Ryan Hunter-Reay, whose victory in the Milwaukee IndyFest last June was the springboard to claiming the IZOD IndyCar Series championship, repeated the achievement at the historic Milwaukee Mile.
The 32-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident overtook race leader Takuma Sato on Lap 198 of 250 and went on to win by 4.809 seconds over Helio Castroneves.
Will Power finished third for his first podium of the season. E.J. Viso and James Hinchcliffe -- Andretti Autosport teammates to Hunter-Reay -- also were in the top five.
The last back-to-back winner at Milwaukee was Tony Kanaan in 2006-07, when he was driving for the Andretti team. It was the 47th IZOD IndyCar Series victory for the team and the fifth at Milwaukee.
Third in the standings entering this Father's Day weekend race, Hunter-Reay heads into the June 23 Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by DEKALB 16 points behind the front-running Castroneves. Hunter-Reay won at Iowa Speedway last year, and made it three victories in a row at Toronto two weeks later.
An electrical issue on the No. 25 RC Cola car ruined the day for pole sitter Marco Andretti, who entered the race second in the standings and led 61 laps early on. Following repairs, Andretti re-entered the race on Lap 137 and soldiered on to not lose any additional points. He is third in the championship (50 points behind) after placing 20th.
Also on June 15, Sage Karam overtook Zach Veach on Lap 57 of the Milwaukee 100 and went on to become the third first-time winner and fourth in five Firestone Indy Lights races this season.
Karam, 18, of Nazareth, Pa., led Carlos Munoz across the start-finish line by 1.0808 seconds. Veach earned his first podium finish.
"The first one is always big. Star Mazda, my first win was Milwaukee also," said Karam, the pole sitter who drove the No. 8 Schmidt Peterson with Curb-Agajanian car. "I had to stay mentally strong and that's what we did. I saved my tires pretty well in the beginning and ran him down and made a good move."
Karam closed to 18 points of Munoz in the standings with the series heading to Iowa Speedway next week and then to Pocono Raceway on July 7.
DAY 2 NOTEBOOK:
IZOD IndyCar Series officials have announced there will be three cars that will have 10-grid spot penalties for unapproved engine changes between the Texas race and today's race:
#10 Franchitti (Rule 15.5.1 and 15.5.4b)
15.5.1. (Minimum mileage): Engine was changed before minimum mileage threshold ("Change-Out Mileage") of 2,000 miles.
15.5.4b (Indianapolis 500 race engine): Full-Season Entrants have the choice to use up the changed-out Engine or to use up the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Engine first. Should the changed-out Engine be refitted before the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Engine reaches its Change-Out Mileage, it must remain in the Car for the balance of its Change-Out Mileage. Both Engines must reach their Change-Out Mileages before another Engine can be fitted to the Car.
#15 Rahal (Rule 15.5.1 and 15.5.4b)
15.5.1. (Minimum mileage): Engine was changed before minimum mileage threshold ("Change-Out Mileage") of 2,000 miles.
15.5.4b (Indianapolis 500 race engine): Full-Season Entrants have the choice to use up the changed-out Engine or to use up the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Engine first. Should the changed-out Engine be refitted before the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Engine reaches its Change-Out Mileage, it must remain in the Car for the balance of its Change-Out Mileage. Both Engines must reach their Change-Out Mileages before another Engine can be fitted to the Car.
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Panther Racing's Ryan Briscoe flew from Paris to Milwaukee on Thursday and is slated to return to France following today's race due his commitment to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Qualifying for the endurance race, which Briscoe will compete in for the first time, is slated for Wednesday, but Briscoe has to be at the track for scrutineering beginning Sunday.
"The travel hasn't been that bad," said Briscoe, who has also traveled to England twice since last racing for Panther in Detroit. "It's not that big a time difference and the flight is about the same as going out to the West Coast."
MILWAUKEE INDYFEST RACE SPECIFICS
The race is 250 laps, 250 miles on 1-mile oval.
The pit road speed limit is 60 mph.
The green flag to start the race will be shown the third time by the start-finish line.
The E85 ethanol allotment for today's race is 75 gallons and the fuel window is approximately 50-60 laps under green-flag conditions.
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford will drive the Chevrolet Corvette Safety Car.
There will be no tow-ins or returns from the garage within the final 20 laps of the race.
