Race Report: Peak Antifreeze Indy 300
JOLIET, IL Aug 28—Nobody does high-speed, wheel-to-wheel
racing better than the drivers of the IZOD IndyCar Series and they
proved it again Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway.
In a wild and crazy night of three abreast, pedal-to-the-metal
racing, Vitor Meira and the ABC Supply crew’s night was wilder and
crazier than most. Before all was said and done, the crew replaced
two front nose assemblies, Meira went a lap down and got it back,
led twice, posted his first top-10 finish in two months and jumped
three positions in the point standings! And drove the last half of
the race with an injured right wrist!
“It was a very interesting race,” said Meira afterwards. “We knew it
would be, but it was really crazy! Getting two front wings, getting
lapped, and then my team did a good job getting the lap back. This
was very tough. I thought after the second wing replacement our race
was gone but we didn't give up, never gave up, never.
“We needed this after four tough races,” he added. “I'm glad we did
it here in Chicago close to ABC Supply headquarters. They support us
so well! I guess I’ll have to visit them before every race—they gave
me good luck.”
Starting 24th in the 29-car field, Meira had begun moving up when on
lap 5, Raphael Matos and Tomas Scheckter crashed in turn 2. In the
ensuing melee, Meira sustained damage to his front wing and
flat-spotted his right front tire. The crew replaced it in less than
16 seconds. Restarting last, a bad decision to have Meira pit to top
off saw him lose half a lap to the field on the restart on lap 13.
Meira kept pace and was inching his way to the front when the pit
stop cycles began on lap 55 of the 200-lap race. By lap 62, he was
in the lead and on lap 63 he was in the pits getting tires and fuel
in 8.1 seconds. On lap 74, he was lapped by Ryan Briscoe and Marco
Andretti but he ran with them until the yellow came out on lap 78
for Ana Beatriz’s brush with the turn 4 wall.
Meira stayed out to get his lap back while the rest of the field
pitted. Lucky for the ABC Supply crew he did because two cars made
contact resulting in Takuma Sato spinning backwards into the ABC
Supply’s pitbox.
On that restart on lap 85, the cars were checking up
ahead of Meira and the chain reaction saw him go to the outside to
avoid hitting Hideki Mutoh only to be hit by Alex Tagliani who
bounced Meira into Mutoh. Meira was back in the pits for yet another
nose assembly. Because he came in when the pits were closed, he was
required to pit again which he did on lap 88. He restarted in 19th
and on lap 97, he ran his fastest lap of the race with an injured
right wrist, sustained in the crash with Tagliani.
“I’d feel it but then I was so busy out there, I’d forget about it,”
Meira said. “It hurts a little now though.” Meira went to the
infield care center to get checked out. The IndyCar medical staff
did not believe he broke any bones but they arranged for him to get
it x-rayed in Miami on Monday.
By lap 130 he was 15th and the pit stop cycles began on lap 136.
Meira led for four more laps before pitting at the end of lap 142.
The crew serviced him in just 7.4 seconds and he rejoined the field
in 13th position.
The final caution came out on lap 170 for Alex Lloyd’s spin off turn
four onto the frontstretch grass. As teams came in for their final
stop, the ABC Supply crew fitted the No. 14 with tires and fuel in
7.3 seconds. Several cars took fuel only and slipped ahead of Meira
who came out in 15th. But the fresh rubber helped him advance to the
front and for the final 23 laps, he was in the thick of the
three-wide, nose-to-tail battles of the top 14 cars.
When the checkered flag flew, Meira nosed ahead of Graham Rahal at
the line to finish ninth, his best finish since Iowa Speedway in
June. He jumped from 15th to 12th in the point standings.
“It was a crazy night,” said Larry Foyt. “We talked about it. I told
Vitor before the race I think we’re both going to be glad when this
one’s over. We knew it would be crazy but there was some great
racing. We had some crazy stuff happen as well. We went a lap down
early but it turned out to be a blessing because we stayed out to
get our lap back. If we hadn’t, we probably would have been pitting
in our pitbox. There was a crash [between E.J. Viso and Takumo Sato]
and Sato’s car slid backwards through our pitbox. There’s no telling
how many of our guys would have been injured or what could have
happened. Just funny how those things happen and it was a blessing
that we weren’t there.”
