Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay overtook Helio Castroneves on Lap 76 of 90 and then held off Scott Dixon to win the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama by .6363 of a second.Castroneves, who won the inaugural event in 2010 on the 2.38-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park road course, finished third and Charlie Kimball finished fourth. Will Power, who started on the front row, finished fifth.Dixon has finished second in all four of the IZOD IndyCar Series races at Barber."I was driving my tail off trying to stay in front of Dixon," said Hunter-Reay, who rebounded from an 18th-place finish in the season opener at St. Petersburg on March 24.Hunter-Reay, who earned the Verizon P1 Award the day before in the No. 1 DHL car for Andretti Autsosport, jumped 13 positions to third in the championship standings heading to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 21. Castroneves, with his second podium finish, holds a nine-point lead over Dixon.
The victory was the first by a No. 1 car since Sebastien Bourdais at Mexico City in 2007.Also on April 7, Carlos Munoz completed his domination of Barber Motorsports Park by winning the Legacy Indy Lights 100. The Andretti Autosport driver swept the weekend, topping the time chart in each practice session and earning his second consecutive pole start.
Jack Hawksworth, the St. Petersburg race winner, was 5.0684 seconds behind in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson with Curb-Agajanian car. Teammates Gabby Chaves and Sage Karam followed. Jorge Goncalvez was fifth in the No. 4 Belardi Auto Racing car.DAY 3 NOTEBOOK:INDYCAR CEO Jeff Belskus and ZOOM Motorsports president and CEO Gene Hallman announced that terms for a three-year extension of the IZOD IndyCar Series race at Barber Motorsports Park have been reached."We are pleased to have agreed to terms to continue the tradition of our fast and versatile racing at Barber Motorsports Park," said Belskus, a few hours before the green flag for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. "Not only is Barber a terrific facility to showcase our close and exciting on-track product, it also gives INDYCAR a strong presence in key southeastern markets to further help us grow our sport."The April 7 race was the fourth for the IZOD IndyCar Series on the 90-lap race on the 2.38-mile, 17-turn road course. Hallman noted that tickets to the three-day event were sold to people in all 50 states and nine countries. The local economic impact is valued at $28 million annually."INDYCAR has become very popular here in the heart of the Deep South and we look forward to continuing to grow the prominence of this race," Hallman said. "We certainly feel that INDYCAR is the appropriate partner to assist us in showcasing what is considered to be the finest road course facility in the U.S."The event in 2012 was voted "Best Annual Event" and "Best Sporting Event" by Birmingham Magazine, and the 2011 race earned the "Alabama Event of the Year" award from the state's tourism department.***Does Bo know Indy car racing?
The legendary two-sport athlete joked he asked his wife for one at Christmas time but had to come to the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama because he didn't get one."I flew with the Blue Angels. They said driving one of these things is like that," the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner told Justin Wilson, who hosted Jackson prior to the IZOD IndyCar Series race at Barber Motorsports Park.Wilson will join Jackson's Bo Bikes Bama 2 ride on April 27 to raise money for areas affected by the 2011 Alabama tornados. Wilson's No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda is carrying the Bo Bikes Bama event logo on the engine cover."It's great to meet such a legendary athlete like Bo," Wilson said. "He's such a down to earth neat person to meet. I'm looking forward to coming back in a few weeks for the Bo Bikes Bama event. It should be a good fun and for such good cause here in Alabama."Jackson, the event's grand marshal, is slated to ride in the "Fastest Seat in Sports" with two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk during the parade laps after giving the command to fire engines."The last time I tried to get into one, they had to grease me up to get in," Jackson quipped.***HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA RACE SPECIFICS:The race is 90 laps, 214.2 miles on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile street course.