MILWAUKEE INDYFEST PRE-RACE
At 3:30 p.m., the ambient temperature was 86 degrees with a relative humidity of 39 percent. Skies were fair. The track temperature was 98 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.
At 3:35 p.m., Fox 6 News Anchor Ted Perry gave the command, "Drivers, start your engines." All cars have started and are rolling on the grid.
MILWAUKEE INDYFEST RACE RUNNING
Lap 1: GREEN. #25 Andretti leads the field into Turn 1. #1 Hunter-Reay got around #27 Hinchcliffe for second place entering Turn 1.
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Marco Andretti is leading for the fourth time in 2013. He has also now led in all three oval track races this season.
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Lap 5: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .2826 of a second.
Lap 10: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .5286 of a second.
Lap 15: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .3546 of a second.
Lap 20: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .6423 of a second.
Lap 21: YELLOW. #78 De Silvestro has made contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4. Pits are closed. Leader under caution is #78 De Silvestro has been restarted and continues onto the pit lane for repairs.
Lap 22: #67 Newgarden, #16 Jakes, #98 Tagliani, #3 Castroneves, #14 Sato, #10 Franchitti, #19 Wilson, #15 Rahal and #83 Kimball on pit road for four tires and fuel.
Lap 27: GREEN. #25 Andretti leads the field into Turn 1. Behind there is a YELLOW in Turn 4 for #98 Tagliani who spun without contact. #15 Rahal has damage after running into the back of #16 Jakes.
Lap 29: #15 Rahal on pit road to replace nosecone. #98 Tagliani also pit road for repairs. Crew reports throttle pedal issue from spin.
Lap 32: #16 Jakes on pit road for fuel only and to assess damage.
Lap 33: GREEN. #25 Andretti leads the field into Turn 1.
Lap 40: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .4420 of a second.
Lap 45: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .8013 of a second.
Lap 50: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .7915 of a second.
Lap 54: #7 Bourdais is off the pace on the backstretch. He pits for four tires and fuel. Crew reports a fuel pump issue.
` Lap 55: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .2112 of a second.
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IZOD IndyCar Series officials have penalized #7 Bourdais with a drive through for a pit safety violation (hitting pit equipment).
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Lap 60: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .4078 of a second. #7 Bourdais on pit road to serve its penalty.
Lap 62: #1 Hunter-Reay takes lead from #25 Andretti.
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This is seventh race that Hunter-Reay has led this season
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Lap 64: #5 Viso on pit road for four tires and fuel.
Lap 65: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #25 Hunter-Reay by .8413 of a second.
Lap 67: #1 Hunter-Reay, #25 Andretti, #27 Hinchcliffe and #20 Carpenter on pit lane for four tires and fuel. New leader is #12 Power. Pit Report: #25 Andretti was slow on fuel, as fueler couldn't get fuel probe to disengage.
Lap 69: Leader #12 Power on pit lane for four tires and fuel. New leader is #14 Sato.
Lap 71: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 1.4121 seconds.
Lap 76: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 1.4121 seconds.
Lap 81: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 1.9962 seconds.
Lap 85: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 3.4808 seconds.
Lap 88: #16 Jakes on pit road for four tires and fuel.
Lap 89: #3 Castroneves on pit road for four tires and fuel.
Lap 90: #14 Sato leads # 19 Wilson by 15.1779 seconds.
Lap 91: #14 Sato on pit road for four tires and fuel. New leader is #19 Wilson.
Lap 92: #5 Viso passes #19 Wilson for the lead in Turn 2.
Lap 93: #19 Wilson on pit road for four tires and fuel.
Lap 96: #5 Viso leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 1.8707 seconds.
Lap 98: YELLOW. #25 Andretti has stopped on the backstretch. Pits are closed. Leader under caution is #5 Viso followed by #1 Hunter-Reay, #14 Sato.
Lap 99: Pits are open: Leaders on pit road for four tires and fuel. #14 Sato and #3 Castroneves do not pit and #14 Sato takes the lead. #1 Hunter-Reay beats #5 Viso off pit road followed by #12 Power and #27 Hinchcliffe.
Lap 107: #55 Vautier on pit lane for fuel only.
Lap 108: GREEN. #14 Sato leads the field into Turn 1.
Lap 110: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 1.4035 seconds.
