About
Since their first season in 1983, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing has collected many wins, poles and track records with talented drivers such as Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Christian Fittipaldi, Cristiano da Matta, Sebastien Bourdais, Graham Rahal, Bruno Junqueira and Oriol Servia.Source - Newman/Haas/Lanigan RacingMcDONALD'S® DRIVER WILSON LED 11 LAPS BUT FINISHED 11TH IN THE HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO; HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER RAHAL FINISHED 16TH
Justin Wilson
McDonald's driver Justin Wilson led 11 laps but the timing of a caution flag and contact later in the race limited his finish to 11th place in the 85-lap Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio after he started fourth. At one point he had built a 4.4-second lead over the field before his second pit stop but on the lap prior to his planned entrance to pit lane, Milka Duno brought out a caution and he lost the hard-earned advantage which was pivotal to the outcome of his race. Late morning thunderstorms drenched the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course and another round of showers came as the field prepared for driver introductions but ended shortly thereafter. The race started under humid, drying conditions and the field took the green flag on grooved rain tires. Wilson started in fourth place and took third on the opening lap when he passed Marco Andretti. On the following lap he passed second place and eventual winner Ryan Briscoe and held the position for three laps before he took the lead from Helio Castroneves on Lap 5 although he was not scored as having held the point due to pitting in a pit box that was before the Start/Finish line on pit road. Many others had begun pitting as early as the opening lap to replace their rain tires with racing slicks but Wilson held off until Lap 6 since he could continue to move forward due to his ability to run fast in wet conditions. Once he exited the pits, he encountered a spot on the drying track in Turn 1 that was still wet and spun his inside tire which led to an off track excursion. He returned to the track after losing a few spots and was running in 14th once more drivers continued to make their first stops. He gained a couple of spots during the first of five cautions for a total of 19 laps on Lap 9 when Enrique Bernoldi and Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact. He passed Dan Wheldon on Lap 17 for 13th and Buddy Rice on Lap 21 for 12th before the next caution came out for Mario Dominguez who spun. The majority of the front runners pit on Lap 27 but the McDonald's team elected to keep Wilson on track and he moved into the lead. He led Laps 28-38 and once the race was restarted, he steadily built a lead of 4.4-seconds over second place. The team began the countdown of laps before his next pit stop and when he was to enter the pits on the following lap, Milka Duno spun and stopped in Turn 4 to bring out the caution flag. This destroyed all of Wilson's hard work and the field was bunched up therefore eliminating the cushion he had for his next stop. When the pits opened, he was one of four drivers to come in on Lap 39 and returned to the track at the rear of the field in 16th place behind the lapped car of Dominguez. In order to have an opportunity to stay with those in front of him, the team communicated with Dominguez's PCM Racing Team and Dominguez said he would move over on the restart to allow Wilson to pass. Únfortunately when the race resumed Dominguez, who later said he had a snap of understeer in the middle of the corner, made contact with Wilson and spun him around. This caused a multi-car accident as others behind them were collected. Once Wilson was finally restarted, he dropped one lap down to 20th place. He came in on Lap 43 to check for damage and returned to the track to start picking off the slower cars. After the frontrunners completed their next pit cycle he was able to get back on the lead lap by Lap 59 and was running 16th. By the time he made his final pit stop on Lap 64 he was in 15th place. He passed Ed Carpenter and Jaime Camara on Lap 69 and took over 13th before closing on Danica Patrick. Second place runner Bruno Junqueira, who was out of pit sequence, made his final stop for a splash of fuel and Wilson moved into 12th. After clearly being able to run faster, he was finally able to pass Patrick for 11th place with three laps to go. He earned 19 points for his finish and moved from 19th into an 18th place rank in the IndyCar Series point standings with a total of 202. Following are Wilson's post race comments:
'The McDonald's car was quick from the start so we were passing people and working our way up to first,' said Wilson. 'I got into the lead and then it was time to pit to change from rain tires to slicks. After I left the pits, I was in a damp part of the track and spun off one of the rear wheels and then it grabbed and turned me hard right so the slide off the track lost us three or four places. At that point I was just trying to get the tires up to temperature. Some guys had gambled and pitted earlier and got ahead so we were just trying to play catch up from that point on. We stayed out on a yellow and regained the lead and opened up a nice gap and thought we were in good shape. The team started the countdown of laps until I pit and the lap before we were due in the yellow came out and just squashed the nice gap that we had. The timing couldn't have been worse. We thought we would come out much higher in the field than what we were. That meant that we were right at the back of the pack and trying to pass cars. We had one backmarker that said he was going to let me by on the restart so when it went green I thought he was going to let me by at the last corner and just punted me around. That lost us a lap and bent the car so it was a hard battle from then on to get back on the lead lap. It's really frustrating because I feel that we were doing a beautiful job and should have been up there in the top four or five.'