Dario Franchitti won the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 by four hundredths
of a second over Dan Wheldon. Rounding out the top 10 were: Marco
Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, Justin
Wilson, Scott Dixon, Meira and Rahal.
The Series heads to Kentucky Speedway this weekend for yet another
Saturday night of racing. The race will be televised live on Versus
with coverage starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Foyt Team Changes Engine After Qualifying
JOLIET, IL Aug 27—Vitor Meira qualified 24th for the Peak
Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway Saturday night. Team
owner A.J. Foyt was not pleased with the car’s performance and
requested a different engine for the race.
The engine change came about after a disappointing qualifying run
which saw Meira average 213.1 mph in his two-lap run around the 1.5
mile banked speedway.
“We’re changing engines,” said Meira. “I’m not saying that is the
problem but it is one problem we can eliminate from what could be
happening. The ABC Supply car was very good, Jeff [Britton, chief
engineer] and A.J. picked the right gears, right amount of downforce,
the right balance. I felt the car being neutral and free and
everybody did what they were supposed to do, it just didn’t go as
fast as we expected or what it should have. A.J.’s in full agreement
with that.
“Qualifying is not a big deal here, because there is so much room to
pass. The race car is very good and we’ll prove that.”
The ABC Supply team installed a different engine for the final
practice and gave the qualifying engine to Honda. If Honda finds
there are no issues with the engine then Foyt’s team pays a fee to
Honda and must run the engine at a later race. If there is a problem
with the engine, the team will not be charged.
Although the entire field of 29 cars is separated by
one second, Ryan Briscoe won the pole by three-quarters of a mile an
hour over Dario Franchitti who sits outside front row. Franchitti’s
teammate, Scott Dixon, qualified 15th after being second quickest in
the morning practice prompting Dixon’s team to also change engines
for the race.
The race will be televised Saturday night starting at 7 pm ET on
Versus.
NOTES & QUOTES: Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at
Chicagoland Speedway
• Vitor Meira on the key to Chicagoland: “The key is having a
balanced car in traffic and you’ve got to keep it flat -- like you
do at all 1.5 mile tracks. You have plenty of grip at all of those
places, so all you need is a well-balanced car in traffic. If you
have that, you’ll have a good race.
• Meira on what makes Chicagoland unique: “The uniqueness of
Chicagoland is that the race is more bunched up; we run closer
together than we do at Homestead or Kansas. At Chicagoland, it’s a
very thick and big act—always. It’s sort of like Texas but even more
so because the Chicagoland track is wider. It has more room—the
third lane is always there—so you have room to pass. It makes for a
good race for the drivers and the fans.”
• Meira on returning to ovals: “I’m glad to be back on the
ovals—I never thought I would say that but here we are! We’re going
to a track that the team, Jeff Britton [chief engineer] and I are
all in sync. I am excited about that! It’s important to close out
the year on a good consistent note—not only this race but all of the
ones coming up. That will make for a good off-season.” The final
four races of the season will be on 1.5-mile ovals: Chicagoland
Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Twin Ring Motegi in Japan and
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
• Meira will visit ABC Supply HQ: Vitor Meira will be
stopping in at ABC Supply headquarters on Thursday before Saturday
night’s race at Chicagoland Speedway. The company headquarters is
two hours from the track and provides Meira an opportunity to say
hello. With Milwaukee gone from the IndyCar schedule, Chicagoland
Speedway is now the home track to the wholesale distributor of
roofing and exterior supplies which is headquartered in Beloit, WI
on the Illinois northern border.
• ABC Supply roofing customer C & M Roofing and
Construction in Bolingbrook, IL won the ‘Your Name Here’ contest
for the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300. The company name will be atop the
sidepods of the No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda. Mike Lata will
receive selected merchandise, race tickets, hospitality and garage
passes, plus a Meet and Greet with Vitor Meira and A.J. Foyt. The
“Your Name Here” promotion selected winners by random drawing from a
pool of entries sent in by ABC Supply customers earlier this year.
• Chicagoland performance: The team’s best finish in 11
starts was fifth in 2001 with Donnie Beechler and second best finish
was seventh in 2008 with Darren Manning. In five starts, Meira’s
best finish was fifth in 2004 and second best finish was seventh in
2005.
• The Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 will be shown live at 7:00
p.m. ET Saturday night on Versus.
• For more information on the Foyt Racing program, please
check our web site: www.ajfoytracing.com.
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