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Gateway IndyCar: Top 10 quotes after race

Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 PPG Automotive Fnishes Team Penske IndyCar Chevrolet V6, takes the checkered flag at Gateway Motorsports Park

Race winner Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet

Race winner Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet

Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet
Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet
Race winner Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske Chevrolet
Helio Castroneves, Team Penske Chevrolet
Conor Daly, A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
Conor Daly, A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
Alexander Rossi, Curb Herta - Andretti Autosport Honda
Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda
James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda
Carlos Munoz, A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
Sébastien Bourdais, Dale Coyne Racing Honda

Cla #DriverLapsTimeGapMphPitsPoints
1   2 united_states Josef Newgarden 248 2:13'22.0358   139.465 4 53
"It was a great night. First off, we had an awesome crowd. It was amazing actually what was out here tonight. I felt like the energy for this event, it really spurred everyone on. You should have seen all the drivers. I felt like everyone was a little extra nervous tonight because of the energy in this place. I remember watching this race when I was younger. They stopped coming here, I think 2003 was the last race. It's fun to have it back in 2017 and see it so well supported for the first year. It was a great night to go racing. I felt like the PPG Chevrolet was going to be good tonight. We had four good cars at Team Penske. Happy to get the win on the No. 2 car side because I felt like we had the car to beat. I didn't want us to be denied tonight for sure. Simon (Pagenaud) gave me a lane to work with. I had a good tow on him, put my car inside in the opening, got about halfway alongside of him. One thing I didn't want to do was touch him too hard. I think if I would have stayed too far left, I would have jumped the curb and that would have taken both of us out. I tried to get Simon to move over a little when we were coming to the opening of the corner. We both had to slow up. Fortunately worked out well for us. Pagenaud, didn't get up into the wall or anything like that, so I would say it worked out okay for him, too."
2   9 new_zealand Scott Dixon 248 2:13'22.7208 0.6850 139.453 4 40
"I guess that's the best we could have hoped for. It was definitely going to be a tough race for us, but the car was actually very good. I think we had a better mechanical grip than the group we were racing with, with the Penskes, and especially toward the end of the run. We could sort of come back towards them. We had so much drag. We could get to them, but we couldn't pull out and pass them. Definitely pretty hard to defend right there at the end with Simon (Pagenaud). It was pretty exciting to watch Josef (Newgarden) and Simon with that pass into Turn 1, which was pretty interesting, pretty tight. I was hoping it went a little bit different than what it actually did and could have picked up two spots, but huge credit to everybody on the NTT Data No. 9 car. Strong tonight. Strong pit stops. And how about the fans, man? This was awesome to come back to St. Louis and see the fans and how excited they were for this race."
3   1 france Simon Pagenaud 248 2:13'23.0101 0.9743 139.448 4 36
"We had a great race with the Menards Chevrolet. All of the adjustments left us with a great car at the end. When we needed to come up with a great pit stop, we did. Those guys really are the best. They always come through when they have to. Unfortunately, it didn't work out there at the end. I can't say that I'm overly pleased, but that's racing. We still have the championship out there, so we'll get ready for Watkins Glen." 
4   3 brazil Helio Castroneves 248 2:13'23.6026 1.5668 139.437 4 33
"The Shell Fuel Rewards Chevy was awesome tonight. We had a little mistake on pit road that cost us and that was unfortunate. The car was definitely good enough to win. It was fantastic to be back at Gateway. The crowd was amazing. It looks like the whole community has embraced this event." 
5   4 united_states Conor Daly 248 2:13'23.7804 1.7446 139.434 5 30
"We had a good car all weekend. I was really upset with myself after qualifying, just had a big moment at the exit of (Turn) 1, but we redeemed ourselves. Then I tried to screw it up for myself again in the pits, but we were able to drive back. The car was just fantastic. I have to thank the team, I have to thank ABC Supply for sticking with us. I know it's been a tough year, but I know we can do it. I know this team can do it. We're just improving and it takes time. This is a hard sport." (About close call with Charlie Kimball): "I won't say anything bad about (Kimball), but it was just one of those really late moves that, being on an oval it's not great to do. I mean everyone's racing hard, it's obviously tough on a short oval to make ground, but I mean that could have ruined my race right there. I thought the wing was gone going into the next corner, but it was still there. So thank you Chevy, for making strong pieces. But, yeah, I'm just happy to be here, and just hope I can be here for many more races." 
6   98 united_states Alexander Rossi 248 2:13'24.9459 2.9101 139.414 4 28
"It was a pretty hard night, but I think the whole NAPA Auto Parts team really capitalized on the opportunities that were given to us. To come home sixth on a track that's dominant for the other manufacturer, I think is a solid result and that's what we were looking for all weekend. Maybe we could have been a couple spots higher, but at the end of the night, we brought the car home and that was a solid race. The pace was good and there was really nothing to complain about on a track where we knew we were going to be at a deficit. It's nice to come away with a top six (finish)." 
7   83 united_states Charlie Kimball 248 2:13'26.2723 4.2365 139.391 4 26
 "I'm just really proud of the guys. We didn't get the chance to test here, but we learned from the No. 9 car's test. We made the car better and better from first thing yesterday afternoon, through qualifying, even though we didn't get the qualifying result we wanted. Through the race tonight, the car was actually pretty good. We just kept making it better. It was just tough racing. With the package like it was, it was really hard to close up and pass anyone, especially into the first turn. We took advantage of some momentum shifts, like when guys didn't get great restarts. I'm really happy to come away with a seventh tonight, especially here when we knew it might be a little bit compromised."
8   5 canada James Hinchcliffe 248 2:13'26.8856 4.8498 139.380 4 24
"Solid day despite starting 10th and finishing eighth; for only a two-position swing, it was a lot more dramatic day than that. I think we made some good changes to the car throughout the night, and we were a lot racier than we were in second practice yesterday, so big credit to the engineers. The Arrow guys were awesome in the pit stops today, so we made up some spots there. We just ultimately got caught out on the last yellow. It was a wrong place, wrong time, and Conor (Daly) came around the outside of us there and took all of the air off us. I had to slide up the racetrack, and I think we maybe damaged a tire when we did that because after that we had a pretty big vibration and we couldn't really attack Charlie (Kimball) there at the end. Probably should have finished sixth, but we'll take a solid top 10 and hopefully build on that for Watkins Glen." 
9   14 colombia Carlos Munoz 248 2:13'29.9190 7.8832 139.327 5 22
 "It was a race with ups and downs. The whole team did a great job the whole weekend. Happy for Conor, he did a really good job finishing fifth. And with me ninth we had two cars in the top 10. I just needed a little more speed in Turns 1 and 2 especially compared to my teammate. Finishing like that in the last stint, I had a really bad vibration that cost me a little bit but I'm really happy for the team overall."
10   18 france Sébastien Bourdais 248 2:13'30.2189 8.1831 139.322 6 21
 "It wasn't an easy race. We knew the car wasn't perfect and I had some really complicated restarts. I don't know what was going on, but I got loose three times and I almost stuffed it, and so I went to the back of the pack. The guys did a really good job in the pits and got us back in contention there at the end. I finally had a good restart and a couple of wobbles in front of me and I benefitted from it. I'm just really happy with my top 10. It's a good way to salvage something this weekend."

 

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