Graham Rahal
McDonald's driver Justin Wilson led 11 laps but the timing of a caution flag and contact later in the race limited his finish to 11th place in the 85-lap Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio after he started fourth. At one point he had built a 4.4-second lead over the field before his second pit stop but on the lap prior to his planned entrance to pit lane, Milka Duno brought out a caution and he lost the hard-earned advantage which was pivotal to the outcome of his race. Late morning thunderstorms drenched the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course and another round of showers came as the field prepared for driver introductions but ended shortly thereafter. The race started under humid, drying conditions and the field took the green flag on grooved rain tires. Wilson started in fourth place and took third on the opening lap when he passed Marco Andretti. On the following lap he passed second place and eventual winner Ryan Briscoe and held the position for three laps before he took the lead from Helio Castroneves on Lap 5 although he was not scored as having held the point due to pitting in a pit box that was before the Start/Finish line on pit road. Many others had begun pitting as early as the opening lap to replace their rain tires with racing slicks but Wilson held off until Lap 6 since he could continue to move forward due to his ability to run fast in wet conditions. Once he exited the pits, he encountered a spot on the drying track in Turn 1 that was still wet and spun his inside tire which led to an off track excursion. He returned to the track after losing a few spots and was running in 14th once more drivers continued to make their first stops. He gained a couple of spots during the first of five cautions for a total of 19 laps on Lap 9 when Enrique Bernoldi and Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact. He passed Dan Wheldon on Lap 17 for 13th and Buddy Rice on Lap 21 for 12th before the next caution came out for Mario Dominguez who spun. The majority of the front runners pit on Lap 27 but the McDonald's team elected to keep Wilson on track and he moved into the lead. He led Laps 28-38 and once the race was restarted, he steadily built a lead of 4.4-seconds over second place. The team began the countdown of laps before his next pit stop and when he was to enter the pits on the following lap, Milka Duno spun and stopped in Turn 4 to bring out the caution flag. This destroyed all of Wilson's hard work and the field was bunched up therefore eliminating the cushion he had for his next stop. When the pits opened, he was one of four drivers to come in on Lap 39 and returned to the track at the rear of the field in 16th place behind the lapped car of Dominguez. In order to have an opportunity to stay with those in front of him, the team communicated with Dominguez's PCM Racing Team and Dominguez said he would move over on the restart to allow Wilson to pass. Únfortunately when the race resumed Dominguez, who later said he had a snap of understeer in the middle of the corner, made contact with Wilson and spun him around. This caused a multi-car accident as others behind them were collected. Once Wilson was finally restarted, he dropped one lap down to 20th place. He came in on Lap 43 to check for damage and returned to the track to start picking off the slower cars. After the frontrunners completed their next pit cycle he was able to get back on the lead lap by Lap 59 and was running 16th. By the time he made his final pit stop on Lap 64 he was in 15th place. He passed Ed Carpenter and Jaime Camara on Lap 69 and took over 13th before closing on Danica Patrick. Second place runner Bruno Junqueira, who was out of pit sequence, made his final stop for a splash of fuel and Wilson moved into 12th. After clearly being able to run faster, he was finally able to pass Patrick for 11th place with three laps to go. He earned 19 points for his finish and moved from 19th into an 18th place rank in the IndyCar Series point standings with a total of 202. Following are Wilson's post race comments:
McDonald's driver Justin Wilson led 11 laps but the timing of a caution flag and contact later in the race limited his finish to 11th place in the 85-lap Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio after he started fourth. At one point he had built a 4.4-second lead over the field before his second pit stop but on the lap prior to his planned entrance to pit lane, Milka Duno brought out a caution and he lost the hard-earned advantage which was pivotal to the outcome of his race. Late morning thunderstorms drenched the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course and another round of showers came as the field prepared for driver introductions but ended shortly thereafter. The race started under humid, drying conditions and the field took the green flag on grooved rain tires. Wilson started in fourth place and took third on the opening lap when he passed Marco Andretti. On the following lap he passed second place and eventual winner Ryan Briscoe and held the position for three laps before he took the lead from Helio Castroneves on Lap 5 although he was not scored as having held the point due to pitting in a pit box