The race will become a timed race of two hours if there are wet conditions.The pit road speed limit is 50 mph.Pole sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay will grid drivers' right.The green flag to start the race will be show the second time by the start-finish line.Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford will drive the Honda Civic SI Safety Car.The race leader will accelerate exiting Turn 17 on restarts.There will be no tow-ins or returns from the garage within 15 minutes of the checkered flagHONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA PRE-RACE:At 2:30 p.m., the ambient temperature was 76 degrees with a relative humidity of 38 percent. Skies were sunny. The track temperature was 106 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.2:33 p.m. - Legendary two-sport athlete and Grand Marshal Bo Jackson gave the command "Drivers, Start Your Engines." All 26 cars have started and are rolling on the grid.HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA RACE RUNNING:Lap 1: GREEN. #1 Hunter-Reay leads the field out of Turn 17 and into Turn 1. #55 Vautier and#26 Andretti move into second and third, respectively.Lap 2: #22 Servia on pit road for new nosecone. FULL COURSE YELLOW. Debris in Turn 7 after contact between #15 Rahal and #22 Servia on Lap 1.Lap 4: Under the caution, #27 Hinchcliffe has stopped in course in Turn 3. Holmatro Safety Team reports car has a flat left-rear tire and will tow the car into the pit lane. While under tow, the damaged wheel fell off the car and it has been placed in a safe area.Lap 7: GREEN. #1 Hunter-Reay leads the field into Turn 1.
Lap 8: #83 Kimball passes #26 Andretti for third in Turn 5.Lap 9: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #55 Vautier by 1.9969 seconds. #16 Jakes on pit road for four red tires and fuel. Crew also reports an issue on the right rear.Lap 11: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #55 Vautier by 3.0166 seconds.Lap 13: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #55 Vautier by 3.9623 seconds.Lap 15: #15 Rahal on pit road for four black tires and fuel. #98 Tagliani also on pit lane to remove damage wheel guard. #1 Hunter-Reay leads #55 Vautier by 5.2500 seconds.Lap 17: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #55 Vautier by 6.8384 seconds.Lap 18: #10 Franchitti, #3 Castroneves, #77 Pagenaud, #4 Hildebrand on pit lane for four red tires and fuel.Lap 19: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #55 Vautier by 7.5700 seconds. #5 Viso and #11 Kanaan on pit lane for four red tires and fuel.Lap 21: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #55 Vautier by 9.5986 seconds.Lap 23: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #55 Vautier by 10.7878 seconds. #6 Saavedra, #14 Sato and #2 Allmendinger on pit road for four tires and fuel. Allmendinger took black tires, the others took reds.Lap 24: #55 Vautier pits for four tires and fuel.
Lap 25: #25 Andretti, #78 de Silvestro and #7 Bourdais on pit lane four four tires and fuel.Lap 26: Leader, #1 Hunter-Reay on pit lane for four tires and fuel. #83 Kimball, #9 Dixon, #19 Wilson, #67 Newgarden. New leader is #12 Power.Lap 29: #12 Power leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 4.5800.***Will Power has led in all four of his starts at Barber Motorsports Park. He had led 124 laps entering today.***Lap 31: Leader, #12 Power, on pit road for four tires and fuel. New leader is #1 Hunter-Reay.Lap 33: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 8.6324 seconds. #20 Carpenter on pit road for four tires and fuel.Lap 36: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 6.5001 seconds.Lap 38: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 4.3801 seconds.Lap 40: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #3 Castroneves by 2.8027 seconds.Lap 41: #3 Castroneves and #6 Saavedra on pit lane for four tires and fuel. #6 Saavedra was slow on exit.Lap 42: #10 Franchitti and #77 Pagenaud on pit lane for four tires and fuel.
Lap 43: #1 Hunter-Reay on pit lane for four tires and fuel. New leader is #83 Kimball. #9 Dixon and #14 Sato on pit road for four tires and fuel. #14 Sato can't get away from the pits. Crew reports gearbox issue.***Charlie Kimball leads his first IZOD IndyCar Series race since he led 3 laps at Indianapolis last season.***Lap 46: Leader #83 Kimball on pit lane for four tires and fuel. New leader is #12 Power.Lap 48: #12 Power leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .3763 of a second. #3 Castroneves makes move for second place in Turn 5 and gets the position.Lap 50: #7 Bourdais and #78 de Silvestro on pit lane for four tires and fuel.Lap 51: #3 Castroneves passes #12 Power for the lead in Turn 5.
