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Fox Sports
11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Instant Recall: Sonsio Grand Prix
INDYCAR The crowd at Indianapolis Motor Speedway enthusiastically roared when a caution came out on Lap 69 of Saturday's Sonsio Grand Prix. The 10-second lead of the sport's dominant driver, Alex Palou, would be erased and a fierce battle would ensue. But Palou put a quick damper on the celebration. Over each of the 12 laps that followed, he put more distance on second-place Pato O'Ward. Palou led by .8944 of a second at the end of the first restart lap, 1.7151 seconds after the second. Then, in consecutive laps, his lead at the start/finish line was 2.4781 seconds, 2.6289 seconds and then 3.2153 seconds. By the time the checkered flags waved, the 28-year-old Spaniard was joyously weaving down the front straightaway with an advantage of 5.4840 seconds. How does this driver keep doing this to a deeply competitive field? 'They just don't make a mistake,' O'Ward said of Palou and the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda crew. 'It's impressive.' With a fourth victory in the season's first five races, the three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion lowered his average finish to 1.2. In the past 50 years, the most comparable start was Sebastien Bourdais' rush out of the Champ Car World Series gate in 2006. The Frenchman won the first four races, then finished third for an average finish of 1.4. In 2005, Dan Wheldon won four of the first five Indy Racing League races, finishing sixth in the other. His average finish: 2.0. Palou's latest victory was a mix of deft tire strategy – he saved a set of new, faster alternate Firestone Firehawk tires for the final segment – and precise driving. After Graham Rahal jumped him at the start with a fresher set of the alternate tires on his No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda, Palou patiently waited for his moment, overtaking the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver on Lap 58. No one else was close to challenging Palou, who led 29 laps and won this race for the third consecutive year. And if the first caution since the early moments of the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding hadn't come, Palou might have won by 15 seconds or more. Power was involved in that caution-causing accident in Turn 3 in St. Petersburg, finishing 26th. Since then, he has been championship caliber if not for Palou. Power has finished sixth, sixth, fifth and third in these races. O'Ward hasn't been as consistent as Palou or Power, but this was his second runner-up finish of the season. He was the first car behind Palou at the conclusion of the season's second race, at The Thermal Club. The combination has him fourth in the season standings, but he fell to a staggering 100 points behind Palou. Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood finished eighth Saturday. His point total is the closest to Palou's, but at 93 points in arrears, he effectively trails by nearly two full races. Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard is 98 points out of the series lead after finishing 16th in this race. For the record, the number of consecutive laps without a caution stopped at 408. But not even that could stop Palou. Next up is the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, a race Palou has not won. Should he win that, too, he will be on a pace similar to A.J. Foyt's 1964 season, when Foyt won the first seven races, including the '500.' Foyt wasn't beaten until Aug. 23 when Parnelli Jones won at the Milwaukee Mile. Foyt had transmission failure in that race and finished 26th. Will Palou win Indy, too? History is waiting to see if he can. 'I will be shocked if he dominates that,' Power said. 'He'll be up there (near the front), but so will a lot of other people. But that would be something if he went on and did that. That would be one of the greatest motorsports moments I've seen in my career.' recommended
Fox Sports
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Field Will Try To Rein In Alex Palou Saturday in Sonsio Grand Prix
INDYCAR Perhaps it's time to start celebrating Alex Palou's dominance of this NTT INDYCAR SERIES era. Palou enters the upcoming doubleheader at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – the Sonsio Grand Prix is Saturday, the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is May 25 – as the winner of three of the first four races this season. He is 60 points clear of his nearest competitor for what he hopes will be his third consecutive series championship and fourth title in five years. SEE: Event Details The last INDYCAR SERIES driver to open a season this well was Sebastien Bourdais in 2006. Bourdais won the first four races of that Champ Car World Series season en route to capturing his third of four consecutive series championships. Another comparable start was Simon Pagenaud's first five races of the 2016 season, when he finished second in the first two before winning the next three. More recently, Scott Dixon won the first three races of the 2020 season before finishing 12th in the fourth race. He, too, went on to win the title. In just a little more than five seasons, Palou already has 14 race wins. Consider the drivers just above him on the all-time list among race winners: Alex Zanardi, Juan Pablo Montoya and Pagenaud each won 15 races in their careers, and Dan Wheldon won 16. Among the drivers with 17 career wins are Danny Sullivan and Tony Kanaan. Palou's next win