Newgarden, Filippi Both Involved In On-Track Incidents

(DETROIT) May 31, 2015 – Race 2 Notes

– The Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Presented by Quicken Loans was the only doubleheader event on the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule. The unique race weekend featured a full points paying race on Saturday afternoon, followed by another entire race on Sunday afternoon.

– Qualifications for today’s race were to be held this morning with the field split in half for 20 minute sessions. Josef Newgarden was in Group 1, which was able to finish despite consistent rain. Group 2, which included Luca Filippi, fell short of the required five minutes of green time when the session was red flagged due to weather conditions. The starting field was set on entrant points, meaning Newgarden would roll off in the 6th position and Filippi would start 18th.

– Newgarden had a impressive start to the race, passing three cars in the first lap and moving into 3rd. Filippi also started the race well, moving up two positions into 17th.

– On Lap 15, Filippi was one of the first cars to dive into the pits for a fresh set of Firestone wet tires, a strategy that worked in his favor as it moved him up as high as 7th less than 10 laps later.

– Newgarden’s first stop came on Lap 21. He entered the pit lane in 3rd and cycled out in 4th, but regained his lost position six laps later when the No. 1 car of Will Power slowed in front of him.

– Meanwhile, Filippi’s strategy appeared to be working well when he decided to pit on Lap 36 for sticker red tires, one of the first cars to make the switch from the wet tires. As soon as he entered the pit lane, the yellow flag came out, closing the pits and forcing the Italian to drive through without stopping and lose two positions. When the pits did open, Filippi changed to sticker red tires, while Newgarden opted for sticker black tires.

– At the Lap 41 restart, Newgarden was scored in the 7th position and Filippi in 13th. Before his tires could come up to temperature, Filippi spun and made contact with the wall with both the front and rear of the car. The safety team restarted the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet and Filippi was able to pit for a new front and rear wing. The damage was more extensive than originally expected, forcing him to pit again so the crew could replace a bent right rear toe link. Filippi was able to rejoin the race, albeit two laps behind the leader.

– Newgarden set his fastest lap of the race on Lap 47, making a pit stop two laps later on Lap 49 for sticker red tires. Similar to Filippi’s situation, it was difficult for Newgarden to get his tires warm in the 50 degree weather. He made heavy contact with the wall not long after exiting the pit lane. Newgarden was able to climb from the car under his own power, but his race was over. He would earn points for a 21st place result.

– Filippi finished the event and picked up four positions as other cars fell out of the race. He would be credited with a 17th place finish, mirroring his starting position.

– Both CFH Racing drivers finished the Top 10 of yesterday’s Race 1 around the  2.35-mile, 14-turn circuit on Belle Isle. Newgarden finished 8th, while Filippi finished 9th.

– The Month of May was tough for CFH Racing, who lost two cars in separate practice accidents at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, had one car involved accident during the Indianapolis 500 last weekend, were involved in a practice crash on Friday of this weekend and had the accident in today’s race. The crew will work to repair the damage to No. 67 from today’s contact when the team returns to it’s Speedway, Ind. headquarters tomorrow.

– CFH Racing will head to Texas Motor Speedway next week for the second oval race of the season. Team co-owner Ed Carpenter will return to the cockpit alongside Newgarden. The Firestone 600 will take place at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 6.

LUCA FILIPPI, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17TH: “We raced really hard to make up positions at the beginning of the race. We came out of the pits on one stop on cold red tires and I just lost it. I’m very sorry to my team. We had a good result in our hands, even though we started in the back. The car felt great all the time. Today was probably the some most difficult conditions possible because it was not only damp, but also very cold. Everything combined made it very tricky and we had many cautions because it was very hard to keep it on the track.”