Josef Newgarden fought his way through the Streets of Houston in blazing heat to finish fifth in Race One of the Grand Prix of Houston’s doubleheader weekend. The Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) driver gained 13 positions in the No. 67 Strike car to capture his fourth top-five finish of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season.

“It was a race of attrition for us, but a great job for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing,” Newgarden said. “It’s great to have Strike on board with us this weekend, doing so well and getting a nice top-five.”

Newgarden started the 90-lap race 18th on the grid after having very little time during Friday’s two practices.

“We started behind the eight ball today after I made a mistake in practice on Friday that cost us some time,” Newgarden said. “It was really important to get a good result and I think we’re back on track now. Hopefully we can qualify well tomorrow and have an even better race.”

Temperatures north of 90 degrees made driving through the 1.683-mile,10-turn temporary street circuit even more challenging.

“It’s a very physical and demanding track,” Newgarden said. “You have to have a lot of mental concentration, but it’s really hard to stay focused when you get fatigued out there. This is what we train for, but I’m definitely going to have to recover and drink a lot of water to rehydrate for tomorrow.”

The 22-year-old is thrilled to have Strike as SFHR’s primary sponsor for both of Houston’s races.

“The people at Strike are awesome and we’re so happy to have them onboard,” Newgarden said. “They’re just a great group and really supportive. They love this event and they really loved the car too. It was really important to us to make a good looking car and I think we succeeded.”

Qualifications for Race Two will begin at 9:45 a.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 6. Live coverage of the race will air live on NBC Sports Network at 12 p.m. ET. For the latest updates from the No. 67 Strike car, like Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing on Facebook and follow @SFHRindy on Twitter and Instagram.

Strike, LLC:

Strike is a leading single-source energy services provider, known for its high safety and quality standards. Strike’s integrated network of energy services ranges from upstream production, processing and gathering facilities to high-pressure transmission and distribution lines. Strike is committed to ensuring the safety and health of our employees, the general public, environment and our customers through our industry leading Safety program. Fulfilling a need in the Midstream Energy sector led to the creation of Strike, LLC in 2003, and Strike’s foundation is built on the pillars of Safety, Quality, Accountability, and Integrity through partnering. Over the past 10 years, Strike has created various business units with numerous locations throughout the Gulf Coast region. For more information about Strike, please visit. www.strikeusa.com.