Monday Racing Roundup: Dixon Takes Pole for 99th Indianapolis 500

Scott Dixon punctuated an eventful day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by earning the Verizon P1 Award for the pole position in qualifications for the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.

Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, recorded a four-lap average speed of 226.760 mph on the 2.5-mile oval and will lead the 33-car field to the green flag in the 200-lap race May 24 (11 a.m. ET on ABC).

Reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Will Power (226.350 mph) and Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud (226.145 mph) also qualified on the front row under a revised format prompted by a lengthy delay for track repairs following a spectacular crash involving CFH Racing co-owner/driver Ed Carpenter during a morning practice session along with aerodynamic and engine boost changes mandated by INDYCAR.

The scheduled two-day, multi-tier qualifying format was altered by rain May 16 after only two of the 34 entries made qualifying runs. By Verizon IndyCar Series rules, the lap times were deleted.

The scheduled May 17 “Fast Nine Shootout,” in which the top entries were slated to return to the track after their initial qualifying attempts for a single four-lap run to determine the Verizon P1 Award winner and the first three rows, was canceled. Instead, each entry took one qualifying attempt to lock in positions 1-30.

Positions 31-33, contested among four drivers, were determined in a separate session. Buddy Lazier, the 1996 Indy 500 winner, did not make the field.

Dixon, a three-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion, won the 2008 Indy 500 from the pole and has five top-five finishes in his 12 “500” starts. Dixon’s 22nd career pole broke a tie with 2003 Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran for 13th on the Indy car list. He also broke a streak of eight consecutive Verizon IndyCar Series races dating to August 2014 in which a Team Penske driver started from the pole.

"We're starting in the right place but it's still a long race. Hopefully, we can replicate what we did in 2008," said Dixon, who was presented a $100,000 check for winning the pole. "We're starting on pole for the Indianapolis 500 and now we just have to finish first. I’m just so proud of everybody at Team Target, whether it’s the engineers and everybody that has worked so hard to get the speed out of this car. It was definitely a tough day."

Tickets are available here for the 99th Indianapolis 500 on May 24. 

NASCAR Sprint Cup: Hamlin tops at All-Star race

With a deft move with three laps left in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin delivered the first victory in the non-points showcase event to Joe Gibbs Racing and to Toyota.

As he drove into Turn 1 to start Lap 107, with Kevin Harvick glued to his bumper and ready to make a run at the million-dollar first prize, Hamlin moved up a lane in the corner and took Harvick’s line away, causing Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet to lose momentum.

"It was more defense than anything, but it turned into offense for me," Hamlin said. "He (Harvick) kept getting closer and closer, and eventually he gets to that right rear quarter panel, and your race is done. Initially, I was looking in my mirror, and I knew it was going to be a defensive move to take his line.

"But I was just going to have to do something different, because I was starting to lose time. My laps time were dropping off, and I just had to do something different to try to salvage a win, and that was obviously the key move for us."

Harvick didn’t disagree with that assessment.

"I had committed to the center of the corner and just really lost the front of the car up the racetrack, had to get out of the throttle," Harvick explained. "As soon as Denny moved up that one time it kind of took the air off … Once I got to the middle of the corner the car just washed all the way up the race track and I had to lift way out of the gas to get the car back off the wall."

If that was the on-track move that made the difference, the real Saturday night heroes were the crew members on Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota, who gained five spots for their driver during mandatory four-tire pits stops before the race’s final 10-lap segment.

Hamlin led the field to the green for the final segment and stayed in front the rest of the way, beating Harvick to the finish line by .823 seconds.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will race on July 26 at IMS in the Crown Royal presents “Your Hero’s Name Here” 400 at the Brickyard – and you can have a vote in who the hero is. Five finalists have been named, click here to submit your vote.

NASCAR XFINITY Series: Buescher wins thriller in Iowa

Chris Buescher and all but one driver battling at the front of the pack yearned for one last caution.

The lone exception?

Chase Elliott, who, fully fueled, had powered to a commanding lead and near-certain win in Sunday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series 3M 250 at Iowa Speedway.

Two laps remained. Elliott’s trip to Victory Lane loomed. Then, it happened.

