IndyCar sees new winner trend end in dramatic fashion

IndyCar did not see an eighth different winner in the 2021 season’s eighth race at Belle Isle Street Circuit on Sunday afternoon.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson became the seventh different winner of the 2021 IndyCar season in the season’s seventh race on Saturday afternoon at Belle Isle Street Circuit.

He secured the win in the first 70-lap race of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix around the 14-turn, 2.35-mile (3.782-kilometer) temporary street circuit on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan by leading only the final five laps behind the wheel of his #8 Honda.

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During a late red flag period caused by a single-car wreck involving Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing rookie Romain Grosjean, Team Penske’s Will Power was the leader, but his #12 Chevrolet would not re-fire when the race was put back under caution and then eventually went back green.

Ericsson’s win set IndyCar up to potentially see some history on Sunday afternoon.

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Never before had a season begun with eight different winners in eight races, and there were several contenders to become winner number eight in Sunday afternoon’s 70-lap race at the same venue.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden was the primary contender, as he hasn’t won since last year’s season finale on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. After taking the pole position on Sunday morning, he dominated the race, but like his teammate on Saturday afternoon, he saw that lead escape in the closing laps.

After leading the first 67 laps of the race, Newgarden got a little bit loose and came under attack from a hard-charging Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward on the back straightaway on lap 68.

Newgarden’s #2 Chevrolet and O’Ward’s #5 Chevrolet made slight contact, and O’Ward was able to take the lead and pull away over the final two-plus laps to secure a 6.760-second victory. Newgarden tied his season-best result with a second place finish, marking his third runner-up finish of the year.

The win was the second of O’Ward’s career and his second of the season, making him the first repeat winner of 2021. O’Ward, one of four winners already in 2021 who entered the year without a victory, also won the second race of the Texas Motor Speedway doubleheader in early May, making him two for two in race number twos this year.

The last time IndyCar had seen seven different winners in a season’s first seven races was in 2017. That streak also ended in the second race of the Belle Isle doubleheader, with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal sweeping the race weekend.

Meanwhile, after coming just five laps and three laps shy of sweeping the entire weekend, Team Penske now sit 0 for 8 so far this season, a historically low mark for a historically successful team. Throughout the entire 14-race 2020 season, they only failed to win seven races.

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The next race on the schedule is the REV Group Grand Prix at Road America, which is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 20.