2017 ABC Supply 500

The second race of the Verizon IndyCar Series' triple double crown of 500-mile races takes place at the dauntingly large, fast, and triangular speedway known as Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

It's been three weeks since the most recent IndyCar race, which took place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Josef Newgarden managed to score his second consecutive win, becoming the first three-time winner of the season in doing so. The victory was also enough to put Newgarden on top of the championship standings, with Hélio Castroneves in second, Scott Dixon in third, and Simon Pagenaud in fourth. Heading into the 14th event of this 17-race season, these four drivers are separated by only 17 points.

Last year's race at Pocono came down to the wire between two cars, as we witnessed Mikhail Aleshin chase down Will Power late in the going and challenge him for the win. Power managed to hold off Aleshin and claim his fourth career victory on an oval.

Unfortunately, it seems probable that that race was the closest that Aleshin will ever come to winning in IndyCar. "The Mad Russian" had not had the greatest of seasons up to this point, having lost control of the car and crashed in multiple instances during races as well as non-race sessions. Sam Schmidt already had Aleshin sit out the race at Toronto in July while Sebastián Saavedra took his place, but now he has officially been released from driving duties by SPH Motorsports. Ongoing international sanctions against Russia have been indirectly limiting the funding that Aleshin originally brought to the team, and although he has shown talent and bravery behind the wheel, he simply no longer has the backing to be able to stick around at SPH long enough to break the habit of crashing. Saavedra will return to pilot car #7 for at least the next two races.

The only other notable news items to come out of the three-week break have been more feedback from the tests that have been conducted on the 2018 aerokits, and the fact that Sébastien Bourdais has been medically cleared to race in IndyCar again! He will not be racing this weekend, however, and it has not been confirmed as to whether or not he will race at Gateway. If not, then he is almost certain to return at Watkins Glen.

Coverage of the race begins at 2:00 P.M. Eastern on NBCSN, with the green flag waving at 2:45!

Damnit, of course Penske has to ruin everything. Getting tired of this constant Penske garbage.

I think that that was definitely the most thrilling (not to mention competitive) IndyCar race at Pocono since the series returned to the track in 2013. That was about as good as it gets!

A lot of drivers who really needed good runs had fantastic races. Kanaan was one of the biggest contenders of the day right from the start; it's a huge shame that the problem that he had with his wing prevented him from fighting for the win. Rossi had his best run of the year, himself, only to have his speed limited by a broken fuel-mixture knob. And Ryan Hunter-Reay hops back into the car after a 138-G impact the day before and drives from the 11th row to the lead at Pocono... again! It would have been nice if any of them could have won, but the race was amazing, nonetheless.

I have absolutely no idea how on Earth that Hinchcliffe kept his car under control and off the wall on lap 102. That was a miraculous save.

Race of the year candidate. No doubt about it.

I lol'd when Paul Tracy took a shot at NASCAR with the 'No stage racing needed here' line.

Pretty solid race Sunday. I was kinda blown away how Power was able to defend the lead while running on the damn apron. Crazy stuff.

I think Josef Newgarden is officially the title favorite. They've been the best Penske car this year only being hampered by a couple bad runs early in the season. Now that he's in control i think he might have the will to hold off Dixon and co.

Great drive by Will. Newgarden and Will are title contenders in my opinion

James Hinchcliffe channeled his inner Kenny Brack with a 200+ mph save. That's even crazier viewing it back. o_o

Will Power did show us that maybe it's better to be faster by yourself than it is to be faster in a pack, because Newgarden simply couldn't do anything about him and Power is one of the best defensive drivers I've ever seen in my life.

mtrimmer365 wrote:Damnit, of course Penske has to ruin everything. Getting tired of this constant Penske garbage.

1994 is laughing at you. Penske won all but four races but a lot of the races from 1994 are still classics in their own right. Michigan and Cleveland in particular.

PackerMan71 wrote:Race of the year candidate. No doubt about it.

I lol'd when Paul Tracy took a shot at NASCAR with the 'No stage racing needed here' line.

Glad I'm not the only one that caught that!

Interesting note: Sunday's race was the first race in any series at Pocono to have at least 40 lead changes since 1983.

Went to the race this year, and it was very enjoyable. The crowd was entertained from start to finish, which should hopefully help them stay on the schedule next season.

Cynon wrote:James Hinchcliffe channeled his inner Kenny Brack with a 200+ mph save. That's even crazier viewing it back. o_o

Will Power did show us that maybe it's better to be faster by yourself than it is to be faster in a pack, because Newgarden simply couldn't do anything about him and Power is one of the best defensive drivers I've ever seen in my life.

mtrimmer365 wrote:Damnit, of course Penske has to ruin everything. Getting tired of this constant Penske garbage.

1994 is laughing at you. Penske won all but four races but a lot of the races from 1994 are still classics in their own right. Michigan and Cleveland in particular.

PackerMan71 wrote:Race of the year candidate. No doubt about it.

I lol'd when Paul Tracy took a shot at NASCAR with the 'No stage racing needed here' line.

Glad I'm not the only one that caught that!

I knew someone would eventually call me out for my salty bitchy-ness, just wish it wasn't the admin

But you're correct, I just dislike them because of how good they are. Plus I have family that work on Andretti Autosport so there is gonna be some hate towards some of the other teams. Sorry that I came across as a little whiner. Pocono was an amazing race and definitely a race of the year candidate. Some people are even saying that this race was the best race at Pocono out of any series apparently.

I'm posting about five days late, but this was probably my nomination for best race of the year thus far, period. Fantastic racing with good passing, not really much fail, and just for being pretty thrilling throughout. Definitely the best Pocono race since they came back in 2013.

I hope Josef pulls this one off. He could be the favorite now.

By far the best Pocono IndyCar race ever.