Will Power in the No.12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet recovered from a first lap spin in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to finish the race in seventh place and although he has lost the lead in the championship, he is only nine points behind Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing.
I had a bad first lap and was last. Went back up to sixth, went back to 10th. It was still a good recovery day. When you can make the most of those bad days, it is good stuff for the points. It will be a tight battle to the end, but we will keep digging in the Verizon Business Chevrolet.”
Scott McLaughlin in the No.3 Good Ranchers Chevrolet started the race from seventh place but slight contact with his teammate Will Power at Turn 5 set the New Zealander back for the race and as a result he came home in 21st place and speaking following the race he said:
“Not the finish we were looking for with the Good Ranchers Chevy today. Felt like we had a top-five car and strategy played into our hands to bring home a result close to that. Had contact and went for a spin. Certainly, did not want that to happen. Really proud of the effort by the Thirsty 3’s every week.”
Starting the race from 14th place, Josef Newgarden in the No.2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet made up one spot on the opening lap and by the time he made his first stop on lap 26 from inside the top ten things were looking good for the Indianapolis 500 winner, however, a drive through penalty for a pit-lane infraction saw him fall down the order and finish the race in 19th place.
Definitely not the day the Hitachi car deserved. I felt like the strategy played into our hands and unfortunately just spun late. It shows the commitment you have to have every lap in the INDYCAR SERIES today. We will put it behind us as we get ready for Mid-Ohio in two weeks.”