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IndyCar - Andretti Autosport Edmonton Race Comments


PHOTO (select to view enlarged photo)

Ryan Hunter-Reay

Ryan Hunter-Reay finished the Edmonton Indy in seventh position this afternoon. Hunter-Reay had qualified on the pole, but took a 10-spot penalty for an engine change, so started 11th. It broke a three-race winning streak for Hunter-Reay and the No. 28 DHL/Dr Pepper team, but Hunter-Reay remains the points leader by 23 points (unofficially) over the race winner, Helio Castroneves, and 26 points over Will Power with four races remaining in the 2012 season. The 75-lap race was run entirely under green-flag conditions.

"The guys had a solid day today, but we just needed a yellow - we needed something... anything. To take an engine penalty on a day like today - at a track with long straights - we expected yellows. Maybe lots of them, but we just didn't get 'em. Its strange. with all of the marbles we have out there, you'd expect someone to go off or spin or something. I was praying for a caution and it didn't come. Had we had a yellow, I think I could have gained spots on the restart.... But, we've had enough go our way this year that I'm not gonna whine about not getting a yellow.... We soldiered on to seventh. It was one of those days: we had a fast car and good pit stops but couldn't make up the ground we needed to."

About the point standings: "It's going to be nail-biting until the end. It'll be a heckuva shootout at Fontana (the season-ending race), and I'll bet it'll come down to a fight between three cars."

James Hinchcliffe

Hinchcliffe started today's race from the ninth position and finished 12th. He remains fifth in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship points standings (unofficial).

"Wasn't really the day we had hoped for... that's certainly not a position we are used to finishing in; not where we want to finish. But I didn't drive very well in that first stint, I didn't make a great start and made a mistake trying to pass (Simon) Pagenaud and lost a couple spots and a couple seconds. From there we tried to work on the car a bit, and from battling over-steer all weekend long we went to a pretty under-steering car. It's one of those tough things to try and predict track condition, especially with all the different series running here. At the end of the day, a little disappointed but we brought the Go Daddy car home and we kept fighting. We did pick up a couple positions near the end, so we're still fighting and that's what this team does. Hopefully we can bounce back and have a good result in a couple weeks."

Marco Andretti

Marco Andretti finished 15th today after a spirited race that saw him in a seemingly continuous battle for position between himself and a series of other cars.

"Today showed how important track position is. We were fast, but we didn't get a yellow that allowed us to close-up. It was a lot of effort for a 15th-place result, but it was good, hard racing for the entire race. If we can qualify closer to the front, we can fight and hold our own on race day."

 
 
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