(NASCAR)—Another solid day for Joplin’s Jamie McMurray went away 95-laps into NASCAR’s 400-mile race at Pocono when a crash ended his day early. McMurray, again running consistently in the top ten, had a brake problem and crashed right behind Jimmie Johnson, whose brake failure led to a violent collision with the outside wall. McMurray’s impact was not nearly so severe but his car caught fire as he headed to the track apron.
McMurray quickly scrambled out of the car shortly (that’s him in the smoke to the right) before the car’s fire extinguisher went off to put out the fire in the right front, but the rear of his car was ablaze when the track safety crew arrived. The crash left him 37th in the race but he remains eighth in the overall points.
The race went to Ryan Blaney, who got his first career Cup win by holding off Kevin Harvick for the last five laps. The victory was the first for one of NASCAR’s iconic teams, Wood Brothers Racing, since Trevor Bayne got his only Cup win in the 2011 Daytona 500.
Next up is another fast track: Michigan, next weekend.
(INDYCAR)—Less than one-third of the starting field at the repaved Texas Motor Speedway was on the last lap when the checkered flag fell Saturday night, and only nine of the 22 cars that started the race were still running when Will Power picked up his 31st victory.
The race finished under five laps of caution after Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato, trying to take the lead, got too low trying to pass Scott Dixon, and took Dixon with him to the wall.
The yellow flag came out nine times, a record for an IndyCar race at Texas, five of the times for crashes including a big one caused when Tony Kanaan drifted up into James Hinchcliffe’s car. Hinchcliffe’s car went into teammate Mikhail Aleshin’s car, setting off a melee that involved five other competitors. Kanaan was able to continue although he was forced to serve a twenty-second pit penalty for avoidable contact and blocking. He recovered, however, and finished second.
IndyCar moves back to a road circuit in two weeks with at Road America near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
(FORMULA 1)—Lewis Hamilton led pole-to-checkers in the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal, leading teammate Valterri Bottas across the line by more than nineteen seconds. It’s his sixth win in Canada, where he notched his first Formula 1 win ten years ago. He won his 65th pole, tying him with his idol, Ayrton Senna, for second on the all-time pole list behind Michael Schumacher.
Hamilton’s win cuts the points lead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to just a dozen points. Vettel’s car was damaged in a race-start shunt with Max Verstappen. He rallied from last to fourth, behind Daniel Ricciardo, almost 36 seconds behind Hamilton.
The American Haas Racing team picked up a point with a tenth-place finish, the third straight race the team has scored this year, the fifth overall. Gene Haas, the team owner, is the NASCAR partner of Tony Stewart in that series.
The Grand Prix of Azerbaijan is next on the schedule in two weeks.
(Photo credit: NASCAR)
