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  • Christian Lundgaard dominates for first IndyCar career victory in Toronto

    Christian Lundgaard dominates for first IndyCar career victory in Toronto

    In his 28th career start in the NTT IndyCar Series, Christian Lundgaard etched his name as an IndyCar Series race winner after capping off a dominant run from pole position to win for the first time in the Honda Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday, July 16.

    The 21-year-old Lundgaard from Hedensted, Denmark, commenced the sport’s lone visit north of the border in Canada by notching his second IndyCar career pole on Saturday, July 15, amid mixed weather conditions. Amid a multi-car incident in the opening lap, Lundgaard proceeded to lead the first 18 laps before surrendering the lead to pit amid alternate strategies ensuing within the field. Through more on-track chaos and mixed strategy, Lundgaard, who briefly led from Laps 37 to 48, assumed the lead for good on Lap 62 after Scott Dixon surrendered the lead to pit under green. For the remainder of the event, Lundgaard methodically stretched his advantage while navigating his way around the 11-turn circuit and beat runner-up and championship points leader Alex Palou by more than 11 seconds to achieve his first checkered flag in the IndyCar circuit.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 15, Christian Lundgaard captured his second IndyCar career pole after posting a pole-winning lap at 100.217 mph in 1:04.1567. Joining him on the front row was Scott McLaughlin, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 99.716 mph in 1:04.4790.

    When the green flag and the race commenced, Lundgaard rocketed ahead with the lead while McLaughlin veered right to defend the runner-up spot ahead of Pato O’Ward and his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet through Princess Blvd. and entering the first turn. The field then fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns as Lundgaard continued to lead.

    Then as the field entered Lake Shore Blvd., the first caution of the event flew when Tom Blomqvist, the reigning two-time Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona winner who was making his IndyCar debut for Meyer Shank Racing and as an interim competitor for the injured Simon Pagenaud, got pushed and squeezed into the wall amid a three-wide battle involving Ryan Hunter-Reay and Jack Harvey. With Blomqvist hitting the wall, Harvey and Hunter-Reay were also involved as they squeezed into one another and veered sideways and into the wall, thus igniting a stack up towards the rear of the field as Alexander Rossi, Santino Ferrucci, Sting Ray Rob, Benjamin Pedersen and Graham Rahal were also involved.

    Following an extensive caution period, the race resumed under green flag conditions on the ninth lap. At the start, Lundgaard retained the top spot ahead of McLaughlin as the field navigated its way through Princess Blvd. before navigating through the first two turns and entering Lake Shore Blvd. The field proceeded to navigate its way through Turns 3 and 4 before entering Ontario Dr. before navigating back on Princess Blvd. and Manitoba Dr. Following another series of turns from Turns 5 to 11 and back to the frontstretch, Lundgaard continued to lead and he would retain the top spot through the Lap 10 mark while McLaughlin, O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon were battling in the top five.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Lundgaard was leading by more than three seconds over McLaughlin while O’Ward retained third. Behind, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Ericsson and Dixon were running in the top five while Kyle Kirkwood, Flex Rosenqvist, Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta were running in the top 10. Behind, Marcus Armstrong was in 11th while Romain Grosjean, Alex Palou, Rinus VeeKay and Helio Castroneves were mired in the top 15.

    A lap later, Armstrong, who was battling Grosjean for 11th, pitted under green. Rosenqvist and David Malukas would pit during the following lap under green as Lundgaard was leading by more than four seconds over McLaughlin. More pit stops would then ensue the proceeding lap as Kirkwood and Newgarden pitted.

    Then on Lap 19, McLaughlin cycled into the lead as Lundgaard pitted under green. Once Lundgaard returned to the track, he was mired in 12th in between Juncos Racing’s Callum Ilott and Agustin Canapino while McLaughlin, O’Ward, Ericsson, Dixon and Power were running in the top five. O’Ward would then surrender third place to pit at the Lap 20 mark, where he would blend back on the track in 14th.

    At the Lap 25 mark, McLaughlin was leading by more than two seconds over Ericsson while Dixon, Power and Herta were running in the top five. With Grosjean, Palou, VeeKay, Castroneves and Lundgaard running in the top 10, O’Ward was still mired in 14th while Newgarden was back in 17th in between Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong.

    Five laps later, McLaughlin continued to lead by more than four seconds over Ericsson while third-place Dixon trailed by more than five seconds. With Power and Herta running in the top five, Palou navigated his way around Grosjean for sixth while Lundgaard was up in eighth ahead of VeeKay and Castroneves. Another two laps later, Grosjean pitted from the top 10 under green while McLaughin retained the lead by more than five seconds over Ericsson. Herta would also pit from the top five followed by Augustin Canapino.

    Then on Lap 30, McLaughlin navigated his No. 3 Gallagher Dallara-Chevrolet onto pit road for his first pit service of the day as Ericsson cycled his No. 8 Huski Chocolate Dallara-Honda into the lead. Ericsson would then pit during the following lap followed by Castroneves and Callum Ilott. With Dixon cycling his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda into the lead, McLaughlin was scored in fifth behind Lundgaard. On Lap 37, however, the top-three competitors that included Dixon, Power and Palou pitted under green as Lundgaard cycled back into the lead. Following their pit stops, Power managed to muscle ahead of Dixon and Palou on the track and within the top 10 while Ericsson was in fifth following his pit service.

    Then as the event was approaching its halfway mark on Lap 41, the event’s second caution flew when Grosjean lost control of the steering of his No. 28 DHL Dallara-Honda and veered straight into the wall just past Turn 10 as his strong run came to an end. At the moment of caution, Lundgaard was leading ahead of McLaughlin, O’Ward, Kyle Kirkwood and Ericsson while Newgarden, Power, Dixon, Palou and Rosenqvist were in the top 10.

    During the caution period, some names including Kirkwood, Rosenqvist, Palou, Herta, Malukas, Graham Rahal and Callum Ilott pitted while the rest led by Lundgaard remained on the track. Not long after and prior to a restart on Lap 46, the event quickly returned under a caution period when Kirkwood ran into the rear of Castroneves’ No. 06 SiriusXM Dallara-Honda and sent him spinning in Turn 11, thus ending his race, as Palou sustained damage to his front wing after hitting the wall while trying to avoid Castroneves. Despite the contact, Palou continued to run on the track despite concerns of his front wing being damaged.

    Amid the extensive caution period, a majority of the field led by Lundgaard pitted for fresh tires and fuel while some including McLaughlin, Dixon, VeeKay, Kirkwood, Herta and Palou remained on the track with alternate strategies ensuing.

    When the race restarted under green with 34 laps remaining, McLaughlin jumped ahead of Dixon to retain the lead through the first two turns and entering Lake Shore Blvd. With the field fanning out, a series of battles ensued as Lundgaard and O’Ward were trying to navigate their way towards the front from the top 10. Amid the battles, Kirkwood, who was running within the top five, pitted after being assessed a stop-and-go penalty from the contact with Castroneves while VeeKay, Palou and Herta were in the top five.

    With 30 laps remaining, McLaughlin was leading by eight-tenths of a second over fellow Kiwi competitor Dixon while VeeKay and Palou were in the top four. Behind, Lundgaard moved up to fifth and was trailing the lead by more than seven seconds while Herta, O’Ward, Power, Ericsson and Newgarden were in the top 10.

