Andretti Global’s James Roe, the driver of the No.29 Topcon Dallara, says that the team knows that they have the pace here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course after a solid qualifying for the opening INDY NXT by Firestone race here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Roe started the race from third and moved up to second by speaking to Paddock Eye on Saturday ahead of race two; the Kildare native said that he locked up under braking at Turn 7 and then had to pit for tires.
Roe said that they a used set of Firestones on the front and when he came out of pit road they were cold and went over the line at the end of pit-road and as a result he received a drive through penalty as a result of that.
Roe explained to Paddock Eye that once they got everything sorted they were the fastest car on track and they were even faster than race leader Jacob Abel but that they caught traffic.
Speaking about the race today, James said that they have to have a clean start and that he hopes for a repeat start today and settle in to see where they end up but that the team need to get through lap one but he believes that they definitely have the pace to go for the win here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Roe scored a podium at Barber Motorsports Park two weeks ago and his teammate Jamie Chadwick scored a podium in the opening race on Friday with a third place finish and Roe feels that this shows that the team are making a step forward. Roe explained that in Friday’s race they didn’t execute as both himself and Louis (Foster) had issues.
Roe says that the team has taken a step forward but now it is just a case of executing. Roe concluded saying that with the pace that the team has shown recently that there is no reason why they can’t challenge for podiums and wins every weekend.