Category: IndyCar

IndyCar will take to World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois this weekend, as the thirteenth round of the 2021 championship gets underway.

The action will run from Friday to Saturday. Instead of the race taking place on Sunday, it will take place on Saturday just as it did for last weekend’s Big Machine Grand Prix due to NASCAR being staged the day after.

The last of an incredible triple-header culminates with the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, with plenty of drama to look forward to.

PALOU SET FOR ENGINE PENALTY

Alex Palou’s engine failure at Indianapolis is a serious setback for the Spanish driver’s aspirations for the IndyCar title. He still leads the championship but would have preferred to have left Indianapolis with 50 points over Patricio O’Ward rather than the current tally of 21 with Scott Dixon a further 13 behind. That may seem like a big buffer, but with a race win worth 50 points, a single retirement could eliminate the Spaniard’s championship position.

Further to Palou’s misery will be the six-grid place penalty he is set to take for his second extra engine following the mechanical failure at Indianapolis. Incredibly, engines have been something of a recurring problem for Palou. He broke his first in a preseason test and was left with only three engines – the limit being four. He had to start with a new engine at Indy, which cost him six grid spots at Detroit and had to change the engine again for Nashville – yet another six places.

However, he can take some comfort in the fact that it has happened at a circuit where it is possibly the least difficult to overtake out of those that remain in the calendar – or is it?

In theory, it is easier to overtake on an oval than on road courses. But Gateway is almost an exception to the rule. It is a short, ‘egg’ shaped circuit that is barely two kilometres in length. Therefore, the straights are shorter than on average ovals meaning traffic may become a big problem.

O’WARD TO SEIZE OPPORTUNITY?

Patricio O’Ward wouldn’t have believed his luck when he saw championship rival Palou retire in the closing stages last weekend. He started on pole position and was in an incredibly advantageous position to capitalise in the points standings. Unfortunately, starting on the red ‘soft-wall’ tyres seemed to hamper his progress, slowly falling down the order and eventually *behind* Palou, who had started sixth.

The Mexican has the opportunity to further capitalise at Gateway – a circuit where he performed extremely well in 2020. He finished third and second at the double-header weekend and was only outscored on points by Scott Dixon (himself finishing first and fifth).

Moreover, O’Ward has performed extremely well at the other oval tracks this year where a fourth-place at the Indianapolis 500 was arguably eclipsed by a magnificent double-header weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway, finishing third before on his way to achieving his first career IndyCar victory.

Despite that, it has been Honda that has had the advantage over Chevrolet across both ovals this year so it is obviously not a clear cut as to who will come out on top this weekend.

ROMAIN GROSJEAN MAKES HIS OVAL DEBUT 

Dayle Coyne Racing with Rick Ware driver Romain Grosjean will make his IndyCar oval debut at Gateway, following on from a successful test at the same venue last month.

The French-Swiss driver has been a hit in the championship since leaving Formula 1 and embarking on a part-time IndyCar schedule, in which he is contesting the road and street circuits.

He scored a Top 10 on his debut at Barber while the highlight of his season came with a pole position and runner-up finishes on the Indianapolis road course in both May and last weekend’s running.

He showed encouraging signs during a test at Gateway earlier this year where he clocked in less than half a second off the fastest time that day.

His best time was 25.3625 seconds, only marginally slower than the fastest race lap set last year by Takuma Sato with a 25.3039s.

DRIVER CHANGES

This race kicks off a number of driver changes as is customary on oval circuits. Those that drop out include RC Enerson, Christian Lundgaard, and Helio Castroneves.

Additionally, Max Chilton will step aside leaving Conor Daly to take up his seat while Ed Carpenter moves into the vacant seat at Ed Carpenter Racing.

Pietro Fittipaldi has been substituted in place of Grosjean for the ovals circuits this year. However, he will return to the team again, this time in place of Cody Ware.

Lastly, Tony Kanaan returns to pilot the 48′ Chip Ganassi instead of Jimmie Johnson.

Will Power withstood late pressure to take victory at the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix, his first of the season. The win is his fifth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and extends his winning streak across 14 seasons, having taken his first in 2007.

Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta rounded out the podium, with Alexander Rossi fourth, and Patricio O’Ward fifth after late drama with Championship leader Alex Palou.

