Musings From the Weekend: Play the Game

Marcus Ericsson and Patricio O'Ward each got to take a dip in the fountain at Belle Isle. Saturday was rather delayed. Chip Ganassi Racing's sports car dominance could soon be returning. Chip Ganassi had a a great weekend across the board. Romain Grosjean is going to run Gateway. IndyCar is trying to fill a gap. People are mad about everything. BMW has committed to an LMDh program. Glickenhaus made its Hypercar debut. Extreme E will not be going to Brazil and Argentina and now it has to find replacements for 40% of its calendar. Superstar Racing Experience had its first race. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.

Play the Game

The lack of an American driver on the Formula One grid has been a recurring theme over the first half of 2021. 

Between Haas F1 taking Nikita Mazepin as one of its drivers, Colton Herta's success in IndyCar and a stark rise in Formula One's American television ratings, thanks in part due to the success of Netflix's Drive to Survive series, there is a renewed interest in long, on-going American absence in Formula One. 

There are plenty of suitable drivers out there. From Herta to Alexander Rossi to Josef Newgarden, there are Americans succeeding at the highest level of open-wheel racing in North America. All three raced in the European ladder system. Rossi made it to Formula One and he was runner-up in the GP2 championship behind only Stoffel Vandoorne. Newgarden raced in GP3 and Herta was Lando Norris' teammate six years ago in what is now British Formula 4. Norris won the title while Herta was third. 

Despite talent and respect earned from others around the globe, IndyCar drivers are out of the Formula One loop, and that is the biggest reason Herta, Rossi and Newgarden are not going to end up moving up to the world championship. 

If a driver wants to make it to Formula One, he or she has to commit to the European leader system. Formula One teams are not going to waste their time scouring the world looking for qualified drivers. Over the last 20 years, the FIA has simplified its global pathway to Formula One and it has led us to the current forms of Formula Two and Formula Three. For the most part, Formula 4 series take place on a national level, there are a handful of regional Formula Three championships, that are labeled as Formula Regional and the national and regional series funnel into the international series. 

If you are in that bubble, then a Formula One team might look at you. There is no incentive for them to look elsewhere, and there are plenty of drivers willing to play along. Once in a team as a development driver or a reserve drive, the team is going to keep that driver in the system. When drivers have been farmed out to other series, it has been in cases where drivers have maxed on the junior series and yet Formula One teams did not have a spot for them in the top series. See Stoffel Vandoorne and Pierre Gasly being sent to Japan's Super Formula and Esteban Ocon being placed in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.

A driver has to play the game to make it to Formula One. If you have the money, you might be able to get away without playing, but for 99.999% of the drivers, even the Nikita Mazepin's of the world, they have to play the game. It doesn't matter where you are from.

American drivers are not subject to special treatment. It doesn't matter that they are winning races in IndyCar and going 240 mph into turn one at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. At some point, if they want to be in Formula One, they must step into the Formula One world, different from their comfort zone, and accept they might fail. Copping out and saying American drivers do not get enough attention is not an excuse.

As for future American hopefuls, we should not be focusing our attention on those succeeding in IndyCar, but those playing the game and there are multiple in the ring. 

Formula Three has four American drivers, five if you include Miami-born Enzo Fittipaldi. Logan Sargeant was third in the Formula Three championship last year. Sargeant led the championship entering last season's finale at Mugello before a pair of two brutal races knocked him out of the fight. Juan Manuel Correa is making his comeback after serious leg injuries suffered in a Formula Two accident two years ago at Spa-Francorchamps. 

Jak Crawford and Kaylen Frederick are both rookies in Formula Three this season, and both Crawford and Frederick started in the Road to Indy. At 14 years old, Crawford ran 13 races in U.S. F2000 in 2019 and was seventh in the championship despite missing two races. In 2020, he joined the Red Bull junior program, moved to Europe and ran the ADAC Formula 4 and Italian Formula 4 Series. He was runner-up in the ADAC Formula 4 championship and sixth in the Italian championship after missing two rounds. 

Frederick just turned 19 years old, but he spent two full seasons in U.S. F2000 in 2017 and 2018. He was fourth and sixth in the championship respectively. In 2019, he moved to BRDC British Formula Three. In year one, he won two races and was ninth in the championship. In year two, Frederick won the BRDC British Formula Three championship with nine race victories.

One other driver that should be mentioned is Cameron Das. Das leads the Euroformula Open Championship with four victories through six races and he has been on the podium of every race. Crawford is also competing in Euroformula Open and he is second in that championship. 

These are the five drivers where American Formula One fan's hopes should lie, and none of them are going to make it to Formula One next season. If any of them are immaculate, they could be there in two seasons, but don't hold your breath. Formula One requires brilliance, and even though there are four Americans in Formula Three, the odds are still against any of them making it. 

Crawford is a Red Bull junior driver, but the other three have no affiliation to any Formula One team. Though an advantageous position, Crawford is no shoe-in at Red Bull. Red Bull is known for having a congested junior system. The likes of António Félix da Costa and Filipe Albuquerque never got a shot at Formula One despite significant junior series success as Red Bull drivers. Red Bull isn't going to promote Crawford if Crawford is only good. He must be exceptional.

These drivers have to win at every level of the ladder system to make it. Even winning might not be enough, but it is at least something to hang your hat on.

The only way to get around the game is a $25 million check. Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden could be on the grid for the upcoming French Grand Prix if they dropped that check on a team's desk. That amount of money doesn't exist for those drivers so they will be heading to Road America instead. But the IndyCar contingent is happy in IndyCar. They are firmly in their comfort zone and competing for race victories. None of them desire just being on the Formula One grid and having to spend two or three seasons battling in a Williams or Haas just to hopefully get the attention of a larger team. And Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are not going to hire anyone straight out of IndyCar. 

Patricio O'Ward might be the exception to the rule, as O'Ward will have a Formula One test later this year with McLaren, but we should stress O'Ward is the exception to the rule. It is only a test. McLaren has a solid driver lineup with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. I am not sure what O'Ward would have to do to break into McLaren's F1 lineup, but one great test and a possible IndyCar championship probably is not enough.

American's next Formula One driver will not be someone we know and has a national presence. It will likely be an unknown, a current teenager that does not have a deep career racing in the United States. Alexander Rossi fit that criteria. Sargeant, Correa, Crawford, Frederick and Das are the American hopefuls, like it or not. They are playing the game. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Marcus Ericsson and Patricio O'Ward, but did you know. 

The #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Renger van der Zande and Kevin Magnussen won the IMSA race from Belle Isle. The #23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis won in the GTD class after the #39 CarBahn Motorsports with Peregine Racing Audi was disqualified for a re-fueling infraction. The #4 Corvette of Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy won the GTLM non-championship race.

The #8 Toyota of Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley won the 8 Hours of Portimão. The #38 Jota Oreca-Gibson of Roberto González, Anthony Davidson and António Félix da Costa won in LMP2. The #51 AF Corse Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado won in GTE-Pro. The #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari of Roberto Lacrote, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Antonio Fuoco won in GTE-Am.

 

Michael Ruben Rinaldi won the first World Superbike race and the Superpole race from Misano. Toprak Razgatlioglu won the second race on Sunday. Dominique Aegerter swept the World Supersport races.

Doug Coby won the inaugural Superstar Racing Experience race from Stafford Motor Speedway.

Kyle Larson won the NASCAR All-Star Race from Texas, his second all-star race victory. Kyle Busch won the Grand National Series race, his 99th career victory in the series. John Hunter Nemechek won the Truck race, his fourth victory of the season.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar starts summer at Road America. 

Formula One starts a three-week stretch of races with the French Grand Prix.

MotoGP returns to Germany and the Sachsenring. 

Formula E will make its debut at the circuit in Puebla, Mexico. 

NASCAR has its first Cup race at Nashville Superspeedway and first race weekend at the track since 2011.

The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season opens at Monza.

Supercars will try to race in Darwin.

GT World Challenge Europe gives Zandvoort's new banked final corner its first proper test.

Super Formula reaches the midway points of its season at Sportsland SUGO. 

SRX has its first dirt race from Knoxville.

First Impressions: Belle Isle 2021 Race Two

1. Patricio O'Ward better buy Jimmie Johnson dinner, and maybe Romain Grosjean as well, because without the late cautions O'Ward was going to settle for a top five finish. The cautions allowed O'Ward multiple chances to attack and in the final 12 laps he went from fifth to first, including a paint-trading pass on Josef Newgarden with three laps to go. 

Newgarden was a sitting duck on the alternate tires while O'Ward made daring pass after daring pass to get to second. O'Ward was in the groove in the closing laps and he made Newgarden pay. And O'Ward started 16th! He had made up ground throughout the race and when presented the chance for victory, he took it. 

It has been a great season for O'Ward. Through eight races, he has two victories and he is the first repeat winner of the season. O'Ward also has four podium finishes and six top five finishes from eight races. There hasn't been a driver that has broken away from the field. O'Ward is positioned to do it. If he keeps up this consistency, the championship will be his. 

O'Ward exits Belle Isle as the championship leader by one point over Álex Palou. There are still at least eight races to go, maybe nine races remain, but the youth takeover is in full force. 

