Castroneves wins in Iowa to end 3-year drought
NEWTON, Iowa — Helio Castroneves dominated the IndyCar race Sunday at Iowa Speedway for his first victory since 2014.
The 42-year-old Castroneves led 217 of 300 laps, giving powerhouse Team Penske its first victory on Iowa’s short oval in 11 tries.
It also was the 30th career win for Castroneves, the Brazilian who was winless since the first race of the Belle Isle doubleheader in Detroit in June 2014.
Castroneves also passed Al Unser Sr. for fourth in career laps led.
“It’s just like the first time, man,” Castroneves said. “We’ve been close so many times, and finally luck was a little bit on our side.”
J.R. Hildebrand was a career-best second, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power and New Albany native Graham Rahal.
Series leader Scott Dixon finished eighth, two weeks after winning at Road America, but he still leads the standings by eight points over Castroneves.
Castroneves has won the Indianapolis 500 three times and remains among the most popular drivers in the series.
But his star had faded in recent years as teammates Simon Pagenaud and Power secured championships.
Castroneves had finished second eight times since his last victory, and there had even been recent speculation that his time at Penske could be coming to an end.
“I never doubt. That wasn’t even in my thoughts,” Castroneves said. “I’ve had great support — and especially Team Penske. They never gave up on me. We were always there. We were always good.”
Hildebrand, best known for crashing out on the final lap of the Indianapolis 500 in 2011, took control early in the No. 21 car that Josef Newgarden won with in Iowa in 2016.
But Hildebrand lost his lead when Castroneves beat him off pit lane after Carlos Munoz’s crash brought on a caution halfway through the race.
Hildebrand then got ahead of Castroneves after the field came in for their final pit stops. But Castroneves was back in front with just over 30 laps and used the fresh air — and the good fortune of a long, greenflag run — to cruise to victory.
Hildebrand matched the runner-up finish he had six years ago in Indianapolis.
Truex makes it look easy in dominant win
Martin Truex Jr. boldly declared his Toyota the best car he had ever raced, and several statistics make it hard to dispute him.
There also was plenty of visual evidence of how close to perfect his Saturday night went.
Truex was dominant throughout and had enough left on a final restart to win the NASCAR Cup race night at Kentucky Speedway.
“It was very big to do what we did tonight,” Truex said. “I can never recall saving fuel and pulling away from everybody before, so it was pretty amazing.”
Second in points entering the 400-mile event, Truex started second beside Kyle Busch and won the first two stages. Truex led the final segment by as many as 15 seconds before a final caution created overtime and bunched the field together.
That made no difference as Truex got a push past Busch on the restart and went on to his third victory of the season and 10th of his career. He led five times for 152 of 274 laps and swept all three stages in the No. 78 Toyota to earn 60 points, including seven playoff points, and draw within one of standings leader Kyle Larson, who finished second in a Chevy.
Truex’s dominant performance wasn’t the only reason he was smiling. He was eager to get back and bring his girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, home after a medical procedure. Pollex has battled ovarian cancer and tweeted Saturday that there had been a recurrence requiring surgery.
Everything went perfectly good, went as planned,” he said. “I’m bringing her home tomorrow, so I’m excited to see her and everything’s going great. She was pretty excited.”
Chase Elliott was third in a Chevy, followed by Denny Hamlin and Busch in Toyotas. Busch led 112 laps, but fell short of his third Kentucky victory.
Then again, Truex wasn’t inclined to let anyone get close in earning his first Kentucky triumph.
Pole winner Busch pounced right away and led the first 66 laps but often had Truex close by in the battle of Toyotas. Truex twice found the speed to make timely passes and ultimately took the first two stages, but he saved his best for the last segment.
Running seventh as the third stage began, Truex was back in front within several laps and merely got stronger as he went along. He had a 13-second lead with about 55 laps remaining and was running all alone before Kurt Busch blew an engine with two laps left to create extra time.
It didn’t matter. Truex’s dominance stole the spotlight from Kyle Busch, who won the Xfinity Series race earlier Saturday and for a while appeared headed toward NASCAR’s first same-day sweep of the two series. But Kentucky’s most dominant driver — nor anybody — else could touch Truex.