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

 

100th Indianapolis 500

At the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 a sellout crowd of 350,000 people watched phenomenal passing and lead changes all afternoon.  Crazy pit road action took out two of the early frontrunners, Ryan Hunter Reay and Townsend Bell, who happened to be teammates.  The fans were treated to an insane finish where Alexander Rossi coasted around Turn 4 and slowed coming to the yard of bricks.  Hard charging Carlos Munoz and Josef Newgarden barreled around Turn four and had to wonder how Rossi had managed to save enough fuel to beat them to the finish.

 

 TOP 10

1. Alexander Rossi:  First rookie to win the 500 since Helio in 200.  First American rookie since Louis Meyer in 1928.

2. Carlos Munoz: His second runner-up  finish at Indy.

3. Josef Newgarden:  His best finish at Indianapolis in 5 attempts.

4. Tony Kanaan:  Said his car was better this year than it was when he won it in 2013.

5. Charlie Kimball:  Consistency at IMS is key.  Finished 3rd last year.

6. J.R Hildebrand: Has that knack for Indy, he seems to have a shot at winning each year he drives the 500.

7. James Hinchcliffe: Pole sitter had a disappointing finish after leading 27 laps.

8. Scott Dixon:  Not much of a factor all month.  Hopes to get his second 500 at the 101st Running.

9. Sebastien Bourdais: His second Top-Ten in six tries at the 500.

10.  Will Power: His 5th Top Ten in 9 attempts at the Brickyard.  He led 8 Laps/
 

Different Teams: 6 (Andretti, Penske, RLL, ECR, Schmidt, Ganassi)
 

Different Countries: 7 (USA, Colombia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, France, Australia)

7 Chevys,  3 Hondas
(but the top 2 were Hondas)

OTHER
46 Laps were run under yellow.
The race lasted 3 hours and 2 seconds
Average Speed was 166.634 mph
There were 54 lead changes among 13 drivers.
The fastest lap of the race was 225.288, by Alexander Rossi

OUR THOUGHTS

It was great seeing rookie, Stefan Wilson in the field, and super seeing all the fans wearing Justin Wilson t-shirts over the weekend.

Great run by Ryan Hunter Reay and Townsend Bell before their pit road incident.

Fantastic job of charging through the field by Sage Karam before his crash while running in fourth.

Juan Montoya became the first defending winner to finish last the following year since Johnny Rutherford in 1977.

Nice run for Pippa Mann.  An 18th place finish was her highest in five attempts at the 500.

Alex Tagliani moved up the most positions in the race, sixteen.  He also led 11 laps and had the fastest lead lap of the race at 222.729.

 

100th Indianapolis 500 Josef Newgarden update

Josef Newgarden was very close to winning the 100th running of the Indy 500.  It was so exciting!

 He started 2nd and finished 3rd

 and he led 14 laps!!!
Unfortunately he was a little short on fuel and had to stop for gas in the final few laps.

And now he is 4th in Indycar season points!!!

His fasted lap was on lap 169

His lowest position was 9th

2nd is Josef's best start at the Indianapolis 500

and 3rd is his best finish! 

Josef Newgarden started in the middle of the front row, next to my second favorite driver Hinch!!!

 

Josef in his #21 Preferred Freezer Car on the front straightaway.
 

 

This was Josef's garage.

 

 

 

 

Next up the Dual in Detroit!

Josef has only 2 Top 10's in 7 races in Detroit, but he ran well there last year and is always strong on street courses. 

So I'm expected a win...or two! 

Good Luck Josef.

post by Alexandra, age 8

                      

Our thoughts and experiences: Indy 500, 100th running

The Indy 500 was amazing!!!
 

We would have loved to see a shootout between Josef Newgarden and Carlos Munoz, but it came down to really amazing fuel strategy by Alexander Rossi.  It may not have been the side by side for the win finish that we were expecting, but we got plenty of excitement during the race!

In the opening ceremonies, 'Back Home Again in Indiana' was sung by Josh Kaufman.  He sounded really good but we're still getting used to not having Jim Nabors sing it like he had for so many years.

The bald eagle that was released during a song was a really neat touch,  it was really beautiful.  We got to see it up close when it was being taken through the crowd earlier in the morning and it had a little mask over it's eyes so that it didn't get upset around all the people.

We parked in the Speedway Trails parking a few blocks from the track.  It was the first time in years that we didn't park inside the track, because although we had a pass we didn't want to wait in the extra long line of traffic to get inside this year.  It was good because instead of getting up at 4:00 we actually slept in till 4:45 and were able to easily get to the track from downtown by 6:15.

We got our 100th anniversary milk that was being handed out by the Indiana Dairy Association and kept it in our coolers till after the race when we drank it while Alexander Rossi was drinking his milk in Victory Circle. 

It was 81 degrees, so we were hot, but luckily there were some dark clouds that gave us a break once in a while and thanks to our 100 SPF suntan lotion we didn't even burn a bit.  The same could not be said for many of the people sitting around us.  :)

The one-hundredth running definitely had, as Mario Andretti said, more pizzazz.  The stands were packed with people no matter where you looked and the grounds were teeming with fans whenever we ventured down from our seats.   You could feel the extra excitement in the air during every moment of the race.

The Program was $25 for the 100th running, but was by far my favorite one that I've ever read.  (and we have a lot, some dating back to the 60's).   It had all the drivers and all the Indy 500 winners dating back to 1911, plus tons of different facts and articles.  It's really cool, and really thick, so I am still trying to finish reading through it.

The pre-race activities were especially fun this year, too.  The video about the history and progression of the most famous words in motorsport was really neat, and all the old cars and driver legends that they had on the track.  We were in our seat from 8:30 until after Alexander made his victory lap and kissed the bricks because there was constantly something going on to watch!

The day after the race we went back to the Speedway to renew our tickets for next year!