Race Report: Kohler Grand Prix at Road America

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. June 26, 2016Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth raced strong in their first IndyCar race at Road America but the results for the Kohler Grand Prix wont show just how strong their ABC Supply Hondas ran today before a record crowd at one of Americas most beautiful road courses.

Sato started 15th and Hawksworth 18th in the 50-lap race around the four-mile long course through the Wisconsin Dells. Hawksworth spun on the opening lap in Turn 5 dropping to last but he kept going and then began chasing down the field. His lap times were as fast as the leaders, and by the time of his first pit stop on lap 11, he had passed seven cars.

Sato also put on a show as he moved from 15th to 10th by the time of his first stop on lap 12. The ABC Supply crew then proved to be just as fast in the pits as they sent him on after a 7.65 second stop. He went from 10th to eighth by the time the stops cycled out.

Hawksworth"s stop was not quite as efficient and on exit, he got stuck behind a rookie who wasnt working as well. However, the used red tires he took on didnt work quite as well either. The next stint on blacks was not much better but Hawksworth soldiered on.

Unfortunately, a miscalculation on the pit speed limiters cost both Sato and Hawksworth dearly. Hawksworth was the first driver to get a drive-through penalty for being too fast on pit lane on his lap 24 pit stop for black tires. The following lap Sato was cited for the same infraction, and given his 7.23 second stop, it was particularly gutting. He went from seventh to 18th.

By the time the next cycle of pits stops rolled around, Sato had climbed back to 13th. Paying attention to the pit lane speed, Sato was livid when the call came over the radio that he had incurred another drive through penalty. The team is working with the Honda engineers to understand what caused the problem with the pit speed limiter. That penalty ended his chances for a top 10 finish. In fact, race strategist Larry Foyt radioed to him to just bring it home.

It was great work from the team considering we couldnt come to the test, said Sato afterwards. We caught up to the others in the practice sessions but then we had a disappointing qualifying run. However, I was quite happy to show our cars true performance in the race. In the first half of the race I was able to overtake several cars and we got up to P-8. Unfortunately we had an issue with a pit speed limiter and we caught a pit lane speed penalty twice and that is why the result is not a true reflection of our performance. The ABC guys had awesome pit stopsthey were brilliant! Were really close, so well just keep on working hard.

Hawksworth had a clean third stop which came just before a full course caution for Conor Dalys excursion into the Turn 1 tire barriersDaly was not hurt. The No. 41 ABC Supply teams strategy to save their final set of new red tires for the last stop worked well. Hawksworth was running 17th when he pitted, and when the green flag flew four laps later, he was charging hard. By the time the checkered flag waved seven laps later, he had moved into 11th, barely missing the top 10.

It was an interesting race, Hawksworth said. At the beginning we were one of the fastest cars on the trackthe car was absolutely flying and we passed five or six cars and I thought, Oh this is going to be a good day. Unfortunately we had an issue on the first stop and we came out behind [Rookie Spencer] Pigot which messed us up in that second stint. The used reds went away a lot so we pitted for blacks and they were not that great. We got the new reds on at the end and the car felt good. The caution came out right after that so I was able to pick up some positions on the restart and finished 11th. I also got a drive through which didnt help because I was point 1 mph over the pit lane speed which was disappointing but it was an up and down race.

The team is heading to Iowa to test both cars at the high-banked oval on Wednesday in preparation for their race there on Sunday, July 10th.

Will Power won the Kohler Grand Prix from the pole position. Tony Kanaan, Graham Rahal, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves rounded out the top five.

Qualifying Report: Kohler Grand Prix

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. June 25, 2016  Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth will start deep in the field for the Kohler Grand Prix at Road America but the track has enough passing zones that the drivers can make it to the front. The narrowness of the track will make it a challenging task nonetheless.

Sato posted a lap time of 1 minute, 43.5357 seconds which was eighth fastest in the first qualifying group of 11 so he did not advance out of the first round. He will start 15th in the 22-car field.

