IndyCar results, points after Nashville

By Aug 8, 2022, 6:00 AM EDT
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Scott Dixon made IndyCar history Sunday in topping the results of the Music City Grand Prix, passing Mario Andretti for second on the all-time win list and moving into second in the points standings.

With three races remaining, Dixon is six points behind championship leader Will Power after his second victory of the season.

There are five drivers within 33 points of the lead: Power, Dixon, Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden and Alex Palou, who finished third at Nashville.

Scott McLaughlin, who finished second in Nashville after starting from the pole, is sixth in the standings, 58 points behind Power’s lead and one point ahead of Pato O’Ward.

Here are the IndyCar results and points standings Sunday after the Music City Grand Prix on the streets of downtown Nashville, Tennessee:

RESULTS

Click here for the official box score from the 80-lap race on the 11-turn, 2.1-mile street course in Nashville. Click here for the lap leader summary.

Full lap chart

Best section times

Full section data

Event summary

Pit stop summary

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

1. (14) Scott Dixon, Honda, 80, Running
2. (1) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 80, Running
3. (4) Alex Palou, Honda, 80, Running
4. (17) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 80, Running
5. (23) Colton Herta, Honda, 80, Running
6. (6) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 80, Running
7. (15) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 80, Running
8. (3) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 80, Running
9. (13) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 80, Running
10. (11) Jack Harvey, Honda, 80, Running
11. (8) Will Power, Chevrolet, 80, Running
12. (10) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 79, Running
13. (26) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 79, Running
14. (18) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 76, Mechanical
15. (19) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 76, Running
16. (2) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 75, Contact
17. (22) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 74, Running
18. (25) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 72, Contact
19. (16) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 63, Contact
20. (7) David Malukas, Honda, 63, Contact
21. (20) Takuma Sato, Honda, 32, Contact
22. (24) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 32, Contact
23. (9) Graham Rahal, Honda, 29, Contact
24. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 25, Contact
25. (12) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 25, Contact
26. (21) Simona De Silvestro, Chevrolet, 25, Contact

Winner’s average speed: 79.744 mph. Time of race: 2:06:24.2439. Margin of victory: 0.1067 of a second. Cautions: 8 for 36 laps. Lead changes: Three among four drivers. Lap leaders: McLaughlin 1-22; Palou 23-53; Newgarden 54-65; Dixon 66-80.

POINTS

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

Here are the points standings after 14 of 17 races this season for:

Drivers

Engine manufacturers

Entrants

Pit stop performance

Top 10 in points: Power 450, Dixon 444, Ericsson 438, Newgarden 428, Palou 417, McLaughlin 392, O’Ward 391, Rossi 330, Rosenqvist 325, Herta 315,

Rest of the standings: VeeKay 300, Pagenaud 284, Rahal 281, Grosjean 273, Lundgaard 272, Daly 249, Malukas 231, Castroneves 224, Sato 208, Ilott 181, Johnson 178, Harvey 178, DeFrancesco 159, Kirkwood 144, Kellett 108, Tony Kanaan 78, Santino Ferrucci 71, Ed Carpenter 67, Tatiana Calderon 58, JR Hildebrand 53, Juan Pablo Montoya 44, De Silvestro 26, Marco Andretti 17, Sage Karam 14, Stefan Wilson 10.

NEXT: IndyCar will race Saturday, Aug. 20 streets at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway with a 6 p.m. ET start on USA.

HOW TO WATCH INDYCAR IN 2022: Full NBC Sports schedule with dates, times, networks/streaming

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).