Dual in Detroit #1 Josef Newgarden Update

Josef got a great new teammate for the
Duals in Detroit. 
Spencer Pigot will drive the #20 Fuzzy's Vodka car at the remaining street and road courses this year!

They think they don't look alike... #DetroitGP pic.twitter.com/lHGTHbX8NL

— Ed Carpenter Racing (@ECRIndy) June 4, 2016

Josef Newgarden started and finished 14th in the first race at Detroit's, Belle Isle.

 

He ran as high as 7th during the race, and was running a solid 9th in the closing laps when he had a problem with the engine. 

He managed to nurse the car around for the last few laps but dropped from 9th to 14th for the finish.

 

He still is 4th in points, tied with Carlos Munoz.

 

post by Alex, age 8

 

Indycar Dual at Detroit Race 1

After the smooth track of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indycars took to one of their toughest and bumpiest tracks of the season.  And What's better than a double header. 
The Detroit race weekend was as fun to watch, as always.  Strategy played a key role, and even though there was no significant rain this race had plenty of action.

Race 1 on Saturday started out with the clouds looming above, and the rain waiting to interrupt the race.  The green flag dropped on pole sitter Simon Pagenaud, who led the field through a safe turn 1.  Pagenaud began to pull away after the early round of pit stops on lap 3. Pagenaud managed to stretch his fuel to lap 23 before pitting.  Second in points, Scott Dixon had fueling problems after his first stop, and he later on had a gearbox issue.  Dixon finished  a very disappointing 19th.  As the mid-way point in the race passed by, the Penske cars ran 1-2-3-4.  A Penske sweep seemed imminent.  Unfortunately, a little while later, Will Power lost a wheel on the track and was stuck on the run-off area for the rest of his race.  Just as in Indianapolis six days earlier, the race came down to fuel strategy.  As the last laps neared, the leaders pitted and Sebastien Bourdais and Conor Daly stretched their fuel to finish one, two.  It was Conor Daly's best career Indycar finish, and Bourdais' second consecutive win in Detroit.

 Duel at Detroit Race 1 TOP 10

1. Sebastien Bourdais: His second consecutive win in Detroit.  

2. Conor Daly: His best career Indycar finish.  Dale Coyne once again strikes using strategy.

3. Juan Montoya: Has the honor of highest finishing Penske, something that has been held by Simon Pagenaud for almost all races of the season

4. Graham Rahal: Still holds the top spot in the Tag standings, for number of positions improved during races.

5. Helio Castroneves: Still looks to get his first win in over two years.

6. Carlos Munoz: Looks towards his second career Indycar win.

7. Ryan Hunter-Reay: His best finish in Detroit since 2013 Race 1

8. Charlie Kimball: Highest finishing Ganassi car

9. Tony Kanaan: His sixth Top Ten in seven races

10.  Alexander Rossi:  Has a firm grasp on the Indycar rookie of the year title.

Different Teams: 6 (KV, Coyne, Penske, RLL, Andretti, Ganassi)

Different Countries: 4 (France, USA,  Colombia,  Brazil, )

 

FUN FACTS

 

 Average Speed: 97.857 mph

 

Time: 01:40:51

Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers

Best Lap: 113.302 mph by Juan Montoya

 

Best Lead Lap: 113.040 mph by Conor Daly

 

Most Improved: Conor Daly improved 14 positions

 

Josef Newgarden Update. Detroit Race 2

 

Josef started 6th and finished 21st

 





This is one of those posts that Alex does not like to write. 

In fact she quiets anyone who even talks about a race that Josef does not do well in.

But we convinced her she has to write the bad with the good.

Josef got a good starting spot after qualifying was rained out and they started based on points. 
Which was good because he was in the first round of qualifying and didn't do well and would've started around 17th.

He passed two cars at the start and was running third early in the race,
but then things went not so well when he pitted to change to slicks after the track started to dry.
He followed Scott Dixon out of the pits and the Josef's car spun out and hit the wall when he tried to get up to speed.

 Dual in Detroit race 2



Now Josef is 8th in points.

-- post by Alexandra (age 7) Josef's #1 fan --

 

Dual in Detroit Race 2

The Dual in Detroit kicked off Saturday with the first two indycar races with a wet, dry, and then wet race.   It eventually ended under a red flag, with a first time winner, Carlos Munoz.
Would Race #2 be any different?