2. Josef Newgarden led 67 of 70 laps and he lost the lead with three laps to go. Newgarden had always committed to the two-stop strategy, starting the race on the primary tire, but when Dalton Kellett stopped at the end of pit lane, it appeared a caution could have come. Kellett was out of the way, but Newgarden made his stop proactively. He was in the window, but the team put on primary tires for that second stint. Unfortunately, the second stop came about five or six laps earlier than desired, meaning Newgarden would have to run about five or six more laps on the alternate tire. 

It looked like Newgarden was going to lose out to Colton Herta, but Jimmie Johnson spun just ahead of the two and brought out the caution. Instead of Newgarden losing out to Herta and having to hold onto a ten-second gap over third with 15 laps to go, Newgarden had to hold on with about a dozen cars on better tires breathing down his neck. 

If the Johnson caution never happens, I think Newgarden limps home to second. Instead, he had to hold on to second and it was a masterful, defensive drive. It sucks to lose this race, but Newgarden deserves recognition for his drive.

3. Álex Palou isn't going anywhere. Another race weekend and another podium finish. Yesterday, Palou struggled, and he bounced back, qualifying fourth today and spending the entire race in the top five. He got a third-place finish taking advantage of Colton Herta, who did not have the pace in the short sprint to the checkered flag. Palou had a 36-point championship lead over entering the weekend. He exits down one point, but it could have been worse, and Palou has positioned himself nicely for the second half of the season.

4. Colton Herta must be frustrated with this weekend, but especially with today. Without Johnson's spin, he likely would have overtaken Newgarden in the next lap or two and he would have won running away. Instead, Herta did not have the speed on the restart and in the short run. He dropped to fourth and it is hard to take any positives from this. When it mattered most, Herta did not have it. He could not pull out the victory. It is another Andretti Autosport disappointment.

5. Graham Rahal was in the top five all race and yet never looked like a threat. It was a good day. Rahal has five top five finishes from the last six races. That is good, but it has to be better if Rahal wants to get into the championship fight. It has been four years since his last victory. That streak needs to end soon.

6. Will Power committed to the two-stop strategy, but unlike Newgarden, Power did not stop when Kellett had pulled over. Power went the distance on that second stint, and he only had to run 19 laps on the alternate tire. It got Power a sixth-place finish after starting 20th. It is not quite enough to make up for yesterday, but it is something positive to take to Road America.

7. Scott Dixon had a little contact at the start, but it did not throw him off his game. Dixon was seventh, and that was as good as he appeared to be. He has not had a poor race really all season. Indianapolis was out of his control, but we are not used to Dixon going four races without a top five finish. He can turn it on at any moment, but with the production from O'Ward and Palou, Dixon has to turn it on soon.

8. Simon Pagenaud was eighth. Not much to say. Good day. 

9. Marcus Ericsson was knocked into the wall entering turn seven when Rinus VeeKay drove into the Swede. It forced the team off-strategy and Ericsson still finished ninth. It looked like Ericsson was going to have a hangover after his first career victory. Ninth isn't fantastic, but it was better than this day was heading at one point.

10. Santino Ferrucci pulled out a top ten finish in a backup car after he totaled his car on the final lap of qualifying. Credit to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew for getting this car ready and allowing Ferrucci to keep his 12th starting position. Ferrucci spent the entire race on the fringe of the top ten. This was a good weekend for him.

11. Quickly through the rest of the field, Ryan Hunter-Reay had to start 17th. Hunter-Reay made up some ground but did not make many waves and ended up 11th. Takuma Sato appeared to always be going backward and then he finished 12th. 

12. Alexander Rossi had a damaged front wing after that opening lap contact with Romain Grosjean and Scott Dixon. The wing didn't really fall apart until halfway through the opening stint. Rossi had already committed to the two-stop strategy. I think the team should have called an audible and switched to three stops. Rossi was always going to lose time with the long stop for the wing change. The team should have allowed him to run all out. He got back to 13th, but he was better than 13th today. His difficult season continues and we approach two years since his most recent victory.

13. Hey! James Hinchcliffe got his best finish of the season! It is still only 14th. Hey! Conor Daly finally was the top Ed Carpenter Racing finisher in a race! It was still only a 15th-place finish. Belle Isle did not spark anything for Sébastien Bourdais and he was 16th. Ed Jones dropped like a rock in this one and was 17th. Rinus VeeKay pinched Ericsson and it cut VeeKay's tire, taking VeeKay out of contention for a good finish. 

14. Jack Harvey was hit on an out lap. Romain Grosjean got into Harvey in turn six, Harvey went around and had a flat tire. Harvey continued, but he was never going to get a good finish. Grosjean was handed a penalty and then his brakes caught fire late. 

15. Was Scott McLaughlin in this race? Yes, and McLaughlin was 20th. It was a tough weekend for him. Somehow, Jimmie Johnson was only one lap down. Johnson spins every week. You can put money on it. Max Chilton ran over the back of James Hinchcliffe in turn three on the opening lap when the field stacked up. Chilton's wing damage put him in the barrier and he lost two laps. Chilton never got those laps back and he was 22nd for the second consecutive race. 

16. Dalton Kellett pulled over because the right rear wheel nut was not on. IndyCar made the right call not throwing a caution. Kellett stopped out of the way and was still behind the pit wall. Cars were able to exit pit lane safety. Kellett's team had to run down and wheel him to the side to fix the issue, but IndyCar made the right call letting the race stay green. It did alter Newgarden's strategy, but that was the team's choice. Power did not stop. If Newgarden stays out, perhaps he wins this race, even with the late cautions. 

17. It should be noted Oliver Askew replaced Felix Rosenqvist in this race. Rosenqvist was released from hospital with no major injuries. Askew's day ended after 46 laps when the team retired the car after a possible engine failure. 

18. I am surprised more teams didn't not use a three-stop strategy today. I think people saw what Will Power did yesterday and saw it could be beneficial to just go long on the alternate tires on the first stint. Only seven cars stopped under the Chilton caution on lap two, and I thought more may have stopped on lap nine or ten. I thought the teams could get five or six good laps on the alternates and once that compound was maximized, the teams could switch to the primary tires and go hard for the final three stints. 

19. I have been saying it for years, Belle Isle is a fun track. I would have never said that ten years ago. But, in its current condition, we have a surface that chews up the alternate tire and encourages a three-stop strategy. We have a race distances where the windows are large for a three-stop strategy and a two-stop strategy. You could stop as early as lap 16 and make it on two stops. Or you could run until lap 27 and make your final stop as early as lap 43. Or you could go long on the first two stints and make your final stop with about 16 laps to go. 

Belle Isle has turned into a fun race. The winners this weekend started 15th and 16th. The Saturday race had over 200 passes. The first 25 laps on Saturday had a race worth of action and that was before Rosenqvist's accident and the final 45 laps. I look forward to Belle Isle each year now. It is crazy to think how the track's perception has changed in less than a decade. I am not sure any other track has had such a turnaround. 

20. This was a difficult weekend in terms of scheduling and people aren't happy. 

Let's start with today. The French Open men's final pre-empted the IndyCar race and the first half of the IndyCar race was on CNBC. 

It is not ideal, but IndyCar isn't NBC's only sports property. It had the French Open final and a tennis match could last anywhere from 90 minutes to five hours. Let's also remember Belle Isle was a week later than its normal spot in the schedule. IndyCar chose to move Belle Isle back a week and be French Open final weekend. This problem likely doesn't happen if Belle Isle stays the week after the Indianapolis 500. 

Also, NBCSN was committed to the Premier Lacrosse League in the afternoon, there was a Stanley Cup playoff game scheduled to follow the race and there are Olympic trials on all afternoon on NBCSN and in primetime on NBC. 

Don't forget that NBC stayed with the first Belle Isle race for 90 minutes longer than its scheduled broadcast window. The Saturday race was not bumped to CNBC or NBCSN. IndyCar got 90 more minutes on network television. The first lap of Saturday's race was missed as the Premier Lacrosse League game before it went to overtime. Once, the IndyCar race ended, NBC moved onto the Olympic diving trials and there were technical issues with post-race coverage on the Internet and streaming. 

That wasn't on purpose. Technical problems happen and they are inconvenient. It was a long day for everyone, and the day had not gone as planned. There was no post-race coverage scheduled prior, but when the broadcast had to move to diving, all of a sudden, a streaming post-race show was needed. That is a lot easier said than done. 

NBC has many sports properties to please. They all are going to be shown live. There is bound to be a few conflicts. IndyCar was given extra time yesterday and then had to start on CNBC today. It was not ideal, but the final half of the race was shown on NBC. The Newgarden-Herta battle and then the O'Ward-Newgarden battle made network television. 

It is easy to get angry, but don't forget NBC is the television partner that has put at least eight races on network television, three more than its previous contract, and the Indianapolis 500 had pre-race coverage begin at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Indianapolis 500 is treated like a major event. It never got three hours of pre-race coverage prior to NBC.

IndyCar has gotten a lot out of this television partner and NBC stayed with a race for 90 minutes longer than its scheduled television window. I cannot stress enough how generous that is.

It is easy to be angry and feel disrespected, but everyone should step back and consider all the moving pieces. This was a tough weekend, and a lot of things did not goes as planned, but that should not cancel out the overwhelming number of good things that have come with this broadcast partner and we should not forget where IndyCar was before this deal. 

21. Next week is Road America, as we are in the middle of the season. The races are disappearing fast as summer is ready to begin.

