TMW: IndyCar Crowns A Champion
While NASCAR rolled through its opening round of the playoffs, the IndyCar field wrapped up its season in Nashville.
The Morning Warmup
Sept. 16, 2024
Race Recaps
NASCAR
Cup Series: In a race filled with playoff drama, it was playoff miss Chris Buescher and road course ringer Shane van Gisbergen that dueled for the win at Watkins Glen International, with Buescher taking it after a last-lap pass in the carousel. (Holly Cain / NASCAR.com)
Xfinity Series: A chaotic conclusion couldn’t shake debuting star Connor Zilisch, who stretched fuel to overcome a penalty for a mistaken trip straight through the bus stop and win in his first Xfinity Series start. (Holly Cain / NASCAR.com)
Takeaways from an eventful trip to the Glen:
Shane van Gisbergen was left “gutted” after the last-lap mistake that cost him a potential Cup win. (Nick DeGroot / Motorsport)
A fed up Martin Truex Jr. had enough after getting crashed out late, calling out the field for driving “through everyone on restarts at the end of these races.” (Aaron Bearden / RACER)
Here’s what drivers had to say leaving New York. (Dustin Long / NBC Sports)
Playoff drivers had a tough time on Sunday, with the bulk of the field suffering setbacks. (Aaron Bearden / RACER)
Ryan Blaney was knocked out on the opening lap, leaving him at slight playoff risk heading to the Round of 16 finale. (Aaron Bearden / RACER)
IndyCar
IndyCar: Colton Herta emerged victorious from an intense finale at Nashville Superspeedway, while Alex Palou clinched his third NTT IndyCar Series title. (Paul Kelly / IndyCar.com)
Indy NXT: It was all Louis Foster in the finale. The series champ coasted to victory from pole in Nashville. (Joey Barnes / Motorsport)
Notes from IndyCar’s Nashville finale:
Will Power’s title ambitions came unbuckled early - literally. Loose belts derailed his day just 12 laps into Sunday’s race. (Bruce Martin / NBC Sports)
Christian Rasmussen gave a key drive for Ed Carpenter Racing, helping the company lock up a spot in the Leaders Circle program. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
Palou relished his third series title after a “super special” year for Chip Ganassi Racing. (Joey Barnes / Motorsport)
F1
F1: In a weekend that kicked off with talk of team orders at McLaren, Oscar Piastri delivered a flawless drive from second to deny pole sitter Charles Leclerc victory and claim the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
F2:
Joshua Duerksen had his moment in the sun on Saturday, dominating for his first F2 victory in Baku. (FIAFormula2.com)
Sunday’s feature race was all Richard Verschoor’s, though. The Trident driver held Victor Martins at bay to prevail after an early stoppage. (FIAFormula2.com)
Notes from a memorable weekend in Baku:
The biggest moment of the race came at the end, as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez crashed while battling for the final podium place. (Reuters)
Perez’s crash was “hugely frustrating” for Red Bull boss Christian Horner after what had been a strong return to form for the Mexican star. (Michael Lamonato / RACER)
Franco Colapinto secured points for Williams in just his second start, a run he hopes proves that he deserves an F1 seat. (Alex Kalinauckas & Oleg Karpov / Motorsport)
Championship leader Max Verstappen escaped with a warning over a late virtual safety car breach after a disappointing fifth-place run. (Valentin Khorounzhiy / The Race)
Oliver Bearman enjoyed a late battle with Lewis Hamilton, who he knew would race him respectfully. (Alex Kalinauckas & Oleg Karpov / Motorsport)
Here are a trio of reasons Piastri won a race that Ferrari or Red Bull arguably should have. (Mark Hughes / The Race)
There were a pair of F2 penalties:
Supercars: A memorable Sandown 500, filled with five safety car periods and 154 laps of action, saw Will Brown fend off Broc Feeney in a late clash to secure his first enduro race win alongside co-driver Scott Pye. (Supercars.com)
Stories from one of Supercars’ annual enduros:
Triple Eight teammates Brown and Feeney detailed the late-race crash that nearly cost the pair a 1-2 run. (Stefan Bartholomaeus / Speedcafe)
Super2 champ Kai Allen was trying to get out of the way when he accidentally triggered a crash that took him out of the race. (Stefan Bartholomaeus / Speedcafe)
Walkinshaw Andretti United was left frustrated by an abysmal performance that hampered its championship ambitions. (Connor O’Brien / V8 Sleuth)
An engine failure for Richie Stanaway triggered early chaos in Sunday’s race. (Stefan Bartholomaeus / Speedcafe)
