The second race of the 2018 IndyCar racing season is now in the books, and the 1.022-mile oval of ISM Raceway delivered a thrilling race following an incredible season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida.
This time it was Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden who piloted his Chevy-powered racer to victory lane at the 2018 IndyCar Grand Prix of Phoenix, following a last-minute call to pit for fresh tires during the second and final caution period of the race. The fresh rubber allowed the Tennessee-native to catapult past IndyCar rookie Robert Wickens, who despite having a strong contender, didn’t have the grip necessary to maintain the lead.
With just three laps to go, Newgarden conquered his first win of the year, delegating Wickens to second and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi to third. Of course, the reactions of fans poured into social media, but so did the drivers’.
Josef Newgarden – First Place
The IndyCar reigning champion did everything he had to do to climb to the top step of the podium. He drove well, he passed well, and he listened to his race engineer when it was time to gamble and dive into the pits.
Robert Wickens – Second Place
Sadly, the Canadian racing driver didn’t get to enjoy his first podium finish in his second IndyCar career start. Wickens was extremely saddened by the news of a bus crashing and killing 10 young amateur hockey players and 15 people total in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Alexander Rossi – Third Place
The amazing American, as you’ll see on his tweet, performed 53 passes during the 2018 IndyCar Grand Prix of Phoenix. If our math serves us right, that’s about 19 percent of all passes performed during the race!
James Hinchcliffe – Sixth Place
Since Scott Dixon (4th) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (5th) failed to post to social media, we’ll skip right over to the Mayor of Hinchtown, Canada’s own James Hinchcliffe. The charismatic driver celebrated his sixth-place finish by poking fun at his fellow Canadian teammate, Robert Wickens.