New Orleans, La. – Rising Star Racing drivers Neil Alberico and Josef Newgarden were both a part of the first-ever Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana at NOLA Motorsports Park this weekend as the 2015 IndyCar season picked up steam with a new venue and a new market as the track played host to both the Verizon IndyCar Series and Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires series.
The NOLA event was heavily promoted ahead of the event weekend, but the race organizers had to work through several contingency plans after heavy and consistent race day rains made for a challenging weekend.
Alberico had been hoping to replicate his impressive St. Pete performance, where he delivered two big wins to kick off his championship charge in the best way possible. But the Californian didn’t get the chance to fully make the most of the weekend.
Saturday’s Race 1 was moved, in light of the weather, to Sunday. Starting from ninth, Alberico held on to move up to sixth at the checkered flag, and was hoping to keep that progress going in Race 2. Unfortunately, he didn’t get that chance as the weather conditions saw the organizers move the race to another event weekend.
“We struggled a bit in testing, but the Cape Motorsports guys worked pretty hard to figure it out and we made a lot of progress,” said Alberico. “This is a long championship, and I really think that championships are won on your worst weekend. If you can pick your battles and make the most of a weekend, that’s going to be critical at the end of the year when you are counting up the points.”
While Alberico had been hoping to get another chance to improve in the second race on Sunday, he knows that the 2015 season will be all about making the most of whatever opportunities develop with the No. 3 Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing.
“It was a tough weekend with the delays and then having the second race cancelled,” said Alberico, who had been part of the significant pre-event promotion effort with IndyCar. “But I’m looking forward to making up that race whenever we get the chance to do it. We’ve still got the championship lead and now I’m really looking forward to what we can do at Barber.”
The weather continued to play a role in the Verizon IndyCar Series race as well, with heavy morning downpours then giving way to clearing skies about an hour ahead of the race.
The still-soggy track made for a challenging platform, but the race got off to a clean start as the drivers delivered an impressive opening segment despite the consistently changing conditions. Unfortunately, a yellow flag on lap 15 set the stage for a series of short-run one lap sprints with the race being called on a time limit.
Fortunately, Newgarden avoided any carnage and kept it on the island to bring home a ninth place finish through the race that saw some 26 of 47 laps run under caution.
“The thing I am happy about is that we got a top-10 on a difficult day,” said Newgarden. “It could have gone a lot better for us. We struggled a little bit in the wet, but when it was going dry we were very strong and we didn’t get to capitalize on that. Too many cautions, too many yellows, and it just didn’t play in our favor. That’s racing, sometimes it falls your way and sometimes it doesn’t. I’m just happy we managed a top-10, that’s good points but obviously leaves us wanting more. We will regroup, go to Long Beach, and keep chasing it."
Newgarden will be back in action this weekend as the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach plays host to the Verizon IndyCar Series, with Rising Star Racing’s Spencer Pigot also set for a run in Indy Lights competition as he looks to build on his double-podium season-opener at St. Pete.