Morning Warm-Up: Belle Isle 2021 Race Two

Marcus Ericsson continued the trend of new winners in race one

Marcus Ericsson was one of the few men smiling after the first Belle Isle race on Saturday, as the Swede picked up his first career IndyCar victory. It was Ericsson's 37th start and it came at the track of his only other podium finish. He was second to Scott Dixon in the second Belle Isle race two years ago. It is Ericsson's first victory in 2,898 days. His last victory was the GP2 feature race at the Nürburgring on July 6, 2013. This is the fourth different first-time winner this season and Ericsson is the seventh different winner through the first seven races. This is also the first time Chip Ganassi Racing has had three different winners in a season. Ericsson set a career-high for laps led yesterday. He led all of five laps, inflating his career total to 15 laps led. Ericsson won from 15th on the grid in race one. It was the fourth time a Belle Isle winner started outside the top ten in 28 races.

Rinus VeeKay ended up second in his first Belle Isle start. VeeKay's previous best finish on a street course was ninth at St. Petersburg in April. He is one of two drivers to finish in the top ten of six of seven races this season. Scott Dixon is the other. VeeKay is the first Ed Carpenter Racing with multiple podium finishes in a season since J.R. Hildebrand was third at Phoenix and second at Iowa in 2017.

Patricio O'Ward has three podium finishes and five top five finishes after his third-place result yesterday. O'Ward leads all drivers in top five finishes this season. He also picked up his second pole position of the season ahead of race one. O'Ward is tied for the second-best average finish this season, as he and Álex Palou have each averaged a seventh-place finish. Scott Dixon leads the way at 6.7143.

 

Takuma Sato scored his first top five finishes in 12 starts with his fourth-place result in race one. It was Sato's fifth top five finish at Belle Isle. It has lifted him into the top ten of the championship and Sato is the top driver without a victory this season. If there is a new winner in the second Belle Isle race, it would be the first time a season opened with eight different winners since 1911.

Graham Rahal joined his teammate Sato in the top five with Rahal in fifth. It was Rahal's fourth top five finish of the season. He has four consecutive top ten finishes at Belle Isle and six top ten finishes in his last seven Belle Isle starts.

Santino Ferrucci picked up his best street course finish in sixth. Ferrucci's previous best was ninth at St. Petersburg in 2019. He also finished sixth at Indianapolis and he is looking for three consecutive top ten finishes for only the second time in his career. He was ninth in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis last year ahead of a pair of sixth place finishes at the Road America doubleheader. 

Ferrucci is one of ten drivers in this race without an IndyCar victory. The last time there were five first-time winners in a season was the 2002 Indy Racing League season when Jeff Ward, Airton Daré, Alex Barron, Tomas Scheckter and Felipe Giaffone all won a race. It was the only victory for three of those five drivers. 

Alexander Rossi was seventh in race one, but he did lead his first laps of the season after starting second. Rossi has started on the front row of four consecutive Belle Isle races now. Rossi has not finished in the top five and yet he has been the top Andretti Autosport finisher in four of seven races this season. Andretti Autosport has not had a top five finisher in the last three races. The team had the same streak last year between the Iowa doubleheader and the Indianapolis 500. This is Rossi's longest top five drought since his rookie season when he went nine races between top five finishes. 

Scott Dixon was eighth and he has six top ten finishes from seven races. Dixon led 16 laps yesterday and he has led 395 laps this season. He has not led 400 laps in a season since 2012, when he led 456 laps. The most laps he has led in a season was 899 laps in 2008. 

Ed Jones ended up ninth yesterday, his first top ten finish in 14 starts dating back to a sixth-place finish in the 2019 Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Jones led two laps yesterday and they are only the second and third laps led of his career. He led one lap at Texas in 2018, a race where he also finished ninth.

Josef Newgarden was the top Team Penske finisher in race one in tenth. Team Penske had at least one top five finisher in ninth consecutive races before yesterday. Team Penske had put at least one car on the podium in the previous three Belle Isle races before yesterday. Newgarden did pick up fastest lap in race one, his first fastest lap since his Iowa victory last year.

Sébastien Bourdais was 11th in race one, snapping a streak of four consecutive finishes outside the top fifteen. It was the fourth time in the last five Belle Isle races Bourdais has finished outside the top ten. Bourdais has won the eighth race of the season three times in his career, most recently in 2015 at Belle Isle.   

Simon Pagenaud fell to 12th in the closing stages of race one. Twelfth is Pagenaud's worst finish this season. Among the 21 drivers that have run every race this season, Pagenaud has the best worst finish this season. The other 20 full-time drivers have finished at least one race outside the top twelve.

Conor Daly was 13th for his second consecutive start on Saturday. Daly has not had a top ten finish in his last 12 starts and he has still not been the top Ed Carpenter Racing finisher in his season-and-a-half with the team. 

Colton Herta has finished outside the top ten in his last three starts and in five of seven races this season. This is the first time Herta has finished outside the top ten in three consecutive races since a seven-race slump in his rookie season two years ago. 

Álex Palou's races led streak ended yesterday at six. Palou was 15th, but he retains the championship on 263 points, 15 points ahead of O'Ward. Palou has not finished in the top ten yet on a street course in his IndyCar career. Yesterday was only his third street course start. 

The good news for Jack Harvey is for the second consecutive race he finished ahead of his starting position. The bad news is Harvey only went from 19th to 16th in race one. For the second consecutive season, Harvey has a four-race stretch of finishes outside the top fifteen. He was outside the top fifteen in the first four races of the 2020 season. 

James Hinchcliffe was looking at a possible top five finisher before needing to pit for emergency service under the red flag yesterday. This dropped Hinchcliffe out of the running, and he ended up 17th, which actually matched the best finish of his season. 

Dalton Kellett matched his career best finish of 18th yesterday, but he finished one lap down. Kellett is the worst driver in the championship to have started every race in 26th on 74 points. He is five points behind Tony Kanaan, who has only started three races. 

Scott McLaughlin had his hands full and brought the car home in 19th. McLaughlin started a career-worst 23rd in race one. His previous worst was 21st on debut at St. Petersburg last year. 

Will Power suffered a crushing defeat yesterday when his car would not start when the red flag was lifted, and Power was leading the race at the time. Power has finished outside the top ten in five consecutive races, his worst slump since he ended 2016 with a pair of 20th-place finishes and opened 2017 with finishes of 19th, 13th and 14th. Power did lead 37 laps yesterday, the most laps he has ever led in a Belle Isle race.

Ryan Hunter-Reay snapped a streak of four consecutive top five finishes at Belle Isle after he slapped the wall on an out lap after his first pit stop. It was Hunter-Reay's worst finish at Belle Isle in 21st. He has finished in the top ten in the eighth race of the season the last three years. 

Max Chilton was 22nd and he has finished outside the top twenty in three consecutive races. Chilton did start 18th, his best starting position of the season. He has started outside the top fifteen in seven of nine Belle Isle starts. 

Romain Grosjean's accident in turn eight left him with his first retirement of his IndyCar career. Grosjean did lead a lap for a second consecutive start. He did start third in race one, his second consecutive top five start. 

Jimmie Johnson suffered a sensor issue in the first race and only completed 49 of 70 laps. Johnson did win one NASCAR Cup Series race on June 13. It came at Pocono in 2004. He led 126 of 200 laps that day. His only other Cup start on June 13 was at Michigan in 2010. He ended up sixth. 

Felix Rosenqvist stayed overnight at DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital. Evaluation revealed no life or limb threatening injuries and Rosenqvist remained awake and alert the entire time. Rosenqvist did post a message on Twitter last night saying he was ok, except for soreness.

Oliver Askew has been called in to substitute for Rosenqvist in race two. Askew made 12 starts in the #7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet last season. His best finish was third in the first Iowa race, but his best finish on a road/street course was 15th in the first Road America race and the second Mid-Ohio race. 

Qualifying for race two takes place at 9:00 a.m. ET. The qualifying groups will flip their order from race one. 

Group one will be Bourdais, Dixon, Herta, Newgarden, Hunter-Reay, Sato, Askew, Rahal, Chilton, Jones, Ferrucci and McLaughlin. 

Group two has Power, O'Ward, Rossi, Ericsson, VeeKay, Hinchcliffe, Grosjean, Palou, Daly, Pagenaud, Harvey, Kellett and Johnson. 

As with race one, the top six drivers from each group will advance into round two, where the top driver will earn pole position. 

NBC's coverage of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix race two begins at noon ET with green flag scheduled for 12:40 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 70 laps. 

First Impressions: Belle Isle 2021 Race One

1.  It was one of those races and after the red flag for Felix Rosenqvist's accident it completely reset the race we had been watching. After developing into a chaotic battle between the teams adopting the three-stop strategy as early as possible and those who were going to try and stretch the alternate tires on the opening stint, while some start on the primary tie and were going to run two-stop strategy, Rosenqvist's accident and red flag negated all of that and instead of a 70-lap battle, it turned into a 40-lap sprint. 

With everything reset, it played into the favor of Will Power, who tried to go as long as possible on the alternate tires. He had just made his stop when Rosenqvist had his accident and it positioned him for a shot at victory. Then Romain Grosjean had an accident in turn six with six laps to go. IndyCar red flagged the race for an attempt at a restart. When it was time to restart, Power's car could not re-fire, and the Australian dropped from the lead to off the lead lap. 

Power's misfortune gifted the lead to Marcus Ericsson with four laps to go and Ericsson held on. 

