Team Penske’s Newgarden wins Alabama
Punctured tire derails Power; NASCAR race sidelined by rain
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Josef Newgarden kept Team Penske on top at Barber Motorsports Park with his second Alabama win in three years, with help from a teammate’s misfortune.
The new Penske driver didn’t allow Scott Dixon an opening over the final stretch to give Chevrolet its first win of the season Sunday in the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
Newgarden was overshadowed by his own teammates coming into the race that’s only three hours from his hometown of Hendersonville, Tenn. Pole sitter Will Power, Helio Castroneves and defending champion Simon Pagenaud were the top three qualifiers after small Honda teams won the first two races. Pagenaud finished third and Castroneves fourth.
Newgarden moved to the front for the first time when Power was forced to pit with a punctured left rear tire with 14 laps to go.
Newgarden said he didn’t know if he had the car to overtake Power, a two-time winner at Barber who had led 60 laps.
“It kind of goes as it comes,” Newgarden said. “You take the breaks as they go.”
His work was far from done with Dixon a nearannual contender on the road course.
“When you have a Dixon behind you for 20 laps, that shows how good the driver is,” team owner Roger Penske said.
It remains even more of a Penske-dominated track with Newgarden’s addition , and one where Dixon can’t get over the hump. Dixon has five second-place finishes and seven podium finishes in eight years.
ALONSO: Fernando Alonso is on a personal “Indy 500 adventure” that is both a labor of love and ambition for the two-time Formula One champion.
The Spaniard will attempt to run the Indianapolis 500 next month, and hopefully, some day, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s part of his quest to win what’s considered the Triple Crown of racing — Alonso already has won the Monaco Grand Prix — but this bid will require him to master new cars and racing styles.
“I want to be the most complete driver in the world and the best driver in the world and I want to win all the series in different cars with different driving techniques,” Alonso said Sunday.
NASCAR: NASCAR has postponed the Monster Energy Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway because of heavy rain. The race was pushed until today. Cup points leader Kyle Larson will start on the pole next to Chase Elliott.