Race report
Long Beach IndyCar: Top 10 quotes after race
James Hinchcliffe completes comeback with Long Beach victory
Photo by: Perry Nelson / Motorsport Images
| Cla | # | Driver | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | Pits | Retirement | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 |  James Hinchcliffe |
85 | 1:50'28.9818 | 90.845 | 2 | 51 | ||||
| "A lot has changed since the last time we were sitting up here. It's just so nice to be back. We came really close last year. A lot of people talked about 2016 as sort of the comeback year. Personally we really wanted to as a team to put an exclamation point on that by coming to Victory Lane. We came as close as humanly possible in Texas last year. Didn't quite get the job done. We were sore to not win a race last year. We worked hard this off-season to perfect the package we had. Good speed at a lot of races last year. To roll off the first two races of the season, being in the Fast Six both times, if not for a caution falling for the wrong time at St. Pete, could have been in the top five or on podium there. To do it here and finally at this place, a track that I love so much, a track that's been very good to me in my career, one that I think is the Indy 500 of street tracks, it's the second longest running race after the 500. I think because of that history, it makes it a very special event, one that every driver wants to win. The greats have all raced here, the greats have all won here. To get in the winner's circle was huge." | |||||||||||
| 2 | 18 |  Sébastien Bourdais |
85 | 1:50'30.4758 | 1.4940 | 1.4940 | 90.824 | 3 | 40 | ||
| "That was an incredible race. At the beginning, somebody lost an end plate or something. It flew by, I dodged it in the car, it went really close and it ripped off the whole left side of the rear wing and rear pod and that's why we came in so early. It gave us a couple of laps to save fuel, but we played to our strengths. I've always been pretty comfortable saving fuel and that one kind of came to us. I was just really surprised that no one played the game. It was feasible fuel wise, for us at least. Good job by Honda, obviously. We lost balance a little bit at the end so I was just trying to hang on to second place. James (Hinchcliffe) really deserved that one. He looked very comfortable and quick up front and I didn't really have the balance at the end to go challenge him so I just managed for second place. I was kind of thinking Championship a little bit out there! I don't know that we're a contender but we'll find out. We'll have stayed up there for two races so that's not too bad." | |||||||||||
| 3 | 2 |  Josef Newgarden |
85 | 1:50'31.2978 | 2.3160 | 0.8220 | 90.813 | 3 | 35 | ||
| "I think it got a lot more mixed up with the strategy today. (Scott) Dixon and me were on something different than the front guys, (Ryan) Hunter-Reay, (James Hinchcliffe), (Alexander) Rossi. I thought that added a dynamic that was more fun than last year. Everyone was on the same strategy last year, which let the race play out to not much action, unfortunately. This year was a lot more mixed up. I did way more passing than I've done in the past couple years. I thought it was an exciting race. For us on Team Penske, it was a good day. The Verizon Hum car, we had a strong car underneath us all day. I felt about it good in warmup. We had a car that was capable of challenging for the win if everything fell correctly. Our strategy didn't play out with that last yellow. It just allowed everyone to catch up on fuel a little bit. We were on the same strategy at the end fuel-wise. Our strategy of trying to run those guys down at the end and be fast wasn't really able to play out, which is unfortunate, but that's how racing goes. You have to choose one strategy and hope it plays out for you. Today it got us close. Third place is something we can roll with, try to get a win." | |||||||||||
| 4 | 9 |  Scott Dixon |
85 | 1:50'31.7650 | 2.7832 | 0.4672 | 90.807 | 3 | 35 | ||
| "We got a great start in the NTT Data car and were just cruising along there making good fuel mileage. We came in to pit shortly after and that ended up shuffling things up a bit on strategy. But the car was great and the team worked really hard. It was pretty hard to pass at the end, which is typical for street races as we all know. So fourth was how it played out. We've qualified very well the first two races so hopefully we can convert that into a win really soon." | |||||||||||
| 5 | 1 | Simon Pagenaud |
85 | 1:50'32.3752 | 3.3934 | 0.6102 | 90.798 | 3 | 30 | ||
| "It was exciting. At the beginning we were able to pass a lot of cars. The Menards Chevrolet was phenomenal all weekend. I was really excited before the race because I knew we had such a strong weapon. It was all about having the right strategy to make it work. We actually switched strategies because it was going so well at the beginning. The flat tire set us back a little, but it was a good championship day. I'm so proud of the team. Everyone worked really hard to come out of here with a good result." |
|||||||||||
| 6 | 19 |  Ed Jones |
85 | 1:50'34.7769 | 5.7951 | 2.4017 | 90.765 | 3 | 28 | ||