In a sense, yes.  It was a downpour right before the race, then a slight drizzle.  The first 10-15 laps were run on rain tires, then the gambling began. Just about all the teams had switched to slicks when it started to drizzle again.  There was lots of crashing and banging and in the end, Sebastien Bourdais came home with the win on fuel strategy in a timed race

To tell you just how crazy this race was in a nutshell?  The highest finishing Penske was 10th and 4 of the top 5 in points didn't finish the race.  Teammates Kimball and Dixon got together and Sage Karam got into Jack Hawksworth.  Twice.
 

The Top Ten:

1. Sebastien Bourdais - His first win since Toronto (Race 1) 2014.

2. Takuma Sato - The highest finish for AJ Foyt racing this year.
3. Graham Rahal - His fourth Top 5 this season.
4. Tristan Vautier - A fantastic drive, brought home the best finish for a Dale Coyne Racing car this season.
5. Marco Andretti - His second Top 5 for the weekend.  His 6th Top 10 in 8 races this season.
6. Conor Daly - A super finish subbing for Hinch.
7. Jack Hawksworth - Finished a strong 7th for the second day in a row.  Obviously likes the rain.
8. Ryan Hunter-Reay - Still having a tough season. Only his third Top 10 thus far.
9. Gabby Chaves - The rookie's first Top 10 in his Indycar career.
10. Juan Pablo Montoya - The highest finishing Penske.  Two tenth place finishes at Detroit were his second worst finishes all season.  (14th at Alabama)

 

In the top Ten...

- 4 Americans, 2 Frenchmen, 2 Colombians

- 8 Hondas & 2 Chevys

- 1 Rookie, Gabby Chaves

- 8 different teams
- Drivers from 5 different countries

 

By the Numbers:

6 cautions for 17 laps 

7 different winners this season

6 different winning teams this season

108.582 mph fastest lap of race

 

 

Josef Newgarden Update. Detroit race 1

Josef started 18th and finished 8th.

After hitting the wall in practice on Friday and causing a red flag in qualifying (that cost him his two fast laps), it was a crazy race day with lots of rain and Josef being bumped a lot on track.  It's good he could finish 8th.

Gritty race today. Ready to fight again tomorrow with the @cfhrindy. #IndyCar #Detroit

A photo posted by Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) on May 30, 2015 at 6:36pm PDT

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 67 HARTMAN OIL CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH: “It was a good test of our perseverance and ability to fight through. I saw the Hartman Oil guys more times than I wanted to in the pits,  but they were always ready and did a great job getting me back out. When you walk away with a top 10 on a crazy day like this, it’s not too bad. It’s difficult to predict what’s going to be happening within those rain segments, but we made the best calls we could at the time. That’s all you can do as it’s a gamble every time. Some guys it worked out for, some guys it didn’t. We obviously want to win, but getting a Top 10 is something we can be happy for today and go try and win a race tomorrow.” -- from the CFH Racing page



It's his fifth Top Ten finish in 7 races this season.
He is still 6th in Indycar season points.


-- post by Alexandra (age 7) Josef's #1 fan --

Dual in Detroit Race #1

Wet Track.

Dry Track.

Wet Track.

Red Flag for Lightning...

 

and it all ended with a first time Indycar winner,

Carlos Munoz.

 

 

The top 10 Finishers

 

1.  Carlos Munoz - The second Columbian driver to win this season

 

2.  Marco Andretti - Led the most laps but came up short when he had to pit earlier than his teammate for fuel.

 

3.  Simon Pagenaud - His best finish since joining Team Penske at the start of the 2015 season.

 

4.  Will Power - Started on the Pole.  His 5th Top 5 in seven races.

 

5.  Scott Dixon - Maintained 3rd place in the season points standings
 

6.  Helio Castroneves - Third of the four Penske's in the top 10.

 

7.  Jack Hawksworth - His highest finishing position driving for AJ Foyt this season.

 

8.  Josef Newgarden - Lots of bumping and replacing parts but came on strong to finish 8th.

 

9.  Luca Filippi - His third Top Ten finish this season

 

10.  Juan Pablo Montoya - Still first in the season points standings.

Top Ten included..

*  All four Penske drivers for the second race in a row.

*  Both CFH drivers

*  Two Andretti drivers

*  7 Chevys and 3 Hondas

*  5 Different Teams

*  Drivers from 8 different countries