Jamie Dick, running mid-pack, hit the wall and spun, drawing a caution flag.

Buescher — his No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford packed with fuel and four fresh tires — smiled, charging hard and low on the restart to cap a temper-tinged and thrill-filled race with a green-white-checkered triumph at the 7/8-mile short track.

"When that happened, I knew we had an awesome shot at it," said Buescher, who raced to the series standings lead by eight points over Ty Dillon, who finished 14th.

Buescher had on-track help — namely from Roush Fenway teammate, Darrell Wallace Jr., who provided a strong nudge as the race went green.

Maybe more than a nudge.

"(He) gave us a heck of a shot on the restart," said Buescher, who relegated Elliott to second while notching his first win of the season and Roush Fenway’s fifth in 11 XFINITY Series races at Iowa. "It was a hard hit. That was almost a crash. It was exactly what we needed to get going and get to the inside and be able to pull this win off."

The XFINITY Series comes to IMS on July 25 for the Lilly Diabetes 250.

MotoGP: Lorenzo makes it two straight in France

The Monster Energy Grand Prix de France was host to another dominating Lorenzo victory while an intense battle for fourth burned. 

Fortunately rain was nowhere to be seen in Le Mans, setting the stage for an exciting and eventful MotoGP race. The French GP comes after a post-race test in Jerez and many riders arrived in France with new confidence, direction and parts. Bradley Smith was one such rider, running new front forks this weekend and leading FP2 on Friday. Marquez and Crutchlow both also had new swing arms.

Round five of the MotoGP World Championship also saw Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa return to the grid, the Spaniard having missed three rounds after having surgery to cure arm pump issues. Returning for Jerez had been a possibility, but a test on a Supermoto bike had Pedrosa and his Repsol Honda crew air on the side of caution and wait till Le Mans.

Lorenzo had appeared strong again this weekend, as he had done in Jerez, despite feeling his third on the grid was one of the worst results of his career. A lightning start allowed the Spaniard to break away early, quickly able to pass Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati and focus on riding his own race. One of Lorenzo’s strongest areas is his ability to run at the front and set incredibly consistent lap times when not having to battle with other riders. As in Jerez, Lorenzo demonstrated this incredible skill and was nearly untouchable. “I could overtake Dovizioso early and stay in the lead. I had to manage the one second gap and I had to push really hard even though the front feeling wasn’t great,” he said.

This makes it back-to-back wins for Lorenzo and reignites his championship hopes after many had begun to doubt the Spaniard. The MotoGP paddock heads next to Mugello, a favourite track of Lorenzo and one that has seen several outstanding rides from the Movistar Yamaha rider. On his current form he will be difficult to match.

While Lorenzo was surging ahead, Marc Marquez had a difficult start to the race, dropping as low as sixth before finding his form in the closing stages.

The Spaniard quickly caught Andrea Iannone and Bradley Smith ahead, leading to a fiery battle between Marquez and Iannone. The duo swapped positions at nearly every corner, giving spectators flashbacks of their Moto2 days. The performance of Iannone was particularly impressive as he dislocated his left shoulder less than a week ago at a private Ducati test at Mugello. Marquez eventually came out on top as Iannone’s lap times dropped off significantly in the final three laps, no doubt feeling the pain in his shoulder.

While the battle tore on behind, Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi had a brief battle, the Yamaha rider coming out on top. Issues in Jerez saw Dovizioso finish off the podium for the first time this year, this third at Le Mans is important for the Ducati rider’s championship as he sits in third with 83 points. “The grip after ten laps was not great, I struggled a bit. I couldn’t gain much in the braking. I didn’t have Lorenzo’s pace though. To return to the podium is important for the championship and us,” reflected Dovizioso after the race.

Charging through the field, Rossi seemed as though he may be able to catch his teammate but the gap never dropped below one and a half seconds. It had been a less than ideal start to the weekend for the Italian as he and his Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team struggled with finding a good setting. Big risks in changes to the set up of Rossi’s M1 paid off come the race as he once again extended his championship lead, now 15 points ahead of teammate Lorenzo.

MotoGP will compete at Indianapolis on Aug. 9 in the Red Bull Indianapolis GP.