Tag: Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300

Racing and soccer do not typically coincide, but for Brazilian sports fans both are top-notch entertainment, and definitely provide a reason to be "animado," or very excited as we would say in English.

Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) Dallara/Honda/Firestone car, is traveling more than 5,000 miles south of Indianapolis for the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300, the only IZOD IndyCar Series race outside of North America.

Sao Paulo's steadfast soccer fans leave no shortage of enthusiasm when they take over the track, according to Newgarden.

"The big difference with racing in Brazil compared to racing in the States is that the fans are very, very passionate," he said. "It's almost like racing during a soccer match. They're super passionate about soccer down there and I think they bring that same sort of energy to the weekend, which is pretty cool. Going anywhere where you have fans that are that appreciative and that excited to have you there is always fun."

The Streets of Sao Paulo also presents an opportunity for team bonding , as most of the crews stay on the race compound for the entire weekend.

"Last year Hinch (James Hinchcliffe) was supposed to shave his beard but he ended up not doing it, so I slapped him in the face with a handful of shaving cream," Newgarden said laughing. "I don't think it made it on the air anywhere but it was on tape, so it's out there somewhere!"

The sophomore driver can always be counted on for a funny Sao Paulo story, but even more important is Newgarden's reverence for the street circuit itself.

"I like the track a lot," Newgarden said. "I like the way it's laid out, and it's very different than anywhere else we go. It has the longest back straight that we will go to at any point this year, which is very unique."

The 22-year-old relishes the challenge the 2.536-mile street circuit brings.

"We have to run very low down force, which is not typical for a street course," Newgarden said. "Normally on street courses you run a lot of down force, but in Brazil you can't because the straights are so long. That makes it difficult to balance but I think it's really fun."

In his rookie season, Newgarden qualified ninth and drove the fastest lap of any competitor before making contact with a wall that cut his race short. The second year star hopes to take what he learned last year and use it to his advantage.

"We have a great setup that I think will start the weekend on a good note," Newgarden said. "It is straight from the setup we learned and developed last year. If anything we just need to do a good job of scoring solid points because I know we will have a good car."

Newgarden is hoping for a solid result in Brazil that would give his team positive momentum heading into the next IZOD IndyCar Series race, the Indianapolis 500.

"Momentum is a big deal and Indianapolis is coming up right afterwards, so momentum coming into Indianapolis right after Brazil is crucial and we have to do a good job there," he said.

The Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 will air live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 5. For updates from the No. 67 car follow @SFHRIndy on Twitter.

The Itaipavo Sao Paulo Indy 300 circuit runs straight through the Anhembi Sambodromo where Sao Paulo hosts one of the biggest carnivals in the world, and for rookie IZOD IndyCar Series driver Josef Newgarden, today's race was full of incidents fit for a carnival more than a race.

On lap one, Newgarden danced the No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) Dallara/Honda/Firestone car past three other cars to move from eighth to fifth. Newgarden then rose to fourth position with a pass on Graham Rahal on lap six.

The atmosphere changed from competition to carnival for Newgarden on lap 30 however when Simona de Silvestro's car made contact with the back of his car and spun him around.

"I’m not really sure what happened with Simona," Newgarden said. "I was coming through the corner, and the next thing I knew I was turned around. It was an unlucky break that set us really far back in the race, which is a real shame for the SFHR boys."

Damage to the No. 67 car was quickly repaired by the SFHR team, and Newgarden rejoined the race although he could not avoid losing a lap to race leaders. Despite the setback, Newgarden and SFHR used the rest of the race to glean new information for their street circuit program.

One thing SFHR team leaders did learn, if they didn’t already know, is that they have one fast rookie driver. After returning to the track after the accident with de Sivelstro, Newgarden used his Honda power to set a blistering pace. On lap 58, the 21-year-old driver set the fastest lap of the race – by all competitors – with a lap of 1:22.6313 seconds at 110.486 mph.

SFHR's day ended on lap 63 when Newgarden went wide in turn five and made contact with a wall.

"We learned a lot in this race, as far as strategy and learning how fuel and tires are affected throughout an entire stint," Newgarden said. "There’s a lot of valuable information we can take away from this race moving forward."

SFHR and Newgarden will take on the Indianapolis 500 next on the 2012 IZOD IndyCar series schedule. SFHR is the last IndyCar team to score a victory on an oval with their win at Kentucky Speedway last October.

"Indy’s exciting because it’s a whole month of action and you’ve got to use your time wisely," Newgarden said. "We’ll try to learn as much as we can throughout the month and come to race day with a really solid package."

Team Penske continued its domination of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series by winning Sunday’s Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 with driver Will Power. The team has won the first four races of the season.

Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay continues to run strong in 2012. He chased Power across the line for a second-place finish. It is his second straight podium finish.

Scoring the first podium finish of his IndyCar Series career was Rahal Letterman Racing’s Takuma Sato. Rounding out the top five were Castroneves and Ganassi Racing’s Dario Franchitti.

Five caution periods allowed the yellow flag to wave for 15 laps. There were five lead changes among five drivers. Power led an impressive 63 laps.

The next IZOD IndyCar Series event is the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race on May 27, with Pole Day qualifying on May 19th.

When the sun peaked through the clouds of rainy Sao Paulo today, rookie Josef Newgarden made a splash during qualifying for the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 when he qualified ninth with a lap of 1 minute, 21.8128 seconds at 111.591 mph.