Race Report: Race 2 Detroit Grand Prix

DETROIT June 5, 2016—Race 2 of the Detroit Grand Prix almost ended before it began for the ABC Supply team bringing on thoughts of déjà vu. Unlike yesterday’s Race 1, it was Takuma Sato not Jack Hawksworth suffering the early misfortune. After missing yesterday’s race due to fuel pump failure, Hawksworth posted a strong qualifying effort this morning to start ninth. He got off cleanly but Sato, starting 16th, was not as fortunate.

He was hit from behind as cars scrambled ahead of him entering Turn 1 when the green flag dropped. The impact spun him around. His car sustained a damaged front wing and a flat rear tire but he was able to make it back to the pits. Two other drivers James Hinchcliffe and Max Chilton never got beyond Turn 1. The ABC Supply crew fixed the flat rear tire first and then brought Sato back in again to replace the front wing assembly. He had to restart in the rear of the 22 car field because he came into a closed pit for the new wheel and tire. Hawksworth’s team employed an aggressive fuel strategy and pitted on lap five. His teammate pitted five laps later. The two ran together through the next round of pit stops and were never more than a car or two away from each other. Hawksworth was running 11th when he made his final pit stop on lap 48. However on his out-lap he sustained a broken driveshaft which ended his day and brought out the final yellow flag. “I was having a lot of fun out there,” the 25-year-old said afterwards. “The pace of the car was really good, I could close in on guys and run decent. I felt I had one of my best races going even though I didn’t have the fastest car but we had good in-and-out laps [from the pits] and good passes. In the end the driveshaft broke, but I was having a lot of fun.” Sato was running 13th at the time of Hawksworth’s misfortune. Taking the opportunity to pit under that caution, Sato was in and out of the pits in under seven seconds. As the fuel strategies played out he found himself in a tight battle for 10th with Graham Rahal with nine laps to go. Sato managed to fend off Rahal to take home another top-10 finish from Detroit. “Qualifying didn’t work out for us this morning,” Sato said. “I enjoy the rain but not in qualifying and our group was a tough one. We started mid-pack and at the start I got hit from behind. I stalled the engine and lost a wing and a rear tire. Fortunately we didn’t lose a lap and the guys did a good job to replace both the tire and front on two consecutive stops. We worked our way through the field. The car was competitive but we’re missing something because it was inconsistent which was difficult. Glad to get a Top 10 after the start but it’s frustrating because at one stage we were looking good and the strategy was good but it was a difficult race.” Will Power won the race after his teammate Simon Pagenaud won the pole and finished second. Third through fifth were Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon. The Verizon IndyCar Series heads south to compete in the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night, June 10. The race will be broadcast live by NBC Sports Network starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Race Report: Race 1/Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix

DETROIT June 4, 2016—The first race of this weekend’s doubleheader Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle did not go as well as expected for the ABC Supply team.

Jack Hawksworth never turned a lap in the No. 41 Honda as the car failed to start. Further investigation showed a fuel pump failure. The team will have to pull the engine to change the fuel pump which is why Hawksworth’s race ended before it ever got started.

Team president Larry Foyt said, “The fuel pump failed in car 41 as it left for the start of the race. Terrible luck that group is having right now. Tomorrow is a new day and brings a new qualifying session, so hopefully this bad stretch of luck is behind us.”

Takuma Sato, who started 11th in the No. 14 ABC Supply Honda, finished in the same spot through the fuel strategy his team utilized.

Starting on the softer red alternate tires (as did nearly the entire field), Sato pitted early to rid himself of the tires before they degraded too much. He had expected to run better on the primary black tires but found that he was still lacking grip.

He explained, “After the morning warmup, we needed to change the car to find more speed. But the changes didn’t work like we anticipated because I was struggling for grip and balance the entire race. We pitted early to change to the black tires which we hoped would give us a better balance but it didn’t so it was a long race. Under the circumstances, coming home 11th was not that bad. We collected a lot of information so we’ll be aiming to improve the car for tomorrow’s qualifying and the race.”