    Four laps later, VeeKay pitted from third place, which allowed Palou, Lundgaard and Herta to move up one spots respectively into the top five while McLaughlin was leading by more than a second over Dixon. McLaughlin would then surrender the lead to pit with 25 laps remaining as Dixon cycled into the lead followed by teammate Palou and Lundgaard.

    Then with 24 laps remaining, Lundgaard, who pulled a bold overtake on Palou through Turns 3 and 4 to take second place, cycled back into the lead after Dixon pitted under green. In the ensuing laps, Power overtook O’Ward for fourth while Palou, who continued to proceed at full pace despite his damaged front wing, retained second ahead of Colton Herta.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Lundgaard was leading by more than two seconds over Palou while Herta, Power and O’Ward were running in the top five. With Ericsson in sixth, Newgarden, Marcus Armstrong, Rosenqvist and Agustin Canapino were in the top 10 while Dixon and McLaughlin were mired back in 14th and 15th, respectively.

    With 10 laps remaining, Lundgaard retained the lead by nearly seven seconds over Palou while Herta, Power and Ericsson were scored in the top five. In the process, Newgarden, Armstrong, O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Dixon were in the top 10. By then, David Malukas retired four laps earlier after making contact with the wall and damaging his suspension.

    Five laps later, Lundgaard extended his advantage to more than nine seconds over Palou, who was being pressured by Herta amid his front wing damage as Power and Ericsson started to close in on the battle.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Lundgaard remained as the leader by more than 10 seconds over Palou, who continued to run strong on the track amid his front wing damage in front of Herta. By then, Power and Ericsson both pitted after coming up short on fuel, which allowed Newgarden and Dixon to move into the top five. With no competition lurking behind him, Lundgaard, driving the No. 45 Vivid Clear Rx Dallara-Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, was able to navigate his way around the 11-turn circuit smoothly for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his first career checkered flag in the IndyCar circuit.

    With the victory, Lundgaard, who is currently campaigning in his second full-time season in the IndyCar circuit and whose previous best result was second place that occurred at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course last August, became the first competitor to achieve a first IndyCar race victory since Kyle Kirkwood won at the Streets of Long Beach, California, this past April. He also recorded the first victory for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing since the team last won the 2020 Indianapolis 500 with Takuma Sato. Lundgaard also joined Adrian Fernandez and the late Justin Wilson as competitors to achieve a first IndyCar victory at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada.

    With the victory, Lundgaard, who celebrated his first IndyCar win with his friend, Victor, vowed to shave his mustache he grew during the offseason amid the promise that he would do so once he would win an IndyCar race.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I’m pretty drained from energy right now,” Lundgaard, who led a race-high 54 of 85 laps, said on Peacock. “The Hy-Vee VIVID car has just been fast all weekend. I said it before the race [that] we had a car that was fast enough to win. We pulled it off and I think we did by 10 seconds. This team, they do deserve this because if we look at where we were early this season and even last year at this point, we were nowhere near this, so I’m just extremely happy for everybody right now. Everything [the owners] are doing for this team, we’re moving forward.”

    “[This win]’s huge for us,” Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, added. “Any win’s big. We were knocking on the door at Mid-Ohio with Graham’s [Rahal] qualifying run and Christian’s for that matter. This weekend, it wasn’t easy. We didn’t start out really super great, but we kept working at it. Christian was hooked up. I think he just was kind of like on a mission this weekend. You saw that on that race. He just drove away from everybody. The crew did a great job. That strategy in the No. 45 pit was the right strategy and Christian just didn’t put a foot wrong. A great weekend for us. “

    While Lundgaard celebrated a first victory, Palou, who started the lowest of this season in 15th, was left relieved on pit road after having enough power to nurse his No. 10 Journie Rewards Dallara-Honda with the damaged front wing home in the runner-up spot, one spot shy of achieving four consecutive IndyCar victories following recent victories in Detroit, Road America and Mid-Ohio, while Colton Herta achieved his first podium result of the season by finishing third just as he ran out of fuel.

    “We knew it was going to be an eventful race,” Palou said. “I had a lot of ups and downs. We had a really fast car. I don’t know how we made it with this wing. The car was still handling OK, and then we just had to save a ton of fuel, a ton of tires. But we made it. Glad we finished P2 today. A win could have been possible, but I did a bad qualifying yesterday. As long as we have fast cars like we’ve been doing, we’re going to be OK. The guys did an amazing strategy call. It was tough to save that much fuel, but they just put me on that position. Kudos to the No. 10 car.”

    Dixon, who won last year’s IndyCar event at Toronto, came home in fourth while Newgarden settled in fifth. McLaughlin, Armstrong, Pato O’Ward, Graham Rahal and Rosenqvist completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Ericsson and Power ended up 11th and 14th, respectively, while Kirkwood ended up 15th.

    There were seven lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 16 laps. In total, 15 of 27 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 10th event of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season, Alex Palou continues to lead the championship standings by 117 points over teammate Scott Dixon, 126 over Josef Newgarden, 142 over teammate Marcus Ericsson and 143 over Pato O’Ward.

    Results.

    1. Christian Lundgaard, 54 laps led

    2. Alex Palou

    3. Colton Herta

    4. Scott Dixon, two laps led

    5. Josef Newgarden

    6. Scott McLaughlin, 28 laps led

    7. Marcus Armstrong

    8. Pato O’Ward

    9. Graham Rahal

    10. Felix Rosenqvist

    11. Marcus Ericsson

    12. Agustin Canapino

    13. Rinus VeeKay

    14. Will Power

    15. Kyle Kirkwood

    16. Alexander Rossi

    17. Santino Ferrucci

    18. Callum Ilott – OUT, Contact

    19. Sting Ray Robb, three laps down

    20. David Malukas – OUT, Contact

    21. Helio Castroneves – OUT, Contact

    22. Romain Grosjean – OUT, Contact

    23. Devlin DeFrancesco – OUT, Mechanical

    24. Jack Harvey – OUT, Contact

    25. Tom Blomqvist – OUT, Contact

    26. Ryan Hunter-Reay – OUT, Contact

    27. Benjamin Pedersen – OUT, Contact

    Next on the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the series’ doubleheader weekend feature at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. The first event of the doubleheader weekend feature, Hy-Vee Homefront 250, is set to occur next Saturday, July 22, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC while the second event, Hy-Vee One Step 250, will follow suit next Sunday, July 23, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Power clinches second IndyCar Series championship; Palou dominates season finale at Laguna Seca

    Power clinches second IndyCar Series championship; Palou dominates season finale at Laguna Seca

    Will Power capped off a strong consistent season with his second NTT IndyCar Series championship while Alex Palou capped off an up-and-down season embroiled with off-track drama amid his racing future by winning the season-finale Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday, September 11.

