Photo Credit: Chris Jones/IndyCar
It’s been a whole 750 days since the No. 27 Honda has had a top-five finish, however, that streak ended with the Honda Indy Toronto this past weekend.
Marco Andretti employed a bit of strategy to finish the Honda Indy Toronto in the fourth position, which was Andretti’s first top-five since both of the Duels in Detroit in 2014. The Nazareth, Pennsylvania native started off the weekend in Toronto by running well in both practices on Friday.
On Saturday, he qualified the car in the 11th position. When the green flag dropped on Sunday afternoon, Andretti quickly shot up into the eighth position. Andretti’s race strategist Bryan Herta made a crucial decision on when to make their last pit stop which ended up giving the American driver good track position. After their pit stop he ended up in the fourth position, a position he held on to till the checkers fell.
“I think (it seemed like) we were quiet all weekend because we got hosed by that yellow in qualifying,” Andretti said. “But I think our pace was actually about sixth or seventh, so we’re happy to come away with a fourth. My engineer did a good job with the car. We were really balanced. I could really wring it out and we saved fuel at the end. I had a good car here in Toronto. I’m happy for the UFD team; the boys did a great job for us all day in the pits.”
It’s been a rough year for Andretti, but a top-five finish could allow the team to move forward in the weeks ahead at tracks like Mid-Ohio and Pocono.