O’Ward started on pole position having edged out Power by an incredible margin of 0.06s. He led the field away strongly able to pull out a two-second advantage over the Australian, having started on sticker red ‘alternative’ tyres. He tried to use them to an early benefit, pulling a gap on the rest of the field knowing that he would be on slower rubber in the middle stint.

However, it was Will Power, who also started on sticker ‘reds’, who pitted before O’Ward. The undercut worked wonders as the Arrow McLaren SP driver emerged less than one second ahead of Power. Unfortunately, on cold tyres there was little O’Ward could do. He fought bravely but it was Power who triumphed, diving down the inside at the penultimate corner on Lap 18 to take the race lead.

The day went from bad to worse for O’Ward, now on primary ‘blacks’, was now vulnerable to those on fresh ‘reds’. Colton Herta and Romain Grosjean made light work of the Mexican who found himself in fourth by Lap 30.

Conversely, it was ‘easy-street’ for Power who was able to pull out an eight-second gap on the rest of the field. He would eventually pit on Lap 38 for his second stop and emerge comfortably in the lead.

Meanwhile, Championship leader Alex Palou had emerged from the pits behind both Alexander Rossi and Jack Harvey in seventh. After his first pit-stop, he would make light work of them find himself immediately behind points rival O’Ward.

Danish Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Christian Lundgaard did extremely well to qualify fourth on his IndyCar debut. However, it was a difficult day as he lost a position to Herta off the start and then lost out to those who had perfected the undercut on their first stop. He found himself down in tenth after the first cycle but would eventually slip further down the order.

Will Power had an eight-second advantage over Colton Herta on Lap 40. That was, he did until he encountered traffic in the form of James Hinchcliffe who was fighting to stay on the lead lap. What played out was an intriguing position where Herta’s teammate could help slow down the race leader, as there are no blue flags in IndyCar. An eight-second advantage fell to four within a few laps.

The final pit stops took place around Lap 60 with Power emerging ahead of Herta, now under immediate pressure from Romain Grosjean. This would prove to be Herta’s undoing as he proceeded to use up his remaining ‘Push-to-Pass’ to defend. Yet, the gap to Power continued to fall down to two seconds.

That was until Championship leader Alex Palou stopped on Lap 68 with a mechanical issue bringing out the first caution of the day. Luckily for Power, the safety car would bring Hinchcliffe out of his way and would have clean air with a significant ‘Push-to-Pass’ advantage over his rivals.

On the restart, Power got away cleanly while Grosjean courageously overtook Herta into Turn One for second place. The French-Swiss racer found himself fending off the American for the final laps having used up his ‘Push-to-Pass’ while attacking Herta.

Rinus VeeKay brought out the final caution following contact with Penske’s Scott McLaughlin which sent the Dutchman into a spin. On the restart, it was a good getaway again for Power who used up his remaining 70s of ‘Push-to Pass’ to cruise home to the chequered flag.

The victory is a huge relief for the Australian who came so agonizingly close to a win at Detroit before he was forced to retire following a late red flag where his ECU overheated.

It would be a second podium of the season for Grosjean who still continues to impress in his rookie IndyCar season while Jack Harvey, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato, Josef Newgarden, and Marcus Ericsson rounded out the Top 10.

Christian Lundgaard impressed on his debut with a late-recovery to finish 12th, pulling off a sensational overtake on Dixon into Turn One.

Palou had entered the race with a 42-point lead over Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon and by 48 points over O’Ward. Going off sequence with an early pit stop, Dixon finished 13th and at least salvaged some points from starting 26th.

Palou’s advantage at the top of the championship has now been slashed to 21 points over O’Ward who moves into second place in the standings. The Spaniard will likely take a penalty for the next race at Gateway due to his need to change his engine due to his retirement.

We didn’t have to wait long for IndyCar as we prepare for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

This 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course will play host to the eleventh round of the championship. Since its inception, the road course has always been seen as the ‘warm-up’ act on the lead-up to Indianapolis 500, traditionally on a Saturday two weeks prior. However, the 2021 calendar included a *second* Indy GP to replace the cancellations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The inaugural Nashville Music City Grand Prix gave us an IndyCar spectacular like no other. Nine cautions and two red flags were enough to make any keen viewer dumbfounded as the chequered flag dropped.

Ericsson and Chip Ganassi Resurgence?

Nevertheless, Marcus Ericsson left Nashville a two-time IndyCar race winner and added a fascinating twist to the title fight. Who would have thought that before the start of the season?

