Sonoma, Calif.
It was all trickery.
Harvick’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, called in his driver for tires and fuel in anticipation of Truex’s stop — but Pearn’s driver actually stayed out for seven more laps. When Truex finally pitted, he got the fresh tires he needed to blow past Harvick for a sweet victory.
“I called him off at the last second,” Pearn said with a sly smile. “As far as he knew, we were pitting. I’d like to say we’re smart enough to use codes, but we’re not. We’d probably mess it up.”
Truex won the NASCAR Cup Series race in Sonoma on Sunday because of that clever pit bluff, cruising to his second career victory on the challenging road course.
Truex easily held off Harvick for his second win in three weeks and his third victory of the season in his Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Truex led 62 laps and won by a whopping 10.513 seconds.
The defending Cup Series champion didn’t make a mistake after he waited to pit until the 81st lap, a full eight laps later than Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. With fresh tires, Truex passed Harvick for the lead around the final hairpin turn with 19 laps to go.
Truex’s victory in his manufacturer’s title race was the 18th of his career. He earned his second career victory at Sonoma in 2013 for Michael Waltrip Racing, making him the only racer to win twice in the past decade at Sonoma.
IndyCar: Newgarden Roars to Wis. Win
Elkhart Lake, Wis.
The defending series champion crossed the finish line with a comfortable 3.38-second cushion over second-place finisher Ryan Hunter-Reay. Points leader Scott Dixon finished third, part of the three-car pack that separated from the field with about 13 laps to go in the road race.
The victory completed an impressive weekend for the Team Penske driver at the 14-turn, 222-mile-long track, where Newgarden’s No. 1 Chevy registered the top speed in in practice.
F1: Hamilton Back Atop Title Chase
Le Castellet, France
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari crossed second and third to complete the podium at the Paul Ricard Circuit.
Defending champion Hamilton was never challenged after he reached the first corner a split second before Sebastian Vettel knocked into Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Vettel needed a new front wing for his Ferrari and had to work his way from the back of the pack to settle for a fifth-place finish behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Hamilton has 145 points after eight races. Vettel, who entered the race with a one-point lead, leaves trailing by 14.
It was Hamilton’s 65th career win. Only Michael Schumacher has more victories with 91.
While Hamilton thanked his team for its “great work” via the radio after crossing the line, Vettel lamented that he “had lost the race on the first lap.”
Starting from third behind both Mercedes, Vettel tried to squeeze past Bottas at the first corner but instead crunched his front wing into his rear left tire.
Moments later there was more trouble when Pierre Gasly ran his Toro Rosso into the back of Esteban Ocon’s Force India, knocking them both out of the race and bringing out the safety car.
Vettel limped back to the pits to get a new nose piece while Bottas got a new tire for the one that was shredded by the nudge from the four-time former champion.
Bottas had to restart at the back of the pack with Vettel, who race officials gave a five-second penalty for causing the collision.
While Hamilton kept in front of the two Red Bulls, Vettel dropped Bottas behind and made quick work of the slower cars on the track to join the top five drivers by lap 21.
But Vettel couldn’t close the gap with the Red Bulls and was passed by Raikkonen on fresh tires.
Hamilton has pulled level with Vettel with three wins each this season
Hamilton dominated the race, qualifying and Friday’s practice sessions boosted by an engine upgrade that Mercedes had expected to roll out in Canada, when Hamilton finished fifth and lost his lead to race winner Vettel.
Basking in the Mediterranean sun, driving conditions were optimal at the 5.8-kilometer (3.6-mile) circuit situated next to a private airport where planes took off and landed all weekend.
The handful of secondary roads that led to the track — which is situated just inland from the Cote d’ Azur — produced hours-long traffic jams for the tens of thousands fans eager to attend their first F1 race in France since 2008.
The return of the French GP after a decade-long absence since its last appearance at Magny-Cours is the first part of an unprecedented tripleheader of three races on consecutive weekends.
With less time for Ferrari’s engineers to play catch up, Hamilton will hope to press his advantage at the Austrian and British races to open up a commanding lead in the championship fight.
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