2015 ABC Supply 500

The 2015 ABC Supply 500 was an IndyCar Series event that was contested at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, USA. The race served as the penultimate race of the 2015 IndyCar Series season, and was the third and final leg of the season's Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka IndyCar Triple Crown.

2015 ABC Supply 500
Race details
15th round of the 2015 IndyCar Series season
DateAugust 23, 2015
Official nameABC Supply 500
LocationPocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
CoursePermanent racing facility
2.500 mi / 4.023 km
Distance200 laps
500.000 mi / 804.67 km
WeatherTemperatures reaching up to 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds approaching speeds of 8.06 miles per hour (12.97 km/h)[1]
Pole position
DriverHélio Castroneves (Team Penske)
Time1:21.6217 (2-lap)
Fastest lap
DriverJuan Pablo Montoya (Team Penske)
Time40.9927 (on lap 125 of 200)
Podium
FirstRyan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport)
SecondJosef Newgarden (CFH Racing)
ThirdJuan Pablo Montoya (Team Penske)

The race was won by Ryan Hunter-Reay driving the No. 28 DHL Dallara-Honda for Andretti Autosport. It was marred, however, by a crash involving Sage Karam twenty one laps from the finish that resulted in Justin Wilson being hit by the nose cone from Karam's car and suffering a fatal head injury. Wilson died the next day.

Background

The race was run on Sunday, August 23, 2015. The scheduled distance was 500 miles (800 kilometres), which required 200 laps around the triangular oval 2.5 miles (4.0 kilometres) in length.

Recap

The pole position was won by Hélio Castroneves of Team Penske, driving the No. 3 car. Penske Chevrolets qualified in the first three positions, with Castroneves' teammate Simon Pagenaud starting alongside him in the No. 22 and defending series champion Will Power behind him in position three.

Karam, driving a Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, qualified 20th, with Wilson seventh and Hunter-Reay eighth. Overall, twenty-four drivers qualified for the race.

Castroneves would eventually crash out of the event, finishing sixteenth. Wilson was scored in fifteenth, with Karam one position in front of him. The highest finishing of the Penske cars was the No. 2 of series points leader Juan Pablo Montoya, as he finished in third to receive a spot on the podium. Josef Newgarden, driving the No. 67 Chevrolet for CFH Racing, took the other position on the podium by way of his second-place finish and finished with a race-high 47 laps led. He was followed by Gabby Chaves, who led 31 laps in the No. 98 Honda for Bryan Herta Autosport, and Pagenaud, who led 30 laps. Hunter-Reay, Castroneves, and Tony Kanaan each led more than 20 laps.

There were 12 caution periods for 74 laps, and the race ended under the yellow flag. Eleven cars were running at the finish, with each being on the lead lap except for Pippa Mann, whose No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda was running in thirteenth place fifteen laps down.

Broadcasting

NBCSN and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network provided coverage of the event on television and radio respectively. Leigh Diffey called the race on television with Steve Matchett and Paul Tracy providing analysis. Matchett – Diffey's colleague from NBCSN's coverage of Formula One – was substituting for Townsend Bell, whose commitments to his United SportsCar Championship team took him to Virginia International Raceway that day where he finished first in his classification at the Oak Tree Grand Prix.

Paul Page headed the IMS booth with analyst Davey Hamilton, with Mark Jaynes and Jake Query reporting from the track.

Fatal accident

Justin Wilson, who was fatally injured during the race.

On lap 180 of the event, Karam was leading when he lost control of his car in turn one and made contact with the wall. The impact tore away most of the front end of Karam's car and he slid to a stop just past the exit to Turn 1. The nose cone of the Chevrolet came off with such force that it was bouncing along on the track as the drivers drove past. When Wilson, running fourteenth, drove by the scene, Karam's nose cone struck him in the head and knocked him unconscious. Wilson's No. 25 Honda lost control and veered off track, hitting the inner wall just past Turn 1 and continuing to slide up the track.