In fact,  he was unfortunate not to win at Mid-Ohio as he chased down Josef Newgarden to the line. Since his first win in Detroit Ericsson has been a revelation, justifying Chip Ganassi’s decision to sign him and perhaps unleashing a level of performance that has always been there.

Importantly, he has finished ahead of his six-time champion teammate Scott Dixon 4 out of the last 6 times of asking and in doing so has thrown himself into championship contention.

Alex Palou sits comfortably in the lead on 410 points with his next closest competitor Scott Dixon trailing by 42 points. Patricio O’Ward is a further 6 behind. However, Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson are only a couple of wins away from leapfrogging many of their aforementioned rivals, both on 335 and 331 respectively.

Three out of the top five in the championship are Chip Ganassi Racing, which underlines the impressive level of performance and consistency they have reached.  However, it remains to be seen how the team will be able to manage the driver battles as we draw closer to the business end of the season.

Christian Lundgaard Makes His Debut With Rahal Letterman

Rahal Letterman Lanigan announced on Monday that the team will enter FIA Formula 2 driver Christian Lundgaard into the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. The 20-year-old Danish driver recently tested with the team at Barber Motorsports Park and is a member of the Alpine Driver Academy, a program originally known as the Renault F1 Academy set up in 2002 to nurture and develop young drivers through their careers.

The news comes as RLL prepares to evaluate drivers in anticipation of expanding to a third entry.

McLaren Acquires Majority Stake in IndyCar Team

In a surprise announcement earlier this week, the McLaren Racing Group announced that it would be acquiring a majority stake in the Arrow McLaren SP team.

The partnership, which saw McLaren partner with the former Arrow Schmidt Peterson team has seen remarkable success in their short time together. They were able to build on their five podiums in only their first season to achieve two wins in 2021 while sitting third in the drivers’ championship.

It is believed that they will acquire a 75% majority stake in the team which would give them complete control over drivers and whether to expand to a third car entry, something they are widely expected to do.

As part of the agreement, the Arrow McLaren team will be headed by a new management structure which will be comprised of, team founder Sam Schmidt, co-owner Ric Peterson, McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown and Taylor Kiel, the president of Arrow McLaren.

Who To Watch Out For?

Colton Herta was unfortunate not to win at Nashville, having dominated the whole weekend and being within touching distance of victory.

Having found himself in fourth after the penultimate caution, he made light work of James Hinchcliffe and Scott Dixon before hunting down Marcus Ericsson. However, his race ended with five laps to go as he locked up and went straight into the wall at Turn 9.

A victory at Nashville would have propelled Herta into the championship fight and will be looking to bounce back in spectacular fashion. He is no stranger to success at the IMS, finishing twice in the Top Five at the 2020 Harvest Grand Prix.

Rinus VeeKay won last time out at the IMS after usurping pole-sitter Romain Grosjean in the closing stages. Could they be a factor again this weekend?

Marcus Ericsson crashed early, only to take his second career IndyCar victory in a chaotic Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, bringing himself into championship contention.

But how did he do it?

All weekend long Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta dominated the rest of the field, leading all practice sessions and claiming an incredible sixth pole position, the second of his season. He would lead the field convincingly from the start ahead of  Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon and Andretti teammate Alexander Rossi. Or at least, he would have led convincingly had there not been a run of safety car interruptions.

One of the culprits came in the form of eventual race winner Marcus Ericsson who was lucky to escape a collision with Sebastien Bourdais without serious damage.  The Swede made a dreadful misjudgment on the restart, collecting into the back of the Frenchman and launching himself into the air.

The TV cameras were able to pick up the underside of Ericsson’s car as he soured through the air so much was the scale of the accident. Luckily, he landed bottom down and continued to the pits (albeit with a broken front wing, which at one point was bending underneath the car and remaining in a *vertical* position)

Following repairs, he was forced to serve a stop-go penalty for his part in the Bourdais incident. However, importantly it was during this time his team made the interesting strategy call to put on the red sidewall tyres. He had already used the primary black sidewall tyres for his first stint, meaning he had fulfilled the need to use both compounds early on. The team still had one more set of red tyres for the rest of the race which offers more grip, with the risk of less life.  But when he would have to pit again, it would be early, preempting any late safety cars.

As a result, Ericsson was on an off-set strategy to the rest of the field and able to capitalise through the series on ensuing caution periods.

