Herta Finishes 13th at Watkins Glen in XM Satellite Radio Machine
Herta Finishes 13th at Watkins Glen In XM Satellite Radio MachineWATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 4, 2006) - Bryan Herta, driver of the #7 XM Satellite Radio car, wheeled to a 13th place result at Watkins Glen International during Sunday's 55-lap event. With the result, Herta fell to ninth place in the IndyCar Series driver championship but is only one point out of the seventh position and 32 behind fifth-place driver Tony Kanaan.
After starting ninth, Herta made his first pit stop on lap 8 to switch from rain tires to slick, quicker tires for the dry conditions. When the race went yellow on lap 20, the XM Satellite Radio team opted to stay out instead of pitting and moved into the second position, a spot Herta held for several laps. Having to make a green-flag stop on lap 34, Herta came out in 11th place, but remained second among drivers on his pit sequence. As rain began to fall again late in the race, Herta suffered a flat right-rear tire following contact with Kanaan and was forced to pit road to change tires. With rain continuing, the XM Satellite Radio team decided to put rain tires back on one lap later for a final push through the field. However, the race was stopped at 55 laps, five short of the intended allotment, due to time constraints and the XM Satellite Radio team was relegated to 13th.
Scott Dixon won his second-consecutive race at Watkins Glen. Vitor Meira and Ryan Briscoe finished second and third, respectively. Buddy Rice and Felipe Giaffone rounded out the top five. The IndyCar Series moves on to Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 10. ESPN will provide live coverage of the Bombardier Learjet 500 beginning at 9 p.m. (EDT). It can also be heard live by XM Satellite Radio subscribers on XM channel 145, the official home of the IndyCar Series.
Bryan Herta, #7 XM Satellite Radio Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "Today was probably how it looked on television. It was just messy. You have as many experienced race car drivers out there as we did today, yet we still had a hard time getting started or restarted, it was just so treacherous. It was a tough day for the XM Satellite Radio team. We left a lot of points on the table today."
George Klotz, Team Manager, #7 XM Satellite Radio Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "Today had it all. It was exciting, miserable, up and down. At times I thought we were out of it and then back in it and out of it and in it. We just couldn't capitalize at the end of the race where we needed to. It wasn't a good day and no one on the XM Satellite Radio team is happy with 13th place."
2006 Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix Results Pos. Name Laps Pos. Name Laps 1 Scott Dixon 55 11 Tony Kanaan 54 2 Vitor Meira 55 12 Sam Hornish Jr. 54 3 Ryan Briscoe 55 13 Bryan Herta 54 4 Buddy Rice 55 14 Dario Franchitti 44 5 Felipe Giaffone 55 15 Dan Wheldon 41 6 Ed Carpenter 55 16 Marco Andretti 38 7 Helio Castroneves 55 17 Eddie Cheever Jr. 37 8 Danica Patrick 55 18 Kosuke Matsuura 19 9 Scott Sharp 55 19 Jeff Simmons 18 10 Tomas Scheckter 55