IndyCar Series 2018 2 2018-04-07 2018-04-07 https://r2.thesportsdb.com/images/media/event/thumb/b4lpi91528460077.jpg https://r2.thesportsdb.com/images/media/event/poster/rc0sg31528299081.jpg The Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix is a Verizon IndyCar Series race held at the ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Open wheel racing in the Phoenix area dates back to 1915 on a dirt oval at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. The race was revived in 1950 by the AAA, and then passed to the United States Auto Club in 1956. USAC moved the race to the newly built Phoenix International Raceway in 1964. The race became a CART event in 1979, and joined the Indy Racing League in 1996. It was held continuously through 2005. After a hiatus of eleven years, the race was revived by the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2016. It is currently held on Saturday night under the lights. Long considered a popular Indy car track, Phoenix has a rich history of open wheel races, including a spectacular crash involving Johnny Rutherford (1980), and the final career victory for Indy legend Mario Andretti (1993). AVONDALE, Arizona – Josef Newgarden benefited from fresh tires on a late pit stop and charged from fourth place in the final seven laps to win the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway. The reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion driving the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Newgarden took the lead for the first time on Lap 206 of 250 on the 1.022-mile oval. A caution flag on Lap 230, when driver Ed Jones hit the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4, forced teams to decide whether to pit for a new set of Firestone tires or make it to the finish with what they had. Rookie Robert Wickens, who nearly won the season opener last month at St. Petersburg, Florida, before being involved in a late-race incident, was the leader on the Lap 243 restart, with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports teammate James Hinchcliffe and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi directly behind. Newgarden, among eight lead-lap cars that stopped for new tires, bolted immediately past Rossi and Hinchcliffe on the outside through Turns 1 and 2 on the restart. He then sized up Wickens, in the No. 6 Lucas Oil SPM Honda, and made the winning pass – again on the outside in Turn 1 – on Lap 247. 570219