I cannot say much about Ericsson's race. He benefitted from the Rosenqvist caution and was set up for a podium finish afterward. Then Power's car fails to restart, and Ericsson just has to keep his nose clean for four laps, which he did. He has been good over the last two seasons, a regular top ten finish, but he has yet to have that stellar day where he controls a race. Even after his victory today, Ericsson has not had a race in IndyCar where he has been one of the three or four fastest cars. He only led the five laps and that is the most laps he has led in an IndyCar race. 

I cannot stress this enough; Ericsson has been good in IndyCar. He has been a solid top ten driver since joining Chip Ganassi Racing and he has had a few races get away from him for things out of his control. He has had poor pit stops cost him top tens at Texas, a rear wing on the verge of failing take him out of a top five spot at Gateway and he may have been in the top five at Iowa two years ago if he doesn't have an improper pit entry. 

This victory will feel good to him, but it will also feel a little hollow. I think no matter who won today this victory would have felt underwhelming.

2. I am going to level with you, this is not going to be deep analysis of this race. It is going to be more stuff from the gut and reacting to the results. 

Rinus VeeKay was second. It feels like it is about ten positions better than he was going to finish. He was another guy who leaped into the top five after the Rosenqvist accident and he held off a charging Patricio O'Ward late.

3. Patricio O'Ward would have been in the top five if the Rosenqvist accident never happened, but he was on a three-stop strategy. He lost out to Alexander Rossi during the first pit cycle, but O'Ward was still going to be at the front. This result feels fitting.

4. All the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars overachieved today, and we will cover those in one go because they were fourth, fifth and sixth with Takuma Sato ahead of Graham Rahal and Santino Ferrucci. 

Maybe one of these cars could have been in the top ten, but there was no sign all three cars would have made the top ten. Sato even had to give up a spot for blocking. Somehow, they pulled this out. Rahal needed a good result, especially after Indianapolis. 

5. I wish we could have seen this race played out without the Rosenqvist accident because Alexander Rossi was incredible after his got off the alternate tires. He stopped very early and he was flying, carving up traffic. It would have been interesting to see how Rossi on a three-stopper would have battled with Scott Dixon, who was on a two-stopper and had started the race on the primary compound, in the closing laps. We didn't get to see it.

6. Scott Dixon was eighth. This is two consecutive races where a caution bites Scott Dixon while he is leading. This result is at least respectable, but it feels like things are not shaking out in his favor this season.

7. Ed Jones was ninth and he looked good all race. He qualified fourth. His team did try to go the longest on the alternate tire and he lost ground. Ninth is probably better than he would have been if the Rosenqvist accident didn't happen. Jones might have ended up 14th or 15th, but in this scenario he fought hard and had a top ten car.

8. Josef Newgarden brushed the barrier on his out lap after his first stop and it looked like he was out of this race. Newgarden only loses a lap and gets the wave around after the Rosenqvist caution and he pulled out a top ten. That sounds about right for a Team Penske driver.

9. I am going to break up the rest of the field in bunches:

Sébastien Bourdais was 11th, but he should have picked up a top ten. He didn't do anything wrong all day. 

Simon Pagenaud dropped to 12th after restarting late in the top ten. I don't know if his tires were junk or if contact damaged his car. Either way, the result could have been better.

Conor Daly was 13th. That is it. 

Colton Herta cannot get a break. He looked good for a possible top five finish. It just feels like every race Herta's team gets caught out on strategy or he gets caught in traffic at the worst possible time. 

10. Álex Palou has struggled this weekend and he was not a factor in this one, finishing 15th. But Palou is still the championship leader! 

11. Jack Harvey has been out of his element this weekend. I think 16th is where he should have finished. 

James Hinchcliffe also cannot get a break. He was running second when the Rosenqvist accident happened. Hinchcliffe was out of fuel when he stopped on pit lane for the red flag. The team had to re-fuel the car and taking emergency service sent him to the rear. He never recovered and was 17th. He should have been in the top ten.

12. Dalton Kellett was 18th... good for him. I think this is the third time he has matched his career-best finish. 

Scott McLaughlin is getting a workout this weekend. Belle Isle is a difficult track. Almost everybody struggles here in their first race.

13. Will Power... oof. Power was angry after this one, and I get it. 

IndyCar has been red flagging races late for almost a decade. Each time we have feared what happens if someone does not start. It happened today and it just had to be the leader that could not getting fired up. 

This race was a mess. It was delayed for over an hour. There was the accident late. It has been hot and humid all weekend. I thought IndyCar could have run four laps under caution and had a restart with two laps to go. Romain Grosjean's accident wasn't that serious and his car was not in a difficult position. But I understand why IndyCar red flagged it and it got an extra green flag lap out of the race. 

Power did not deserve this. It is fickle trying to restart a race and making sure there is a green flag finish. It is damned if you do, damned if you don't. Should IndyCar wait until all the cars are restarted? Should IndyCar give that time? 

People get on Formula One for the free tire changes under red flags, but Formula One makes sure the cars are properly taken care of so they can continue in the race. In North America, a red flag is seen as hands off. No one is allowed to touch the car. No one is allowed to alter the race. Well, not touching the cars altered the race today. 

Power couldn't even get a fan on the car to cool himself and the ECU unit. If Power had gotten a fan in there from the start, perhaps his car doesn't overheat and fail to restart. This was a tough race with the conditions and the aeroscreen does make hot days worse. 

I think it is time for a philosophical change from IndyCar. The car has changed with the aeroscreen, and it has changed more for the better. Drivers feel safer. That is a good thing, but with that change IndyCar must consider altering its procedures. 

14. Ryan Hunter-Reay looked like a contender at the start and then he walloped the barrier on his out lap after stopping early to get off the alternate tire. Hunter-Reay overdrove the car. He could have been in the top five today. He might have been on the podium. At Indianapolis, he locked up the brakes entering pit lane, and that is not entirely his fault, but these are too many unforced errors from Hunter-Reay.

15. Max Chilton was 22nd. I don't know what happened. Jimmie Johnson had a throttle sensor issue put him behind the wall early. Johnson was able to rejoin the race, but this was a glorified test session for tomorrow, completing only 49 laps.

16. Romain Grosjean is one of probably 22 drivers that had a rough day. Grosjean looked strong at the start. He was shuffled back after the Rosenqvist caution and then contact cut down a tire and forced an extra pit stop. It only got worse from there when he got into the barrier in turn eight. 

17. And we get to Felix Rosenqvist, who fortunately is fine. Rosenqvist was taken to hospital under precaution, but he was awake and alert the entire time and went to the infield medical center. 

It is a scary accident when the throttle stick. It stuck in turn six. Fortunately, it didn't stick at the end of the straightaway at turn seven. This has been a tough year from Rosenqvist. The results have not been there. O'Ward has beat him every race for the most part. This doesn't help his year. 

We have to wait and see if anything is found after this hospital visit. I think we are all thankful we only heard good news after this one. Ten years ago, it could have been a lot worse. 

18. Let's hope tomorrow is a much calmer and quicker day. Less than 24 hours until the next race. We don't need any red flags tomorrow. I think we are sick of them.

Morning Warm-Up: Belle Isle 2021 Race One

Will Power opens Belle Isle weekend on top

Will Power topped the one and only practice session ahead of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader on Friday. Power ran a lap at 77.2768 seconds and finds himself as the favorite for pole position ahead of Saturday's race one. He has not won a pole position in the first six races of 2021. It is his longest drought without a pole position since he went ten races between pole positions from Austin to Mid-Ohio in 2019. He has never started on pole position for the seventh race of a season. Power only has one pole position at Belle Isle and that was for the first race in 2015.

Sébastien Bourdais ended up second practice, 0.1523 seconds behind Power. Bourdais has two victories at Belle Isle, but those are his only top five finishes at the track. He has only two other top ten finishes at the track, including a ninth in the most recent race. He has never started better than sixth at Belle Isle. Bourdais' last pole position was at Phoenix in 2018 and he has not won a pole position for a street course since the first Toronto race in 2014.

Patricio O'Ward made it a top three sweep for Chevrolet, 0.2375 seconds off Power. O'Ward ran at Belle Isle in 2019 and he finished 14th and 11th in those two races. O'Ward's only top ten finish in five street course starts was second at St. Petersburg last year. The Mexican is one of four drivers to win a pole position this season, as he took the top spot at the Barber season opener.

IndyCar's most recent pole-sitter Scott Dixon was the top Honda, 0.3410 seconds off the top. Dixon had a 15-race top ten streak snapped after he finished 17th in the Indianapolis. In 2019, Dixon followed up 17th at Indianapolis with a 22nd at Belle Isle when he brushed the inside the barrier in turn six and ended up in the tires on the outside of the corner. Dixon has not started consecutive races on pole position since 2008 when he won pole position at Kansas and the Indianapolis 500.

Alexander Rossi rounded out the top five, just under four-tenths back. Rossi has not started better than tenth since he started second for the season opener at Barber. He has started on the front row in three consecutive Belle Isle races and he has started in the top four in five of the last six Belle Isle races. Rossi's most recent pole position was for the first Belle Isle race in 2019.

Colton Herta was just over a half-second behind Power in sixth. Herta was 12th in both Belle Isle races in 2019, and it was the first of three consecutive doubleheader weekends Herta finished in the same position in both races. He was fifth in both Road America races and 19th in both Iowa races last year. In the three doubleheader weekends since, he had at least one top five finish each weekend. 