Lap 52: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 3.3783 seconds.Lap 55: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 7.0104 seconds.Lap 57: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 8.4058 seconds.Lap 60: #12 Power on pit road for four tires and fuel. #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 11.1938 seconds.Lap 63: #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 9.0857 seconds.Lap 64: #2 Allmendinger pits for four tires and fuel.Lap 65: #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 9.0487 seconds.Lap 65: #9 Dixon, #7 Bourdais and #77 Pagenaud on pit road for four tires and fuel.Lap 66: #83 Kimball on pit road for four tires and fuel. #67 Newgarden and #55 Vautier also pit for four tires and fuel.Lap 67: Leader, #3 Castroneves on pit road for four tires and fuel. Hunter-Reay and Andretti also pit for four tires and fuel. #3 Castroneves has a long stop, but wins race off pit road to maintain lead. #78 de Silvestro and #14 Sato also pit for service.Lap 68: #3 Castroneves leads #18 Wilson by 2.2762 seconds.Lap 69: #18 Wilson on pit road for four tires and fuel. #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 2.6993 seconds.Lap 71: #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 1.5758 seconds.Lap 73: #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .3630 of a second.Lap 75: #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .3961 of a second.Lap 76: #1 Hunter-Reay makes move for the lead in Turn 5. He completes the pass in Turn 6.Lap 77: #9 Dixon passes #3 Castroneves for second in Turn 1. #1 Hunter-Reay leads #9 Dixon by 2.4546 seconds.Lap 80: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #9 Dixon by 1.1635 seconds.***Ryan Hunter-Reay has clinched the two bonus points for leading the most laps in today's race.***Lap 82: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #9 Dixon by 1.1068 seconds.Lap 84: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #9 Dixon by 1.0722 seconds.Lap 86: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #9 Dixon by .7158 of a second.Lap 88: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #9 Dixon by .7384 of a second.Lap 89: WHITE: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #9 Dixon by .8028 of a second.Lap 90: CHECKERED: #1 Hunter-Reay wins the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama over Scott Dixon by .6363 of a second.HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA POST-RACE NOTES:RYAN HUNTER-REAY - ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT - WINNER - HONDA GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA Previous best finish of 12 at Barber in 2010 and 2012 This is Ryan's 10th career Indy car win, last win was Baltimore 2012 Started season with a 18th place finish at St. Pete Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Last time a car with No. 1 won an Indycar race was Mexico City in 2007 with BourdaisSCOTT DIXON - TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING - SECOND Has finished 2nd in all 3 previous starts at track Finished 5th at season opener in St. PeteHELIO CASTRONEVES - TEAM PENSKE - THIRD
Second consecutive podium finish of the season Won inaugural race at Barber in 2010 after leading the final 9 laps Finished 4rd in 2011, 7th in '12CHARLIE KIMBALL - CHIP GANASSI RACING - FOURTH Second career top-5 finish, other was 2nd at Toronto 2012 Started season with a 14th place finish at St. Pete
Previous best finish at Barber was 10th in 2010WILL POWER - TEAM PENSKE - FIFTH Fourth top-5 finish at Barber in as many startsHONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA POST-RACE QUOTES:RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 1 DHL Chevrolet, winner Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama): "I had a little contact there with Helio (Castroneves), I feel bad about it. Good thing nobody was affected by it but man, I was driving my tail off trying to stay in front of (Scott) Dixon. Will (Power) did a good job staying in front of me on blacks, not sure how he did it. A lot of great racing out there. It's just great to get a win for DHL, Sundrop, Circle K and Chevrolet back in victory lane. A good way to start the season."DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 Banana Boat Honda): "We had a header problem on the Banana Boat car and that led to some electrical issues that took out the clutch. The guys worked real hard to get the car back together. Tough day for us."MICHAEL ANDRETTI (Owner, Andretti Autosport): "It really was a perfect weekend. We got the pole in both races and the win both races and led most of the laps, you can't ask for much more than that. I'm really happy and proud of the whole DHL crew. They did a great job all weekend, and the whole Andretti team and it was really good. We knew we had to get it done because we had the reds and Helio had the blacks, and that's how Helio was able to get us, so we had to try to return the favor."HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet, finished third): "Today was a good day. It was a little bit tough to recoup. We need to change the plan. We got boxed in and we got boxed in, Will (Power), people were shoving him in a way that was very difficult for us to get away. That was a shame on the start, but when we changed to Plan B we just decided to go for it. It paid