So much so, on Lap 31, Ericsson emerged in the lead while under caution as the rest of the leaders (including Colton Herta) dove into the pits. Heading back out just as the safety car led the field through Turns One and Two. In fact, it was millimeters that decided the lead of the race as both Ericsson, Hunter-Reay, and Herta crossed the ‘Blur Line’ at almost the exact same time.

Would you believe it? Marcus Ericsson had soured through the air, served a penalty, and had somehow come out in the lead of the Nashville Music City Grand Prix, a place where track position is key.

The Swede would lead until Lap 45 when it was time to stop again which cycled Herta back out to the front. However, the constant flow of safety cars never gave the American a moment to build a gap. On the seventh caution, Herta would eventually pit again, rejoining down in ninth which would eventually become fourth as the pit stop cycles sorted themselves out. With twenty laps to go, he would have to make it past James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Scott Dixon, and Marcus Ericsson for the win.

On the restart he set out to do just that, pulling off some audacious overtakes, the best one arguably on Scott Dixon into Turn Nine after getting a great run off the bridge. With 18 Laps remaining, it was just Ericsson left with neither having to stop again.

Josef Newgarden dominated from pole position to take both his and Penske’s first win of the 2021 IndyCar season at Mid Ohio to kickstart his championship campaign,

The American who came within reaching distance of wins at both Detroit and Road America was in incredible form and was able to hold off a late-charging Marcus Ericsson, who was able to close the gap to within a second with two laps to go.

The two-time champion made a great start on the alternative sticker red tyres holding off the pack behind: Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson, and Will Power.

However, the first caution of the day was soon to follow; Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was among those at the back of the field checked up. This led to James Hinchcliffe running into the back of the Andretti driver while Felix Rosenqvist was collected in the accident.

On the restart, Scott Dixon overtook Will Power for fourth at The Keyhole. Power took it back going into Turn Four, then lost it, again. He touched Dixon in Turn Five, spun, and got hit by Ed Jones, promptly bringing out the second caution of the day.

Josef Newgarden led the field to green again on Lap Nine and eventually pitted for the lead on Lap 31 for the primary black compound tyres. There was a bit of a shake-up in the order behind as Colton Herta had a fuel hose problem and dropped from second to seventh, his attempts to try and overcut the leader ending miserably. Newgarden led from Ericsson and Dixon with one more round of pitstops to go.

But after letting two opportunities escape this year, Newgarden was not about to let that happen again. He pitted for the final time on Lap 56 for another set of primary black tyres, and led to the finish line to take his second win at the famous circuit at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, 50 years and one day after Team Penske’s first IndyCar victory, scored by Mark Donohue at Pocono in 1971.

It was a trio of Chip Ganassi’s that filled the rest of the Top Four positions. Marcus Ericsson drove an incredibly calm and calculated race to finish as the highest placed driver of the team. After coming off a career-best third in qualifying, all the pressure was on the Swede to deliver.

A magnificent final stint saw the Swede close the gap to just 0.6s with two laps in what was an incredible crescendo to the race. Ericsson had more ‘Push-to-Pass’ than Newgarden and used it all to his advantage with only a few corners to go, but would come home to take his second podium of the year.

Alex Palou drove an incredibly impressive race utilising a magnificent overcut to jump both Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi to round out the podium positions, and importantly ahead of his closest championship competitor. The Spaniard leaves Mid Ohio with both the championship lead and his sixth podium of the season.

Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi rounded out the Top Five, with the American driver attempting the only alternative strategy out of anyone in the Top Nine starting on the alternative sticker reds. Dixon’s battle with Will Power was the most notable moment of his race

Graham Rahal was in his ever strong and consistent form, to take an impressive sixth place for his Rahal Letterman Lanigan team’s home race. He benefitted from the misfortune ahead of the likes of Will Power and Colton Herta, as well as an incredible (5.7s) pit stop.

Romain Grosjean finished in an impressive seventh, the ex-Formula 1 driver was able to manage a difficult start to the race, in which he tagged Felix Rosenqvist.

Grosjean was able to fight his way back up, despite a wide moment on the second restart into The Keyhole after being blocked by Sebastien Bourdais.

Pato O’Ward was passed by Herta and Grosjean late on and was forced to settle with eighth, having been chased to the finish line by Rahal Letterman Lanigan part-timer Santino Ferrucci. The Mexican made up twelve positions on race day, and still leaves this weekend second in the championship.