    Power, the 2014 IndyCar champion from Toowoomba, Australia, commenced the championship weekend on a high note by surpassing Mario Andretti for the most poles in IndyCar history at 68 on Saturday. During the main event on Sunday, he outlasted a variety of strategies and on-track competition from his fellow competitors and teammates to finish in third place behind race winner Palou and runner-up Newgarden, who fell short of overtaking his veteran teammate at Team Penske and spoiling the party of having his shot of winning his title.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, points leader Will Power claimed his record-setting 68th IndyCar career pole position after posting a pole-winning qualifying lap at 112.505 mph in 71.6127 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Callum Ilott, who recorded the second-best qualifying lap at 112.475 mph in 71.6320 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Power took off with an early advantage through the first two turns. Behind, Alexander Rossi and Pato O’Ward both made a three-wide move on Callot to move up to second and third as the field scrambled and jostled for early positions. Through Turn 2, Helio Castroneves went off the course in the sand, but the event remained under green.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Power was leading ahead of Rossi, O’Ward, Ilott and Romain Grosjean while rookie David Malukas, Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Simon Pagenaud and Marcus Ericsson were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Dixon was in 13th and Newgarden, who started at the rear of the field, was mired back in 19th.

    By the ninth lap, the first round of green flag pit stops ensued as Colton Herta, Dixon and Ericsson pitted. Back at the front, Power was still out in front by three-and-a-half second over Rossi followed by O’Ward, Ilott and Grosjean. When Lap 15 struck amid a continuation of green flag pit stops, Power surrendered the lead to pit as Ilott and Palou moved up the top of the leaderboard.

    Nearly 10 laps later and with nearly the entire field having made at least one pit stop under green, except for the leader Felix Rosenqvist, another round of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Rosenqvist pitted. By then, Newgarden also pitted as Power cycled back to the lead over Alex Palou, O’Ward and Ilott. On Lap 26, however, Palou muscled his No. 10 NTT Data Dallara-Honda back into the lead over Power’s No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara-Chevrolet in Turn 4.

    Through the first 30 scheduled laps, Palou was ahead by more than five seconds over Power followed by O’Ward, Ilott and Rosenqvist while Rossi, Grosjean, Ericsson, Ludngaard and Newgarden were in the top 10. Meanwhile, McLaughlin, who was just in the top 10, pitted under green while Dixon was mired back in 23rd.

    Five laps later, Palou continued to lead by more than 10 seconds over Power followed by Rosenqvist, O’Ward and Ilott. Another three laps later, the front-runners led by Palou pitted under green as Palou remained in front of Power, Rosenqvist, O’Ward and Newgarden.

    Shortly after, the first caution of the event flew when Ilott, who was having a stellar run on the track after starting on the front row for the first time in his career, stopped his No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara-Chevrolet on the track in Turn 2 and retired due to a mechanical issue.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 42, Palou retained the lead ahead of Power, Rosenqvist, O’Ward and the field in spite of Graham Rahal going off the course. While Palou maintained a steady advantage over the field, Power continued to fend off Rosenqvist for second while Newgarden bolted his No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet into fourth place over O’Ward through the Corkscrew section.

    By Lap 45 and with the event surpassing its halfway mark, Palou was leading by more than five seconds over Power, who was locked in a tight battle against teammate and title contender Newgarden while Rosenqvist and Grosjean were in the top five. Meanwhile, O’Ward was mired back in sixth while Ericsson, McLaughlin, Rahal and Lundgaard were in the top 10 in front of Dixon.

    With 45 laps remaining, Palou continued to lead by more than eight seconds over Newgarden while the championship leader Power settled in third. Grosjean was up in fourth in front of Rosenqvist while O’Ward, Ericsson, McLaughlin, Rahal and Lundgaard occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Dixon, who just pitted under green, was back in 23rd behind Takuma Sato.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Palou, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, was leading by nearly 19 seconds over runner-up Power, who continued to maintain his lead in the championship standings and had completed a pit stop under green. Grosjean moved up to third in front of Rosenqvist, Newgarden and O’Ward. Lundgaard, the leading Rookie-of-the-Year contender, was in seventh while Rossi, Herta and Malukas were in the top 10. McLaughlin, Ericsson and Dixon were in 11th, 12th and 13th.

    Then two laps later and with some of the front-runners pitting under green, including Palou, Newgarden, who has yet to pit, cycled his way into the lead after pulling ahead of Palou as he ignited his final bid to capture his third IndyCar title over teammate Power, who was in third. 

    With 22 laps remaining, Newgarden surrendered the lead to Palou as he pitted under green. When he returned to the track, he managed to keep his No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet in the runner-up spot ahead of teammate Power, who pitted prior to the final 30 laps.

    Seven laps later and with 15 laps remaining, Palou remained as the leader by more than 25 seconds over Newgarden while Power settled in third. By then, Grosjean and Rosenqvist were in the top five while McLaughlin, Ericsson and Dixon were in 10th, 11th and 12th.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Palou continued to lead by more than 28 seconds over Newgarden while third-place Power remained in third and maintained the lead in the championship standings. Grosjean and Rosenqvist remained in the top five followed by Lundgaard, Rossi, McLaughlin, Ericsson and Herta while O’Ward, who was in the top 10, pitted his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet before blending back on the track in 12th behind Dixon.

    With five laps remaining, Palou stabilized his huge advantage to 29 seconds over Newgarden, who continued to run one spot ahead of teammate Power but was unable to overtake his Team Penske teammate for the lead in the championship standings. Meanwhile, McLaughlin, Ericsson and Dixon were back in eighth, ninth and 11th as their title hopes were slowly evaporating.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Palou remained as the leader by over Newgarden with Power pursuing behind. Having no direct competition lingering behind him for a final lap, Palou was able to cruise his way through the circuit for a final time as he captured his first elusive checkered flag of the 2022 season by more than 30 seconds over Newgarden.

    With the victory, Palou grabbed his fourth career win in the NTT IndyCar Series, his first at Laguna Seca and first since winning at Portland International Speedway in September 2021. The victory was enough for the reigning IndyCar champion to conclude the season tied with Scott McLaughlin for fourth place in the final drivers’ standings as he enters this off-season period with uncertainty amid his contract dispute with Chip Ganassi Racing.

    Photo by James Black (Penske Entertainment).

    “We struggled a bit some races, especially last couple of races,” Palou said on NBC. “Today was awesome. Awesome job by all the team. Strategy was on point. It’s good to finish a season with a win. It was just an awesome day. Struggled a bit during the whole weekend, and I don’t know what happened today, but everything clicked, so super happy to win a race this year. We’re gonna enjoy the moment now and we’ll see what happens [next year].”

    While Palou celebrated a victory, Power celebrated his second NTT IndyCar Series championship after finishing third, one spot behind teammate Newgarden, who rallied from the rear of the field but fell 16 points shy to his Team Penske veteran. With the accomplishment, Power became the first repeat IndyCar champion since Scott Dixon won his sixth title in 2020 as he recorded his first title since 2014 and the 17th IndyCar title for Team Penske, which extended the team’s record.

    Overall, Power concluded the 2022 season with a single victory after winning the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at The Raceway at Belle Isle in Michigan. He also recorded four poles, nine podiums and 13 top-five results throughout the 17-race schedule.

    “I couldn’t have [planned a perfect weekend],” Power said. “Let me tell you. In the off-season, my wife said to me, ‘I believe you’re gonna beat Mario’s [Andretti] record [in poles] and you’re gonna win the championship. She said that to me. It actually gave me confidence that I could do it. The fact that she said that, that’s how much confidence I have in her gut feel. I just couldn’t believe that that came true. I just knew I had to get the most out of those stints and not lose any more positions. Man, I had to drive the [car] today. It was on the edge. Very loose. What a relief to get that done. I can’t thank Verizon enough. They’ve been with me for close to 12 years now. Without them, I would never have had this career and obviously, [team owner] Roger Penske, the whole team and Chevrolet.”

