Ryan Hunter-Reay wins Pocono 500; Wilson injured

Ryan Hunter-Reay

Ryan Hunter-Reay's won today's ABC Supply Co. 500 at Pocono Raceway. It was the second win of 2015 for the driver of the #28 DHL Honda, and 16th of his career.

All thoughts however are with Hunter-Reay's teammate Justin Wilson. A broken nose from Sage Karam's car on lap 179 made contact with Wilson's head at 200mph. The 5 pound piece flew 100 or more feet in the air.

The Sheffield, England native was extracted from the car and airlifted to a local hospital with suspected head trauma.

As of now that is all we know at AutoRacing1. Our thoughts and prayers are with Wilson, and we will pass along any updates when we receive them.

Josef Newgarden was second, with series championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya completing the podium in third. Will Power and Carlos Munoz rounded out the top-five.

Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 28 DHL Honda, won for the second time this season and 16th time in his Indy car career. On a day when so many of his competitors were unable to avoid trouble, RHR managed to find the balance between aggression and caution in turning in another signature performance. And like last month at Iowa Speedway, the Fort Lauderdale native once again showed himself to be one of the great oval drivers of this era. Today's win was Hunter-Reay's ninth on an oval. It also marked the fourth straight season, Hunter-Reay has won multiple races.

"We came through the field several times and the team gave me what we needed," said Hunter-Reay, who overtook Takuma Sato for second-place on lap 195, the rookie Gabby Chaves on Lap 196 in Turn 1.

On the next lap, Chaves' No. 98 Bowers & Wilkins/Curb Honda for BHA with Curb-Agajanian was trailing smoke, which caused the final caution. Chaves led 31 laps.

Showing patience when needed, Takuma Sato drove a savvy race today to finish sixth in the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway Sunday afternoon in front of 1,300-strong ABC Supply guests.

For a short while, it appeared Sato might have been the one to accept the winner’s trophy from the ABC Supply executives in victory lane as he took the lead for a second time on a restart with seven laps to go in the 200-lap race. However, he couldn’t maintain the advantage and relinquished the lead a lap later.

In terms of the series championship, it was a good day for Montoya. Graham Rahal, who entered the race nine points behind the Colombian, was eliminated from today's race on a lap 93 accident with Tristan Vautier. Rahal was none too pleased with the driver of the #19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, who made what can safely be considered a very optimistic overtaking attempt.

Rahal finished 20th and now heads to Sonoma with a 34-point deficit to Montoya.

ABC SUPPLY 500 POST-RACE QUOTES:

WILL POWER (No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "The Verizon Chevy was very strong today and we definitely had a car to win, but the circumstances just didn't allow for it. There were so many yellows and because of that we had to reorganize our strategies throughout the race. Overall we did a great job and our approach is to do as well as we did today in Sonoma. Just do our absolute best and see where it takes us."

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "Our Verizon Chevy was pretty good all day. We took our time and were smart. I think we had a car that could win the race, but it wasn't worth risking it (with title contenders running behind him). We did what we needed to do today."

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Shell V-Power Team Penske Chevrolet): "They said it was going green, everybody in the pits. We're kind of like, "Are we going green? Are we going green?" Roger (Penske) was kind of in doubt as well. As soon as it went green, everybody was still in a fuel-saving mode situation. I was just trying to go outside. I think we didn't warm up the tires very well and suddenly I lost the rear and just started going. It's a shame because we had a very fast car. The car was great. It was just one of those things that, I'm not sure how the message could be a little bit faster for my guys up there."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]STEFANO COLETTI (No. 4 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): "It is really a shame because the car was quick. We made a lot of improvements since yesterday and I was just starting to learn how to time it to pass the guys in front of me. For sure, I was a lot quicker than them and the car was really comfortable — really good and fast. So as I said, it is a shame because I am sure we would have had a good result today, but the mechanical failure just stopped us."

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 5 Arrow/Lucas Oil Schmidt Peterson Honda): "It was a really long race. The No. 5 Arrow Electronics car was pretty good, we just never had quite enough to really get all the way to the front. We had a solid top-10 run and sometimes up to top five, but it was just a hard battle all day long. We fought hard and I would've liked more, but it's good to bring the car home in one piece. Overall it was a good day and right now my thoughts are with Justin Wilson. We're wishing him the best."

JAMES JAKES (No. 7 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): "It was a fairly good day for the No. 7 MediaTech Oculus Honda. The car was a lot better off than where we started all weekend we made some good gains. We put ourselves in a good position but got involved in an incident with Ed (Carpenter) halfway through the race. We had to change the front wing, which hampered us a little bit, but we still managed to get back to the top 10. It's a shame we couldn't get a little bit more, but we still earned some points. I'm looking forward to getting back out in Sonoma and keep moving up in the championship points."

