Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Stream the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race at Road America. The race starts Saturday at 1:05pm ET. It will also be telecast live on MAVTV’s FAST Channel, MAVTV Select, with a delayed broadcast airing on …
Stream the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race at Road America. The race starts Saturday at 1:05pm ET. It will also be telecast live on MAVTV’s FAST Channel, MAVTV Select, with a delayed broadcast airing on MAVTV at 4:00pm ET.
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Jake Drew in the No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro will start on pole for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race at Road America after setting a new track record with a time of 2m09.706s. Drew earned …
Jake Drew in the No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro will start on pole for the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race at Road America after setting a new track record with a time of 2m09.706s. Drew earned his first-career pole in just his seventh qualifying attempt in the series, narrowly beating out current points leader Rafa Matos (No. 60 Concord American Flagpole/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang) by just 0.043.
“It’s definitely cool to get my first CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series pole,” said Drew. “I’m super happy to have a good result so far at Road America. It’s my first time here, just like everywhere else. We started off strong yesterday with the two test sessions, and we just keep clicking all the boxes, so I’m hoping for a good strong day tomorrow as well. I really want to thank CUBE 3 Architecture for sponsoring the TA2 Series, and Silver Hare Racing for giving me this opportunity and working so hard. All the crew guys worked tirelessly on this car to make it the best it can be, and I just do my job as well as I can inside.”
The race will be contested Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET/12:05 p.m. CT. It will be broadcast live on MAVTV’s FAST Channel, MAVTV Select, with a delayed broadcast airing on MAVTV at 4:00 p.m. ET. It can also be streamed live here. The highlights show of the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race will air on MAVTV on Thursday, July 4 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
All times Eastern; live broadcasts unless noted. Wednesday, June 12 Le Mans practice 1 7:45am Le Mans qualifying 12:45pm Le Mans practice 2 3:45pm Pitt Race 9:00-10:00pm (D) Thursday, June 13 Le Mans practice 3 8:45am Le Mans Hyperpole qualifying …
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Le Mans practice 1 |
7:45am |
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Le Mans qualifying |
12:45pm |
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Le Mans practice 2 |
3:45pm |
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Pitt Race | 9:00-10:00pm (D) |
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Le Mans practice 3 |
8:45am |
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Le Mans Hyperpole qualifying |
1:45pm |
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Le Mans practice 4 |
3:45pm |
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Pitt Race | 9:00-10:00pm (D) |
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Iowa practice |
4:30-5:30pm |
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Iowa practice |
5:30-6:30pm |
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Iowa | 8:00-10:00pm |
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Le Mans warmup |
5:45am |
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Le Mans | 9:00am- 12:00am |
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Iowa qualifying |
12:00-1:00pm |
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Mid-Ohio | 12:00-1:00pm (D) |
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Mt. Morris |
1:00pm |
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Iowa qualifying |
1:00-2:00pm |
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Mid-Ohio | 1:00-3:00pm (D) |
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Iowa | 3:00-3:30pm pre-race 3:30-6:30pm race |
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Brainerd Race 1 |
4:00-5:00pm |
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Le Mans | 12:00am- 11:00am |
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Brainerd Race 2 |
4:00-5:00pm |
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Iowa | 6:30-7:00pm pre-race 7:00-11:00pm race |
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Key: SDD: Same day delay; D = delayed; R = Replay
All NTT IndyCar Series stream live on Peacock Premium.
MotoGP is now airing live on TruTV and Max’s B/R Sports Add-On. Check your streaming provider for air times
A variety of motor racing is available for streaming on demand at the following sites:
RACER’s Marshal Pruett breaks down Sunday’s proceedings at the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, then interviews Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta about their races. RACER’s Trackside Report at Road America is presented by Radical Motorsport. As one …
RACER’s Marshal Pruett breaks down Sunday’s proceedings at the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, then interviews Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta about their races.
RACER’s Trackside Report at Road America is presented by Radical Motorsport. As one of the world’s most prolific sports car manufacturers, Radical Motorsport sets out to create a race-bred thrill-a-minute driving experience on the racetrack. Radical Cup North America is the continent’s premier Radical championship offering exhilarating multi-class Le Mans style racing for a fraction of the price. Click to learn more.
Will Power knows the worst fears a spouse can face. His wife Liz, struck with a blood infection last year, spent the follow-up season to his 2022 NTT IndyCar Series championship won for Roger Penske with his mind and heart thousands of miles away …
Will Power knows the worst fears a spouse can face. His wife Liz, struck with a blood infection last year, spent the follow-up season to his 2022 NTT IndyCar Series championship won for Roger Penske with his mind and heart thousands of miles away from his wife.