    Meanwhile, Newgarden remained positive in a season where he achieved a season-high five victories, a pole and six podiums throughout the 17-race schedule.

    “You know, I hate to say it, but in a lot of ways, this has been a really tough year,” Newgarden said. “It’s gonna be a welcome off-season. Mentally, it’s been a taxing season. We’ve had a lot of highs, but we’ve had a lot of lows. Just riding the roller coaster this year has brought me to a braking point at a couple points in the year, but I’m proud of the team. This is a big day for everybody. To win the championship, huge congrats to Will [Power] and the entire [Penske] team. This is an effort by everybody, whether it’s the No. 2 car, the No. 12 or No. 3. We all take a lot of pride in it. All these crew members, they work on every single car. The ultimate goal is to win a championship for Team Penske. We did that. There’s a ton to be proud of. We nearly got there. We’re gonna come back stronger next year. We got to be in a different position and I know we can do better than what we did this year.”

    Meanwhile, Scott Dixon finished 12th on the track and in third place in the final standings, the highest Chip Ganassi Racing competitor in the standings but 39 points shy of winning his record-tying seventh IndyCar championship. Nonetheless, he capped off the season with two victories, which tallied his wins total to 53 as it marks the second-most victories in American open-wheel competition behind AJ Foyt (67). He also recorded a pole and a total of four podiums throughout the season.

    “We ultimately just didn’t have the pace,” Dixon said. “I think it was definitely a strange race in the fact that we tried everything we could. Just frustrating. I think that we couldn’t bring what we needed to today. Congrats to Palou and obviously, a big congrats to Will Power. It was a tremendous year that he ran there. You win some, you lose some. I know this team never gave up. We pushed as hard as we could all year. Unfortunately. we ended up third.”

    Scott McLaughlin, who came into the event trailing teammate Power by 41 points, ended up in sixth place on the track and in a tie with Alex Palou for fourth place in the standings, 51 points shy of his first IndyCar title despite claiming his first three IndyCar career victories. Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indianapolis 500 champion, fell back to sixth in the standings and 54 points shy of his first title.

    Felix Rosenqvist finished fourth on the track followed by rookie Christian Lundgaard while McLaughlin, Grosjean, O’Ward, Ericsson and Alexander Rossi completed the top 10.

    Lundgaard, who finished 14th in the final standings, was named the recipient of the 2022 IndyCar Rookie-of-the-Year title by finishing two spots ahead of the second-highest rookie candidate: David Malukas.

    Chevrolet wrapped up the manufacturers’ title with 1,510 points, 211 points over Honda, in a season where the manufacturer achieved 11 victories throughout the 17-race schedule.

    There were seven lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured one caution for three laps.

    Race Results.

    1. Alex Palou, 67 laps led

    2. Josef Newgarden, five laps led

    3. Will Power, 17 laps led

    4. Felix Rosenqvist, five laps led

    5. Christian Lundgaard

    6. Scott McLaughlin

    7. Romain Grosjean

    8. Pato O’Ward

    9. Marcus Ericsson

    10. Alexander Rossi

    11. Colton Herta

    12. Scott Dixon

    13. David Malukas

    14. Rinus VeeKay

    15. Devlin DeFrancesco

    16. Jimmie Johnson

    17. Simon Pagenaud

    18. Graham Rahal

    19. Helio Castroneves

    20. Jack Harvey

    21. Kyle Kirkwood

    22. Simona De Silvestro 

    23. Takuma Sato

    24. Conor Daly

    25. Dalton Kellett

    26. Callum Ilott – OUT, Mechanical, one lap led

    *Bold indicates 2022 NTT IndyCar Series champion

    Final standings

    1. Will Power – 560 points

    2. Josef Newgarden – 544 points

    3. Scott Dixon – 521 points

    4. Scott McLaughlin – 510 points

    5. Alex Palou – 510 points

    6. Marcus Ericsson – 506 points

    7. Pato O’Ward – 480 points

    8. Felix Rosenqvist – 393 points

    9. Alexander Rossi – 381 points

    10. Colton Herta – 381 points

    11. Graham Rahal – 345 points

    12. Rinus VeeKay – 331 points

    13. Romain Grosjean – 328 points

    14. Christian Lundgaard – 323 points

    15. Simon Pagenaud – 314 points

    16. David Malukas – 305 points

    17. Conor Daly – 267 points

    18. Helio Castroneves – 263 points

    19. Takuma Sato – 258 points

    20. Callum Ilott – 219 points

    The NTT IndyCar Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action in 2023 for a new season of competition. The 2023 schedule is yet to be determined.

  • McLaughlin retains championship hopes with dominant IndyCar victory at Portland

    McLaughlin retains championship hopes with dominant IndyCar victory at Portland

    Faced with a long shot but not out of the picture, Scott McLaughlin kept his 2022 NTT IndyCar Series championship hopes alive with a dominant win in the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway on Sunday, September 4.

    The 29-year-old McLaughlin from Hamilton, New Zealand, commenced his dominant weekend by qualifying on pole position on Saturday. During the main event on Sunday, he led a race-high 104 of the 110-scheduled laps and prevailed during a restart with 22 laps remaining to fend off teammate Will Power and Scott Dixon to capture the third IndyCar career victory of his career and of this season. The victory decreased McLaughlin’s deficit to teammate and points leader Will Power from 54 to 41 as he will be one of five competitors entering next weekend’s season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with a mathematical opportunity to contend for the title.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Scott McLaughlin claimed his third pole position of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 121.412 mph in 58.2349 seconds. Teammate Josef Newgarden initially posted the second-best qualifying lap at 121.249 mph in 58.3129 seconds, but he dropped six spots on the starting grid to eighth for an unapproved engine change stemming from the previous IndyCar event at World Wide Technology Raceway. As a result, teammate and points leader Will Power started on the front row alongside McLaughlin after posting his best qualifying lap at 121.016 mph in 58.4482 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, McLaughlin muscled ahead with an early advantage through the first three turns while rookie Christian Lundgaard made a move to overtake Will Power for the runner-up spot. As the field proceeded through the twists and turns around Portland for a full lap and while Romain Grosjean went off the track, McLaughlin led the first lap ahead of Lundgaard, Power, Pato O’Ward and Alex Palou.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, McLaughlin was leading by more than two seconds over Lundgaard followed by Power, O’Ward and Palou while David Malukas, Felix Rosenqvist, Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi and Graham Rahal were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Josef Newgarden was back in 11th ahead of Rinus VeeKay, rookie Callum Ilott, Scott Dixon and rookie Kyle Kirkwood. Jack Harvey was in 16th followed by Conor Daly, Helio Castroneves, Marcus Ericsson and rookie Devlin DeFrancesco while Simon Pagenaud, Takuma Sato, Romain Grosjean, Dalton Kellett and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the 25-car field.

    Five laps later and 10 laps into the event, McLaughlin continued to lead by three seconds over Lundgaard while Power, O’Ward and Palou retained their spots in the top five. By then, Simon Pagenaud pitted for a new set of alternate Firestone tires to his No. 60 SiriusXM Dallara-Honda. Another two laps later, Grosjean pitted for alternate tires to his No. 28 DHL Dallara-Honda.

