No. 2 Hitachi Dallara/Chevrolet – Josef Newgarden
Start: 8th
Finish: 8th
Laps Led: 0
Point Standings: 2nd (-20 pts)
Race Rundown: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet team finished eighth on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Portland International Raceway. Newgarden qualified second but rolled off from the eighth position after a six-position grid penalty for an engine change entering the NTT INDYCAR SERIES race weekend. Starting the race on Firestone black primary tires, Newgarden fell out of the top 10 in the early laps. Working the undercut with a fast early pit stop, Newgarden slotted into the sixth position on Lap 32 after all first pit stops were completed. Newgarden cracked the top five on Lap 42 as he passed reigning series champion Alex Palou. At the halfway mark of the race, Newgarden worked his way to fourth place with one pit stop remaining on the day. The last pit stop of day came on Lap 79 with race strategist Tim Cindric calling for four tires and fuel. A late-race caution on Lap 85 bunched the field up for a sprint to the finish. On the ensuing restart, Newgarden lost a handful of positions as the Hitachi Chevrolet’s black sidewall tires struggled for grip coming to the finish. Newgarden and the No. 2 team will advance to the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca next weekend tied with Scott Dixon, 20 points behind teammate Will Power in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship standings.
Newgarden’s Thoughts: ” I think the obvious (thing) was that we didn’t predict the caution. There’s always the risk that a caution comes out in that final stint. I wasn’t thinking about that; we went green the entire race. I thought the primary tires would probably have better durability at the end. That argument holds up a little better with no caution. We just got hosed when we had to restart with all reds (around him). I was blown away at how much better everyone was on them, especially in the caution situations. That just did not play into our favor, unfortunately. It’s a hard day where we really gained nothing after a tough starting spot. We’ll regroup and take our Team Chevy car with Hitachi to Laguna and try to be fast.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