Ferrucci’s teammate Takuma Sato completed the Top 10 after Colton Herta’s late stop, a second ahead of Bourdais.

The IndyCar paddock now goes on a small hiatus before we are graced by the first-ever running of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville

IndyCar returns this weekend for the tenth round of the season at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course just outside of Lexington, Ohio. This is, of course, the Honda Indy 200 Grand Prix.

This iconic 203.22-mile race will host the 44th running of the Grand Prix which has seen iconic winners such as Emerson Fittipaldi,  Brian Redman, Al Unser Jr, and Helio Castroneves, to name but a few.

Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon has the most success with six wins to his name, the Kiwi winning in Lexington for the sixth time in 2019 when he held off former teammate Felix Rosenqvist.

That being said, Dixon’s current teammate Alex Palou, enters the weekend with a 28-point-lead over closest rival Patricio O’Ward. Defending champion Dixon, is a further 25 points behind Pato in third.

Furthermore, it is not Dixon who has the momentum going into this race, that privilege firmly sits with Alex Palou who has claimed two wins this season at both Alabama and Road America.

The battle between Palou and O’Ward has been the story of the season, with both drivers trading championship blows every other race. O’Ward also has two wins this season at both Texas, and Detroit and will be looking to deliver a good old-fashioned serving of revenge this weekend.

However, that may be easier said than done with both Chip Ganassi (13 wins) and Honda  (15 wins) with a significant history of success at this track. This year, Chevrolet has the edge over Honda in qualifying trim, so we expect Penske and Arrow McLaren to be a factor in the Fast Six Shootout, but do not be surprised if they begin to slip down the order on race day.

PENSKE STUCK IN NEUTRAL?

On Penske, if they did not have bad luck, they would not have any luck at all. In the past three consecutive occasions, both Will Power and Josef Newgarden have been denied wins on the final few laps of the race.

Power’s race win at Detroit was all but assured with three laps to go, that was until an overheated ECU promptly ended the Australian’s chances. An unfortunate strategy call and a late-gearbox issue caused the demise of Newgarden’s races at both Detroit, and Road America. The latter may well have been going into this race in contention for the championship lead in what will be a bitter blow to the two-time champion.

Their problems were highlighted during the Indianapolis 500 when Power, one of the greatest qualifiers in IndyCar history, failed to seal his spot in the 33-car field on Saturday’s first day of qualifications. He would later, secure his spot on ‘Bump Day’, but it was a close call for a team that should be comfortably competing at the front.

This situation may be given even further context with Penske failing to win either the championship or Indianapolis 500 in 2020. This may not seem like such a big thing given the competitiveness of the IndyCar Series. But when you’ve won over 20 titles and 18 Indy 500s like Team Penske has, and win neither in a season for the first time since 2013, it starts to feel like the walls are caving in.

You get the feeling Josef Newgarden’s 2021 breakthrough is yet to happen. But the question on everyone’s lips is, when?

HOME SWEET HOME FOR RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN 

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will return to what is considered their home track at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The team, based 60 miles from the circuit in Hilliard, Ohio has finished inside the Top Ten every year since 2013.

Graham Rahal has sweet memories of this circuit, himself taking victory in 2015 after an incident-filled race with four cautions. Scott Dixon led from the pole that day.

Is it beyond the realms of possibilities for a similar result? No. Unlikely? Yes.

But Rahal has flown under-the-radar this season finishing in the Top-Five on five occasions, the only drivers to better that are both Alex Palou and Patricio O’Ward.

He even led the Indianapolis 500 only to be denied a brilliant result after pitting on Lap 118, but was released without his rear left tyre properly secured.

Graham Rahal has arguably been one of the most consistent performers in the IndyCar field this year, and I would not be surprised if he was to achieve a great result at the team’s home race.

DEBUT AND DRIVER CHANGES

Former Indy Lights driver Ryan Norman is to make his IndyCar debut this weekend at the Honda Indy 200 with Dayle Coyne Racing.

Four other drivers have already made their IndyCar debuts this year: Romain Grosjean, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Magnussen, and Cody Ware.

Norman is the 2016 Atlantic Championship champion and previously raced for Andretti Autosport in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Indy Lights championship.

He finished in a career-high fourth place in the championship standings in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons and earned one win each year. He won at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in 2018 before winning at Road America in 2019.

