News

Track: The Raceway at Belle Isle, Detroit, Mich.
Race:  Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Presented by Quicken Loans
Date:   May 31, 2015
 
No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – Will Power
 
Start:  2nd
Finish: 18th
Status: Accident
Laps Completed:  64/68
Laps Led:  2
Points Position (behind leader):  2nd (-21 pts.)
 
Recap: Will Power raced among the leaders Sunday before an inadvertent crash with teammate Helio Castroneves – not of their doing – resulted in an early exit from the second race of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans. Power started the race in second next to teammate Juan Pablo Montoya after rain canceled the morning's qualifying session and the field was set by 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series entrant points. Power took the lead on first lap of the race before Montoya regained the top spot on the third lap. The two raced in first and second for much of the first half of the race. On lap 20, Power pitted from second place, but six laps later he was back in the pits again after an electronic issue caused the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet to slow. The crew replaced the steering wheel and Power resumed the chase in 13th place. While most of the field pitted under caution on lap 37, Power stayed on track and assumed third place. On lap 49, Power pitted just as Josef Newgarden brought out a caution for an incident. However, on a restart at lap 65, Power was squeezed into the wet by Tristan Vautier, spun and collided with Castroneves, ending both of their races four laps short of the finish.
 
Quote:  "I'm proud of the Verizon Chevy team and we were in good shape, despite the weather conditions. We had a bit of a steering problem and went towards a different strategy, then made good ground on the restarts. But going into the wall towards the end was a bad way to finish and obviously disappointed, but we will look towards a better result in Texas."

 
No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – Juan Pablo Montoya
 
Start:  1st
Finish: 10th
Status: Running
Laps Completed:  68/68
Laps Led:  35
Points Position (behind leader):  1st (315 pts.)
 
Recap: Juan Pablo Montoya led the Team Penske effort at the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Presented by Quicken Loans on Sunday afternoon, earning a 10th place finish in the wet conditions. The 2015 Indianapolis 500 champion began the event from the pole position after rain canceled the morning qualifying session. Montoya briefly gave up the lead to teammate Will Power before reassuming the top spot on the third lap.  On lap 21, Montoya pitted from the lead but regained it just two laps later as the field cycled through green-flag stops. After the slow stop on lap 37, Montoya battled back toward the front, eventually settling into second place behind eventual winner Sebastien Bourdais late in the race. On a lap 64 restart, Montoya dropped to fourth place prior to a red flag condition.  As the race restarted as a timed event, Montoya began to slow on the final lap and faded from fourth to 10th as his Verizon Chevy began to run out of fuel. With the 10th-place finish, he maintained his lead in the IndyCar drivers' standings.
 
Quote:  "We had a really good Verizon Chevy today. It was really good in the rain as we jumped out to a big lead. It looked to be a nice day for the team. I don't really agree with what happened on the next to last restart, but that's a conversation I will have. We gained points on Will (Power) with a 10th-place finish so it's not a terrible day."
 
No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet – Helio Castroneves
 
Start: 4th
Finish: 19th
Status: Accident
Laps Completed:  64/68
Laps Led:  0
Points Position (behind leader):  5th (-70 pts.)
 
Recap: After starting the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans from the fourth position, Helio Castroneves raced among the leaders throughout much of Sunday's race before an incident with teammate Will Power and Tristan Vautier left him with a disappointing 19th-place finish. After moving up to third early in the race, Castroneves dropped back to the sixth position on the third lap fighting the damp conditions. When Carlos Munoz encountered mechanical problems and dropped out of the event, Castroneves moved his Hitachi Chevrolet up to fifth place on lap five. On lap 48, Castroneves pitted to change his Firestone "wet" tires to racing slicks and worked his way back into the top 10. Unfortunately on lap 65, Vautier made contact with Power, sending him into the path of Castroneves. The accident prematurely ended Castroneves' bid to become a four-time winner on the Belle Isle circuit.
 
Quote: "The Hitachi Chevrolet was really good today, especially in the dry. We made some different strategy calls, which were actually starting to pay off there at the end of the race. Unfortunately we got caught up in an incident between Will (Power) and another car and it ended our race. We were easily going to crack the top-five or top-six, so it's frustrating to not be able to finish, but that's racing and you have to move on."
 
No. 22 PPG Automotive Refinishing Team Penske Chevrolet – Simon Pagenaud
 
Start:  8th
Finish: 14th
Status: Running
Laps Completed:  68/68
Laps Led:  0
Points Position (behind leader):  9th (-122 pts.)
 
Recap: Simon Pagenaud battled the elements and tough racing conditions to finish 14th in Sunday's second race of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans after posting a solid third-place finish in the first race on Saturday afternoon. After starting eighth, as qualifying was rained out and the field was lined up according to the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series entrant point standings, Pagenaud raced among the top 10 before his first pit stop on lap 21. After pit stops following a yellow flag period on lap 37, Pagenaud maintained his position inside the top-10 cars. On a restart at lap 57, Pagenaud was in fifth place, but could not hold the position prior to the race being stopped twice more for caution periods. When the race resumed as a timed event, Pagenaud was forced to enter pit road with just minutes remaining as his PPG Automotive Refinishing Chevrolet did not have enough fuel to make it to the end. He would cross the finish line in the 14th position, not indicative of how well the former Belle Isle winner ran during the event.
 
Quote:  "It was an interesting day. We qualified second in our group but unfortunately qualifying got canceled when the second group couldn't finish because of the weather. That was a setback for us. We started eighth and the car was setup for dry conditions. We needed it to dry quicker than it did. When it finally started drying at the end of the race we were at our best and we were doing great, racing up into the top five. Unfortunately we couldn't stay there with some strange rulings there at the end. It's unfortunate we couldn't bring the PPG Chevy home in the top-five. We definitely had the pace for it. We will just recover and move on to Texas.  I'm really excited about Texas."