Fernandez delighted with second win.

Adrian Fernandez claimed his second IRL victory in the Delphi Indy 300 on his first visit to the Chicagoland Speedway.

Fernandez had looked in trouble when he lost the lead and fell to the back of the field after his second pit stop when the air jack mechanism on his car failed. However the Mexican driver recovered to beat Bryan Herta and Tony Kanaan to the win, and lift himself to sixth place in the standings.

"I am very happy and very proud of my guys today," he said. "Fernandez Racing did an outstanding job even with adversity when the air jack broke on our second pit stop. We came in for our second stop in the lead, and then we had the problem when the car wouldn't go up. The mechanism on the car broke and we had to do the pit stop manually. We had a little bit of a misunderstanding there and [chief mechanic] Mike Sales calmed everybody down. We never lost our hope.

"At that time we knew we needed to have a Plan B because we knew we couldn't beat anyone in the pits. We knew we could win on the track because we already proved that. We had fantastic strategy and a fantastic car. We were considering not changing tyres towards the end because the Firestone tyres were extremely good and that way we could stay in the lead."

The race was hit by a series of cautions late on, with a number of drivers unhappy with the standards of driver that forced them out of the race. However Fernandez was able to keep his head and avoid getting caught up in any of the incidents.

"Towards the end, the yellows came at the right time and we managed to stay out without stopping again," he said. "For me, it was very gratifying because I didn't see many cars passing on the outside up front and we managed to pass Bryan [Herta] to take the lead when we stayed out.

"The main thing is that everybody is fine from the accidents today. I was in the right place at the right time. I am very proud and this is a win for my guys. This is a fantastic team.
"We won two races now. Coming from where we came, we knew we could win another race. Nothing has happened coincidentally in the last few races. We are strong and we should win another one because the team is on a roll right now."

Fernandez Racing co-owner, and managing director, Tom Anderson was pleased with the second win of the season and he felt that the reaction of the team to the pitlane problems shows they are beginning to act like winners.

"I think this goes to prove how good Adrian Fernandez really is," he said. "The experience that he has to lead and be able to withstand the pressure, you just can't say enough about this guy. I am proud to be a partner with him.

"The team is starting to react the way winners react by overcoming the problems that we had today. We were able to make those into minor situations and capitalize. The job that Gustavo Del Campo [team manager], John Ward [race engineer], Chris Finch [race engineer] and Mike Sales [chief mechanic] - all the guys on the #5 team - for sure these guys are winners. They are able to plan for the unexpected and pull it off when it happens. I am extremely proud of these guys and it is great to be part of their team."