web1_wings-1.jpg

RailRiders drop magic number for clinching IL North to 9 with sweep of Rochester

web1_sage.jpg

High hopes for Nazareth natives Sage Karam and Marco Andretti come to a crashing halt

<p>LONG POND &#8211; A fox running on to the track wasn&#8217;t going to stop Ryan Hunter-Reay on Sunday afternoon at Pocono Raceway.</p><p>The Andretti Autosport driver survived wrecks and wild racing to take the ABC Supply 500 for his second Verizon IndyCar Series win of the season. Hunter-Reay powered around 2014 Pocono Indy Lights winner Gabby Chaves with five laps to go before the rookie&#8217;s No. 98 machine started to lay oil down to end the race under caution.</p><p>&#8220;We were able to have great restarts, and once we settled into single file, I was able to pick them off one-by-one,&#8221; Hunter-Reay said. &#8220;Anytime I went backward, we went forward and it was a fantastic race.&#8221;</p><p>The 2012 IndyCar series champ led 29 laps on the day in a race that saw the caution flag fly nine times during the 500-mile event. He was also part of a seven-wide move after a lap &#8211; a restart until the yellow waved again for pole-sitter Helio Castroneves&#8217; wreck.</p><p>&#8220;Those restarts were crazy, for sure and you have to take advantage because that was the opportunity to jump, move forward and get into rhythm and start picking them off one-by-one,&#8221; Hunter-Reay said. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t artificial drafting, it wasn&#8217;t artificial passing, it was the good cars were making the moves and it was classic IndyCar-oval racing.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I hope the fans really enjoyed it.&#8221;</p><p>Sunday&#8217;s ABC Supply 500 saw a series track-record 33 lead changes, more than double that of the 2013 and 2014 races at Pocono. The new records also bettered the old mark of 29 set in 1973 in a race won by A.J. Foyt, who wasn&#8217;t in attendance for Sunday&#8217;s race to watch his cars race while he recovered from knee surgery.</p><p>Not one driver got away from the rest of the field throughout the race. Josef Newgarden took the lead on the initial start with a bold move to grab the top spot and held it there for the first 27 laps. The Carpenter-Fisher-Hartman Racing driver first came in for a pit stop on lap 28 to surrender the lead to French-born Simon Pagenaud. A caution flew a lap later for the left-rear tire that came off of the No. 41 car and allowed Newgarden to re-take the lead.</p><p>The race had seven crashes, including one that took out second-place points man Graham Rahal. The Mid-Ohio winner was running alongside Justin Wilson in the No. 25 car until Tristan Vautier peeked inside of Rahal and the three were three-wide going into Turn 3. Vautier clipped the grass and spun right into the No. 15 Steak&#8217;N&#8217;Shake machine of Rahal to put the Ohio native 34 points back of Juan Pablo Montoya heading into the series&#8217; final event next weekend at Sonoma Raceway.</p><p>&#8220;Unfortunately, I was driving against a guy there who wasn&#8217;t using his head and he&#8217;s a part-timer,&#8221; Rahal said of Vautier. &#8220;He&#8217;s trying to prove himself again, even though he did mistakes like this his first year and lost his ride. It&#8217;s a hard thing because obviously I think Tristan is a talented guy.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;But, in a position like that, you just don&#8217;t do that.&#8221;</p><p>The 500-mile race lasted nearly three-and-a-half hours as the Rahal-Vautier crash was only one of the stories throughout the event.</p><p>&#8220;I was on the inside pretty much all the way up there, and for myself, there is nowhere to go at the apex,&#8221; Vautier said of the move. &#8220;I feel bad because Graham is in championship contention, but at the same time, I was there and I cannot disappear.&#8221;</p><p>Rookie Sage Karam was out front for a chunk of the event until the Nazareth native lost control of his No. 8 Chevrolet and slammed into the Turn 1 wall while leading with 21 to go. The track medical staff evaluated Karam once for his right foot until he was re-evaluated a second time. The results sent the 20-year-old driver to the Lehigh Valley Cedar Crest hospital in Allentown by ground.</p><p>Justin Wilson also got caught up in the Karam wreck and was airlifted to the same medical center after being struck with a piece of debris from the accident. This isn&#8217;t a rare occurrence, since James Hinchcliffe suffered a concussion in a similar situation in the 2014 Grand Prix of Indianapolis at the famed track&#8217;s road-course layout.</p><p>Six drivers have a mathematical chance at winning the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series championship going into the season finale. The GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma will be shown live this coming Sunday at 5 p.m. on NBC Sports Network.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hr-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ryan Hunter-Reay of the United States celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Pocono IndyCar 500 under caution Sunday in Long Pond. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hr-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Ryan Hunter-Reay of the United States celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Pocono IndyCar 500 under caution Sunday in Long Pond. </caption0><photoCredit0>Derik Hamilton | AP photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hunter-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ryan Hunter-Reay drives during the Pocono IndyCar 500 auto race Sunday in Long Pond. Hunter-Reay won the race under caution. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hunter-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Ryan Hunter-Reay drives during the Pocono IndyCar 500 auto race Sunday in Long Pond. Hunter-Reay won the race under caution. </caption1><photoCredit1>Derik Hamilton | AP photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hunter-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ryan Hunter-Reay (28) smiles as he sits in his race car in the winner&#8217;s circle after his victory in the Pocono IndyCar 500 auto race Sunday in Long Pond. Josef Newgarden finished second. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hunter-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Ryan Hunter-Reay (28) smiles as he sits in his race car in the winner&#8217;s circle after his victory in the Pocono IndyCar 500 auto race Sunday in Long Pond. Josef Newgarden finished second. </caption2><photoCredit2>Mel Evans | AP photo </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hunter-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ryan Hunter-Reay (28) waves his hand as he takes the checkered flag under caution ahead of Josef Newgarden (67) to win the Pocono IndyCar 500 auto race Sunday in Long Pond. Newgarden finished second. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hunter-4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Ryan Hunter-Reay (28) waves his hand as he takes the checkered flag under caution ahead of Josef Newgarden (67) to win the Pocono IndyCar 500 auto race Sunday in Long Pond. Newgarden finished second. </caption3><photoCredit3>Mel Evans | AP photo </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Andretti Autosport driver survives wrecks and wild racing to take ABC Supply 500 at Pocono</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Kyle Magda</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @ TLSports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Ryan Hunter-Reay outfoxes the field in victory at Pocono