2008 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing // Press Release

Sunday, July 06, 2008
Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen –
Watkins Glen International
Round 10 of 18 in the IndyCar Series

HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER RAHAL FINISHED EIGHTH IN THE CAMPING WORLD GRAND PRIX AT THE GLEN; McDONALD’S® DRIVER WILSON RETIRED DUE TO A GEARBOX OIL LEAK AFTER STARTING SECOND

McDonald’s driver Justin Wilson was unable to capitalize on a second place start in the 60-lap Camping World Grand Prix on the 3.4-mile Watkins Glen International road course and retired in 25th place after a gearbox oil leak brought his day to an end on Lap 22. On the opening lap, Scott Dixon was ruled to have jumped the start when he moved ahead of many drivers. As Dixon and others attempted to move forward, Wilson was squeezed to the edge of the track and backed off rather than get taken out and dropped to seventh. He immediately reported that the handling of the car was not good so the team began plotting how to improve it on the first pit stop. At seventh place, Wilson was the highest ranked driver to utilize a caution from Laps 7-8 for Helio Castroneves who had slowed on course and rolled to a stop on the track immediately after the pit entrance rather than pulling safely out of the way. Once the stop neared completion an Indy Racing League pit technician noticed fluid leaking from the car and would not let Wilson back on track until the problem was inspected. The McDonald’s crew determined the car was leaking gear box oil and when the problem appeared to be temporarily fixed he was sent back on track and was three laps down to the leaders. The telemetry showed that there was low oil pressure in the gearbox so he was brought back in on the following lap to fill up the reservoir to see if that would solve the problem. He was now running six laps down to the leaders when he returned to the track but retired on Lead Lap 22 in 25th place. He earned 10 points for his finish but dropped from 16th to 19th in the IndyCar Series point standings with a total of 171. Ryan Hunter-Reay, of Rahal Letterman Racing, earned his third major open wheel race and first in the IndyCar Series. Following are Wilson’s post race comments:

“It’s a very disappointing finish for the McDonald’s team,” said Wilson. “We were happy to be back on a road course because we thought we could capitalize on some points and have a competitive run. We struggled in the first few laps but after our first pit stop we sorted out the handling and are not sure why the car wasn’t better but then we had a gear box oil leak so I am just disappointed to be out of the race. It was spotted on the first pit stop. We tried to fix the problem then and we went out without an idea of how much it had leaked so we did an out lap and back in because there was low oil pressure. I think that damaged the gear box because after a few laps it broke. The McDonald’s car has been so fast all weekend and we felt that we finally had a chance to do well. It’s disappointing but you just have to think forward to the next one. We’ll be back on the oval in Nashville next weekend and then after that we’re back on a road course at Mid-Ohio. The season is too busy to look back; you can only look forward. We just need to try and make the most of the next opportunity.”

Hole in the Wall Camps driver Graham Rahal drove to an eighth place finish in the 60-lap Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen on the 3.4-mile Watkins Glen International road course after starting 18th. He gained one spot on Lap 2 when Dan Wheldon pitted with mechanical failure and had moved into 16th place when the first of six caution periods came out on Laps 6-7 for Helio Castroneves, who had slowed on course and rolled to a stop on the track immediately after the pit entrance rather than pulling safely out of the way. Rahal returned to the track in 13th place after only taking on fuel and reported his car had too much understeer before he dropped to 15th when Mario Moraes, and later Danica Patrick, passed him. He moved up to sixth place while those who hadn’t stopped on the earlier caution made their stops before he came in again on Lap 26. He returned to the track in 14th and steadily began his move forward and was in 10th place when a caution came out for contact between Vitor Meira and E.J. Viso from Laps 40-43. He made his final stop on Lap 41 and it was slightly slow due to a problem installing his outside rear tire. Tim Homburg, the outside rear tire changer, only had a few hours of sleep the night before due to a late night at the track while repairing Rahal’s bodywork following his crash on Saturday morning. Rahal gained a few positions due to the attrition and also moved ahead of Ed Carpenter and later Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe when Dixon spun under caution and into Briscoe’s path. When the race restarted with seven laps to go, he passed Hideki Mutoh for eighth place which he held until the checkered flag. He earned 24 points to regain a 16th place rank in the point standings with 183 points after Round 10 of 18. Following are Rahal’s post race comments:

“I am pretty happy with the way the race went,” said Rahal. “We progressed and the guys stuck with it. We had a bit of a tough pit stop at the end but we got past Mutoh and some other guys. The car was pretty good the last couple of stints. If we had started the weekend with this type of car we would have been a lot more competitive. I’ve got to give it to the guys; they have stuck with me this weekend after my crash on Saturday. With John (Littlefield) and Dog (Tim Homburg) staying here until 3 a.m. last night. I’m sure all they want to do is just pass out now. I can’t thank them enough. We really need some testing. We need some time to work on getting up to speed. Hopefully before the Mid-Ohio race we can do some homework and come back with a better car there. Justin was obviously very competitive this weekend and we tried to run his setup and our car was horrible. These guys are working hard. At the end of the day that is all we can do. We’ll just keep chipping away at it.”

The fourth of six consecutive races will take place next Saturday night at Nashville Speedway’s 1.3-mile short oval. It will be the first time that Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing will compete there.