    By Lap 15, names like Dixon, Kirkwood, Jack Harvey, Newgarden, Helio Castroneves and Jimmie Johnson pitted for alternate tires as the cycle of tire strategies proceeded. During the following lap, Palou and VeeKay also pitted followed by David Malukas, Colton Herta, Rosenqvist, Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly.

    At the Lap 20 mark, McLaughlin remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Lundgaard followed by Graham Rahal, Ilott and Ericsson. By then, O’Ward pitted his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet under green. Another lap later, McLaughlin surrendered the lead to pit his No. 3 Freightliner Dallara-Chevrolet.

    Once the remaining competitors who had yet to pit pitted, among which included Lundgaard, Rahal and Ilott, McLaughlin cycled his way back to the lead on Lap 24. By then, Ericsson was in second while Power, Lundgaard and O’Ward were in the top five. Palou carved his No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Dallara-Honda to sixth followed by Newgarden, Rahal, Herta, Rossi and Ilott, who was stalling Scott Dixon and VeeKay while running in the final top-10 spot.

    Through the first 35 scheduled laps, McLaughlin was leading by more than eight seconds over teammate Power followed by Lundgaard, O’Ward and Palou while Newgarden, Rahal, Herta, Rossi and Dixon were in the top 10. By then, Ericsson pitted his No. 8 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda three laps earlier for alternative tires. Meanwhile, Grosjean, who was in 22nd, was given a penalty for shorcutting the course.

    Ten laps later, McLaughlin stabilized his advantage to more than six seconds over teammate Power. While Lundgaard and O’Ward were in third and fourth, Newgarden navigated his No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet into the top five as he was in fifth followed by Rahal, Herta, Rossi, Dixon and VeeKay. By then, Palou, who was initially battling for sixth with Rahal, pitted along with Pagenaud, Grosjean, Rosenqvist, Jack Harvey and Kirkwood. Newgarden would pit during Laps 46 along with Dixon, Castroneves, Jimmie Johnson, Lundgaard and VeeKay.

    Nearing the Lap 50 mark, McLaughlin surrendered the lead to pit for a second time followed by O’Ward while Rahal emerged with the lead. By then, Herta, Malukas, Conor Daly and David Malukas also pitted. Once Lap 50 struck, McLaughlin cycled his way back to the lead after Rahal pitted his No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda under green.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 55, McLaughlin was the leader by six seconds over teammate Power followed by O’Ward and a tight battle for fourth place between Newgarden and Lundgaard. Rahal was in sixth ahead of Rossi, Dixon and Herta while VeeKay battled and overtook Palou for 10th place. Meanwhile, Ericsson and DeFrancesco made a pit stop under green along with Sato.

    With 40 laps remaining, McLaughlin retained the lead by four seconds over teammate Power, who had O’Ward closing in in a bid for the runner-up spot as Power was also catching the lapped No. 48 Carvana Dallara-Honda driven by Jimmie Johnson. Newgarden remained in fourth as he started to catch teammate Power and O’Ward while Lundgaard, Rahal, Rossi, Dixon, Herta and VeeKay occupied the top 10. Behind, Palou retained 11th ahead of Callum Ilott while Kirkwood, Rosenqvist and Malukas were in the top 15.

    Two laps later, Conor Daly was the first retiree of the event after his No. 20 BitNile Dallara-Chevrolet caught on fire while trying to exit his pit stall upon a completed service.

    Another five laps later and with 32 laps remaining, McLaughlin stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Power, who was able to pull away from O’Ward and Newgarden with no lapped traffic interfering in his charge towards teammate McLaughlin. By then, names like Rossi, Lundgaard, Dixon, VeeKay, Palou, Kirkwood, Jack Harvey and Castroneves pitted. During the pit stops, Lundgaard stalled his No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda in his pit lane.

    During the following lap, McLaughlin led teammates Power and Newgarden along with O’Ward, Rahal, Herta, Ilott and Malukas to pit road for service. Once the pit stops were complete with less than 30 laps remaining, McLaughlin, who despite endured a slow pit stop while trying to navigate his way around Rosenqvist, was back ahead by a second over teammate Power while third-place O’Ward trailed by two seconds. Ericsson, who has yet to pit, was in fourth while Newgarden was mired in fifth.

    Then with 27 laps remaining, the first caution of the event flew when VeeKay turned to the left and sent Jimmie Johnson into the outside wall in Turn 1 as Johnson’s long afternoon came to an end with a wrecked No. 48 Honda.

    Down to the final 22 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as McLaughlin retained the lead. Entering the first turn, O’Ward made a bold move beneath Power as both made contact, but Power fended off O’Ward to remain in second as the field jumbled up through the first three turns. In the midst of the scramble, Dixon moved his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda to fourth place after overtaking both Newgarden and Rossi.

    A lap later, O’Ward, who continued with minimal damage to his No. 5 Chevrolet, was penalized and forced to surrender third place to Dixon for blocking Dixon while making his move and eventual contact with Power during the restart.

    With less than 20 laps remaining, McLaughlin was the leader by less than two seconds over teammate Power while third-place Dixon trailed by nearly three seconds. O’Ward and Rahal were in the top five while Herta, Rossi and Lundgaard overtook Newgarden, who was on the black Firestone tires, for spots in the top 10.

    Shortly after, Lundgaard’s strong run was spoiled after he got loose and ran into a sponsor signage in Turn 1, which remained lodged in front of his car as he plummeted below the leaderboard and went a full lap with the barrier before pitting.

    With 10 laps remaining, McLaughlin continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Power and more than two seconds over Dixon, all of whom broke away from the field led by fourth-place O’Ward, who trailed by more than seven seconds. Rahal was in fifth while Herta, Rossi, Newgarden, Ilott and Rosenqvist, who overtook Palou, were in the top 10.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, the top-three competitors led by McLaughlin followed by teammate Power and Dixon were nine seconds ahead of fourth-place O’Ward, who was starting to be intimidated by Rahal for fourth place while Andretti Autosport teammates Herta and Rossi battled for sixth in front of Newgarden.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, McLaughlin remained as the leader by more than a second over teammate Power, who had Dixon closing in as he made a final bid for the runner-up spot. With Power unable to close the gap for a final lap through the circuit, McLaughlin was able to navigate his way back to the frontstretch and claim his third checkered flag of the 2022 season.

    With the victory, McLaughlin, who made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar circuit less than two years ago, notched his third career victory in the IndyCar Series along with his third of the season as he added Portland with the Streets of St. Petersburg and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to his race-winning resume in IndyCars. He also recorded the ninth victory of the season for Team Penske and the 11th for Chevrolet, which is within striking distance of sealing the manufacturer title over Honda.

    The Portland victory also kept McLaughlin’s championship hopes of this season alive as he now trails teammate Power by 41 points after jumping from sixth to fifth in the standings.

    “I don’t think the car felt really good in that first stint,” McLaughlin said on NBC. “As the race went on, it got a little bit worse.[I] Just had to really concentrate on where I wanted the strengths in the car and work with those, and then the weaknesses are just trying to make the best of them. The Freightliner Chevy, all weekend, has been fast. It’s been right there where we needed it and the team, the Thristy Threes [pit crew], got the job done in the pits. I’m really proud of them. We did exactly what we needed to do this weekend, and that was win and get max points and keep ourselves in the [championship] fight. Yeah, we’re in a long shot. I don’t care, but we’re a shot. I’m looking forward to it.”

