Toronto: Team Penske NTT INDYCAR SERIES Race Recap

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Team Penske NTT INDYCAR SERIES Race Recap
Track:  
Toronto Exhibition Place Circuit

Race:   Indy Toronto

Date:   July 17, 2022

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No. 2 Hitachi Dallara/Chevrolet – Josef Newgarden

Start: 3rd

Finish: 10th

Laps Led: 0

Point Standings: 4th (-44 pts)

Race Rundown: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet team showed the promise of potential race winners early in Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the streets of Exhibition Place in Toronto. Unfortunately, an issue on pit road during the second – and final – pit stop of the day resulted in a significant loss of track position that could not be overcome. Toronto marked an eventful weekend for Newgarden as an engine issue on Saturday kept him from a productive practice session.  The former two-time Toronto race winner and the No. 2 team rebounded to earn a third-place starting position during the qualifying session. Newgarden ran up front until he visited pit lane for service on Lap 47. He brought the Hitachi Chevy to a stop too far from the wall, which caused an issue with refueling. Difficulty changing rear tires also hampered the stop as Newgarden fell to 11th place in the running order. He earned back a spot to finish 10th at the checkered flag.

Newgarden’s Thoughts: “It was certainly a tough day for the Hitachi Chevy team. We definitely threw away some points. We had a good car and I thought we had a good start to the race, for the most part. We just didn’t have a good second pit stop. Pit lane was pretty jammed up and lost a lot of time on that cycle. Once we got back in the middle of the pack we were just stuck at that point. We’ll learn and go onto the next race at Iowa. The team fought hard but it just wasn’t a good day for us.”

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No. 3 XPEL Dallara/Chevrolet – Scott McLaughlin

Start: 6th

Finish: 9th

Laps Led: 0

Point Standings: 7th (-77 pts)

Race Rundown:  In his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut on the streets of Toronto, Scott McLaughlin drove the No. 3 XPEL Chevrolet to a ninth-place finish on Sunday afternoon. Long known for his qualifying achievements as an Australian Supercars Champion, McLaughlin put together an impressive run in Saturday’s qualifying session as he earned a spot in the Firestone Fast Six, competing against drivers with more experience on the Toronto circuit. McLaughlin stayed patient through the first half of Sunday’s race, eventually making his way up to the fourth position on a Lap 67 restart. As the field headed towards Turn 1, McLaughlin was pushed wide in the XPEL Chevy, which allowed several other cars to make their way around the No. 3. McLaughlin eventually settled into the ninth position where he remained until the checkered flag.

McLaughlin’s Thoughts: “The restart caught me off-guard a little bit. I checked up and just making certain mistakes, but we had pace which is the main thing. Just have to put a race together at least when I’m deep in the pack like that. We should have had a fourth-place finish. Unfortunately, I didn’t put it together.”

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No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara/Chevrolet – Will Power

Start: 16th

Finish: 15th

Laps Led: 0

Point Standings: 2nd (-35 pts)

Race Rundown: Will Power and the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet team could not find the magic to overcome issues in qualifying – as he had done in the previous three races – while he finished 15th in Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the streets of Toronto. With a fast Chevy providing hope for a strong starting spot, Power was caught out by several incidents in qualifying that resulted in a 16th-place starting position. Electing to start the race on the Firestone alternate tires, Power quickly moved up to the 12th position early in the race before his left-front tire quickly degraded. An early pit stop dropped him back to 17th in the running order and due to limited passing opportunities on the tight Toronto circuit, he made up a few positions to bring home a 15th-place finish on Sunday.

Power’s Thoughts: “It’s just super hard to pass here. I pitted early when the left-front tire was destroyed. Then just getting caught behind people and it’s difficult to pass so couldn’t do anything but maintain 15th. Pretty bad day. That’s after a bad qualifying. Every single bad thing that can happen in qualifying this year has happened, whether it’s traffic, a red (flag) or a penalty and a couple of times even lack of pace. Good lessons for the next few races.”