Lap 115: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 2.1403 seconds.
Lap 121: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 1.8211 seconds.
Lap 125: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 3.0620 seconds.
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Takuma Sato is leading his first IZOD IndyCar Series race since the race at Sao Paulo in May. The last time an A.J. Foyt car won at Milwaukee was in June 10, 1979 when A.J. Foyt won a USAC-sanctioned race.
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Lap 130: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 3.2274 seconds.
Lap 135: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 5.4699 seconds. #1 Hunter-Reay is third, 4 seconds behind #3 Castroneves.
Lap 140: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 5.6369 seconds. #25 Andretti has rejoined the race, 42 laps down after team dealt with an electrical issue.
Lap 145: Working traffic, #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 3.0442 seconds.
Lap 150: Working traffic, #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 2.2860 seconds.
Lap 152: #20 Carpenter and #7 Bourdais on pit road for four tires and fuel. Pit report: #20 Carpenter also makes wing adjustment.
Lap 155: #3 Castroneves on pit road for four tires and fuel.
Lap 157: #14 Sato on pit road for four tires and fuel. New leader is the #1 Hunter-Reay.
Lap 161: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #5 Viso by .3855 of a second. #67 Newgarden on pit road for four tires and fuel and wing ad
Lap 163: #27 Hinchcliffe on pit road for four tires and fuel
Lap 164: Leader #1 Hunter-Reay on pit road for four tires and fuel. Leader is #5 Viso.
Lap 165: #19 Wilson on pit road
Lap 166: Leader #5 Viso on pit road for four tires and fuel. New leader is #12 Power.
Lap 167: Leader #12 Power on pit road for four tires and fuel. New leader is #14 Sato.
Lap 175: Green flag stops complete, #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 5.1531 seconds.
Lap 180: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by 3.8622 seconds.
Lap 183: #14 Sato gets loose in Turn 3 and 4 and runs wide. He is able to maintain his lead over Castroneves.
Lap 185: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by .7770 of a second.
Lap 191: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by .5511 of a second.
Lap 195: #14 Sato leads #3 Castroneves by .4659 of a second.
Lap 197: #1 Hunter-Reay passes #3 Castroneves for second in Turn 1.
Lap 198: #1 Hunter-Reay passes #14 Sato for the lead
Lap 200: #14 Sato pits for four tires and fuel. #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 2.2935 seconds.
Lap 203: #6 Saavedra pits for four tires and fuel after he ran wide in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 202.
Lap 205: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 3.799 seconds.
Lap 210: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 2.2659 seconds.
Lap 212: YELLOW. #18 Beatriz is stopped on course in pit in. Leader under caution is #1 Hunter-Reay followed by #3 Castroneves, #5 Viso, #12Power, #27 Hinchcliffe.
Lap 213: Leaders on pit road for four tires and fuel. #1 Hunter-Reay wins race off of pit road followed by #3 Castroneves, #12 Power, #5 Viso and #9 Dixon.
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#14 Sato has clinched the two bonus points for leading the most laps today.
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Lap 221: GREEN. #1 Hunter-Reay leads the field into Turn 1.
Lap 225: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 1.8645 seconds.
Lap 230: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 3.7331 seconds.
Lap 235: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 4.3317 seconds.
Lap 240: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 4.3669 seconds.
Lap 245: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 4.3137 seconds.
Lap 249: WHITE: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 4.7419 seconds.
Lap 250: CHECKERED: #1 Ryan Hunter-Reay wins the Milwaukee IndyFest by 4.8059 seconds.
MILWAUKEE INDYFEST POST-RACE NOTES:
This is Ryan Hunter-Reay's third win at The Milwaukee Mile (2004, '12, '13)
This is Hunter-Reay's second win of the season (Barber) and his 11th career Indy car win. Three of his wins have come at The Milwaukee Mile.
Hunter-Reay has five podium finishes this season (Barber, Indianapolis, Belle Isle 1, Texas, Milwaukee)
Hunter-Reay is the first back-to-back winner at Milwaukee since Tony Kanaan in 2006-07.
This is Andretti Autosport's 47th IZOD IndyCar Series victory and fourth of the 2013 season (St. Pete, Barber, Sao Paulo, Milwaukee).