    Teammate Power, who came into Portland with a three-point advantage in the championship standings, held off Dixon to finish in the runner-up spot and leaves Portland with a 20-point lead in the standings over both teammate Newgarden and Dixon. Power will only need to finish in the top three next weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to clinch his second IndyCar championship. Ericsson, who salvaged an 11th-place run at Portland, trails Power by 39 points while McLaughlin trails by 41, all of whom remain mathematically eligible to contend for the 2022 IndyCar title.

    “The red [tires] was a lot better for us,” Power said. “The black [tires] just never really came on. [I] Never even really got a good balance with it. It was a tough decision because those reds had a lot of laps on them, but I still feel like we would’ve been quicker over the stint. It was the right move. [It] Would’ve been real tough on those restarts without it. Good call by the guys. Good strategy all day. It’s another day. We just did everything we could. I just want to win this championship for the guys that have been with me for more than a decade. It’s a lot less selfish for me this time around because [the crew] deserve it. I feel their pain over the years of losing so many. I would love to win it for them. [The points lead is] still very tough. Ganassi’s tested [at Laguna Seca]. We’re sin the best position. We got the best shot, so we’ll do everything we can.”

    “We got to stop getting these Most Improved [accolade] through races,” Dixon said. “It’s definitely frustrating. Starting 16th with the competition we have now and no real cautions, man, we had to drive through the field. We’re still in the fight. Twenty points back. Tied with Josef [Newgarden] there. It was definitely an interesting race. We tried as hard as possible on that last run, but a huge weekend for PNC Bank. Honda, kudos to them for the super-easy fuel mileage that we had to get, so that was definitely a positive…Anything is possible. We’ve seen it. We’ve won [the championship] on tie-breakers before. We’re in it and we will never give up as a team until it’s over. It’s gonna be an interesting [finale]. Ultimately, if we can be in it, we’re gonna throw everything that we can do.”

    O’Ward, who has been eliminated from the title battle, nursed his wounded No. 5 Chevrolet to a fourth-place result ahead of Rahal while Herta, Rossi, Newgarden, Callum Ilott and Felix Rosenqvist finished in the top 10 on the track. Alex Palou was also eliminated from title contention with a 12th-place run as he will not defend his series title.

    There were seven lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured one caution for four laps.

    Results.

    1. Scott McLaughlin, 104 laps led

    2. Will Power, two laps led

    3. Scott Dixon

    4. Pato O’Ward

    5. Graham Rahal, two laps led

    6. Colton Herta

    7. Alexander Rossi

    8. Josef Newgarden

    9. Callum Ilott, one lap led

    10. Felix Rosenqvist

    11. Marcus Ericsson

    12. Alex Palou

    13. Kyle Kirkwood

    14. David Malukas

    15. Jack Harvey

    16. Devlin DeFrancesco

    17. Helio Castroneves

    18. Takuma Sato

    19. Romain Grosjean

    20. Rinus VeeKay

    21. Christian Lundgaard, one lap led

    22. Dalton Kellett, one lap down

    23. Simon Pagenaud, 10 laps down

    24. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Contact

    25. Conor Daly – OUT, Mechanical

    The 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season is set to conclude next weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey and where a champion will be crowned. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, September 11, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Lundgaard inks multi-year extension with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

    Lundgaard inks multi-year extension with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

    Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has retained rookie Christian Lundgaard on a new multi-year contract extension, beginning in the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season.

    The 21-year-old Lundgaard from Hedensted, Denmark, is currently embarking in his maiden season in the IndyCar circuit, where he achieved his maiden podium after finishing in second place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in late July. He also achieved his maiden start in the top three after posting the third-fastest qualifying time during the previous IndyCar event at Nashville Street Circuit in early August.

    To go along with a total of six top-10 results through the first 14-scheduled events and despite being ranked in 15th place in the drivers’ standings, he currently leads the IndyCar Rookie-of-the-Year standings with 272 points, where he is 41 points ahead of David Malukas and 91 ahead of Callum Ilott.

    “I have to say a big thanks to [team co-owners] Bobby [Rahal], David [Letterman] and Mike [Lanigan] for giving me this opportunity to extend my time with the team,” Lundgaard said. “We’ve had some good results lately, and I’m sure this has also helped their decision. First of all, I’m just happy and super excited that they gave me this opportunity. A year ago at the [Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course], we qualified well [fourth] and they decided that they wanted me for a full season [in 2022]. We’ve made the most of the opportunity so far. I’m sure there are times when we could have performed better but now we have the opportunity to continue this progress.”

    “We’ve been to a lot of tracks so far and have come back to some and finished on the podium, which I hope to continue,” Lundgaard added. “Qualifying third in Nashville was a big milestone for me. Making the Fast Six – and not being at the end of the Fast Six but actually having a shot at competing for the pole – was a great experience for me. We didn’t quite finish where we wanted [eighth] but it was good to have that experience and now everyone is making the most of it. I’m happy for everyone at the team, my family and the sponsors and investors, everyone that has made this possible. I’m looking forward to continuing to build momentum.”

    Prior to this season, Lundgaard made his IndyCar debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August 2021, where he qualified fourth and finished 12th while competing for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. His transition to full-time IndyCar competition occurred following an extensive racing background that commenced with karting before winning the 2017 SMP F4 and F4 Spanish Championships. He went on to compete in Formula 3 in 2019 before spending the following two seasons in Formula 2 for ART Grand Prix, where he accumulated two victories and a best points result of seventh place in 2020.

    “I am so pleased with Christian’s progress with the team and within the series,” Bobby Rahal said. “He has shown that he can be a force to be reckoned with in these races. He works well within the team, and we are pleased that we are continuing for the next several years because I believe he will continue to improve and be a potential winner in the very near future.”

    “Christian has done a great job acclimatizing to the variety of challenges and new experiences this season,” Mike Lanigan added. “His approach and professionalism continues to impress us and his performance, especially in the second half of the season, speaks volumes about his potential. We are very happy to have him as part of the team for the years ahead.”

    With his plans for next season set, Lundgaard’s quest to capture the 2022 IndyCar Rookie-of-the-Year title continues through the final three events of the season, beginning this upcoming weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, August 20, at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Alexander Rossi snaps three-year winless drought to reign the Gallagher Grand Prix

    Alexander Rossi snaps three-year winless drought to reign the Gallagher Grand Prix

    After enduring a difficult stretch for the past three seasons, Alexander Rossi made a triumphant return to Victory Lane after winning the Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, July 30.

    The 30-year-old Rossi from Nevada City, California, was running in second place approaching the halfway segment between Laps 42 and 43 of 85 when his teammate and race leader Colton Herta fell off the pace and was eliminated following a mechanical issue. From there, Rossi assumed full control of the race and managed to beat rookie Christian Lundgaard by three-and-a-half seconds to snap a 49-year winless drought and record his first NTT IndyCar Series victory of the 2022 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Felix Rosenqvist started on pole position for the second time this season after notching a pole-winning lap at 125.030 mph in one minute, 10.2265 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Alexander Rossi, who clocked in his best lap at 124.539 mph in one minute, 10.5030 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch and entering the first turn as Rosenqvist retained the lead ahead of Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden, who bolted his way from the third row to third place. Then in Turn 2, Pato O’Ward, coming off his victory at Iowa Speedway, plummeted down the leaderboard after getting hit by Will Power and spinning while running towards the front. 

