Monday Racing Roundup: What A Finish! Dixon Wins Race, Title On Tiebreak
August 31, 2015 | By IMS
As the Verizon IndyCar Series season drew closer to its exciting conclusion on Sunday, everybody knew that the double-points finale at Sonoma Raceway could be the wild card in the championship.
But a 47-point swing?
Juan Pablo Montoya, who stood atop the standings since winning the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., entered the 85-lap GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma with a 34-point cushion on second-place Graham Rahal and 47-point lead on Scott Dixon.
But it was Dixon, who started ninth in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, who departed Wine Country with the title. Dixon won for the second consecutive year at Sonoma Raceway -- by 6.1115 seconds over Ryan Hunter-Reay in the No. 28 DHL Andretti Autosport Honda -- which was his first goal to challenge for the championship.
Montoya, who finished sixth, and Dixon -- who picked up the 100 base points plus bonus points for leading a lap (one points) and leading the most laps (two points) -- tied with 556 points. Dixon won on the first tiebreaker with a field-high three victories to two for Montoya, who earned his first Indy car title in 1999 on a tiebreaker over Dario Franchitti. The 2006 Verizon IndyCar Series championship also was decided on a tiebreaker, with Sam Hornish Jr. prevailing over Dan Wheldon.
Dixon, 35, delivered the 100th Indy car victory for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams and the team's 11th championship. He joins Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and Franchitti as four-time champions. Dixon earned his 38th Indy car win, which is one behind Al Unser for fourth all time.
"There was still a chance and that's what I was hoping for," Dixon said of the double-points race. "I don't know what to say. This season we had some big races, and this was the biggest. We were such a longshot."
Added team owner Chip Ganassi: "We went over the scenarios all week and we knew we had the car to be at the front, but you know you need a lot of other things to happen and they all seemed to happen for one reason for another."
With Dixon in the lead following a Lap 74 restart and Montoya running eighth in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, the scenario for the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion was clear. He had to move into fifth place to claim the title. A drive-through penalty assessed to Bourdais for avoidable contact on Rahal's No. 15 Steak 'n Shake Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing on Lap 80 helped, but the laps were running out. He crossed the start-finish line 1.2 seconds behind the fifth-place car of Ryan Briscoe.
Contact between Montoya's car and Will Power's No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet in Turn 4 on a Lap 39 restart was a key contributor to Montoya having to frantically attempt to move up. The incident sent both title contenders to pit lane for service, with Montoya exiting in 14th place.
"We had a good car. We had a good start and we did everything we needed to do at the beginning," Montoya said. "Will overshot and I was fighting with (Josef) Newgarden, we shot the corner, we got inside and he cut across and I was there, and we touched and that was it. We came from behind and do our best, just wasn't enough."
Two other Chip Ganassi Racing Teams entries -- Charlie Kimball and Tony Kanaan -- finished in the top five, and the fourth car driven by Sebastian Saavedra led 12 laps early on and finished 13th.
"My teammates were phenomenal. They helped all year and we won this together," Dixon said. "There is no one person that achieved this on their own and I just thank everybody so much."
Dixon's season started with 15th- and 11th-place finishes before he won at Long Beach in mid-April. He also recorded a win in the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway in early June and closed with six top-10 finishes in the succeeding seven races.
Dixon inherited the lead for good on Lap 63 on a pit stop exchange and withstood several challenges by Hunter-Reay in the closing laps on the technical racetrack.
“I knew the car was strong. We were getting fuel mileage so easy, which was key," Dixon said. "We could roll the car through the corner and obviously get the mileage. You never know until the last lap. That’s what it came down to. You hope for it. We had to do our best job and that’s what we did today and luckily enough it worked out.”
Power, the 2014 series champion who had won three of the past five races at Sonoma Raceway and reset his year-old track record in earning the Verizon P1 Award for the pole, led 26 laps and finished seventh. He wound up third in the standings (-63 points). The contact with Bourdais relegated Rahal to 18th place, and he finished a career-best fourth in the championship (-66 points). Helio Castroneves finished fifth in the standings.
Hunter-Reay, the 2012 series champion, won twice and had two other top 10s in the final four races.
“It was a good finish to the season, that’s for sure," said Hunter-Reay, who advanced five positions in the standings in the finale to place sixth. "It’s been a great run and it’s great that it ended on a high note like this headed into a busy offseason.”
Chevrolet clinches Verizon IndyCar Series manufacturers title
Chevrolet, which won 10 of the 16 Verizon IndyCar Series races, claimed the Manufacturers Championship for the fourth consecutive season.
Chevrolet re-entered Indy car competition as an engine supplier in 2012. This year, Chevrolet and fellow supplier Honda took on the additional role of developing and supplying manufacturer-specific aerodynamic bodywork packages for road/street courses/short ovals and superspeedways for the Dallara IR-12 chassis used by all Verizon IndyCar Series teams.
