Richmond Top 3: AGR

With much talk of late of the team not living up to it's "big three" status, the Andretti Green racing squad appears to have rallied during the last two races, culminating in a 4th, 5th, 6th, & 7th place finish this past weekend in Richmond.

The star of the show for the last 2 weekends was the quietest member of the squad, Hideki Mutoh, with a podium finish in Iowa and what could possibly have been a victory had the cautions fallen in his favour on Saturday night. He did lead the first laps of his IndyCar career, 70+ in fact.

"We had a great car tonight. We worked really hard to make some changes to the car after practice yesterday and our hard work paid off. The Formula Dream guys did a fantastic job in the pits and I'm really pleased with our finish. I think we could've been in position to win if the last yellow hadn't come out. I'm looking forward to Watkins Glen and hope to have a keep the momentum going."

Right behind Mutoh, and also unable to capitalize on the alternate fuel strategy, was Patrick who's 5th place finish keeps her in 5th spot in the standings.

"I'm really glad we were able to make another top-five finish for the Boost Mobile/Motorola car. We struggled with qualifying yesterday, but we worked really hard to figure out what we needed to do to have a good outcome. The guys did a really great job in the pits, the car felt good all night. I wish we were able to race up front with the leaders but we got caught in lapped traffic. Overall a great way to way to end a challenging weekend for Andretti Green."

Despite jumping from 16th to 9th in the first couple of laps, Marco Andretti was unable to really make any significant challenge for the podium.

"We had a really good race car, but passing was tough tonight. Track position is really important here since it's a hard track to pass on. I think we made the best out of it and got a top-10 finish for Team Venom Energy."

Team patriarch Tony Kanaan, who's season has been filled with attrition and injury, was happy to bring himself & the car across the line in one piece and collect some valuable

"The Team 7-Eleven crew was able to make a good night out of a rough weekend. I think we did out best and made some good decisions on the strategy. The yellows weren't always in our favor but I think we put a good show on for the fans."

Like the rest of the teams, AGR now regroups and prepares for the next leg of the IndyCar season. With a stint of road and street courses ahead, the advantage the established teams like AGR have on ovals is diminished, making it all the more important to qualify well and reap the best results possible.

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