Benjamin Pedersen in the No.55 Sexton Properties Chevrolet was pretty ecstatic as he finished his oval NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday in 15th place.
The Danish American overcame some early technical issues to finish well.
“The first INDYCAR race that we finished — P 15. Honestly pretty ecstatic with that — my first ever INDYCAR oval car was in one piece. I learned a lot and it’s the longest race I’ve ever done. Yeah, very, very happy about 15th for my first ever finish on an oval in an INDYCAR race.
Pedersen explained he had a tricky second stop on the 1.5s mile oval which saw him lose some time.
The second stop was not what we wanted but that was because the brake was so long that it went completely to the floor. “I pumped it coming into the entry of three and I thought it would be good and then when I came to a stop the pedal went completely to the floor. I simply couldn’t slow the car down because it wasn’t there and that’s why I went long. I felt like an idiot but it was the brake, and then I made the adjustment. Then after that, we made a pit stop right away under yellow and actually jumped three cars which was awesome by the whole team.
“There were things I definitely could do better for the future but I’m still just learning. “I had a great, great time. I feel very fit. I was just a little bit dizzy getting out of the car from the sake of going in a circle for 250 laps.
While Pedersen ended the race in P15, his teammate Santino Ferrucci in the No.14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet came home in 21st and speaking following the action he said:
We had a ton of speed today in our Sexton Properties Chevrolet. For whatever reason the head pad on the right side, which is most important to the driver because of the G forces here, the Velcro melted and the head pad slipped down,” Ferrucci explained. “It lodged under my helmet and had my head looking out and up at the track. So we were a little inconsistent but we weren’t really losing too much time. By the time we got it sorted on pit lane, we lost the clutch. So that’s actually the reason why we went from one lap back to four. It was nothing other than just something mechanical that was out of our control. We definitely gave away a pretty easy top 10 today.”
The result for the team is definitely a step in the right direction and so, it’s on to the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 12.