The Latest: Truex out front as NASCAR takes stage

The Latest: Truex out front as NASCAR takes stage

Published May. 29, 2016 8:00 p.m. ET

The latest on motorsport's busiest day, with Formula One's Monaco Grand Prix followed by the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 (all times local):

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6:55 p.m.

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Martin Truex Jr. has been dominant so far at Charlotte Motor Speedway, leading the first 70 laps of the Coca-Cola 600.

Truex has started 21 races at CMS and has two top-5 finishes and six top-10s. His best finish at the Coca-Cola 600 came last year when he finished fifth.

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6:30 p.m.

The longest race of the NASCAR season is underway in Charlotte with pole sitter Martin Truex Jr. leading the first 25 laps in his No. 78 Toyota.

The race started about 20 minutes earlier than expected as NASCAR officials hope to beat tropical depression Bonnie, which came ashore in South Carolina. The rain bands have extended toward Charlotte Motor Speedway making for a dreary backdrop to the race.

Under NASCAR rules half of the race must be completed for it to become official.

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6:05 p.m.

For the second straight year, the name of a fallen solider is on every car racing at the Coca-Cola 600, as NASCAR and Charlotte Motor Speedway honors the military on Memorial Day weekend

Joey Logan says the whole weekend is about saying thanks to veterans.

The military salute also included skydivers from Team Fastrax, vintage war planes, a 21-gun salute from the Fort Bragg Firing Squad and a flyover of four F-15s from the 334th Fighter Squadron from Seymour Johnson Air Force base.

Buses also transported thousands of troops to the race through the Patriot Partners program, and through the new Salute the Crews program. And, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team members who have served in the military were recognized during the pre-race ceremonies and on the giant speedway TV.

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3:40 p.m.

Alexander Rossi says: ''I have no idea how we pulled that off.''

Neither do nearly 400,000 stunned fans on hand to watch the 100th Indianapolis 500.

On a day dominated by big names - Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay - it was a rookie from California driving for Andretti Herta Autosport who ended up sipping the milk in victory lane.

Rossi won by stretching his fuel just a bit longer than the leaders in the final laps, running out short of pit road as he completed his victory lap.

Rossi said his team, including owners Michael Andretti and Bryan Herta, ''rolled the dice and came through and made it happen.'' He added, ''I have no doubt it's going to change my life.''

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3:30 p.m.

Alexander Rossi has won the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

The rookie managed to conserve fuel while the leaders pit in the closing laps Sunday, coasting across the finish line on fumes to give Andretti Herta Autosport a stunning victory in the centennial race.

Carlos Munoz was forced to pit for fuel from the lead with four laps to go, allowing Rossi to assume the lead. Munoz only spent a few seconds in the pits, then tried to track Rossi down in the final laps.

He wound up second with Josef Newgarden third, Tony Kanaan fourth and Charlie Kimball fifth.

The last rookie to win the showcase race was Helio Castroneves in 2001.

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2:40 p.m.

More misfortune for the Andretti family at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

This time, something so simple as tire pressure forced Marco Andretti off the pace and into the pits out of sequence, leaving him a lap down with a quarter of the race remaining in the 100th Indy 500.

Andretti started near the back but had climbed into the top 10 before his tires began showing a reading of too much pressure. He was almost 15 mph off the pace when he was forced to pit.

In more than 70 attempts, his family has only Mario Andretti's victory in 1969.

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2:25 p.m. ET

Another caution has caused more pit-road carnage at the Indy 500.

Andretti Autosport teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay and Townsend Bell, who had been near the front all day, collided in a chain-reaction that began when Bell struck Helio Castroneves leaving his stall.

Hunter-Reay, the 2014 champion, had significant damage to the front of his car.

Earlier in the race, Will Power bumped Tony Kanaan into the pit-road wall exiting his stall.

The caution leading to the latest trouble came out when Mikhail Aleshin got loose in the short-chute and spun into the wall. Conor Daly tried to avoid him and also spun toward the wall.

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2 p.m.

Sage Karam crashed hard during a battle for fifth place at the Indy 500.

Karam was on the outside of Townsend Bell and couldn't hold the line, sending him into the outside wall. Karam skidded several hundred feet along the barrier but stayed out of traffic.

Karam, who briefly led during pit stops, crashed on the first lap a year ago.

The young driver was back at an IndyCar race for the first time since a wreck at Pocono last year during which his car's nosecone bounced into Justin Wilson's cockpit. The impact killed the 37-year-old British driver.

Wilson's younger brother, Stefan Wilson, was also running in this year's Indy 500.

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1:45 p.m.

The defending champion is out of the Indianapolis 500.

Juan Pablo Montoya got sideways and hit the outside wall coming out of Turn 2, sliding back across the track before coming to rest on the grass. He was fortunate nobody else collided with him.

Montoya climbed out of his car and waved to fans that he was OK before climbing into an ambulance.

Juan Pablo Montoya says, ''I just got loose and I lost the car.'' The two-time winner says ''the thing just snapped.''

It was the lowlight of a rough start to the race for Penske Racing. Will Power and Simon Pagenaud were both penalized for early pit stops, shuffling them to the back of the field.

Penske is celebrating his 50th year in motorsports this year. So far, the party has been sour.

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1:15 p.m.

The first collision of the Indy 500 happened on pit road.

Tony Kanaan was in the fast, outer lane when Will Power was told it was ''all clear'' to exit his stall, and the two touched tires as Kanaan was forced into the wall. There did not appear to be any significant damage, but it's unclear whether Kanaan's steering will be affected.

Race stewards examined the incident and hit Power with a stop-and-go penalty.