Differing fuel strategies played out to Sebastien Bourdais’s advantage, allowing him to win ahead of rookie Conor Daly, Juan Pablo Montoya, Graham Rahal and Helio Castroneves. It was Bourdais’ second straight win in Detroit—he won Race 2 last year when Sato finished second.

The cars qualify for Race 2 tomorrow morning. With rain threatening all day, the race strategy should be interesting and varied. Race 2 of the Detroit Grand Prix will be televised by ABC-TV starting at 3:30 p.m.

Qualifying Report: Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix

DETROIT June 3, 2016—Qualifying for Race 1 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix took place under sunny skies at the 2.35-mile, 14-turn circuit on Belle Isle. Driving the No. 14 ABC Supply Honda, Takuma Sato advanced out of the first round of qualifying and will start 11th in Race 1.

“It’s a bit of a frustrating qualifying session for us because we had a pretty good car at the beginning of the qualifying session. We lost speed on the alternate [compound – red] tires which we couldn’t figure out. We need to better understand this and hopefully tomorrow we get it right.”

Jack Hawksworth had a problem with the steering on his No. 41 ABC Supply Honda. He will start 22nd.

“There’s not much to say, we had a problem with the steering so that was all she wrote,” Hawksworth said. “Obviously I’ve started at the front here and finished at the back [2014], and I’ve started in the back and finished somewhere near the front [2015], so we’ll be starting at the back tomorrow and hopefully we can sort it out and go forward.”

Team President Larry Foyt said, “We had a bearing issue in the steering that caused a bad feeling for Jack. We are looking into the cause, but for sure it will be right for the race tomorrow.”

Simon Pagenaud won his third Verizon P1 Award of the season with his lap of 1:14.9166 (112.926 mph) in the Firestone Fast 6. Second through sixth were: Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, James Hinchcliffe, Carlos Munoz and Scott Dixon.

Teams will have a morning practice and then will qualify for Sunday’s Race 2 prior to running Race 1 tomorrow afternoon. Race 1 will be broadcast live by ABC-TV starting at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Notes & Quotes: Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix

Takuma Sato: No. 14 ABC Supply Honda
Jack Hawksworth: No. 41 ABC Supply Honda

TAKUMA SATO ON:

The race: "The Detroit GP has always been an exciting one for me whether it was a dry or wet race. I enjoy driving this bumpy Belle Isle street course a lot, particularly after we raced the super smooth Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 230mph only a few days ago. Belle Isle is competently different. We have good history at this track and our performance at street courses has been strong so I’m really looking forward to the weekend."

Why he likes it: “I just simply enjoy the track. It’s kind of mixture of street and road course so it has a full variety with tight and complex corners to the very fast corners with an incredibly bumpy surface. We have had a history of good performance here so always enjoy.”

Difference in qualifying at Detroit from Indy GP: “Race 1 qualifying is not much different but we will have only one segment and one shot at qualifying in Race 2 so it is challenging.”

His favorite section of the Detroit track: “I like the last two corners because you’re building up speed and it’s very fast but the concrete wall is right there so no margin for error so it really needs accuracy and a big commitment.”

The biggest challenge of doubleheader for drivers: “Doubleheaders are mentally and physically tougher than usual so we must make sure to recover well after the first race and prepare for the second. We must keep good concentration as well because we have less practice than usual, but two qualifying sessions and two races in a similar time frame.”

Why he is so strong there: “There are a number of reasons why. In 2015, we were starting the season with a bit of a tough time in terms of performance but the aero package was revised at the Detroit GP for safety reasons. We lost some downforce but we got more consistency as a result. That really helped our performance so I was much happier in the car. The other thing was the weather conditions. Unstable rain condition was related to our results. In Race1 I could overtake all the cars in front and led the race at beginning because of the rain. In Race 2 we had to start from the middle pack as qualifying was cancelled due to weather, but I could come up all the way from behind again due to weather condition. In the end it became dry but there were was so many restarts which allowed me to charge to front. The team did great job with fast pit stops and called the right strategy so it all helped.”

