Dixon spoils Penske party to win at Road America
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Scott Dixon spoiled Team Penske’s party at Road America.
First, his Chip Ganassi Racing team had to fix a faulty fuel cell on the No. 9 Honda that provided nervous moments during warmups Sunday.
The payoff came a few hours later when Dixon held off Josef Newgarden after a restart with eight laps to go to win the IndyCar race at the rural Wisconsin road course.
“Toward the end, I thought it was a straight-up battle,” Dixon said. “I thought it was going to be tough.”
He edged Newgarden by 0.57 seconds, posting an average speed of 123.431 mph. Dixon’s first victory since Watkins Glen in September was his 41st career win, moving him within one of tying Michael Andretti for third on the list of drivers with the most IndyCar wins.
Ganassi had a chance for a weekend sweep. Kyle Larson, the NASCAR points leader, started on the pole at Sonoma, California, in a Ganassi car.
“The boss definitely likes winners,” the Ganassi team posted on Twitter . “Scott Dixon got the job done today.”
Dixon picked up his first victory in four starts at Road America, a favorite stop among drivers.
It was the second year the 14-turn course was back on the schedule following a nine-year hiatus.
Going into Sunday’s race, the Chevroletpowered Penske team was the talk of the track after dominating through practice and qualifying.
Penske still had a pretty good day, with pole-sitter Helio Castroneves following teammate Newgarden in third place. They were followed by two more Penske drivers, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power.
All had to look up to Dixon.
It was quite the finish for a day that started with some uneasiness because of the fuel pressure issues.
“Yeah we didn’t even know if it was going to run,” Dixon said.
It ran just fine, especially after the late restart.
Until that point, Newgarden thought he might have had an edge with Dixon on tires.
“Just an ill-timed caution,” Newgarden said.
Ricciardo wins chaotic Azerbaijan GP
BAKU, Azerbaijan — Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo profited from the chaos to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, while Sebastian Vettel extended his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton.
The Australian secured his fifth career win, while Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas overtook 18-year-old Canadian Lance Stroll’s Williams in the closing meters to take second place.
“It was just a crazy race, with all the safety cars and the chaos,” Ricciardo said. “On the cool-down lap, I was just giggling like a schoolboy.”
Torrence wins NHRA Nationals in Ohio
NORWALK, Ohio — Steve Torrence raced to his fourth Top Fuel victory of the season Sunday, beating Doug Kalita in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
Torrence had a 3.743second pass at 331.45 mph to edge Doug Kalitta on a holeshot. Kalita finished at 3.736 at 331.36.