2009 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing // Press Release

Sunday, August 9, 2009
Honda Indy 200 at Mid Ohio –
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Round 13 in the IndyCar Series

McDONALD’S DRIVER RAHAL RAN AS HIGH AS FOURTH BUT FINISHED EIGHTH IN THE HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO AFTER AN OFF-TRACK EXCURSION; SERVIA 11TH

McDonald’s driver Graham Rahal looked likely to earn his highest finish at his home race of fourth place but an off-track excursion on Lap 71 of 85 in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course limited him to an eighth place finish. On a hot and humid day, Rahal took the green flag in fourth place but was passed on the opening lap by sixth place starter Dario Franchitti. He stayed within reach of Franchitti but was unable to pass so he settled in to fifth place and attempted to save fuel before his first stop on Lap 28 where he pitted with then-race leader Justin Wilson. Front runners Ryan Briscoe and Dario Franchitti were able to stretch their fuel two laps longer while eventual winner Scott Dixon ran three laps longer before his first stop although Wilson was able to regain the lead before he was stuck behind the lapped car of Milka Duno and Dixon passed them both on Lap 37. Rahal meanwhile held fifth place behind Franchitti and on the restart from the first caution from Laps 41-42 for Helio Castroneves who spun, he successfully passed the Scotsman on Lap 43 in Turn 4. Franchitti attempted to regain the position but was unable and Rahal held fourth place through the next restart after a Lap 45-47 caution period for Mike Conway and Danica Patrick, who made contact. He held fourth behind Dixon, Wilson and Briscoe for a total of 16 laps before he made his second and final stop on Lap 60. Wilson pitted on the following lap but ran out of fuel as he was entering the pits and his fuel-starved engine stalled after his stop which dropped him to the rear of the field. Once leader Dixon, second place Briscoe, third place Franchitti and others made their stops on Lap 63, Rahal moved into fifth place and would have moved up another spot once second place runner Marco Andretti, who was on an alternate fuel strategy pit on Lap 74 of 85. Unfortunately Rahal’s rear tires locked up on Lap 71 as he was approaching Turn 2 and he drove through the gravel trap which enabled cars to pass before he returned to the track in eighth place. In the closing laps of the race he attempted to pass seventh place runner Paul Tracy but was unable despite utilizing Honda’s new overtake button which provides extra horsepower and he finished in eighth place. Scott Dixon earned his 20th victory in the IndyCar Series while Briscoe finished second and Franchitti finished third. Rahal moved from ninth place to eighth in the series standings after collecting 24 for eighth place for a total of 289 and is only 32 points out of fifth place (Patrick, 321) with four races to go this season. Following are his post race comments:

“It’s frustrating because the McDonald’s team had a good weekend going and I just wanted to have just a normal race with no mistakes and if we did that I knew we would have a good result. I just couldn’t do it. I hit the brakes and they instantly locked so before I even turned into the corner I was trying to figure out how to save it and just couldn’t. The rear brakes just locked up and it happened instantly and I don’t know exactly why it happened. It hadn’t happened any other time going into that section but one lap out of 85 ifs enough though unfortunately. The whole time I thought I was being conservative and wasn’t making any mistakes and that’s what I was hoping for. I wanted a top-five finish here. I don’t think we had a car that could win but I will say that we were close; the McDonald’s car felt really good. It’s a frustrating result for the McDonald’s team because the car was quick all day. I got by Dario and that was good and then I thought I was going to have something for (third place) Briscoe but we didn’t quite have enough for him. Later I had a shot at passing PT (Tracy) but I made the mistake of pushing Push to Pass too early so I couldn’t use it down the back straight because you can’t use it for 10 seconds after each time. I got up to fourth in the race but then made a mistake. It’s a frustrating result.”

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing driver Oriol Servia finished 11th in today’s 85-lap Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in his first race for the time since the 2005 Champ Car season after he started 14th. The timing of a caution flag in qualifying limited his starting position to 14th place so he and the team hoped to gain some positions through pit strategy and attrition but the way the race played out negated those opportunities. Servia was one of two drivers in the field that elected to start on the harder Firestone standard tires while the rest started on the softer Firestone “alternates.” The decision was made because Servia, who was fourth fastest in the morning warm-up, had been faster than most of the cars starting near him and the team elected to save his faster alternate tires for the middle and final stints of the race. At the start of the 85-lap event in hot, humid conditions on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile course, Servia was able to gain two spots from Andretti Green Racing drivers Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti on the opening lap to run 12th. On the following lap he moved into 11th when Patrick and Andretti’s teammate Tony Kanaan, who had been running in seventh, drove off course and into the gravel but continued at the rear of the field. He held 11th place until his first pit stop on Lap 23, earlier than the majority of the field due to a pre-determined strategy. After a flawless stop he returned to the track in 10th place but moved into 14th after the pit cycle was completed. The team hoped for a caution in order to pit again but it didn’t come until much later from Laps 40-42 when Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves drove off course. Servia gained two spots at the end of the caution when Andretti and Castroneves stopped and he passed Patrick again after the restart to run 11th before the second and final caution came out from Laps 45-47 for contact between rookie Mike Conway and Patrick. He passed E.J. Viso on the restart for 10th place and held the position until his final pit stop on Lap 56 and returned to the track in 11th place once all but Andretti, who moved up to second, pitted. The team hoped to gain one more spot once Andretti made his out-of sequence stop on Lap 74 of 85 but he only needed a splash of fuel and didn’t change tires so he was able to return to the track in sixth place and Servia ultimately finished 11th. Following are his post race comments.

“In a way you hope for some luck or a crazy race when you start 14th but the truth is it was a pretty straightforward race. It was really hard to overtake and when you start 14th you have your work cut out for you. I hope they increase the Push to Pass to 25 horsepower from five. We got by two or three cars at the start and we passed people on restarts but then once everybody had their pace it was difficult to pass. I thought we had a car that was faster than whoever I had around me the whole race but it was just not enough to overtake. We were trying to save fuel a trying not to make mistake and see if other people would make them. It was my first race after a few months so I’m sure I will be sore tomorrow.”

The series will take a weekend off before returning to action at the 2.245-mile Infineon Raceway road course for a two-day event Saturday and Sunday, August 22-23.