Verstappen, Newgarden, and Blaney win during biggest weekend in Motorsports

Memorial Day weekend is one where everyone remembers the fallen men and women who have served in the U.S. Military to fight for our freedom. One way our freedom is shown is auto racing, and that is exactly what happened this past Sunday and Monday across the world. And for the first time since 2007, there was an American racing in Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix, IndyCar's Indianapolis 500, and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 (Logan Sargent raced in the Monaco Grand Prix, and is from Miami, Fla.)

Breakfast at Monaco, lunch at Indianapolis, and dinner at Charlotte - that’s the old saying in the motorsports world. Things kicked off in Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix, in a relatively snooze fest at the famed circuit. Red Bull Racing's Max Vestappen claimed his fourth victory in the six races that have been run so far in the F1 season, after leading all 78 laps in a caution free snooze fest. Red Bull Racing has won all six events on the calendar so far, with Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez scoring two wins as well.

From a boring million boys racing club, to one of the more exciting races so far in 2023, the Indianapolis 500 for the second straight year did not disappoint. Josef Newgarden, who drives the No. 2 Chevy for Team Penske, became the first Penske driver to win at Indianapolis since team owner Roger Penske bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series back in 2019. However, two notable things happened Sunday afternoon that IndyCar fans will never forget.

Starting off with 15 laps to go on lap 185, Felix Rosenquist spun in turn two bringing out the caution. He then clipped Kyle Kirkwood, hitting him right on the left rear tire and causing it to break off and fly into the turn two parking lot. The insane incident brought back memories of a darker time in open wheel racing in the late 90’s to early 2000’s, when several tires broke off and landed in the grandstands, hurting and killing spectators. Luckily, the tire caused no injuries, except for one fan's Chevy Cruze, where the tire landed on the front end of the sedan causing damage.

Another was a first for the Indianapolis 500. Unlike NASCAR, IndyCar does not have an overtime procedure if a late race yellow is out. With four laps to go, that very scenario brought an exciting battle for the lead between Newgarden and ‘22 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson to a screeching halt, with Ericsson as the leader. Nine times out of 10, the race would end under the caution flag with that few laps left, but to everyone’s surprise, that wasn’t the case. IndyCar Officials red flagged the race for the third time that afternoon, in order to get a clean one lap shootout to determine the winner for the 2023 Indianapolis 500. On the final lap, Newgarden was able to pass Ericsson on the backstretch, and scored his first Indy 500 win in his young career.

Finally, it was time for the Coca-Cola 600. Due to persistent rain that hit the Carolina’s, NASCAR decided to postpone the race to late Monday afternoon, the first time the 600 was moved to a Monday since 2009. After a moment of silence at 3 p.m. Eastern Monday afternoon to remember fallen soldiers that have served in the U.S. Military, things kicked off to a great start, After years of questioning if NASCAR needs a 600 mile race with the lack of good racing with the Gen 6 car, the Next Gen car back’s up last year’s Coke 600 with the same exciting racing throughout the entire event - even with a running time of five hours along with 16 cautions. Ryan Blaney, who drives the No. 12 for Team Penske in the NASCAR Cup Series, picked up his first win since August of ‘21 at Daytona, and snapped a 59 race winless streak and won Monday night. This was also the first time in history that Team Penske won both the Indy 500 and Coke 600 in the same year.

During the middle part of the 600 miles at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin were racing hard for position on the track. After Hamlin drove up on Hamlin on the front straightaway and put him in the wall, Elliott intentionally right hooked Hamlin to the outside wall, ending both Elliott’s and Hamlin’s day. Hamlin, after being released from the infield care center, told FOX Sports that NASCAR needs to suspend Elliott for one race, as that wreck was similar to what Bubba Wallace did to Elliott’s teammate Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last October. NASCAR ultimately suspended Elliott from competing in this weekend's upcoming race at World Wide Technology Raceway in the St. Louis, Mo., area., and driver Corey Lajoie will replace Elliot in the No. 9 NAPA Chevy. Lajoie is currently driving the No. 7 for Spire Motorsports in the Cup Series, but will be replaced by NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Carson Hocevar to pilot the No. 7, making this weekend his first start in the big leagues.