywork (above and below) in superspeedway configuration.