(NASCAR)—Martin Truex, Jr., chased Chase Elliott all around the winding Watkins Glen race track all afternoon but could never catch him.
Elliott became the first Cup driver to win back to back at Watkins Glen since Marcos Ambrose did it in 2011 and 2012, his only Cup victories. He started from the pole, led 81 of the ninety laps and won all three stages of the race.
Clint Bowyer ran in the top five for much of the race but fell back in the late stages and finished 20th. He continues to cling to a spot in the top sixteen, ranking fifteenth, twelve points above the cutoff for the 16-driver playoff races with four regular season races left.
(INDYCAR)—IndyCar has announced a major change in powertrain technology, starting in 2022. IndyCar is going hybrid. The series says the system will produce more than 900 horsepower. One instantly noticeable difference will be in the way cars are started. No longer will a hand-held external starter be used. Drivers will fire up their engines from the cockpit. The system also will boost the horsepower in the push-to-pass system, which IndyCar hopes will improve the pace of racing.
But series President Jay Frye says the cars will still be “fast, loud, and authentic.” He hopes the new technology will encourage additional engine suppliers to make powerplants for the series. The switch to hybrid technology will come at the same time the series debuts the next-generation chassis.
The new engine formula will be in effect for six years, through the 2027 racing season, as the series moves to stay current with technological developments within the automobile industry.
(FORMULA 1)—Lewis Hamilton slipped past pole-winner Max Verstappen with three laps to go to win the Grand Prix of Hungary. Hamilton emerged from his last pit stop twenty seconds behind Verstappen, who dared not pit because it would cost him the lead. Hamilton sometimes ran laps more than two seconds faster than Verstappen and finally passed him on the outside of the first turn of the 67th of 70 laps and pulled away to an 18-second victory. Sebastian Vettel claimed the other podium position.
The win is Hamilton’s 81st GP victory. It’s his eighth win in twelve races this year and some observers say he has an unassailable points lead as he looks for his eighth Formula One championship.