that was before the Start/Finish line on pit road. Many others had begun pitting as early as the opening lap to replace their rain tires with racing slicks but Wilson held off until Lap 6 since he could continue to move forward due to his ability to run fast in wet conditions. Once he exited the pits, he encountered a spot on the drying track in Turn 1 that was still wet and spun his inside tire which led to an off track excursion. He returned to the track after losing a few spots and was running in 14th once more drivers continued to make their first stops. He gained a couple of spots during the first of five cautions for a total of 19 laps on Lap 9 when Enrique Bernoldi and Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact. He passed Dan Wheldon on Lap 17 for 13th and Buddy Rice on Lap 21 for 12th before the next caution came out for Mario Dominguez who spun. The majority of the front runners pit on Lap 27 but the McDonald's team elected to keep Wilson on track and he moved into the lead. He led Laps 28-38 and once the race was restarted, he steadily built a lead of 4.4-seconds over second place. The team began the countdown of laps before his next pit stop and when he was to enter the pits on the following lap, Milka Duno spun and stopped in Turn 4 to bring out the caution flag. This destroyed all of Wilson's hard work and the field was bunched up therefore eliminating the cushion he had for his next stop. When the pits opened, he was one of four drivers to come in on Lap 39 and returned to the track at the rear of the field in 16th place behind the lapped car of Dominguez. In order to have an opportunity to stay with those in front of him, the team communicated with Dominguez's PCM Racing Team and Dominguez said he would move over on the restart to allow Wilson to pass. Únfortunately when the race resumed Dominguez, who later said he had a snap of understeer in the middle of the corner, made contact with Wilson and spun him around. This caused a multi-car accident as others behind them were collected. Once Wilson was finally restarted, he dropped one lap down to 20th place. He came in on Lap 43 to check for damage and returned to the track to start picking off the slower cars. After the frontrunners completed their next pit cycle he was able to get back on the lead lap by Lap 59 and was running 16th. By the time he made his final pit stop on Lap 64 he was in 15th place. He passed Ed Carpenter and Jaime Camara on Lap 69 and took over 13th before closing on Danica Patrick. Second place runner Bruno Junqueira, who was out of pit sequence, made his final stop for a splash of fuel and Wilson moved into 12th. After clearly being able to run faster, he was finally able to pass Patrick for 11th place with three laps to go. He earned 19 points for his finish and moved from 19th into an 18th place rank in the IndyCar Series point standings with a total of 202. Following are Wilson's post race comments:
'The McDonald's car was quick from the start so we were passing people and working our way up to first,' said Wilson. 'I got into the lead and then it was time to pit to change from rain tires to slicks. After I left the pits, I was in a damp part of the track and spun off one of the rear wheels and then it grabbed and turned me hard right so the slide off the track lost us three or four places. At that point I was just trying to get the tires up to temperature. Some guys had gambled and pitted earlier and got ahead so we were just trying to play catch up from that point on. We stayed out on a yellow and regained the lead and opened up a nice gap and thought we were in good shape. The team started the countdown of laps until I pit and the lap before we were due in the yellow came out and just squashed the nice gap that we had. The timing couldn't have been worse. We thought we would come out much higher in the field than what we were. That meant that we were right at the back of the pack and trying to pass cars. We had one backmarker that said he was going to let me by on the restart so when it went green I thought he was going to let me by at the last corner and just punted me around. That lost us a lap and bent the car so it was a hard battle from then on to get back on the lead lap. It's really frustrating because I feel that we were doing a beautiful job and should have been up there in the top four or five.'Source - Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
McDONALD'S DRIVER WILSON FINISHED 27TH IN THE INDY 500 WHILE HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER RAHAL FINISHED 33RD; CONTACT ENDED BOTH RACES
Justin Wilson
