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Andretti Autosport, IZOD IndyCar Series
Race Report: Iowa Corn Indy 250

Ryan Hunter-Reay, Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet, No. 28

Hunter-Reay claimed victory today in Iowa after starting the Iowa Corn Indy 250 from the seventh position. This is the second consecutive win for the American-born driver and his seventh career victory. Hunter-Reay led 15 laps, making the winning pass on Scott Dixon on lap 238.

“That was very challenging. We were sliding around a little bit more today. I have to thank Marco (Andretti) and his team. They came here and tested, and we ended up putting Marco’s set-up on the car. When we came here, we tweaked it just a little. From there, we basically raced with what he tested with. We got another win for DHL and Sun Drop, and we’ve got Andretti Autosport and Chevy back on top. Marco and I raced really hard out there, really clean. It’s great to have a teammate like that and we’re just so happy to be in Victory Lane twice in a row. The team’s working really well together so it’s great to get another win for the 28 team. Two in a row is a game changer, and it means we need to start running up here more often, and continue to put performances like tonight together… The communication’s great, the atmosphere among the entire team is the best it’s been since I’ve been here, for sure. We’re clicking – we’re clicking as a group. We have to be consistent. we have to go week-in and week-out, consistently strong and being in the top-five for sure, every weekend.”

Marco Andretti, Team RC Cola Chevrolet, No. 26

Andretti finished second at the Iowa Corn Indy 250 after starting from the third position. It is his best finish of the 2012 season, and he led three laps in addition to spending nearly the entire race in the top-five. This also marks the second consecutive race that Andretti Autosport has placed two cars in the top-three.

“It was a lot of fun, and the car came alive in the second stint. I think we, in hindsight, could have taken another turn of the front wing and been really hard to beat at the end, but we kept the car how it is, and I kind of ran out of tools at the end and had a lot of understeer. Tonight was a great team effort, definitely a statement from Andretti Autosport that we are back on top, and congrats to Ryan (Hunter-Reay). Two-in-a-row for the team, two-in-a-row at Iowa. It’s a good day for the team, but for me I’m a little disappointed to come up short.”

James Hinchcliffe, Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, No. 27

Hinchcliffe started tonight’s race from fourth and led 19 laps early in the 250-lap race. His night ended early after making contact with the wall in Turn 4 on Lap 196. He is scored with a 17th-place finish.

“On the restart there, we’d been understeering all night, which is sort of the weird thing about it. We pulled in for the stop and it’s just one of those things. The dirty air there behind Ryan (Hunter-Reay) making passes towards the front, and the cars had been running better on the bottom all night so I was able to take that high line like a lot of guys were and tuck it down there and try to follow Katherine’s (Legge) groove. The car snapped once, snapped twice and I almost got it and then it went around.

I feel bad for the Go Daddy guys, obviously the cars are running really well and I thought we had a good shot at winning this thing, and I just feel bad for the guys on the 27 team, but super happy for Ryan on his second win in a row, and congrats to Marco (Andretti) on his podium tonight.”

Andretti Autosport, Star Mazda Championship Powered by Goodyear
Race Report: Iowa Speedway Foundation 100, Iowa Speedway

Sage Karam, Team Comfort Revolution, No. 88

Karam won today’s Iowa Speedway Foundation 100. He started on the pole and was also the quickest driver in two out of three practice sessions this weekend. This is now his third win in a row at Iowa Speedway.

“It was almost a perfect weekend. It was nice being quickest in two out of the three sessions and we were still third quickest in practice this morning. This was a great point’s race. It is unfortunate for Jack (Hawksworth) that he had a little problem there at the end. This really moved us up in the championship title fight and I am looking forward to the Canadian races because I know that we are good at Trois-Rivieres. We definitely know that when we come here we are going to be a contender for the win. The Star Mazda Series is just so competitive this year, you can’t really tell who is going to win until the checkered flag falls. We just had to run consistently. I knew I had a good car and starting first is where you want to be in races like this. We got out front and just had to keep our heads down. Thanks to my Andretti Autosport guys for their hard work this weekend and helping to get the win.”

Zach Veach, Team K12, No. 77

Veach finished today’s race in the sixth position, after qualifying sixth. He ran as high as fourth in this morning’s practice session. This is his first time racing at Iowa Speedway with the Star Mazda Series.

“It has been a really rain soaked weekend for us. We were coming off of great momentum in Indianapolis and were one of the top cars in practice this weekend. Qualifying was pretty tough today because I was actually sitting out in the rain right before my run. Therefore, it was a pretty loose drive for us. We were able to qualify sixth and also finished the race in sixth, but the race was quite difficult for us. We needed a little bit of help in traffic, but we were fine running by ourselves. It isn’t bad going into Toronto with a sixth-place finish. I am really excited to see what we can do coming up to the road courses. I have to thank my Andretti Autosport team for working so hard and especially K12, Zakoski Data Backup, Young Marines, Replay XD, ADS, OMP, and Arai Helmets for making all of this possible.”

Andretti Autosport, Firestone Indy Lights
Race Report: Sukup 100 at Iowa Speedway

Carlos Muñoz, Team Dialy-Ser, No. 26

Munoz finished today’s race in the seventh position. This was his first time racing at Iowa Speedway.

“I am disappointed with the outcome of the race. We struggled a lot throughout the weekend and were never very close to the top of the speed charts. We have to use this race as a learning experience and concentrate on the circuits that we have ahead. Thanks to my Andretti Autosport crew for their hard work this weekend and we’ll continue to push forward.”

Sebastian Saavedra, Team AFS Racing / Andretti Autosport, No. 27

Saavedra finished today’s race 13th, after having to stop on lap 57 due to a broken right front brake rotor. He qualified fourth for the race, and was up to second after the first lap.

“It was a sad race for the whole AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport crew. We have been doing such a job the whole season and this failure really wasn’t what we needed because we are very focused on the overall season and championship points. There was an unfortunate situation where the front right brake rotor broke. This is something that is quite unusual, but took us out of the race. We were doing a great job and had a great start, passing two cars on the first lap. I was trying to keep a good pace and save some tires for the end. I feel bad for the team because we were looking good today. I have to stay focused and keep positive knowing that there are still five races to go and anything can happen. We can’t let other points get away from us.”

Source: Andretti Autosport, Press Release