Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian Race Report: Grand Prix of St. Pete
The BHA team felt they were on course for a great race after making a number of post-qualifying setup changes and finishing the morning warmup with the 9th fastest time. The first half of the race was going well as Gabby Chaves moved up to battle for a position in the top ten. However, contact with another car damaged the left front wing and Indycar ruled the incident as "avoidable contact". The #98 team was forced to serve a drive-through penalty resulting in falling off the leader lap.
A later yellow and the "wave around" allowed Chaves to get back on the lead lap. The #98 team pitted as early as possible for the final stop to get back on the black primary tire. Chaves's final stint involved a lot of fueling saving and patient driving. However, through attrition the rookie moved up to a 17th finishing position in his first ever Verizon IndyCar Series event. Gabby Chaves: “I learned so much today. I learned tire management and the differences in the red to black tires. I learned about fuel saving, driving to a number, and trying to not loose position." "The incident with the 5 car: I saw an opening, but it closed up. I tried hard to avoid it, even getting down in the grass, but just couldn't avoid it." "All in all, it was a good weekend. We learned a lot as a team, I learned a lot, and we showed what we can run strong at this level. I'm really looking forward to NOLA and the rest of the season." Bryan Herta: "Gabby did a terrific job today to finish his first Verizon IndyCar Series race. We worked through a difficult weekend to find a setup, the team gave him a great car for the race, and Gabby was moving forward quickly before contact with the 5 car set him back. Overall, while we always want to strive for top results, today Gabby learned a great deal and showed that he deserves to be here and we look forward to the season ahead."
Media Contact:
Mike Burrell mburrell@bryanhertaautosport.com
