JUNE 28, 2017

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing NTT Data Honda) won the KOHLER Grand Prix Verizon IndyCar Series race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Sunday. It was Dixon's first win at "America's National Park of Speed" and the 41st of his illustrious Indy car career. It moved the four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion within one victory of tying Michael Andretti for third on the all-time list. It's also the 13th straight season Dixon has won at least one race, extending his Indy car record. Dixon started fifth behind the four-car Team Penske juggernaut and made what wound up to be the decisive pass of the day on Lap 31 by passing Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske DeVilbiss Chevrolet) on a restart and into the lead heading into Turn 1 on the 4.014-mile, 14-turn circuit. Dixon crossed the finish line 0.5779 of a second ahead of Newgarden. "We raced as hard as we could," Dixon said. "We had a little bit of luck go our way, we had good strategy, the pit stops were fantastic. These are the days you have to capitalize on." "Josef gave me the room. He obviously had a moment which made it pretty close and pretty tight with the way his car slid, but we both got through there. With other people, you probably wouldn't have pulled that off. It was nice to race clean with Josef today. This is huge for Honda at a track that doesn't suit our configuration, but the power and the (fuel) mileage really performed today. I'm just happy to be in the winner's circle for the first time this year. At Road America, that's mega." Dixon's first win of 2017 allowed him to stretch his championship lead to 34 points over last year's titlist, Simon Pagenaud. It also makes Dixon the eighth different driver to win in 10 races this season. Ganassi Racing's chief strategist Mike Hull also celebrated his 25th anniversary with the team, making the win even more special. Congratulations to Scott, Mike and the entire Ganassi Racing organization.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske DeVilbiss Chevrolet) streaks out of Turn 12 during the final warmup for the KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America. He finished 0.5779 of a second behind Scott Dixon in the race.

(Photo by Matt Fraver/INDYCAR)
Team Penske drivers finished second through fifth in the 55-lap race at Road America. Trailing Newgarden across the finish line were pole-sitter Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske REV Group Chevrolet) in third place, Simon Pagenaud (No. 1 Team Penske Menards Chevrolet) in fourth and Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) in fifth. Castroneves reached a level only a select few have achieved in Indy car history by taking the Verizon P1 Award in qualifying for the KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America. Castroneves collected the landmark 50th pole position of his Indy car career by running a lap of 1 minute, 41.3007 seconds (142.649 mph) in the Firestone Fast Six, the last of three rounds of knockout qualifying on the 4.014-mile, 14-turn permanent road course. Castroneves broke a tie for third with Bobby Unser, leaving him behind only Mario Andretti (67) and A.J. Foyt (53) on the all-time Indy car career poles list.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Editor-In-Chief's Note: IndyCar went from the ridiculous display at the Texas Motor Speedway oval two weeks ago to the sublime venue that is Road America last weekend. The historic 4.048-mile natural terrain road course carved out of the beautiful Kettle Moraine region of Wisconsin lived up to its reputation, providing competitors and spectators alike with the finest road racing experience available in North America. Besides the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500 - which remains the singular focus for the IndyCar community - Road America is the spiritual home of Indy car racing and the second most prestigious event on the IndyCar calendar, and it's easy to see why. A pivotal chapter in Indy car racing on road courses began at Road America during the Formula 5000 years, which, for those who witnessed that spectacular competition, is riveted in our memories. And it continued through the heyday of CART. That the track remains unchanged from its original layout that Clif Tufte laid out on foot over six decades ago (see last week's "Fumes" -WG) makes Road America all that more special. To this day it easily occupies everyone's list for one of the top ten road racing circuits in the world (just ask Mario). The town of Elkhart Lake's place in American road racing history is well documented, and the fact that it has remained largely unchanged as well makes going to Road America and Elkhart Lake a racing pilgrimage that everyone needs to experience. In spite of the myriad problems that consume IndyCar, especially after the carnage and chaos on display at Texas, it was good to see the re-set button get pushed for the sport at "America's National Park of Speed." And for one brief, shining moment, everything was good. (A special thanks goes out to Chris Owens for shooting our AE billboard in Turn 5.) -PMD