Today's win was the fifth win in the last nine races at Milwaukee for Andretti Autosport (2004 - Dario Franchitti, 2006 - Tony Kanaan, 2007 - Kanaan, 2012 - Ryan Hunter-Reay 2013 - Hunter-Reay)
The last team to win back-to-back races at Milwaukee was Target Chip Ganassi Racing (Dixon - 2009 and Franchitti - 2011. There was no race at Milwaukee in 2010).
Helio Castroneves finished second. It is his second top-five finish at Milwaukee in 13 starts (finished second in 1998) and his fourth podium finish this season (St. Pete, Barber, Texas, Milwaukee).
Will Power finished third. It is Power's second top-five finish at Milwaukee (fourth in 2011) and his second top-five finish of the season (fifth at Barber).
E.J. Viso finished fourth. It is his first top-five finish of the season and a career best finish at Milwaukee. His previous best finish of fifth at Milwaukee in 2012.
James Hinchcliffe finished fifth. It is his second top-five finish at Milwaukee (third in 2012 and his third top-five finishes to date this season (St. Pete, Sao Paulo, Milwaukee).
MILWAUKEE INDYFEST POST-RACE QUOTES:
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 1 DHL Chevrolet): "The team did just awesome today. We had varying levels of grip through the whole race, different levels of balance, and we just stuck with it. In the end, we knew what we had to do to win. What a race it was. It was a lot of fun."
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet): "Certainly it was a great day for us. Starting from the back, it was tough. Yesterday I stayed late talking to Jonathan (Diuguid), my engineer, on what we were going to do with the car. It was tough, but today it definitely paid off. We were a little conservative, and we had to be patient. In the end, it was a great job by the PPG boys. It's not a win, but you know what, I'm very, very happy."
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "That was close (with Helio). I wanted to race him very cleanly because he's leading the championship. I was like "Man, I don't want to take you out." Still a good result for Team Penske. Helio (Castroneves) continues to get good points, and it's cool to get the No. 12 Verizon car up on the podium. We've just got to keep chipping away and in the meantime, I'm going to help out Helio as much as I can. If I can beat him, I will and make some hay on the championship."
E.J. VISO (No. 5 Team Venezuela PDVSA Citgo Chevrolet): "It was a good result for the whole group, the whole Andretti Autosport Team. It was a fun day, especially the final restart. That was super-fun."
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 GoDaddy Chevrolet): "Any time you can get a top-five finish, especially with how competitive this field is, it's a good day for the GoDaddy car. I feel like I spent half the day just trying to get around the lap traffic."
TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Hydroxycut KVRT-SH Racing Chevrolet): "It was a very difficult race for us, We had to battle all day long, but just didn't have the pace. We finished in the top-10 so I will take those ponts. Now we move on to Iowa where hopefully we can have a better finish."
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): "It wasn't a good day. It was a rough one. And it stinks sometimes because you don't have the package, but we'll keep working hard. There's definitely no quit in the team and we'll keep trucking away for the next one."
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 78 Nuclear Entergy Areva KVRT Chevrolet): "The car was loose from the start and then it just took off. We made contact with the wall. The guys changed the rear wing and we went back out, but I don't know if it was damage from the crash or what, but it really wasn't drivable after that. I feel bad for my Nuclear Clean Air Energy sponsors that we had such a short race, but we just weren't ever able to get the car fixed right."
MICHAEL ANDRETTI (Owner, Andretti Autosport): "It's just a huge win for us for sure. Last year, this win kicked started Ryan's year, hopefully it's going to do it again. He did a great job and to win our race, the one that we promoted, is just awesome. So happy for everybody on this team and so proud of everybody, and all the cars ran really competitive today and all weekend. We got a lot to be proud of." (What is it about this track that allows Andretti cars perform so well) I don't know, we had a good setup last year, especially Ryan, and we started there with Ryan's set up. It seemed to work again, so it was just one of those things, you know, everything clicked right off the trailer which you need to do nowadays because you don't have a lot of practice, so we had a good feeling after yesterday.
ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 98 Barracuda Racing Honda): "It's been a couple tough weeks in a row here for the Barracuda Racing guys. I'm disappointed for our fans and our supporters at Barracuda Networks, Bowers and Wilkins, Oasis, Curb Records, and Honda. We will come back next week stronger."
