BELLE ISLE DUAL IN DETROIT: DUAL 1 RACE REPORT

Race 1 of the Verizon IndyCar Series double-header weekend in Detroit saw 70 laps dictated by fuel strategy and the threat of rain. When the twin-checkers flew, Andretti Autosport saw three of four entrants finish inside the top 10, with Carlos Muñoz leading the way in sixth, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay in seventh and Alexander Rossi 10th. Marco Andretti battled handling issues, preventing the needed fuel conservation and resulting in a 16th-place finish.

Tune in tomorrow for more Indy car racing action from Detroit – same time, same channel… That’s 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. 

Carlos Muñoz
No. 26 Magneti Marelli Honda

“Again another race where strategies and cautions played a big factor. The Magneti Marelli car was fast out there. The risk we took to stay out longer didn’t work a lot and in the end, I had to save a lot of fuel. The good thing is the fuel number I had to reach was so high, I am happy I could hit that number while being fast. But, we finished sixth after a gamble and are climbing in the championship points, which I am happy about.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay
No. 28 DHL Honda

“Our strategy was all over the place today – just one of those Detroit races, you never know what’s going to be the right call. You just have to go with it and stick to it. We spent half the race saving fuel in the DHL car, trying to make a certain strategy work. Then we found out our fuel numbers were wrong, we didn’t need to save that much fuel maybe. Unfortunate, because we finished seventh while saving fuel and maybe could have challenged for a bit higher.”

Alexander Rossi
No. 98 NAPA AUTO PARTS / Curb Honda

“Starting 17th on any street track is going to be tough. We did a decent job maximizing our potential – I believe we could’ve gained a couple more positions though. I think generally it was an okay result. It is very important we qualify the NAPA AUTO PARTS / Curb Honda higher on the grid tomorrow so we have a better ability to prove we have a great race car.”


Marco Andretti
No. 27 United Fiber & Data / Snapple Honda

“Not a great result for us today. I battled with the back end of the car all day and wasn’t able to save fuel like we needed to. Without being able to make the mileage, we just got crushed. But, we get to do it all over again tomorrow, so we’ll take a look at the UFD / Vernors car tonight and come back fighting again for Race 2.”