off and it wasn't a win but for us for the championship, it is good and right now we just have to keep going. We need to keep going and you have to put yourself out there that's great and that is what we just did today."SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, finished second): "Today was a day of catch up, a big fumble at the start with Will (Power) and it backed the whole line up and we dropped to like sixth or seventh. I think at first I ran the blacks there was a real mismatched set for some reason and it had loads of understeer, I lost eight or more seconds on that one stint. Pulled Charlie (Kimball) back up and then the reds, got stuck behind him and had a fumble in the pits and it was just one of those days where the car was really fast. I think we had the speed to win the race quite happily but we were just playing catch up all day."JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet): "I wish I could have taken a nap, but these race cars are going around making all this noise. It's really rude of them. (He stood up and stretched on Lap 75) Sitting in that one position. Normally you're working in the car. (What happened with car?): "We got hit on Lap 1 and when we got the call for one to go (for the green flag) the wheel came off. I was hoping they were going to let us tow back and throw a new one on because nothing else was bent. But you dig yourself in a hole, qualify back there and these things happen. It's a weekend to forget. We just have to come back stronger and get the GoDaddy car back on the podium." ORIOL SERVIA (No. 22 Panther DRR Chevrolet): "That was a disappointing race. On the first lap, I was involved in the first crash. I got hit from behind and I hit Hinch (James Hinchcliffe), which I'm sorry for. I saw three cars abreast in front of me and I tried to take it easy, maybe Graham (Rahal) didn't see it and we all just ran into them. It was a bad start and it's hard to come back from last. We had a decent car, but I had the rear bumper ripped off in that first crash so the car was not behaving at its best. We did what we could, we were never as fast as the top five cars, but we definitely as good as those running 6th, 7th, and 8th. If we would have been able to jump up front, we would have been able to stay there."MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 25 RC Cola Chevrolet): "I thought we the RC Cola car was quicker on track than where we ended up. Coming into barber, you can always expect this to be a physical race. Not finding the podium is always tough to swallow, but having back to back top ten finishes keeps us in a good position going into Long Beach."
ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): "We tried to top off the fuel tank early under yellow and then do a two-stopper. But the Fuzzy's car wasn't very good on the black Firestones. I thought the car felt good with the Firestone Red tires. We ran some pretty consistent laps for a while there. We committed to a strategy with just two stops and it just didn't work out for us. This track is tough and it is very hard to move forward. We had a good first day here and I disappointed myself on Saturday in qualifying. But today I felt the car was better and we learned some things for the future. We had a pretty good at St. Pete and I think we'll have a good run at Long Beach now. At the end of the today, we have to take the positives and move on." E.J. VISO (No 5 Team Venezuela Andretti Autosport HVM Chevrolet): "Probably not the race that we wanted. Anyways, we stayed out of trouble and we did all we could. Unfortunately in our race there were not many red flags to give us any margins to risk and to work on strategies. It was a very clean race. Not much action on track - just trying to keep the pace with the others. That's about it. I'm very happy for Ryan - he won the race! Hopefully my turn is coming soon."TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Mouser KV Racing Technology-SH Racing Chevrolet): "It was just a long day. I started the race on the primary tires in order to get them out of the way and was hoping to get more speed out of the red alternates to pick up some track position, but once I got stuck in traffic in the middle of the pack there was nothing I could do. Lost a handful of spots during our pits and managed to get some of them back at the end of the race, but it was still not our day. Let's move on to Long Beach in a couple of weeks and focus on getting a better result there."SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 78 Nuclear Entergy Arvea KVRT Chevrolet): "It was a tough race for us. We were always in traffic and there was always something going on. At the start I kind of got pushed out and lost a few positions and had to work my way back up. You know we were always fighting with different people and different tires and it was really hard to get by, so we kind of got stuck there and it wasn't great. But, we'll go on to the next one and hopefully we'll be alright there."SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda): "Today was a good day, sometimes sixth place feels like a win. We've had quite a bit of tough ones since the beginning of the season and it feels like luck might have turned around now. We had a great race car it was consistent and fast. We were able to fight with the main guys so we came back