In the closing stages of yesterday’s 2018 Indianapolis 500, three somewhat unexpected names suddenly found themselves in contention for what would have been a shock victory had their bold strategies paid off. Stefan Wilson, Jack Harvey and Oriol Servia found themselves leading the field thanks to the alternate fuel strategy, but sadly all three would have to make a late pit-stop in order to make it to the finish.
The trio of drivers all pitted within the final fifty laps of the race and were all right on the cusp of being able to make it to the chequered flag without pitting. When the rest of the field made their final pit-stops, Servia found himself leading with under twenty laps to go, with Wilson and Harvey behind him in similar situations.
All three knew that they would need a late pit-stop to be within a chance of making it home without pitting, so when Tony Kanaan spun and brought out a full-course yellow with twelve laps to go, they must have felt like they won the lottery. However, they would still need to save fuel whilst fending off the cars behind if any of the three drivers wanted to score a shock win.
On the final race restart with seven laps to go, Servia failed to get the jump on the chasing pack behind him. Wilson and Harvey were quick to pounce, with the trio briefly three-wide on the run into turn one. Wilson managed to use his momentum on the outside to take the lead, with Harvey taking the inside line en-route to second.
A few moments later, Servia was passed by Team Penske‘s Will Power, who was the highest-placed driver who definitely had enough fuel to make it to the end as well as fresher tyres. There was still a reasonable gap between third-placed Power and the two leaders, however, with Will unable to quickly close the gap to Wilson and Harvey.
Credit: Chris Jones / Courtesy of IndyCar
However, Wilson, Harvey and Servia’s hopes of a strong finish were dashed with five laps to go, when all three drivers were forced to come into the pits as their teams had conceded that they did not have the fuel to get to the finish. This, ultimately, handed the lead and the victory to Power.
After their late pit-stops, Wilson would come home in fifteenth place, with Harvey and Servia just behind in sixteenth and seventeenth respectively. Despite the disappointment of being unable to score a shock victory, all three were upbeat in post-race interviews, with each driver praising the fantastic work done by their teams to put them in contention when it counted.
“It was so close – a helluva strategy call by the team,” said Wilson, who was racing for Andretti Autosport in the #25 Honda, “The No. 25 Driven2SaveLives team did a great job all day. With that strategy call, we knew we were gambling – we knew we were rolling the dice. We were just hoping for another yellow flag at the end.
“I was leading, and I knew we were strong enough and wouldn’t be able to be passed, but the yellow just didn’t come. While I was out there leading, I was just out there thinking if it goes yellow now my dreams are made. It didn’t happen, but we led our first laps, we learned a helluva lot this month and it was mad fun, so I’m leaving here with a smile on my face and my head held high.”
Meyer Shank Racing‘s Jack Harvey stated that he was far from disappointed with his result, stating that he was glad the team rolled the dice in the biggest race of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series.
“It’s the Indy 500, the biggest one of the year, so the team didn’t have to apologize to me for going for it!” Harvey said, “We nearly made the strategy work, but there were a few bits where we just couldn’t hit the numbers. We ran up to the front at the end and went three-wide into Turn 1 on the last restart. I tried to drive the best race I could and we finished 16th, which is a pretty good day considering where we started.”
Credit: John Cote / Courtesy of IndyCar
Yesterday’s race was Harvey and Meyer Shank Racing’s second attempt at the Indy 500, with the British driver praising the team post-race for having improved so much in just twelve months.
“Looking at where we were last year and where we are today, it’s a night and day difference.” Jack would add, “Thank you to AutoNation and SiriusXM and all of the supporters and sponsors that we have and to Michael [Shank] for believing in me. This is a good program that’s getting off the ground and this is good momentum to keep going.”
Yesterday’s race was Scuderia Corsa‘s first foray into single-seater racing. The team, who has competed with great success over the last few years in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship, partnered with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to enter Servia in the #64 Honda, with the Spanish driver consistently showing stronger pace than RLL’s full-time drivers Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato during the month.
Despite the late fuel gamble not paying off, Servia stated how proud he was with the team when he climbed from the car after the race:
“I am really proud of the whole effort,” Servia said, “When you come as a one-race team, it is really hard to beat the guys that are [running] full season so just doing it for your-run-for-the-money like we did is really great. It was great running up front. It showed we had a good speed, great passes, and restarts. We took a risk on the strategy and it almost worked.
“I am very proud of everyone. Everyone at RLL [Rahal Lanigan Letterman Racing] and Scuderia Corsa was here to win and we showed that we really went for it.”
The next two races for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series will be run this weekend. The 2018 Duel in Detroit will take place on June 2 and 3 at the Belle Isle street circuit.