McDonald's driver Justin Wilson looked forward to his return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after having raced on a portion of the track for the 2003 ÚSGP but unfortunately his debut in the Indianapolis 500 ended due to contact after 132 of the 200 laps on the 2.5 mile track. He started from his 16th place qualifying position and was in 17th until the first caution period from Laps 8-16 for debris on the front stretch. The majority of the field took advantage of the caution and pit on Lap 10 but Wilson was unable to hear the call to pit and remained on track behind Bruno Junqueira. He held second place through the restart on Lap 16 and remained in the top three for all but two of the ensuing laps until he made his first pit stop on Lap 33. He returned to the track in 31st place and steadily worked his way up to 19th during the stint before he made his next stop on Lap 64 which put him back on the same pit strategy with the rest of the field. He returned to the track in 17th place and moved into 16th when Darren Manning pit. He held the position for the following 25 laps, including through his third pit stop on Lap 84. He dropped to 17th when Junqueira passed him but regained 16th on Lap 99 when he passed Jeff Simmons. He took over 15th place when Tomas Scheckter, who had led for 12 laps, pit. Wilson held the position through his fourth pit stop on Lap 108 and ran between 15th and 17th place as well as set the fastest lap of the race so far on Lap 128 before he lost control of the rear of the McDonald's race car on Lap 133 and made contact with the SAFER barrier between Turns 1 and 2. He earned 10 points for his 27th place finish and dropped from a 17th place rank into 20th in the IndyCar Series point standings after Round 5 of 18. Following are his post race comments:
'It's been a great experience; I'm just disappointed I didn't make it to the end,' said Wilson. 'I thought I was well in my comfort zone and wasn't pushing too hard. I was just running in the pack and just trying to experiment with a few different lines trying to get a run on people because you'd often come down in the corner and wash out on the exit and you'd have to lift off and you can't pass anyone. The McDonald's car felt good and I thought everything was fine but as you start to come out of the corner I felt the back light up so I was out of the throttle and it just slowly came around and next thing I know I'm going backwards. I tried to keep the McDonald's car out of the wall, but just ran out of real estate. It's disappointing because the Newman/Haas/Lanigan team has done such a great job; they have worked so hard. I was thinking that we could just hang on and move forward slowly but it didn't end up that way.'
Graham Rahal
Hole in the Wall Camps driver Graham Rahal gained valuable experience during the month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in anticipation of his first Indy 500, but his first race on the famed 2.5 mile oval was cut short after he crashed in Turn 4 while trying to avoid the slower car of fellow rookie Alex Lloyd. Rahal started from his 13th place qualifying position and pitted with the majority of the field on Lap 10 during a caution for debris o the front stretch. During the stop the airjack was disengaged during the final seconds as the new right rear tire was being put on so, in the interest of safety, the team brought Rahal back in two laps later to check the wheel which was in fact on securely. As he was at the back of the field the team elected to bring him in again at the end of the caution period to top off with fuel on Lap 15 before the race resumed. Rahal was in 22nd place on Lap 37 when he came upon the slower car of Lloyd while exiting Turn 4 and took evasive action which forced him high on the race track and into the rubber marbles produced by tire wear. He made contact with the wall and his car but was not injured. He earned 10 points for his 33rd place finish which dropped him from 10th to 13th in the IndyCar Series point standings after five races. Following are his post race comments:
Hole in the Wall Camps driver Graham Rahal gained valuable experience during the month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in anticipation of his first Indy 500, but his first race on the famed 2.5 mile oval was cut short after he crashed in Turn 4 while trying to avoid the slower car of fellow rookie Alex Lloyd. Rahal started from his 13th place qualifying position and pitted with the majority of the field on Lap 10 during a caution for debris o the front stretch. During the stop the airjack was disengaged during the final seconds as the new right rear tire was being put on so, in the interest of safety, the team brought Rahal back in two laps later to check the wheel which was in fact on securely. As he was at the back of the field the team elected to bring him in again at the end of the caution period to top off with fuel on Lap 15 before the race resumed. Rahal was in 22nd place on Lap 37 when he came upon the slower car of Lloyd while exiting Turn 4 and took evasive action which forced him high on the race track and into the rubber marbles produced by tire wear. He made contact with the wall and his car but was not injured. He earned 10 points for his 33rd place finish which dropped him from 10th to 13th in the IndyCar Series point standings after five races. Following are his post race comments:
'Lloyd was really slow and I was trying to be patient there because (Mario) Moraes kept coming down on me,' said Rahal. 'So finally I got the opportunity to get by those few guys and I thought our car was pretty good. Lloyd, for some reason, wouldn't stay right on the bottom and when he came up just a couple of feet, I reacted slightly and just got in the marbles.'Source - Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
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