News

Track:  Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Race:   Gallagher Grand Prix
Date:   July 30, 2022

 
No. 2 PPG Dallara/Chevrolet – Josef Newgarden
Start: 5th
Finish: 5th
Laps Led: 0
Point Standings: 3rd (-32)
 
Race Rundown:  Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet team showed a lot of resilience in their fifth-place finish in Saturday's Gallagher Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Having been cleared to race just a day before following his crash at Iowa last week, Newgarden qualified his Chevrolet in the fifth position on Friday. At the drop of the green flag, it was apparent that the two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion was determined to score his fifth win of the year as he made a strong move into the third position in the first two corners. Unfortunately, under the first caution of the day on lap four, INDYCAR penalized Newgarden for a track limit violation for placing his right-side tires over the pit exit line at the green flag. The penalty was giving up the two positions he gained with his move, restarting in the fifth position. In a race that featured numerous different strategies, the No. 2 Chevrolet team moved up and down the running order before ultimately finishing fifth.
  
Newgarden's Thoughts: "Good day for our PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. I am just glad to be back out there on the track and get this race under my belt.  We were able to come away with a solid top-five finish and make up some points, which is a pretty solid day.  We had great strategy and Team Chevy brought some great power today, which allowed us to stay up front.  Overall, a really good day for our PPG team."
 
 
No. 3 Gallagher Dallara/Chevrolet – Scott McLaughlin
Start: 15th
Finish: 4th                                           
Laps Led: 10
Point Standings: 7th (-81)
 
Race Rundown: Scott McLaughlin and the No 3 Gallagher Chevrolet team made one of the biggest jumps on the day, improving 11 positions from his starting position and coming home fourth in Saturday's Gallagher GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.  In the opening laps of the race, McLaughlin was able to take advantage of contact between several cars in front of him to jump from his starting spot of 15th all the way to ninth. As other cars began to make their pit stops, he took the lead on lap 14 as he worked on running a longer first stint than most cars on the track. He pitted for the first time on lap 24, giving up the top spot and slotting into fourth when all the stops were completed. With a solid handling Gallagher Chevrolet, McLaughlin continued to knock off strong laps, keeping him in the top-five.  The rest of the race, McLaughlin tried to chase down teammate Will Power for a podium position while also holding off his other teammate Josef Newgarden behind him.  In the end, McLaughlin earned his fifth top-five finish of the season with his fourth-place result.
  
McLaughlin's Thoughts: “It was as good as we could have hoped. P4 after qualifying 15th, with a great start and we were able to press on and get going. Very proud because Team Chevy gave us great fuel mileage and we were able to just control it to the end. I'm pretty pumped. We needed one of those. To get from 15th to fourth in the Gallagher Chevy in the Gallagher Grand Prix was fantastic. The car was good. I was pumped. We just missed out on the podium but a top-five was a great day for us."
 

No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara/Chevrolet – Will Power
Start: 4th
Finish: 3rd
Laps Led: 7
Point Standings: 1st (+9)
 
Race Rundown: Will Power and the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet team continued to show championship mettle after finishing third in Sunday's Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for their seventh podium finish of the season. His strong showing combined with a difficult weekend for Marcus Ericsson pushed Power into the points lead for the second time this season. After starting from the fourth position, Power was shuffled back on a chaotic first lap that left him in the 16th position. Race strategist Ron Ruzewski brought Power down pit road under the first caution of the day at Lap four for a front-wing adjustment, placing him on a different strategy than most of the field.  A long stint saw Power cycle to the lead, and he remained toward the front of the field for the rest of the race. His third-place finish was the 92nd podium finish of his storied career, tying him with Dario Franchitti for seventh on the all-time list.
  
Power's Thoughts: “It's so hard to win in this series. It's the toughest series in the world, and everyone fights for position. You just have to keep it clean. Great job today by the Verizon 5G guys. It's amazing that we can go all the way back there and recover to third, and thanks to Chevy for such great fuel mileage. We're doing what we know, and that's what I've been doing. I know this game so well, and I know it can change very quickly. But you take what you can get every day and every race."