While wanting to be with her — and their young son Beau — as the sepsis nearly turned fatal, Power was gripped with fear and dealt with the distractions at home to the best of his ability. But his focus was often elsewhere, as it should have been, which led to a disappointing championship run that was devoid of his familiar wins and poles.
In breaking that winless streak on Sunday at Road America, Power released more than 12 months of pent-up pressure and professional disappointment, and in an unusually frank conversation, the Australian ace spoke openly about the challenges he and Liz faced throughout her long and life-threatening ordeal.
“It was very special,” Power said of her getting to join him in victory lane after earning a victory of her own that exceeded anything her husband won. “She was in tears. So was her mother. Had Beau there. Yeah, been a rough trot. It was last year we didn’t get a win. She wasn’t at a lot of the races.
“In the off-season (leading into 2023) when my wife is sitting in hospital, we’re just wondering what’s going to happen here. She almost died. You start thinking, “Yeah, I’m going to have to stop now, take care of my son.’
“Then after that also, it’s a long process. Once they put the metal plates and all that, you have that infection in the blood, it can stick to the metal, come back. It’s like what’s going to happen. Continual blood tests. You just got to be on top of it. If it comes, you have to be very quick to have the antibiotics reduce it, I guess. The doc said it can come back anytime. You got to be quick to catch it.”
Liz Power’s situation worsened coming into last year’s Road America race. Her husband was on edge all weekend, which included barking at the track for the quality of its new track surface and unloading on old rival Scott Dixon, who made a mistake and caused a crash that did severe damage to Power’s No. 12 Chevy.
“It was a very stressful weekend because I left thinking that Liz was sick again,” he said. “She was looking (into) a glass. Getting in the car; had booked a private plane, because that’s the only way she could travel, get in the car, she looks down and says, ‘Look at all the worms in that cup.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, s**t.’
“(To my) mother-in-law, I said, ‘You have to stay here. We already booked this plane. Taking off now. I’ll go, call you on the plane.’ All weekend she’s going back and forth to the doctors. Turns out she mixed some medications (and was having) hallucinations. That’s how it all started, hallucinations.
“Stressful, this predicament. Should I race or not? Then you crash bad. That’s why I was so I guess angry or just stressed. Anything set me off. Grappling with that.”
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Separate from the racing and whatever else folks might associate with Power in sports, the win at Road America was a very personal affair for the 2018 Indy 500 winner and his wife from Texas. It was a return to normalcy, a reminder of the good days before she was dreadfully sick. Together, they’ve been among the kindest and most caring couples in IndyCar, and after enduring a hellish spell in their personal lives, they got to celebrate together at the race track, in the setting where they met and fell in love. For the first time in a long time, Will Power could breathe freely.
“That’s life,” he said. “People have it way worse. I’m not complaining. People have it way worse. I’m lucky, very lucky.”
Will Power had been close to victory plenty of times during his 34-race winless streak, only to see his prospects slip away. So when a golden opportunity presented itself at Road America, he played it cool. “Yeah, I sat back,” Power said of his …
Will Power had been close to victory plenty of times during his 34-race winless streak, only to see his prospects slip away. So when a golden opportunity presented itself at Road America, he played it cool.
“Yeah, I sat back,” Power said of his early acceptance to playing a backstop role in Team Penske’s three-car storm out front. “I kind of couldn’t get Scott [McLaughlin] without using a lot of push to pass. I sat back. I knew I had a lap of fuel on him. I was making the reds last. My in-lap was super quick. They [tires] didn’t really go off for me at all. I was kind of babying them. I sat behind there. That was a big in-lap. Gave me enough of a gap on Josef [Newgarden] to be able to get up to speed on the cold tires.”
Power admitted being able to celebrate with wife Liz in victory lane made it all the more meaningful, given the medical issues she’s been struggling with.
“It was very special. She was in tears. So was her mother. Had [son] Beau there,” said Power. “Yeah, been a rough trot. It was last year we didn’t get a win. She wasn’t at a lot of the races.
“You start thinking, ‘Should I be racing at all? If something happens to Liz and something happens to me, is she going to get better? What’s going to happen.’ The doctor said this can come back at any time. Should I be racing? That was the thing that was planted in my mind last year.
“You certainly don’t perform at your highest level because you don’t want your son to have no parents. That is sort of the thing you’re thinking. Yeah, tough wrestling with that. Ultimately, yeah, if she wasn’t getting better, I would stop. I would have to stop for my son. Simple as that.
