By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net
With drivers finishing up at a Month of May at the Indianapolis 500, they now turn their attention to the Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. The four minute video above has great highlights, the key to the race and a recap of last years top five.
The big storylines entering the race are:
- Will the Penske Cars dominate the race?
- Will Kyle Larson win or get a podium finish as a rookie?
- Will Josef Newgarden be the first driver to repeat as a back to back champ for the first time in over 20 years?
Checkered Flag
Josef Newgarden got off to a rough start of his own making after the Tampa- St. Pete Grand Prix race cheating mishap. Turning his season around, Newgarden kept his head up and looked to become the first driver since Helio Castroneves to be a back-to-back race winner of the Indianapolis 500. Dueling with Alexander Rossi, who has not won a race in two years with Pato O’Ward in the chase. Dueling back and forth over the last dozen laps, O’Ward and Newgarden had an outstanding duel and he held off O’Ward to win in consecutive Indy 500 races. Newgarden went into the stands and shook hands with fans, Newgarden said “we are always going into the crowd any time we win this race.” Teammates and thousands of fans roared their approval.
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Dueling for the win
Pato O’Ward– O’Ward was also outstanding. O’Ward got stronger throughout the race and ended up leading at various times totaling eight times for 12 laps. O’Ward was visibly shaken after the race. “I’m fine. It’s been a tough month. So much goes into this race. I think I’m somebody that wears my heart on my sleeve. I don’t really hide anything. It’s just when you’ve come so close and it just doesn’t seem to — you just can’t seem to get it right, it’s just a lot of emotion I would say.” O’Ward is now tied for fourth in 2024 NTT points with Colton Herta. Another driver in the mix is…
Alexander Rossi– Rossi won this race as a rookie in 2015. Rossi looked to be a player down the stretch but he finished as the third man to O’Ward and Newgarden. Rossi is eighth in NTT points.
In addition to Rossi to, Scott Dixon– Dixon was another driver in the mix for the 2024 Indianapolis 500 win. Dixon led four times for 12 laps in the race. None coming after lap 171. Dixon said second-place finishes can be devastating. “I don’t know. It’s a privilege to race here, right? I’m in a situation where I’m lucky to have won, but
Pato has come close a few times. It can go in cycles. As I’ve said many a times, finishing second sucks. It’s
horrible. You’d rather finish last I think almost at this place and be out of the race early.”
Alex Palou– Leading Indy Car in 2024 points, Palou steadily climbed into the top five and finished there. Still, Palou never led a lap in the race. He had a low key month in Indy this year. Palou leads Dixon by twenty points for the NTT Championship lead.
Scott McLaughlin dominated early in the race before settling into the top five. He led the race seven times for 61 laps and no laps after lap 130. He did not have dominant speed as the race entered the final 100 laps. He is sixth in NTT points after Indy. This is only nine points ahead of Newgarden.
Kyle Larson finished 18th. He ran in the top ten most of the day until a couple of rookie mistakes cost him twice in the last 50 laps. Larson he made a minor mistake going through the gears on an early restart and lost about 10 spots, then made a major one later in the race, when Larson locked up the tires entering pit road and was caught speeding. “I would definitely love to be back next year,” Larson said afterward. “Feel like I learned a lot. Made a couple of mistakes early there with the restart — not sure what I did there. Feel like I did a really good job after that and was able to learn a lot.”
Top 15 Finishers at the 2024 Indianapolis 500
Vets banging away
Helio Castroneves is a four-time winner and two-time winner Takuma Sato (14th) banged on each other on lap 73. These are two great drivers that had side to side contact and thankfully, both drove off with no damage.
Ryan Hunter-Reay collided with Scott Dixon after getting loose on lap 207. Reay did a great job saving his DREYER & REINBOLD RACING / CUSICK MOTORSPORTS machine. There was talk of a penalty to Scott Dixon for a block but it appeared Hunter-Reay crashed into Dixon, spun onto the grass and did a 360 and cleanly made his way into the pits. Great save by RHR. He wanted a penalty on Dixon during a pit road interview.
Wild Restarts
Four wide restarts in turn one early in the race created drama and left broadcasters, teams and fans wondering what was in store as the 500 cranked out laps. Scott McLaughlin put a move on Sting Ray Robb on lap 64 that was breathtaking.
Six drivers were eliminated in multiple incidents and most involved rookies. The opening lap saw three cars go down. Tom Blomqvist, Marcus Ericsson, and Pietro Fittipaldi all crashed out of the race
In the Pits
Colton Herta – ANDRETTI GLOBAL W/ CURB-AGAJANIAN crashed out of the race on lap 87. He was sailing through the field but something appeared to break and sent him skidding into the wall. NBC said it appeared he could still race as his ride appeared fine from the eye other than the nose that could be replaced on pit row. Herta has had plenty of mistakes over the years. His temper runs hot but he decided not to speak with reporters after the race.
Honda Problems
Honda had seven cars go down in the first 55 laps of the race. Crashes and mechanical failures from Katherine Legge and Marcus Armstrong thinned the field. Felix Rosenqvist blew an engine on lap 54.
He Said It… Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Shell Team Penske Chevrolet:
Next UP for NTT Indy Car…
The Detroit Grand Prix is up next on June 3rd, 2024.
Roy J. Akers will be there with stories, interviews and more.