JOSEF NEWGARDEN No. 2 HITACHI DALLARA/CHEVROLET
START – 8TH
FINISH – 9TH
POINTS – 4TH (-21)
RACE RUNDOWN: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet team looked to be in position to score consecutive victories in the Grand Prix of Long Beach but an untimely caution early in the 85-lap event hurt the team’s fuel strategy, leading to a ninth-place finish on Sunday afternoon. After starting the race from the eighth position, Newgarden made a strong move to fourth before the field exited the second corner. By the time the first caution flag flew on Lap 21, Newgarden had powered his way to the third position. Unfortunately for the team the caution flew several laps before their fuel window fully opened, resulting in needing to save fuel for the rest of the event, despite taking the lead on Lap 28. Following the second and final pit stop on Lap 53, Newgarden and team were forced into extreme fuel-save mode that caused Newgarden to let several cars pass in order to make it to the end, but he was able to secure a solid, top-10 finish.
NEWGARDEN’S THOUGHTS: “I’m sad for my team, honestly. We had a phenomenal race car. Really great. We were chipping away all weekend. It’s been tough to put the laps together all the way up from qualifying and I felt like that was kind of our weakness was just getting everything together. We had good peak potential but just couldn’t realize it. In the race, we really had it together. That car was absolutely phenomenal. Team Chevy did great job for us. The whole No. 2 car with team Hitachi did amazing. Fate didn’t really go our way in the beginning. For our strategy, the yellow did not help us one bit. If there wasn’t a yellow in the beginning, and would’ve gone green a little longer, we would’ve been really pretty. But even with the yellow, we were making the most of it and I still think we had a shot at winning that race, but something else did us in and made the end pretty brutal. I’m not 100% sure yet, but something we had to overcome.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