“I have to say I’m a better driver again this year than I was in ’22 when I won the championship. Last year was sort of a stall-out year. Not much I could do. Spending a lot of time at home, looking after Liz, making sure everything was going well for her.
“Back to Liz helping me — she is a big part of my preparation. We’re back as a team again.”
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Satisfying as it was to end his drought, Power recognizes there’s a lot more work to do to get where he wants to be.
“We have to win more this year. It’s a tough field,” he said. “That’s one thing I was a little cautious in ’22 at times where I felt like I needed to push the envelope a little more. It’s that fine line. I think [Alex] Palou is the one that nails that perfectly, of aggression versus risks and so on.
“I feel like as a package we are very strong. You see Colton [Herta] has incredible speed at times, but things seem to happen, which you go through when you’re young. You know, that guy’s going to be pretty strong in the future.
“I feel like as a package we’re pretty good. Pretty good…”
As the old saying goes, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all,” and Andretti Global’s Colton Herta has been living that line as his last three races have gone in every direction except the one he wants. It started with a solo crash …
As the old saying goes, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all,” and Andretti Global’s Colton Herta has been living that line as his last three races have gone in every direction except the one he wants.
It started with a solo crash during the Indianapolis 500 that left the Californian bristling in 23rd place; he was on pole the weekend after in Detroit, but cartoon anvils rained down throughout the rain—to complement the actual rain that fell—and he went from first to 19th at the finish. The newest kick to the crotch came courtesy of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who punted Herta on the opening lap in Turn 1 and spun his No. 26 Honda from his second place starting spot to 26th among the 27 drivers in the Road America race.
Herta refused to give in to the adversity and got to sixth place at the finish, which was positive in one aspect, but far short of what he envisioned for the day.
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“[I’m] mad, disappointed. The team did a great job again today, but this is three weekends in a row for me where I had a really good chance of winning, and whether the last three weeks it was self-inflicted or not, for one reason or another, we’re just standing here mad again, which does not feel good,” Herta told RACER.
The lack of penalty for Newgarden also added to his sour mood after climbing from the car.
“I would think that [one was deserved]. I got dumped to the back, almost lost a lap, and then it put me in the back with those guys, and then I got dumped again on the next restart, so I was just super frustrated,” he added.
“What came out of it, which actually helped us get to the front, was all those yellows; [we] were able to get into the pits and have so much more fuel than everybody that we could overcut by six laps, and we were able to show the true pace of this [car]. Twenty-seventh, up to about I’d say 24th, then back to 27th and then back up to sixth — you have to be somewhat proud about that, but I’m just not happy at all, really.”
How does Herta plan on releasing the three weeks of frustration? How about a visit to a famous local Elkhart Lake pub tonight with friends.
“I’m gonna go to Siebkins and drink beer,” Herta said, still cracking his post-race smile.
Don’t hit your teammates. That’s the first rule within a multi-car team. Unfortunately for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, who qualified third for Sunday’s Road America IndyCar race-directly behind teammate and first-time polesitter Linus …
Don’t hit your teammates. That’s the first rule within a multi-car team.
Unfortunately for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, who qualified third for Sunday’s Road America IndyCar race—directly behind teammate and first-time polesitter Linus Lundqvist — that primary rule was broken when the New Zealander hit the back of the Swede’s car at the first turn on the first lap and caused both Ganassi cars to spin and stall.
Armstrong would retire on the 35th of 55 laps and Lundqvist, who dropped to 25th in the 27-car field, put in a stellar recovery drive to claim 12th for a Ganassi team that had a race to forget for four of its five cars.
The two made amends after the race, and the rookie’s maturity showed after his best qualifying day in the series turned sour due to the racing equivalent of the cardinal sin.
“We had a chat after the race, and honestly, I’m more so just sad, disappointed that the race didn’t go further from where we started,” Lundqvist told RACER. “I was so excited about this race. I thought we were in for a good one, but sadly, it didn’t last longer than Turn 1. It would have been so fun and interesting to see what we could have done starting at the front, because I think after that happened, the pace was pretty good from our part.
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“You know, again, it would have been fun to have had a go at it, but these things happen in racing. There’s a lot of positives to take from this weekend, so I’m going to try to focus on that. I know I’ll have a beer tonight, but we’ll back at it again in two weeks at Laguna.”
A contrite Armstrong was understandably disappointed with what took place on Sunday.
