The IndyCar racing at Elkhart Lake was fast and furious last weekend. On Saturday the 55 lapper belonged to Scott Dixon and Ganassi racing. The New Zealander piloted his Honda to a third straight win. Josef Newgarden took the pole and he led much of the early part of the race, but handling problems put him back in the field. Dixon held off Will Power for the win. The trackside buzz was about 23-year-old Spaniard Alex Palou. Palou is driving for Dale Coyne and is turning heads with his skillful racing. He held off Ryan Hunter-Reay and Colton Herta for 3rd and his first podium finish. After Herta, Santino Ferucci finished 6th. Graham Rahal finished 7th. Patrico O’Ward was 8th, Takuma Sato was 9th and Marcus Ericsson was 10th.Dixon won his 49th, putting him within three of Mario Andretti for second place on the all-time championship car wins list. Right now Dixon has earned 173 points towards the 2020 IndyCar Championship. If he wins the championship he will have six. Only A.J. Foyt has more with seven.
Sunday’s race showcased two rising talents in the IndyCar series. Patrico O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist. O’Ward is the lead driver for Arrow-McLaren. The 21-year-old from Monterrey, Mexico was the 2018 Indy Lights champion. He has shown skill and courage in the last two years. He put his car on the pole for the Sunday 55 lapper. Colton Herta started next to him. As the race began there was an incident in the middle of the pack that involved five cars: Graham Rahal, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Oliver Askew, Dalton Kellett, and Will Power. Rahal and Hunter-Reay were eliminated. Askew and Kellette returned after lengthy pit repairs and Power was penalized a lap for avoidable contact with Rahal.
As the race unfolded O’Ward held the lead. Rosenqvist was hard on his tail for most of the race. Rosenqvist got by O’Ward with two laps to go and scored his first IndyCar victory. Ganassi Racing scored it’s fourth straight win. Alex Palou once again got up front and ran with the big boys. Alexander Rossi finished third for his first podium of the season. Marcus Ericsson was 4th. Colton Herta was 5th Santino Ferrucci was 6th. Palou finished a strong 7th. Takuma Sato was 8th. Josef Newgarden was 9th and Charley Kimbal was 10th. Next weekend is the doubleheader at the Iowa Oval Motor Speedway.
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No Name for Washington
As of this writing the Washington DC NFL franchise still doesn’t have a name yet. All we know for sure is that the team will not be called the Redskins. Owner Dan Snyder seems to be playing the situation for all it’s worth while all the media attention is on him. Supposedly five possible names are being considered although they have not been released to the media. They will have to get fan merchandise ready for the season and make sure that everyone is on board with the new name, whatever it is.