MRTI: IMS road course Friday recap - MotorSportsTalk

A busy Friday kicked off the weekend for the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, and things culminated in the opening races of the weekend for what is dubbed the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis supporting the Lupus Foundation of America, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires saw a new race winner in its 2018 season on Friday, while the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda saw drivers score their seconds wins of 2018 on Friday.

Recaps of all three races are below.

Indy Lights: Herta Gets His First Win of 2018

Colton Herta stood atop the podium in Indy Lights Race 1. Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing’s Colton Herta took his first victory of the 2018 Indy Lights season on Friday in Race 1 on the IMS Road Course.

Herta, who started second, was shuffled back to sixth on the start – polesitter Pato O’Ward ran wide after a bump from VIctor Franzoni, which pushed Herta out wide in the process – but quickly started working his way back forward. He had moved up to second near the halfway point of the 30-lap race and was right on the gearbox of Belardi Auto Racing’s Santi Urrutia, who had been leading from the drop of the green flag.

Herta was able to slipstream Urrutia down the front straightaway, and made an outside pass entering Turn 1 right at the halfway point. Herta pulled away from there to win by over five seconds.

Afterward, Herta explained the challenge of rebounding after falling to sixth on the start.

“It was pretty crazy at the start when Victor got into Pato and knocked us both wide and I wasn’t happy about that. I knew I had a good race car and that I could carve my way back up the field and get a podium but honestly, I didn’t think a win was possible,” Herta revealed.

He added, “Santi (Urrutia) and Aaron (Telitz) are good at defending and we were so far behind. I locked up a few times getting around Pato – we have respect for each other and we give each other room, so it’s fun to race close like that. It would have been a good battle for the win. I actually thought I touched Santi but I was glad to get around.”

Urrutia held on for second, while teammate Aaron Telitz rounded out the podium in third. Andretti Autosport’s Pato O’Ward, who started on the pole, ran wide in the first corner after a slight bump from Juncos Racing’s Victor Franzoni.

O’Ward couldn’t regain the lead from that point, but did hang on to finish fourth.

Andretti’s Ryan Norman finished fifth, with the aforementioned Franzoni sixth, and Andretti’s Ryan Norman in seventh.

Full race 1 results are below. Race 2 rolls off at 1:15 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Pro Mazda: Scott Holds Off Askew for Second Win of 2018

Harrison Scott on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

A wild Pro Mazda Race 1 saw several lead changes as a number of different drivers battled at the front of the field throughout the race.

In the end, it was RP Motorsport’s Harrison Scott taking his second win of the 2018 season, as he held off challenges from Juncos Racing’s Rinus VeeKay and Cape Motorsports’ Oliver Askew, who started on the pole.

VeeKay found himself in the lead in the second half of the race, but a train of cars were stalking him, with all of them looking to get by. BN Racing’s David Malukas had been running second and tried an aggressive move on VeeKay to take the lead, but ran wide of the racing surface on Hulman Boulevard – the back straightaway – and was given a drive-through penalty for exceeding the track limits.

Only a few laps later, Harrison Scott, who was elevated to second after Malukas’ penalty, moved into position to challenge VeeKay for the lead, and made an outside pass entering Turn 1 just as a caution was flown for Team Pelfrey’s Andres Gutierrez, who stopped on the front straightaway with a mechanical problem.

Scott held serve on the restart with a few minutes remaining, while Askew got by VeeKay for second. Carlos Cunha, VeeKay’s Juncos teammate, also moved up, passing Exclusive Autosport’s Parker Thompson for fourth, with Thompson losing the engine cover off his Taatus PM-18.

Up front, though, Scott held off Askew to the win, with VeeKay rounding out the podium ahead of Cunha and Thompson, who hung on for fifth despite the engine cover issue. Malukas, meanwhile, rebounded to finish seventh.

An emotional Scott relayed how important this win was to him afterward.

“It’s amazing – I was going crazy on the radio and the team was just screaming,” he revealed. “They have worked so hard, because we’re so far behind the other teams, in knowledge and everything. Every time we’ve gotten on track we’ve improved. To get back-to-back wins is incredible, especially this early in the season. It shows the hard work we’re doing. I got the benefit of the slipstream on the front straight and even though we were on the limit, we made the corner and made the pass stick. I focused on not making any mistakes so Askew couldn’t get by me.”