“Tough day,” he said. “One of the toughest I think in my career. Turn 1, I don’t really know what happened to be honest, but I got penalized for it so it must have been my fault. It was not my intention to ruin the race already in the first 20 seconds so I’m disappointed with myself. Then we had mechanical issues after that. It was a trying, bad day. A very bad day.”
Lundqvist gave himself a few laps to wallow in frustration for the opportunity that was lost, and then he and race engineer Brad Goldberg got down to business and picked up 13 positions at the end of 55 laps.
“Obviously…Saturday was amazing, but if you disregard what happened on lap one, and even, honestly, even the first six or seven of laps — because I was a little bit deflated — but then we kind of got back into our groove and then I think we we did as good as we could have,” he said. “Our pace was good in clean air. I struggled a little bit in traffic and trying to pass people but once we committed to our overcut strategy, every time we hit those clear laps at the end, we were always able to move ourselves forward.
“Brad came to me after the race and said, ‘That that was quite enjoyable for me,’ because he had to think a little bit outside of the box here. Overall, it was a race of what could have been. We just have to do it again. Give it another shot.”
The opening lap of the XPEL Grand Prix of Road America was a big mess to start as three cautions were required in the first seven laps, but once the 55-lapper in Wisconsin settled into a groove, a huge reversal of fortune saw Chip Ganassi Racing – …
The opening lap of the XPEL Grand Prix of Road America was a big mess to start as three cautions were required in the first seven laps, but once the 55-lapper in Wisconsin settled into a groove, a huge reversal of fortune saw Chip Ganassi Racing — the king of Saturday’s qualifying — stumble as Team Penske used masterful driving and pit strategy to clinch a 1-2-3 finished led by Will Power.
Power was in the hunt all day, but often behind his teammates Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin who took second and third on the day to register another monumental result for the team and for Team Chevy. Power took the lead in the drivers’ championship and moved to fourth on the all-time with list with 42, a number he shares with Michael Andretti.
Going from third to first became possible on the last round of pit stops as Newgarden stayed out while in the lead as McLaughlin fired the first shot to try and leapfrog his teammates as Newgarden and Power stayed out.
Newgarden was in on the next lap as Power kept going. Power pitted on the next lap to make use of the overcut and had a cleaner track to use on cold tires on his out-lap, and this made all the difference — along with his extreme speed — to come out in front of Newgarden with a tiny lead. He’d extend it in the closing laps and crossed the finish line with a 3.2s margin of victory.
😬😬😬
📺: #XPELGP on NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/AJ5Q87X3QH
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) June 9, 2024
“I haven’t had a car like that in a race in a while,” Power said. “It was fast. I said I wanted to win multiple races at the beginning of the season and we’ve got the car and got the engine to do it.”
Ganassi’s Alex Palou salvaged the day to some degree for his team with a run to fourth, but he was 16.7s behind Power at the checkered flag. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta took fifth and sixth, with Herta’s day being consumed by mounting multiple charges from the back of the field after being hit and spun by Newgarden at Turn 1 on the first lap.
“It was a good solid day,” Palou said. “We made up some positions, but it was just a shame we didn’t have the ultimate car speed today. Overall, a good result, and we’ve gained some points in the championship as well.”
Elsewhere, a spirited drive by Romain Grosjean saw the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver take seventh from Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward on the final lap, which lifted the spirits of his team.
In concert with Herta, Graham Rahal was hit and spun at the first turn, and once he was pulled from the gravel trap, a fightback drive from 24th to 10th was a great response to early adversity. Polesitter Linus Lundqvist, hit first in the Turn 1 melee by teammate Marcus Armstrong, recovered from last place to take 12th.
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The start of the race featured the top three qualifiers sitting spun and in Turn 1 as polesitter Linus Lundqvist was hit from behind by Ganassi teammate Marcus Armstrong. Both cars were stalled. Second-place starter Colton Herta was hit from behind by Josef Newgarden and was fortunate to keep the engine alive and get rolling after falling to the back of the 27-car field. What a disaster for Armstrong. Graham Rahal also spun and sailed into the Turn 1 gravel.
Kirkwood was the main beneficiary as he inherited the lead as the first caution flew. Some of the drivers at the tail end chose to pit and take on fuel.
The restart on lap four had McLaughlin charging past Kirkwood to take the lead but the green flag didn’t last long as the race went to its second caution a few corners later as Herta’s diffuser spit strakes out of the back and onto the racing line at Turn 1. Armstrong and Luca Ghiotto were assessed drive-through penalties for avoidable contact; Ghiotto is believed to have hit Rahal at the start.
