By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor
(RACING)—From the glamorous streets of Monte Carlo to the historic oval at Indianapolis, to NASCAR’s longest race in Charlotte, Memorial Day in traditionally auto racing’s biggest day (although the longest days are reserved for LeMans and Daytona 24hour races). Let’s recap:
(INDYCAR)—Take the entire population of St. Louis (about 304,000 people) and put them into an area less than one square mile and then have 33 cars running 220 mph within that space—-and you have the 2022 Indianapolis 500.
Marcus Ericsson, a native of Sweden running his fourth 500, had the field covered with less than ten of the 200 laps left. And then NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson, a rookie in open-wheel racing’s biggest event, crashed with seven laps to go. Two laps later, the red flag brought the race to a halt so it could finish at speed.
The race resumed at full speed with only two laps left, locking Ericsson into an intense battle with Pato O’Ward, with five former winners—with 9 victories in the 500 among them—in the final scramble behind them. Ericsson was holding off O’Ward when Sage Karam crashed on the last lap, freezing the field as it came around for the checkered flag.
The two crashes ended late race surges by former winners Tony Kanaan, who finished third in what might be his last 500; Alexander Rossi, who had charged from 20th to fifth at the end; four-time winner Helio Castroneves who had methodically worked his way from 27th to seventh; Simon Pagenaud, who was closely behind Castroneves, and two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya, who started 30th and crossed the line 11th, less than eleven seconds behind Ericsson.
Twenty-two cars finished on the lead lap within 25.2 seconds of the winner including another former winner, Scott Dixon, who started from the pole, led 95 laps, and seemed able to withstand challenges from everybody else. Dixon, however, was caught going to fast into the pits for his last stop on lap 177 and had to make a drive-through penalty that put him at the back of the leading-lap cars. He finished 21st.
It was no consolation to Dixon that he broke Al Unser Sr.’s record for most laps led in the 500. He has led 665 laps in his career, breaking Unser’s record of 644. Ralph DePalma, one of the pioneers of the sport, is third on the list now with 612 laps led. Unser won the race four times. Dixon and DePalma each have only one victory.
Dixon also holds the record for leading the most laps in a 500 (6 times), led 12 times to up his record number of times leading the race to 70, and stayed even with Tony Kanaan for leading the most 500s (15).
Ericsson ran in the top five most of the day but led only 13 laps, the fewest since Juan Pablo Montoya led only nine in 2015.He is the second Swedish driver to win the race. Kenny Brack won the race in 1999.
Ericsson has a unique history in INDYCAR competition. He has won three races in the series. In all three, the race was red-flagged late so it could be finished at speed.
His win brought him $3.1 million, the largest winner’s reward in Indianapolis 500 history, part of a total purse of more than $16-million, the largest payout ever in the event.
The average payout at last night’s victory banquet was $485,000.
One reason for the record purse was the attendance, estimated at 325,000, the first time the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has opened its gates with no Covid restrictions in three years.
Jimmie Johnson, who won four stock car races at the Speedway in his NASCAR days, was named rookie of the year for the 500, adding $50,000 to the $207,900 he earned for his 28th-place finish.
(NASCAR)—NASCAR’s traditionally longest race of the year became the longest race in its history, with Denny Hamlin outdueling Kyle Busch in two overtimes. The race, a 600-mile Memorial Day tradition, covered 619.5 miles before Hamlin crossed the finish line a mere 0.119 seconds ahead of Busch.
His victory tended to overshadow an epic comeback by Kyle Larson, who had to start from the rear because of unapproved adjustments to his already-damaged car, then had three pit-road penalties that put him at the back again, sun off the track once, had a pit fire and still was leading the race with two laps to go when Chase Briscoe brought out the caution flag and forced the race into its first overtime.
Larson’s luck ran out on the first overtime effort when he became one of seven cars collected in the last wreck of the night. He still managed to bring his wrinkled car home ninth.
The same wreck also knocked Ross Chastain out of the running. He led 153 of the 413 eventual laps and was the next-to-last car on the lead lap, running 15th, when the race came to a merciful end after five hours, 13 minutes and eight seconds. The average speed was only 118.7 mph.
The race included 18 cautions that covered 90 yellow-flag laps. It was stopped with 54 laps left in regulation when Daniel Suarez got sideways after contact with Chase Briscoe. Chris Buescher’s car was caught up in the wreck and did five carrel rolls through the infield, coming to rest upside down. It took several minutes to get the car turned over and for him to climb out unhurt.
At the end of the night, seventeen of the 37 cars that started were in the garage area, unable to continue.
(FORMULA 1)—Heavy rain delayed the start of the Monaco Grand Prix just before the green flag fell and tire decisions by the teams trying to deal with wet/dry track conditions contributed to a race described by some as “chaotic.”
At the end of the day, Red Bull’s number two driver, Sergio Perez, became the first North American to win at Monaco since Canada’s Gilles Villeneuve in 1981. The win is his third career F1 victory, making him the winningest Mexican driver in Formula 1 history, breaking a tie with Pedro Rodriguez, who raced in the 60s and early 70s.
The race was a huge disappointment for Charles Leclerc, the lead driver for Ferrari, who started on pole and finished fourth, a setback on his home track. He now trails Max Verstappen of Red Bull by nine points in the championship standings after leading Verstappen by a wide margin in the early part of the season.
Several drivers admitted they were stunned by the crash that took Haas driver Mick Schumacher out of the race. His car crashed into two barriers with a force so hard that the rear wheels, including the transaxle, were torn from the chassis. Schumacher climbed from the cockpit unhurt, however.
(Photo Credits: Rick Gevers and Bob Priddy)