Race 1 results are below. Race 2 rolls off 10:10 a.m. on Saturday, with Askew again on the pole.

USF2000: Baron Outduels Kirkwood to Take the Win

Alex Baron took his second win of the 2018 USF2000 season on Friday at the IMS Road Course. Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

While Cape Motorsports’ Kyle Kirkwood captured the pole and led early, it was Swan-RJB Motorsports’ Alex Baron who ended the day in Victory Lane for USF2000 in Race 1 on the IMS Road Course.

After an intense battle that involved multiple lead changes between the two, Baron was eventually able to clear Kirkwood, hanging on to win by less than a second. The victory is Baron’s second of 2018 – he won Race 2 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida back in March.

“Winning over here is quite a privilege, and it’s an honor to win at such a legendary racetrack,” Baron explained afterward. When I started racing here four years ago, I realized pretty quickly how important this whole month is. Everyone knows about Indianapolis, so to succeed here is quite an accomplishment. It was an adventurous race. I made a good move to get around Rasmus and Kyle in Turn One and then had an intense battle with Kyle all race long. I’m glad to get the win, and the points. We all want to win the championship and it’s up to us – the whole Swan-RJB team – to figure out how to make that happen.”

Kirkwood, the USF2000 points leader, ended up second, with DEForce Racing’s Jose Sierra rounding out the podium. BN’s Jamie Caroline finished fourth, with DEForce’s Kory Enders completing the Top 5.

Race 1 results are below. Race 2 goes green at 9:15 a.m. to kick off Saturday on the IMS Road Course.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Josef Newgarden won the 107th Indy 500 with a last-lap pass of Marcus Ericsson, giving team owner Roger Penske his 19th victory in the race but his first as the owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In a one-lap shootout after the third red flag in the final 20 laps, Newgarden grabbed the lead from Ericsson on the backstretch and then weaved his way to the checkered flag (mimicking the same moves Ericsson had made to win at the Brickyard last year). Santino Ferrucci finished third for AJ Foyt Racing, maintaining his streak of finishing in the top 10 in all five of his Indianapolis 500 starts.

“I’m just so thankful to be here,” Newgarden told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “You have no idea. I started out as a fan in the crowd. And this place, it’s amazing.

INSIDE TEAM PENSKE: The tension and hard work preceding ‘The Captain’s’ 19th win

“Regardless of where you’re sitting. It doesn’t matter if you’re driving the car, you’re working on it or you’re out here in the crowd. You’re a part of this event and the energy. So thank you to Indianapolis. I love this city. I grew up racing karts here when I was a kid. I’m just so thankful for Roger and (team president) Tim (Cindric) and everybody at Team Penske.

“I just felt like everyone kept asking me why I haven’t won this race. They look at you like you’re a failure if you don’t win it, and I wanted to win it so bad. I knew we could. I knew we were capable. It’s a huge team effort. I’m so glad to be here.”

Newgarden became the first driver from Tennessee to win the Indy 500 and the first American to win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing since Alexander Rossi in 2016.

“I think the last two laps I forgot about being a track owner and said let’s go for it,” Penske told Snider. “But what a great day. All these wonderful fans. To get No. 19 racing my guy Ganassi, my best friend in this business. But a terrific effort by Josef. Tim Cindric called a perfect race.

“Had a great race, safe race. I’ll never forget it. I know Josef wanted it so bad and wondered why he couldn’t be there, but today all day long, he worked his way up there, and at the end when it was time to go, I was betting on him.”

After Newgarden finally got his first Indy 500 victory on his 12th attempt the two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion climbed out of his No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, squeezed through a hole in the catchfence and ran into the stands to celebrate with fans.

“I’ve always wanted to go into the crowd at Indianapolis,” Newgarden said. “I wanted to go through the fence. I wanted to celebrate with the people. I just thought it would be so cool because I know what that energy is like on race day. This was a dream of mine. If this was ever going to happen, I wanted to do that.”

After finishing 0.0974 seconds behind in second with his No. 8 Dallara-Honda, Ericsson was upset about how IndyCar officials handled the ending.

Though it’s not the first time a red flag has been used to guarantee a green-flag finish at the Indy 500, IndyCar races typically haven’t been restarted with only one lap remaining. The green flag was thrown as the field left the pits in an unusual maneuver that had echoes of Formula One’s controversial 2021 season finale.

“I just feel like it was unfair and a dangerous end to the race,” Ericsson told NBC Sports’ Kevin Lee. “I don’t think there was enough laps to do what we did. We’ve never done a restart out of the pits, and we don’t get the tires up to temperature.

“I think we did everything right today. I’m very proud of the No. 8 crew. I think I did everything right behind the wheel. I did an awesome last restart. I think I caught Josef completely off guard and got the gap and kept the lead. But I just couldn’t hold it on the (backstretch). I was flat but couldn’t hold it. I’m proud of us.

“Congratulations to Josef, he did everything right as well. He’s a worthy champion, I’m just very disappointed with the way that ended. I don’t think that was fair.”

There also were a lot of emotions for Ferrucci, who was tearing up as he exited his No. 14 Dallara-Chevy. In the past eight weeks, the team has weathered the deaths of A.J. Foyt’s wife and longtime publicist Anne Fornoro’s husband.

“It’s just tough,” Ferrucci told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns. “We were there all day. All day. I’m just so proud of our AJ Foyt Racing team. We had a few people riding on board with us. This one stings, it’s bittersweet. I’m happy for third and the team. I’m happy for Josef and all of Team Penske.

“I was trying not to tear up getting into the race car before we started the race. Different emotions. It was different. I think coming to the end, the last few restarts. I think IndyCar did the right decision with what they have done. a green-flag finish for the fans. Wish we had a couple more laps to finish that off.”

Pole-sitter Alex Palou rebounded to finish fourth after a collision in the pits near the midpoint. Alexander Rossi took fifth.

The race was stopped three times for 37 minutes for three crashes, including a terrifying wreck involving Felix Rosenqvist and Kyle Kirkwood that sent a tire over the Turn 2 catchfence.

It had been relatively clean with only two yellow flags until the final 50 miles.

After spending the first half of the race trading the lead, pole-sitter Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay (who started second) collided while exiting the pits under yellow on Lap 94.

Leaving the pits after leading 24 laps, VeeKay lost control under acceleration. He looped his No. 21 Dallara-Chevy into the No. 10 Dallara-Honda of Palou that already had left the first pit stall after completing its stop,

Palou, who had led 36 laps. stayed on the lead lap despite multiple stops to replace the front wing but restarted in 28th.

“What an absolute legend trying to win it,” Palou sarcastically radioed his team about VeeKay, who received a drive-through penalty for the contact when the race returned to green.

The incident happened after the first yellow flag on Lap 92 after Sting Ray Robb slapped the outside wall in Turn 1 after battling with Graham Rahal.

Robb put the blame on Rahal in an interview with NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch.

“I think I just need to pay more attention to the stereotypes of the series,” Robb said. “Pay attention to who I’m racing, and that was just way too aggressive of a move I thought. But yeah, I guess we’re in the wall and not much further to say.”

An already miserable May for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing continued before the race even started.

Rahal, who failed to qualify but started his 16^th consecutive Indy 500 in place of the injured Stefan Wilson, was unable to start his No. 24 for Dreyer & Reinbold/Cusick Motorsports.

After two aborted attempts at firing the car’s Chevrolet engine, team members pushed Rahal behind the pit wall and swapped out a dead battery. Rahal finally joined the field on the third lap, but he wouldn’t finish last.

RLL teammate Katherine Legge, who had been involved in the Monday practice crash that fractured Wilson’s back, struggled with the handling on her No. 44 Dallara-Honda and nearly spun while exiting the pits after her first stop on Lap 35.

Legge exited her car about 30 laps later as her team began working to fix a steering problem.

Katherine Legge got a little loose leaving her pit box. THAT was close.

📺: @nbc and @peacock pic.twitter.com/XXtnkMrqCy

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 28, 2023