By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor
The American Memorial Day Weekend is the biggest weekend of the year for motorsports not only in this country but in Europe.
The Indianapolis 500, NASCAR’s 600-mile race at Charlotte, and the Grand Prix of Monaco put automobile racing in the spotlight—-although there are some questions whether one of these races will remain part of the big weekend in the future.
(INDYCAR)—A year after arguably the most spectacular Indianapolis 500 in history, a record-setting field is prepared for the 106th running of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. The fastest field in history will take the green flag Sunday. The thirty-three cars have an average qualifying speed of 231.023 mph, with Scott Dixon’s record pole average of 234.046 mph leading the way.
It’s Dixon’s fifth pole, one behind the record held by Rick Mears. He is the first driver to win back-to-back poles for the 500 since Ed Carpenter did it in 2013 and 2014.
Dixon’s speed is the second-fastest qualification in track history. Arie Luyendyk set the overall record of 236.896 in 1996 but as a second-day qualifier started behind cars that had qualified on the first day.
Dixon had to outrun two youngsters to win the pole. Alex Palou qualified at 233.499 mph and Rinus VeeKay stopped the watches at 233.385. It’s the fastest front row in 500 history. They are separated by less than one-half second after their four-lap, 10-mile run.
Twenty-six of the thirty-three cars that will start the race next Sunday qualified at 230 mph or more.
Last year’s winner, Helio Castroneves, will try to become the first five-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. But he has a hard road ahead, starting 27th, on the outside of the ninth row.
Castroneves became the fourth four-time winning in a stunning race last year in which the race speed record was broken by three miles an hour. The top sixteen cars all averaged more than 190 mph and the slowest car to complete all 200 laps—Ryan Hunter Reay—was still faster than the old speed record. The last car still running—Will Power, three laps down—was running faster than the record set in 2013 by Tony Kanaan.
(NASCAR)—NASCAR’s annual all-star race sets the stage each year for its longest race and this year the all-star race went longer than usual. Ryan Blaney thought he had won this year’s race, at Texas Motor Speedway, but learned his celebration was a little premature.
Blaney crossed the start-finish line first but learned the yellow flag had come out while his car was a few yards short of the line because of a crash behind him by Ross Chastain. The incident meant the race would be concluded with a green-white-checkered flag two-lap overtime. He got a push from Austin Cindric that allowed him to get the break on the final green flag and stay ahead of Denny Hamlin by a quarter second at the final end. Cindric, the rookie who won the Daytona 500 to begin the racing season in February, finished third.
(FORMULA 1)—Max Verstappen heads to the uncertain streets of Monte Carlo on a roll after a disappointing season start. But his good fortune is built on the misfortune of his chief competitor for the early-season points lead.
Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell fought a spirited fight for second place in the early going of the Spanish Grand Prix while Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari maintained a lead. But Leclerc lost his engine after his first pit stop and Verstappen teammate Sergio Perez got past Russell to give the Red Bull team its first 1-2 finish of the year. Russell came home third. Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz, was fourth and Lewis Hamilton persevered for fifth.
The win is Verstappen’s third in row, fourth in the last five races. His win and Leclerc’s misfortune has moved Verstappen into the points lead, six ahead of Leclerc. Leclerc has won the other two races.
Mercedes, which has struggled this year, showed progress at Spain, with Russell finishing third and Hamilton coming from the back of the pack after an early-race incident to finish fifth, has indicated it might have some improvements to its cars for Monaco.
There are reports that this historic race is facing an uncertain future. The Sun, a United Kingdom newspaper, reports Formula 1 is considering dropping Monaco as a race site or running there in alternating years. F1 receives no sanctioning payments from Monaco and there are those who consider the circuit outdated and facilities inadequate.