Newgarden Wins his First Indycar Race
Josef Newgarden won the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama last Sunday in his #67 Hartman Oil CFH Dallara Chevrolet. It was the 24-year-old Tennessean’s first Indycar win in 55 starts since joining the series in 2012. It was also the first win for team owners Sarah Fisher and Wink Hartman and the first for the newly merged Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing Team. In the first four races of the 2015 Indy Car Series, there have been four different winners with four different teams. Chevrolet has powered three of the winners while Honda powered one. Driving a masterful race, Newgarden took control in the last 27 of the 90 lap event. The weather conditions at the Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama were very nearly perfect for racing, with clear bright sunny skies and light winds. The CFH team gave credit to the Chevy aero kit for giving the car the winning boost. Most everyone connected with the series agreed that this year’s Honda Grand Prix of Alabama was the most exciting and best run race of the season so far.
As strongly as Newgarden drove to secure the win, it was the charge of Graham Rahal in the #15 Steak and Shake/Maxim Dallara Chevy that had everybody talking. The 26-year-old second generation driver put on a clinic as to how to drive through the pack, pass cars in the turns and accelerate away on the straightaways. The Rahal Letterman team put together the most efficient strategy and during the last 12 laps of the race, Graham was turning the fastest laps of the competition. He caught Scott Dixon on lap 89 to grab second place. Dixon said his rear tires were losing traction and he couldn’t hold Rahal off. Dixon finished third. After overcoming a lap penalty for a pit exit incident, Will Power finished fourth. Ryan Hunter-Reay was fifth in his Andretti Racing Team Honda which, of course, was the Honda engine’s top finish of the day.
Once again, Team Penske dominated the practice and qualifying sessions with Helio Castroneves and Will Power starting first and second on the grid. Helio ran strong for the early part of the race, leading the first 18 laps, but a couple of bad pit stops, running out of gas, and having to coast in to the pits for his final stop put him out of contention. On lap 18, Power was exiting the pit lane after his first stop and ran into Takuma Sato driving the #14 Foyt Racing Team Honda, which sent them both into the grass. Both cars were able to continue but Power was assessed a pit drive through penalty which cost him a lap.
Juan Pablo Montoya started 15th and finished 14th. Simon Pagenard started third and finished ninth. Neither was in serious contention, however. Racing journalist Robin Miller noted that “It was really cool that two American born drivers under the age of 27 finished first and second in the race.”
The next stop for the Indy Cars is here in Indianapolis for the Angie’s List Grand Prix at the IMS road course on May 9. Last year’s winner Simon Pagenard is now part of the Penske team. Certainly Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, and Graham Rahal have to be considered serious contenders for the win. After that, it’s on to the Brickyard for the big show on May 24.
Juan Pablo Montoya leads in the point race for the series championship with 136 points. Castroneves is right behind with 133. Dixon has 123 points and is in third place. Josef Newgarden has jumped into fourth place with 119 points and is threatening. The first third of the Indycar schedule is completed, but there is still a great deal of racing left to run.
The Colts & the 2015 NFL College Draft
Thursday, April 30 and Friday, May 1 the National Football League will conduct the annual draft of the top college eligible football talent in the country. The event is being held in Chicago for the first time, after being held in New York City since the draft’s inception in 1936. After a couple of thin years, the Horseshoe finds itself with nine picks, including both first and second round picks for the first time in three years. Last year, after the Trent Richardson disaster, the Colts were without their first round pick. In fact, the Big Blue had only five total picks. GM Ryan Grigson made the most of it with second rounder Ohio State offensive tackle Jack Mewhort winning the left guard job on the offensive line. Third round pick Donte Moncrief of Mississippi showed star potential at wide receiver, and Jonathan Banks of Ball State, taken on the fifth round, made a place for himself on the defense as a pass rushing linebacker. He led the Colts with 6.5 sacks.
Picking 29th, the Colts will most likely not get a shot at the really big name starts, but there will still be some top drawer talent available when the Colts select. Some names being tossed around are Miami, Florida offensive tackle Ereck Flowers. Flowers is 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighs in at 329 pounds. He could be valuable in the right tackle spot on the Colts’ offensive, which has been a trouble spot the last several years. Alabama safety Landon Collins could be available and would give the Colts a solid player at free safety for the next several years. Cam Erving of Florida State is another offensive lineman the Colts are said to be interested in. He can play both center and tackle on the offensive line. Erving may be gone before the Colts get to pick, however. There are two highly regarded defensive players on the board that the Colts are looking at. Defensive end Randy Gregory of Nebraska and outside linebacker Shane Ray of Missouri. Both have great playing skills but both have been arrested for marijuana possession since the Draft Combine, which has sent up red flags for both and dropped their standings on the draft board. Either one might be available when the Colts pick and the team could take a chance on one of them, hoping to rehab them and get a great player. Jordan Phillips of Oklahoma is a huge man at defensive tackle, standing 6 feet 5 inches and weighing 332 pounds. He could help the Horseshoe defend the run.
Tampa Bay has the first pick and will more then likely take Florida State quarterback James Winston. Other names such as Oregon’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota, Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper, defensive linemen Leonard Williams of USC, Washington’s Danny Sheldon, and West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White will be called to the podium. Winston and Mariota will not be present at the Draft. Both wish to stay home and be with their families.
There will be some really big deals concluded during the course of the draft, as the Philadelphia Eagles, and San Diego Chargers are said to be wanting to move up in the draft. The Tennessee Titans are drafting second, but say the pick is for sale for the right deal. The Colts may use a few of their picks to trade up in the second or third rounds if there is a player available that they really want. The Colts will assume a wait and watch attitude Thursday night and they may surprise everybody and go for whomever they think is the best player available, regardless of position. The Draft is a gamble anyway. The 2014 number one pick Bjoern Werner hasn’t worked out as a pass rushing linebacker and is looking more and more like a bust. You just never know.