Dixon posts historic last-to-first run to victory at Mid-Ohio

HONDA INDY 200 POST-RACE QUICK QUOTES:

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Mistic KVSH Racing Chevrolet): “We got a little unlucky on that one obviously. The team wanted to go straight to blacks on the first pit stop, and I thought maybe it was a bit early. A lot of guys did go on reds as well on the first pit stop. It was the right choice until the yellow came out, and then we had to do the restart on a green track with black tires. That was tough. Hats off to Dixie (Scott Dixon) and the (Chip) Ganassi guys. We didn’t have anything for them. They were clearly the class of the field and deserve it. It is a one-two for Chevy so I couldn’t be any happier with the Mistic boys. We will keep rolling!”

CARLOS HUERTAS (No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): “My race started out well when I moved up five positions on that first lap incident, but didn’t go as well after that. I was running fast laps and keeping up with the leaders. I think I was actually running second for a while. When I got that penalty I dropped back and couldn’t recover. At the end, I was fuel saving and ended up needing to make an extra stop to make it to the end. I wish I could have done better today, but sometimes things just don’t go your way.”

MIKHAIL ALESHIN (No. 7 SMP Racing Honda): “When the safety car went out for the caution, unfortunately I was already in the pits. Pit lane technically became closed at that moment by INDYCAR, so I had to drive through and come back in a second time for my pit stop. When I came back in for service, I accidentally went over the pit speed limit on my exit, which resulted in a penalty. It was an unlucky race, but I’m glad I finished and that the car was fast. It didn’t go our way today, but we gained some points today and know that we’ll have a fast car on the next road course.”

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda): “Unfortunately, we just didn’t have the pace today. Qualifying really hurt us, and we were stuck in the pack for most of the race. We definitely have some work to do to prepare for our next road course race in Sonoma. We need to focus forward and make sure we maximize every opportunity we have in the next few weeks. One positive takeaway from Mid-Ohio is that the other championship contenders also struggled. We’re getting down to the wire now, and this could still be anyone’s championship.”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 17 Automatic Fire Sprinklers KV AFS Chevrolet): “What an unfortunate situation. The entire No. 17 KV AFS Racing crew has put a huge amount of effort in this weekend and it’s just unbelievable that this situation has happened. Somehow we need to get out of this run of bad luck we have been having. We have the car. We have the mentality. And we just need to find a way to show it. We will move on and look forward to a good weekend in Milwaukee in a couple of weeks.”

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “Proud of the Verizon Chevy boys today. We didn’t quite have the pace on the red tires that we wanted, but it was as good as we could do. As far as the standings go, we have a small lead but the key from here on out is to finish ahead of the other guys week in and week out. If we can do that, we will be in good shape to challenge for the Verizon IndyCar Series Championship.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Hartman Oil/Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): “We didn’t get it right. It’s a shame. We had such a strong car and, man, we had a great strategy. What a killer idea going with blacks there. All we had to do was hang onto (Sebastien) Bourdais there – we knew he was going to be stronger on reds. We just hung with him and it fell right into our seat. It was just a perfect strategy call, which was so much fun for me. I kinda knew what was happening the whole time and we planned that originally. You don’t always stick with your plan but we did that today and it unfolded perfectly for us. It was a shame that it didn’t work out, but I think everyone knew we were strong today and definitely had a shot at winning the thing. And that’s all you can ask for, we’ve had a couple of those this year and we’ll have a couple more before it’s done.”

TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): “It was a disappointing race. We made a good start, picked up a couple positions in Turn 1, but then there was a multiple car accident in front of me and I couldn’t avoid it. I damaged the front wing so we pitted and changed it. We went back racing again, but unfortunately we ran out of fuel and I couldn’t get back to the pits, so I had to be towed and we lost a lap. We kept going and the boys gave me great pit stops, but our position never changed because we were a lap down. It was a really tough race. We just have to keep our motivation up and go on.”

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 National Guard Honda): “To finish fifth at my home track feels really good. It was a good day for us, but you always want to do better. Certainly there is nothing to be disappointed about though because we’re getting closer. I’ve said time and time again that this team is creeping up on it. This team can win races and can compete and I can compete as a driver. I just need to keep working hard as a team and push ourselves forward and the wins are going to come. I was really struggling at the start of the race because it was really slippery. I obviously avoided the wreck on the start, which was a good thing and we just worked our way through. We didn’t have the quickest car out there today, but we were close and that’s what we have to keep doing, getting closer and closer. All in all it was a good day and the guys did a great job with the pit stops. I’m proud of this National Guard team and the effort. For me, to have the National Guard here was extra special because it was the Ohio National Guard being that I am from Ohio and a lot of kids that I met are from the area I am from. It was very cool to spend some time with them.”

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NEXT PAGE: More quotes from much of the field in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course