The IndyCar boys tried to race under the lights in the cool of a hot July evening in Iowa last Saturday night. Unfortunately the song “Stormy Weather” was playing and the race was delayed over 4 hours. It finally ended in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Simon Pagenaud had won his 3rd pole of the 2019 season and his teammate Will Power was starting next to him. Power was winless through the first 11 races of the season. When the green flag finally dropped to start the race, Power jump out to lead. The Iowa Speedway track is a mile long and D shaped. The cars would be going around 300 times — the most laps of any race of the season. For the first quarter of the race Power led the way, but after the first series of pit stops, his Penske teammate Josef Newgarden took control and held the lead for the rest of the race. Scott Dixon suffered some handling problems and dropped back to 20th but in the second part of the race, the tough-as-steel New Zealander came storming back through the field to rejoin the leaders.
Sage Karam, driving for Carlin Racing, finished last. Marco Andretti was 21st and Takuma Sato was 20th. The best finishing rookie was Marcus Ericsson in 11th. Ed Carpenter, who has won at Iowa, finished a disappointing 19th. Many of the fans had gone to bed, so they missed an exciting finish with Newgarden dominating and taking the win while Dixon finished a hard-driven 2nd. This was Dixon’s 5th runner-up of the year and his 7th podium finish to lead all drivers in 2019. James Hinchcliffe claimed his 1st podium finish of the season with a 3rd. Pole winner Simon Pagenaud was 4th. Spencer Pigot was 5th for the second time this season. Alexander Rossi was 6th which was just enough to keep him in 2nd place in the points championship. Zach Veach finished a season best 7th. Graham Rahal was 8th. Sebastien Bourdais was 9th. and Tony Kanaan finished 10th.
The next race of the season is this coming Sunday in Lexington, Ohio at Mid Ohio Sports Car Road Course for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.
Eric Dickerson Will Boycott the NFL Hall of Fame Game this Year
Former Rams and Colts running back Eric Dickerson is threatening to boycott the 2019 Hall of Fame dance unless his salary demands are met. Dickerson, who is enshrined in Canton, says a gold jacket is not nearly enough, Dickerson says he and some other “Big Name Members of the Hall” are tired of being disrespected by the NFL. He has not named the other former players who share his opinion. He feels that it isn’t fair for players today receiving multi-million dollar contracts and big stars of the past, such as himself, are not rich. Some are even in serious financial difficulties. Dickerson feels the $3,000,000 and full lifetime health insurance coverage for all living members of the HOF would be fair. Some other Hall of Famers such as Kurt Warner and Jerry Rice have distanced themselves from Dickerson.
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