Chevrolet IndyCar Drivers Head North in Pursuit of More Success
· Chevrolet drivers prepare for demanding Toronto street circuit
ᴏ 85-lap race on tight 11-turn, 1.75-mile course full of excitement
· Chevrolet drivers have won nine of the 10 races this season
ᴏ Josef Newgarden vaults to second in points with gritty victory in Iowa
· Chevrolets swept the top eight finishing position in 2015 Toronto race
ᴏ Newgarden earned his second career victory in hotly-contested event
· Simon Pagenaud continues to lead standings; top six in points are Chevy drivers
DETROIT (July 13, 2016) – Grit. It’s an appropriate and succinct description of Josef Newgarden’s charge to victory earlier this week on the .894-mile Iowa Speedway oval, where Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) drivers get minimal respite from high lateral G forces at speeds regularly surpassing 180 mph.
With 13 screws surgically-implanted knitting his fractured right clavicle and also driving with a broken right hand, the 25-year-old Tennessee native still dominated the 300-lap race after qualifying second to Verizon IndyCar Series championship points leader Simon Pagenaud. Newgarden, who sustained the injuries in a race crash last month at Texas Motor Speedway, led a record 282 laps on the way to earning his first victory of the season and third of his career.
“I don’t want people thinking I did something incredible. It was a little uncomfortable, but it was doable,” Newgarden said. “The car was so good. In some stages, it was like a video game.”
Newgarden and his fellow Chevrolet IndyCar Aero Kit with integrated 2.2 liter V6 engine drivers will be challenged again this weekend in the Honda Indy Toronto on the demanding 11-turn, 1.75-mile temporary street circuit at Exhibition Place, where in 2015 he led a Chevrolet sweep of the top eight positions with his second career win.
“I can’t wait to get back to Toronto,” said Newgarden, who will drive the No. 21 Preferred Freezer Services Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing. “I think we have a strong package to come back with. Hopefully, we can make similar magic happen again.”
Chevrolet drivers, who have won nine of the 10 races, hold the top six spots in the championship standings and seven of the top 10. The victory at Iowa Speedway, where he was the race runner-up in 2014 and ’15, vaulted Newgarden into second place in the standings.
Pagenaud, who will drive the No. 22 PPG Automotive Refinish Chevrolet for Team Penske this weekend, has amassed a 73-point lead on the strength of three wins, three second-place finishes and five poles. Only 30 points separate Newgarden and sixth-place Tony Kanaan, No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
Team Penske’s Will Power, who followed up two consecutive wins with a runner-up finish at Iowa Speedway in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet, is two points behind Newgarden. Four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon, driver of the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, is fourth, and Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet, is fifth.
Power, who won the Toronto pole in 2011 and 2015, Sebastien Bourdais and Dixon each have won twice on the street circuit. Dixon is the active IndyCar leader with 39 victories, which is tied for fourth all time with Al Unser.
“The Verizon Chevy team has some really good momentum going right now. We’re in the championship hunt, and as we’ve seen before, anything can happen as the schedule shortens,” said Power, the 2014 series champion. “We’ve worked hard to get to this point after starting in a bit of a hole. The circuit is challenging. There are several spots where you can find trouble. Track position will be really important. We know how to win there, so I’m really looking forward to getting up there.”
This is the final street course race of the season. Three road course (Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen and Sonoma) and two oval (Texas, Pocono) events remain as Chevrolet drivers make their bid for the championship.