Astor Cup Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, Calif. – Pole sitter Josef Newgarden knew a shot at a third Astor Cup was a huge reach. He entered Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach third in points, 47 markers behind Alex Palou. After 85 laps, Newgarden finished second in both the race and championship, losing out to Palou by 38 points. Newgarden led opening 18 laps until pit stops shuffled the running order, handing over the lead to Helio Castroneves. From there, cautions bit Newgarden which allowed eventual race winner ColtonRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, Calif. – A lot has changed in the world since 2019. The three NTT IndyCar Series title contenders are no exception as their racing careers have also undergone change over the course of the past two years. When the checkered flag dropped at Laguna Seca that year, Josef Newgarden was celebrating his second INDYCAR title, which lifted a tremendous amount of stress off him. Current championship leader Alex Palou was racing in Japan’s Super Formula, along with Pato O’Ward, who was also racing inRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, Calif. – After 15 rounds of hard fought racing, the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series championship trail will end this Sunday. Destination? Long Beach – the site of the finale and the sports’ most prestigious street race. A tremendous amount of storylines will be settled. One of the major headlines is indeed who’ll be hoisting the Astor Cup after Sunday’s finale. One man who controls his destiny is championship leader Alex Palou. The Chip Ganassi Racing competitor who entered the sport last year as aRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Ore. – No driver from Mexico has ever led the NTT IndyCar Series championship this deep into the season. Not even Adrian Fernandez 21 years ago when he was in the title mix as he never led the championship trail. That all changed last month at Gateway when Pato O’Ward took the points lead away from Alex Palou. O’Ward finished second while Palou was collected in a multi-car accident. With just three rounds remaining, the gap between them is 10 points heading into the GrandRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It might’ve not been the prettiest final few races for Scott Dixon, but after locking up his sixth Astor Cup in last Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, he added another noble honor to his ongoing legacy. That honor being winning the series championship wire-to-wire (14 races) which isn’t easy whatsoever in any major racing discipline aside for maybe Formula One. We saw Juan Pablo Montoya come close in 2015 until a tangle with Will Power at Sonoma cost him that opportunity. Who wonRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer After four months of whirlwind NTT IndyCar Series competition, it’s time to call it a season this weekend at St. Petersburg. What was supposed to be the season opener until the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic changed the sport as we know it, is now the finale site with two guys fighting for the championship. Leading the trail after 13 rounds is Scott Dixon, who has led the points since the beginning and hopes to become the first man winning the Astor Cup wire-to-wire. To do so,Read More

As the NFL is gearing up for the season, and NASCAR is ready for its Chase for the Championship, the Verizon Indycar Season is winding down, as planned, before Labor Day. The final race on the schedule, The Go Pro Grand Prix of Sonoma, will take place this weekend, with a season champion being crowned on Sunday afternoon. With any luck, we will have a longer season in 2016 and beyond, but, I’ll write about that on another day. It will undoubtedly be a subdued celebration on Sunday as theRead More

The 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season will forever be known as the year Will Power finally broke the reign of bad luck to capture the championship. The Aussie had previously been a 3-time championship runner-up from 2010 – 2012. As deserving a champion as Power is this season, lost in the joy is the heartbreaking defeat of this year’s runner-up, Helio Castroneves. Only one of them could deliver the Astor Cup to team owner Roger Penske at Auto Club Speedway Saturday night. After starting on pole and being in theRead More