2018 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix Explained

The 2018 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix was the second round of the 2018 IndyCar Series season and the first oval race of the season. It took place on April 7, 2018 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The race was won by Josef Newgarden for Team Penske, his eighth career win and third on an oval.^[1]

Results

Key	Meaning
R	Rookie
W	Past winner

Qualifying

Pos	No.	Name	Lap 1 Time	Lap 2 Time	Total Time	Avg. Speed (mph)
1	18	Sébastien Bourdais	19.5034	19.5251	39.0285	188.539
2	22	Simon Pagenaud W	19.5728	19.5368	39.1096	188.148
3	12	Will Power	19.7129	19.6679	39.3808	186.852
4	27	Alexander Rossi	19.6845	19.7024	39.3869	186.824
5	5	James Hinchcliffe	19.7807	19.8358	39.6165	185.741
6	6	Robert Wickens R	19.9323	19.7652	39.6975	185.362
7	1	Josef Newgarden	19.9128	19.8024	39.7152	185.279
8	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	19.9739	19.8645	39.8384	184.706
9	14	Tony Kanaan W	20.0181	19.8443	39.8624	184.595
10	19	Pietro Fittipaldi R	19.9545	19.9180	39.8725	184.548
11	10	Ed Jones	19.9185	20.0049	39.9234	184.313
12	15	Graham Rahal	20.0189	19.9899	40.0088	183.920
13	30	Takuma Sato	20.1675	20.0512	40.2187	182.960
14	32	Kyle Kaiser R	20.1490	20.0919	40.2409	182.859
15	21	Spencer Pigot	20.1656	20.2619	40.4275	182.015
16	4	Matheus Leist R	20.3264	20.1451	40.4715	181.817
17	9	Scott Dixon W	20.3380	20.1364	40.4744	181.804
18	20	Ed Carpenter	20.3036	20.2959	40.5995	181.244
19	88	Gabby Chaves	20.4359	20.2336	40.6695	180.932
20	98	Marco Andretti	20.3702	20.4647	40.8349	180.199
21	59	Max Chilton	20.6604	20.5720	41.2324	178.462
22	23	Charlie Kimball	20.8841	20.5720	41.4561	177.499
23	26	Zach Veach R	20.6702	21.2023	41.8725	175.733
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Race

		Driver	Team	Engine	Laps	Time/Retired	Pit Stops	Grid	Laps Led
1	1	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	250	1:44:00.3552	4	7	30	51
2	6	Robert Wickens R	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Honda	250	+2.9946	3	6	44	41
3	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	250	+3.4890	4	4	1	36
4	9	Scott Dixon W	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	250	+3.8175	4	17		32
5	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda	250	+4.0122	4	8	5	31
6	5	James Hinchcliffe	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Honda	250	+9.4497	3	5	20	29
7	20	Ed Carpenter	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	250	+9.4731	4	18		26
8	14	Tony Kanaan W	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	250	+9.8650	4	9		24
9	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	250	+10.1747	4	12	7	23
10	22	Simon Pagenaud W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	250	+10.3247	4	2	3	21
11	30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	250	+10.9443	4	13		19
12	98	Marco Andretti	Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian	Honda	249	+1 Lap	5	20		18
13	18	Sébastien Bourdais	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	249	+1 Lap	5	1	60	19
14	21	Spencer Pigot	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	249	+1 Lap	5	15		16
15	88	Gabby Chaves	Harding Racing	Chevrolet	249	+1 Lap	4	19		15
16	26	Zach Veach R	Andretti Autosport	Honda	249	+1 Lap	4	23		14
17	23	Charlie Kimball	Carlin	Chevrolet	248	+2 Laps	5	22		13
18	59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet	247	+3 Laps	5	21		12
19	4	Matheus Leist R	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	241	+9 Laps	6	16		11
20	10	Ed Jones	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	228	Contact	3	11		10
21	32	Kyle Kaiser R	Juncos Racing	Chevrolet	174	Contact	2	14		9
22	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet	153	Contact	2	3	80	11
23	19	Pietro Fittipaldi R	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda	40	Contact	0	10		7
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Notes: Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
6	1	Josef Newgarden	77
1	2	Alexander Rossi	72
2	3		70
2	4	Graham Rahal	63
1	5	James Hinchcliffe	61

Manufacturer standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Honda	172
	2	Chevrolet	127

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Phoenix IndyCar: Newgarden beats Wickens, Rossi in thrilling shootout. Malsher. David. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. April 7, 2018. April 7, 2018.