| "It's great to be in the top 10 again with a sixth. Another great effort by the team as well with Seb finishing second. I said this at St. Pete, it shows the effort that Dale has put into the team with the drivers, engineers, the development, the whole package to take the team to another level this year and the proof is the first two races. It's clear to see. I'm really excited. We made big jumps this weekend from St. Pete and I can't wait to get to Barber to make even more. It was a tough race, I was fighting people every stint which is great to do. I had some good battles and at the end it was nice to have the yellow to close everything up a bit. Unfortunately, I didn't have the pace to attack Pagenaud in front of me but still, it was a good result and I can't wait for the next one." |
|||||||||||
| 7 | 14 |  Carlos Munoz |
85 | 1:50'35.9211 | 6.9393 | 1.1442 | 90.750 | 3 | 26 | ||
| "Finally got some good points for Foyt -- finishing seventh after a hard weekend. We think that's the best position we could have had. We improved the ABC Supply Chevrolet a lot but it's still not there. Still need to improve but I'm really happy with my crew and my engineers. The guys did an awesome job in the pits-it was their first race doing pit stops together and they did a really good job. Hopefully we keep it up all year long." | |||||||||||
| 8 | 20 | Spencer Pigot |
85 | 1:50'38.0388 | 9.0570 | 2.1177 | 90.721 | 3 | 24 | ||
| "Overall, we have to pleased with the result, to be 8th after where we started! It was a bit of a shame to miss out on 6th, I thought we were there pretty comfortably. We just had a small issue coming out of the hairpin that allowed (Ed) Jones and (Carlos) Munoz to get past us. It was a good day, the guys did great with the pit stops as always. I have to thank them for all of their hard work, I wouldn’t have been able to finish this high without them. I am glad we were able to get a good result for Loki The Wolfdog and his followers!" | |||||||||||
| 9 | 3 |  Helio Castroneves |
85 | 1:50'38.3221 | 9.3403 | 0.2833 | 90.717 | 4 | 23 | ||
| "It just wasn't our day. The Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet was really fast but we had a few other problems that kind of ruined the day. I think we had some electronic problems that caused us to mess up the start of the race and the pit road speeding penalties. We'll regroup and head to Barber. One of these days all of this bad luck will even out. It can't come soon enough." | |||||||||||
| 10 | 15 | Graham Rahal |
85 | 1:50'46.8450 | 17.8632 | 8.5229 | 90.601 | 3 | 20 | ||
| "We got a good start and passed (Alexander) Rossi and Helio Castroneves for fourth. I felt like we were in a pretty good place to settle in but it became apparent that a lot of guys around me weren't going to save fuel like I was. I tried to just keep pace but struggled pretty hard on the first stint with a bit of an issue with the front tires. On the second stint we were as good as anybody but when it came down to it, we had lost too much time in the first stint. It was disappointing to get the puncture, this PennGrade team deserved more than that. Yes it's a top-10 but it's not going to help us in the point standings very much and we definitely need a lot of those." | |||||||||||
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
comments
Play along
More from
Graham Rahal
Rahal encouraged despite limited running in Indy 500 Open Test
Indianapolis 500 Open test
Rahal encouraged despite limited running in Indy 500 Open Test
Alex Palou paces opening test session at The Thermal Club
Thermal
Alex Palou paces opening test session at The Thermal Club
Motorsport.com's Top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2017
Prime
Prime
Motorsport.com's Top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2017
More from
Andretti Autosport
Newgarden fastest in rain-shortened first day of Indy 500 Open Test
Indianapolis 500
Newgarden fastest in rain-shortened first day of Indy 500 Open Test
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
The 1982 frenzy that modern F1 could miss out on by ejecting Andretti
Prime
Prime
The 1982 frenzy that modern F1 could miss out on by ejecting Andretti
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
The day Button scored his 'best F1 win'... until next time!
The day Button scored his 'best F1 win'... until next time!
New compound to thwart Porsche’s inspired Long Beach ‘no tires’ call
Long Beach
New compound to thwart Porsche’s inspired Long Beach ‘no tires’ call
Surging Chase Briscoe says a win "is right around the corner"
Surging Chase Briscoe says a win "is right around the corner"
The apprenticeship that will aid Ilott's IndyCar to WEC switch at Jota
Prime
Prime
The apprenticeship that will aid Ilott's IndyCar to WEC switch at Jota
The long evolution of Dallara's Indy 500 winner
Prime
Prime
Indy 500
The long evolution of Dallara's Indy 500 winner
Nigel Mansell’s greatest F1 and Indycar drives
Prime
Prime
Nigel Mansell’s greatest F1 and Indycar drives
Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021
Prime
Prime
Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Subscribe now
Already subscribed? Sign in here
Top Comments