This coming 4th of July weekend marks the biggest sports weekend of 2020 for the city of Indianapolis as all eyes will be on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The GMR IndyCar Grand Prix will be run on the IMS road course on Saturday, July 4 and the Brickyard 400 will run on Sunday, July 5. With the coronavirus pandemic causing worldwide havoc, American sports has been left reeling. Automobile racing is trying to salvage some kind of racing schedule for 2020. It was hoped that the virus would be under control by this time, but of course that is not the case.
This will be the seventh running of the Grand Prix. Simon Pagenaud and Will Power each have three wins. Pagenaud won for Sam Schmidt MotorSports in its first running. Team Penske has all the rest. Simon Pagenard always does well in this race so he might be considered a pre-race favorite. Qualifying will be on Friday, July 3 and the green flag will drop at noon on Saturday July 4. No fans will be permitted at the track.
It’s the 27th running of the Brickyard 400. It’s contested over 160 laps on the 2.5 mile oval. It is in fact called “The Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records” — say that three times fast! The defending champion is Kevin Harvick. Denny Hamlin has four wins this season including the last race, the Pocono 350. Hamlin has three Daytona 500 wins to his credit but has never won the Brickyard. Maybe he’s due. The race will start at 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 5. Again no fans will be permitted at the track.
So we finally have some racing in the city and despite the virus threat there is some reason to celebrate and have some fun in what has been an incredibly depressing and joyless sports year so far. So here’s to an exciting and safe Fourth of July weekend!
Cam Newton is a Patriot
The news that quarterback Cam Newton had signed a one year deal with the New England Patriots put an end to all the speculation about what Newton would be doing in the 2020 season and where he would be doing it. A month ago the word was that the NFL’s Most Valuable player of 2015 would have to settle for a backup role on a non-competitive team. He now seems to have the inside track to take Tom Brady’s place under center with New England. Newton missed the 2019 season with injuries and there was even talk that he was washed up. Now it seems that he has a chance to lead a playoff contender and maybe even grab a Comeback Player of the Year Award. Good Luck to Cam Newton in his quest to rejoin the NFL elite.
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