from 13th into sixth position so pretty happy with the result today, good points for the championship and great to know we're going to Long Beach and I'll aim for the win this year."TRISTAN VAUTIER (No. 55 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): "Today was a pretty tough race. I learned a lot and that's good but really I was struggling with space and I asked my engineer for a little too many changes and wasn't quite there on the pure speed. I made a few mistakes, three big mistakes that cost us a lot. I think next time I just need a better pace and to avoid those mistakes. It was definitely a good experience to finish the race and it shows you how hard it is to stay 100 percent for almost two hours. A big thanks to the team for a very good car all weekend. The race was not as good as we hoped but it's good we went to the end and learned a lot for next time."TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): "It was disappointing for the result but it was a good tough race that we fought really hard to the end. We had an issue on a pitstop where we lost many positions but after that we recovered & the final stop was great, so the boys did a great job. We still have to address some things to sort out the problem before Long Beach. Hopefully we can transfer our good speed from here."JUSTIN WILSON (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "Overall it was a pretty good day for the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda. We got held up a bit on our first pit stop of the day and that cost us some track positions. But we were able to battle back and regain most of them. The Dale Coyne Racing team gave me a great car all weekend and we were able to secure another Top 10 finish. I would have loved to finish higher, but I am satisfied with eighth place on the day. I was telling my engineer that it is so nice having an offensive car compared to a defensive one. We were able to overtake a lot of cars during the race. We will keep plugging away and hopefully improve on our finish today in two weeks in Long Beach."ANA BEATRIZ (No. 18 Ipiranga Honda): "We ran all race up until we had the mechanical failure. I had a good rhythm going and we were able to gain our lap back. The No. 18 Ipiranga Honda team did a great job getting me quickly out of the pits today. I found out the mechanical problem just before I pulled into the pits, which is a good thing. This was my first time on this track and while it wasn't the result I wanted, we are improving as a team each race. We will set our sights on Long Beach in two weeks and hopefully continue to improve."SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 7 Dragon Racing Chevrolet): "We knew it was going to be a long day starting in the back of the field. We had a good car and were able to make it up to 11th, but I made a mistake and we lost our position and fell back to 13th. On the last lap I was confused with a call on the radio and thought it was the end of the race, so I backed off and lost 3 more positions. Disappointing way to end the day."SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 6 Dragon Racing Chevrolet): "I'm really disappointed with the way our day ended here at Barber. We had an amazing car and I was really happy with it, challenging drivers like Will Power for position. Pit stops did not go as planned and we lost what we had gained, moving to the back of the field. I'm ready to move onto Long Beach and go for the results I know we can get. "
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): "I'm just happy we got points today. There's been so many occasions where we should have had top 10, even top 5 last year and we just never were able to turn performance into results which is really a shame. We've always been there it's just about one thing or another holding us back from getting a result. I think what's different for us this year is that we're a lot more prepared, a lot more ready to score good points each weekend. I'm a little bit disappointed. I messed up a couple of times. I really think we probably should have been sixth or seventh. I had two little mistakes over the hill on turn 13 there and just got wide into the marbles and it basically almost threw me off the race track when you get that wide. I'm disappointed that I did that, but even so we still finished with a good top 10 so solid points, but definitely more to be gained."GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Midas / Big O Honda): "I got into Servia at the start; everyone just checked up and I had nowhere to go. I was going really slow but he hit the brakes and I feel bad. There was no way I could get it stopped and just punted him. Then I felt like we got into a rhythm and we started to pass some cars. The car kind of struggled in traffic a bit but I still thought we were going to have the pace to move forward. On old tires the car became a big handful behind guys and unfortunately I just didn't have the pace to drive around them. On the last lap we ran out of fuel. I was hitting the fuel number that I was being told but obviously the fuel number was off. Unfortunately all of that hard work was for nothing. I ran out of fuel on the back straight and coasted across the finish line but lost a lot of positions. I worked hard today and the Midas / Big O Tires team did a good job so I am disappointed we didn't get the finish we thought we would."ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 98 Barracuda Racing): "I'm really proud of the Barracuda Racing team today," said Tagliani. "We were hurt by the qualifying position but I think our car was good. We had a P5 lap time in the race, so that was great. The piece that got broken in the beginning of the race made us loose when we lost a lot of downforce in the rear. That stint hurt us, but we dialed down the front aero by taking some wing out and rebalanced the car. I think P11 is a good result overall and we earned some more points. As long as we keep doing that, we're building momentum for the championshipAJ ALLMENDINGER (No 2 IZOD Team Penske Chevrolet): "All in all today was a good day in the No. 2 IZOD Team Penske Chevy and there are a lot of positives to take out of it. We had a good start and I thought I was pacing myself well, we could have had a top-10 day without the couple breaks against us. It was a good day with a bad stall and unfortunately after that point we were saving fuel so it made it tough to make up ground. But I know that I can compete with these guys and look forward to getting even better at Long Beach."JR HILDEBRAND ( No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet): "I felt good all day, and the Panther team did a great job in the pits as well. But I felt like we had a couple varying scenarios that inevitably didn't go our way. We were definitely expecting for there to be more yellow flags as the race went on, and with it being so tough to pass, we were trying to get off-sequence with the group of cars that we were around. And early in the race we had the pace to get awayfrom a lot of those guys. In our effort to get off-sequence it was always so close, but never ended up working for us, and that's the frustrating part. We had to run a long stint there at the end and we lost a few positions, but we were able to fight hard to keep our spot in the last few laps and I think at the end of the day we need to continue moving forward and working with what we have to get better. These last two races if we would have started up front we would have stayed there, so that's the aim going into Long Beach."JAMES JAKES (No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Honda): "The Acorn Stairlifts team had good pace all weekend and I think that if we hadn't had a problem in the race, we would have finished in the top six. We had a great strategy, we worked well in the warmup on a setup preserving the tires and had just a bit of bad fortune but I know the guys will work hard and be ready for Long Beach. On a positive note, we set the fastest lap of the race."WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Honda): "It was a tough start for us, we couldn't get in the right slot and then committed to a different strategy to hopefully get the Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet on the podium. We thought we had a good plan and just needed a yellow at any point after Lap 31. Unfortunately it didn't come and we fought for the fifth place finish. It isn't exactly what we wanted to get out of the weekend but is still a good points day and gets us closer to the top."IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POINT STANDINGSCastroneves 79Dixon 70Hunter-Reay 66Andretti 61Hinchcliffe 56Kimball51Kanaan 49Power 47Wilson 46Viso 44IZOD INDYCAR SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIPChevrolet 18Honda 12LEGACY INDY LIGHTS 100 RACE SPECIFICS:The race is 40 laps, 95.2 miles on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile road course or a one-hour time limit, whichever occurs first.The pit road speed limit is 45 mph.Pole sitter Carlos Munoz will grid drivers' left.The green flag to start the race will be show the second time by the start-finish line.Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford will drive the Honda Civic SI Safety Car.The race leader will accelerate exiting Turn 17 on restarts.LEGACY INDY LIGHTS 100 PRE-RACE:At 11:45 a.m., the ambient temperature was 72 degrees with a relative humidity of 42 percent. Skies were mostly clear with intermittent clouds. The track temperature was 105 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.11:53 a.m. - Command to fire engines by Joe McGee, president and CEO of Legacy Credit Union. All nine cars have started and are rolling on the grid.LEGACY INDY LIGHTS 100 RACE RUNNING:Lap 1: GREEN. #26 Munoz leads the field off of Turn 17 and into Turn 1. He takes the lead over #77 Hawksworth in Turn 1.Lap 3: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 1.5806 seconds.Lap 5: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 2.3715 seconds.***Carlos Munoz has led the last three Firestone Indy Lights races dating to Auto Club Speedway last September.***Lap 7: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 2.6837 seconds.Lap 10: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 4.2542 seconds.Lap 12: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 4.3902 seconds.Lap 15: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 4.7250 seconds.Lap 18: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 4.6587 seconds. #12 Veach is on pit lane with a flat right rear tire. Crew replaces four tires.Lap 20: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 4.4996 seconds.