RYAN BRISCOE (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet): "The National Guard Chevy was handling pretty good for us, but the gears were a bit long, so that was hurting us as we tried to race people off the corner. But the Panther Racing crew did a great job in the pits all day. We're continuing to build on our continuity, and we'll continue to get better working together. The plan is to race as many events in IndyCar as we can this year with Panther, so we'll get them next time."
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 6 Dragon Racing Chevrolet):"It was a very strong race in the beginning for us. The #6 TrueCar Dragon Racing car was keeping a solid pace with the front runners. The crew did an amazing job on the pit stops but unfortunately we had a mistake calling me into pit and that costs us positions and we couldn't recover from that. I a bit disappointed with the position but its a good position for us after a rough start to the season. I defiantly want more and I will not settle for 13th position. Iowa we will be looking a lot stronger and carrying a lot of momentum, so we will stay focused and go for a strong race."
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 7 Dragon Racing Chevrolet): "It was a disappointing day for the #7 McAfee Dragon Racing car. We had a pretty good race going with a very strong start and I was passing a lot of cars making it up to 9th position. Then we had a fuel pump issue running out of fuel with still 4 gallons in the tank. During the first pit stop the wheel gun was not retrieved properly and ended up damaging the suspension and after that the car was never the same. We were 2 laps down and our day was heading south, I was trying to hang onto the car and after our final pit stop with new tires the car was loose for no reason. At that point I knew this day was not going to end well, so we brought the car in and parked it."
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): "I think we went down a road earlier in the year and now we're just trying to regroup and find our way. Maybe we're lacking confidence in our changes with the car but we'll work hard and get better. We had a good day but went back and forth on some things. We had understeer in the middle of the corner and the car snapped coming off. We had a bit better car then we showed. I got ran wide on the restart by Kanaan and didn't quite agree with it but then again what can you do."
DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 Kimberly Clark Honda): "Obviously we didn't have a great qualifying effort and then we took the engine change penalty before the race. We started in the back, made some good progress, but it was difficult to pass. The guys made good calls to keep me in the hunt but keeping the car pointed straight was a challenge. To pass people was very tough. The cars are so close, so the series might be a victim of their own success right now. We need to start allowing something to differentiate when guys get it right and wrong. Great to be here as always at the Mile. Great crowd and great event."
TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): "What an eventful and exciting race it was. We slowly started to move up through the field and on every pit stop we adjusted on the car and then the car started working really well. By mid race the ABC Supply car was beautiful and I was so enjoying driving it. The car was so strong in clean air and very strong in traffic as well. We were really happy with the whole balance of the car in the middle stint, but then unfortunately there was such a sudden loss of the rear grip towards the end of the race and I got high and lost track position. We thought there was an issue so we decided to pit as soon as our pit window opened and then try to charge back with fresh tires. We were confident we could do it. But then the yellow came out and that was very bad timing for us because it put us behind those who hadn't pitted yet. They were able to pit and get ahead of us which is why we lined up in 7th. Then they had fresher tires too so it was really tough to pass them back. The boys did a great job with the pit stops all day long and I thought we could have brought a smile to A.J. and we nearly did. It was still a great race, but it was so disappointing in the end. Really a shame."
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Midas/Big O Tires Honda): "It was a longer day. The car started off pretty sketchy but we worked hard on it and we did get it better. I think that at the end we were competitive and if we had had a better starting position, I think that would have helped us considerably. Without a doubt we still have work to do. I think the guys did a great job, everybody is working awfully hard. Sixteenth isn't what we want, everybody knows that. We want to see progress and after Texas that is progress."
JAMES JAKES (No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Honda): "It was a disappointing day generally. We struggled with the balance of the car. We thought we had made some changes but it wasn't quite where we wanted it to be so it was a long day. I'm looking forward to Iowa next week. I have always been pretty quick there so hopefully we can bounce back."
ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): "That was a long day for us. I thought we were going to be good after the early stages. We were able to work our way pretty far up the charts (to fifth from 20th starting position). I slid a little on our second stop and I missed my marks. So we lost a couple of spots then. I got loose on a restart and lost a few more spots. We were just loose that entire stint after being good early. Then I got in the marbles and hit the wall in turn four. And it just got away from us from there. It's so disappointing because it looked like we were going to have such a good day. At the end, it feels like a missed opportunity today. We'll regroup and be ready for Iowa next week. Hope for a strong run there."
