2021 REV Group Grand Prix at Road America

The 2021 REV Group Grand Prix at Road America was the ninth race of the 2021 IndyCar Series season. The race was held on Sunday, June 20, 2021, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin at Road America, a permanent road course. The race went to the scheduled 55 laps to completion. At race's end, Álex Palou, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, would take advantage of a disaster-stricken Josef Newgarden to win his second career IndyCar Series win and his second of the season. To fill out the podium, Colton Herta, driving for Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian, and Will Power, driving for Team Penske, would finish second and third, respectively.

Background Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NTT Indycar Series, NTTWeatherTech SportsCar Championship, SCCA Pirelli World Challenge, ASRA, AMA Superbike series, IndyCar Series, and SCCA Pro Racing's Trans-Am Series.

Numerous driver replacements would occur for the race. Former F1 driver Kevin Magnussen, who would make his IndyCar debut, would replace Felix Rosenqvist, who suffered injuries at the 2021 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. Oliver Askew would also replace an injured Rinus VeeKay, who suffered injuries in a cycling incident.

In addition, NASCAR driver Cody Ware would make his IndyCar debut.

Entry list KeyMeaningRookiePast winner DriverTeamEngine2 Josef Newgarden Team PenskeChevrolet3 Scott McLaughlin Team PenskeChevrolet4 Dalton KellettA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet5 Patricio O'WardArrow McLaren SPChevrolet7 Kevin Magnussen Arrow McLaren SPChevrolet8 Marcus EricssonChip Ganassi RacingHonda9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi RacingHonda10 Álex PalouChip Ganassi RacingHonda12 Will Power Team PenskeChevrolet14 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet15 Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda18 Ed JonesDale Coyne Racing with Vasser-SullivanHonda20 Conor DalyEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet21 Oliver AskewEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet22 Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet26 Colton HertaAndretti Autosport with Curb-AgajanianHonda27 Alexander Rossi Andretti AutosportHonda28 Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda29 James HinchcliffeAndretti Steinbrenner AutosportHonda30 Takuma SatoRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda48 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi RacingHonda51 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware RacingHonda52 Cody Ware Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware RacingHonda59 Max ChiltonCarlinChevrolet60 Jack HarveyMeyer Shank RacingHonda

Practice

First practice The first practice session was held on Friday, June 18, at 5:00 PM EST. The session would last for 45 minutes. Romain Grosjean, driving for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, setting a time of 1:47.6781. DriverTeamEngineLap Time151 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware RacingHonda01:47.6781226 Colton HertaAndretti Autosport with Curb-AgajanianHonda01:45.473032 Josef Newgarden Team PenskeChevrolet01:47.8417Full first practice results

Second practice The second practice session was held on Saturday, June 19, at 11:10 AM EST. The session would last for 45 minutes. Josef Newgarden, driving for Team Penske, would set the fastest time in the session, setting a time of 1:45.3399. DriverTeamEngineLap Time12 Josef Newgarden Team PenskeChevrolet01:45.3399228 Colton HertaAndretti Autosport with Curb-AgajanianHonda01:45.4730315 Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda01:45.6515Full second practice results

Third and final practice The final practice session was held on Saturday, June 19, at 5:30 PM EST. The session would last for 30 minutes. Colton Herta, driving for Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian, would set the fastest time in the session, setting a time of 1:47.6312. DriverTeamEngineLap Time128 Colton HertaAndretti Autosport with Curb-AgajanianHonda01:47.631229 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi RacingHonda01:47.6457315 Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda01:47.6707Full final practice results

Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday, June 19, at 2:30 PM EST. The qualifying format was a three-round knockout elimination format. For round one, the field is divided into two groups based on the odd and even positions of drivers in the final pre-qualifying practice session. The fastest driver in that session decides which group the odd-positioned drivers will be in with the even-positioned drivers in the other group. The fastest six drivers from each group would move onto round 2. Then, the fastest six drivers in round 2 would move onto to the third round, also known as the Firestone Fast Six. The fastest driver in Round 3 would win the pole.

Josef Newgarden, driving for Team Penske would win the pole after advancing from both preliminary rounds and setting the fastest lap in Round 3, setting a time of 1:46.0186 in the third round.

