KV RACING TECHNOLOGY DRIVER TONY KANAAN FINISHES SECOND IN MILWAUKEE INDYFEST
TEAM PLACES TWO CARS IN TOP-FIVE AND ALL THREE IN TOP-10
KV Racing Technology Press Release
WEST ALLIS, WI – June 16, 2012 – KV Racing Technology driver Tony Kanaan finished second in today’s rain-delayed Milwaukee IndyFest on the fabled Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin. Teammates E. J. Viso and Rubens Barrichello placed fifth and 10th respectively.
Kanaan, in the No. 11 GEICO | MOUSER ELECTRONICS – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone machine, qualified 10th, but started sixth after penalties were assessed to drivers whose teams had made an unauthorized engine change. He moved into fifth place on the opening lap and remained there until pitting for the first time on lap 62 of the 225 lap contest. Kanaan rejoined the race in ninth, where he stayed until his second stop, during a yellow flag on lap 98. Coming out in eighth, Kanaan held station until lap 154 when he moved into seventh place after Helio Castroneves, who did not pit during the earlier caution period, pitted under green flag conditions. Kanaan made his final stop on lap 169 and when he came back out had an outstanding first, “out”, lap. Most of the field pitted over the course of the next four laps and because of the exception “out” lap, Kanaan picked up track position and moved into third place with 50 laps remaining. He passed Castroneves for second on lap 178 and then began to attack Ryan Hunter-Reay in an attempt to take the lead. Unfortunately, Hunter-Reay proved to be too strong, holding off every attack, and in the latter stages of the race Hunter-Reay pulled away.
“I am extremely happy, it was a great race,” Kanaan said. “When the last yellow came out my engineers told me I was good to the end and I was happy to take the second. It's a great result for Chevrolet, one, two and three. I have to thank GEICO and Mouser Electronics as well as my personal sponsors. My No.11 crew did a great job today and thanks to the Andretti boys for helping us out when I exited my pit box. The grandstands were packed today and I hope we come back to this track next year, it's an awesome place”.
Kanaan, made his 13th appearance at Milwaukee today (ran five races in CART). He has now finished in the top-10 seven times with two wins (2006 and 2007) and has not placed worse than fourth in six of his last eight starts on the Milwaukee Mile (two wins, a second, a third and two fourths). The 37-year old Brazilian has finished seven of the eight races this year falling out only in the season opener at St. Petersburg due to a non-team related component failure. He has earned four top-six finishes, a sixth in Detroit, a third at Indy and a fourth in Long Beach to go with today’s second place performance. Kanaan earned 40 points today moving him into eighth in the championship race with 200 points, just 74 points behind championship leader Will Power.
Viso, driving the No. 5 CITGO | PDVSA – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone car, qualified eighth, but started a season-high tying fifth after moving up the grid as a result of the penalties. He fell to sixth following the drop of the green flag where he held station until his first stop on lap 67. Just as Viso entered pit lane for the stop the track went under a caution yellow. The fortuitous situation vaulted Viso into the lead where he remained for the next 27 laps, his first lead laps of the season, until pitting for the second time on lap 98. Following the stop Viso came back out in third place with Castroneves, who gambled and stayed out, in the lead and Hunter-Reay second. Both Hunter-Reay and Viso did not wait for Castroneves to pit, passing the Brazilian on lap 142 and 143 respectively. Viso, now in second place, stayed there until his final stop on lap 173 and rejoining the race in eighth place. He remained in eighth for the next 28 laps then took advantage of a restart, following the final caution of the race, to move up three places and take possession of fifth. Over the next 25 laps he attacked first James Hinchcliffe then Oriol Servia in a valiant attempts to move into fourth place. However, Hinchcliffe held Viso off using several questionable moves that many observers felt constituted blocking and by the time Viso began to challenge Servia there were simply not enough laps remaining to make the pass and move up.
Viso’s fifth place finish was his best showing in four starts on the Milwaukee Mile surpassing an eighth place performance in 2008. Today’s performance was Viso best of the season and second best on an oval surpassed only by a third place podium finish in Iowa in 2010. The 27-year-old Venezuelan has now finished seven of the eight races this year. His only DNF (did not finish) came last week in Texas as a result of a non-team related component failure. Viso, who has finished in the top-10 three times in the first eight races of the 2012 season (eighth at St. Petersburg and 10th at Brazil), scored 30 points today and is14th in the standings with 148 points, just 25 points out of 10th place.
Barrichello in the No. 8 BMC | EMBRASE – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone entry, qualified a season-high fifth, but started third after the penalties. He dropped to fourth on the first lap and held position until his first stop on lap 67 when he, like Viso, benefitted from the caution that came out just as he entered pit lane. The timely yellow flag allowed Barrichello to take over second place where he remained until lap 98 when he pitted for the second time. Barrichelllo came back out in seventh place, but was back in the top-five, at No. 5, by lap 125. He took over fourth when Castroneves pitted on lap 154. Barrichello stopped for the third and final time on lap 172 and rejoined the race in seventh place. He made several attempts to move up, but ended up falling back three positions over the course of the final laps.
Barrichello, who contested just his second career oval race (he did not start in Texas because of a non-team related component failure) and first at Milwaukee, clearly had his best race of the season. The 40-year-old Brazilian and Formula One veteran was in contention for a top-five, if not podium, finish for much of the race. He had his fourth top-10 performance of the season (eighth at Barber, ninth at Long Beach and 10th at Brazil) and scored his first top-10 finish on an oval. In his only other oval start, his inaugural Indy 500, he finished 11th earning the Chase Rookie of the Year honors. Barrichello has now finished six of the eight races this year. Both his DNFs (did not finish) came as a result of non-team related component failures (at Detroit and Texas). Barrichelllo earned 20 points today and is now 16th in the championship standings with 138 points, just 35 points out of 10th.
Next up for KVRT is the Iowa Corn Indy 250, June 22-23, at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.