Milwaukee flashback: Hunter-Reay is best at “IndyFest” in 2012

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After team owner Michael Andretti and his marketing group did everything they could to save racing at the historic Milwaukee Mile, one of his drivers, Ryan Hunter-Reay, came through with the first of what would be three consecutive victories that began his run to the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series championship.

Hunter-Reay withstood two late restarts and pulled away to a five-second win over Tony Kanaan, while James Hinchcliffe finished third to put two Andretti Autosport drivers on the podium in last year’s Milwaukee IndyFest.

“We put enough pressure on ourselves to go win,” said Hunter-Reay. “Every race is very important. These points are very precious each and every race. It’s great to get a win here and be back where we belong.”

Nonetheless, the American driver may have caught a break by not having to deal with Scott Dixon in the closing laps. Dixon had been hit with an 10-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change, but still managed to charge from 21st starting position to as high as fourth. But his march to the front was stopped cold by a drive-through penalty for jumping a restart on Lap 103.

However, the call wasn’t made until the next restart, creating all sorts of confusion. It was later revealed by INDYCAR race director Beaux Barfield that a timing problem on Race Control’s replay machine had caused him and his team to review video of the wrong restart.

“I have been through issues before to play an incident all the way through to provide the full context, and that was an oversight on my part,” Barfield said. “It was a technical issue and certainly human error. It is painful, nonetheless.”

Dixon was forced to swallow an 11th-place finish after the penalty, robbing him of what had appeared to be a potential shot at a win in the second half of the race. Hinchcliffe, who started alongside Dixon during that particular restart, felt that perhaps Dixon shouldn’t have suffered the penalty.

“I saw it,” the Canadian said. “It was 100% a violation. What I don’t get is we threw the yellow, so he had to go back. He didn’t do it again when it went green, so he didn’t really gain anything…

“Was that a violation of the rule? 100 percent. Do I think the penalty was appropriate, given the circumstances?  Maybe not necessarily.”

Seattle Supercross by the numbers: Three riders separated by 17 points

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Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.

Seattle Supercross numbers
Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports

For the fifth time in 10 rounds. Sexton, Webb, and Eli Tomac shared the podium in Detroit. Between them, the trio has taken 23 podiums, leaving only seven for the remainder of the field. Jason Anderson, Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia have two each with Aaron Plessinger scoring the other.

Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.

Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.

Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.

The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.

In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.

Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.

Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.

Last Five Seattle Winners

450s
2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto

250s
2022: Hunter Lawrence
2019: Dylan Ferrandis
2018: Aaron Plessinger
2017: Aaron Plessinger
2014: Cole Seely

By the Numbers

Detroit
Indianapolis
Daytona
Arlington
Oakland
Tampa
Houston
Anaheim 2
San Diego

More SuperMotocross coverage

How to Watch Seattle Supercross
Dylan Ferrandis may return before SX finale
SMX develops “Leader Lights”
Power Rankings after Detroit
Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan
Results and points after Detroit
Chase Sexton wins in Detroit, penalized seven points