Marcus Ericsson ended up in seventh. Ericsson has never started in the top ten on a street course. His best starting position was 12th in the second Belle Isle race in 2019. Ericsson went on to finish second in that race and he led his first two laps of his IndyCar career. 

Josef Newgarden ran a 68.0329-second lap, and he was the closest Team Penske car to Power. Newgarden has finished in the top ten of the seventh race of the season every year he has driven for Team Penske. Three of those are top five finishes, including his Belle Isle victory in 2019. 

Rinus VeeKay is one of seven drivers in the field making their Belle Isle debut and he topped the Detroit debutants in ninth. VeeKay completed a session-high 32 laps. He has three consecutive top ten finishes, tied for the longest streak of his IndyCar career. He was sixth, fourth and eighth between the Gateway doubleheader and the first Mid-Ohio race last year. 

Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top ten in practice, and Hunter-Reay was the final car within a second of Power's time. Hunter-Reay has four consecutive top five finishes at Belle Isle, but he has started in the top five for only one of those, the first race in 2018. In 17 Belle Isle starts, Hunter-Reay's average starting position is 9.7.

James Hinchcliffe had a good practice in 11th. Hinchcliffe has started in the top ten in six consecutive Belle Isle starts and in ten of his last 11 appearances. He has finished outside the top ten in his last nine starts, the longest drought of his IndyCar career. His previous longest drought was five races, from Mid-Ohio to Sonoma to close out the 2018 season. 

Takuma Sato ended up in 12th in practice. Two years ago, Sato picked up his fifth podium finish on a street course when he was third in the first Belle Isle race. The only other street course where Sato has multiple podium finishes is São Paulo, where he was third in 2012 and second in 2013. 

Romain Grosjean returns fresh off his runner-up finish in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and he was 13th in practice, 1.3084 seconds behind Power. Grosjean was 13th at St. Petersburg last month after starting 18th. The last driver to follow up a runner-up finish with a first career victory was Robert Doornbos at Mont-Tremblant in 2007.

Felix Rosenqvist wound up 14th in practice. Rosenqvist has not had a top ten finish in his last eight starts. He has not started in the top ten in his last seven starts. He had started in the top five of five races prior to this slump. 

Championship leader Álex Palou was 15th in practice, 1.5228 seconds off Power. Palou has led a lap in each of the first six races this season. He is one of three drivers with at least 100 laps led. Palou sits on 103 laps led. Palou could become the first driver to open a season with seven consecutive races led since Hélio Castroneves did it in 2006. Palou will have to serve a six-spot grid penalty for making an unapproved engine changes between Carb Day and the Indianapolis 500.

Graham Rahal was 16th. Rahal had his streak of three consecutive top five finishes snapped with his accident in the Indianapolis 500. It was the first time Rahal has had three consecutive top five finishes since he swept the Belle Isle doubleheader in 2017 and followed it with a fourth at Texas.

Conor Daly enters Belle Isle with 40 laps led this season, but if he wants to add to that total, Daly will have to improve from his practice result of 17th. The most laps he has led in a season is 56 in 2016. He has led 16 laps at Belle Isle. He has only led more laps at Indianapolis, Mid-Ohio and Iowa. This is Daly's second-best track in terms of average finish among tracks with at least three starts at 11.2. Only Gateway is better at 7.3.

Max Chilton slid into 18th. Chilton has finished 24th in his last two starts. It is the first time he has finished outside the top twenty in consecutive races since he was 21st at Austin and 22nd at Barber in 2019. He has one top ten finish on a street course in his IndyCar career, a seventh at Toronto in 2017. Chilton has finished 11th twice at Belle Isle.

Simon Pagenaud's Belle Isle troubles continue. Pagenaud was 19th in practice, and he has started outside the top ten in four of the last five Belle Isle races. The Frenchman has five consecutive top ten finishes, his longest streak since he had 11 consecutive top ten finishes across the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He ended 2019 with nine consecutive and had two more to start 2020. He has not finished in the top five of the first Belle Isle race since he was third in the rain-shortened race in 2015.

Ed Jones rounded out the top twenty, 1.8041 seconds back. Jones has finished on the lead lap of every odd-numbered race this season, but he has finished off the lead lap in every even-numbered race this season. He has only finished on the lead lap in 27 of 53 career starts.

Jack Harvey was 2.0365 seconds behind Power's time. Harvey has started outside the top ten in only three of his last 14 road/street course starts. He has finished outside the top ten in his last three starts, however, the Indianapolis 500 was the first time he finished better than his starting position this season. He started 20th and finished 18th. 

Santino Ferrucci ended up 21st in practice. Ferrucci's average starting position at Belle Isle is 17.5 with his best starting position being 13th. This is his second IndyCar weekend this season. He led 20 laps in the second Belle Isle race in 2019 as he went off strategy, but he had to make a pit stop under caution and was shuffled back, ultimately finishing tenth.

Dalton Kellett will be making his Belle Isle debut and he trailed Power by 3.5303 seconds. Kellett made his first IndyCar street course start at St. Petersburg in April where he started 24th and finished 23rd. He lost an engine after 67 laps in that race.

Scott McLaughlin completed only five laps in practice before he got into the tire barrier on the exit of turn five and he finished up 24th. Among the drivers to have started every race this season, Scott McLaughlin has the seventh best average finish at 10.5. He is one of three drivers to have completed every lap this season. McLaughlin, Scott Dixon and Simon Pagenaud have completed all 935 laps. 

Jimmie Johnson has yet to finish last this season, but he was at the bottom of practice, 5.4585 seconds off over and 1.6099 seconds off McLaughlin's top time. Johnson was only one lap down at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, the first time he did not finish multiple laps down this season. It was also the first time he did not cause a caution in a race.

Qualifying will take place at 11:00 a.m. ET. 

Group one will feature Power, O'Ward, Rossi, Ericsson, VeeKay, Hinchcliffe, Grosjean, Palou, Daly, Pagenaud, Harvey, Kellett and Johnson. 

In group two, Bourdais leads Dixon, Herta, Newgarden, Hunter-Reay, Sato, Rosenqvist, Rahal, Chilton, Jones, Ferrucci and McLaughlin. 

The top six drivers from each group will advance into round two, where the top driver will earn pole position. 

NBC's coverage of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Race One begins at 2:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 70 laps.

Track Walk: Belle Isle 2021

Belle Isle is back

The seventh and eighth rounds of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season take the series to Belle Isle. The 2.35-mile street course returns to the calendar after it was unable to host an event last year due to the pandemic and local restrictions. It is the second of five returning venues on the schedule. With an additional entry set for Belle Isle, there will be 25 cars on the grid this weekend, the largest Belle Isle field since 25 cars were entered for the 2013 doubleheader. These will be the final two races of spring and the 28th and 29th IndyCar races respectively held on Belle Isle Park.

Coverage
Time: Race one coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on Saturday June 12 with green flag scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET. Race two coverage begins at noon ET on Sunday June 13 with green flag scheduled for 12:40 p.m. ET
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Leigh Diffey and Townsend Bell will be in the booth. Marty Snider and Kevin Lee will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule 
Friday:

First Practice: 5:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes)*

Saturday:

Qualifying: 11:00 a.m. ET *

Race: 2:05 p.m. ET (70 laps)
Sunday:
Qualifying: 9:00 a.m. ET (NBCSN will have live coverage)*
Race: 12:40 p.m. ET (70 laps)

* - All practice and qualifying sessions are available live on Peacock.

Palou on Top

While Hélio Castroneves was in the spotlight after his fourth Indianapolis 500 victory, runner-up Álex Palou finds himself leading the IndyCar championship entering Belle Isle. Palou has led the championship after three races this season. He first led after his first career victory at Barber in the season opener. Despite finishing 17th at St. Petersburg, the Spaniard held a two-point lead leaving Florida. He did lose the championship lead after the first Texas race, but Palou has stayed in the top three all season with his largest deficit to the top spot being 26 points. 

With 85 points from the Indianapolis 500, Palou has a 36-point lead over Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon. 

The championship leader after the Indianapolis 500 has a track record of remaining at the top of the field. Since 1997, the championship leader after Indianapolis has won the championship seven times, including Scott Dixon last year. In seven of the last 24 seasons the championship leader after Indianapolis has gone on to finish second in the championship. 

Since 2000, only once has the leader after Indianapolis not finished in the top five of the championship, and that was Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014, who went on to finish sixth. Jeff Ward and Mike Groff are the only other post-Indianapolis championship leaders not to finish in the top five of the championship since 1997. In both cases, those drivers were outside the top ten, with Ward falling to 11th. Groff was 14th, but he was replaced after fracturing his tibia in practice at Texas. He made one more start at Charlotte and missed the final two races after suffering a concussion at Loudon. 

Thirty-six points is not a small lead. This is the fourth-largest championship lead after Indianapolis since double points were adopted in 2014. Dixon won the title last year after holding an 84-point lead and Simon Pagenaud won off the back of a 57-point lead after Indianapolis in 2016. Hunter-Reay had a 40-point lead after his 2014 victory, but still dropped to sixth. 

While it looks favorable for Palou, who else is comfortable heading to Detroit?

Let's set the parameters. Since 1997, 23 of the last 24 champions have been in the top eight of the championship after the Indianapolis 500. Greg Ray is the one outlier as Ray went from 20th, 81 points back after the Indianapolis 500 to champion in 1999. The 1999 Indy Racing League is significantly different from the 2021 IndyCar Series. There were only ten races in 1999, all ovals and it could be statistically speaking one of the worst grids in IndyCar history. However, Ray sets the bar for worst championship position and largest deficit. 