    With the event remaining under green, Rosenqvist retained the lead ahead of Rossi and Newgarden. His No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet continued to lead the field through the 14-turn circuit and back to the frontstretch as the first lap was recorded.

    Through the second lap, Rosenqvist remained as the leader by seven-tenths of a second over Rossi followed by Newgarden, Herta and Lundgaard while Conor Daly, Devlin DeFrancesco, Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin and Jack Harvey were in the top 10.

    During the following lap, the first caution flew when Dalton Kellett made contact against Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Carvana Dallara-Honda as he spun in Turn 7 in front of O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet. During the caution period, few names like Takuma Sato and O’Ward pitted while the rest led by Rosenqvist remained on the track.

    When the event proceeded under green by the fourth lap, Rosenqvist continued to lead ahead of Rossi and the field. A few laps later, Colton Herta, who won at Indy’s Road Course in May, muscled his No. 26 Gainbridge Dallara-Honda into the runner-up spot while Lundgaard and Newgarden, who was penalized and forced to surrender two spots on the track for exceeding track limits, were in the top five.

    Then on the seventh lap, Herta gained strong run and overtook Rosenqvist in Turn 7 to move into the lead. Shortly after, teammate Rossi took over the runner-up lap as Lundgaard moved his No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda into the top three.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Herta was leading by more than a second over teammate Rossi followed by Lundgaard, Rosenqvist and Newgarden while Conor Daly, Scott McLaughlin, Devlin DeFrancesco, Alex Palou and Jack Harvey occupied the top 10. Behind, Graham Rahal was in 11th ahead of Rinus VeeKay, Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves and Romain Grosjean while Marcus Ericsson was in 19th ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Will Power.

    Shortly after, names like VeeKay, Dixon, Castroneves, David Malukas and Callum Ilott pitted under green. By then, Simon Pagenaud made an unscheduled pit stop. When Lap 13 occurred, more names like Palou, Rahal, McLaughlin and Conor Daly, who stalled his car, pitted under green.

    During the following lap, Herta surrendered the lead to pit along with Rosenqvist, Rossi and Lundgaard as McLaughlin moved into the lead.

    By Lap 20, McLaughlin, who continued to stretch his fuel tank as part of a strategic move, remained as the leader by more than 14 seconds over Ericsson while Johnson, Power and O’Ward were in the top five. By then, Herta was in seventh behind Takuma Sato while Kellett, Rossi and Lundgaard were in the top 10. Newgarden was in 11th ahead of Palou, Simon Pagenaud, VeeKay and Rosenqvist while Dixon in 18th in between DeFrancesco and Harvey.

    Two laps later, the leader McLaughlin pitted his No. 3 Gallagher Dallara-Chevrolet under green along with Ericsson. Once Jimmie Johnson pitted by Lap 24, Power cycled his No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara-Chevrolet into the lead followed by O’Ward, Sato, Herta and Rossi.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Power was leading by more than three seconds over Herta followed by Rossi, Lundgaard and Sato. McLaughlin was in sixth while Newgarden, Palou, Pagenaud and VeeKay were in the top 10. By then, O’Ward pitted for fresh red tires.

    During the following lap, Power surrendered the lead to pit for fresh red tires along with Sato while Herta cycled his way back into the lead ahead of teammate Rossi.

    Then on Lap 35, names like VeeKay, Rosenqvist, Rahal, DeFrancesco, Jack Harvey, David Malukas, Helio Castroneves, rookie Kyle Kirkwood, Dixon, Grosjean and Conor Daly under green as Simon Pagenaud’s No. 60 SiriusXM Dallara-Honda was off the pace after running out of fuel as he came to a stop off the course in Turn 10. Just as Herta, Rossi, Newgarden, McLaughlin and Lundgaard peeled off the track to pit, the caution flew for Pagenaud’s issue.

    When the green flag waved and the race restarted on Lap 38, Herta retained the lead ahead of teammate Rossi, Lundgaard, Power, Johnson, McLaughlin, Newgarden and O’Ward. 

    Then as the event reached its halfway mark between Laps 42 and 43, Rossi assumed the lead after teammate Herta, who was leading, fell off the pace through Turns 10 to 12 due to a mechanical issue with no clutch as his car came to a stop inside the pit lane entrance. With Herta out of contention and out of the race, Rossi was out in front by more than a second over Lundgaard followed by Power, Johnson and McLaughlin while Newgarden, VeeKay, Rahal, O’Ward and Dixon were in the top 10.

    Through Lap 50, Rossi’s No. 27 NAPA/AutoNation Dallara-Honda was leading by more than three seconds over Lundgaard’s No. 30  while Team Penske’s Power, McLaughlin and Newgarden were in the top five. By then, Johnson surrendered his spot in the top 10 to pit. Meanwhile, Castroneves was mired back in 22nd after making earlier contact with Kirkwood that sent Kirkwood spinning in Turn 9. The contact prompted IndyCar to issue the four-time Indianapolis 500 champion a penalty for avoidable contact.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Rossi continued to lead by nearly four seconds over Lundgaard as Power, McLaughlin and Newgarden remained in the top five. VeeKay was in sixth ahead of Rahal, Dixon, Palou and Rosenqvist. By then, O’Ward was back in 11th and Ericsson was in 12th while Sato, Harvey and Callum Ilott were in the top 15. David Malukas was in 16th followed by Conor Daly, Devlin DeFrancesco, Romain Grosjean and Helio Castroneves while Jimmie Johnson was back in 22nd.

    Then with nearly 25 laps remaining, Power pitted under green along with O’Ward, Dixon, Sato and Ilott. Newgarden, VeeKay, Rahal, Palou, Harvey, Malukas, Daly, DeFrancesco, Grosjean and Johnson pitted not long after before the leader Rossi pitted along with Lundgaard, McLaughlin, Rosenqvist and Ericsson.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event and with most of the leaders having made a pit stop under green, Rossi retained the lead by two-and-a-half seconds over Lundgaard while third-place Power trailed by. Power’s teammates McLaughlin and Newgarden remained in the top five while VeeKay, Rahal, Dixon, Rosenqvist and Palou were scored in the top 10. Ericsson, meanwhile, was in 11th ahead of O’Ward, Sato, Ilott and Harvey while Malukas, Daly, DeFrancesco, Grosjean and Castroneves occupied the top 20. Following his late pit stop, Jimmie Johnson was mired back in 23rd behind Kyle Kirkwood.

    With 10 laps remaining, Rossi, who was trying to navigate his way around the lapped car of Dalton Kellett, continued to lead by less than three seconds over runner-up Lundgaard and more than 14 seconds over third-place Power as McLaughlin and Newgarden remained in the top five. In addition, VeeKay, Rahal, Dixon, Rosenqvist and Palou continued to run in the top 10. 

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Rossi stabilized his advantage to four seconds over Lundgaard while third-place Power trailed by nearly 16 seconds as he could not close in on the top-two competitors.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Rossi remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Lundgaard. Despite making light contact with the wall earlier, Rossi, who had a clear racetrack in front of him, was able to smoothly navigate his way through the 14-turn circuit for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch as he claimed his first checkered flag in more than three years.

