By David Morgan, Associate Editor
INDIANAPOLIS – Heralded rookies Romain Grosjean and Jimmie Johnson came into their first attempt at running the Indianapolis 500 looking to bring home a solid finish, but both found out the hard way just how tough racing in the NTT IndyCar Series at 16th and Georgetown can be.
Both drivers showed speed throughout the Month of May, qualifying inside the top-12 and running well in the practices leading into Sunday’s 106th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, but when the green flag dropped it was a different story.
Grosjean, the former Formula 1 driver, held his own after starting ninth, keeping his No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda at the tail end of the top-10 or just outside the top-10 for a number of laps.
While it seemed the Frenchman was putting together a solid run, things can change in a hurry at Indianapolis. On lap 106, Grosjean was powering through Turn 2, and without warning, his car snapped around, sending him careening into the outside wall, causing heavy damage to his Andretti Autosport machine.
“The car spun. I don’t know why,” said Grosjean. “No warning on that corner. No issue. It was actually pretty good in (Turn) 1 and 2. (Turn) 3 and 4 was a bit more tricky, but 1 and 2, I was pretty good. I’m actually looking forward to going to see the data and try and understand because I wasn’t expecting anything bad on that corner. Obviously, I spun without any warning.
“Right now, it’s really bittersweet. I wanted to finish the race.”
As for Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he had a rough go of things from the start of the race, struggling with the handling on his No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, dropping down the running order from his 12th place starting position.
Johnson would spend the majority of the day deep in the field, but did lead one lap during the race by staying out an extra lap during a late pit stop sequence.
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