(Photo by John Cote/INDYCAR)
Alexander Rossi (No. 27 Andretti Autosport NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda Turbo V6) delivered a dominant performance at Road America - "America's National Park of Speed" - in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Sunday, winning the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR. Rossi led every lap but one on the demanding 14-turn, 4.048-mile high-speed permanent road course, winning by 28.4391 seconds over Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske VERIZON Chevrolet Turbo V6). It was Rossi's second victory in the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season and the seventh of his four-year career. More importantly, it closed the 27-year-old Californian within seven points of the championship lead with seven races remaining. "It was probably one of the best race cars I've ever had," Rossi said. "We have been quick through the whole season, but we just haven't really had it come our way as many times as we want, for one reason or another. ... To come out and be able to do what we did today is a huge testament to the whole organization." Starting second, Rossi passed pole sitter Colton Herta (No. 88 GESS CAPSTONE Honda Turbo V6) on the first of 55 laps around the 14-turn, 4.014-mile circuit and was never challenged. Rossi is on an impressive run of five finishes of first or second place in the past seven races, beginning with a victory at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April. He's as close to the championship lead now as he has been all season. Team Penske's Josef Newgarden, who finished third Sunday, has 402 points to Rossi's 395.
Alexander Rossi (No. 27 Andretti Autosport NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda Turbo V6) delivered a dominant performance at Road America - "America's National Park of Speed" - in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Sunday, winning the REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR. Rossi led every lap but one on the demanding 14-turn, 4.048-mile high-speed permanent road course, winning by 28.4391 seconds over Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske VERIZON Chevrolet Turbo V6). It was Rossi's second victory in the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season and the seventh of his four-year career. More importantly, it closed the 27-year-old Californian within seven points of the championship lead with seven races remaining. "It was probably one of the best race cars I've ever had," Rossi said. "We have been quick through the whole season, but we just haven't really had it come our way as many times as we want, for one reason or another. ... To come out and be able to do what we did today is a huge testament to the whole organization." Starting second, Rossi passed pole sitter Colton Herta (No. 88 GESS CAPSTONE Honda Turbo V6) on the first of 55 laps around the 14-turn, 4.014-mile circuit and was never challenged. Rossi is on an impressive run of five finishes of first or second place in the past seven races, beginning with a victory at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April. He's as close to the championship lead now as he has been all season. Team Penske's Josef Newgarden, who finished third Sunday, has 402 points to Rossi's 395.
(Photo by Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR)
Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske VERIZON Chevrolet Turbo V6) finished second on Sunday. "Very good result for us. That's all we had. Alex (Rossi) was on another planet there. The two guys we needed to have a bad day were Alex and Josef (Newgarden) and they keep having good days, so certainly makes it tough to catch up in the championship. We'll just keep chipping away with the Verizon Chevy to see what we can do."
Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske VERIZON Chevrolet Turbo V6) finished second on Sunday. "Very good result for us. That's all we had. Alex (Rossi) was on another planet there. The two guys we needed to have a bad day were Alex and Josef (Newgarden) and they keep having good days, so certainly makes it tough to catch up in the championship. We'll just keep chipping away with the Verizon Chevy to see what we can do."
(Photo by Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR)
Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske REV Group Chevrolet Turbo V6) started fourth and advanced to third on the first round of stops and held that position for the rest of the race. The third-place finish was Newgarden's sixth podium result of the season - including a series-leading three victories - but the Tennessean admitted he and Power couldn't match Rossi on this day. "We obviously didn't have enough today," Newgarden said. "We were a little shy; probably a lot shy, actually. Alex and Andretti (Autosport), they were too good for us today. We've got to come back to the drawing board, try to figure out what we're missing. I have confidence we'll do that." Next up for the NTT IndyCar Series race is the Honda Indy Toronto on the streets of Exhibition Place. The race airs live at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, July 14 on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.
Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske REV Group Chevrolet Turbo V6) started fourth and advanced to third on the first round of stops and held that position for the rest of the race. The third-place finish was Newgarden's sixth podium result of the season - including a series-leading three victories - but the Tennessean admitted he and Power couldn't match Rossi on this day. "We obviously didn't have enough today," Newgarden said. "We were a little shy; probably a lot shy, actually. Alex and Andretti (Autosport), they were too good for us today. We've got to come back to the drawing board, try to figure out what we're missing. I have confidence we'll do that." Next up for the NTT IndyCar Series race is the Honda Indy Toronto on the streets of Exhibition Place. The race airs live at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, July 14 on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.
(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
Martin Truex Jr. (No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry) held off Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry) to win Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Truex led three times for 59 of the 90 laps for the win, including the final 24. “I just dug down deep and tried to be smooth and hit my marks,” said Truex, who won for the fourth time this season — all in the last eight races — the third time at Sonoma (including two straight, and with three different car owners) and the 23rd time in his career. “Luckily I began with a big enough gap where I could get away and not feel too much pressure. What a season we’ve turned this into. This is great, man, unbelievable. Hopefully, we can keep it going.” Joe Gibbs Racing has won 10 of the first 16 races this season. With four laps left, Busch had trimmed Truex’s advantage to 1.542 seconds, but Truex ultimately expanded the edge to 1.861 seconds at the finish. Ryan Blaney (No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang) finished third.
(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas) won the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit, a race that has everyone across the globe up in arms because it was like watching paint dry. Valtteri Bottas (No. 77 Mercedes-AMG Petronas) was second and Charles Leclerc (No. 16 Scuderia Ferrai) was third. After the race, Lewis Hamilton was not complimentary to the F1 overlords, saying, according to The Guardian: “From how it’s set up, just from watching when I was there, it’s not good. Really not good,” he said. “They won’t like me saying that.” His central complaint is one that has dogged the sport for some time: that teams should not be involved in shaping F1’s future. “Ultimately the FIA are the governing body and they need to make all the decisions,” he said. “The teams shouldn’t be involved in that because the teams all want to do something for themselves. That’s natural, they’re competitive. Same in football, if all the teams sat in a room and said the sport should be like this, they would push and pull for their own benefit. But if you get a central group of people telling us, like the FIA for example, that their sole job is to make the sport great again, hiring individuals or whatever, then they should have the power. They should make the decisions.” Check out this week's "Fumes."
Martin Truex Jr. (No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry) held off Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry) to win Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Truex led three times for 59 of the 90 laps for the win, including the final 24. “I just dug down deep and tried to be smooth and hit my marks,” said Truex, who won for the fourth time this season — all in the last eight races — the third time at Sonoma (including two straight, and with three different car owners) and the 23rd time in his career. “Luckily I began with a big enough gap where I could get away and not feel too much pressure. What a season we’ve turned this into. This is great, man, unbelievable. Hopefully, we can keep it going.” Joe Gibbs Racing has won 10 of the first 16 races this season. With four laps left, Busch had trimmed Truex’s advantage to 1.542 seconds, but Truex ultimately expanded the edge to 1.861 seconds at the finish. Ryan Blaney (No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang) finished third.
(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas) won the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit, a race that has everyone across the globe up in arms because it was like watching paint dry. Valtteri Bottas (No. 77 Mercedes-AMG Petronas) was second and Charles Leclerc (No. 16 Scuderia Ferrai) was third. After the race, Lewis Hamilton was not complimentary to the F1 overlords, saying, according to The Guardian: “From how it’s set up, just from watching when I was there, it’s not good. Really not good,” he said. “They won’t like me saying that.” His central complaint is one that has dogged the sport for some time: that teams should not be involved in shaping F1’s future. “Ultimately the FIA are the governing body and they need to make all the decisions,” he said. “The teams shouldn’t be involved in that because the teams all want to do something for themselves. That’s natural, they’re competitive. Same in football, if all the teams sat in a room and said the sport should be like this, they would push and pull for their own benefit. But if you get a central group of people telling us, like the FIA for example, that their sole job is to make the sport great again, hiring individuals or whatever, then they should have the power. They should make the decisions.” Check out this week's "Fumes."