Power Dominates Milwaukee, Takes Points Command (Notes and photo courtesy INDYCAR PR) WEST ALLIS, Wis. (Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014) - Will Power led 229 laps to dominate the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest and take command of the Verizon IndyCar Series championship standings with two races left. Power, the pole sitter in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske entry, turned away challenges by Tony Kanaan and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya to win by 2.7949 seconds over Montoya on the historic Milwaukee Mile. Kanaan finished third for his fourth podium in the past five races and Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon placed fourth. Josef Newgarden, who was running third when he had to pit for fuel on Lap 237, rebounded for his second consecutive top-five finish on an oval. It was the first victory at Milwaukee, the first on a short oval and the first on an oval since Auto Club Speedway last October for Power, whose 24th career win matched Bobby Rahal and Ralph DePalma for 16th on the all-time list. The handling was awesome; we hardly made any adjustments over the whole race, Power said. I give full credit to the team for giving me such a great car. These are my favorite tracks these days. I really enjoy the ovals - its great fun. I hope we put a good show on for the fans. Power came into the 16th of 18 races with a four-point lead over Helio Castroneves and heads to the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on Aug. 24 with a 39-point advantage (602-563) over his teammate, who finished 11th. There are six contenders who remain eligible for the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series championship, which will be decided for the ninth consecutive year in the MAVTV 500 finale Aug. 30 at Auto Club Speedway. Simon Pagenaud (510 points) finished seventh to move to third in the standings ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay (494), whose No. 28 DHL Andretti Autosport car developed a mechanical issue on Lap 167 and finished 21st. Montoya (488) and Dixon (472) also remain in the hunt. Its a perfect way to start this three-race chase, Power said. If we have a couple more days like this - this course its going to be a great finish. Were going to keep our head down, dont think of points, and execute. Results 1. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 250, Running 2. (3) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 250, Running 3. (2) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 250, Running 4. (11) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 250, Running 5. (5) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running 6. (4) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 250, Running 7. (16) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running 8. (15) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 249, Running 9. (7) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy, 249, Running 10. (17) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 249, Running 11. (8) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 249, Running 12. (18) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 249, Running 13. (9) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 249, Running 14. (14) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 249, Running 15. (10) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 248, Running 16. (6) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 248, Running 17. (12) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 248, Running 18. (21) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 246, Running 19. (13) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 244, Running 20. (22) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 243, Running 21. (19) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 168, Mechanical 22. (20) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 130, Contact Race Statistics Winners average speed: 145.243 - Time of Race: 1:44:49.4611 Margin of victory: 2.7949 seconds - Cautions: 1 for 9 laps Lead changes: 8 among 4 drivers Quotes 1st - WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) The handling was awesome; we hardly made any adjustments over the whole race. Full credit to the team for giving me such a great car. These are my favorite tracks these days. I really enjoy the ovals - its great fun. I hope we put a good show on for the fans. But, man, I just love races like that. Texas would have been the same (for us) but I got a penalty. Its just a great way to start these last few races. The teams done such a good job, everybody at Verizon Team Penske is doing such a great job, were a well-oiled machine right now with all three cars. (Does he like his chances in the championship) If we have a couple more days like this of course its going to be a great finish. Were going to keep our head down, dont think of points, and execute. 2nd - JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet) Our PPG Chevy today was really, really good. I think Team Penske is doing a really good job. We had a really good car yesterday and we made a couple of changes. It was just a little bit harder to drive today. Overall, Im mad I came in second, so thats a good thing. (Is this a new Juan Montoya were seeing?) I think just experience really helped. Today Im actually really, really disappointed we came in second. 