REPOST IF YOU’RE WATCHING INDYCAR AT ROAD AMERICA!
There’s a spin involving Linus Lundqvist, Marcus Armstrong and Colton Herta on LAP ONE!
📺 : NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/3uYvCpdeXF
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) June 9, 2024
McLaughlin got a strong jump to begin the lap six restart as Newgarden motored past Alexander Rossi for third. An off by Felix Rosenqvist caused by a hit from Sting Ray Robb dropped him to 24th.
The third caution of the day was required on the seventh lap when Christian Rasmussen tagged 11th-place Kyffin Simpson from behind entering the final corner. The crash broke Simpson’s left-front suspension and ended his best run to date.
The lap 10 restart had McLaughlin, Kirkwood, Newgarden, Rossi, Scott Dixon and Power as the top six. Power took fifth from Dixon at Turn 5. Race Control sent an invitation to Rasmussen to pay a visit to pit lane for his hit on Simpson.
After 13 laps, the race found a groove as McLaughlin pushed out to a 1.8s lead over Kirkwood and 2.7s over Newgarden. McLaughlin stretched the lead to 3.0s by the end of lap 15. Theo Pourchaire, running 11th, was the first among the lead pack to pit on lap 16. McLaughlin was in at the end of the lap along with Kirkwood and many others as Newgarden stayed out.
He would pit with Power and Dixon and others on the next lap and nearly beat McLaughlin to grab the lead, but McLaughlin went around him in Turn 1. Alex Palou went one more lap and pitted on the 19th tour as Team Penske had an effective 1-2-3 on the road and resumed in fifth after teammate Scott McLaughlin took fourth from him.
Lap 21 and Palou took fourth back from Dixon who proceeded to fall back to 11th by lap 22 as his left-rear tire was severely blistered. He’d pit on lap 23 and resume in 24th. McLaughlin held 3.7s over Newgarden and 6.8s over Power.
McLaughlin pitted at the end of lap 30 and watched as Newgarden and Power went one lap more and returned to the track in the lead, but McLaughlin cleared both by Turn 5. Newgarden also managed to nearly crash on the run into Canada Corner as he ran wide on the straight and had snap oversteer in the grass, but recovered without letting Power go by. Palou went to lap 32.
Newgarden fired past McLaughlin for the lead on lap 36 as McLaughlin—preserving the blister-prone alternate tires — was powerless from stopping Newgarden on the durable primary tires.
Armstrong was parked as the race approached the 40th lap. Palou dove off his alternates while running fourth to Newgarden on lap 42 and was eight seconds behind the leader when he stopped. McLaughlin pitted the next lap as Newgarden and Power stayed out. Newgarden was in the next lap and Power stayed out. Three Penskes, three strategies.
Power was the new leader on lap 45 but had Newgarden chasing hard on hot tires. Once his tires were warm, he took a 0.3s gap and moved it out to .07s with nine laps to go. Power held on to score his 42nd victory, tying him with Michael Andretti for fourth on the all-time list.
Jamie Chadwick’s breakthrough Indy NXT pole and victory had her team owner Michael Andretti smiling wide. Charging down to pit lane after the Briton drove into victory lane for the first time in the No. 28 Andretti Global Dallara IL15-AER, Andretti …
Jamie Chadwick’s breakthrough Indy NXT pole and victory had her team owner Michael Andretti smiling wide. Charging down to pit lane after the Briton drove into victory lane for the first time in the No. 28 Andretti Global Dallara IL15-AER, Andretti was the first to greet her and share congratulations for his newest race winner.
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Chadwick, the three-time W Series champion, withstood multiple passing attempts and had to lead multiple restarts—all opportunities for other drivers to pounce—but she halted their advances and aced each return to green-flag racing. Chadwick also led every lap in a clear demonstration of her capabilities in IndyCar’s top feeder series.
“She’s been amazing,” Andretti told RACER. “She did a mega job over the winter getting stronger to drive these cars. She’s been really competitive all year. The laps she did in qualifying impressed me, but what really was impressive was how she placed the car the whole race and she was schooling some of the boys. Her restarts were great. It was a complete drive.”
Chadwick was chased home by teammate Louis Foster who won last weekend’s NXT race in Detroit and holds second in the championship.
Her win also helped move her forward—after an early season that’s had some adversity—to ninth in the standings as the Andretti drivers battle against the other powerhouse teams in NXT.
“It’s a great program,” Andretti added. “That’s why we support it. That’s why we brought Jamie in, and Louis Foster is doing an awesome job. It was a great day for the points for Louis. We love being in this series.”
