Race Weekend Central

5 Points to Ponder: Chasing Glory

2017 Indycar Pocono Will Power Chris Jones

(Photo: Chris Jones)

ONE: Chasing the Playoffs Just three races remain before we begin the 2018 iteration of the playoffs and it’s an excellent trio of tracks to close us out before the serious business of the post-season begins. First up, we head to NASCAR’s coliseum, or Thunder Valley if you prefer, and Bristol Motor Speedway. Then, after …

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Watkins Glen President Plans to Speak with INDYCAR About 2021 Reunion

IndyCar

Alexander Rossi leading the field at Watkins Glen (Photo: Chris Owens / INDYCAR Media)

Watkins Glen International was left off the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule this year because the two parties couldn’t agree on a date for a race. INDYCAR, which originally signed a three-year deal to run at the Glen in 2016, will race in Portland, Oregon on Labor Day weekend instead while the upstate New York track …

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Pace Laps: Kyle Busch Sweeps NASCAR Weekend in Pocono

#18: Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry M&m's Caramel Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series: Kyle Busch Goes Back-to-Back at Pocono Before the July race in 2017, Kyle Busch had never won at the Pocono Raceway. On Sunday, Busch tallied his second victory at the Tricky Triangle and second straight in July. Busch rocketed away from teammates Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones on the final …

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Alexander Rossi Uses Two-Stop Strategy to Win at Mid-Ohio.

2016 Ics Alex Rossi Texas Photo Shawn Gritzmacher/indycar

(Photo: Shawn Gritzmacher/IndyCar)

The Verizon IndyCar series spent the weekend on the twisted turns of Mid-Ohio. Points leader Scott Dixon, with his five wins at the track, looked to be the favorite; however, a spin by James Hinchcliffe in qualifying closed the track, stopping Dixon from putting in a time and missed out on the Fast Six, he …

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5 Points to Ponder: When 6th Place Is a Good Result 

Ryan Newman in the garage at Chicagoland Speedway, September 2017. Photo: NKP

(Photo: Barry Cantrell/NKP)

ONE: Sixth place 2018 has been an awful debut for the Chevrolet Camaro in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. In a sign of just how much it’s struggled, Ryan Newman just picked up his best result of his season’s 20 races to date with a sixth-place finish at New Hampshire. Over his 18-win, 19-year, …

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Laguna Seca to Replace Sonoma for 2019 IndyCar Finale

07 17 Lagunaseca Announcement Withlogo

(Photo: INDYCAR.com)

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and INDYCAR have agreed to a three-year deal, which will allow the Northern California road course to host the Verizon IndyCar Series’ season finale through 2021. The 2019 race weekend will occur Sept. 20-22 and replaces Sonoma Raceway, which has raced Indy cars every season since 2005. In recent years, Laguna …

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Scott Dixon In Championship Form with Toronto Victory

Scott Dixon Indycar 2018 Toronto Joe Skibinski

(Photo: Joe Skibinski)

Scott Dixon avoided trouble and wound up victorious in Sunday’s (July 15) Honda Indy Toronto Grand Prix at Toronto street course. The Chip Ganassi Racing veteran earned his 44th career Verizon IndyCar Series win, a trophy which also extended his lead in the 2018 championship standings. “The car was superb,” Dixon said. “We just needed some …

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From the Paddock: 10 Tracks We Wish IndyCar Would Visit

Homestead Miami Speedway

(Photo: Ron McQueeney/INDYCAR Media)

With the Verizon IndyCar Series off this weekend and the talk of the 2019 schedule brewing, our IndyCar writers John Haverlin and Christian Koelle pondered five tracks apiece that they would like to see either return to the schedule or make its debut. Whether it be a permanent track or a street course, our list of …

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James Hinchcliffe Wins Iowa Corn 300 with Embarrassing Ending

Hinchcliffe Iowa Win

(Photo: Joe Skibinski / IndyCar Media)

After failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in May, James Hinchcliffe’s season seemed to be a lost cause. Hinchcliffe lost tons of ground in the championship, and the morale of his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team was obviously pretty low. But the No. 5 Honda driver overtook Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who led 229 of …

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Pace Laps: Destruction & Heartbreak in Daytona

#2: Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Stars, Stripes, And Lites #22: Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Shell Pennzoil Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series: Team Penske’s Poor Performance Daytona’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 didn’t move the needle on restrictor plate racing. But for those who love it? The race got your heart pumping for the better part of four hours. There was a first-time winner, Erik Jones, who made a thrilling green-white-checkered pass on …

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Will Power Inches Within One Pole of Tying AJ Foyt with Iowa Corn 300 P1

Will Power Pole Award Iowa 2018

(Photo: Chris Jones)

Will Power will lead the field to green in Sunday’s (July 8) Iowa Corn 300 for the second straight year in INDYCAR. Power paced the fastest lap of the final round and just barely defeated teammate Josef Newgarden to earn his 52nd career pole position. “It wasn’t easy, but the Verizon Chevy was great,” said …

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Happiness Is: Axioms, Divos & Bowie

Chase Elliott 2018 Mencs Cup Series, Sonoma

Chase Elliott (Photo: Danny Peters)

We just had an interesting weekend of racing with Formula 1 returning to France, IndyCar racing at Road America in Wisconsin and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series running rampant near Californiaʻs wine country. That put all three series on road-course specific tracks, and all three seemed to bring about a similar sense of racing. …

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