“We thought it was a timed race, and we were in a position to be fine and then once they kept running it out, we ran out of fuel. I had no place to go really. It’s very difficult to get out of the way.
“I went down and apologised to Dario, Mike Hull and Mr. Ganassi. I just feel bad. They were cool and they understand. It wasn’t like I was trying to crash. It’s just disappointing to be involved in the championship that way. I didn’t mean for any of that to happen.
“I just wanted a solid strong finish for Dreyer & Reinbold and our new sponsor Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas. It was extremely exciting. It’s where we want to be at. Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl have stepped up and tried to make their team better. We are in a good position.
“We just need a little bit more help and a little more luck here and I think we’ll be OK. Our finish was good from starting basically last. To move up and run up front, we were in an excellent position. I’m just disappointed I didn’t want to crash those two guys out. I knew they were behind me, and I was trying to just keep pace. I was running with the leader; to have that happen just sucks.”
Danica Patrick meanwhile avoided the wreckage to finish a career-best second, while Dan Wheldon was third, followed by Darren Manning and Kosuke Matsuura.
“I think that the race, first and foremost, put on by Roger Penske and his group of people was just absolutely fantastic,” said Dan. “This is the kind of thing that IndyCar needs.
“Along with Helio (Castroneves) getting on “Dancing with the Stars” or that ballerina thing that he’s doing anyway, I think it’s good. I think the race was good for the fans. It was very entertaining.
“For Target Chip Ganassi racing it was good in one aspect, from our standpoint, finishing in the top three.
“It was a little unfortunate for Scott (Dixon), but he’s still in a great position to be able to win the championship and that’s what we need.”