Karam, though shaken up, was able to exit his car with no major injuries. Wilson, however, was unresponsive when the track safety crew arrived at his machine and he had to be extricated from the car. A medivac helicopter was called for and transported Wilson to Lehigh Valley Hospital in nearby Allentown. He was reported to be in a coma with a severe head injury and was listed in critical condition. At approximately 21:00 local time on August 24, 2015, a press conference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced that Wilson had died from his injuries at the age of 37.[2][3][4]

Wilson was the first IndyCar driver to lose his life since Dan Wheldon's fatal accident at the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship in Las Vegas. His death was the second such occurrence in the world of open-wheel racing in 2015, following the death of Marussia F1 driver Jules Bianchi nine months after suffering a diffuse axonal injury in a crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

Results

Qualifying

Pos No. Name Time Gap
1 3 Hélio Castroneves 1:21.6217
2 22 Simon Pagenaud 1:21.6382 + 0.0165
3 1 Will Power 1:21.6704 + 0.0487
4 67 Josef Newgarden 1:21.7659 + 0.1442
5 15 Graham Rahal 1:21.7743 + 0.1526
6 26 Carlos Muñoz 1:21.8809 + 0.2592
7 25 Justin Wilson 1:21.9356 + 0.3139
8 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay 1:21.9402 + 0.3185
9 14 Takuma Sato 1:21.9755 + 0.3538
10 11 Sébastien Bourdais 1:21.9968 + 0.3751
11 9 Scott Dixon 1:22.2035 + 0.5818
12 10 Tony Kanaan 1:22.2610 + 0.6393
13 19 Tristan Vautier 1:22.3435 + 0.7218
14 41 Jack Hawksworth 1:22.4437 + 0.8220
15 7 James Jakes 1:22.4757 + 0.8540
16 98 Gabby Chaves 1:22.5111 + 0.8894
17 18 Pippa Mann 1:22.8075 + 1.1858
18 5 Ryan Briscoe 1:22.8571 + 1.2354
19 2 Juan Pablo Montoya 1:22.8751 + 1.2534
20 8 Sage Karam 1:23.1791 + 1.5574
21 20 Ed Carpenter 1:23.2120 + 1.5903
22 27 Marco Andretti 1:23.6816 + 2.0599
23 83 Charlie Kimball No time
24 4 Stefano Coletti No time
Qualifications

Race

Pos No. Driver Team Engine &
Aero Kit
Laps Time/Retired Pit
Stops
Grid Laps
Led
Pts.
1 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 200 3:25:08.1095
146.245 mph
6 8 29 51
2 67 Josef Newgarden CFH Racing Chevrolet 200 +0.3157 8 4 47 43
3 2 Juan Pablo Montoya W Team Penske Chevrolet 200 +0.5696 7 19 35
4 1 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 200 +1.4707 10 3 2 33
5 26 Carlos Muñoz Andretti Autosport Honda 200 +2.0003 8 6 30
6 14 Takuma Sato A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 200 +3.5167 11 9 3 29
7 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 200 +4.5025 7 2 30 27
8 5 Ryan Briscoe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 200 +4.7997 7 18 3 25
9 9 Scott Dixon W Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 200 +5.6857 8 11 22
10 7 James Jakes Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 200 +6.2994 10 15 20
11 98 Gabby Chaves R Bryan Herta Autosport Honda 197 Engine 5 16 31 20
12 83 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 193 Handling 13 23 1 19
13 18 Pippa Mann Dale Coyne Racing Honda 185 +15 Laps 12 17 17
14 8 Sage Karam R Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 179 Crash T1 6 20 7 17
15 25 Justin Wilson Andretti Autosport Honda 179 Fatal Crash T1 8 7 2 16
16 3 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 166 Crash T1 7 1 24 16
17 20 Ed Carpenter CFH Racing Chevrolet 156 Engine 7 21 13
18 27 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 138 Crash T2 5 22 12
19 10 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 131 Crash T2 4 12 21 12
20 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 92 Crash T3 3 5 10
21 19 Tristan Vautier Dale Coyne Racing Honda 92 Crash T3 6 13 9
22 41 Jack Hawksworth A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 82 Crash T1 4 14 8
23 11 Sébastien Bourdais KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 36 Crash T2 1 10 7
24 4 Stefano Coletti R KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 19 Brakes 24 6
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE
Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

References

  1. "Weather History for Long Pond, PA – August 23, 2015". Old Farmer's Almanac. Yankee Publishing, Inc. August 23, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  2. "Justin Wilson airlifted to hospital during Pocono race". ESPN. August 23, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  3. Olson, Jeff (August 23, 2015). "IndyCar driver Justin Wilson in a coma after Pocono crash". USA Today. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  4. "IndyCar Driver Justin Wilson Has Died of a Head Injury". ABC News. August 24, 2015. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
Previous race:
2015 Honda Indy 200
IndyCar Series
2015 season
Next race:
2015 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma
Previous race:
2014 Pocono IndyCar 500
ABC Supply 500 Next race:
2016 ABC Supply 500
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