Emotions ran high at Andretti Motorsports as Ryan Hunter-Reay won the race while teammate Justin Wilson suffered a head injury from a serious crash and was airlifted from the race track.
“I thought Justin was OK the whole time,” Hunter-Reay said in Victory Lane. “Thoughts are with him. That’s first and foremost. But to get a win for this team is a tremendous achievement.
“I’m just happy that I get to go home and see the kids. Prayers for sure. I hope that Justin can go home and see his family too.”
It was indeed a horrific day for Hunter-Reay’s teammate Justin Wilson, who was struck by debris from the car of rookie Sage Karam. Wilson’s car then went out of control, hitting hard into the inside pit wall.
Wilson was extracted from his race car and taken by ambulance straight to the helipad and then to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, PA.
Wilson’s team boss Michael Andretti said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Justin right now, we just hope he’s OK,” Michael Andretti, Wilson’s team boss said.
The young up and coming driver who was also involved in the crash, Sage Karam, was transported by ground ambulance to the same hospital as Wilson for evaluation of a right foot injury.
Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 67 Hartman Oil CFH Racing Chevrolet for CFH Racing had an up and down day but still managed to finish in the runner-up spot to Hunter-Reay.
“It was a good day for us,” Newgarden said. “We had a good race car and I was very happy for finishing in the top-3. That was great.
“But I’m just really thinking about Justin. I still haven’t heard anything on him and he was involved in that last wreck of the day. Just hoping to get some news and hopefully it’s good news.”
Newgarden is technically still in the championship hunt and is one of six drivers still mathematically eligible.
“We’re probably not a dark horse but like a super dark horse,” Newgarden said when asked about his championship chances. “I think Montoya would have to not show up and we’d have to win. Probably not that bad but we are a far out shot.
“Hopefully we can get in the top-five or top-three in points. That would be a really good goal for us.”
Juan Pablo Montoya extended his championship points advantage after finishing in the third spot in his No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. He has finished top-10 in every 500 lap race that he has been in as well.
“It was good. We ran a smart race,” Montoya said. “It’s tough. Sometimes you’re racing somebody and get all excited and you forget it is a 500-mile race. I gained in places when I could but when I couldn’t, I saved fuel.
“It is what it is. We executed well. I felt I needed to be smart about it.”
Montoya now has a 34 point lead over Graham Rahal, who crashed out of the race in an incident with Tristan Vautier.
“We’ll do the same thing as every week,” Montoya said of the upcoming race at Sonoma. “We’ll go there and do the best we can. Sonoma is double points but if we run a smart day, we’ll be fine.”
Will Power, driver of the No. 1 Verizon team Penske Chevrolet, and Carlos Munoz, behind the wheel of the No. 26 AndrettiTV Cinsay Honda, rounded out the top five in the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.
The rest of the Unofficial Results from The ABC Supply 500 from Pocono Raceway are as follows:
Pos. Car # Driver Manufacturer Laps Running / Reason Out
1 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Honda 200 Running
2 67 Josef Newgarden Chevrolet 200 Running
3 2 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevrolet 200 Running
4 1 Will Power Chevrolet 200 Running
5 26 Carlos Munoz Honda 200 Running
6 14 Takuma Sato Honda 200 Running
7 22 Simon Pagenaud Chevrolet 200 Running
8 5 Ryan Briscoe Honda 200 Running
9 9 Scott Dixon Chevrolet 200 Running
10 7 James Jakes Honda 200 Running
11 98 Gabby Chaves (R) Honda 197 Mechanical
12 83 Charlie Kimball Chevrolet 193 Mechanical
13 18 Pippa Mann Honda 185 Running
14 8 Sage Karam (R) Chevrolet 179 Contact
15 25 Justin Wilson Honda 179 Running
16 3 Helio Castroneves Chevrolet 166 Contact
17 20 Ed Carpenter Chevrolet 156 Mechanical
18 27 Marco Andretti Honda 139 Contact
19 10 Tony Kanaan Chevrolet 131 Contact
20 15 Graham Rahal Honda 92 Contact
21 19 Tristan Vautier Honda 92 Contact
22 41 Jack Hawksworth Honda 82 Contact
23 11 Sebastien Bourdais Chevrolet 36 Contact
24 4 Stefano Coletti (R) Chevrolet 19 Mechanical