TRISTAN VAUTIER (No. 55 coastal.com Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): "It was a tough race. I was really struggling behind other cars but I was decent by myself. As soon as I got in a pack, came up on slow cars or had restarts I went backwards. It just made for a long day. When Simon was about to lap me I went high to let him by and hit some marbles. I understeered into the wall. It wasn't a big hit but it was big enough to bend the suspension and end our day."
SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda): "I have mixed feelings about today's race. I really felt like we had a good car. We were running in the top-6 early on with really strong re-starts, but we finished 12th. I don't quite understand. I think we had an issue in the pits and some problems with strategy which dropped us back. It's a shame because the HP car was really fast. We made a lot of improvement on the car but this is costly on our championship. It's a long championship though so we'll bounce back and try to do better in Iowa."
CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Honda): "There are definitely a lot of lessons to be learned that we'll take from today. We just have to figure out what they are and make the most of them moving forward. We're looking forward to making our way to Iowa so we can make the changes and we'll go racing."
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 25 RC Cola Chevrolet): "It was electrical, but I don't really have an idea, I mean, maybe an alternator? It just...the volts just went straight down, and I lost all types of power. I couldn't shift, the clutch didn't work. Unfortunately I have to go out and be 'that guy' if we can fix it. We don't know yet." Post-race Quote: "It's unfortunate... We came here for a win and had a car to do it. We fell back after a delay in the pits and then had an electrical issue - I didn't have any idea of what happened at the time. The voltage went straight down and I lost all kinds of power; I couldn't shift, the clutch didn't work. We came back for all the points we could. We've been strong at Iowa in the past so we will move on and try to get points back next weekend."
MILWAUKEE 100 RACE SPECIFICS
The race is 100 laps, 100 miles on 1-mile oval.
The pit road speed limit is 45 mph.
The green flag to start the race will be shown the third time by the start-finish line.
Pole sitter Sage Karam will grid driver's left for today's race
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford will drive the Chevrolet Corvette Safety Car.
MILWAUKEE 100 PRE-RACE
At 12:45 p.m., the ambient temperature was 69 degrees with a relative humidity of 65 percent. Skies were cloudy. The track temperature was 88 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.
At 12:55 p.m., Christine Nashick, Vice President of Marketing, DHL Express, gave the command, "Drivers, start your engines." All cars are running and rolling on the grid.
MILWAUKEE 100 RACE RUNNING:
Lap 1: GREEN. #8 Karam leads the field into Turn 1. #12 Veach takes the lead on the outside of Turn 1.
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Zach Veach is leading his first laps in Firestone Indy Lights.
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Lap 5: #12 Veach leads #8 Karam by 2.5235 seconds.
Lap 10: #12 Veach leads #8 Karam by 3.7846 seconds.
Lap 15: #12 Veach leads #8 Karam by 4.5017 seconds.
Lap 20: #12 Veach leads #8 Karam by 4.9399 seconds.
Lap 25: #12 Veach leads #8 Karam by 4.8932 seconds.
Lap 30: #12 Veach leads #8 Karam by 5.8877 seconds.
Lap 35: Working lap traffic of #4 Goncalvez, #12 Veach leads #8 Karam by 4.0184 seconds.
Lap 40: Still working lap traffic, #12 Veach leads #8 Karam by 1.4640 seconds.
Lap 45: #12 Veach leads #8 Karam by 1.4044 seconds.
Lap 50: #12 Veach leads #8 Karam by .2230 of a second.
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By leading the first 56 laps of today's race, #12 Veach has clinched the two bonus points for leading the most laps in today's race.
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Lap 50: #12 Veach leads #8 Karam by .3661 of a second.
Lap 57: #8 Karam passes #12 Veach for the lead with a move to the inside in Turn 1 and 2.
Lap 61: #8 Karam leads #12 Veach by 1.3527 seconds.
Lap 64: #26 Munoz passes #12 Veach for second-place in Turn 4.
Lap 65: #8 Karam leads #26 Munoz by 2.3226 seconds.
Lap 70: #8 Karam leads #26 Munoz by 2.2343 seconds.
Lap 75: #8 Karam leads #26 Munoz by 2.6841 seconds.
Lap 80: #8 Karam leads #26 Munoz by 2.2943 seconds.