3rd - TONY KANAAN (No. 10 Huggies Chevrolet) Good run. Not what we wanted; I thought we had a car to win the race. I think we missed a little bit on the set up. Ive got to thank Target and Huggies and Chevrolet. I want to thank the fans for coming. I hope you guys enjoyed this race. I love Milwaukee. I love this race track. It was a fun race. Obviously, were still looking for that first win so third place is not bad. Not bad for the Championship. Lets go to Sonoma now. 4th - SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet) I hope we put on a good show for the fans today. The Target team was strong and the car was good all day. We got caught in slower traffic and we pit out of sequence to try and make some time, but in the end it didnt work out. 5th - JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Direct Supply/Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda) Its really hard to pass around here. Its just a very difficult track to make something happen. I was trying so hard to save fuel, leaning out as much as I could and I was lifting and even then it was hard for Kanaan to get around me and he was one of the strongest guys today. Its just a tough place. Its very dependent on aero so when you get behind someone with the same mechanical grip and youre limited by aero its kind of what you got. I thought we had a really good car today relative to the cars around us. We took a gamble and it didnt work out for us, but Im happy we got back in the top 5, because I think we deserve that. On run at the end after final pit stop: We had to stop for fuel and we werent planning on it. I was thinking we were going to run in third place til the end. It turned out we had to stop and that put us all the way a lap down and in 11th place so we had to take tires, and that was the advantage was getting the tires on and trying to smoke as many people as we could. I cant even believe we made it back up to fifth. Thats awesome that we didnt lose as much as I thought we would. 6th - RYAN BRISCOE (No. 8 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet) Its been such an up and down weekend for NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing. We started out strong in the first practice and then really struggled in the second practice. We came back from that and qualifying went well and actually most of the race was pretty solid. The tires were just falling off so fast and running in traffic here is always a major challenge. The crew did a great job getting me in and out on the stops, but we just werent able to get past a few of those guys there at the end. Its still a top-10 finish, so well just take the positive from that going into Sonoma. 7th - SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda) When people talk about ovals, they tell you its all about momentum and timing. But until you really get it for yourself, those are just words. In sports car racing you learn all about fighting against other types of cars that are slower than you in different corners. Learning how to navigate around those cars is all about timing and momentum too. Today I made the connection between the two. It was a big step forward for me personally as a driver on ovals. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports did a great job this weekend. We decided to go a different direction in terms of engineering setup. We were more aggressive, and it worked out really well. The crew was awesome in the pits too. Seventh isnt a stellar result, but today it feels good after starting 16th. Coming into this weekend, I thought Milwaukee was going to be the hardest of the final three races for us. We gained some points on Helio (Castroneves) and Ryan (Hunter-Reay), so Im really looking forward to the next two races. 8th - MIKHAIL ALESHIN (No. 7 SMP Racing Honda) I lost a lot of spots, and I gained a lot of spots today. I never seem to make it easy! I struggled a lot with balance at the start of the race. As we went through different stints we made adjustments and the track came to us. The drivers who were good at the start werent necessarily the best at the end. I was able to attack on track in the final two stints, making a lot of different passes. Im very happy to finish eighth, even though there are always areas for improvement. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports did a great job today, though, and I think this is a good finish for our first time together in Milwaukee. 9th - ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzys Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): Track position is everything here at Milwaukee. The Fuzzys Chevy felt good in the first stint but we might have stayed on the older tires too long. At least compared to the leaders. And we ended up way too fall back when we came out of the pits. The crew guys did some great pit stops today and we were able to fight back to a top 10. I thought we had a top five car today. It was very difficult to pass and the track changed a lot from Saturday with wind. So Turn 3 and 4 were difficult today. We will just take ninth and move onto Sonoma and Fontana now. 10th - JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 98 Charter Honda) “Good Day! We started 17th and the car was good. I was able to come through and get a top 10 after where we started this weekend and not having been able to test here. I think it’s a really good job and is the first time in a while we have been able to be competitive, so it was a good uplifting result for everyone and the team.” 11th - HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet) The Hitachi car was consistent. The guys did a great job in the pits; it was very difficult to get close to someone. We did struggle with handling today. Once we tried a little bit hard, and we got up in the marbles. It was just one of those days. Good job to the Verizon car - Will (Power) ended up winning the race, and Juan Pablo (Montoya) second, so Team Penske was strong with that. Hey, there are still more races to go and I will be there, ready to go. We are not giving up at all. There are two races to go with the big one at Fontana paying double points. Still a lot of racing left. 12th - SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Mistic