After the practice session we were looking positive for qualifying but we didnt have enough speed to go through it, Sato said afterwards. It looks like we had the heavier side of downforce which was good for the cornering and braking but it was too draggy down the straight which is where we were losing time.

Jack Hawksworth had two situations develop in his round one of qualifying. While on his quick lap on the black tires, he was blocked by Charlie Kimball in Turn 12 of the 14-turn track so that ruined his lap. When he was on the faster red alternate tires, he got bit by an untimely red flag caused by Josef Newgardens off-track excursion, so he never got to lay down his hot lap. His time of 1 minute, 45.5110 seconds will put him 18th, outside of row nine.

The ABC Supply car felt ok but I got blocked by Charlie Kimball when I was on my hot lap on the black tires and so we came in for the reds. I made a mistake on my first lap on the reds so I just chose to save my tires and push on the second lap. The car felt pretty good but thats when the red flag came out [for Newgarden] and I never got to put a lap in, so feeling pretty gutted. Thats the way it goes I guess.

Will Power won the pole position with a time of 1 minute, 42.2105 seconds. Scott Dixon, his teammate Tony Kanaan, Simon Pagenaud, Helio Castroneves and Graham Rahal rounded out the Firestone Fast 6.

The Kohler Grand Prix will be televised tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

Practice Report: Kohler Grand Prix at Road America

ELKHART LAKE, Wis.June 24, 2016'The Verizon IndyCar Series officially returned to Road America today and the fans came out in droves to welcome them. 'Race fans could be seen throughout the beautiful four-mile long road course and the day looked more like a race day than just a practice day.

The ABC Supply team got in lots of practice with both cars which was good since they had missed out on a test day earlier in the month. Takuma Sato was 18th in the first session and 11th quickest in the second one with a lap time of 1 minute, 43.8702 seconds (139.120mph), which was 13th fastest overall for the day. He likes his car but is still searching for the ultimate qualifying setup.

'It's great to be coming back to Road America,' Sato said. 'It's a favorite of everyone's and the fans have waited so long for this. Look it's Friday and it's already like race day as a lot of crowds have come out which is fantastic. Great weather today, a great circuit which is a classic type'very narrow and very fast'and it feels really good. We had to go through quite a few items since we couldn't make the test here so this was our first run with the 2016 package and we had a lot of things to do. Busy test day and I think we were reasonably okay but we still need to work really hard to get the speed out of the ABC Supply car for tomorrow's qualifying.'

Jack Hawksworth was pleased with his No. 41 ABC Supply Honda and believes the car just needs some fine-tuning before tomorrow's qualifying session. Hawksworth was third quickest in the first session with a time of 1 minute, 43.6747 seconds (139.382mph) which was fifth quickest overall for the day. In the second session, he was 16th quick with a time of 1 minute, 43.9679 seconds.

'Today was quite a good day actually,' Hawksworth said. 'We did quite a lot of stuff ' experimenting with things between this morning and this afternoon. I think we found a pretty competitive car so hopefully we'll sit down tonight and fine-tune everything. The only question mark for me is the red tire, what's going to happen when we put that on in qualifying. 'We've seen this year that we can be uncompetitive on the blacks but we put reds on and we become competitive and vice versa so hopefully we can get that right. It will require a bit of luck as well because nobody's run the reds here but we'll do our best with that as well. Black tire-wise, I'm pretty happy with it, the ABC Supply car's in the ballpark. We tested a lot of stuff and had quite a clean day which is nice. It's good to run for a day and when we can run clean, we can have a good day.'

Graham Rahal set quick time in the second session with his timed lap of 1 minute, 43.0224 seconds (140.265mph). Second through fifth overall were Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Carlos Munoz and Hawksworth.

There is a 45-minute practice in the morning before qualifying which starts at 4:00 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis starting at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Notes & Quotes: Kohler Grand Prix at Road America

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

Takuma Sato On:

'His first impression of Road America: 'Road America is very impressive and a great fun track as expected. I've heard so many positive stories about Road America since I joined the IndyCar Series, and I know everyone and as well as the fans wanted IndyCar to go back there. So it was a nice experience that we had a great crowd show up at the test day last fall, and I had a lot of fun driving this superb track.'