DAY 1 - SUNDAY, April 7, 2013Page 3Lap 24: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 5.3332 seconds.
Lap 27: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 5.2093 seconds. Munoz has clinched the two bonus points for leading the most laps in today's race.Lap 30: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 5.2668 seconds.Lap 32: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 5.6527 seconds.Lap 34: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 5.4642 seconds***Firestone Indy Lights officials have penalized #2 Garcia with a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact with #8 Karam in Turn 5.***Lap 37: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 5.2837 seconds.Lap 39: WHITE: #26 Munoz leads #77 Hawksworth by 5.3600 secondsLap 40: CHECKERED: #26 Carlos Munoz wins the Legacy Indy Lights 100 by 5.0684 seconds.LEGACY INDY LIGHTS 100 POST-RACE NOTES: This is Carlos Munoz' first Firestone Indy Lights victory of 2013 and the third of his career. He previously won at Edmonton and Auto Club Speedway in 2012. This is Andretti Autosport's second consecutive win at Barber Motorsports Park. It won here last year with Sebastian Saavedra. Jack Hawksworth finished second. His second consecutive podium finish. Gabby Chaves finished third, his career-best finish in Firestone Indy Lights. He finished eighth at St. Petersburg.ST. PETERSBURG 100 POST-RACE QUOTES:CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 26 Dialy-Ser/Andretti Autosport, winner Legacy Indy Lights 100): "Everything was really good this weekend and I was first in all the sessions. Perfect weekend. The crew guys and my engineer gave me a great car. I am really happy after a disappointing weekend in St. Petersburg. We started a championship in this race and I hope to continue in the same place. Michael Young: " I talked to Michael Andretti when you crossed that finish line and he said he thought you saved enough in those tires that if you had a restart that you would have been just fine. Were you that confident that that car was good for a full 40 laps? It was really good and I wasn't really pushing that hard in the beginning because I knew it was a long race. I was going good times and I was trying to maintain the pace and as I told you it was a really good car."JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson c/w Curb-Agajanian, finished second): "Interesting race, we got a decent enough getaway and then I was under quite a bit of pressure on the first lap after corner 2. Then after that I had to defend from Gabby. Then I ran a little bit wide and then after that it was pretty straight forward really, we pushed as hard as possible but don't run out of tires. That is what we did. The guys did really good job and the car ran really well and we look forward to the next race."GABBY CHAVES (No. 7 Schmidt Peterson c/w Curb-Agajanian, finished third): "I had a good clean start and tried to be aggressive on the first lap and make up as many positions as I could. I gave a shot at Jack and he defended well and just kind of settled down from there and just tried to look after the car and the tires and keep a consistent pace. It is difficult to pass around this place and I didn't really see a reason to push so hard to maybe make a mistake. You know, I am happy, especially after yesterday's crash. It's good to come back and keep working from there."SAGE KARAM (No. 8 Schmidt Peterson c/w Curb-Agajanian, finished fourth): ""So the race really didn't go as planned today, started third ended up getting fourth. Throughout the weekend we were building setup and we didn't really focus on race setup we were just going out for raw speed. We haven't had tire wear all weekend and in the race we got some pretty massive tire wear and the boys worked hard I just messed up this weekend but I can't thank the guys enough Peterson Motorsports Crew, Comfort Revolution, EPN, Body Fuel Elite and everybody that put this together I really appreciate it."JUAN PABLO GARCIA (No. 2 TMR-International-Euclid Chemical): "The car was good today, consistent and fast. It is a shame because the car was fast all day and capable of winning. We will be back next race and be even stronger."
***The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 21 on the streets of Long Beach, Calif. The race will be telecast live at 4 p.m. (ET) by NBC Sports Network. The IMS Radio Network will also carry the race live on Sirius and XM channels 211. The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Long Beach 100 on April 21. It will be telecast by NBC Sports Network immediately preceding the IZOD IndyCar Series race.
