Team Penske Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Opportunity knocked for Austin Cindric after a mechanical failure knocked Kyle Busch out of Saturday’s Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. And after Cindric and road course ace AJ Allmendinger traded knocks on the final two laps of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, Cindric—on fresher tires—emerged the winner for the first time in his career. Following post-race inspection, Allmendinger’s No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet was disqualified for a rear height violation, dropping Allmendinger to last place in the running order.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor In the closing stages of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, veteran Paul Menard made it clear he was not going to put up with any shenanigans, especially from one of the youngest drivers in the field, after a late race incident with 18-year old Harrison Burton. After the two drivers raced hard and bounced off of each other at various points in the race, Menard decided he’d had enough and sent a message to the Joe Gibbs Racing driver withRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Starved for a pole position for nearly two years, Brad Keselowski put a decisive end to the qualifying drought on Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, edging Kyle Busch for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Fastest on the first of his two laps in time trials, Keselowski beat Busch by .015 seconds, covering the one-mile distance in 27.927 seconds (136.384 mph). Busch clocked in at 136.311Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Simon Pagenaud’s pole position at Iowa Speedway is the fruit of what he believes is a better working relationship with his team than when he won the NTT IndyCar Series championship in 2016. The Frenchman won the pole for Saturday’s Iowa 300 at Iowa Speedway with a two-lap average speed of 180.073 mph around the .875 mile oval ahead of teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden in a Team Penske 1-2-3 sweep of qualifying. “Definitely happy to be ahead of my teammates,” saidRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Simon Pagenaud can no longer be overlooked in the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series title hunt. The Frenchman brought the smack down in Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto by winning the pole, leading 80 of 85 laps and winning the race. But more so than that, Pagenaud reminded everybody that he was still someone to pay attention to as the season’s middle portion winds down. Pagenaud’s diversity is his strength, having won at 11 different tracks since his first IndyCar win at Detroit in 2013. What’s more impressiveRead More

BY INDYCAR TORONTO (July 14, 2019) – French driver Simon Pagenaud of Team Penske showed the NTT IndyCar Series how to celebrate Bastille Day. Pagenaud capped a near-perfect weekend in Canada by dominating the Honda Indy Toronto, scoring his third victory of the season – the 14th of his career – on France’s national day. The pole sitter led 80 of the 85 laps at Exhibition Place and held back five-time series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing in the late going to score his first victory on theRead More

By INDYCAR TORONTO (Saturday, July 13, 2019) – As Team Penske driver Simon Pagenaud completed what proved to be a pole-winning lap in Saturday’s Honda Indy Toronto qualifying session at Exhibition Place, NTT IndyCar Series rivals were sliding off pace. Alexander Rossi of Andretti Autosport bounced off the outside wall in Turn 6, and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon spun early in his final timed lap. Neither probably had the speed to match Pagenaud, but it made for an adventurous watch in the Firestone Fast Six qualifying session. “Yeah, thatRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer TORONTO — In a near-carbon copy of Friday afternoon practice, Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud led Saturday’s morning practice for the NTT IndyCar Series’s only Canadian visit, the Honda Indy Toronto. A fastest lap of 59.3651 seconds around the 11 turn, 1.786 mile road course averaged to 108.306 mph. The 2016 NTT IndyCar Series champion was .0702 seconds faster than Chip Ganassi Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist who also was second fastest in Friday’s afternoon session. Two incidents late in the session interrupted green flag running time. Andretti Autosport’sRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer TORONTO — More victims fell to the Turn 11 outside wall as Simon Pagenaud set the fastest lap in Friday practice for the Honda Indy Toronto. The 2016 NTT IndyCar Series champion went around the 11 turn, 1.786 mile street circuit with a fastest lap of 59.8708 seconds, averaging 107.391 mph in his No. 22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet. The 45 minute session saw more wall contact as some drivers struggled with the patching in Turn 11 heading onto the main straightaway. Marcus Ericsson andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer TORONTO — Trying to defend his Honda Indy Toronto win from last year, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon put the rest of the field on notice by turning the fastest lap in Friday’s morning practice session. The five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion turned a lap of 1 minute, 1.0723 seconds on the 1.786 mile street circuit around Exhibition Place in the frequently-interrupted session. Team Penske teammates Josef Newgarden (2015 and 2017 Toronto winner) and Will Power (2007 and 2010 Toronto winner) spun coming off of TurnRead More