'Whether RA resembles any tracks in Europe: 'A little bit but not necessarily. If anything is similar, it is as fast as I experienced at possibly Imola [outside of Bologna, Italy]. Both tracks are the classic narrow type of track but very fast with good elevation change.'

'Whether the new aero kit will make much difference vs. last year's test: 'I think it's not hugely different but sure there is some. We learned a lot at the test but it was last year's car and there are quite a few things that have changed both mechanically and aerodynamically. Especially we need to learn how the low downforce package is going to work which we haven't been able to try. We were going to go to the test after Texas race but preparation time for it became too tight as the race was delayed due to weather, so we will need to maximize our practice time on race weekend to ensure our set-up has made a good progress since the last test.'

'The most challenging aspect of the circuit: 'For the drivers, you need a lot of commitment because there are so many fast corners. From an engineering perspective, you need a good stable car through the high speed sections and performance under braking with such a low downforce car.'

'The Road America bratwurst: 'I know it's famous in Wisconsin so I must try it!'

Jack Hawksworth On:

'His first impression of Road America: 'I love the Road America, it's very quick, has a variety of corners and is the only track we go to that is over four miles in length. I had a fantastic time racing there in 2014 made even better by the fact that I had a very quick car.' Note: Hawksworth, teamed with Chris Cumming, started 13th overall (2nd in the PC class) and finished 12th overall (4th in the PC class), driving the RSR Racing ORECA FLM09.

'The difference driving the IndyCar vs the sports car he drove in 2014: 'The Indycar has a lot more grip and downforce so certainly braking will be later and the corner speeds higher. It'll just be a case of adapting to the car and putting it on the limit. In terms of passing, it should in theory be easier as we have the push-to-pass system in Indycar racing.'

'What he liked about the circuit: 'Road America has a lot of character, and it is technical like other road courses yet it still allows for a lot of passing and action due to the length of some of the straights and the big braking zones.'

'The most challenging aspect of this circuit: 'There is nothing particular that stands out, it's all challenging in its own way. We will be starting on the back foot a little [note: the team didn't test there as planned] but we have the people and ideas to make progress and hopefully be there by qualifying.'

'Whether he has tried the Road America bratwurst: 'Nope... It's swimsuit season!'

Neither Takuma Sato nor Jack Hawksworth has raced Indy cars at Road America: Sato tested his No. 14 ABC Supply Honda at the track last fall. Hawksworth did not test an Indy car at RA. However, he competed in a WEC race at the 4-mile circuit in 2014. Teamed with Chris Cumming, Hawksworth started 13th overall (2nd in the PC class) and finished 12th overall (4th in the PC class), driving the RSR Racing ORECA FLM09. The Foyt team's plan to test on June 15th was thwarted by the one day rain delay at Texas Motor Speedway June 11-12. There wasn't enough time to return to the Waller shop, turn the cars around for the road course and arrive on Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday's test given the 1250-mile trip from Waller to Elkhart Lake.

A.J. Foyt returns to Road America after 21 years: Foyt's last trip to Road America was in 1995 when his car was running in the CART IndyCar Series. In his team's eight races there, the best start was eighth with Robby Gordon in 1993, and their best finish was eighth with Mike Groff in 1991. Foyt had the second best finish of 10th in 1988. He sustained severe injuries to his feet and legs in September, 1990 when the brakes failed on his Lola at the end of the front straight and he sailed into a dirt embankment. He spent the next eight months recovering but made it to his then 34th straight Indy 500.

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. 960 guests will be entertained this weekend.

ABC Supply national account, PROTECH Restoration, headquartered in Oakdale, Minn., will be featured on the engine cover of the No. 14 ABC Supply car during the Kohler Grand Prix. 'Guests will receive the VIP treatment this weekend along with a Meet and Greet with Takuma Sato.

ABC Supply local roofing customer, Security-Luebke Roofing, located in Kaukauna, Wis., won the 'Your Name Here' contest for the Kohler 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 10-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.

The Kohler Grand Prix will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network Sunday, June 26th starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.