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "We made a lot of adjustments to the Target car throughout the race and we were really just working with the track changes every time we came in. I was hanging back a bit to save some fuel so we could move up a bit later. It just never really materialized with the way the yellows fell and with that final yellow ending the race with no chance for a restart."

TONY KANAAN (No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "I have no idea what happened out there, especially in that corner. It's just not a difficult corner for us. I know they said I was probably under the white line, but I really have no idea. I haven't seen the in-car footage, but I just lost it. It was unexpected. We had a good car. We were going to try to make it in two (more) stops, we were saving fuel back there. It's a shame but glad we're in one piece and get to move on to Sonoma."

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Team Mistic E-Cigs-KVSH Chevrolet): "Obviously a very disappointing day. I don't think we had the car to compete, but we were going to make the best of it as usual. I was looking for a long race and it turned out pretty short. That restart, they hadn't swept the track during the yellow and I got shoved a bit to the outside of the track. I was only halfway up the track and there was just marbles and dust. The car spun around and that was that. It is frustrating that my race ended like that with damages we don't need and losing points. Now we head to Sonoma and hopefully we can finish better, but today is (about) points we are going to miss at the end.

TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): "We knew we were strong at Pocono the last two years, but today we struggled at the beginning with the grip and balance. We put a lot of downforce on during the middle of the race because with 20 Indy cars in front of you, the turbulence was huge. Once I got to the front, I needed to take the downforce off because the cars up front were extremely fast down the straight, which we didn't have at the end. On the last restart, I overtook (Gabby) Chavez and led for a short time, but he overtook me because he had less downforce and I couldn't keep the momentum. It's a shame because the guys did a super job and put us in position to challenge for the win. We finished sixth, a good result, but it feels disappointing because we were right there. Still, I appreciate the support from ABC Supply for our team and also sponsoring this race at Pocono. I heard Justin had a big accident and I hope he is OK. I don't know the status right now but I wish him a super speedy recovery."

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Steak 'n Shake Honda): "Obviously, I'm frustrated. We had a pretty good race car today. It was slow initially but we were working on it and we got it pretty good. Then we had an issue in the pits that lost us a bunch of spots, so we were trying to work our way back up. (Tristan) Vautier is not known as the smartest guy and you see why. It's just a shame for this Steak 'n Shake team going into this championship second in the points right now. We're going to be watching the Verizon app to see how many points we fall back for the rest of the race. This one hurts. One race to go and this puts a big, big dent in things. (Justin) Wilson and I were coming through Turn 2. There were a lot of guys driving pretty aggressively and Wilson lost momentum and I just stuck it inside of him and we ran from (Turn) 2 down to 3 together, and then Vautier just decided that he wanted to join the party there at the last moment and unfortunately just punted us. He says I turned in on him, but there's not any space. We're already two wide, he knows that, he sees that. It just hurts us. As I said to him "You know I'm in the championship hunt for Honda. Why would you do something like that?" He has no answers. We didn't have the best of days going with the error in the pits, but I knew my guys had gotten a good stop and we were going to fight our way back into this. We were only 90 laps into a 200-lap race. We're down but we're not out. We've had a good year, nothing to be ashamed about. We'll go to Sonoma in attack mode."

TRISTAN VAUTIER (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "It's a tough one. I had a big run, obviously it's three wide so it's a bit tough. I felt like I had a run, I was almost all the way alongside if not fully alongside, I don't know. We were three wide, I don't think Justin (Wilson) knew that probably and I didn't get any room, obviously. I felt like I deserved a bit of room. I just tried to go down the apron and brake, but it was too late. I obviously feel bad, he is a championship contender for Honda, so it's always tough and you always have to be the bad guy in this kind of story. My side of the story honestly, I was up alongside quite high and I didn't even get half a car width to deal with. It was tough, but obviously I feel really bad, feel bad for the guys. We were all looking to be there at the end of the 500-miler."

ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka CFH Racing Chevrolet): "It was disappointing. For as many problems as we had this weekend and not qualifying well, we were really good in the race. We had worked our way pretty far forward and felt pretty good about how we were looking for the rest of the race. Then (James) Jakes got in the back of us and knocked the bumper pod off. We had to go to our spare wing, which was set at higher level of downforce, which was hurting our pace. Ultimately, we had a mechanical issue. If you look at our results from 2015 on the ovals with the No. 20 car, it looks so bad. We were definitely better than what we showed, it was just one of those years where we couldn't catch a break. Happy for Josef (Newgarden) to finish second, but more than anything, sending prayers our for Justin (Wilson) and his family."

CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 26 AndrettiTV Cinsay Honda): "First of all, we are all thinking of Justin (Wilson) right now. He's my teammate and a great competitor, you just wish for the best. Today we finished fifth – we're not really happy with the result. I think, as a team, me and the crew, we were not good in our pit stops. We lost too many spots today, which is not usual for my AndrettiTV/Cinsay crew. I think we had the car to finish in the front, but there were way too many yellows in this race. Now we look ahead to Sonoma and hope to finish the season off on a good note."

