2008 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing // Press Release

Saturday, June 7, 2008
Bombardier Learjet 550 –
Texas Motor Speedway
Round 7 of 18 in the IndyCar Series

HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER RAHAL FINISHED 11TH IN THE BOMBARDIER LEARJET 550k; McDONALD’S DRIVER WILSON MADE CONTACT AFTER RUNNING 14TH

McDonald’s driver Justin Wilson had moved up to 14th from his 23rd place starting position in the Bombardier Learjet 550k in his, as well as the team’s, debut on the high-banked 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway but retired from the race with suspension damage after he brushed the Turn 2 wall on Lap 39 of 228 scheduled laps. He lost a few positions on the start but steadily regained them from 27th place. The field took advantage of the first caution for Mario Dominguez, who brushed the wall, and the majority pit on Lap 12 under caution. Wilson gained three positions on the stop and returned to the track in 20th. Once the race resumed Wilson began progressing through the field and was in 14th place by Lap 21. He temporarily held 13th place before he returned to 14th but brushed the Turn 2 wall on Lap 39 and retired due to suspension damage. Wilson earned 10 points for his 27th place finish for a total of 117 after Round 7 of 18. He dropped on position in the IndyCar Series point standings to 20th with a total of 117. Following are his post race comments:

“It felt like the car was sliding around a lot; it was difficult to hang on to but we were able to move forward,” said Wilson. “I was pleased with the progress we were making; I think the McDonald’s car was pretty quick. I had just started to settle down and I was happy where I was. I was ready to sit there for another couple hundred laps but something happened up the road and I got off the power but I just got sucked along and up into the outside wall of Turn 2. We were up inside the top-15 and I was happy so I was just trying to ease off a little bit. I was happy to sit there and let the race unfold but something happened up the road and Buddy (Rice) had to check up so I lifted off the throttle at the exit of Turn 1 and went all the way through Turn 2 off power and just couldn’t get the car to stop. I just ran out of road and brushed the outside wall of Turn 2. The car went a long way with no throttle and I just couldn’t get it stopped.”

Hole in the Wall Camps driver Graham Rahal finished 11th in the Bombardier Learjet 550k in his first race at the high-banked 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway after he started 18th. He held his position and temporarily dropped as low as 21st after the field took advantage of a caution and pitted on Lap 13 after Mario Dominguez brushed the wall and spun. After the race resumed, he became reacclimated to the race pace and moved up to 17th. After his second stop on Lap 41 he gained a couple of positions and ran as high as 14th. He made his next stop on Lap 100 and after the field completed their stops, he was in 13th place by Lap 110. He was passed by Ryan Briscoe on Lap 118 and held 14th place until the next round of stops began on Lap 140 before he pitted from tenth place on Lap 150. Once the round of stops were complete he moved back into 14th place on Lap 160. On Lap 165 a caution came out for debris on the back stretch and portion of the field made another stop once the pits opened on Lap 168. As Rahal was running at the tail end of his lap, one lap down, the team elected to bring him back in on Lap 170 at the end of the caution for a splash of fuel so that if another yellow flag came out, he could run until the end of the race without making another stop. He held 16th place while conserving fuel and moved into 15th when Danica Patrick stopped on Lap 191. As others sporadically made their final stops, Rahal moved up into 10th place by Lap 207 of 228. He reported to the team that he felt a vibration but the telemetry showed no evidence of a problem. He had a chance to move further up the running order if the race stayed green when others would have to make a late race pit for a splash of fuel but Enrique Bernoldi brought out a caution flag on Lap 213 when he made contact with the Turn 4 wall. When the race resumed on Lap 219 Rahal again reported a vibration and lost three positions to Patrick, Buddy Rice and Ed Carpenter and ran in 13th place. On Lap 223 of 228, second and third place runners Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay collided and brought out a caution flag and the field took the checkered flag under caution after 228 laps with the top-six cars on the lead lap. Scott Dixon won his third of seven races this season. Rahal earned 19 points for his 11th place finish and moved up one position in the point standings to 16th with 127 points after Round 7 of 18. Following are his post race comments:

“First of all I am so happy to bring one home,” said Rahal. “That’s the biggest thing. On that last restart I almost lost it. I had been feeling a vibration for a while but the guys told me everything checked out on the telemetry. The guys did a good job in the pits and so did the engineers. I haven’t made their lives easy. We knew if we just kept pounding around we could get a pretty good result and that’s what happened. The race was good once we got a lot of green. On the restarts, people go crazy. There are people everywhere and sparks everywhere. It’s pretty nerve wracking on those starts. It was pretty fun once we got going. I think we had a little too much drag on our car so we just didn’t have enough speed but overall it was pretty good.”

The IndyCar Series will travel to Iowa Speedway on June 22 after a much needed weekend off. It will be the first time that Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing will compete there.