Motegi: Newman/Haas Racing race report

QUICK TRIM DRIVER RAHAL FINISHED EIGHTH IN THE INDY JAPAN 300; FORMULA DREAM DRIVER MUTOH RAN SECOND AND FINISHED 14TH IN HIS HOME EVENT

Graham Rahal, No. 02 Quick Trim Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "I am very happy with our finish to be honest. Really, you have to give all the credit to the Quick Trim team because they're the ones who made up the spots in the pits for me. We didn't quite have a car that was good enough to pass people really. Fourth gear was too long and every time out of Turn 4 I was getting pulled bad so that killed us. Fortunately we got by Marco in the pits and got by Hunter-Reay when he made a mistake. And that's where we had to be all day; we had to wait for others to make mistakes. The team did a great job in the pits so I have to give the credit to them. Going from where we fell back to at the start to move all the way back up to eighth was down to them. I think I only passed a few guys on track so the rest was done in pit lane. The Quick Trim guys did a good job and got us this finish."

Hideki Mutoh, No. 06 Formula Dream/Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "For the start of the race I think I was a little too conservative. It was my home Grand Prix and I wanted to make sure I didn't mess up the first stint. After that the car was getting better and better; I was chasing it with the cockpit adjustments. At one point I was running second and it was awesome. It looked like our pit strategy was working out but it didn't in the end because of the yellow but I was so happy to run in front for the Japanese fans. I think that was the highlight of this race. On the last stint I was able to pass many cars; I just wanted to show the Japanese fans that I'm here. I think this is good momentum to carry to the last race at Homestead."

Next Up... The series will take next weekend off before traveling to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the IZOD IndyCar Series season-finale on Saturday, October 2.

-source: nhr