Hunter-Reay bags 2nd straight victory
Ryan Hunter-Reay passed Scott Dixon with 12 laps to go and held on to win for the second straight week in a wild IndyCar Series race that ended under caution Saturday night in Newton, Iowa.
Hunter-Reay, the winner last week at the Milwaukee Mile, moved to second in the season standings with his seventh career IndyCar victory — the most among active U.S. drivers. The victory was Andrettti Autosport’s fourth in six races in Iowa.
Teammate Marco Andretti was second, followed by Tony Kanaan and Dixon.
It was only fitting that Hunter-Reay would win under caution, because 10 of the 25 cars failed to finish.
Pole sitter Dario Franchitti was knocked out after his engine blew before the green flag dropped — a blow that could cripple his shot at a fourth straight series title.
Points leader Will Power was bounced just 68 laps in after E.J. Viso hit him from behind.
Power’s lead over Hunter-Reay dwindled to three points.
PIQUET GETS HIS FIRST NATIONWIDE WIN
Nelson Piquet Jr. held the lead on a late restart, then pulled away from the rest of the field to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
The Brazilian, a former Formula One driver and the son of three-time F1 champion Nelson Sr., became a winner in his third career Nationwide race after starting the race from the pole position. Piquet’s extensive road racing experience paid off at the 4-mile, 14-turn road course that winds through the hills of central Wisconsin.
Michael McDowell was second, followed by Ron Fellows, Max Papis and Sam Hornish Jr.
Seattle’s Tayler Malsam finished 30th.
PIT STOPS
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel will start from the pole at the European Grand Prix for the third straight year. The two-time defending Formula One champion has won the race the past two seasons. He had the fastest lap Saturday, finishing in 1 minute, 38.086 seconds on the 3.3-mile street circuit in Valencia, Spain. … Eight-time world champion Sebastien Loeb extended his lead throughout the final day of the Rally of New Zealand to beat Citroen teammate Mikko Hirvonen by 29.6 seconds and extend his lead in the season standings.
