Newman/Haas Racing
94th Indianapolis 500 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
RACE DAY NOTES/QUOTES – May 30, 2010

FORMULA DREAM/PANASONIC DRIVER MUTOH RETIRED FROM THE INDY 500 WITH HANDLING PROBLEMS

OVERALL: Mutoh matched his best qualifying position at Indianapolis and started on the outside of Row 3 in ninth place. He maintained his position in the early laps of the race but reported his car was loose after the first restart from caution and dropped two places by Lap 7. After 19 laps he reported that the car was very loose and ultimately dropped to 28th place before he pitted for adjustments. Further pit stops for adjustments did not improve the handling and the team ultimately decided to retire from the event after completing 76 of 200 laps.

Hideki Mutoh, No. 06 Formula Dream/Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I’m very, very disappointed because I know the guys have been working very hard over the winter and for the whole month. We had a very good car before but today it wasn’t the same. I couldn’t find the right balance or get up to speed. I don’t think the problem was entirely the heat; there was something else as well but I think the heat made it worse. We tried to fix it but couldn’t find the exact problem. I felt a problem immediately but I didn’t think it was big enough to retire from the race. Lap by lap the handling was getting worse and worse and I was losing grip. Unfortunately I couldn’t hold it. It was a very free, very light car. The team worked hard to improve it but nothing made a difference. I couldn’t maintain a high speed and I didn’t want to damage the car or hurt someone’s race. Unfortunately this is just part of the Indy 500.”

FAST FACTS: Was his third event here and first Indy 500 with NHR after having driven for Andretti Green Racing, co-owned by former NHR driver Michael Andretti, for the past two seasons. In 2008 he was the Fastest Rookie after he qualified ninth. He finished seventh. In 2009 he started 16th and finished 10th here…He started ninth in 2010…His highest IZOD IndyCar Series start is THIRD at Nashville Speedway (oval) and best overall series finish is SECOND (Iowa 2008).

1 POLE (1987) & TWO SECONDS AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (IMS) for NHR: The 2010 entry marked the 18th year for the team in the event and the fifth since 1995. Prior to 2010, the team prepared a total of 27 entries for drivers such as Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Bruno Junqueira, Sebastien Bourdais, Justin Wilson, Graham Rahal and Robert Doornbos. Hideki Mutoh, the fastest rookie Indy 500 qualifier in 2008 competes for the team in 2010 and will bring the total to 28. NHR’s highest finish in the Indy 500 is second place with Mario Andretti in 1985 and Michael Andretti in 1991 although team drivers have led many laps here. Mario Andretti also brought the team its highest start in the event when he won the pole position in 1987. NHR’s 2004 entry of Junqueira marked the first time for the team to compete here since 1995 and they returned in 2005 with Junqueira and IMS rookie Bourdais. In 2008 they ran Wilson and Rahal here during a transition season in the series and ran Rahal and Robert Doornbos in 2009. They have earned Rookie of the Year once, with Mansell in 1993 when he finished third.