Focusing on the DW12-era, five of the nine champions overcame a deficit of 40 points or greater after the Indianapolis 500. Scott Dixon overcame the largest deficit, as Dixon was 61 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya after the 2015 Indianapolis 500. 

Dixon is also one of two drivers in the DW12-era to be outside the championship top five after Indianapolis to go on and win the title. The New Zealander was eighth, 46 points behind Marco Andretti in 2013, and Dixon ended that season with his third championship. Josef Newgarden was seventh, 59 points behind then-Penske teammate Hélio Castroneves after Indianapolis in 2017 and Newgarden went onto win his first championship. 

Dixon is 36 points back in second with Patricio O'Ward 37 points off in third. Simon Pagenaud is up to fourth in the championship, 47 points behind Palou, with Rinus VeeKay rounding out the top five, trialing Palou by 57 markers. 

Newgarden finds himself sixth and 64 points off the top spot. There is a 30-point gulf between Newgarden and Colton Herta while Graham Rahal is 100 points off the top spot in eighth. 

Palou's weekend will start with a minor setback. Because the team changed an engine between Carb Day and the Indianapolis 500 without approval, Palou will have to serve a six-grid spot penalty in race one from Belle Isle. 

Possible History

Through six races there have been six winners this IndyCar season, representing six different nationalities. History could be made this weekend. There have been seven IndyCar seasons to feature seven different winners through the first seven races. The most recent was in 2017. 

There has only been one IndyCar season to feature eight different winners through the first eight races. That was 1911, which had 13 different winners to open that season. 

The good news is we have 19 drivers who could extend the streak on Saturday afternoon, including the most recent road course pole-sitter, Romain Grosjean. 

Grosjean returns in the #51 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing. He led 44 of 85 laps in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis from pole position before falling to second after a difficult battle in lapped traffic. A victory for Grosjean would not only be another winner, but the fourth first-time winner in 2021. The last time IndyCar had four first-time winners in a season was 2013. Only three drivers have scored their first IndyCar victory at Belle Isle. They are Hélio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud and Carlos Muñoz. Dale Coyne Racing has one victory at Belle Isle. It came with Mike Conway in the first race in 2013.

Dale Coyne Racing's other driver, Ed Jones, also could extend the streak and be the fourth first-time winner of 2021. Jones has yet to pick up a top ten finish this season and he has not had a top ten finish in his last 14 starts. His last top five finish was 29 starts ago, a third at Belle Isle. It is one of three tracks where Jones has a podium finishes. 

Three quarters of Andretti Autosport are winless this season. All three of those drivers are ranked 15th or worse in the championship. Alexander Rossi leads that grouping and for the second consecutive year Rossi exits the Indianapolis 500 coming off the worst finish in his IndyCar career. Last year, Rossi followed Indianapolis up without completing a lap in the next race. His best finish this season is seventh. This is his longest stretch without a top five finish to open a season in his IndyCar career. He has four top five finishes in eight Belle Isle starts and he has led 65 laps at the track.

Ryan Hunter-Reay also has not finished in the top five this season and he has finished in the top five of his last four Belle Isle starts, including a victory in the second race in 2018. James Hinchcliffe hasn't finished in the top 15 this season, let alone the top ten or top five. Hinchcliffe is 24th in the championship, ahead of only Dalton Kellett amongst the drivers to have started every race this season. 

Graham Rahal swept the Belle Isle races in 2017 and he has not won an IndyCar race since. Rahal's first victory made him the seventh different winner through seven races that season. In Rahal's 63 starts since his most recent victory, he has seven podium finishes, 18 top five finishes and 44 top five finishes. He is coming off a 32nd place finish in the Indianapolis 500. In 2014, Rahal was 33rd at Indianapolis and followed it up with a runner-up finish in Belle Isle. 

Takuma Sato could extend the streak and could also make it seven different nationalities to win a race. Sato has not had a top five finish since he was second in the first Gateway race last year. He has not had a top five finish on a street course since he was third in the first Belle Isle race in 2019. 

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing remains at a three-car lineup for a second consecutive race weekend, as Santino Ferrucci will remain the #45 Honda for the Belle Isle doubleheader. Ferrucci was sixth at the Indianapolis 500, the top RLLR finisher. He has finished in the top ten in all three of his Indianapolis 500 starts. Three years ago, Ferrucci made his IndyCar debut at Belle Isle and finished 22nd and 20th with Dale Coyne Racing. He was 19th and tenth at the track in 2019. After opening 2020 with three consecutive top ten finishes on road/street courses, Ferrucci finished outside the top ten in the final five road/street course races. 

Marcus Ericsson's first trip to Belle Isle started with a 13th-place result in the damp conditions on Saturday in 2019, but he followed it up with a runner-up finish the next day, Ericsson's first and so far only podium finish in IndyCar. He has three top ten finishes this season and 12 top ten finishes in 20 starts with Chip Ganassi Racing. 

Jack Harvey is another driver entering looking for a first career victory. Harvey carries the extra weight of driving for the Indianapolis 500 winning team, but not being the driver responsible for that victory. He has finished outside the top fifteen in his last three starts after starting the season with an 11th, fourth and seventh. This will be Harvey's first time competing at Belle Isle. Five of his six street course starts in IndyCar have come at St. Petersburg. He was 12th in the 2018 Grand Prix of Long Beach. 

A.J. Foyt Racing has fallen on hard times after opening the season with finishes of fifth and tenth with Sébastien Bourdais. Bourdais has not finished better than 19th in the last four races and Dalton Kellett's best finish this season is 18th. This is Bourdais' worst stretch of races since 2015-16, when he ended the 2015 season with three consecutive finishes outside the top fifteen and then opened the 2016 season with a 21st-place result at St. Petersburg. The Frenchman is a two-time Belle Isle winner, one of six former winners in the field this year and one of five drivers all-time with multiple victories at the circuit.

Conor Daly is coming off his best finish of the season in 13th. Daly led 40 laps in Indianapolis, the most in the race. It is the first time Daly has led the most laps in a race in his IndyCar career. Daly's only podium finish came at Belle Isle in the first race in 2016. Daly has not run at the track since 2017. 

Felix Rosenqvist is 20th in the championship, 129 points off his Arrow McLaren SP teammate Patricio O'Ward. Rosenqvist has not finished in the top ten this season. He was fourth in his first Belle Isle start two years ago, and he was running in the top ten before he spun with damaged suspension in race two.

Max Chilton and Jimmie Johnson are back this weekend. Chilton is three points ahead of Johnson in the championship. Both drivers have made the same number of starts, but Chilton started the double points Indianapolis 500 and Johnson did not. Johnson also has the better finish this season of 19th at Barber, while Chilton's best result was 20th, coincidentally at Barber.

Team Penske's Bagels

All four Team Penske drivers could also extend IndyCar's different winners streak, as the most successful team in IndyCar has yet to take a checkered flag first this season. The last time Team Penske did not win one of the first six races was in 2013, and that is when the team did not win until the eighth race of the season. 

Things are much better than that 2013 campaign. Eight years ago, Hélio Castroneves was the only driver with a podium finish through the first seven races. Will Power had only one top five finish. A.J. Allmendinger was part-time, having run five of the first seven events. Allmendinger was seventh at Indianapolis, but he was outside the top twenty in three starts, and he was taken out on the opening lap of both Belle Isle races. 

Flash-forward to 2021, and all four Team Penske drivers have been on the podium this season. Team Penske has had a podium finisher in five of six races this season. Three of the drivers have runner-up finishes. Three of the drivers are in the top ten of the championship and the worst Penske driver is in 12th. 

A third-place result at Indianapolis gave Simon Pagenaud two podium finishes this season, but it also lifted Pagenaud to fourth in the championship on 201 points, 47 behind Álex Palou. Pagenaud's first career victory came at Belle Isle in 2013, but he has only two podium finishes and three top five finishes in the 12 races since. He swept the pole positions for the 2016 races, but since then he has started seventh or worse. Pagenaud has started in the top ten in four of six races this season. He started in the top ten of four of 14 races in 2020. 

Josef Newgarden won the first Belle Isle race in 2019 and he is sixth in the championship. Since joining Team Penske, Newgarden has three top five finishes in six Belle Isle starts after having only one top five finish in his first nine starts at the track. He was on the front row for both races in 2019, but before that he had never started in the top five in 13 attempts. Newgarden has won a street course race in three of the last four seasons and four of the last six seasons. 

Scott McLaughlin may have made a mistake speeding on pit lane at Indianapolis, which dropped him to 20th at the finish, but McLaughlin is ninth in the championship. He was eighth in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Among the Penske drivers, McLaughlin has the third best average finish at 10.5, but he has the second-best average starting position at 12th. He was the top Penske qualifier for the Indianapolis 500. 

We do not say this often but bringing up the rear for Team Penske is Will Power. Though 12th in the championship, Power has failed to finish in the top ten in his last four stats and he was runner-up at the Barber season opener. He does not have a pole position this season. It is only the third time in his IndyCar career he does not have a pole position through the first six races of a season. The other two were his rookie season in 2006 and reunification season in 2008. Strangely enough, Power has only one pole position at Belle Isle and that was for the Saturday race in 2015. He has only one top five start in his last eight Belle Isle appearances. 

If Team Penske does not win this weekend, it will be the first time the organization has not won one of the first eight races in a season since its last winless season in 1999. 

