The most memorable moments of IndyCar 2014 (so far)

By Chris EstradaAug 29, 2014, 10:30 AM EDT

Every race has that one moment that people remember. Sometimes, it’s good. Sometimes, it isn’t. But it sticks with you.

This year’s Verizon IndyCar Series season is coming to a close on Saturday night at Auto Club Speedway (9 p.m. ET on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra), and while there’s still 500 miles to go, now’s an opportune time to revisit 2014’s most memorable moments – so far.

You’ll notice in the collection of videos below that for the doubleheader weekends at Detroit, Houston, and Toronto, we’ve opted to go with the best moment from the entire weekend itself. Rest assured that this is only meant for the sake of brevity.

And now, away we go…

FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG

Will Power’s season-opening victory at St. Petersburg wasn’t altogether smooth. Coming to a restart with 28 laps to go as the leader, Power appeared to slow down instead of accelerate (skip to 1:55 in the video above).

That caused the field to stack up, and in the process, Jack Hawksworth hit another car from behind before collecting Marco Andretti.

Power held the lead on the subsequent restart with 23 laps left and went on to win. But the earlier incident led to divided opinions among drivers and team owners on whether Power deserved blame for it.

TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH

Ryan Hunter-Reay was contending for victory in the streets of Long Beach, but with 25 laps to go, he pretty much threw the afternoon away for himself and several others.

A quick pit stop for Josef Newgarden enabled him to come out with the race lead ahead of Hunter-Reay. But instead of biding his time, Hunter-Reay made a risky passing attempt on Newgarden at Turn 4 – and mayhem ensued.

Not one of the 2012 IndyCar champion’s finer moments.

BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK

Hunter-Reay was able to bounce back from that lowlight with a victory in the next race at Barber Motorsports Park. But the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama may have gone Power’s way, if not for an early error at the track’s “Charlotte’s Web” hairpin at Turn 5.

Power was holding a comfortable lead at Lap 15, when he locked up going into T5 and went into the gravel trap (skip to :18 in the video above). He swiped a tire barrier on his way out, but while he was able to get back on course, he’d lost the lead to Hunter-Reay in the meantime. RHR scored the win, while Power finished fifth.

GRAND PRIX OF INDIANAPOLIS

A solid crowd and beautiful weather greeted the drivers as they made their way to the grid for the standing start. But pole sitter Sebastian Saavedra stalled (skip to :25 of the video above), causing a mad scramble behind him to get away from his No. 17 KV/AFS Racing Chevrolet.

Unfortunately, both Carlos Munoz and Mikhail Aleshin got into Saavedra, spraying debris everywhere along the front-stretch. It wasn’t the only wild crash of the afternoon, which eventually ended with Simon Pagenaud atop the podium.

INDIANAPOLIS 500

Ryan Hunter-Reay vs. Helio Castroneves for racing’s biggest prize. Nothing more needs to be said. Skip to 7:20 for the good stuff.

Honorable mention to Kurt Busch.

CHEVROLET INDY DUAL IN DETROIT

Power won Race 1 of the Detroit doubleheader at Belle Isle Park, but it was his drive in Race 2 that may be equally memorable. On the first lap of that race, Power attempted to get past Newgarden on the inside but instead made contact that led Newgarden into collecting two other drivers.

Race Control tagged Power for avoidable contact. The Twittersphere cheered. And the Aussie was chastened. Actually, no, the last part didn’t occur. If anything, it just seemed to fire him up as Power roared all the way from the back of the field after the penalty to finish second behind Penske teammate Helio Castroneves.

Oh, what the reaction would have been if Power ended up one spot higher…

FIRESTONE 600 AT TEXAS

Ed Carpenter and Power appeared set to have an old-fashioned Texas duel for the win when the two made their final pit stops together with 36 laps left. But Power was hit with a drive-through penalty for speeding (penalties were a recurring theme for him until just recently).

Smooth sailing then for Carpenter, right? Wrong. A caution with less than 10 laps left gave Power the chance to go in for new tires before a restart with two laps to go.

But while Power rocketed to second with the fresh rubber, he ran out of time to catch Carpenter. With that, the IndyCars’ sole owner/driver joined his road and street course racer, Mike Conway, as a 2014 race winner.

SHELL/PENNZOIL GRAND PRIX OF HOUSTON

Who had Carlos Huertas as the first of this year’s crop of IndyCar rookies to win a race? Be honest, we don’t like liars here.

The result that no one saw coming went down in the first race of the Houston weekend. Huertas stayed out during a caution with less than half an hour to go in the race, and he eventually took control of the lead. The Colombian was able to hold off Juan Pablo Montoya until another caution came out with four minutes left.

