For Will Power, the 2019 IndyCar Season has been a major disappointment. 2015 was the last year that Power won fewer than 3 IndyCar races. He picked up a single victory that year. Power has won at least one race every year since joining the series in 2008, but the 38 year old Australian has found himself winless in 2019 with 5 races to go. He came to the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course and won the pole position for the Honda Indy 200 and really seemed primed to end the dry spell he was suffering through.
During qualifications Team Penske dominated. Power was on the pole while teammate Josef Newgarden started next to him, Alexander Rossi started 3rd and Simon Pagenaud was 4th. When the green flag dropped Power jump out to lead the pack. In the middle of the pack James Hinchcliffe, Takuma Sato, and rookie Marcus Ericsson tangled and spun out. They required a pit stop for new tires and were able to continue, but they all 3 were effectively eliminated from competition. Power held the lead until the first series of pit stops but lost it to teammate Newgarden. He never regained it. Newgarden led for a while but a disastrous pit stop allowed rookie Felix Rosenqvist to take the lead and hold it until his senior teammate Scott Dixon grabbed it. By this time the race was at the halfway mark. The wily Dixon held off his young teammate and Ryan Hunter-Reay who got the most from an underperforming car. On the last lap, Newgarden, who had battled back to 4th place, tried to move past Hunter Reay for 3rd place. The cars bumped and Newgarden spun into the grass, to finish 14th. Dixon held on for his second win of the season, but it was also Dixon’s 46th career win. Only A J Foyt and Mario Andretti have more champ car victories.
Rookie Felix Rosenqvist was 2nd, Ryan Hunter Reay was 3rd, Will Power finished 4th, Alexander Rossi was 5th, Simon Pagenaud was 6th, Spencer Pigot was 7th. Rookie Colton Herta was 8th. Graham Rahal took 9th and Jack Harvey was 10th. Newgarden still holds the championship point lead and Rossi is still second with 4 races to go. The next race is at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond PA for the ABC Supply 500 on August 18.
Erica Wheeler is MVP
Indiana Fever guard Erica Wheeler wanted to make a big splash in her first All Star game appearance. She did so, earning the games Most Valuable Player Award. Wheeler, who graduated from Rutgers in 2013, came into the league in 2015 as an undrafted free agent and spent her first year with Atlanta in the regular season then New York for 3 games during the playoffs. She signed with Indiana in 2016 and has played for the Fever ever since. Her All-Star status is due to her play with the Fever. Congratulations to Erica and a wish for continued success in the Indiana backcourt.
snicewanger@gmail.com