Phoenix: AGR, Herta race report
Racing series IRL
Date 2005-03-19
HERTA FINISHES SEVENTH IN XM SATELLITE RADIO INDY 200
AVONDALE, Ariz. (March 19, 2005) - Bryan Herta, driver of the #7 XM Satellite Radio car, battled traffic and bad luck all day, but collected a seventh-place finish in Saturday's running of the XM Satellite Radio Indy 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Herta, who started on the pole for the first time in his Indy Racing League® IndyCar® Series career, managed to stay in the top three for the first third of the race. On lap 74, Herta had to bring the XM Satellite Radio machine in for fuel under green-flag conditions when luck went against the #7 team. While Herta was in the pit lane, the caution came out, which forced him a lap down and into 11th position.
Herta ran the next 100 laps hovering in and out of the top 10. With less than 10 laps remaining in the race, Herta brought the car in for enough fuel to finish the race and went on to secure the seventh spot.
Sam Hornish Jr. garnered his first win, followed by Helio Castroneves. Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti finished third and fourth, respectively. Scott Sharp rounded out the top five.
The IndyCar Series season resumes Sunday, April 3 in the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will mark the first time in IndyCar Series history that the cars will be run on a non-oval track. Live coverage of the event will begin at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) and be broadcast on ESPN. It can also be heard live by XM Satellite Radio subscribers by tuning into Extreme XM, channel 152.
Bryan Herta, #7 XM Satellite Radio Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
"The XM Satellite Radio car was good today, unfortunately it really wasn't as good as I needed it to be in the race. I was pretty fast, but I struggled to pass cars. Then, both times a yellow came out right after I pitted, so we lost several positions and a lap one time by that happening. That dug us a pretty big hole and we were never able to work ourselves out of it."
George Klotz, Team Manager, #7 XM Satellite Radio Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
"We just couldn't catch any yellows today. The thing that really got us was that first yellow that we missed by a lap. Most of the guys who finished ahead of us were in that yellow. Our car was good, but it wasn't perfect. We ran all day and the XM Satellite Radio crew gave us good pit stops. We'll just move on to St. Pete and win there."
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