Michael Andretti continues success in Toronto with Hunter-Reay, suffers disappointment with Hinchcliffe
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[/media-credit]While it marked the first win for Michael Andretti as a car owner in Toronto, it marked his eighth win overall as he had won seven previous times as a driver.
“What can I say, I love Toronto,” he says. “I think everybody knows that. It’s been a great track to me as a driver. We struggled here a little bit from the owner’s standpoint. It was great to finally get to Victory Lane.”
Andretti’s first win as a driver came in 1989, followed up by 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2000 and 2001.
“It’s always different as an owner and a driver,” he says. “They’re both really special in their way. As a driver there’s more of that self-satisfaction. As an owner it’s a great feeling, too. More the camaraderie of the people.”
The win for Ryan Hunter-Reay also marked the third straight win for Hunter-Reay and Andretti Autosport. With two oval wins, a road course wins and the points lead, a lot of people have Hunter-Reay pinned as this year’s champion.
“I think he’s a real factor in the championship,” Andretti says. “He’s really strong on these types of tracks as well. He doesn’t have a weakness when he’s driving. That’s what you need to have as a driver. As a team owner, to have a driver like that, that’s something we liked about Ryan, that we could be competitive at all types of tracks.”
Now moving forward, Andretti says that its about telling Hunter-Reay not to do anything different moving forward as it’s all about continuing to do what he is doing.
“If everybody does their job, we should be okay,” he says. “If there’s no mistakes made the rest of the year, I think we have a good shot at winning the championship.”
On the flip side, hometown hero James Hinchcliffe had a disappointing weekend in Toronto with an engine problem 22 laps into the race.
“I feel bad for him because he was doing a helluva job,” Andretti says. “He was going to be a factor for the win watching the time he was running. They did a good strategy as well, and then his engine had a problem which was a shame.
NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: THE NATIONWIDE SERIES AT NEW HAMPSHIRE
The NASCAR Nationwide Series will present race #17 of their 2012 schedule with Saturday’s running of the F W Webb 200 at the Magic Mile, also known as the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
There will be an extra incentive Saturday afternoon involving four of the Nationwide drivers in the field. That would be the return of the Nationwide Dash 4 Cash Program and the $100,000 bonus that comes with it. Drivers Elliot Sadler, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Michael Annett are eligible to participate in the program at New Hampshire. That is based on their finishing performances at the previous event at Daytona which was regarded as a qualifier for round one of the program. The top finisher among these four drivers will collect the $100,000 bonus and will automatically become eligible to participate in the Dash 4 Cash round two to be held at the Chicagoland Speedway on July 22nd.
Another focal point to Saturday’s F W Webb 200 will be the return of Travis Pastrana to NASCAR racing for the first time since Charlotte. The motorsports dare devil, slowly working his way towards a full time NASCAR career, has been a little busy with his scheduled commitments in the world of global rally cross racing and of course the 2012 X Games.
The race for the Nationwide Series points championship is an on going story line in the series. Currently Richard Childress Racing rules those standings with drivers Elliot Sadler and Austin Dillon running one-two and only eight points apart from each other.
However, the points leaders will have their hands busy with special guest competition on Saturday. Because the Nationwide Series race is a companion event with their Sprint Cup counterparts, there is an influx of Cup drivers and teams on the entry list for the F W Webb 200. The highlights of that visitor’s list includes Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch.
THE RACE BREAKDOWN
The F W Webb 200 is 200 laps/211.6 miles around the New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s 1.058 mile oval.
The race has 43 posted entries, for a 43 car field, meaning the go or go home element in qualifying will not apply and all entries will get to race.
200 laps around this particular race track will be challenging due to the fact that it’s basically flat all the way around. There are only 12 degrees of banking in the corners and two degrees on the straights.
Saturday’s F W Webb 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race will be broadcast live by ESPN with the pre race show beginning at 230 pm eastern time.
