by Bob Priddy, Missourinet contributing editor
(Indianapolis)—–Whether you prefer them with or without fenders, you had your choice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the weekend. INDYCAR’s Alexander Rossi broke a three-year, 49-race winless streak and Tyler Reddick won for the second time this year in the NASCAR Cup series. A.J. Almendinger caught the checkers in the Xfinity race, NASCAR’s Cup feeder series.
Rossi, who called his INDYCAR win “a relief,” had been so frustrated by his long victory drought, announced earlier this year that he was leaving Andretti Autosport for Arrows McLaren in 2023. He started P2 next to possible future teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and was running second to Colton Herta when Herta had a major mechanical failure after running over one of the course’s curbs near the halfway point.
The win is number eight for Rossi (right) in INDYCAR since joining Andretti Autosports in 2016 after a five-race mediocre career in Formula 1, and winning the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie.
He said his lack of victories in the last two-plus seasons caused him to push “reset” on his career—the reason he has signed to drive for Arrows McLaren next year.
Rookie Christian Lundgaard finished 3.5 seconds back. Will Power’s third-place finish gave him the series points lead over Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, who rallied from his dead-last starting position 11th in the 25-car field. Power now leads Ericsson by nine points.
Power’s Penske teammates Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden finished fourth and fifth. Newgarden’s participation in the race had been in doubt until practice on Friday because of his crash the weekend before in Iowa and his later collapse in the hauler area after that race. He was tentatively cleared to practice and after the practice session was cleared to drive in Saturday’s race.
INDYCAR races next week on the streets of Nashville.
(NASCAR)—Tyler Reddick had the NASCAR race at the Brickyard under control before a series of last-segment incidents added drama to a race already marked by on-track bumping and off-track adventures.
The race was forced into overtime when several cars tangled on the first turn of the next-to-last scheduled lap, with one car mired in the gravel and unable to continue. On the restart, Ross Chastain challenged Reddick for the lead on the first turn, found the track too crowded, and took an access road instead of the regular course turn. He briefly led Reddick, who regained the top spot before completing the lap.
The move backfired on Chastain, who crossed the finish second but was hit by NASCAR with a 30-second penalty that left him 27th in the final standings. The wild scramble at the end left rookie Austin Cindric as the runner-up. Harrison Burton came home third, followed by Todd Gilliland and Bubba Wallace. The results were career bests for Burton and Gilliland, and with Cindric, it marked the first time in 28 years that three rookies have been in the top five at the end of a Cup race (one of the three rookies that finished in the top five at Pocono in 1994 was Ward Burton, Harrison’s father. His uncle Jeff, now a NASCAR television analyst, was one of the others, joined by Joe Nemechek.
NASCAR takes its show to Brooklyn, Michigan next weekend.
(FORMULA 1)—Max Verstappen survived a spin and won the Grand Prix of Hungary. In the process he built his points lead to 98 over Charles Leclerc, who started from pole and thought he had a shot at the win until a poor tire choice during a pit stop left him unable to keep up. He finished sixth.
Pole-sitter George Russell of Mercedes finished third with Russell’s teammate, Lewis Hamilton, between the two.
Formula 1 takes its summer break this month and won’t resume racing until the Belgian Grand Prix on August 28.
(Photo credits: Rick Gevers and Bob Priddy)