Qualifying Adjustment

This year's Belle Isle weekend will see a slightly modified qualifying session compared to previous seasons. 

Both Belle Isle races this weekend will feature a two-round qualifying session. Round one will see the grid split into two groups and each group will get ten minutes on track. The fastest six drivers from each round will advance to round two. Round two will be another ten-minute session that will set the first six rows of the grid. The drivers that do not advance from group one will set the odd-numbered positions on the grid from row seven downward with the drivers not advancing from group two setting the even-numbered positions from row seven downward. 

In previous years, only the first round of qualifying would take place at Belle Isle, with two groups split in half. The fastest time from the two groups would get pole position and the remaining drivers from that group would set the odd-numbered positions. The fastest time from the other group would start second and the remainder of that group would set the even-numbered positions. The fastest drivers from each group would receive a championship point. 

IMSA

IMSA joins IndyCar this weekend for the first of two companion weekends. Belle Isle marks the fourth round of the championship. Twenty cars are on the entry list. 

Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor are coming off their second victory of the season at Mid-Ohio last month and the drivers of the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura have 1,070 points, 55 points ahead of the #55 Mazda of Oliver Jarvis and Harry Tincknell. The #55 Mazda has finished on the podium of all three races this season, and it even was on the podium in the qualifying race ahead of the 24 Hours of Daytona. 

Sebring winners Loïc Duval and Tristan Vautier are third with 951 points in the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac. Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr have the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac on 918 points in fourth. Dane Cameron and Olivier Pla sit fifth with 904 points in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura. Chip Ganassi Racing has finished fifth in the last three races and Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande enter Belle Isle will 859 points. 

Wayne Taylor Racing has won four of eight Belle Isle races since 2012. General Motors had won seven consecutive races before Team Penske and Acura won in 2019 with Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya. Ricky Taylor leads 

There will be 12 GT Daytona entries at Belle Isle, but this race only counts toward the WeatherTech Sprint Cup and not the overall GTD championship. Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley won at Mid-Ohio last month and they lead the Sprint Cup championship with 380 points in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW. The Turner twosome also lead the overall GTD championship with 920 points, seven ahead of the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin of Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn.

Lexus won at Belle Isle in 2019 and it has made a late change to its driver lineup in the #12 Lexus. Townsend Bell will be in the car with Frankie Montecalvo as Zach Veach has tested positive for COVID-19 and will be forced to miss the race. Montecalvo and Veach were second at Mid-Ohio last month. Jack Hawksworth won at Belle Isle two years in the #14 Lexus. At Mid-Ohio, Hawksworth and Aaron Telitz are coming off a lost opportunity at Mid-Ohio when suspension issues took the car out of the race after leading the opening stint. 

Katherine Legge and Mario Farnbacher each have two Belle Isle victories, and they won together in 2018 driving an Acura for Meyer Shank Racing. Farnbacher is still in an Acura, driving the #76 Compass Racing Acura with Jeff Kingsley, while Legge splits the #88 Porsche with Rob Ferriol for Team Hardpoint EBM. Richard Heistand won with Hawksworth two years ago. Now, Heistand will drive the #39 CarBahn with Peregine Racing Audi with Jeff Westphal. Westphal won at Belle Isle in 2014 with Scuderia Corsa. 

Lamborghini has yet to win at Belle Isle and the Italian manufacture has the #1 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini of Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers leading the way. Snow and Sellers have a pair of third place finishes this season.

Corvette will run both cars this weekend, the only two GT Le Mans cars competing. Belle Isle was designated as a non-championship event for the class. The #3 Corvette of Antonio García and Jordan Taylor lead the championship with 662 points after a victory at Daytona and fourth at Sebring. Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy trail the sister car by 47 points, as the #4 Corvette was second at Daytona and fifth at Sebring.

The IMSA race will take place at 5:10 p.m. ET on Saturday June 12. This race is scheduled for 100 minutes.

Indy Lights

While IndyCar and IMSA have been regulars at Belle Isle, Indy Lights makes its first trip to the street course since 2012. 

David Malukas and Linus Lundqvist split the Indy Lights races weekend on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last month and they are 1-2 in the championship. Malukas has 151 points, 11 more points than Lundqvist. Malukas has five consecutive podium finishes. Kyle Kirkwood has five consecutive top five finishes and the American trails Malukas by 27 points. Toby Sowery was on the podium in both IMS road course races and the Briton rounds out the top four on 105 points. 

Alex Peroni picked up his first podium finish of the season with a third in the second IMS road course race. That result moved Peroni to fifth in the championship on 101 points, two points ahead Devlin DeFrancesco and six points ahead of Danial Frost. Benjamin Pedersen was runner-up in the opening race of the season at Barber, but Pedersen has not finished in the top five since and he has dropped to eighth on 88 points. Robert Megennis has only one top five finish and sits on 83 points. 

Reigning Indy Pro 2000 champion Sting Ray Robb rounds out the top ten on 72 points. Antonio Serravalle has 64 points, three more than Nikita Lastochkin and Christian Bogle is last in the championship on 59 points.

Gustavo Yacamán won the most recent Indy Lights race at Belle Isle nine years ago. It was a Colombian 1-2, as Carlos Muñoz was second and Oliver Webb rounded out the podium. There was only one American in that race, as 43-year-old Rodin Younessi was 12th out of 13 cars. Younessi retired after 12 of 40 laps and it was his second of two Indy Lights starts. 

Race one of the weekend will take place at 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday June 12 with race two scheduled for 10:35 a.m. ET on Sunday June 13.

Fast Facts

Saturday's race will be the 12th IndyCar race held on June 12 and first since Tony Kanaan won at Texas in 2004. 

There has been one Belle Isle race held on June 12. Paul Tracy won that race with Team Penske in 1994. 

Sunday's race will be the sixth IndyCar race held on June 13 and the first since Danny Sullivan's final IndyCar victory in 1993 at Belle Isle driving for Galles Racing. 

Honda has won nine of 15 Belle Isle races since 2012. Honda has swept the Belle Isle doubleheader three times since 2013 while Chevrolet has swept it twice. 

Five times has a driver won at Belle Isle and gone onto win the championship (Bobby Rahal 1992, Alex Zanardi 1998, Will Power 2014, Scott Dixon 2018 and Josef Newgarden 2019). Since becoming a doubleheader, the three drivers to win at Belle Isle and win the championship all won the first race of the weekend.

The average starting position for a Belle Isle winner is 5.629 with a median of fourth. 

Since 2013, the average starting position for a race one winner is eighth. Three of the seven race one winners have started outside the top ten. Three of the seven race one winners have started second. 

The average starting position for a race two winner is 6.428. Five of the seven race two winners have started outside the top five and the race two winner has never started on the front row. 

In 2019, only four drivers finished in the top ten of both Belle Isle races. All four drivers were Americans (Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi, Graham Rahal and Zach Veach).

The greatest number of drivers to finish in the top ten of both Belle Isle races is six and it has happened four times (2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018).

Only four drivers have finished on the podium of both Belle Isle races (Mike Conway 2013, Will Power 2014, Graham Rahal 2017 and Ryan Hunter-Reay 2018).

Five of the last six Belle Isle winners have led the most laps. 

American drivers have won four of the last six Belle Isle races. American drivers had won only four of the first 21 Belle Isle races. 

The average number of lead changes in a Belle Isle race is 4.333 with a median of five. 

Twelve of the last 13 Belle Isle races have featured at least five lead changes. Only three of the first 14 Belle Isle races had at least five lead changes. 

The average number of cautions in a Belle Isle race is 4.148 with a median of four. The average number of caution laps is 14.629 with a median of 14.

Five of the last eight Belle Isle races have featured two cautions or fewer. There has never been a caution-free race at Belle Isle. The most cautions were eight in 1999 and in the rain-shortened first race in 2015.

Possible Milestones:

Scott Dixon is one victory away from tying Mario Andretti for second all-time with 52 victories.

Scott Dixon is one podium finish away from his 125th podium finish.

Will Power is one victory away from the 40-victory milestone.

Alexander Rossi is one podium finish away from his 25th podium finish. 

Sébastien Bourdais needs to lead 43 laps to reach the 2,700 laps led milestone.

Josef Newgarden needs to lead one lap to reach 2,500 laps led milestone.

Ryan Hunter-Reay needs to lead 51 laps to reach the 1,600 laps led milestone.

James Hinchcliffe needs to lead 19 laps to reach the 800 laps led milestone.

Graham Rahal needs to lead 50 laps to reach the 500 laps led milestone.

Colton Herta needs to lead 136 laps to reach the 500 laps led milestone.

Predictions

We will reach eight different winners through the first eight races, as Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi split the weekend. One of those winners will start outside the top five. Álex Palou will finish outside the top ten in one of the races. The gap between first and second in the championship will be smaller than 36 points after this weekend. Sébastien Bourdais bounces back and gets top ten finishes in both races. Romain Grosjean will start ahead of his teammate in both races. Jimmie Johnson will not have a spin. James Hinchcliffe will pick up his best finish this season. There will be one race where both Arrow McLaren SP drivers finish on the lead lap and Felix Rosenqvist is at least four positions ahead of Patricio O'Ward. There will not be a red flag or delay due to rain. Sleepers: Marcus Ericsson and Ryan Hunter-Reay. 

Musings From the Weekend: Who is SRX For?

