The condition of Australian driver Matt Mingay, injured in an accident in Saturday’s Stadium Super Trucks Series (SST) race at the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, has been upgraded from critical to serious but stable. Montoya and Castroneves managed solid finishes, but Pagenaud slipped badly at the end and Will Power, another Penske star, had a shifting issue with about 25 laps to go and ended up 20th.
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Newgarden had the fastest lap of the race, closely followed by Dixon, as the only two drivers to dip under 1:15 on the day.
Power finally won a race, ending a 19-race drought over the past 13 months, capturing the nightcap to the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit.
Sebastien Bourdais, the victor of Saturday’s race, will start 12th. It was Power’s third top-5 this season (he finished third at Phoenix and fourth at Barber). Indianapolis 500 victor, rookie Alexander Rossi, was not a factor in the race.
Scott Dixon had a horror day yesterday when he was forced from the race, but recovered today to finish fifth in Detroit.
“I think I missed a couple of steps how we got from 13th to 16th to 18th to last, pretty much, to 13th again, and jumping into the lead on the late stage”, Bourdais said. I wasn’t willing to take that with Simon because he’s the championship leader. Castroneves opted to stay out one more lap but before he could pit, a full-course caution was called when Jack Hawksworth stalled.
The KVSH racer led for several laps, pulling out a decent lead before finally making a final splash and dash pit-stop.
St. Petersburg resident Sebastien Bourdais, who won Saturday’s race, finished eighth. The win was the 25th of Power’s career, moving him into a tie with Rodger Ward for 14th place all-time. The seventh race of the season has been a harbinger of the championship.
“Man it’s been a long time since the No. 12 has been in victory lane”, Power said.
“Will made a great pass and had to brake really late”, he said.
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Finishing a strong third was Ryan Hunter-Reay. Last week: Alexander Rossi became the first American-born rookie since 1928 to win the Indianapolis 500. As he moved to the left, Carlos Munoz was left to move left, too, which is where James Hinchcliffe’s auto was. Bourdais was still in second after that, and he re-took the lead when Daly made his stop.
