INDYCAR (MOTEGI) - Accident Sends Andretti to 16th Place at Japan in NYSE Car

Marco Andretti, driver of the #26 NYSE car, suffered an accident on lap 134 at Saturday's running of the Indy Japan 300 and finished 16th. Andretti is now in 12th place in the IndyCar Series driver championship. Starting from the middle of the pack, Andretti quickly moved among the top five but was fighting with a small bit of understeer in his race car. As the halfway point of the race neared, Andretti was running ninth and trying to hang on to a solid finish. In the middle of Turn 4 on lap 134, the back end of the NYSE car came out and sent Andretti into the wall. Precautionary X-rays were taken of Andretti's right shoulder and came back negative. Andretti's teammate Tony Kanaan claimed his eighth career IndyCar Series victory and his first in Japan. As a team, Andretti Green Racing has three wins at Twin Ring Motegi. Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon and Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top five. The IndyCar Series returns to action next weekend with the Kansas Lottery Indy 300. ESPN2 will provide live broadcast coverage of the 200-lap event beginning at 4:30 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday, April 29. Fans can also listen to the race broadcast on XM Satellite Radio, XM channel 145.

Marco Andretti, #26 NYSE Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "We were struggling with both ends of the NYSE car today but I was still happy. I was just trying to hang on to the finish and I just got into the marbles and the car just took off. I had a huge understeer so I turned into it, got out of the throttle and then the front hooked and it overcorrected into the wall. The inside retaining wall was the bigger hit for me. I'm going to be sore in the morning but I'll be alright."

Eddie Jones, Race Engineer, Andretti Green Racing: "It's kind of a shame the way the day ended but I think a lot of promise came out of the day for the NYSE team. Marco had a very, very strong first stint having started 10th and working his way up to fourth at one point. The second stint wasn't as good but I think we were still in the hunt for a top-five finish which would have been nice."