He has also picked up two podiums in Indy Lights at Mid-Ohio, one of which, in 2018, where he split two notable Indy Lights champions, Colton Herta and Patricio O’Ward.

It is still unclear as to whether Rinus VeeKay will make a return for Ed Carpenter Racing, but some early reports in the media suggest his recovery may have gone much faster than previously anticipated. Last week, Oliver Askew stood in for the Dutchman and would be expected to do so again if called upon.

Felix Rosenqvist also missed Road America following his heavy crash at the Detroit Grand Prix. Kevin Magnussen stood in for the Swede, but it is also unclear as to Felix’s recovery. He is understood to be aiming to return to the series as soon as possible.

But it may well be a long wait as we saw with Oliver Askew in 2020, who suffered a concussion during the Indianapolis 500. After hiding his symptoms for two race weekends he eventually missed the penultimate race at the Harvest Grand Prix and only returned for the St Petersburg finale in October, almost two months after the accident.

Cody Ware is expected to relinquish his Dayle Coyne Racing with Rick Ware entry after his solid debut performance last week at Road America.

The Honda Indy 200 Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio will take place across Friday 2nd, Saturday 3rd, and Sunday 4th July. Qualifying will get underway on Saturday at 7:30pm (BST) while the race will take place at approximately 9:00pm (BST).

You can follow the race in the UK on Sky Sports F1, while ThePitCrewOnline will be reporting live on events across Twitter.

For the second time in seven days, Penske driver Josef Newgarden missed out on his first IndyCar win of 2021, which looked all-but-certain with two laps to go.

Having led 53 out of 55 laps from pole position, it was a cruel turn of fate that would see his Penske tumble down out of contention with a technical problem on the final restart.

Alex Palou, who chased down Newgarden the entire race, was rewarded with his second win of the season with an audacious move around the outside of Turn One. As a result, Palou takes the overall lead in the drivers’ championship from rival O’Ward.

The start of the race began with Newgarden leading into Turn One. Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey made an incredible start to take second place from the second row on the grid. It seemed, for a brief moment, that Harvey would take the lead with a look around the outside of Newgarden at Turn One, but backed out.

The first round of pit stops took place around laps 11-15, with Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon, who started 13th, staying out the longest. At the front, it was normal service resumed as Newgarden continued to lead.

That was, until lap 23 when Marcus Ericsson spun out of the race at Turn Three, bringing out the first caution. Almost the entire field took the opportunity to make their second routine stop under yellows.

Only two drivers chose not to pit, IndyCar debutant Kevin Magnussen, who replaced Felix Rosenqvist at Arrow McLaren SP this weekend. The other driver who chose not to pit was Rahal Letterman Lanigan Takuma Sato. Both drivers started 21st and 20th respectively.

On the second restart, Magnussen cycled to the front of the field and led an IndyCar field for the first time in his career. The Dane spent a few laps in front until Sato took the lead down at Turn Five. Shortly afterward, Magnussen headed for the pits but would eventually see his race end in dissapointment. The Arrow McLaren pulled off the track at Turn Seven with a reported loss of power.

This triggered the next phase under cautions. Five drivers initially stayed out (Chilton, Sato, Askew, Harvey, and Daly), but were forced to refuel transferring the lead back to Newgarden. With three laps to go, a spin by Ed Jones brought out the final caution at Turn 12.

On the final restart, Newgarden accelerated confidently towards Turn One with Alex Palou giving chase. However, the American driver suddenly lost drive, leaving him helpless against the fast-charging Spaniard.

Colton Herta finished second, battling with an unruly Andretti car with high tyre degradation. He reported vibrations for large parts of the race but managed to finish ahead of Will Power, who was in imperious form all day.

Scott Dixon had an excellent day to finish in fourth. He started 13th and made some brilliant on-track moves before undercutting the field on the final pitstop cycle.

Dayle Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean was the other standout performer, finishing in the top five for the second time in his IndyCar career. He pulled off some magnificent overtakes, and would have finished on the podium had he not been disadvantaged by the first cautionary period. His moves on both Alexander Rossi and Graham Rahal into Turn Five was incredibly impressive, and further underlines his competitiveness in the series.

Marcus Ericsson finished in sixth, doing extremely well to recover from a caution-causing spin to ensure Ganassi had three cars in the top six.

