Josef Newgarden in the No.2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet started Sunday’s 260 lap Bommarito Automotive Group 500 from pole and had a fantastic start to the race and was controlling things until he got he got on the high side and hit the wall at Turn 4 while lapping cars.
The resulting damage forced the Tennessee native to make an unscheduled pitstop and finished the race 25th place.
With just two races remaining, Newgarden and Team Penske have been eliminated from the championship.
Speaking following the action, Newgarden said:
Tough result today for the PPG Chevrolet. I was just trying to push and catch up to the guys that were on a different fuel strategy so we could try to make a run at the end and just got up too high and into the marbles. I give a lot of credit to the No. 2 PPG crew for giving me a really fast car again this weekend and for trying to fix the car and get us back out there. It’s not the result we were hoping for, obviously, but we’ll look forward to Portland and Laguna Seca to try and finish the season strong.”
Scott McLaughlin in the No.3 Odyssey Batteries Chevrolet had qualified on pole put was forced to start tenth due to a grid penalty however, the New Zealander was able to fight back to a fifth place finish and speaking following the race he said:
I’m content with how our Odyssey Battery Chevy ran today. It wasn’t a great day, but we were solid and grabbed some points. In hindsight, taking the grid penalty here may have been the wrong choice. We based it off how racy the track was last year, and we didn’t get that today. The tire marbles were significant and that made it a one-groove racetrack. But getting my first oval pole position was a big step for me and this team. We have two good tracks for us left on the year, so our goal is to get a win.”
Will Power in the No.12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet says he could be prouder of everyone on his team.
The Australian finished the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 in eighth place and speaking following the action he said:
I could not be prouder of everyone on the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevy. Last night was very long with the damage they had to fix, and it looked like we may be able to sneak a top-five finish if we get a caution late in the race. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out but very proud of the effort. Two races left and two more chances to get a win on the year. We can do it.”