Briscoe posts 12th place finish in Indianapolis 500

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing driver Ryan Briscoe finished 12th in Round 5 of the IZOD IndyCar Series at the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Ryan Briscoe, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Photo by: Michael C. Johnson

The NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing team showed strength early on by advancing positions within the opening laps on the 2.5-mile oval. Through the first quarter of the race, Briscoe reported a vibration from the car that would last throughout the remainder of the race.

On lap 120 of the 200-lap race, the No. 8 NTT DATA team called Briscoe to pit for tires, fuel and a turn of rear wing to add down force to the car. Following the stop, Briscoe became one of the fastest drivers on the 2.5-mile oval. With the highly competitive and close field, the team would battle its way through heavy traffic through the race and consistently gained spots through the field.

With eight laps remaining, a caution was thrown with the No. 8 NTT DATA Honda in 14th position. The course returned to green with three laps remaining, where Briscoe nabbed two additional positions to move to 12th. The race went yellow again in the final laps and the No. 8 would eventually cross the finish line in 12th place.

Honda is second in the manufacturer point standings with 33 points, trailing Chevrolet with 42.

Ryan Briscoe: “We were definitely hoping for a better result today. I think it really came down to a case of track position and we were never really able to make a jump to the front of the field. With such a quick race, there wasn’t much alternative strategy going on where we could do something different.

So, being where we were, we had some good runs and some really good battles. Passing was going on everywhere and it was exciting and it was hard-fought. I think if we were able to get to the front we would have been able to race hard at the front.”

Chip Ganassi Racing