AUGUST 25, 2021

(Photo courtesy of Racer magazine)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: The passing of Robin Miller was a terrible blow to his friends in the racing world. It was very sad news to me personally as well. I got to know Robin over the last decade in a series of email communications, plus, I spent a memorable couple of hours with him at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway one afternoon, where he held court and entertained everyone around him. It was a day I will never forget. That afternoon came about because Robin intently followed my "Fumes" columns, and he had written me several times over the years complimenting me on my writing - especially about NASCAR - and he forwarded those columns around to his network of friends. Believe me, that was high praise indeed from someone I consider to be the best that ever was when it came to covering Indy car racing. There was no one else even close, in fact. Robin knew everyone and everything about Indy car racing as he had immersed himself in the sport he loved with a passion that was simply unrivaled. He was also one of the all-time characters in the sport, which are becoming harder and harder to find in this day and age. In fact, he may have been the last one, which makes the news of his passing even worse. I didn't know Robin like his close friends, but I had the utmost respect for him and appreciated everything he did while covering the sport that he loved. There will never be another Robin Miller. The definitive remembrance of Robin Miller came from his colleague and friend who knew him best, Marshall Pruett, from Racer magazine. You can read it here. -PMD

(Indianapolis Motor Speedway)
Robin Miller surrounded by some famous friends at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway just two weeks before he died.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske Sonsio Chevrolet) earned his second victory of the season by winning the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway in a race that shuffled the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship deck. Newgarden finished 0.5397 of a second ahead of Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet). O’Ward closed to within a half-second in the closing five laps but ran out of time to challenge Newgarden for victory. O’Ward was also a big winner of the night by taking the championship lead by 10 points over Alex Palou (No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing The American Legion Honda), who placed 20th after being eliminated in a three-car accident early in the race. Two-time series champion Newgarden leaped from fourth to third – 22 points behind O’Ward – with his third career victory on this 1.25-mile oval and his 20th overall career win. He averaged 135.245 mph, leading 138 of 260 laps in the final oval race of the season. “I couldn’t ask for much more,” Newgarden said. “Everyone did a great job. I’m thrilled. We’ve got to keep going. We know this is going to be a climb, but this goes a long way tonight. “Any win is important for the year. Wish we had a couple more to this point and were in a different position, but we’ve always got to fight with where we’re at and what we’ve got in our hands.” O’Ward used smart aggression all night to avoid incidents that triggered six caution periods, including five in the first 65 laps. He scored his eighth top-five finish in 13 races this year. “It was a very solid points day for us,” O’Ward said. “I think we maximized what we could have gotten out of our car and our race.” NTT P1 Award winner Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon 5G Chevrolet) finished third, and Scott McLaughlin gave Team Penske three of the top four finishing positions by placing fourth in the No. 3 Team Penske DEX Imaging Chevrolet. There are three races remaining in the season, all on road and street courses on consecutive weekends in September on the West Coast. The next event is the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Sept. 12, at Portland International Raceway in Oregon. Watch race highlights here. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media.)

(Laurent Cartalade/ACO)
Toyota claimed its fourth consecutive victory at the 89th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans over the weekend. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria López (No. 7 Toyota GR010-Hybrid) finished ahead of Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley (No. 8 Toyota GR010-Hybrid) for a dominant Toyota 1-2. The Toyota GR010 Hybrid thus enters the history books on its maiden appearance at Le Mans as the first Hypercar to win the race. André Negrão, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere (No. 48 Alpine ELF Racing Matmut A480-Gibson) finished third overall.
(Frederic Gaudin/ACO)
The final lap saw disaster in the LMP2 class, as the No. 41 Team WRT ORECA 07-Gibson driven by Yifei Ye slowed to a halt past the Dunlop Chicane while in the lead. It cost Ye, Robert Kubica and Louis Deletraz the win. The class win was handed to Robin Frijns, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi in the No. 31 WRT ORECA. The No. 28 Jota ORECA 07-Gibson driven by Sean Gelael, Stoffel Vandoorne and Tom Blomqvist finished second, while Julien Canal, James Allen and Will Stevens (No. 65 Panis Racing ORECA) rounded out the podium.
(Alexis Goure/ACO)
The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE driven by James Calado, Come Ledogar and Allesandro Pier Guidi won the GTE Pro class, while Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg (No. 63 Corvette Racing C8.R) finished second, just 41.5 sec. back. Kevin Estre, Neel Jani and Michael Cristensen (No. 92 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR) finished third in class.
(Jean-Philippe Boyer/ACO)
François Perrodo, Nicklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera (No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo) took GT Am class honors, giving AF Corse the rare double victory in the GT classes. Ben Keating, Felipe Fraga and Dylan Pereira (No. 33 TF Sport Aston Martin AMR Vanatge GTE) finished second, and Matteo Cressoni, Rino Mastronardi and Callum Illot (No. 80 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GTE Evo) finished third. All three cars finished on the same lap. 

(Logan Reily/Getty Images)
Ryan Blaney (No. 12 Team Penske Ford) won Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Raceway, holding off William Byron (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) and Kyle Larson (No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) in the final run to the finish. Blaney led just eight of the 200 laps, clinching his second win of the season. His triumph in the FireKeepers Casino 400 was his first win at the 2-mile track and marked the sixth of his Cup Series career. Byron finished just .077 seconds back at the checkered flag. Pole-starter Larson led a total of 70 laps. The NASCAR Cup Series’ next race is Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM), the regular-season finale. The playoff field of 16 title-eligible drivers will be set after the 400-mile event. Watch a video here. 

(Cadillac)
Cadillac has announced that it will compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) LMDh category in 2023 with a fourth-generation Cadillac V-Series prototype. Cadillac and its partners will bring their considerable experience from American endurance racing to compete for overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The new Cadillac LMDh-V.R prototype is designed to conform to IMSA and ACO Le Mans Daytona hybrid specifications for the new top tier of endurance racing that replaces the current DPi class. As with the other competitors in the series, it will be based on a standardized chassis and incorporate the spec hybrid powertrain system, but will feature a unique combustion engine and distinctive bodywork. As with the Cadillac DPi-V.R, the Cadillac LMDh-V.R will be a partnership between GM Design and the constructor Dallara. A new Cadillac engine package will work in conjunction with the LMDh common hybrid system. Cadillac’s program will partner with Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express Racing. The Cadillac LMDh will debut on the track for the first time at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in January 2023. Recent Cadillac Racing achievements with the Cadillac DPi-V.R include:

• Winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona four times in a row: 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017
• Winning the Michelin North American Endurance Cup four times: 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017
• Winning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship twice: 2018 and 2017

Cadillac’s V-Series portfolio includes the CT4-V and CT5-V, as well as the track-capable CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing. The 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing and CT4-V Blackwing are on sale now with limited availability. The CT4-V Blackwing starts at $59,990 and the CT5-V Blackwing starts at $84,990. Customers can build their own V-Series Blackwing online at Cadillac.com.