Drivers utilizing its aero road/street course/short oval aero kit, which complements the 2.2-liter, direct-injected V-6 twin-turbocharged engine, reset track records in qualifying for six races.
“Our fourth consecutive Manufacturers Championship is the result of consistent preparation, teamwork and execution by our Chevrolet teams, drivers and technical partners,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports for Chevrolet.
“Together, we focused on delivering strong engine and aero performance all season long.”
Manufacturers earn points toward the championship at each race based on the positions of each of their top-three finishers. They earn bonus points for winning the Verizon P1 Award, leading the most laps and for each engine that reaches its 2,500-mile threshold before being changed out. Points are reduced for engines that fail to reach the 2,500-mile minimum.
Chevrolet’s race wins consisted of three by Team Penske (Juan Pablo Montoya two, Will Power one), three by Chip Ganassi Racing Teams (Scott Dixon), two by CFH Racing (Josef Newgarden) and two by KVSH Racing (Sebastien Bourdais). Team Penske collected 11 Verizon P1 Awards this season, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams earned two and CFH Racing one.
NASCAR XFINITY Series: Wisconsin native Menard wins at Road America
The decision to compete in Saturday afternoon's NASCAR XFINITY Series sixth annual Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville at Road America (Wisconsin) paid off in a huge way for Paul Menard, who scored his third career XFINITY victory at his hometown track.
Menard, a native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, started eighth and saw a decision to stay out after pitting on Lap 24 work to his advantage as he edged out a relentless Ryan Blaney by 0.573 seconds at the 14-turn road course. After the contest, Menard said had the race extended a lap farther, he would not have collected his first XFINITY win since Michigan International Speedway last June.
"I've been really fortunate to win at some of the coolest tracks, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Road America is right there," Menard said. "These guys called a great race. We didn't have the fastest car. We had a really good short run car. We really burned off the rear tires as we ran, but the Richmond Water Heaters/Menards Chevrolet was fast and (crew chief Danny) Stockman made a hell of a call at the end."
After inclement weather forced the cancellation of Coors Light Pole qualifying, Ben Rhodes earned the top starting spot based upon turning the fastest lap at the 4.048-mile road course in the first XFINITY Series practice session Friday afternoon.
Next up for the NASCAR XFINITY Series is a trip to the track dubbed "Too Tough To Tame" at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 on Sept. 5 (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC).
MotoGP: Rossi wins in the rain at Octo British Grand Prix to regain lone points lead
Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi went to bed on Saturday night performing a rain dance; his dry weather pace was simply not enough to keep with the likes of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and teammate Jorge Lorenzo. It seems that even Mother Nature is a Rossi fan as come Sunday morning Warm Up the heavens had opened and Silverstone lived up to Britain’s reputation of rain. Rossi led the session handily, heading, somewhat fortuitously, Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) as both Marquez and Lorenzo struggled.
Come race time, the rain had settled and wet tires were fitted. Initially Marquez had been able to keep with Rossi, the pair breaking away, but the Spaniard found himself on the floor as he exited Turn 1. This DNF is the final nail in the coffin of Marquez’s 2015 title challenge. He now sits 77 points behind Rossi in the standings and though it is mathematically still possible for Marquez to claim a third MotoGP crown, a miracle is needed.
Marquez has never gone particularly well in the wet. Last year at Aragon he crashed while pushing slicks too hard on a track that was becoming colder and wetter with every lap. Back in 2011, Marquez failed to finish the British GP when racing in the Moto2 class in similar conditions. Compared to Rossi, Marquez is still a relative newcomer to the premier class and wet weather riding is a skill that comes with experience.
As Rossi cruised to victory, Lorenzo was battling vision problems and aggressive riders. Many of Lorenzo’s worse moments, including his famous Assen crash in 2013 that saw his collarbone shatter, have happened in the wet. These problems were made worse by a misting visor and saw Lorenzo miss out on valuable championship points. With a fourth place finish the Majorcan now sits 12 points behind his teammate.
A 12-point advantage may seem small, but round 13 of the MotoGP World Championship takes place in Misano, Rossi’s backyard. A win and the championship lead will have Rossi on the crest of a wave, able to ride the success and confidence to the Rimini coastline. It will be a make or break round for Jorge Lorenzo, if he can dethrone Rossi at home and stop him from gaining any momentum.
Marquez could still play a significant role in the title battle; he now truly has nothing to lose. As such he can take even more risks, push even closer to the edge in races and no doubt steal race wins. Every point will matter in the title fight between the Yamahas and losing five, or more, to a rogue Honda could be costly. The championship will be decided by a mistake, the only question is who will make the mistake?