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 27 Snapple Honda): "We were monitoring the uprights because I was having to use the brakes to keep the car spooled up, and it just went way too violently. That's not a normal way for a car to let go, so I think something let go. It's a bummer. The angle wasn't very nice, but it's a tribute to these cars. They're definitely strong. Just wish the wishbone was a bit stronger. I don't know what was going on in the restarts. We were like a sitting duck, but once we got going, we were going forward. It took us a while to get the center pressure right because we missed practice last night, so that was the first stint that the car was finally coming alive and we were in the top 10. It was going to be fun the rest of way and we were just taking it slow. It's a 500-mile race, so just bummer for points and the record we were going after (of completing every lap). It's a shame."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): "This team has given my great race cars over the years and this was one of them. We came through the field many times today. I hope the fans enjoyed the show because it was fun in the race car. We knifed through the field about five times, I think, and there wasn't anybody out there that we couldn't get around. It was a pleasure to drive today. Obviously, first and foremost, we're thinking about Justin Wilson. With heads exposed and when you get flying debris, it's a bad luck deal. Our thoughts are with him. I know him and his family well, they're great friends of ours. Really, really just thinking about Justin right now."

JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 41 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): "I was trying to get my laps back so I wasn't even racing (Charlie Kimball). I obviously got a good run in, pulled up on the straight on him, pulled out three-quarters of the way down his car going into Turn 1 and he just drove me straight into the apron. Tried to get out of it, tried to avoid it, kind of almost caught it and then he hit me again. I'm just upset for ABC Supply. This is obviously the main event for them this year. We had the problem at the first stop with the wheel nut, but we got going again and we trimmed the car a little bit from the start and we were picking up places and we had a couple cautions fall our way so we could get some laps back. We had a competitive car so I'm truly sorry to the A.J. Foyt guys, all of the ABC Supply guys. Not what we wanted today."

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Hartman Oil CFH Racing Chevrolet): "It was a long, tough day in the car. CFH Racing did a great job working on the thing, tuning it, making it better. Happy with our result, but I'm just thinking about Justin (Wilson) right now and hoping he's OK."

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet): "I just have to start off by giving a lot of credit to the mechanics, the engineers and just the whole team at Chip Ganassi Racing for getting me back on track today after my crash yesterday. The backup car was really good, especially considering that I hadn't really done a full lap with the backup car and the backup engine. The car was just really good and allowed me to go racing right when I felt comfortable. It took me a little while to find my feet out there, but when I did the NovoLog FlexPen car was there. It was unfortunate that we had the incident mid-race that hindered us a little, but we'll be able to look at that now and learn from it. After that incident, the car was just never quite right again so we were just safe and tried to take some spots when they came to us."

GABBY CHAVES (No. 98 Bowers & Wilkins/Curb Honda): "Well, what can I say? Obviously after having a shot to win the race, with three laps to go and our engine blew so it is disappointing, but you know, that's racing. Racing has its ups and downs and today we had both. We led a lot of laps. We showed what we can do when we are in the front. We just didn't get to finish it out with a result, but I am very proud of this group of guys we have working. Everyone we have at Bryan Herta Autosport and our No. 98 Bowers & Wilkins/Castrol EDGE/Deltro Electric car, I am so proud of. This team is a great family and we know good things are coming. There were a lot of wrecks today and in INDYCAR we are a family. It's always hard to see your competitors and your friends get hurt, so my prayers along with everyone else's prayers here are with Justin Wilson and his family."

Results

Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 146.245
Time of Race: 03:25:08.1095
Margin of victory: Under Caution
Cautions: 12 for 74 laps
Lead changes: 33 among 12 drivers
Lap Leaders:
Castroneves 1-2
Newgarden 3-27
Pagenaud 28-32
Newgarden 33-54
Kanaan 55-64
Hunter-Reay 65
Pagenaud 66-68
Castroneves 69-71
Pagenaud 72-78
Castroneves 79-92
Kanaan 93-103
Pagenaud 104
Karam 105-106
Pagenaud 107
Castroneves 108-109
Chaves 110-114
Power 115-116
Chaves 117
Castroneves 118-120
Chaves 121-127
Hunter-Reay 128-134
Kimball 135
Chaves 136-138
Pagenaud 139-151
Hunter-Reay 152-164
Briscoe 165-167
Wilson 168-169
Hunter-Reay 170-172
Sato 173-174
Karam 175-176
Chaves 180-192
Sato 193
Chaves 194-195
Hunter-Reay 196-200
Verizon IndyCar Series point standings: Montoya 500, Rahal 466, Dixon 453, Power 439, Castroneves 423, Newgarden 413, Andretti 390, Bourdais 386, Kanaan 366, Pagenaud 356.