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MID-OHIO STRATEGY RACE DOES NOT FALL IN CFH RACING’S FAVOR

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Newgarden Falls Victim To Untimely Yellow; Filippi Runs Out Of Fuel On Final Lap

(LEXINGTON, Ohio) August 2, 2015 – Race Notes

– Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course plays host to races heavily laden in strategy and today’s Honda Indy 200 was no different. Josef Newgarden, on a strategy that had him solidly on the podium, was caught out by an untimely caution period and finished 13th. Luca Filippi was running in the top 10 coming to the checkered flag, but ran out of fuel with three corners to go and fell to 21st place.

– After starting 9th, Filippi passed three cars in his No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet to move into 6th by the end of the first lap. Newgarden gained one position on Lap 1 and took control of 4th place.

 – As a car went off course while attempting to pass Newgarden, Filippi slipped into 5th place. As the car re-entered the race course, contact was made with another competitor and caused a full course caution on Lap 3. At the restart on Lap 7, Filippi ran side-by-side with Newgarden and took the 4th spot. Newgarden lost momentum and dropped back to 7th.

– Newgarden made his first pit stop in his No. 67 Hartman Oil Chevrolet on Lap 16 for sticker red tires. Filippi was headed to the pit lane for scuffed red tires on Lap 21, but debris in various locations around the track caused the second caution of the race. He made his stop from 4th on Lap 22 when the pit lane opened, but came out 18th. Newgarden jumped to 6th as a benefit of stopping several laps earlier.

– On the Lap 26 restart, Newgarden passed Rodolfo Gonzales for the 5th position. As the cars in front of him on a different strategy made their stops, Newgarden continually gained positions. He took the lead of the race on Lap 41 when Juan Pablo Montoya entered the pit lane.

– Newgarden made his second pit stop on Lap 42 for sticker black tires. He came out of the pits in 4th, behind Montoya. The two cars ahead remained on a different strategy and once they stopped, Newgarden moved into 2nd. Filippi made his second stop one lap later and cycled out in 20th.

– Filippi ducked in for his third stop on Lap 60, gambling on late-race yellows to help him make it to the end on fuel. The next yellow came six laps later, launching him all the way up to 9th place. Newgarden, on a strategy that favored the race remaining green, had to pit under the caution and dropped to 14th.

– Filippi benefited from another caution on Lap 80 which allowed him to save more fuel, but it was not enough. He ran out near Turn 9 of the final lap, dropping him to 21st position. Newgarden, who was caught out by the Lap 60 caution, finished the race in 13th place.

– Despite today’s race, Newgarden is in the midst of the best season of his Verizon IndyCar Series career. He earned his first two IndyCar wins in a span of seven races earlier in the season, captured his first career pole position and has claimed one other podium finish.

– Filippi made his Verizon IndyCar Series debut at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 4, 2013 driving for Bryan Herta Autosport.

– Filippi and his wife Elisa welcomed their first child, daughter Mia, on July 13. The celebrations will continue for Filippi as his 30th birthday falls next weekend on August 9.

– The Verizon IndyCar Series will head to Pocono Raceway for the penultimate round of the 2015 season on Sunday, August 23. The race will be broadcast at 2 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. 

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 67 HARTMAN OIL CHEVROLET, FINISHED 13TH: “It was a tough day, sometimes it is your day and sometimes it’s not. Today just wasn’t our day, that’s what it comes down to. Things play out for you sometimes and today didn’t play out for us strategy-wise. It was no real fault of our own, we just got unlucky. We had the pace and we had a good car, it really was a good effort all weekend. It’s disappointing, but we’ll go on to the next one and hopefully take a shot at another victory in Pocono.”

LUCA FILIPPI, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA CHEVROLET, FINISHED 21ST: “It was looking very good, but everything that could go wrong today happened to us. If there had been an asteroid crashing down somewhere in the world, it would have been on my car. I can say I am glad I didn’t get struck by lightning or hit by an asteroid and I can go home safe and sound! For the race, I think we were very fast. We probably had the second or third fastest lap of the race. We were running fourth when the yellow came out at the wrong time. We still had a good strategy, at the end we were just managing the fuel we had and hitting that number we wanted to. Unfortunately, there was a mistake in the calculation and we ran out of fuel. I did everything I could and the team did everything they could to get me as many positions as they could, it was just a very unfortunate situation.  I think we have to be pleased with out pace today.”

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