Everything was set for a restart with one lap to go, but Graham Rahal got into the back of Tony Kanaan as the field headed for what would have been the green flag. Race Control waved off the restart, giving the upset win to the previously unheralded Huertas.

POCONO INDYCAR 500

The first 158 laps at Pocono went by under green – and with minimal drama. But that changed following the race’s lone restart.

Under attack from teammate (and eventual race winner) Montoya, Power went to defend his lead and knocked Montoya’s front wing end plate off. Montoya was still able to take the lead shortly afterwards, leaving Power to deal with Castroneves.

But when Castroneves went for an inside pass on Power with 28 laps left, Power tacked to the inside twice and forced Castroneves to back off. Race Control told Power to serve a drive-through penalty for blocking, which helped send him to a 10th-place finish.

IOWA CORN INDY 300

You saw it. Yet you couldn’t quite believe it.

During the final caution of the Iowa Corn Indy 300, both Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden rolled the dice, went to the pits, and got new tires ahead of a restart with nine laps to go.

The decision paid off handsomely as the two Americans went through the field like a hungry kid going through an Iowa corn on the cob. And with three laps left, Hunter-Reay caught Tony Kanaan before making the race-winning pass in Turn 1. Newgarden also got past Kanaan in the waning moments for a runner-up.

HONDA INDY TORONTO

Sebastien Bourdais, the four-time king of Champ Car, had not won an American open-wheel race since 2007.

But in the first race of a same-day doubleheader in Toronto, the Frenchman led most of the proceedings from pole before claiming a long-awaited victory for himself and for KV Racing Technology (which had not won themselves since the 2013 Indy 500 with Tony Kanaan).

HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO

Scott Dixon winning at Mid-Ohio after qualifying 22nd? That couldn’t possibly happen, we thought.

But a brilliant all-around performance that featured stellar driving from the New Zealand native and impeccable strategy from his Chip Ganassi Racing team enabled Dixon to earn one of the greatest victories of his career.

Meanwhile, Newgarden had to see a potential first IndyCar win go by the boards thanks to numerous errors on a Lap 65 pit stop. Those problems led to a devastating drive-through penalty that ruined his race.

But instead of frustration, Newgarden showed remarkable poise. There’s a reason why this guy is a fan favorite.

ABC SUPPLY WISCONSIN 250

Nobody had really taken control of the IndyCar championship when the series visited the Milwaukee Mile with three races left in the season.

But Power finally stepped up, and he made his biggest statement of the year. Despite having to save fuel late, Power was still able to leave second-place Montoya stuck in lapped traffic before taking the checkered flag.

And as a driver that was once pegged as a non-factor on ovals, Power relished the moment: “Yes! Man, I love winning on ovals,” he yelled with delight.

GoPro GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA

Last weekend’s race at Sonoma had been owned lock, stock, and barrel by Power until he lost the race off pit road to Dixon under a caution. Then, after restarting seventh on Lap 40 behind Dixon and a group of drivers that had stayed on track, Power spun in Turn 7.

The incident forced Power to rally for a 10th-place finish after falling back as far as 20th. It was a great recovery for sure, and instead of his points lead over Castroneves shrinking, it increased to the current 51-point margin.

But on the other hand, had Power not spun and went on to win instead of Dixon, would we even have a championship battle to talk about right now?

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After 19th Indianapolis 500 win, Roger Penske never stops; focusing on Detroit, Le Mans

By Bruce MartinJun 2, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT

Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images

DETROIT – Roger Penske never stops.

Just consider what the 86-year-old billionaire has accomplished last Sunday.

At 12:40 p.m. last Sunday, Penske greeted the massive crowd of 330,000 spectators at the 107^th Indianapolis 500 and gave the command, “Drivers, Start Your Engines” to begin the big race. Since 2019, Penske has been the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar.

Over three hours later, Penske was standing on top of the Pagoda, the massive suite and command post of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, watching the dramatic conclusion of the Indy 500 with his wife, Kathy, son Greg, Penske Corp. marketing director Jonathan Gibson, and Penske Corp. president Bud Denker.

When Penske saw his driver, Josef Newgarden, cross the start/finish line as the winner, he thrust his left fist in the air in an enthusiastic fashion and celebrated with his closest associates.

“I’m up on the very top of the Pagoda and I have a screen up there with all the times of every (Team Penske) car, each lap and I have a TV and a radio that I can’t talk (to the teams) on,” Penske said. “I can go from the channels of 2 (Newgaren), 3 (Scott McLaughlin) or 12 (Will Power) just listening to where we are.