KVSH Racing Chevrolet) It was a bit of a tough race for the Mistic E-Cigs - KVSH Racing team. We showed some pace sometimes and sometimes we struggled both on and off the track. We will learn from it. We just have to go back to school and make it better. Overall it was a pretty solid race. 13th - MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 25 Snapple Honda) Today went from bad to worse. We made our way to the front and were going to hang in there for a top five or top six, but we had a long pit stop there towards the end. Looks like something went wrong with getting the fuel in the car and that took us out of the lead pack. 14th - GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 National Guard Honda) We were sliding around out there for sure. We didnt have the best test here and we knew we were going to have to learn a lot. The National Guard guys did a great job in the pits today. We gained a lot of spots in the pits but lost them on track. Weve just got to keep working hard. I was worried a little bit about this event coming into it and in qualifying we kind of had a spot of brightness. Weve got Sonoma next weekend so were going to go home and reboot. 15th - TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Honda) Such a disappointing race. At the start I lost the back end, the rear stepped out [nearly spun out]. I lost positions and the track was so slippery in the beginning it was difficult to gain them back. After the middle stint, the car started working well and we had the pace. But we were a lap down so the cars I passed werent for position. It was a tough race. 16th - CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet) That was another fighting day for the Novo Nordisk crew. The car was really good in clean air and we definitely put up a good fight. As a group maybe we werent as good in traffic and here at the historic Milwaukee Mile its so easy to get caught up behind guys that are a second or two off the pace. Thats just short track racing for you. Overall as a team I feel good moving forward from here and we have two more opportunities coming up to get that first win. 17th - JUSTIN WILSON (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda) I really like racing on this track. When youve got something good with your car, its so much fun. But today wasnt like that, it was really tough. I knew from the moment I looked at the wheel going into Turn-1 on the first lap that it was going to be a handful. We kept trying to make it better throughout the race, but at the same time I knew it was not something we could change just with tire pressure and wing adjustments. That wasnt going to fix it. It was just really loose on entry and exit and tight in the middle, so it was kind of the worst of every world. It was just a long day. We will try and learn, but that was frustrating. 18th - SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 17 Automatic Fire Sprinklers KV AFS Chevrolet) It was a very long race. We were expecting the Automatic Fire Sprinklers - KV AFS Racing car to be the same as it has been all week, which is with a lot of understeer. Unfortunately the first stint of the race really sent us backwards. The crew was able to do a great first stop, which made the car better and give me more pace, but unfortunately it was too late by then and I just needed to stay out of trouble. We will move on and focus on the last two races and get back to where we deserve to be. 19th - JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda) One to forget, for sure. We had a decent car early. The guys were good on the first round of stops. On the second stop, we had something happen with one of the guns and lost a couple laps having to come in twice to get that fixed. It kind of went from bad to worse after that. We battled some kind of problem, not quite sure what it was yet, but the balance just completely went away. It just went loose. I was running everything I had on the car to try and battle understeer, and I was still really hanging on to the thing. It wasnt like that in the beginning; we were running with guys like (Scott) Dixon, (Josef) Newgarden and they made it to the top five. Its unfortunate - a bit of a missed opportunity and we have to get to the bottom of why. 20th - CARLOS HUERTAS 21st - RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda) I could feel it running rough the lap before that, so it wasnt a clean suspension break. It was something with the right rear, the CV joint popped out or something. Every time I would go back to power it would squat big time. It was undrivable. We had a great start. The yellow kind of got us but what are you going to do? I love this place. It wasnt exactly the balance we wanted and this is probably our Championship hopes going up in smoke right now. Just signed a three-year deal with Andretti Autosport and DHL so, very happy about that. I wish I could have gotten them a win today. I wish we as a team could be out there celebrating the DHL in Victory Circle. (Is that the first thing that went through your mind, there goes the Championship?) Yes, for sure. The Championship started going through my mind when we got that yellow. I thought it was going to be pretty hard from there. It just wasnt meant to be at the moment. It is what it is. Thats racing. 22nd - CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 34 Cinsay AndrettiTV HVM Honda) I went to the marbles and once youre in the marbles its impossible to go back and I just hit the wall. Its a shame. The truth is we havent been, this weekend, in the front and we have to think about next week, Sonoma. Its a race to forget. I will learn from this. I will learn from everything for next year.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 00:12:33 +0000
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