Hunter-Reay makes it a six-pack for Andretti in Iowa with first 2015 win (VIDEO) - MotorSportsTalk

After what’s been a tough season so far, Michael Andretti probably needed a six-pack.

Ryan Hunter-Reay gave his team owner one Saturday night.

Hunter-Reay took an overdue first win of the Verizon IndyCar Series season, with his third overall and second straight win at the Iowa Speedway. It’s the team’s sixth straight win at the 0.894-mile oval dating to 2010.

He also becomes the ninth different race winner of 2015.

Hunter-Reay got ahead of erstwhile dominant driver Josef Newgarden with an earlier pit stop on the final sequence, and held off the two-time 2015 winner by 0.5046 of a second.

“It felt like we had something there. This No. 28 DHL Honda was on rails,” Hunter-Reay told NBCSN’s Jon Beekhuis. “I was driving the snot out of it. I kept my foot to the floor. A lot of work in the cockpit. This one we really hard to work for after such a tough season.

“We got in victory lane in one of the most competitive seasons.”

Hunter-Reay’s win and Newgarden’s runner-up finish were somewhat overshadowed by some mid-July fireworks on IndyCar’s shortest track, involving IndyCar’s youngest driver.

Sage Karam, 20 years old, scored his first career IndyCar podium in third, as Chip Ganassi Racing’s lone driver to make the checkered flag. He passed Carlos Munoz for the final podium position, to complete the first all-American podium since Sam Hornish Jr., Marco and Michael Andretti in the 2006 Indianapolis 500.

But he only did so after drawing the ire of Ed Carpenter in the race’s final 20 laps. The two ran side-by-side for a period after the final restart from the sixth and final full course caution period.

An animated Carpenter was screaming on the radio – as Karam had earlier in the race – and would later hunt down the 20-year old on pit lane. The pair exchanged words and had a distinct difference of opinion about the racing style.

Ed and Sage post-race. #IowaCorn300 pic.twitter.com/X4mGElg2Uz

— INDYCAR on NBCSN (@IndyCaronNBCSN) July 19, 2015

Graham Rahal survived a roller-coaster day en route to fourth ahead of Munoz, with Carpenter and Marco Andretti making it six Americans in the top seven.

Rahal’s day was mired by a flat tire, then persistent shifting issues that left him stuck in sixth gear for the majority of the final 250 laps. Two well-timed yellows helped keep Rahal from going a lap down after he’d got back on the lead lap, and saved his day as he moved into second in the championship.

It was a tough day for the title contenders. Juan Pablo Montoya entered with a 54-point lead and crashed out just 10 laps in, which opened the door for others to move ahead.

But mechanical issues sidelined Scott Dixon on Lap 234; his crew performed a minor miracle to get him back out, although he was resigned to an eventual 18th place finish, and thus gained only six points on Montoya.

Helio Castroneves was also well-positioned but faded to 11th in the final stint of the race after qualifying on pole.

Tony Kanaan was also unfortunate to retire with a mechanical issue, after he had been in the top three for most of the first 200 laps.

Today’s result promotes Rahal into second, now 42 back of Montoya with just three races remaining, and the second-to-last road course race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 2.

RESULTS

NEWTON, Iowa – Results Saturday of the Iowa Corn 300 Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 0.894 mile Iowa Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, aero kit-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (9) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 300, Running
2. (7) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 300, Running
3. (10) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 300, Running
4. (17) Graham Rahal, Honda, 300, Running
5. (12) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 300, Running
6. (11) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 300, Running
7. (8) Marco Andretti, Honda, 300, Running
8. (19) Ryan Briscoe, Honda, 300, Running
9. (24) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 300, Running
10. (6) Will Power, Chevrolet, 300, Running
11. (1) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 300, Running
12. (20) Tristan Vautier, Honda, 299, Running
13. (21) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 299, Running
14. (5) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 299, Running
15. (14) James Jakes, Honda, 299, Running
16. (23) Gabby Chaves, Honda, 299, Running
17. (18) Justin Wilson, Honda, 297, Running
18. (4) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 263, Running
19. (15) Takuma Sato, Honda, 260, Contact
20. (13) Stefano Coletti, Chevrolet, 191, Contact
21. (2) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 189, Mechanical
22. (16) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 170, Contact
23. (22) Pippa Mann, Honda, 136, Handling
24. (3) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 9, Contact

Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 129.943
Time of Race: 02:03:50.3315
Margin of victory: 0.5046 of a second
Cautions: 6 for 73 laps
Lead changes: 14 among 10 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Castroneves 1
Kanaan 2 – 68
Castroneves 69 – 77
Kanaan 78 – 80
Power 81 – 82
Jakes 83 – 85
Bourdais 86 -91
Kimball 92 – 98
Castroneves 99 – 105
Newgarden 106 – 125
Castroneves 126 – 158
Newgarden 159 – 249
Hawksworth 250 – 256
Rahal 257 – 263
Hunter-Reay 264 – 300

Verizon IndyCar Series Point Standings: Montoya 445, Rahal 403, Dixon 397, Castroneves 391, Power 390, Bourdais 366, Andretti 358, Newgarden 352, Kanaan 324, Pagenaud 294.

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INDIANAPOLIS — The first Indy 500 victory for Josef Newgarden also was the richest in race history from a record 2023 purse of just more than $17 million.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, who continued his celebration Monday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earned $3.666 million for winning the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The purse and winner’s share both are the largest in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

It’s the second consecutive year that the Indy 500 purse set a record after the 2022 Indy 500 became the first to crack the $16 million mark (nearly doubling the 2021 purse that offered a purse of $8,854,565 after a crowd limited to 135,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

The average payout for IndyCar drivers was $500,600 (exceeding last year’s average of $485,000).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske, whose team also fields Newgarden’s No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, had made raising purses a priority since buying the track in 2020. But Penske but was unable to post big money purses until the race returned to full capacity grandstands last year.

The largest Indy 500 purse before this year was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500 won by Scott Dixon (whose share was $2,988,065). Ericsson’s haul made him the second Indy 500 winner to top $3 million (2009 winner Helio Castroneves won $3,048,005.

Runner-up Marcus Ericsson won $1.043 million after falling short by 0.0974 seconds in the fourth-closest finish in Indy 500 history.

The 107th Indy 500 drew a crowd of at least 330,000 that was the largest since the sellout for the 100th running in 2016, and the second-largest in more than two decades, according to track officials.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

Benjamin Pedersen was named the Indy 500 rookie of the year, earning a $50,000 bonus.

The race’s purse is determined through contingency and special awards from IMS and IndyCar. The awards were presented Monday night in the annual Indy 500 Victory Celebration at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The payouts for the 107th Indy 500:

1. Josef Newgarden, $3,666,000
2. Marcus Ericsson, $1,043,000
3. Santino Ferrucci, $481,800
4. Alex Palou, $801,500
5. Alexander Rossi, $574,000
6. Scott Dixon, $582,000
7. Takuma Sato, $217,300
8. Conor Daly, $512,000
9. Colton Herta, $506,500
10. Rinus VeeKay, $556,500
11. Ryan Hunter‐Reay, $145,500
12. Callum Ilott, $495,500
13. Devlin DeFrancesco, $482,000
14. Scott McLaughlin, $485,000
15. Helio Castroneves, $481,500
16. Tony Kanaan, $105,000
17. Marco Andretti, $102,000
18. Jack Harvey, $472,000
19. Christian Lundgaard, $467,500
20. Ed Carpenter, $102,000
21. Benjamin Pedersen (R), $215,300
22. Graham Rahal, $565,500*
23. Will Power, $488,000
24. Pato O’Ward, $516,500
25. Simon Pagenaud, $465,500
26. Agustín Canapino (R), $156,300
27. Felix Rosenqvist, $278,300
28. Kyle Kirkwood, $465,500
29. David Malukas, $462,000
30. Romain Grosjean, $462,000
31. Sting Ray Robb (R), $463,000
32. RC Enerson (R), $103,000
33. Katherine Legge, $102,000

*–Broken down between two teams, $460,000 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $105,500 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports