Catch all the weekend action on NBCSN as IndyCar crowns a new champ Sunday - MotorSportsTalk

NBC Sports Group media release

2018 VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE DECIDED ON NBCSN THIS SUNDAY AT 6:30 P.M. ET AT INDYCAR GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA

NBC Sports Presents Comprehensive Coverage of Practice, Qualifying, and Grand Prix of Sonoma on NBCSN Beginning Friday at 4 p.m. ET

Scott Dixon Battling Alexander Rossi For Fifth Series Championship to Rank Second All-Time in IndyCar History Behind A.J. Foyt

Paul Tracy and Townsend Bell to Call Friday’s Second Practice on NBCSN from Pit Road

STAMFORD, Conn. – September 12, 2018 – The Verizon IndyCar Series championship will be decided this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, as four-time series champion Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) attempts to further establish his place among IndyCar legends and hold off 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport) at the IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma in Sonoma, Calif.

NBC Sports will present comprehensive coverage of the IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma this weekend with practice, qualifying and grand prix coverage airing on NBCSN, beginning this Friday at 4 p.m. ET.

INDYCAR GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA – SUNDAY AT 6:30 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship will be awarded for the seventh consecutive year on NBCSN this Sunday, as Dixon battles with Rossi for the title. Dixon enters the season finale with 598 points and a 29-point lead over Rossi (569 points) in the driver standings. Dixon avoided a potentially disastrous day at the Grand Prix of Portland on Sept. 2, when he avoided damage in a first-lap, crash and managed to finish in fifth place to maintain his lead over Rossi, who finished in eighth.

There are multiple clinching scenarios for both Dixon and Rossi, as this weekend’s race awards double points for each position (100 points for first place instead of 50 points, etc.), but Rossi will need to finish near the front of the pack, regardless of Dixon’s finish, to overcome the 29-point deficit. Team Penske teammates Will Power and defending series champion Josef Newgarden remain in contention with 511 points each, but face extremely long mathematical odds to win the title. Dixon is a two-time winner at Sonoma, while Rossi has registered a best finish of eighth place in his two races at Sonoma Raceway.

Coverage from Sonoma Raceway begins Friday at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN with Practice 1, followed by live coverage of Practice 2 at 6 p.m. ET. Analysts Paul Tracy and Townsend Bell will call Practice 2 on Friday from pit lane. Qualifying will air Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, following live NASCAR Xfinity Cup racing from Las Vegas, and live race coverage on Sunday will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, immediately following Monster Energy Cup Series race coverage from Las Vegas. An encore presentation of the Grand Prix of Sonoma will air Monday at noon ET on NBCSN.

NBC Sports’ lead IndyCar play-by-play commentator Leigh Diffey will call this weekend’s Grand Prix of Sonoma alongside Tracy and Bell. Robin Miller, Jon Beekhuis, Kevin Lee, and Katie Hargitt will report from the pits.

Following the conclusion of the 2018 season on Sunday, NBC Sports will present all IndyCar races, qualifying, practices, and Indy Lights races across its platforms beginning in 2019, including the Indianapolis 500 and an additional seven races on NBC.

Following is this weekend’s IndyCar coverage schedule on NBCSN:

Date	Coverage	Network	Time (ET)
Fri., Sept. 14	IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma – Practice 1*	NBCSN	4 p.m.
	IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma – Practice 2	NBCSN	6 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 15	IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma – Qualifying*	NBCSN	8 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 16	IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma	NBCSN	6:30 p.m.
	IndyCar Post-Race	NBCSN	9 p.m.
Mon., Sept. 17	IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma (Encore)	NBCSN	12 p.m.

*delayed coverage

2018 MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFS BEGIN THIS WEEKEND IN LAS VEGAS ON NBCSN

NBC Sports Group surrounds the first race of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, with more than 16 hours of trackside coverage from Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in Las Vegas, Nev. NBC Sports’ race coverage begins Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN, with the final regular season race of the Xfinity Series, and culminates Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing.

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES ON NBCSPORTS.COM AND THE NBC SPORTS APP

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will provide live streaming coverage of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are powered by Playmaker Media and available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire.

-NBC SPORTS-

DETROIT — Alex Palou topped the results of an NTT IndyCar Series race for the second time this season, extending his championship points lead with his victory in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who also won the GMR Grand Prix (and the Indy 500 pole position) last month, holds a 51-point lead over teammate Marcus Ericsson (ninth at Detroit) through seven of 17 races this season.

Ganassi, which placed all four of its drivers in the top 10 at Detroit, has three of the top four in the championship standings with Scott Dixon ranked fourth after a fourth at Detroit.

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Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden is third in the standings after taking a 10th at Detroit. Pato O’Ward slipped to fifth in the points after crashing and finishing 26th

Here are the IndyCar results and points standings after the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix:

RESULTS

Click here for the official box score from the 100-lap race on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile street course in downtown Detroit.

Here is the finishing order in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix with starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (1) Alex Palou, Honda, 100, Running
2. (7) Will Power, Chevrolet, 100, Running
3. (9) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 100, Running
4. (4) Scott Dixon, Honda, 100, Running
5. (13) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 100, Running
6. (12) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 100, Running
7. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 100, Running
8. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 100, Running
9. (6) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 100, Running
10. (5) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 100, Running
11. (24) Colton Herta, Honda, 100, Running
12. (17) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 100, Running
13. (8) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 100, Running
14. (20) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 100, Running
15. (15) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 100, Running
16. (18) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 100, Running
17. (25) Jack Harvey, Honda, 100, Running
18. (14) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 100, Running
19. (23) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 100, Running
20. (19) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 97, Running
21. (22) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 97, Running
22. (26) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 97, Running
23. (21) David Malukas, Honda, 85, Contact
24. (3) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 80, Contact
25. (27) Graham Rahal, Honda, 50, Contact
26. (10) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 41, Contact
27. (16) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 1, Contact

Winner’s average speed: 80.922 mph; Time of Race: 02:01:58.1171; Margin of victory: 1.1843 seconds; Cautions: 7 for 32 laps; Lead changes: 10 among seven drivers. Lap Leaders: Palou 1-28; Power 29-33; O’Ward 34; Palou 35-55; Power 56-64; Palou 65; Rossi 66; Newgarden 67-68; Kirkwood 69; Ericsson 70-76; Palou 77-100.

POINTS

Click here for the points tally in the race.

Here are the points standings after the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix:

Top 10 in points: Palou 273, Ericsson 222, Newgarden 203, Dixon 194, O’Ward 191, Rossi 176, McLaughlin 175, Power 172, Herta 149, Rosenqvist 148.

Rest of the standings: Grosjean 145, Kirkwood 142, Lundgaard 136, Ilott 116, VeeKay 108, Ferrucci 105, Armstrong 101, Rahal 99, Malukas 91, Daly 88, DeFrancesco 81, Castroneves 80, Harvey 78, Canapino 77, Pagenaud 72, Pedersen 61, Robb 55, Takuma Sato 37, Ed Carpenter 27, Ryan Hunter-Reay 20, Tony Kanaan 18, Marco Andretti 13, RC Enerson 5, Katherine Legge 5.

Next race: IndyCar will head to Road America for the Sonsio Grand Prix, which will take place June 18 with coverage starting at 1 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.