Sergio Pérez picked up his second Formula One grand prix victory after his teammate Max Verstappen had a catastrophic tire failure while leading late. Pérez's victory in Baku came 50 years and 364 days after Pedro Rodríguez's second and final Formula One victory at Spa-Francorchamps. Lewis Hamilton overcooked his brakes and did not score points. Sebastian Vettel is rejuvenated. Ross Brawn is open. Fog made this year's 24 Hours Nürburgring the shortest in the event's history. Fabio Quartararo had a problem with his leathers. Moto3 race had a stellar race. NASCAR ran a pair of road course races in a pair of time zones. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.

Who is SRX For?

Noise is a powerful thing. In an increasingly crowded world, noise is necessary to get noticed. If you are not loud enough, you will be overlooked. 

Less than a week from the inaugural round of the Superstar Racing Experience, the upstart motorsports series has made its fair share of noise. It has done its share of media and had people talking. SRX has benefitted from having two of its competitors on major broadcasts, Michael Waltrip with NASCAR, and Paul Tracy with IndyCar, mentioning what they will be doing. 

It has also helped that the series has the newly crowned four-time Indianapolis 500 Hélio Castroneves headlining the series. SRX could not have had the stars align any better than having Castroneves win the Indianapolis 500 less than a fortnight before SRX's first race. 

The series has an incredible television deal, six Saturday nights on network CBS, starting this weekend on June 12 at Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut. For six consecutive weekends, some of the most notable short tracks in the United States will get a national stage. After Stafford, will be dirt races at Knoxville and Eldora. July begins at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The shortest track will be Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin, and the quarter-mile oval will host the penultimate round. The Nashville Fairgrounds close out the inaugural season on July 17. 

Many of the pieces are exciting, from the locations to the format to the television deal, but the overarching question is who is SRX for? 

As much noise SRX has been making, the segment of the NASCAR fanbase calling for more short track races has been louder and been screaming for much longer. SRX is nothing but short tracks, six to be specific, none of which have featured at the NASCAR Cup Series level in the last 35 years or at all. Eldora recently hosted Truck races. Knoxville will host a Truck race this August. IRP hasn't hosted a NASCAR national series in a decade. Stafford and Slinger are not up to standard. 

Ray Evernham designed the car with the intention of it having high horsepower and low downforce to highlight the driver's skills, another thing fans have been clamoring for and bemoaning NASCAR about as NASCAR sends the Cup Series in the opposite direction. 

SRX has set itself to be an antithesis to NASCAR's current Cup regulations, but is that enough alone to draw people out? As much as people complain about the racing in NASAR, I am not sure the fan base really wants a different series or if it wants NASCAR to be different. This could be the better mousetrap, but will it be the mousetrap of choice? NASCAR has decades of recognition, notable drivers who are still at the top of their ability, and it is not too far removed from its peak. SRX is unknown, and frankly, a little dated. 

Most of these drivers are past their prime. Forget IROC and FastMasters. Forget even comparing this to the Senior PGA Tour. This is the 3x3 basketball league or the Alliance of American Football. 

The grid might have been exciting 15 years ago, but in 2021, is anyone clamoring to see Michael Waltrip, four years removed from his last competitive race, back in action? Anyone dying to see Paul Tracy on track? We saw Bill Elliott make his return to racing a few years ago at Road America in a race for NASCAR's second division. It looked like 60-plus year old driver who hadn't raced in six years. I can't imagine after another three years on the sidelines Elliott has gotten any better. 

I like Bobby Labonte, but it has been five years since Labonte ran in NASCAR. It has been nine years since he has been full-time. It has been 14 years since he won a NASCAR national series race and almost 18 years since his last Cup victory. Willy T. Ribbs is a character who is a trailblazer that is only now getting enough credit for what he accomplished, but Ribbs is also 66 years ago and last ran a serious race in Indy Lights ten years ago.

Castroneves is the saving grace for this series. Tony Kanaan has at least been full-time recently and is still a regular IndyCar competitor. Kanaan will compete in four of six races, as two races conflict with his new Stock Car Brasil commitment. Marco Andretti was at least full-time last year, but Andretti's results have not been enough in recent years to attract an audience. Tony Stewart will be competing, and he is one of SRX's founders. Stewart is still active in dirt racing, but he didn't end his NASCAR career on a high in 2016. 

The most exciting driver is Ernie Francis, Jr., who is 23 years old and has spent his career in Trans-Am and won multiple championships, but Francis, Jr. has yet to attract serious attention from a top-level NASCAR or sports car program. For Francis, Jr., this could be his coming out party. The problem is he is the only one really with something to prove. 

SRX will give a few unsung short track racers a chance in the spotlight. Kody Swanson has dominated the USAC Silver Crown championship, but unlike Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson and Stewart, Swanson never got a serious look at NASCAR. Doug Coby is a six-time NASCAR Modified Tour champion, but he hasn't gotten a shot in one of NASCAR's national series. 

It is good to see the series give some of these drivers a shot, but Swanson and Coby are only one-offs. Coby will be at Stafford this weekend and Swanson will run Eldora. They will have one shot to make an impression. Even if they win, they will likely not be around for the following races. There will no chance to build on that story. If Swanson and Coby were full-time, along with Francis, Jr. and there was a group of young drivers looking for a breakthrough, such as Oliver Askew, Kyle Kaiser, and Kaz Grala, competing against the likes of Castroneves, Kanaan, Andretti, Stewart and maybe even Joey Hand, a veteran stuck on the sidelines, that would be an interesting series with guys who are tested and in race shape competing against guys looking to prove themselves. 

I understand why the series is relying on notable names to build an audience, but it could be sacrificing on-track quality. 

This wasn't going to be IROC 2.0. It wasn't going to draw Scott Dixon, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Josef Newgarden, Patricio O'Ward, Ricky Taylor and Lewis Hamilton. SRX had to choose from the clearance rack, but is this lineup enough to draw and maintain interest over six weeks? Will these Baby Boomers with plenty of victories, championships and large enough bank accounts have enough fire to provide a competition worthy of our attention? It is a tough sell that SRX will matter that much to these drivers who have won in front of hundreds of thousands of people with millions watching on television and earned seven-figure paychecks. 

SRX will likely have a great opening weekend. Everyone shows up for a grand opening. Will the audience still be there for weeks two through six? With half the grid coming out of retirement, I sense there will be a few competitive drivers and a bunch of drivers who are not close to contention. If SRX has a clear break between those with a chance and the have-nots, people will find other ways to spend their Saturday nights. 

What could prove to be most interesting is CBS' commitment to SRX. This is CBS first serious motorsports endeavor since it gave up on NASCAR in 2000. With rumblings CBS could be in play for the future IndyCar television deal, it will be interesting to see how the productions looks. The broadcast team will feature Allen Bestwick as lead commentator. Dario Franchitti, James Hinchcliffe and Danica Patrick will rotate in the broadcast booth. Lindsay Czarniak will host, and Brad Daugherty and Matt Yocum will work the pit lane. They have all the right people in place, and it should feel like a top-notch broadcast. 

I don't expect SRX to be the talk of the weekend, but could a million people tune in on a Saturday night and rival IndyCar's network numbers for six weeks? Could the series draw a cult following of disgruntled NASCAR fans, short track worshippers and general motorsports fans for six weeks? Crazier things have happened. 

SRX could have its big opening weekend and quickly be forgotten. But, if it makes enough noise, it could grab our attention for its duration and leave us wanting more. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Sergio Pérez, but did you know...

Miguel Oliveira won MotoGP's Catalan Grand Prix, his first victory of the season. Remy Gardner won the Moto2 race, his second consecutive victory. Sergio García won the Moto3 race, his second victory of the season. 

Robert Shwartzman and Jüri Vips split the Formula Two sprint races from Baku. Vips went on to win the feature race on Sunday.

Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup race from Sonoma, his third victory of the season. A.J. Allmendinger won the Grand National Series race from Mid-Ohio, his second victory of the season.

The #26 G-Drive Racing Aurus-Gibson of Nyck de Vries, Romain Rusinov and Franco Colapinto won the 4 Hours of Le Castellet. The #4 DKR Engineering Duqueine-Nissan of Laurents Hörr and Jean-Phillipe Dayrault won the LMP3 class. The #80 Iron Lynx Ferrari of Matteo Cressoni, Rino Mastronardi and Miguel Molina won the GTE class.

The #911 Manthey Racing Porsche of Matteo Cairoli, Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre won the 24 Hours Nürburgring. The record-low 59 laps were completed, as the race had a 13-hour red flag due to fog and weather conditions overnight. 

Tiago Monteiro and Jean-Karl Vernay split the World Touring Car Cup races from the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

The #3 KPAX Racing Lamborghini of Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper and the #33 Windward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Russell Ward and Mikaël Grenier split the GT World Challenge America races from Virginia International Raceway.

The #72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG of Kenny Murillo and Christian Szmczak and the #15 BSPort Racing Aston Martin of Bryan Putt and Kenton Koch split the GT4 America races from VIR. Charlie Luck and Brendan Iribe split the GT America races. 

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar has a doubleheader at Belle Isle. 

IMSA joins IndyCar at Belle Isle, and IMSA will cap off the Saturday action. 

The inaugural Superstar Racing Experience race from Stafford.

The FIA World Endurance Championship makes its debut at Portimão. 

World Superbike returns to Misano for the first time in nearly two years.

NASCAR has its All-Star Race, which Texas hosts for the first time.