Andretti Autosport 2018 results their best season…

INDYCAR SEASON RECAP

CHECKERED FLAG.

The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series has come and gone, and the numbers say this has been one of our best seasons of the decade. With five trips to victory lane, five Verizon P1 Awards and 24 top-five finishes the Andretti Autosport team lit a fire of determination to push to the top.

Kicking off the season with four consecutive podium finishes – including Alexander Rossi’s win at Long Beach – and heading into the Indianapolis 500 with eight top-five finishes, the four full-time drivers gave the team high expectations when the stable of six took the green flag for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500. The team made history with six cars running at the finish of the 200-lap race, two cars in the top five, three in the top 10 and five in the top 15.

Despite not winning, the team carried their force into Detroit where Marco Andretti scored pole position for Race 1 and Rossi took the honors for Race 2. Both Ryan Hunter-Reay and Rossi took a step on the podium for the first race with Andretti finishing just off the podium in fourth. When Race 2 was checkered Hunter-Reay stepped on the top step ending a two-year win drought.

When it came time to race Iowa and Toronto, the team didn’t see the results it would have liked to. Iowa marked the first race without a top-five finish and Toronto followed suit. However, Mid-Ohio turn the page to a new chapter for the team. Rossi took the win from pole position for his second race of the season (Long Beach).

The following race was held at the home track of Andretti and marked the 100th top-10 finish of the third-generation driver’s career. Rossi took the victory after leading 180 laps around the 2.5-mile tri-oval, narrowing the championship points gap from 46 to 29 on leader Scott Dixon.

Gateway Motorsports Park marked the site of Zach Veach’s first lap led in the Verizon IndyCar Series and the rookie put on an epic fight to claim his second top-five finish after starting from 16th. The next weekend at Portland International Raceway saw Hunter-Reay land on the podium for the fifth time of the season.

The team ended the season on a high note at Sonoma Raceway as three of the team’s four cars advanced into the Firestone Fast Six and Hunter-Reay stole the pole. When the checkered flag flew, Hunter-Reay had led 80 of 85 laps and brought home Andretti Autosport’s fifth win of the season. All four Andretti drivers finished inside the top 10. Rossi, Hunter-Reay and Andretti all finished in the top eight of the championship and Veach scored second in the Rookie of the Year standings.