No. 2 Snap-on “Makers and Fixers” Dallara/Chevrolet – Josef Newgarden
Start: 2nd
Finish: 4th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 85/85
Laps Led: 0
Points Position: 3rd (-28 pts)
Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Snap-on “Makers and Fixers” Chevrolet team entered Saturday’s GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with high hopes to pick up their first win of the year. Despite not making it to Victory Lane, the team moves onto the Indianapolis 500 following a solid, fourth-place effort.
After a strong, second-place qualifying effort on Friday afternoon, Newgarden dropped to the third position as the No. 60 of Jack Harvey was able to dive underneath into the first corner. An early caution followed on the first lap before the running green for the remainder of the event.
The early caution period allowed a few teams to gamble on strategy, but team strategist Tim Cindric stuck to his plan of starting on the Firestone alternate tires before moving to one stint on the primary tires. Newgarden would finish the race on the alternate tires, as did much of the field.
In the end, despite a great day on pit road by the Snap-on crew, the pace was not a strong as was expected following a solid qualifying run by the No. 2 team. Newgarden closed to the back of the No. 10 of Alex Palou late in the race to nearly finish on the podium, but the two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion had used up most of his tires in the pursuit.
Newgarden and the No. 2 Snap-on Chevrolet team now turn their attention to the biggest prize of the all, the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend. Practice for the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” begins Tuesday with qualifying next Saturday and Sunday.
Quote: “It was a good run for us today with a fourth-place finish with the No. 2 Snap-on Chevy. Even though it was a good run, it’s a bit disappointing because we thought we had a winning car coming into the race, especially after qualifying second. It just didn’t pan out. We were a little shy on pace, but still a good weekend. Team Chevy has done such a good job for us, and they won the race today, which is great. And to represent Snap-on today was special. The livery looked great and I’m happy to get a good result for one of the team’s longest-running partnerships.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
