IndyCar Laguna Seca results, points: Herta, Palou in control

IndyCar Laguna Seca results and points standings: The top two finishers in the Grand Prix of Monterey exerted their dominance Sunday in the NTT IndyCar Series.

Colton Herta led 91 of 95 laps in winning his second consecutive race from the pole position at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

And in finishing second, Alex Palou expanded his championship lead to 35 points over Pato O’Ward.

In his second season in IndyCar and first with Chip Ganassi Racing, Palou can become a first-time champion by finishing 11th or better in the Sept. 26 season finale at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Josef Newgarden (who trails by 48 points) is the only other driver eligible to win the title.

Romain Grosjean might have delivered the most inspired drive in Sunday’s race at Laguna Seca, charging from 13th to third on the 11-turn, 2.38-mile road course with several memorable passes (including contact with Jimmie Johnson in the Corkscrew).

Here are the IndyCar results and points standings Sunday after the Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway:

RESULTS

Click here for the box score from the 95-lap race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Click here for the lap leader chart.

Here is the finishing order in the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey with starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out:

1. (1) Colton Herta, Honda, 95, Running
2. (4) Alex Palou, Honda, 95, Running
3. (13) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 95, Running
4. (12) Graham Rahal, Honda, 95, Running
5. (6) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 95, Running
6. (7) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 95, Running
7. (17) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 95, Running
8. (9) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 95, Running
9. (5) Oliver Askew, Honda, 95, Running
10. (14) Ed Jones, Honda, 95, Running
11. (19) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 95, Running
12. (16) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 95, Running
13. (8) Scott Dixon, Honda, 95, Running
14. (21) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 94, Running
15. (20) Jack Harvey, Honda, 94, Running
16. (18) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 94, Running
17. (25) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 94, Running
18. (24) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 94, Running
19. (15) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 94, Running
20. (11) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 94, Running
21. (10) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 94, Running
22. (26) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 94, Running
23. (27) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 94, Running
24. (22) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 94, Running
25. (2) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 93, Running
26. (3) Will Power, Chevrolet, 93, Running
27. (23) Takuma Sato, Honda, 83, Mechanical

Winner’s average speed: 104.114 mph; Time of race: 2:02:31.5444; Margin of victory: 1.9747 seconds; Cautions: 1 for 2 laps; Lead changes: 4 among 2 drivers; Lap leaders: Herta 1-18; Grosjean 19; Herta 20-68; Grosjean 69-71; Herta 72-95.

POINTS

Click here for the points tally in Sunday’s race.

Through 15 races, here are the full points standings for:

Top 10 in the standings: Palou 517, O’Ward 482, Newgarden 469, Dixon 445, Ericsson 430, Herta 402, Rahal 374, Pagenaud 353, Power 337, Rossi 304

NEXT: The NTT IndyCar Series will end its 2021 season with its 16th and final round Sunday, Sept. 26 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN) on the streets of Long Beach, California. It’s the first time the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (which returns after being canceled for the COVID-19 pandemic last year) will conclude the schedule (click here for the full broadcast schedule this year).

The final results from the Monster Energy Supercross race in Seattle suggests the season is turning into a two-rider battle as Eli Tomac scored his sixth win of the season to tie Cooper Webb for the points’ lead and Chase Sexton crashed in yet another race.

Tomac downplayed the neck strain that caused him to lose the red plate for two weeks, but without that holding him back, it would appear it might have been a bigger problem than he admitted. Despite finishing on the podium in Detroit, Tomac has not shown the late-race strength everyone has come to expect. He was in a slump after scoring a season-worst in Indianapolis and described his sixth win as a “bounce back”.

With this win, Tomac tied James Stewart for second on the all-time list with 50 career Supercross victories. Six rounds remain and there is no sign that Tomac is slowing down. Jeremy McGrath’s 72 wins remains untouchable, for the moment at least.

RESULTS: Click here for full 450 Overall Results; Click here for 250 Overall Results

Cooper Webb was disappointed with second-place, but he recognized the Supercross results at Seattle could have been much worse. He rode in fifth for the first nine laps of the race, behind Tomac and Sexton. When Sexton crashed from the lead and Tomac took the top spot, Webb knew he could not afford to give up that many points and so he dug deep and found enough points to share the red plate when the series returns in two weeks in Glendale, Arizona for a Triple Crown event.

Justin Barcia scored his third podium of the season, breaking out of a threeway tie of riders who have not been the presumed favorites to win the championship. Barcia scored the podium without drama or controversy. It was his fourth consecutive top-five and his 10th straight finish of eighth or better.

Click here for 450 Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier | Lap Chart

Jason Anderson kept his perfect record of top-10s alive with a fourth-place finish. Tied for fourth in the standings and 49 out of the lead, his season has been like a death of a thousand cuts. He’s ridden exceptionally well, but the Big Three have simply been better.

Sexton rebounded from his fall to finish fifth. He entered the race 17 points out of the lead and lost another five in Seattle. Mistakes have cost Sexton 22 points in the last three races and that is precisely how far he is behind Tomac and Webb. Unless those two riders bobble, this deficit cannot overcome.

The rider who ties Anderson for fourth in the points, Ken Roczen finished just outside the top five in sixth after he battled for a podium position early in the race.

Click here for 450 Overall results | Rider Points | Manufacturer Points

The 250 West riders got back in action after four rounds of sitting on the sideline and Jett Lawrence picked up where he left of: in Victory Lane. Lawrence now has four wins and a second-place finish in five rounds. One simply doesn’t get close to perfection than that.

Between them, the Lawrence brothers have won all but two races though 11 rounds. Jett failed to win the Anaheim Triple Crown and Hunter Lawrence failed to win the Arlington Triple Crown format in the 250 East division. In two weeks, the series has their final Triple Crown race in Glendale. When he was reminded of this from the top of the Seattle podium, Jett replied, “oof”.

Click here for 250 Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier | Lap Chart

RJ Hampshire finished second in the race and is second in the points. This is fourth time in five rounds that Hampshire finished second to Lawrence. If not for a crash-induced 11th-place finish in the Arlington Triple Crown, he would be much closer in the points standings. With that poor showing, he is 23 points behind Lawrence.

Cameron McAdoo made a lot of noise in his heat. Riding aggressively beside Larwence, the two crashed in the preliminary. McAdoo could never seem to get away from Hampshire in the Main and as the two battled, the leader got away. It would have been interesting to see how they would have raced head-to-head when points were on the line.

Click here for 250 Overall results | 250 West Rider Points | 250 Combined Rider Points

The Supercross results in Seattle were kind to a couple of riders on the cusp of the top five. Enzo Lopes scored his second top-five and fourth top-10 of the season after crossing the finish line fourth in Seattle.

Tying his best finish of the season for the third time, Max Vohland kept his perfect record of top-10s alive. Vohland is seventh in the points.

2023 Results

Round 11: Eli Tomac bounces back with sixth win
Round 10: Chace Sexton wins, penalized
Round 9: Ken Roczen wins
Round 8: Eli Tomac wins 7th Daytona
Round 7: Cooper Webb wins second race
Race 6: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Race 5: Webb, Hunter Lawrence win
Race 4: Tomac, H Lawrence win
Race 3: Chase Sexton, Levi Kitchen win
Race 2: Tomac, J Lawrence win
Round 1: Tomac, J Lawrence win