could come in either of these IMS races. He has won the last two Sonsio Grands Prix, and his average finish in the past four '500s' is 5.0. He has led 119 laps and won the pole in 2023 for 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.' Meantime, the competition will try to keep the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda at bay. CGR is More than Palou Chip Ganassi Racing has won the past three races on the IMS road course, including Palou each of the past two in this event in May. Dixon won the August 2023 race and has three other runner-up finishes on this 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit. Dixon finished 12th in last weekend's Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst at Barber Motorsports Park, and he likely would have fared better if not for going off course in qualifying, which relegated him to a 26th-place starting position. Both IMS tracks have been good for the driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. He won the '500' in 2008 and has two career road course wins, with three second-place finishes. Dixon has been the pole sitter for 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing' five times (his total is second only to Rick Mears' six). CGR's third driver is Kyffin Simpson (No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda). The second-year series driver from the Cayman Islands has delivered career-best performances in the past two events. He finished 10th in last month's Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and qualified 10th in last weekend's race. Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian, which shares a technical relationship with CGR, is led by Felix Rosenqvist, who won the pole for a July 2022 race on the IMS road course. The driver of the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda is sixth in the current standings. Teammate Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda) finished fifth in last year's Sonsio Grand Prix. Team Penske Excels at Indy Roger Penske's organization has won a record 20 Indianapolis 500s, and it has excelled on the IMS road course, as well, with a series-high eight race wins and seven poles. Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) has had the most success, scoring five wins and six poles. Both totals lead all drivers on the IMS road course. Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet) won an IMS road course race in October 2020 and should have a pep in his May return to IMS after winning the past two '500s.' Team Penske will be looking for something of a rebirth in this Sonsio Grand Prix. It hasn't won on the IMS road course since Power's August 2021 victory, and its three drivers are unusually deep in the standings. Scott McLaughlin ranks fifth in the No. 3 Sonsio Vehicle Protection Chevrolet while Power is ninth and Newgarden is 11th. All three drivers finished in the top 10 of last weekend's race at Barber Motorsports Park, with McLaughlin third, Power fifth and Newgarden 10th. Lundgaard Shining with Arrow McLaren Christian Lundgaard's first four races in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet have produced four top-eight finishes, with top-three finishes in each of the past three races. He finished second to Palou in last weekend's race at Barber Motorsports Park. Lundgaard is second in the season standings, 60 points behind Palou. Those two started on the front row for last year's Sonsio Grand Prix, and they led a majority of the 85-lap race. Palou led 39 laps, Lundgaard 35. It's worth noting that Lundgaard's teammates – past and present – have enjoyed strong runs on this circuit in recent years. Pato O'Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) finished second and third in the two races in 2023. Lundgaard finished second in a July 2022 race and won the pole in May 2023, both with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Graham Rahal finished second in the August 2023 race from the pole. Rahal will drive the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda in this weekend's event. VeeKay Gives Dale Coyne Racing Strong Runs Rinus VeeKay delivered one of the standout performances last week at Barber Motorsports Park, finishing a season-best fourth despite a late-race pit stop bobble when the right front tire changer had issues applying the wheel nut. VeeKay posted Dale Coyne Racing's best finish since David Malukas finished third in the 2023 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway. The team also posted a pair of second-place finishes on the IMS road course in 2021 with Romain Grosjean at the wheel. Grosjean won the pole for that year's May race. VeeKay, who was the last driver named to this year's 27-car field, finished ninth in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding. The driver of the No. 18 askROI Honda will be eager to race Saturday as he won this event in May 2021, his first and only series race win to date. He also won the pole for a race here in October 2020, finishing third. VeeKay is 12th in the standings. Andretti Global Strong Here, Too Colton Herta and Alexander Rossi delivered IMS road course wins for Andretti Global in 2022, and the team already has a race win this season (Kyle Kirkwood won last month's Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach). Rossi now drives Ed Carpenter Racing's No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet. All three Andretti Global cars – driven by Herta, Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson – showed speed at Barber Motorsports