Honda IndyCar Pocono Message Points

ABC Supply Co. Inc. 500
Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
2 p.m. EDT Sunday, August 23, 2015
NBC Sports Network
IMS Radio Network Live Stream and Broadcast
COMPETITION

* Honda drivers have won three of the last four Verizon IndyCar Series races, most recently Graham Rahal’s popular “home town” victory in the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course earlier this month. Other recent wins came from Ryan Hunter-Reay at Iowa Speedway and Rahal at Auto Club Speedway in June.

* Honda drivers claimed seven of the top 10 finishing positions at Mid-Ohio. Justin Wilson finished second, while sixth through tenth places were filled out by Tristan Vautier, Hunter-Reay, Jack Hawksworth, Carlos Munoz and Marco Andretti, respectively.

* At Iowa Speedway in July, Hunter-Reay scored his first victory of 2015, with Rahal taking fourth and Munoz, fifth.

* In June, Rahal finished first and Andretti was third at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

* Rahal currently stands second in the IndyCar Series Drivers’ Championship with 456 points, nine points behind leader Juan Pablo Montoya. Andretti, seventh in the championship with 378 points, is the only driver who has completed every race lap of the 2015 season, a total of 1,947 laps.

* Other podium finishes for Rahal include second at the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama; and third in the second of two races at Detroit. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver finished fifth at the Indianapolis 500.

* Bryan Herta Autosport’s Gabby Chaves continues to lead the IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year standings with 229 points, and is 15th in the overall drivers’ championship. Chaves made his short-track racing debut last month, finishing fifth in a Honda-powered USAC Midget in the inaugural Tony Stewart Classic at the 1/5th-mile Indianapolis Speedrome. The Herta organization previously took Jack Hawksworth to series Rookie of the Year honors in 2014.

* Drivers and teams using Honda engines have won 216 Indy car races and 10 Indianapolis 500s, both during years of multi-manufacturer competition (1994-2005, 2012-15); and during Honda’s tenure as single engine supplier to the series (2006-11).

* In 2013, Honda drivers swept the top three finishing positions at Pocono to score the company’s 200th race victory in Indy car competition. Eventual series champion Scott Dixon led the 1-2-3 result, with his Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Charlie Kimball and Dario Franchitti finishing second and third, respectively.

* In 22 years, Honda Performance Development, the racing arm of the American Honda Motor Co., Inc., has grown from just a handful of staffers to approximately 150 associates; and from a simple engine-rebuilding facility to a complete motorsports Research & Development organization, engaged in programs ranging from pinnacle racing series including the Verizon IndyCar Series, Pirelli World Challenge, TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship; to grassroots and entry-level categories including karting, Quarter Midgets and Formula F competition.
HONDA RACING/HPD VIDEOS

* Video recaps from this weekend’s Honda activities in Verizon IndyCar Series at Pocono are being posted on the “Honda Racing/HPD” YouTube channel.

* Produced by the Carolinas Production Group, the video packages can be found in the 2015 HPD Trackside Video Playlist at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.