Full qualifying results DriverTeamEngineTimeRound 1Group 1Group 212 Josef Newgarden Team PenskeChevroletN/A01:45.607801:45.681801:46.01861226 Colton HertaAndretti Autosport with Curb-AgajanianHonda01:45.7504N/A01:45.523101:46.26162360 Jack HarveyMeyer Shank RacingHondaN/A01:46.006101:45.361201:46.72063412 Will Power Team PenskeChevroletN/A01:45.671601:45.857001:46.82374510 Álex PalouChip Ganassi RacingHonda01:45.8821N/A01:45.836301:46.86335622 Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet01:46:1281N/A01:45.799601:47.12746751 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware RacingHonda01:46.1329N/A01:45.9015N/A7828 Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda01:46:3086N/A01:45.9514N/A8927 Alexander Rossi Andretti AutosportHondaN/A01:45.628601:46.1037N/A9105 Patricio O'WardArrow McLaren SPChevroletN/A01:45.768101:46.1069N/A101114 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet01:46.1085N/A01:46.2225N/A111218 Ed JonesDale Coyne Racing with Vasser-SullivanHondaN/A01:45:796801:46.2270N/A12139 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi RacingHonda01:46.3427N/AN/AN/A131415 Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHondaN/A01:46.2779N/AN/A141520 Conor DalyEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet01:46.3976N/AN/AN/A151621 Oliver AskewEd Carpenter RacingChevroletN/A01:46.2902N/AN/A16173 Scott McLaughlin Team PenskeChevrolet01:46.8624N/AN/AN/A17188 Marcus EricssonChip Ganassi RacingHondaN/A01:46.4069N/AN/A181929 James HinchcliffeAndretti Steinbrenner AutosportHonda01:47.0294N/AN/AN/A192030 Takuma SatoRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHondaN/A01:46.5130N/AN/A20217 Kevin Magnussen Arrow McLaren SPChevrolet01:47.3776N/AN/AN/A212259 Max ChiltonCarlinChevroletN/A01:46.5551N/AN/A222348 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi RacingHonda01:47.7886N/AN/AN/A23244 Dalton KellettA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevroletN/A01:46.9786N/AN/A242552 Cody Ware Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware RacingHondaN/A01:47.7324N/AN/A25Full first group qualifying resultsFull second group qualifying resultsFull second round qualifying resultsFull Fast Six qualifying results

Race results DriverTeamEngineLapsTime/RetiredPit StopsGridLaps Led110 Álex PalouChip Ganassi RacingHonda551:50:55.053435551226 Colton HertaAndretti Autosport with Curb-AgajanianHonda55 +1.89263240312 Will Power Team PenskeChevrolet55 +2.9853343549 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi RacingHonda55 +3.9048313133551 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware RacingHonda55 +4.7136373068 Marcus EricssonChip Ganassi RacingHonda55 +5.180631828727 Alexander Rossi Andretti AutosportHonda55 +7.72193926830 Takuma SatoRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda55 +7.914542022595 Patricio O'WardArrow McLaren SPChevrolet55 +9.0243310221059 Max ChiltonCarlinChevrolet55 +9.37334227211115 Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda55 +9.8027314191221 Oliver AskewEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet55 +11.30194162191328 Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda55 +11.93783817143 Scott McLaughlin Team PenskeChevrolet55 +12.1930317161529 James HinchcliffeAndretti Steinbrenner AutosportHonda55 +13.9479319151614 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet55 +14.1169411141760 Jack HarveyMeyer Shank RacingHonda55 +15.594533131822 Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet55 +16.461446121952 Cody Ware Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware RacingHonda55 +16.9933325112020 Conor DalyEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet55 +17.555831510212 Josef Newgarden Team PenskeChevrolet55 +1:30.78943132132248 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi RacingHonda54 +1 Laps42382318 Ed JonesDale Coyne Racing with Vasser-SullivanHonda50Off Course3127247 Kevin Magnussen Arrow McLaren SPChevrolet33Off Course32167254 Dalton KellettA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet19Mechanical2245Fastest lap: Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) – 01:48.5653 (lap 43)Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points1 Álex Palou3492 Patricio O'Ward3213 Scott Dixon2964 Josef Newgarden2615 Simon Pagenaud255Official driver's standings

Engine manufacturer standings Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 738 2 Chevrolet 710Official engine manufacturers' standings Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References