Park, but they didn't achieve their desired results in the race. However, Herta is riding three consecutive top-seven finishes in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda, and Kirkwood has finished fifth, eighth, first and 11th in the races this season in the No. 27 PreFab Honda. Kirkwood is third in the season standings, nine points behind Lundgaard. Ericsson drives the No. 28 Fresh Connect Central Honda. Honda-powered drivers have won all four races this season (three by Palou, one by Kirkwood). One thing new for this event is that all competitors must use both types of Firestone Firehawk tires – the harder primaries and the softer alternates – twice each in the race. NTT INDYCAR SERIES Weekend Broadcast Schedule (All Times Eastern) Friday: 9:30 a.m.: Practice 1 (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) 1 p.m.: Practice 2 (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) 4:30 p.m: NTT P1 Award Qualifying (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) Saturday: 11:30 a.m.: Warmup (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) 4:30 p.m.: 85-lap Sonsio Grand Prix (FOX, FOX Sports App, INDYCAR Radio Network) recommended
Fox Sports
07-04-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
INDYCAR SERIES Veteran Shigeaki Hattori Dies at 61
INDYCAR Shigeaki Hattori, one of eight Japanese-born drivers to compete in the Indianapolis 500, died April 5 in a car accident in Huntersville, North Carolina. He was 61. The native of Okayama in southern Japan, Hattori competed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway three times, earning a pair of starts. After serving as the first alternate to the 33-car field in 2001, he finished 20th in 2002 for Bradley Motorsports, completing 197 laps. The next year, he finished 30th driving for AJ Foyt Racing as the car's fuel system failed. Those two races in the '500' were among Hattori's 34 career INDYCAR SERIES starts in a four-year span that ended in 2003. His best series finish came at Texas Motor Speedway when he finished sixth in 2002. At 32, Hattori moved to the U.S. in 1995, first embarking on an opportunity in Indy Lights, now known as INDY NXT by Firestone. He won races at Homestead-Miami Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway, starting in the top three on both occasions for Indy Regency Racing. Hattori made his INDYCAR SERIES debut in 1999, making eight Champ Car World Series starts for Bettenhausen Motorsports. In 2000, he moved to the Indy Racing League, scoring four top-10 finishes in five races for Treadway Racing. Hattori's INDYCAR SERIES career featured rides with five teams using five different engine badging. Hattori also had a significant career in NASCAR, driving and owning entries. He made 10 Truck Series starts before turning his attention to leading Hattori Racing Enterprises. The team fielded Johnny Sauter, Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain, among other notable drivers. Brett Moffitt won the 2018 Truck Series championship for the team. recommended in this topic
Forbes
07-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why Escalante Bought One Of Golf's Most Exclusive Clubs For Icon Golf
An ultra-private, Top 100-ranked golf course that sees less play than Augusta National and has been a millionaire's 'personal playground' is about to become more accessible – at least slightly -- as the home club for Icon Golf, a national luxury and travel membership. Canyata, built two decades ago on a former cornfield in Marshall, Illinois, about 200 miles due south of Chicago, recently became the 25th golf property acquired by Escalante Golf, a boutique owner and operator of luxury properties across the U.S. The Escalante portfolio includes a diverse mix of public, private and resort, among them Black Diamond Ranch and The Dye Preserve in Florida, Kingsmill Resort in Virginia, the Clubs of Dove Mountain in Arizona, Pursell Farms in Alabama, Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon, The International in Massachusetts, and Kingsley Club in Michigan. While courses at many of those properties have garnered acclaim, Canyata has a truly unique mystique. The man who created Canyata as an exclusive golf retreat for family and friends, Jerry Forsythe, a magnate in the power and auto racing industries, estimates that the course has hosted only about 5,000 rounds since it opened in 2005. Upon its debut, Canyata was recognized by Golf Digest as the No. 2 new private course in the country. Today it continues to be ranked by the magazine among the Top 100 courses in America, highlighted for its nearly flawless manicuring and massive fairways and greens 'edged by waterscaped ponds, artificial creeks and a dazzling array of bunkers.' Forsythe, the former owner of the Champ Car World Series who's now in his 80s, was approached about selling the club and, with no family members eager to be in the golf business, saw a fit with the ethos of family-owned Escalante. And Canyata is a perfect fit for Icon Golf, which has a membership of 700+ that's focused on the family dynamic as well as fellowship and camaraderie in its approach to a luxury golf travel club. Icon Golf Jeff Goodsell said he was initially in disbelief when he was informed of the acquisition and plans by Escalante President David McDonald. 'You're telling me that I got a Top 100 with no members, that we can do whatever we want with it and make it the home club of Icon Golf? Yeah, let's go,' said Goodsell. 