by Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor
(NASCAR)—Joey Logano has begun a new era for NASCAR in the St. Louis region by winning a last laps duel with Kyle Busch at Worldwide Technology Raceway. The race with the Gateway Arch in view, at a track that almost disappeared eleven years ago after the apparent last NASCAR Cup race on October 23, 2010, marked the decade-long resurrection under owner Curtis Francois.
Francois bought the track two weeks before its grandstands were to be sold for scrap and its grounds cleared to make way for an industrial park for nearby Granite City and has turned it into a center for the major American auto racing series backed by the NHRA, INDYCAR, and now the NASCAR Cup series.
Logano did not get his first lead until the 208th lap of what turned into a 245-lap race, only to give it up to Kyle Busch twenty laps leader on a restart. But he got another chance after one last yellow flag when he got a push on the restart from Penske teammate Ryan Blaney that put him back in front. Busch got past him briefly on the backstretch before Logano got under Busch and back into the lead going into the final lap.
He finished 0.655 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch whose elder brother Kurt got between him and Blaney.
The race ended with some hard feelings, mostly caused by eighth-place finisher Ross Chastain, who confessed after the race that he had done a horrible job of driving and kept running into people. The first one he hit was Denny Hamlin. Who went into the wall in turn two (that’s Hamlin at the wall and Chastain in car #1). Hamlin’s car was never the same although he soldiered on going fast enough to meet minimum speed requirements. He finished 34th, eleven laps down. He has indicated there will be retribution in some later race.
Chastain also caused a wreck when he tried to force his way between Chase Elliott (left) and Austin Dillon as they were running just outside the top 12 and forced Elliott to spin in front of the rest of the field. Elliott got back underway but his day was spoiled. He finished 21st.
Chastain, who knows a racetrack woodshedding from Hamlin and Elliott will be administered in some future race told FOX Sports broadcaster Jamie Little, “I’m supposed to be better than that…I owe half the field an apology. I can’t continue to make the same mistakes. I’ll have to pay for it on the track.”
Logano joins Chastain, Hamlin, and William Byron as two-time winners of NASCAR Cup races this year. Elliott also has a victory this year.
The race was a sellout. Logano discussed events afterwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n406_Yz9gbk
(INDYCAR)—While the St. Louis area was celebrating a new beginning, Detroit was seeing an end to INDYCAR racing on the Belle Isle circuit. Penske driver Will Power, who suffered a heartbreaking loss last year, dominated this year’s race to win his 41st career INDYCAR victory. But he had to hold off Alexander Rossi who launched a late race charge to the front for the second week in a row.
Pit strategy was a factor as Power stopped for tires and fuel only twice while Rossi made three stops. Power made his last stop with 19 laps left in the 70-lap race. He led by almost 16.1 seconds but was on tires that degraded faster than the tires Rossi was using. He still led by 12.1 with ten to go. But Power got behind slow-running Jack Harvey, the lead dropped to 7.7 seconds with five laps left, then to 6.5 with three laps left. It was only 2.8 seconds at the start of the final lap and when the checkered flag fell, Power was only 1.0027 seconds ahead.
“I think one more lap would have been really interesting,” Rossi said after the race. “But you’ve got to give credit to (Power’s pit crew) and Will. That’s hard to do at the end, to hang on.”
Power’s win came a year after he dominated the Belle Isle circuit until the race was stopped because of a crash and his car would not restart before the race resumed. He called his weekend victory “just redemption from last year.”
The win moves Power into the INDYCAR points lead by three points over Marcus Ericsson, who won the previous weekend’s Indianapolis 500.
INDYCAR is not leaving Detroit, just Belle Isle. Next year, Power, Rossi and the others will race on a circuit through the streets of the city.
Rossi will be with a new team for next year’s race. He’s leaving Andretti Autosports and has signed with Arrows-McLaren for 2023.
(FORMULA 1)—Formula 1 is getting ready for the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan in Baku. Azerbaijan is a former member of the Soviet Union. It declared its independence in 1991.
(Photo credits: WWTR—Bob Priddy; Power—Rick Gevers at Indianapolis)