Dual in Detroit, Race One Report

Andretti Autosport Finishes 1-2 in Detroit

Detroit’s Belle Isle was the home of today’s first race of the Verizon IndyCar Series doubleheader weekend; the rain-filled day saw Colombian driver Carlos Muñoz in victory lane, his first career Verizon IndyCar Series win. Muñoz started the race from 20th and the No. 26 AndrettiTV/Cinsay team found the right strategy to move the sophomore series driver to the front of the field. The planned 70-lap race was transitioned to a two-hour timed event and then ultimately cut short due to heavy storm showers. The 23-year-old led eight* laps (*update from previous report, now official) during today’s race, and moves to 10th in the championship points standings.

DHL driver Ryan Hunter-Reay climbed his way from a 16th-place start to run as high as fifth before getting caught out on strategy and recording a 13th-place finish.

CARLOS MUÑOZ
NO. 26 ANDRETTI TV / CINSAY HONDA

“It wasn’t the way I wanted to win – I wanted to win it 100%, all the laps, but this is racing. My AndrettiTV/Cinsay team did a great job in the strategy, and I think I also did a great job with the slick tires when the track was still a little bit wet. Really nice – my first victory in IndyCar. I’m feeling really comfortable going into tomorrow’s race… hopefully we’re going to be able to fight for the win again. I still want to win a race that goes the entire length.

“We knew this race was going to be crazy… my engineer (Garrett Mothersead) did a great job with the weather – he’s a geeky guy about the weather – and it all paid off. I ended up having more fuel than Marco (Andretti) so we had more laps in the end. I thank God for this opportunity, the race was awesome.”

MARCO ANDRETTI
NO. 27 MERCHANT FIRST / SNAPPLE HONDA

“To get slicks on, the consensus on the timing stand was the opposite (of what I wanted) so I said ‘the guys better be ready because I’m coming in’. To me it wasn’t really a gamble, I was ready to go slicks; I thought the track was there, and I knew there was still going to be a couple of laps of yellow before we went green. It was drying quick – with the concrete it dries quick. Tomorrow might be a little different with the temperature change, but I don’t know. That’s where it started – it was a blessing and a curse because that’s where I lost the race, too, because he (Carlos Muñoz) was able to do it a couple of laps after me. That’s what allowed him to run a couple laps longer than me in the end, so I knew I was going to surrender the lead. It was a bummer but a heck of an effort for the team.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY
NO. 28 DHL HONDA

“Congratulations to Carlos (Muñoz) and Marco (Andretti) on the win and podium. The team did a great job with their strategy. Today just wasn’t our day though, we didn’t pick the right strategy and it bit us in the end. The plus side is we get to try again tomorrow.”