Newgarden laps Indy Lights field in New Hampshire
Following a Lap 69 caution for a spin of another teammate, Esteban Guerrieri, Newgarden didn't have any challengers.
By Lap 65, Newgarden had put all cars but the No. 7 Lucas Oil entry driven by Guerrieri a lap down in the New Hampshire 100 on the 1.025-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway and went on to his fifth victory of the season.
Newgarden increased his Firestone Indy Lights championship points lead over Guerrieri, who was the runner-up for the third time this season, with three races remaining.
Jorge Goncalvez, who started a season-high fifth in the No. 4 Belardi Auto Racing Special, finished a season-best second (his eighth top 10 in 11 races). Duarte Ferreira was third in the No. 28 Bryan Herta Autosport car — also a season high — and Gustavo Yacaman advanced seven positions to finish fourth in the No. 2 TMR-Tuvacol-Xtreme Coil Drilling car.
POST-RACE QUOTES:
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 11 Copart/Score Big/Robo Pong/SSM, winner New Hampshire 100): "What a day. This weekend turned out to be more than we thought it could be. I'm very, very happy for the whole team. It's unfortunate with what happened with Esteban (Guerrieri). It's tough to see that with a teammate. It's not easy. We're pushing hard and we're trying to win this championship. It's not an easy job for either of us with the situation that we have."
JORGE GONCALVEZ (No. 4 Belardi Auto Racing Special, finished second): "I am very happy today to get my first second place finish in the Firestone Indy Lights. This is a very competitive series with a group of talented drivers. I definitely like the short ovals and I had good results at Milwaukee and now here. Team Belardi worked very hard to get my car ready for this race and think about what we needed for this oval and to work in the traffic. We were slow in the traffic at times and it was really difficult at this track. I was trying to use my same race line and then when I passed my teammate Anders Krohn I was a lot faster. I saw a yellow flag and then I was able to catch Gustavo Yacamen. I knew that I needed a good restart and I was able to get a jump on it. I passed him on the first lap after the restart. I was very happy with the car and the way it was running at the end."
DUARTE FERREIRA (No. 28 Bryan Herta Autosport, finished third): "This was a very good day because this is my first season in the Firestone Indy Lights and I was able to achieve my goal of getting a podium. I am only 18 years old and this is a very competitive series to race in. I have finished in the top-ten seven times but the team has put a lot of work into the cars and it is better. Today I had a problem with a lot of understeer, but it was a good race and I am pleased with the outcome. I was very concentrated on getting a podium and I want to thank my sponsors, families and friends for helping make today possible."
GUSTAVO YACAMAN (No. 2 TMR/Tuvacol/Xtreme Coil Drilling, finished fourth): "I'm really disappointed especially after we got from last to second. On the restarts the Schmidt guys, Bryan (Clauson) went high, and my car worked really well up high, and it took all the air away from me. I'm really annoyed at Car No. 4 (Goncalvez) for his reckless driving out there. He almost took me out. We had a couple of close calls out there. I'm just disappointed."
ESTEBAN GUERRIERI (No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, finished fifth): "At least we finished the race after a spin. Normally when you spin on an oval, you don't finish the race. We saved some points. It was an interesting race. We had a similar pace with Josef and I was just waiting for traffic and we got side by side a couple of times and I had my chances. We also didn't want to do any silly things. The important thing was to not make contact with a teammate. Then, I got stuck behind Yacaman for several laps. He let Josef by but then not me. When he let me get by him, the spin came because I decided to push more. It caught me by surprise that the rear came around. Recovering to finish fifth was good. It wasn't what I wanted, but it was good. There are three races left and still a lot to achieve."
Results Sunday of the New Hampshire 100 Firestone Indy Lights Series event on the 1.025 mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Josef Newgarden, 100, Running
2. (5) Jorge Goncalvez, 99, Running
3. (6) Duarte Ferreira, 99, Running
4. (11) Gustavo Yacaman, 99, Running
5. (3) Esteban Guerrieri, 99, Running
6. (8) David Ostella, 98, Running
7. (2) Bryan Clauson, 98, Running
8. (7) Rusty Mitchell, 98, Running
9. (10) Brandon Wagner, 98, Running
10. (9) Victor Carbone, 98, Running
11. (4) Anders Krohn, 77, Mechanical
12. (12) Stefan Wilson, 11, Mechanical
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 125.508
Time of Race: 00:49:00.0481
Margin of victory: 1 lap
Cautions: 12
Lead changes: 0
Lap Leaders:
Newgarden 1 – 100
Point Standings: Newgarden 449, Guerrieri 381, Wilson 343, Yacaman 302, Goncalvez 287, Krohn 257, Ferreira 256, Ostella 254, Carbone 245, Peter Dempsey 242.