Dennis Hauger Looking to Become Latest to Sweep Laguna Seca Doubleheader
Dennis Hauger widened his INDY NXT by Firestone championship advantage to 76 points over Andretti Global teammate Lochie Hughes following a runner-up finish the last time out at Iowa Speedway on July 12.
Hughes, who started second on the short oval, fell to 16th place after receiving a blocking penalty for impeding eventual race winner Myles Rowe on Lap 3. The rookie served a drive-through penalty on Lap 12 and lost a lap in the process.
Caio Collet, the race winner at Road America on June 22, sits third in the standings, 84 points behind Hauger. Rowe trails by 127, while Salvador de Alba rounds out the top five, 156 points back, entering a crucial doubleheader this weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Each race will span 35 laps. Saturday's event airs at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS2, while Sunday's race begins at 1 p.m. ET on FS1. Both will also stream via the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Hauger Double Opportunity to Pad Lead
Reigning series champion Louis Foster swept last year's doubleheader at Laguna Seca, joining Spencer Pigot (2015), Rinus VeeKay (2019), and Kyle Kirkwood (2021) as the only drivers to win both races in a weekend at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course.
Could Hauger be next? The Norwegian has been dominant on natural road courses this season, earning wins at Barber Motorsports Park, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, plus a runner-up at Road America.
Since Laguna Seca returned in 2019, the eventual champion has won at least one race during the weekend in three of five seasons. With just four races remaining after this weekend, including Portland International Raceway (Aug. 10), The Milwaukee Mile (Aug. 24) and Nashville Superspeedway (Aug. 31), Hauger has a golden opportunity to put the title nearly out of reach.
Hughes Needs Rebound
Despite his setback at Iowa, Hughes has been consistently strong on road courses this year, with podiums at Barber, IMS, Road America and Mid-Ohio.
Still, his first finish outside the top five in nine rookie starts left him more than a full race's worth of points behind. With 54 points available per race, 108 are on the line this weekend, plenty of room to rebound.
Andretti Global has won seven of the last eight INDY NXT races at Laguna Seca, making Hughes a strong candidate to return to form.
Collet Aiming For Victory
Collet finished second to Foster in both Laguna Seca races last year. Can he claim the top step this time?
Driving for HMD Motorsports, Collet has six podiums in nine races this season and enters with seven consecutive top-five finishes. He is very much in the hunt.
Double Top-10 Finish For Chip Ganassi Racing at Iowa
CGR teammates Niels Koolen (fifth) and Bryce Aron (ninth) both finished inside the top 10 at Iowa, the team's second double top-10 of the season, the first coming in Detroit.
While Chip Ganassi Racing boasts 23 championships and over 260 wins across major series, including six Indy 500s, the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, and 24 Hours of Le Mans, an INDY NXT victory remains elusive.
Could Laguna Seca deliver that missing piece?
CGR has five NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories on the track, including three straight.
A Launchpad to INDYCAR
Since 1989, INDY NXT by Firestone has staged 27 races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, with 21 different drivers winning. Twenty of the 21 winners went on to compete in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
With victory lane reserved for the drivers en route to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, who will emerge victorious in both races this weekend?
Track Specs: 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course.
Qualifying Record: Christian Rasmussen, 1:11.7225 (112.333 mph), Sept. 9, 2023.
Push To Pass Parameters: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation.
recommended
Item 1 of 1
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Liverpool signed one of the most skilful players on the planet
Liverpool now have one of the most skilful players on the planet. It's been apparent over the last year that Arne Slot is keen on adding more skill to his attack. The Reds were brilliant last season, but they lacked a player who can take players on one vs one and create space for others. Shop the LFC Store LFC Kits Shop Now LFC x New Era Shop Now LFC Signed Merch Shop Now LFC x Titleist Shop Now Someone who can also be unpredictable. This is why they had considered making a move for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the January transfer window. Ultimately, Paris Saint Germain were the ones who were able to sway the exquisite Georgian attacker, and they reaped the rewards, becoming Champions League winners and beating Liverpool along the way. For the Reds though, missing out on Kvaratskhelia may have been a silver lining. Because little did they realise, but they already had a player of his ilk, and had already signed him last summer. Richard Hughes got a lot of criticism last year when he ultimately didn't really go big on any transfer. Obviously, those critics are very silent now as Liverpool have embarked on a spending spree. But Hughes did make one transfer that could go onto retrospectively be known as one of his best deals ever. We are talking about the acquisition of Rio Ngumoha from Chelsea. Last year the 16-year-old's arrival caused shockwaves but little did we know just how good of a player Ngumoha was actually really is. There was a lot of hype, and a lot to live up to and over the course of the last year, he's done that. At academy level, Ngumoha has been averaging around 13 dribblers per 90 minutes, and completing over 50% of his attempts. Those are on par with the most skilful players on the planet. In pre-season, he's showing he can translate that to senior level as well. Against AC Milan he was one of the best players on the pitch, creating the most chances (two) and winning the most duels (4) in the first-half. Most importantly, he completed the most dribblers (3) on the same pitch that included Rafael Leao, which is impressive to say the least. Overall as we have no access to data from the Stoke City game, in which Ngumoha scored, he's played around 90 minutes for Liverpool in pre-season so far. In those 90 minutes, Ngumoha has attempted nine dribbles and completed six of them. It's a small sample size but these are the numbers he has produced at academy and youth international level, too. Ngumoha is simply one of the most skilful players on the planet already. He thrives in tight spaces and he has AC Milan's senior players not really knowing how to deal with him. There's no denying he will play more minutes for the first team next season. There's also no denying, Hughes pulled off a major coup when he signed him last summer. With Ngumoha in the side, Slot will finally have that unpredictable element. Add Florian Wirtz to the mix and Liverpool will undoubtedly be even better next season.
Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Alex Palou Continues Domination of Laguna Seca, Series Standings
INDYCAR WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca remains Alex Palou's best track, and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES' champion designation almost certainly will stay with him as well. The driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda proved both with a dominating drive in the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey. He won on the California road course for the second consecutive year – again from the pole – and scored his third win here in the past four years. Palou has just as much command of the season standings, where gaining the maximum number of points for the weekend, along with the fourth-place finish of Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward, pushed his lead to a whopping 121 points. Palou still has work to do to clinch his third consecutive series championship and fourth in five years, but that effort is minimal. Effectively, O'Ward will need to win the remaining three races for Palou to be threatened. This win gave Palou his eighth win in 14 races this season. Only three drivers in the sport's history – A.J. Foyt in 1964, Al Unser in 1970 and Mario Andretti in 1969 – have won more races in a season. Foyt and Unser hold the record with 10. Andretti had nine. Palou is one of five drivers with eight wins and is the first to do so since Sebastien Bourdais in 2007. The win was the 19th of Palou's still-young career – he has made just 95 starts. Only 23 drivers have ever been to victory lane as often in open-wheel racing. Palou relinquished the lead only to pit. Interestingly, the top spot the first time went to Arrow McLaren's Nolan Siegel, who led the first series laps of his career. Team Penske's Will Power grabbed the lead when Palou stopped a second time, but he gave it up on the next circuit, restoring order to Palou's race. Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard finished second with Colton Herta of Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian third. The two had a memorable moment mid-race when Lundgaard muscled his way to the inside of Herta in the track's final corner. There were two incidents on the opening lap. First, a tussle between Conor Daly and rookie Robert Shwartman said the latter shoved off into the Turn 3 gravel pit. Three corners later, Chip Ganassi Racing's Kyffin Simpson ran into the back of Felix Rosenqvist, knocking the Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian driver through the gravel and against the tire barrier. Simpson ricocheted off the wall, sending his car into another part of the tires. On Lap 11, Dale Coyne Racing rookie Jacob Abel appeared to have a mechanical failure as the car completely missed Turn 1 and sailed into the gravel. Later, Kirkwood ran into the back of Dale Coyne Racing's Rinus VeeKay, drawing the penalty that effectively ended his championship hopes. The two late caution periods were the result of the Turn 6 off by Andretti Global's Marcus Ericsson and AJ Foyt Racing's Santino Ferrucci spinning at the top of the Corkscrew. After five races over four July weekends, the series will take a short break before resuming the pursuit of the Astor Challenge Cup. The first of three races to end the season will be the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway on Sunday, Aug. 10 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX. recommended Item 1 of 2
Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
One International Game Every Year for Each NFL Team is on 'The Horizon'
Could an increase in international regular-season games a year be in the near future for the NFL? It's certainly a possibility. In fact, an "international game every year for every team" is "probably on the horizon," according to Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, per NBC Sports. Blank's comments during an interview at Falcons training camp on Saturday come months after league commissioner Roger Goodell said last fall that the NFL wants to stage 16 international games per year. The league is limited to a maximum of 10 international games per year under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, but that number is reportedly widely expected to increase to 16 in the next labor deal. With 32 NFL teams, that would be a big lift for the league to schedule that many international games every season. In May, the league announced the full matchups for all but one game in its record seven-game international slate, which includes the Minnesota Vikings playing back-to-back games in different European countries (Ireland and England). The one matchup that hasn't been announced is who the Los Angeles Chargers will play in Week 1 in Brazil. The current schedule is: Week 1 (Friday, Sept. 5): TBD vs. Chargers at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil (Time TBD) Week 4 (Sunday, Sept. 28): Vikings vs. Steelers at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland (9:30 a.m. ET) Week 5 (Sunday, Oct. 5): Vikings vs. Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England (9:30 a.m. ET) Week 6 (Sunday, Oct. 12): Broncos vs. Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England (9:30 a.m. ET) Week 7 (Sunday, Oct. 19): Rams vs. Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in Wembley, England (9:30 a.m. ET) Week 10 (Sunday, Nov. 9): Falcons vs. Colts at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany (9:30 a.m. ET) Week 11 (Sunday, Nov. 16): Commanders vs. Dolphins in Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain (9:30 a.m. ET) Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily ! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience National Football League recommended Item 1 of 3 Get more from the National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
