WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Report by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Chris Jones/IndyCar photo —
Sebastien Bourdais used an alternate pit strategy to decimate the field and return to Verizon IndyCar Series victory lane on an oval Sunday afternoon at the Milwaukee Mile.
Bourdais, driving for KVSH Racing, stayed out just prior to halfway and led 118 of the final 144 laps in the ABC Supply Company Wisconsin 250 to take his 34th career Indy car victory, fifth on an oval and second of the 2015 season.
The win moves Bourdais into a tie for seventh on the all-time Indy car win list with legend Al Unser Jr.
“On these ovals, you can go from hero to zero and back to hero again. I guess that’s my story,” said Bourdais, who qualified 11th on a day that had both qualifying and the race on Sunday. “It’s so much about momentum when you can feel one with the car, and today the guys gave me an awesome car. It felt pretty good off the truck and I thought, ‘This could be a pretty good weekend.’ And then we messed up qualifying.”
“Never did I think we could come up through the field and pass everybody, and then to lap them all at one point even. It’s just unbelievable. It’s what these places do to you. When the car is right, it’s so, so special.”
Team co-owner Jimmy Vasser was ecstatic for his driver, who won on an oval for the first time since his first Milwaukee victory in 2006.
“It’s just awesome, especially here at Milwaukee because it’s such a historic place. It was one of my favorite tracks when I was racing here,” Vasser said. “In the fashion he did it … we put ourselves on a different strategy to be able to let him go when he could and then in the box saving fuel. He lapped the field. It was awesome.”
Newgarden started from the pole position and led 95 of the first 100 laps, but it was three-time series champion Scott Dixon who took the point on the 103rd circuit and lead the field when the first caution of the race flew at lap 114.
The yellow, caused by an engine failure and subsequent fluid trail from the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports entry of James Jakes, slowed an impressive opening stint that saw green flag pit stops and multiple leaders — including Graham Rahal, Justin Wilson and Bourdais (for a circuit at lap 101) in addition to Newgarden and Dixon.
It was during the 17-lap cleanup period for Jakes’ motor issue that Bourdais would take the lead for the first time, bringing the field back to green at lap 131 after staying out during pit stops on lap 117. However, a lap after the restart, the sister SPM entry of Ryan Briscoe spun on the bottom of turn three, washing up the race track and collecting fellow Australian and defending series champion Will Power in a violent crash.
While both drivers exited their cars uninjured, their days — and chances at victory — were both over.
Briscoe was understandably disappointed, after challenging Newgarden for the lead early in the race. “We had an awesome race car, again,” Briscoe said. “It [just] wasn’t meant to be today. On the restart, we had a lot of cars behind us on new tires and we just sort of got put in a box there in turn three. It felt like I drove into a vacuum and next it felt like the tires were off the ground and I was doing a slow pirouette. It was a real shame. I hate bringing home a busted race car, but we’ll fight again next week.”
“I saw Ryan start to spin there, so I went out wide to try and miss him and he clipped me and I went up into the wall,” Power lamented after coming out of the medical center. “There’s not much you can do — you kind of get frustrated, but you just have to keep moving on. Eventually it will change and we will have one go right for us.”
Following the second restart, Bourdais used clean air to his advantage, opening up a 12 second advantage over Newgarden by the time the field hit lap 155 and holding the lead until his scheduled pit stop at lap 171.
That stop handed the point back to Newgarden, who made his pit stop on lap 187 — two laps later, Bourdais blasted back to the point after passing Tony Kanaan, reasserting his crushing command over the rest of the field and putting a lap on the entire field with 50 laps remaining after Ryan Hunter-Reay made his final pit stop.
Bourdais’ final stop would come with 37 laps to go, but with his lap plus in hand, the Frenchman would grab fuel and tires and still come out a second ahead of Helio Castroneves, running away over the final stretch to notch his second career win at Milwaukee (2006, 2015) and lead a Chevrolet sweep of the top two spots at the checkered flag.
Despite the final caution of the race at lap 223 — when Justin Wilson’s car slowed to a stop with motor issues — Castroneves was unable to get close enough to Bourdais to make a move for the win, though the Brazilian was thrilled with his runner-up result after a qualifying issue saw him start last (24th) at the drop of the green flag.
“I was pushing to the limit, no question (about it),” Castroneves grinned when asked if he had anymore left at the end of the race. “I knew the Hitachi car would be very good, but the 11 car (Sebastien Bourdais) was very fast. That seemed to be the key here. That was a hell of a job by the guys. We had a little miscue with qualifying, but we never lost faith. We focused on the race. I’m just so proud and honored to be part of this team.”
Fontana winner Graham Rahal rallied to complete the podium in third, followed by points leader Juan Pablo Montoya and Newgarden, who finished fifth after his pole-winning effort in qualifying and 109 laps led.
Scott Dixon finished seventh in his 250th career Indy car start, and (with Power’s second-straight DNF) leaps up to second place in the IndyCar points standings, 54 markers behind Montoya.
Power falls to fifth, one point behind a deadlock between Rahal and Castroneves and 70 points back of Montoya, and admitted winning his second championship will not be easy with only four races remaining.
“No question it makes [defending the title] tough,” said Power, who finished 22nd. “We just have to focus and move on to the next one.”
The Verizon IndyCar Series returns to action on July 18 for the the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway.
RESULTS: Verizon IndyCar Series; ABC Supply Company Wisconsin 250; The Milwaukee Mile; July 12, 2015
1. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 250, Running
2. (24) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 250, Running
3. (6) Graham Rahal, Honda, 250, Running
4. (8) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 250, Running
5. (1) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 250, Running
6. (4) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 250, Running
7. (10) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 250, Running
8. (9) Marco Andretti, Honda, 250, Running
9. (17) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 250, Running
10. (22) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 250, Running
11. (12) Gabby Chaves, Honda, 250, Running
12. (7) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 250, Running
13. (16) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 250, Running
14. (13) Takuma Sato, Honda, 250, Running
15. (18) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 250, Running
16. (20) Tristan Vautier, Honda, 248, Running
17. (21) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 221, Running
18. (15) Justin Wilson, Honda, 219, Mechanical
19. (3) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 183, Contact
20. (19) Stefano Coletti, Chevrolet, 156, Mechanical
21. (2) Ryan Briscoe, Honda, 130, Contact
22. (14) Will Power, Chevrolet, 130, Contact
23. (5) James Jakes, Honda, 113, Mechanical
24. (23) Pippa Mann, Honda, 27, Handling
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s. He is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