    With the victory, Rossi became the eighth different winner of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season as he also notched his eighth career victory and his first since winning at Road America in June 2019. He also became the second American competitor to win in this year’s IndyCar season and he recorded the fourth victory of the season for Honda. The victory occurred as Rossi is down to his final four races with Andretti Autosport before moving to Arrow McLaren SP in 2023.

    “It’s a relief, man,” Rossi said on NBC. “It’s been so many things for so long. I do feel for Colton [Herta]. I do, but I’m happy. Thankfully, something came our way. I just wanna give a huge shoutout to Andretti Autosport and their continued belief, NAPA Auto Parts and AutoNation. I’m so happy to drive pink. The Honda power. There’s just been so much belief for so long and it’s nice to finally accomplish it. To kind of come back at Indianapolis at home is pretty amazing…It was the No. 27’s turn [to win]. That’s awesome.”

    Meanwhile, rookie Christian Lundgaard claimed both his career-best IndyCar result and maiden podium result by finishing in second place in his 14th series start while Will Power, who won the Gallagher Grand Prix a year ago, reassumed the points lead after rounding out the podium in third place.

    “I think at the end of the third stint, I was catching Alex [Rossi],” Lundgaard said. “I was really hoping because every pit stop, we always caught up. We lost a bit in the beginning of the stint. I think the Andretti car just had so much better power than we did today. That was what killed our rear tires and we struggled on the long run. But, it sure does feel like a birthday present. I think the results speak for themselves. Coming in this weekend, we knew we had a strong car. I wasn’t so happy in practice. I think there was definitely something we found there. Then, we rolled into qualifying with last year’s car. Look where we are. I love to be at Indy. Now to have a podium, this being the place. I would’ve preferred it now being the other way around, but we’ll take that next year.”

    “Definitely a rough start,” Power said. “[I] Got pushed around in Turn 1, got pushed into Pato [O’Ward], we spun him. Then, Helio [Castroneves] went for a big move and pushed me on the curb, but great recovery. You can never expect a normal day in IndyCar. It was just one of those things. Everyone’s very aggressive and it’s so hard to win in this series. It’s the toughest series in the world. Everyone fights hard for positions. Just got to keep in clean, but great job by the Verizon 5G guys. It’s amazing that we can go all the way back there and recover to third. I’m so happy for that. It’s gonna be coming time here. Just gotta do what you know. I know this game so well. I know I can change very quickly, but you got to take what you can get every race day.”

    Power’s teammates McLaughlin and Newgarden finished in the top five while VeeKay, Rahal, Dixon, pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist and Alex Palou completed the top 10.

    Following the event, Conor Daly, who ended up 17th, was issued a penalty from IndyCar for late blocking against 18th-place finisher Devlin DeFrancesco, whom Daly vocalled his displeasure towards for forcing him off the track in Turn 12 earlier.

    There were five lead changes for five different leaders. The event featured two cautions for five laps.

    With his third-place result, Will Power leads the standings by nine points over Marcus Ericsson, 32 over Josef Newgarden, 38 over Scott Dixon, 46 over Pato O’Ward, 52 over Alex Palou, 81 over Scott McLaughlin and 113 over Alexander Rossi.

    Results.

    1. Alexander Rossi, 44 laps led

    2. Christian Lundgaard

    3. Will Power, seven laps led

    4. Scott McLaughlin, 10 laps led

    5. Josef Newgarden

    6. Rinus VeeKay

    7. Graham Rahal

    8. Scott Dixon

    9. Felix Rosenqvist, seven laps led

    10. Alex Palou

    11. Marcus Ericsson

    12. Pato O’Ward

    13. David Malukas

    14. Callum Ilott

    15. Takuma Sato

    16. Romain Grosjean

    17. Conor Daly

    18. Devlin DeFrancesco

    19. Helio Castroneves

    20. Jack Harvey

    21. Dalton Kellett, one lap down

    22. Jimmie Johnson, one lap down

    23. Kyle Kirkwood, one lap down

    24. Colton Herta – OUT, Mechanical, 17 laps led

    25. Simon Pagenaud – OUT, Off Course

    Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the second annual running of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Street Circuit in Nashville, Tennessee. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, August 7, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing adds Lundgaard for 2022 IndyCar season

    Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing adds Lundgaard for 2022 IndyCar season

    Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced the addition of Christian Lundgaard as the organization’s third full-time competitor for the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.

    The 20-year-old native from Hedensted, Denmark, is currently competing in his second full-time season in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for ART Grand Prix and has won two F2 events, both occurring in 2020. He is also a member of the Alpine Academy, a program that supports young competitors through a racing career and that started in 2002 when Alpine was known as the Renault F1 Team. In addition to F2 competition, Lundgaard is a former champion of the F4 Spanish Championship series.

    “I’m very excited to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in INDYCAR,” Lundgaard said. “They are a fantastic team who made me feel very welcome earlier this year when I made my debut in the series. They are the perfect choice, and I’m happy to join them on this next chapter in my career. I was very much open-minded when I raced at Indianapolis in August, and the experience then only grew my hunger to give it another go, so to have the opportunity as a full-time professional racing driver is a privilege. I can only thank Bobby, Piers and the team, as well as my investors and Alpine for putting it all together. I’m determined to repay that faith with on-track performances beginning when the season starts in February.”

    “Of course, this will be a completely new challenge for me, especially with oval racing, which I’ve never done before,” Lundgaard added. “I’d like to think I’m a fast learner, so taking this on is going to be an awesome experience. For now, I’m not setting too many expectations other than working hard and enjoying the racing and hopefully the results will follow. For now, though, my focus is on finishing the Formula 2 Championship before fully committing to taking on INDYCAR. I can’t wait for the experience to begin.”

    Lundgaard, whose father, Henrik, is a former European Rally champion, made his IndyCar debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August, where he started fourth and finished 12th while driving the No. 45 Dallara-Honda entry for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

    For the 2022 season, Lundgaard will be piloting RLL’s No. 30 Dallara-Honda that was formely driven by Takuma Sato, a two-time Indianapolis 500 champion from Tokyo, Japan. Sato, who will not be remaining at RLL for 2022, has yet to announce his racing plans for the future.

    “I’m very pleased that Christian will be joining us for the next several years,” Bobby Rahal, RLL’s co-owner, said. “His performance on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway certainly surprised everybody. For him to do the job he did was tremendous and certainly beyond our expectations. With a little more time under his belt, I think the performance would have been even stronger. Everyone within the team was very pleased and it created a lot of excitement and positive reactions from the fans on social media and online, as well as a positive buzz in the paddock…I look forward to a long relationship with Christian. He’s a great young man who fit well with the team immediately, and we are all excited about what we can do together.”

    “The team is very excited to have Christian onboard beginning with the 2022 season,” Mike Lanigan, RLL’s co-owner, added. “With our current lineup with Graham and Jack, I believe the addition of Christian will take our team to the next level in competing for a championship.”

    The addition of Lundgaard completes Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s three-car lineup for the 2022 IndyCar season with Graham Rahal and Jack Harvey scheduled to compete with the organization for the upcoming racing season. Harvey joins RLL following a two-year run with Meyer Shank Racing.

    Christian Lundgaard’s first full-time stint in the NTT IndyCar Series with RLL is set to commence at the Streets of St. Petersburg for the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on February 27, 2022.