News

THE RACE

Verizon IndyCar Series
Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Motor Speedway – 2.434-mile, 14-turn road course
May 10, 2014

THE RESULTS

The No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet
Driver: Juan Pablo Montoya
Starting Position: 8
Finish Position: 16
Driver's Points Position: 15
 
The No. 3 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet
Driver: Helio Castroneves
Starting Position: 10
Finish Position: 3
Driver's Points Position: 4

The No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet
Driver: Will Power
Starting Position: 5
Finish Position: 8
Driver's Points Position: 1

THE RACE REVIEW    

Juan Pablo Montoya
No. 2 Verizon Team Penske  Dallara/Chevrolet     

• Montoya qualified the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet in the eighth position Saturday to tie his best Verizon IndyCar Series starting position of the season.
• The Grand Prix of Indianapolis started with an unfortunate incident when pole winner Sebastian Saavedra stalled on the standing start. The result was a huge accident that took out several competitors.
• In what may have been a blessing, Montoya also stalled his Verizon machine on the start and it may have kept him out of the melee. However, the Holmatro safety crew had to restart the No. 2 Chevy quickly before Montoya fell a lap down to the field.
• At lap 21, Montoya radioed that he was sliding on his Firestone tires as he navigated the 2.434-mile road course. As a result, race strategist Clive Howell called his driver to pit lane for four scuffed, alternate “red” compound tires and fuel.
• As he continued his march toward the top five, Montoya radioed that something was amiss in the rear of the car. He immediately pulled to pit lane where a camber issue was discovered. After the No. 2 Verizon crew made repairs, Montoya restarted the race from the 19th position, running one lap down to the leaders.
• While attempting to get his lap back, Montoya was involved in an incident on a lap 52 restart when he made contact with the rear of the No. 15 entry. The damage was confined to the front wing, which was quickly replaced by the No. 2 crew. Unfortunately, this impacted Montoya’s result as he crossed the finish line in the 16th position.
• With the result, Montoya now sits 15th in the driver standings, 79 points behind Verizon IndyCar Series point leader and Team Penske teammate, Will Power.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

TALK ABOUT YOUR EVENTFUL RACE IN THE GRAND PRIX OF INDIANAPOLIS.

“We had a winning Verizon Chevrolet today, to be honest. It was very frustrating to have all the problems we had. (We) got off on the wrong foot at the start. We did what we normally do on a standing start; I dropped the clutch and it just stopped. From there we were behind, but even then we were catching everyone. The lead pack knew we were coming. I really thought we were going to win the race. Then we had the problem in the right rear and lost a lap. That was it. We had a good run but just weren’t able to finish were we should.”
– Juan Pablo Montoya

THE RACE REVIEW    

Helio Castroneves
No. 3 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet
    
• Castroneves qualified the No. 3 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet in the 10th position on Friday afternoon after posting a lap of 1:24:8839 seconds around the 2.434-mile road circuit.
• By Lap 11, Castroneves had moved into the eighth position with teammate Juan Pablo Montoya running right behind him.
• At lap 20, Castroneves visited pit lane for the first time under the green flag. The No. 3 Verizon Chevy team equipped the car with new Firestone “red” compound tires and filled the car with fuel. Castroneves worked his way back toward the front of the field after the green flag stops cycled through.
• With 50 laps remaining in the Grand Prix of Indy, Castroneves was well-positioned for a top-five finish. As he made his second green-flag stop on Lap 42, the Verizon team put on another set of “red” Firestone tires and topped the car off with fuel.
• Castroneves took over the race lead on lap 55 and he led for the next 15 laps.
• On lap 69, Castroneves returned to pit lane as the No. 3 Verizon Team Penske Chevy needed fuel to make it to the end of the race. As the laps wound down, Castroneves worked his way back into the third position. As the checkered flag waved, Castroneves, who celebrated his 39th birthday on Saturday, finished in third place for second podium result of the season.
• With the finish, Castroneves moved into ninth place on the career top-three finishes list with 79 and seventh place in career top-five finishes with 113.
• Castroneves improved to fourth in the Verizon IndyCar Series point standings with Saturday’s finish, now 47 markers behind Power.    

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

YOU WERE CLOSE TO A WIN TODAY. HOW TOUGH WAS IT TO VISIT TO PIT LANE FOR FUEL LATE IN THE RACE?

"Even after the last pit stop, I still thought we had a chance to come back and win the race. To be honest, it was a great call from (race strategist) Roger (Penske). The No. 3 Verizon Chevrolet was really fast and it was very cool to be out front leading some laps today. Unfortunately, I had one more push to pass left there at the end but when I went to activate it, I had some sort of issue. We’ll go over it with the Chevy guys after the race but like always they gave me a great engine. It was a great race and I was pushing like a son-of-a- gun there at the end. It was an awesome way to start the month of May and an awesome way to celebrate my birthday, even though it wasn’t a win.” – Helio Castroneves

THE RACE REVIEW    

Will Power
No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet    

• Power began Saturday’s race from the fifth position after posting a lap of 1:25:5216 during the Firestone Fast Six qualifying round.
• Narrowly avoiding the opening-lap incident that claimed several cars, Power was able to emerge from the wreckage without damage and in the fourth position.
• While maintaining his position inside the top-five cars, Power withstood contact from the No. 9 car of Scott Dixon as Dixon tried to make a pass on the inside of the No. 12 Verizon Chevy on lap 42.
• The Verizon IndyCar Series point leader suffered no damage in the incident, but Dixon spun across the track.
• The race took a downturn for Power as he was assessed a pit lane penalty for running over an air hose during a lap 54 pit stop. After serving the pit lane drive through penalty, he resumed the race in the 14th position.
• Over the remaining laps of the race, the three-time Verizon IndyCar Series road course champion maneuvered his way to an eighth-place finish when the checkered flag fell.
• With the result, Power will carry a one-point lead in the series standings over Ryan Hunter-Reay into the Indianapolis 500 in two weeks.    

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

AS FAST AS YOUR VERIZON CAR WAS THIS WEEK, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT AN EIGHTH-PLACE RESULT?

“I’m bummed for the No. 12 Verizon guys, as they did a good job in preparing us for the race. We were reasonably fast in the Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.  I thought we were in pretty good shape to win before the penalty. It's so hard to predict what's going to happen after restarts. We saw a lot of cars get torn up today on the restarts so you have to do the best you can there.  But we will move forward and look ahead for a better finish at Indy 500. It’s very nice to have the points lead going into the biggest race in the world.”
-Will Power