Sports Cars
FIA World Endurance Championship: Toyota’s six-race winning streak in its home race was snapped Sunday, with Porsche’s No. 6 team prevailing in the 6 Hours of Fuji while Pure Rxcing locked up the LMGT3 titles. (Daily Sportscar)
24H Series: Herberth Motorsport picked up a fourth win in the Hankook 24H Barcelona, winning by over two laps and setting a distance record of 738 laps. (Davey Euwema / Sportscar365)
Takeaways from an eventful WEC race:
Porsche’s Kevin Estre thinks the No. 6 team’s consistency forced Toyota to take risks that bit it in Sunday’s race. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
Kamui Kobayashi took fault for the crash that effectively ended Toyota’s shot at the drivers’ title. (Gary Watkins / Motorsport)
Pxre Racing’s Joel Sturm credits the team’s tire strategy for a rally from 14th to second that clinched the LMGT3 class championship early. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
Dirt
World of Outlaws Sprint Cars:
It was all Buddy Kofoid in California. He won at Bakersfield Speedway to kick off the weekend. (Alex Nieten / WorldofOutlaws.com)
Then, one day later, Kofoid returned to the top step with a Merced Speedway win to sweep the Californian race weekend. (Alex Nieten / WorldofOutlaws.com)
High Limit Racing:
Tyler Courtney was the big winner at the Commonwealth Clash, picking up a $50,000 jackpot at Lernerville Speedway. (HighLimitRacing.com)
USAC:
The Haubstadt Hustler went to Kevin Thomas Jr.. The veteran prevailed at Tri-State Speedway for a $20,000 prize. (Richie Murray / USAC Media)
Short Tracks
CARS Tour: Carson Kvapil isn’t gunning for the title this year, but he picked up a third win at South Boston Speedway while the gap between Connor Hall and Brenden Queen tightened. (Matt Weaver / Short Track Scene)
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Ron Silk picked up his fourth win of the year at Riverhead Raceway, getting the best of late contact with Justin Bonsignore. (Brandon White / NASCAR.com)
Pro All Stars Series: Super Late Model veteran Rusty Poland scored a win that surprised even himself, beating the field in a dominant outing.
Wake County Speedway: Let confusion reign. The planned finale for the track was rained out, leaving uncertainty over what is already an intense championship fight. (Andy Marquis / Short Track Scene)
Drag Racing
NHRA: Austin Prock and Antron Brown kicked off the Countdown with victories at Reading. (NHRA.com)
News and Notes
NASCAR
IndyCar
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown shared his visions for IndyCar and FOX Sports’ coverage as the series enters a new era. (Joey Barnes / Motorsport)
A couple entertainment notes:
IndyCar is staying open minded about the future of its “100 Days to Indy” docuseries. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
As for a video game? Don’t get your hopes up. It could be a while. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
F1
Formula 1’s points system is set for a winter review on the heels of Kevin Magnussen’s race ban. (Alex Kalinauckas / Motorsport)
Helmut Marko has hinted that RB’s lineup could be revealed after the Singapore Grand Prix. (Gijs Leuvenink & Jake Boxall-Legge / Motorsport)
Lando Norris recently drove a McLaren P1… Made from Lego pieces. Like, 342,817 of them. (Brooks Peck / The Athletic)
Sauber is looking to make a decision on its driver lineup, with Valtteri Bottas still looking good for a 2025 return. (Mark Mann-Bryans / Motorsport)
Sports Cars
There are 25 cars on the entry list for the Indianapolis 8 Hour at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Davey Euwema / Sportscar365)
Dirt
USAC’s Sprint Cars are coming to The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sept. 26. (USAC Racing)
On Track This Week
All Times ET
Monday, Sept. 16
No races scheduled.
-
Tuesday, Sept. 17
Dirt
Weekly Racing (Millbridge Speedway): 6:15 p.m., DirtVision
Weekly Racing (Beaver Dam Raceway): 7:15 p.m., DirtVision
Fast Fact
Sunday’s win was due for Chris Buescher. It was his third-straight top-10 at Watkins Glen. The Texan also has top-10s at Road America (1/1), Circuit of the Americas (2/2), the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval (2/2), Chicago (1/2), Sonoma Raceway (3/3) and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course (1/2) in the Next Gen era. He’s been arguably the most consistent driver on road courses, so it’s fitting that one of those strong runs finally ended in victory lane.
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