Forward Progress for Justice Brothers Teams at Indianapolis 24.08.2020: In more ways than one, it was a day for the books on Sunday as 33 drivers raced into history for the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500, with Takuma Sato emerging from the 200 lap battle to earn a second Indianapolis 500 victory in the huge race.

In more ways than one, it was a day for the books on Sunday as 33 drivers raced into history for the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500, with Takuma Sato emerging from the 200 lap battle to earn a second Indianapolis 500 victory in the huge race.



As the first race to be held under the ownership of Penske Entertainment, the event was also the first to unfortunately be run without race fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But it also marked the continuation of decades of history and tradition, from the singing of “Back Home Again in Indiana” to the call for drivers to start their engines in the tense moments ahead of the field rolling off to take the green.



Three entries also carried on a cherished Indianapolis 500 tradition as they represented Justice Brothers in the event, extending the brand’s participation in the race to an incredible 75 consecutive years. All three entries started deep in the field, but made strong forward progress through the event to finish well ahead of where they started the day.



The two Dreyer & Reinbold Racing entries started the race from the last row, with J.R. Hildebrand able to race forward to 16th at the finish despite a tough start to the day with the No. 67 DRR Salesforce Chevrolet.



“The car was a huge handful at the beginning of the race,” said Hildebrand. “I almost spun out on the first lap. We went for a different fuel strategy and the boys got the car working better throughout the day. We were good to go to the end on fuel and we might have picked up some additional spots if others had to pit. We made the right calls today with our strategy. Overall, the DRR guys worked really hard this month and we gained more information when we return. At least we made up half the field going from 32nd to 16th today.” 



Hildebrand’s DRR teammate Sage Karam made rapid progress early in the race with the No. 24 WIX Filters entry, only to be caught out with an issue on pit lane on his way to 24th at the checkered flag.



“I was able to pass guys in the early part of the race, and I had a very good restart which gave us more spots,” said Karam. “So we were moving up. Ultimately, I made a mistake on pit lane with our third stop. I don’t know if the tires were worn or the brakes locked, but I slid by our pit box. Then I had to get in reverse and we lost two laps.



I got our one lap back and almost the other lap too. At the end of the race, the WIX Filters Chevy was better, but I didn’t want to ruin other guys races and I moved out of their way. The DRR crew did a great job in the pits as always and we just had the one mistake today when I missed the pit. I feel badly for that one. We did learn a lot this month as a ‘one-off’ team at Indy.”



Leading the way for the Justice Brothers teams was the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey, who started the race from 20th and made consistent progress to come home with an Indy 500 career-best 9th place finish on Sunday.



“Coming into the month we were pretty confident in what we could achieve,” said Harvey who netted his first-ever INDYCAR podium at the INDYCAR Grand Prix in 2019. “It’s always special getting a good result in Indy.



 Obviously everyone comes to try and win but I am so happy with where we finished. I am so proud of the guys on pit lane, they absolutely nailed it. We had some really great restarts which helped us as well. A big thanks to AutoNation and SiriusXM – I’m just really happy, it’s a really great day.”


The NTT IndyCar Series field will return to oval race action this weekend with a doubleheader race event at Gateway with the Bommarito Automotive Group races set for Saturday and Sunday (3:00 PM ET, NBCSN) on August 29 and 30.

    



Sunday Group Management- photos IndyCar