Lap 85: #8 Karam leads #26 Munoz by 1.9720 seconds.
Lap 90: #8 Karam leads #26 Munoz by 1.5595 seconds. Both lead cars are dealing with lapped traffic.
Lap 95: YELLOW. #5 Dempsey does a full spin in Turn 2 and makes light right-front contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2. Leaders under caution are: #8 Karam, #26 Munoz and #12 Veach.
Lap 97: GREEN. #8 Karam leads the field into Turn 1.
Lap 99: WHITE: #8 Karam leads #26 Munoz by .9858 of a second.
Lap 100: CHECKERED: #8 Sage Karam wins the Milwaukee 100 by 1.0808 seconds.
MILWAUKEE 100 POST-RACE NOTES
This is the first career Firestone Indy Lights victory for Sage Karam. He is the third first-time winner in 2013 and the fourth winner in five races.
This is Karam's fourth podium finish of the season (St. Pete, Long Beach, Indianapolis, Milwaukee).
Today's win moves Karam into second in the championship standings. He trails Carlos Munoz by 18 points.
Carlos Munoz finished second. It is the third podium finish of the season for Munoz (also won races at Barber, Long Beach).
This is a career-best Firestone Indy Lights finish for Veach. His previous best was of fifth (St. Pete, Indianapolis).
MILWAUKEE 100 POST-RACE QUOTES
SAGE KARAM (No. 8 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports c/w Curb-Agajanian): "In my opinion I think he (Zach Veach) jumped the start a little bit. He went way before I did and the green wasn't even out. As the pole sitter, I thought it was my job to pace the start. I was disappointed about that but I couldn't let it get to me. I had to stay mentally strong, and that's what we did. I saved my tires pretty well in the beginning and ran him down and made a good move. And the traffic, we worked well with them and they worked well with us. So I have to give a big hats off to all of the lapped traffic out there for really being polite."
CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 26 Daily-Ser/Andretti Autosport): "It was a second place, but it tastes like a win, more or less. Over the weekend we had a couple of problems with the car, but second place is nice. It's really good for the championship. I think I lead the points by even more now, so as we go race by race from here, we aim to get more and more podiums."
ZACH VEACH (No. 12 K12/Andretti Autosport): "I think it was a really good weekend for us. We qualified second, which was our best qualifying position, and we led a lot of laps today. I just made a rookie mistake by pushing too hard on the tires in the early laps. We learned a lot from this, and I'm just happy to come home third. Those last 20 laps I was just hanging on hoping there was no one behind us. I am very thankful for the K12 Andretti Autosport guys for working so hard, and we'll hopefully get the win in Iowa. We'll keep digging."
PETER DEMPSEY (No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing): "It was a tough day for us because the race didn't go as great as we were hoping for. I'm happy to finish the race and take the points but now we're sitting in fourth for the championship. We just got caught up in traffic there at the end. I got too loose coming out of two and spun. Overall, it was a good effort by the team this weekend. It was tough for us to come here with no testing and it being my first time here with the team. This track hasn't been great in the past so to qualify upfront was good. Unfortunately we just need to keep working at it, move on to Iowa, and come back stronger."
JORGE GONCALVEZ (No. 4. Belardi Auto Racing): "We didn't qualify well yesterday which really put us at a disadvantage in the beginning, being behind everyone. It was pretty hard for me in the beginning to pass the 77 and using so much time to do that made a large gap between me and those who were in front. Halfway through the race, the car was really fast. We were running 3rd fastest but it was just too late to catch up. The caution came out but I just didn't have the chance to improve any positions. I did the best I could and now I'm focusing on Iowa next weekend. I've already talked to my engineer and we're already trying to figure out what will be best there to have better results."
GABBY CHAVES (No. 7 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports c/w Curb-Agajanian): "We had a crazy start today. We went, then we stopped and I got a little sideways there. Thankfully we got through the first lap and we had a strong car. It's very difficult to get around traffic here in Milwaukee. Our car had the pace to run up front with the leaders. Great job to the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports guys and we'll keep moving forward from here."
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The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Iowa Corn Indy 250 on June 23 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be televised by ABC at 2:30 p.m. (ET) and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including SiriusXM (XM 211 and Sirius 211) and indycar.com. The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Sukup 100 on June 22 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 11 p.m. (ET) on June 28.
