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Team Penske just had one of the most disastrous laps in IndyCar history

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Team Penske just had one of the most disastrous laps in IndyCar history

As a die-hard IndyCar fan, I was absolutely blown away by Colton Herta’s dominance at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto race. The way he topped every session, from practice to qualifying and the race itself, was a thing of beauty. It brought back memories of legendary drivers who used to rule the tracks with an iron fist.

At IndyCar’s recent race weekend, Colton Herta from Andretti Global gave an impressive performance, leading every practice session, qualifying first, and eventually winning the race. This dominance had not been seen in IndyCar for a considerable length of time.

During the hybrid era’s last four races, the No. 26 Honda driver remained in the lead position without giving it up, except for pit stops. Notably, no other racer managed to overtake and take the lead on the track during this period. In contrast, Herta secured the first victory from pole position since the introduction of the new technology.

Herta claimed his eighth career win and first in more than two years, breaking his long losing streak of 41 races. He brought home a 1-2 finish for Michael Andretti’s squad, with Kyle Kirkwood coming in second.

Since 2009, the team hadn’t lost every game in a single season. The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto race was considered their best opportunity to maintain this record in the current season.

On the flip side, there was Team Penske.

As a dedicated fan of Team Penske, I must admit that we didn’t come close to matching Andretti Global’s performance this past race weekend. However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for us. At one point during the race, our trio looked poised to secure a spot in the top five, just behind Herta and Kirkwood. Though we didn’t quite make it there in the end, the potential was there and gives us hope for future races.

In hindsight, wouldn’t that have been nice?

I was rooting for Josef Newgarden in third place when things took a turn for the worse. During his pit stop, I noticed something amiss – one wheel refused to tighten properly as he prepared to exit the pit stall, causing an unwelcome delay.

Despite being in seventh position, he successfully regained some ground, with teammates Scott McLaughlin and Will Power following closely in fourth and fifth positions.

After the significant crash that involved Pato O’Ward from Arrow McLaren, Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global, Pietro Fittipaldi from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Santino Ferrucci of A.J. Foyt Enterprises, and Nolan Siegel from Arrow McLaren, any prospect of a satisfactory finish for Team Penske was dashed.

Lap 77 Penske problems

During the last nine laps of the race on turn five of the 11-turn, 1.786-mile (2.874-kilometer) temporary street circuit, Power tried to overtake McLaughlin in a bid for fourth place. However, as they raced side by side, Power’s No. 12 Chevrolet collided with McLaughlin’s No. 3 Chevrolet.

McLaughlin collided with the contacting driver, crashing into the wall and bringing an end to his race. Consequently, Power received a drive-through penalty for the incident.

David Malukas of Meyer Shank Racing tried to overtake Newgarden for seventh position behind them, but Newgarden responded with a forceful defensive move to keep his place.

At that instant, he reached the site of the crash and felt compelled to inspect the situation. Unfortunately, Malukas collided with Newgarden from behind, resulting in Newgarden having to make an unscheduled pit stop due to a flat tire.

Following the restart, Newgarden was regaining ground and appeared set for a top 10 result due to the small number of drivers ahead on the same lap. However, during an attempt to pass, he experienced a lock-up and missed turn three significantly, resulting in a setback to his position.

On a day when they had the opportunity to surpass championship leader Alex Palou by taking advantage of the situation and gaining points, they performed poorly instead, allowing Chip Ganassi Racing’s two-time and current series champion to increase his championship gap towards all three of their drivers.

At the point of the occurrence, Palou was in sixth position. However, he managed to move up two spots and finished fourth. Power now trails Palou by 49 points, having started the day 35 points behind. McLaughlin is even further back with a deficit of 83 points, having begun the day 65 points behind.

Due to the departure of 11 drivers prior to the incident, McLaughlin’s finishing position was recorded as 16th (Did Not Finish) in the race. Surprisingly, this underpar performance is his best achievement in the four street course events he has participated in during this season.

Newgarden ended up in 11th position, while Power came in 12th. They were the first among those who completed the race on the same lap as the leader.

I was thrilled to see Honda dominate the top seven positions at the race, with Chevrolet’s best being Rinus VeeKay from Ed Carpenter Racing in eighth place. It’s impressive how quietly VeeKay and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon have been performing – they’re the only two drivers who have managed three consecutive top 10 finishes.

IndyCar will take a break for the next three weekends because NBC is broadcasting the Summer Olympics in Paris, France. The following race on the schedule is the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, which will take place at World Wide Technology Raceway in Gateway.

On Saturday, August 17, the race is planned to occur, marking the beginning of a series of four races within a span of sixteen days. USA Network will broadcast this event live, starting at 6:00 p.m. ET. Sign up for a free FuboTV trial and witness it unfold!

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2024-07-22 17:32

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