JACK HAWKSWORTH ON:

The circuit: “It’s a really technical circuit, probably the most technical on the calendar. It’s extremely bumpy and quite a long lap -- 14 corners -- so the car needs to be compliant over the bumps. As a driver you can influence the car’s performance a lot there because there is so much going on, so many corners, concrete patches, different shades of asphalt. There are some tricks of the trade you can use over the bumps so you can extract the last little bit of lap time.”

Why he likes the Detroit circuit: “I love this track, it's a real driver’s circuit. Very technical and very bumpy. There is a huge emphasis on mechanical grip and compliance to deal with the tricky surface and it is a circuit where the driver can really exploit the car he is given and make a difference.”

Difference in qualifying at Detroit from Indy GP No real difference. We will employ the same strategy we used at the Indy GP where we made the fast six and hopefully with the improved performance from Honda we can take the next step and fight for the front row. His favorite section of the Detroit track: “Turns 1 and 2. It's very high commitment but also very much give-and-take. You have to sacrifice entry speed for a good exit but it is also important to keep a high minimum speed through the transition. Also the crest [in the track surface] on the exit adds another dynamic and can cause some issues for the drivers!” The biggest challenge of doubleheader for a driver: “Mentally you have to be able to reset and go again very quickly. Whether you win or lose the first race there's no time for reflection and you have to keep that singular forward focus all weekend. I can't wait to get after it.”

Past Performance in the Grand Prix: In six races, Takuma Sato’s best start is first (Race 2 in 2014), and his best finish is second in Race 2 in 2015. Jack Hawksworth’s best start was third in 2014 and best finish is seventh (2015). The best finish for the ABC Supply team is second with Sato in 2015.

ABC Supply Co. enters its 12th season as marketing partner of AJ Foyt Racing: ABC Supply began sponsoring the AJ Foyt Racing team with the 2005 Indianapolis 500, and is the second longest active team sponsor in the Verizon IndyCar Series. With this season, the company ties U.S. Tobacco’s Copenhagen brand in length of sponsorship of Foyt’s team. ABC Supply has leveraged its involvement by sponsoring races at Milwaukee and now at Pocono with the ABC Supply 500, and by entertaining over 75,000 associates and customers during the past 11 racing seasons. 350 guests will be entertained this weekend.

ABC Supply national account, Fred Christen & Sons Co., headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, will be featured on the engine cover of the No. 14 ABC Supply car during the Dual in Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. Guests will receive the VIP treatment this weekend along with a Meet and Greet with Takuma Sato.

ABC Supply local roofing customer, Premier Renovations & Storm Solutions, located in Frasier, Mich., won the ‘Your Name Here’ contest for the Saturday race of the Dual in Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. The company name will be atop the sidepods of the No. 41 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda. Guests will receive VIP treatment, plus a Meet and Greet with Jack Hawksworth.

ABC Supply local roofing customer, Prime Starr Construction, located in Romeo, Mich. won the ‘Your Name Here’ contest for the Sunday race of the Dual in Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. The company name will be atop the sidepods of the No. 41 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda. Guests will receive VIP treatment, plus a Meet and Greet with Jack Hawksworth.

Headquartered in Beloit, Wis., ABC Supply was founded by Ken and Diane Hendricks in 1982. The company has more than 600 branches in 49 states and is dedicated exclusively to serving professional contractors. ABC Supply has distinguished itself by following a simple guiding principle – take care of contractors better than any other distributor. It remains an “employee-first” company that treats its associates with respect and gives them the tools they need to succeed. As a nine-time winner of the Gallup Great Workplace Award, which recognizes the best-performing workforces in the world, ABC Supply is one of only three companies in the world to have earned this honor every year since its inception in 2007. More information is available at www.abcsupply.com.

Race 1 of the Dual in Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix will be televised live on ABC-TV Saturday, June 4th starting at 3:30pm ET. Race 2 will be broadcast live on ABC-TV Sunday, June 5th starting at 3:30 p.m. ET.

For more information on the ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Racing program, please check our web site: www.foytracing.com. To follow us on Twitter: @AJFoytRacing, @TakumaSatoRacer, @JackHawk41, @LarryFoyt14. On Facebook, we have the AJ Foyt Racing fan page.