Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden in the No.2 Shell Fuel Rewards Chevrolet says that it was another disappointing day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as he ended the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in 14th having started the Greatest Spectacle In Racing from P13.
“It was another heartbreaking day around here. I’m not sure what happened in our pit stop that ultimately did our day in. We had a stall, and it looks like somehow I got stuck in second gear instead of first gear. I’m not sure if that’s on me or not and not sure why that happened. We will have to analyze the data. If that’s on me, I feel terrible. We have a great team, and we did a great job all month. I felt like we were fighting for it all day long. I think we could have run in the top five. I am disappointed for our partners Shell and Chevy. We will assess it and come back stronger the next time around.”
Scott McLaughlin in the No.3 Pennzoil Chevrolet was 29th having hit the wall and speaking following the accident the New Zealand native said:
Yeah, just a bruised ego and the Pennzoil Chevy is a bit dented and stuff. We were having a rip of a run there and had made our way into the top 10 and just caught a big puff of wind and spun out and boom. I am a little sore, but I got checked out and I am good. But you know, its hard to come out straight away after a shunt like that and that is why this place is so scary, and why we love it. I will be back stronger and better next year.”
Will Power in the No.12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet started the race P11 but went backwards in a car he says didn’t work on the oval finishing in P15
When the car doesn’t work on an oval, it’s the worst day you can have. We slowly got it together, I would say the last two stints when the Verizon 5G Chevy was a lot better and drivable. But by that time, we had lost so much track position, it was just trying to salvage what we could. Stalling on pit lane early in the race didn’t help, but we only lost five laps with that. You know, it never helps, and it’s my bad on that one. Yeah, that is just one of those days that you white knuckle it for a long time because it’s pretty intense when a car is loose on an oval. It’s very tough. Terrific job by the team and all the guys to just hang in there. We were 15th with some of the contenders who were back there, so not as big of a loss as it could have been.”