The first caution of the race, which triggered the pit stops, was for debris on the track. Oriol Servia was also penalized for being too fast exiting pit lane.

James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay spent much of the first 60 laps swapping the lead.

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12:50 p.m.

Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe led the first round of green-flag pit stops in the Indy 500.

Both of them are in Hondas, and there was some question whether they would have better fuel mileage than Chevrolet. Hard to tell at this point because they also spent time out front, rather than in the draft, and punching through the air caused them to burn more fuel.

The early stops gave the lead to Josef Newgarden, the first time he'd been in front at the Indy 500.

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12:45 p.m.

The start of the 100th Indianapolis 500 was the cleanest in recent years, every driver settling their nerves during what is always a tense few laps around the historic speedway. James Hinchcliffe may have been the most nervous as he led the field to green, but he remained on point through the first dozen laps.

Former winner Buddy Lazier missed the start of the race with mechanical trouble. His team struggled to find speed in Indy all month and he pulled into the pits during the parade lap.

The weather couldn't be better at Indianapolis. The temperature is tipping into the 80s with just enough cloud cover to provide some relief from the sun for the 350,000 people on site for centennial running of ''The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.''

The sellout allowed the race to be televised locally for the first time in years.

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11:15 a.m.

Indy 500 pole sitter James Hinchcliffe took a moment before the start of Sunday's race to send his best wishes to Andrew Palmer, a sports car driver who was involved in a serious wreck on Saturday.

The Bentley Team Absolute driver crashed during the Pirelli World Challenge race at Lime Rock Park, and Palmer's team said ''he has sustained a head injury and is being closely monitored.''

Hinchcliffe was involved in his own serious crash during practice before last year's Indy 500. He sustained a serious concussion and his leg was impaled by a piece of his suspension, which nearly caused him to bleed to death. It took a team of trauma physicians to save his life.

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10:35 a.m.

There are plenty of celebs walking the red carpet in the shadow of the famed pagoda at Indianapolis, including ''Star Trek'' star Chris Pine, rapper Ice-T and Nick Gehlfuss of ''Chicago Med.''

Lady Gaga was also at the speedway for the 100th running of the Indy 500, though she kept a very low profile, dressed down in jean shorts with her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail.

IndyCar CEO Mark Miles took a helicopter ride above the speedway hours before the start of the 500 and marveled at the crowd ''pouring in.''

Miles also met with a handful of NASCAR executives who flew to Indianapolis early Sunday to experience the 100th running before they headed back to North Carolina for the Coca-Cola 600.

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10: 20 a.m.

The Indianapolis Children's Choir was tabbed to sing ''God Bless America'' before Darius Rucker performed the national anthem for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. The sun-splashed day of pageantry also included an F-18 flyover and Josh Kauffman joining the children's choir in singing ''Back Home Again in Indiana.''

The grand marshal is actress Florence Henderson, who told drivers it's time to go to their cars, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway matriarch Mari Hulman George gave the command for drivers to start their engines. Roger Penske was behind of the wheel of the pace car.

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4 p.m.

Defending Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has won the Monaco Grand Prix, holding off Daniel Ricciardo for his first win of the season.

Hamilton had not won for the past eight races, but he pulled ahead after Ricciardo came in on lap 33 for ultra-soft tires only to have his Red Bull pit crew not ready. It cost him valuable time and he came out behind Hamilton.

Ricciardo was close to overtaking Hamilton on lap 37. But Hamilton held his line at the Mirabeau turn, prompting an angry reaction from Ricciardo, who waved his hand furiously as he was forced to back off.

Mexican driver Sergio Perez of Force India was third ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari.

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3:30 p.m.

The wrecks continue at the Monaco Grand Prix, this time with Sauber teammates Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson getting into each other.

Nasr received team orders to let Ericsson through but apparently ignored them. A determined Ericsson went for a gap that simply did not exist and they both collided at the Rascasse turn.

Ericcson quipped that his teammate's radio ''musn't be working.''

In all, seven drivers were knocked out of the race. They included Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who became the youngest winner of an F1 race at the Spanish GP two weeks ago.

On a day with slippery conditions on the track, the 18-year-old slammed into a barrier at the same point where he crashed in Saturday's third and final practice.

Russian driver Daniil Kvyat got into the turn at La Rascasse, taking Kevin Magnussen into the barriers with him. Kvyat, who has twice been blamed for racing incidents with Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel this season, went out of the race.

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen and British driver Jolyon Palmer - Magnussen's teammate at Renault - both crashed earlier.

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2:30 p.m.

After seven laps behind a safety car, British driver Jolyon Palmer crashed out and was soon joined back in the garage by Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen.

Raikkonen lost control of his car after breaking too late going into a hairpin, locked his wheels and slammed into the barrier.

He tried to continue but almost caused another collision, with French driver having to brake sharply to avoid smashing into the back of him.

''What's Kimi doing?'' screeched Grosjean.

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1:25 p.m.

The Monaco Grand Prix traditionally sees an influx of movie stars from nearby Cannes, where the famous film festival is held.

This year, the events are a week apart and there's a notable absence of big names so far.

However, actor Patrick Dempsey - a long-time star of ''Grey's Anatomy'' and a huge motorsport fan - is in the paddock.

The 50-year-old American has been chatting with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and Frenchman Romain Grosjean - who drives for the American-based Haas team - before the race.

There is more of a sporting flavor than a Hollywood theme, with basketball stars Chris Bosh (Miami Heat) and Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs) and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach all present.

Bosh has expressed his support for Lewis Hamilton. Arsenal soccer star Theo Walcott and Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki are also here.

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