Newgarden pulls away at Road America

ELKHART LAKE, WIS. » Josef Newgarden put in a lot of work to make his win at Road America look easy.

With no caution flags all afternoon to slow him down, the pole-sitting Newgarden finally pulled away late from Ryan Hunter-Reay for a comfortable victory.

Newgarden led 53 of 55 laps, crossing the finish line with a 3.38-second cushion over second-place finisher Hunter-Reay for his third win of the season.

“We had our work cut out for us today,” Newgarden said. “We had to be perfect.”

The defending series champion savored the victory in the 222-mile-long Kohler Grand Prix on his cool-down lap, taking in the crowd at the rural Wisconsin road course. Newgarden has such a devoted following here that fans planted a garden in his honor in time for this weekend’s race.

“These people have a professional garden set up with little ‘Baby Josefs’ growing,” Newgarden said with a smile. “It was kind of cool.”

The victory might have been more satisfying. It completed an impressive weekend for the Team Penske driver at the 14-turn track, where Newgarden’s No. 1 Chevy registered the top speed in practice.

Points leader Scott Dixon finished third. He was part of the three-car pack led by Newgarden that separated from the field with about 13 laps left.

They couldn’t catch Newgarden. He returned to the podium following a fiverace stretch finishing no higher than eighth.

“No concern, just ready to go win,” Newgarden said when asked about the previous five races. “Our outlook didn’t really change.”

What might be considered a slump for Newgarden came to an emphatic end. He picked up his 10th career victory and first at Road America.

Hamilton wins to retake F1 title lead

LE CASTELLET, FRANCE » Lewis Hamilton capitalized on a mistake by rival Sebastian Vettel to enjoy a wire-to-wire victory at the French Grand Prix on Sunday and retake the lead in the Formula One title race.

Starting third behind Hamilton and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, Vettel tried to use his faster set of tires to make a good start.

But the German’s lunge on the inside of the first corner crunched his Ferrari into the back of Bottas, damaging both cars and sending them into the pits for repairs.

Vettel emerged with a new front wing and the entire field to fight through, and even though he made quick work of the slower cars he had to settle for a fifth-place finish.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari crossed second and third to complete the podium at the Paul Ricard Circuit. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was fourth.

Defending champion Hamilton has 145 points after eight races. Vettel, who entered the race with a onepoint lead, leaves trailing by 14.