INDYCAR - Birmingham
Children's of Alabama Grand Prix
Start: 9th, Finish: 10th, Points: 5th (-43)
RACE RUNDOWN: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet team finished 10th in Sunday's Children's of Alabama INDY Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park after fighting handling conditions most of the afternoon. The three-time Barber winner started from the 9th position and worked his way up to eighth before radioing to his crew that he had a vibration on the No. 2 Chevy. The timing stand called him to pit lane a few laps earlier than they had hoped to, resulting in a longer second stint on the red, alternate Firestone tires. After the two mandatory stints on the alternate tires, Newgarden finished the race on the primary tires, yet the handling issues persisted through the end as he and the team salvaged a solid, top-10 finish.
NEWGARDEN'S THOUGHTS: “Tough day for the team. First of all, they did a great job. Good pit stops, good strategy. Stuck with it all day. We were scrapping out there to finish 10th. It was hard for us today. I wasn't sure we were going to make it to then end. But we did what we could. We just have to analyze everything. Totally different from what I predicted going in-what everyone predicted. The PPG Chevy felt like it had longevity. The tires acted the opposite way it had in the past. So we have to figure out why. We had a fast car. We are all motivated. We have a long way to go so we gave to stay focused."