“I have my own idea to what I might have done, but when I heard (Team Penske president) Tim Cindric say we had to take our time, when he said we were on plan at 100 laps, we were actually ahead of where we wanted to be. They were saving fuel, to be in the right window, which was right on.

“It was amazing when you think about all of the things that happened. If we didn’t have that wreck on the front straightaway, it would have been different.

“It’s a crazy place. It’s rewarding. That’s why we are here to race.”

In addition to owning the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Penske is also the winningest car owner in Indy 500 history and Sunday’s win was a record-extending 19^th win in the 500-Mile Race.

It was the first time Penske, the car owner, won the Indy 500 since Penske, the track owner, officially took over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Jan. 6, 2020.

With the purchase, he also put some professional distance between himself and Team Penske after calling strategy in the race for many years.

“After you have been on your face for three of four years qualifying here, it’s nice to be up again,” Penske said. “We won nine races last year, won the championship and qualified in the back half of the field. Then we came back here this year, and we worked so hard.

“Guys have better ideas than we do. You have to hand it to them. The cars are legal, I’m sure. Rocket (IndyCar technical director Kevin Blanch) and those guys aren’t going to let that happen and we don’t want it to happen.

“We have to figure out what the magic is so we can be up front at the beginning (of the Indy 500).

“You have to take the good with the bad. You have to eat crow when you have to eat crow. I’ve had good days and bad days, but the good news is we are the same team whether we win or whether we lose and that is the most important thing.

“We are committed.”

Penske was still celebrating in Victory Lane when the placard that designates his parking spot (between the Pagoda and IMS media center) was changed from “18” to “19” to signify the number of times he has won the Indianapolis 500.

“He was hoping to get to 19, and it happened,” Penske’s son, Greg, who is the Vice Chairman of the Penske Corporation told NBC Sports. “It was special for our whole team, our family, and our 70,000-plus team members around the world. And our partners. Shell, in its first race to win with renewable fuel and it happened to be their car. They have been such a great partner over the years.

“That was so exciting to see that all come together as one team.

“It’s always a great feeling to wake up and say, ‘Man, we did this as a team, and we did this together.’

“Now, we move on to Detroit and move forward. Bud Denker and the team, it will be exciting over there, too.”

On Monday night, Penske attended the Indianapolis 500 Victory Celebration at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis. About 565 miles away, Penske’s NASCAR Cup Series team was competing in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I watched it until I had to go to the banquet,” Penske said Thursday morning in Detroit. “Then I had my iPhone sitting on the table there.

“With 50 laps to go, I didn’t know who to watch or what to watch while I was at the (Indianapolis 500) banquet.”

One of Penske’s NASCAR drivers, Ryan Blaney, went on to win the Coca-Cola 600.

It was yet another first for Penske – the first time he won the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same year. The only reason it wasn’t in the same day is because the NASCAR race had been rained out and rescheduled for the following day.

The accomplishment, however, remains impressive.

“That’s what we are here for, to set goals for other people to try to achieve,” Penske said. “The 19^th win at Indianapolis was long overdue when you think about the past. It was a great race. It could have been anybody’s race.

“We were able to execute at the right time.”

Penske enjoyed more success in 24 hours than most team owners or businessmen would experience in a season, or even in a career.

But Penske immediately switched his focus to this weekend’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. The NTT IndyCar Series race is the first time this event has been contested on the streets of downtown Detroit since 1991 and is a massive undertaking.

There isn’t anything too big that Roger Penske and his team can’t accomplish, however.

“The good news is we have great weather, and we will be able to showcase the people in the city that don’t normally get a chance to go to the race at Belle Isle in the past can get a chance to come here and see what is going on,” Penske said Thursday. “The economic benefit for the city is going to be terrific.

“Mike Montri, Bud Denker and Chevrolet and the whole team, what they have put together here is an amazing job. Knowing what it takes to start fresh in a city on the city streets is amazing.”

Moving the race from Belle Isle, its home since 1992, back to the streets of Detroit is a massive undertaking, but Penske said it was time to leave the Island.

“We had a lot of noise from people because we were taking Belle Isle, a place where a lot of constituents in Detroit have weddings and things like that,” Penske said. “We cleaned up the island.

“We are going to make this a big event by coming to downtown Detroit. With the support of GM and ourselves, it was a home run.

“Last week, when the mayor of Detroit and the city council took down the 25 mph street signs and put up 200 mph, that was the day when I knew that we had made it.”

Win the Indianapolis 500 win on Sunday, the Coca-Cola 600 victory on Monday and then turning downtown Detroit into a street course and stage the race this weekend, it would be easy to expect Penske to take a break afterward.

Not so.

He will be off to Le Mans for the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans Sports Car race June 10-11 with Porsche Penske Motorsport aiming for an overall victory with its 963 hybrid prototype.

“We want to win Le Mans, that is what we would like to do,” Penske said. “We have three good cars. It’s going to be competitive. The Balance of Performance, we’ll see how that works. They made some changes, but right now, I’m sure the Toyotas have the edge.

“Just to go there and compete this first year with Porsche is something we have wanted to do for a long time. It’s a quality brand, a long-term contract so we can build on it this year.”

Penske and his son Greg are constantly looking forward, instead of taking too much time to celebrate their successes.

*Greg Penske with Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden (Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)*

But both men realize what a huge success last week’s Indianapolis 500 was from both a competitive and business standpoint.

“After being stewards of the place here and all the hard work that everyone has put in and the team, what they have done to get back to winning, it was exciting,” Greg Penske told NBC Sports. “We had a lot of competition. Probably the best competition we’ve ever had to race against.

“It was exciting. To be up there and see the move Josef made and how they raced. It was quite a finish for the fans and for everybody.

“Great news. No one left. It was nice to see everyone staying and they wanted to see a great finish. That was exciting.

“It was exciting for everybody.”

The massive crowd of 330,000 fans was the largest to watch the Indianapolis 500 since 350,000 fans attended the sold-out 100^th running in 2016.

It serves as proof of what can be done when people such as Penske and his staff get out and promote the event.

“The Indy 500 has always been a spectacular event,” Greg Penske said. “People want to come. It’s Americana. It’s amazing when you take a look at it. The people that came here from 50 different countries and all around the world.

“There is nothing like it. To get this many people to come in, but it’s still one guest at a time. That is something that is really important to us. Every experience is a good one. We have to keep working on that. I’m sure there will be opportunities for us to execute and get even better.”

The day after the Indianapolis 500, Roger Penske spoke to a small group of reporters during the annual Indianapolis 500 victory photo shoot at the Yard of Bricks.

He emphasized it wasn’t just the size of the crowd, it was also the changing face of those in attendance.

“That was some crowd,” he said. “And it was real.

“Owning the track is something we have done over the years. When (former IMS owner) Tony George came, I didn’t realize when I said yes, what I was really signing up for.

“What we signed up for was to make it better and make it a place where everybody wants to come and have fun. The demographics, so many kids coming out here with their families.

“I stood out at Turn 3 here earlier in the week and watched those cars go into Turn 3 at 240 miles an hour and to think you can go out there for $45 with your kids and watch it. It costs me more than that to go to a movie in Detroit than to sit out there.

“This is what we have to do. It’s generational. People come here. They want to keep their tickets. If we can make it fun and exciting as it was yesterday at the end, not many people left. It was amazing that not many people left.”

*Roger Penske with his wife, Kathy, at the Indy 500 awards ceremony (Bruce Martin Photo)*

Penske is involved in all aspects of his business. He revealed that he used helicopters to take overhead shots of the crowd before and after the race to help improve crowd control in future Indianapolis 500s.

“We had a helicopter every half hour from 7:30 a.m. on taking pictures so we could sit down as a team and look exactly how the place filled up and how it was at closing,” Penske explained. “We can look at where we had pinch points. That’s the most important thing, to make it easier to get in and easier to get out.

“Over in the Snake Pit, there are some things we can do where people can sit on the mounds.

“We had two screens on the back straightaway that were temporary. I want to put a big screen on the back of the grandstands coming off Turn 4 – a big one – so that when you are on the viewing mounds, you can see. Those are the things we have to do and that will only make it a better experience and to grow it.

“I don’t want to take any credit for filling it up. What we are doing is trying to take a product that took 106 years to build into what it is. All we are trying to do is sustain it and bring it up to the current standards from the standpoint of expectations. Whether it’s you as a family or kid, it’s whatever you have.

“That’s how we run our business.

“No risk, no reward. It was great.”

Penske has taken plenty of risks during his career, but he is calculated with every move that he takes when guiding his race team, or his business empire.

That is why he is able to enjoy the tremendous rewards that come with his success.

“Every victory for us and for the team and for my father, what he has been able to build over the years, it is exciting for all of us,” Greg Penske admitted. “He feels the same way.

“Being on top of the podium, as we all know, never gets old. But it takes execution, and it takes hard work.

“The teams here and how they commit to be here and make sure we are successful; I’ve never seen it so competition. Think about qualifying being 14 inches over 10 miles. That’s a pretty close margin.

“It’s always exciting. For him to continue to drive and to work the way he does is pretty amazing.

“I’ve had a front row seat for that and I’m very excited to be a part of it.”

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500