Alexander Rossi had a solid race to finish seventh ahead of Takuma Sato, who made some big late-race moves after a bold strategy call gave him much fresher tyres for the final stint.

Patricio O’Ward came into this race championship leader but leaves with a 28-point deficit to Palou. He struggled with fuel-saving and could not match the pace of those on similar strategies. After starting on hard tyres, he stopped with the soft tyre runners early on. He would be eventually overtaken by Sato on the final lap to finish ninth.

Max Chilton rounded out the top ten to give Carlin their best result for a long time, benefitting from the same bold strategy as Sato.

Oliver Askew stood in for Rinus VeeKay in the Ed Carpenter Racing outfit. He would eventually finish 12th after being one of those who had to refuel under green with thee laps to go.

NASCAR regular Cody Ware delivered an impressive debut performance to finish 19th, just behind sixth-place starter Simon Pagenaud.

We now have a two-week break before IndyCar returns to Mid-Ohio on July 4th.

Patricio O’Ward took advantage of a late cautionary period to claim victory over Josef Newgarden at the second race in Detroit.

With 12 laps remaining, Romain Grosjean stopped on track following a brake fire. The Mexican driver had started the race in 15th and had slowly but surely moved his way up the field to fifth, the most memorable of which was a move on Scott Dixon during a prior cautionary restart caused by Jimmie Johnson.

When the green flag fell, the Arrow McLaren was able to make some incredible moves on  Graham Rahal and Alex Palou and Colton Herta would shortly follow, owed in part to getting heat into the harder primary ‘black’ tyres quickly and efficiently.

With three laps remaining, Newgarden’s soft ‘red’ tyres began to lose performance and handed O’Ward an opportunity at Turn Seven. The Penske driver’s rear tyres were done as he struggled to get traction out of the corner.

The Mexican driver out-dragged Newgarden down the straight and lightly touched in the process. But it was O’Ward that braked the latest and seized the lead of the race with the end in sight. He would eventually take victory with a five-second advantage over the rest of his competitors.

O’Ward becomes the first repeat winner of the season and moves ahead of Alex Palou in the drivers’ standings – albeit by a single point. This also marks his second career victory after his success at Texas and caps off a magnificent weekend with a pole position and a podium in Race One.

It was heartbreak for Newgarden who had led 67 laps out of 70 from pole position, undone by the teams’ unfortunate contra strategy. He started on the primary ‘black’ compound tyres, while all of his closest competitors started the race on the alternate ‘red’ tyres. After the first caution, which came out on the opening lap when Max Chilton ran into James Hinchcliffe, Newgarden began to pull away from the field. By the time the two-time champion made his first pit stop on Lap 20 his lead over second-place Colton Herta was 13.5 seconds.

During his second stint, he replicated his earlier pace going to lap 46 on another set of primary ‘blacks’. However, Herta was able to close in on Newgarden during this period and had the advantage going into the final stint. Newgarden had to run his final stint on used ‘red’ tyres which are notable for high degradation while the likes of O’Ward, Herta, Palou, and Rahal chased him down on fresher primary ‘blacks’.

Herta would eventually relinquish third to Alex Palou, who rescues what could have been a disastrous weekend.

Graham Rahal sized fifth ahead of a resurgent Will Power who was able to make his way through the field from 20th on the grid, a consolation after losing the win in Race One due to an overheating ECU.

Six-time champion Scott Dixon could not make many inroads after a lap one collision with Romain Grosjean and Alexander Rossi. After starting on the primary ‘black’ tyres, he could not make the final stint on the alternative ‘reds’ work.

Simon Pagenaud crossed the line in eighth ahead of Race One winner Marcus Ericsson with the Swede able to keep his car in the race after a clash with Rinus Veekay with the wall on Lap 15.

Santino Ferrucci was able to keep calm under pressure to finish 10th after his Rahal Letterman Lanigan team spent were forced to ready a backup car thanks to a heavy crash in qualifying. That is now three consecutive top-ten finishes after making his 2021 debut at the Indianapolis 500.

Oliver Askew retired from the race after replacing Arrow McLaren SP driver Felix Rosenqvist in what was a bittersweet weekend for the team. Many were still referencing the passing of McLaren shareholder Mansour Ojjeh who played a significant part under Ron Dennis’s regime.

It will now be a quick turnaround as IndyCar returns to Road America in a weeks time.