'It's a pretty amazing opportunity. We've all just been scratching our heads going, how many opportunities in the entire world are there to buy a club or a course of this stature that has no members, no bylaws, no rules and regulations? It's a world-class golf course and it's a blank slate. So, it's going to be a fun adventure, to say the least.' While no architectural updates are planned – the design, playability, aesthetics and fun are all there, Goodsell says – the course's agronomic profile will be improved to encourage a firmer and faster playing experience. Along with a new general manager, a new superintendent has been hired, with his maintenance staff increasing from approximately 10 to 30. What has been a course of mystery in the corn fields of Illinois will be transformed into more of a true destination golf experience, however, with plans for a variety of onsite accommodations, a par-3 course, comfort stations, re-imagined practice facilities, lighted putting greens, a fish camp, trails, and more. There will be a caddy program and the number of members on site will be limited to no more than 40 at a time. Goodsell acknowledges that 'the middle of nowhere Illinois' at first blush might not seem as attractive in comparison to Escalante's properties in places like Tucson, Portland, San Francisco, Naples or Boston, but says the experience is a uniquely peaceful and calming one that not many other places can offer. 'It's the type of place you go and get out on the golf course, you can't even really see another hole, so you feel like you're the only person on the planet,' Goodsell said. 'You don't know what time it is; you forget what day of the week it is, you don't care about checking your phone or emails, and you just melt into nature.' Only Icon Golf members and their guests will be permitted to stay and play at Canyata when the club re-opens in May. The golf season is expected to run from May through the end of October. The Icon Golf membership was created to provide a super 'high touch' and 'very customer service oriented' luxury travel program that brings people together and celebrates the camaraderie of golf. It's continued to expand over the years, particularly in the post-Covid era as golf's popularity has boomed, with members not only having access to some of the other Escalante-owned properties but participating in annual curated events such as tournaments at places like Pebble Beach and other renowned properties. They also include 'Quests,' which are longer trips to top golf destinations worldwide, and 'Experiences,' which are 3-day, 2-night itineraries at Escalante clubs. 'To my knowledge, there was nothing like that that existed in a luxury space,' said Goodsell, who joined Escalante just over a decade ago. 'And I said, 'Let's kick this up a notch and instead of going to find a bunch of guys that are just looking for nothing more than golf boondoggles and getting drunk and playing music, let's go find couples. Let's go find families. Let's go find people that have the means and the influence to go do some of the best things this world has to offer.' We've kind of settled into that niche.' Many of the trips are now being planned at least two years in advance, with members able to invite family or friends, and Icon Golf coordinating everything except for the booking of flights. Both golfers and non-golfers are welcome to participate, as plenty of activities are planned away from the course for spouses and/or other family members, from cooking classes and scuba lessons to shopping excursions and spa days. The membership has a $25,000 non-refundable, one-time initiation fee for a family membership, with annual dues of $6,000 and no equity, no assessments, and no food and beverage minimums. When members visit other clubs in the portfolio, there are no restrictions or limitations, and no playing fees beyond a cart fee if they're riding. Canyata now becomes the home club for the Icon membership, with the highlight being a course that Escalante's McDonald calls 'the textbook definition of a hidden gem.' Goodsell considers himself a 'pretty studious golf nerd,' having played many of the nation's best courses, but hadn't heard of Canyata until initial, informal conversations began with Forsythe about his vision and hopes for the property. Escalante ultimately acquired about 430 acres that occupied the golf course and its surrounds, with the exception being a massive log cabin on property the Forsythe family wanted to retain. A road into the club was rerouted and a fence was built around the cabin for added privacy. Canyata was long a family-focused property and Goodsell envisions elements of that remaining. He aspires to have a board in the main clubhouse that lists names and hometowns of members who are on-site to facilitate interaction. He said there are talks about a party barn for family-style dining, the type of location where members gather for meals when the chef comes out and rings the dinner bell. 'It's creating a cool balance of exclusivity with warmth and welcome,' said Goodsell, adding that he can't wait for members to get to experience a club that's been shrouded in mystery for two decades. And it's just one part of the broader Icon membership. 'What we're going to do at Canyata is going to be unbelievable,' Goodsell said. 'But I truly think what has become the heartbeat of our membership is the travel. It fosters an opportunity for really cool, genuine friendships and memories. We kind of look at it with this mantra of, 'Come see the world with us.'' For a fortunate few, that now includes a one-of-a-kind golf course in the corn fields of Illinois.
