Roger Diez
Another interesting race weekend is in the books. NASCAR Cup saw another new winner in Mexico, Formula 1 teammates clashed and crashed in Canada, and once again, IndyCar’s commitment to safety pays off.
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Formula 1 led off Sunday’s racing action with George Russell’s Mercedes on the pole and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen alongside. And that’s how they finished, albeit with a lot of drama in between. Russell’s teammate, young Kimi Antonelli, scored his first F1 podium in the second Mercedes. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was fourth after a collision with teammate Lando Norris, who took the blame for the encounter and did not finish. Piastri now has a 22-point lead over Norris in the World Driving Championship, with Verstappen another 21 points behind Russell another 19 points in arrears. F1 is dark this weekend, returning to action in Austria next weekend.
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The NASCAR Cup raced for points for the first time since the 1950s outside the continental United States. The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez started out with a wet track and rain falling. Shane Van Gisbergen (aka SVG) took the lead immediately with Ty Gibbs hot on his heels. Kyle Busch ended his race on lap four when he spun in the wet and collected several other cars. His race was done, and he left Kyle Larson with major repairs to accomplish. The track soon began to dry, and a ballet of rain tires and slicks began. It was the start of a bad weekend for Team Penske (more on that later), with finishes of 14th, 18th, and 21st. Larson ended 42 laps down after repairs. SVG went on to win in a dominating fashion, leading 60 of the 100 laps. He becomes the 10th driver to qualify for the playoffs with a victory. Six slots are still open with ten races to go in the regular season.
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This weekend all three of NASCAR’s top series are at Pocono Raceway, known not so affectionately as the “Tricky Triangle.” Ryan Blaney is the defending winner with a total of two Pocono wins. Denny Hamlin is back in action after the birth of a baby boy and has five total Pocono victories. Busch has four wins and Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, and Chris Buescher have one each.
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Kyle Kirkwood won his third race of the season and got his first career oval win Sunday night at World Wide Technology Raceway. The win moves him to third in championship points, just two points behind Pato O’Ward and 75 back from Alex Palou. Only Kirkwood and Palou have scored wins in the first eight races, the first time since 1982 that just two drivers have dominated so early in the season. Team Penske did not fare well, with all three drivers DNF. Josef Newgarden had a frightening crash when he T-boned Louie Foster at 170 mph but both drivers walked away, a tribute to the safety of these cars. This weekend is the Xpel Grand Prix at Road America, the longest track on the schedule at 4 miles. Will Power won the series’ first race there in 2016 and again last year. Newgarden, Scott Dixon, and Alex Palou also have two wins with Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist one each.