(The Telegraph)
Daniel Ricciardo (No. 3 Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer RB13) won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku Sunday, a chaotic race that at one point saw championship rivals Sebastian Vettel (No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari) and Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team) making contact with each other after Vettel accused Hamilton of brake-checking him during a safety car period. Vettel retaliated by driving into the side of Hamilton's car. Oh, the horror! As to be expected, much hand-wringing ensued after the race, which we won't bother to go into, because it was far too tedious. Valterri Botas (No. 77 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team) finished second and 18-year-old Canadian Lance Stroll (No. 18 Williams Martini Racing Mercedes) finished a sensational - and popular - third, just getting pipped at the line by Bottas. Even though Vettel was assessed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for his actions he still managed to finish fourth, while Hamilton finished fifth. Despite all of that, Vettel managed to extend his lead over Hamilton in the F1 Driver's Championship to fourteen points.

(AFP/BBC)
Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi (No. 46 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) won the Dutch TT MotoGP at Assen on Sunday. Danilo Patrucci (No. 9 OCTO Pramac Racing Ducati) was second and Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda) finished third. The 38-year-old Rossi's 115th grand prix win - and his 89th in the top class - put him in contention for a first world title since 2009. It was the Italian's first win since May 2016. Rossi passed Johann Zarco (No. 5 Monster Yamaha Tech 3) to take the lead with fifteen laps left and survived unscathed when the Frenchman clipped his rear wheel with an immediate attempt to regain the lead. "This place is always special. The track is fantastic. I'm so happy for me and my team," said Rossi. Andrea Dovizioso (No. 4 Ducati Team), winner of the previous two races, was fifth to open up a four-point overall lead in the championship. Rossi's 10th win at Assen - eight of which have been in MotoGP - lifted him to third in the standings, only seven points behind Dovizioso.

(Getty Images/NASCAR)
Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Mobil 1 Ford) won Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 on the Sonoma Raceway road course. It was his first win of the season (and first driving a Ford) and the 36th of his career in NASCAR's top series. Clint Bowyer (No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Cars 3 Ford) was runner-up for the second time this season. Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Freightliner Elite Support Ford) ran third, making it a 1-2-3 sweep for Ford.

(Pirelli World Challenge images)
Adderly Fong of Hong Kong (No. 88 Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) captured his first Pirelli World Challenge GT Sprint race Saturday at Road America as he fought off a late challenge from veteran Patrick Long in the 50-minute Round 4 Sprint race. Fong edged Californian Long (No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R) by .0685 seconds in the 24-lap race. Fong and fellow front row starter Johnny O’Connell (No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R.) made contact in turn five on the first lap and the Cadillac driver spun his machine but returned to competition. Meanwhile, Fong opened his margin to two seconds over Long in the middle of the race and held off the factory Porsche driver’s late charge to put Bentley back in the PWC victory lane. The last Bentley win in PWC was in 2015 at Road America with Chris Dyson driving. Current GT overall point leader Michael Cooper (No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R.) finished third after an impressive drive from seventh on the first lap. In Sunday's GT Sprint race (Round 5), Patrick Long made a decisive move for the lead in Turn 1 and held off Saturday GT race winner Adderly Fong to score his second 2017 Pirelli World Challenge victory Sunday at "America's National Park of Speed." Long, the 2011 PWC GT champion, started second next to Fong on the front row of the 24-car GT field and drove his Porsche sports car deep into Turn 1 of the famous 4.048-mile road circuit. Fong pressured Long throughout the weekend's second GT Sprint race but had to settle for runner-up, just 0.239 seconds behind the winner. It was the tenth Pirelli World Challenge win of Long's career and he now has a 17-point advantage in the GT Sprint point standings over last year’s GT champion Alvaro Parente (No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S), 117-100. Up next for the PWC tour is the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 28-30 in Lexington, Ohio. The 50-minute PWC sprint race at Road America on Sunday morning was shortened to 13 laps due to an 18-minute red flag stoppage on lap four when Jon Fogarty (No. 99 GAINSCO/Stallings Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R), Ryan Eversley (No. 43 RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3) and Peter Kox (No. 93 RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3) were involved in a nasty high-speed crash heading into Turn 5, which took Fogarty and Kox out of the race. Johnny O’Connell (No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R.) placed third on Sunday, 1.895 second behind Long at the checkered flag.