CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6 DRIVER QUOTES – FAST NINE SHOOTOUT FOR THE POLE
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET: POLE WINNER:
ABOUT LETTING THE POLE SINK IN: “A little bit, but you know, I love the race a whole lot more than qualifying. And I really want to send a message and make sure I lead by example and to the team so we don’t forget why we are really here. This is fun and it’s huge for our team, I don’t want them thinking that it’s not but the pole won’t mean much if we don’t go out and perform on race day. You know, I love it here, I love racing here, I love going fast here, it’s cool to seee the speeds climbing again but this track the race means a lot to the other 32 guys that are going to start the race too so I don’t think it’s just special to me. I’ve been in positions to qualifying in the top 10 but this is my first year where we had a chance at pole and I thought, and really believed that we had a chance at pole so we were agressive all day long, and a little too aggressive in the first round . I told the guys before the first segment today and before the shootout that I would be much more mad if we went conservative and didn’t take a shot at it then if we took a big shot at it and missed so they made the right calls, I’m really proud of them.”
 
ABOUT FIRST MEMORY OF QUALIFYING “I remember watching Rick Meers qualify here in ’91 in the Turn 2 Suites and that’s my first memory of qualifications here.”
 
WALK US THROUGH THE FOUR BIGGEST LAPS YOU ARE GOING TO RUN HERE AT INDIANAPOLIS:
“I felt like my first run earlier I took too fast of a warm up lap.  I really took it easy on that warm up and still went a 226 (m.p.h.). I thought we were going to have a shot at a 229 (m.p.h.) to do two laps over 229 (m.p.h.) the fastest I have ever been around here in qualifying. It’s a lot of fun. I was really happy with the first two and third.  The fourth lap I was getting really loose and keep my foot in it, but still scrubbed a lot of speed.  Hopefully, it’s going to be enough to hang on.”
 
WAS IT SMOOTH OR A WHITE KNUCKLE RUN?
“The first three were really good the last one I put on a show out of turn two.  I know some of these cars have less downforce than us.  I felt like we were right on the limit.  Hopefully, these Penske guys that are more trimmed out will fall off more.”
 
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN WHAT YOU HAVE DONE HERE TODAY?
“A lot of great people on our team.  We have a great sponsor in Fuzzy’s Vodka that gives us the tools to do what we need to do.  Poles are won by the team.  They put a lot of work into this car.  We’ve got a great leadership team and a great group of people.”
 
CAROLOS MUNOZ, NO. 26 UNISTRAW ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND :
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“Yeah, to be honest there are no words to describe how you feel to be in the front row. We knew from the beginning we had a really good car, a really fast car alone and in the race behind so many guys, you know?  I’m really happy. To be just 21, just a little kid and sit in the front row as [Juan Pablo] Montoya did, he was second when he ran the Indy 500. So right now I have to focus on the race and I have to finish this month off just the way I started.”
 
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD:
TELL US ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING: “Yeah, definitely pleased.  Extremely proud of my team.  Five out of the top nine is just an incredible achievement.  That has to be some kind of a record.  I don’t think there’s been five cars on one team let alone in the top nine.  Chevrolet, what a statement.  I’m definitely proud of them.  But as for the RC car, after my first run this afternoon, I wouldn’t say my pole hopes were totally dashed but they diminished a little bit, and I knew if we just went the conservative route that we’d be on the first two rows anyway.”
 
 E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT/HVM CHEVROLET, QUALIED 4TH:
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“Starting my sixth Indy 500 in the second row is a great accomplishment. I’m very proud to be in the team I’m racing with this year – with a group of incredible professionals that I’m surrounded by. I believe my crew did a great job; we’ve been working very hard here every single day we’ve been at the track. It’s not only a job that has been done this week – it took all the winter for the team to figure out many of things that we were able to put on the car. To put five cars in the top nine, it means a lot. I’m starting next to my teammates, and at this point I’m just looking forward to having a great race.”
 
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH:
NOT A POLE RUN, BUT A FANTASTIC DAY FOR YOU AND THIS TEAM:
“Yeah, it definitely was.  Everybody on the Team Penske IZOD Chevy worked really hard this week.  Getting in the Fast Nine it’s one of those things that was our goal, then you get into it and you try to raise your expectation you maybe had of having something really cool happen.  The car was better, we made it better it was kind of a downforce level I hadn’t run yet.  Didn’t know what to expect it was a decent balance too much understeer and just kept scrubbing too much speed each lap.  Kind of wore the front tires out so overall not bad.  We will see where we end up and we will have a good starting spot for the big race.”
 
WHAT IS ONE THING YOU TAKE AWAY FROM THIS EXPERIENCE TODAY?
“Just living it.  Indy pole day, enjoying it, seeing what it’s all about, the excitement level of the crowed and everything.  It’s really cool.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 6TH:
ON HIS QUALIFYING: “I was going to go with more downforce level than I did this morning.
But yeah, it was good.  We took everything off and went for it, definitely starting the last lap I really did not want to do it, it was so bloody ‑‑ yeah.  Even the last two corners, you’re like, man, I don’t know whether this thing is going to stick.  But good fun, and it’s good to be starting on the second row, and we’ll see what we can do.”
 
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 7TH: ON HIS QUALIFYING: “I had a big moment. I got really loose in three.  I had to catch it and there was a lift accompanied with it, which killed the lap. We were kind of rolling the dice.  I was telling these guys, the sweat    On an oval especially, the sweat on a race suit, there’s a direct correlation…the looser you are, the more you sweat.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 SHELL V-POWER/PENNZOIL ULTRA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 8TH:  YOU HAD A FIRST GOOD LAP THEN YOU HAD A HANDFUL AFTER THAT TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN:
“Yeah, it’s Indianapolis ask my boys ‘you guys want to take a chance or you guys want to be conservative?’ To least we might have a shot as well.  Democracy back there said ‘no, let’s take a chance.’ Unfortunately, I was sliding too much losing a lot of speed unfortunately I was sideways, but not on the straightaways.  But we took a chance.  At least we are going to sleep that we tried.  Again, we have a good car at least hopefully Will (Power) now will be able to, Ed (Carpenter) did a great job.  But hopefully Will will be able to do it.”
YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO WIN FOUR A LITTLE OVER A WEEK AWAY:
“Absolutely, today is just for stretching to try, but it didn’t do it.  For sure the race we know what we need to do.”
 
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 9TH:
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“That was a kick in the pants we were pulling a gear coming to the line to take the green there and we got kicked into the hard limiter.  It just killed the lap. We tried to take a bit of a swing at it.&nb
sp; We were ninth anyway coming in so we didn’t lose anything.  We had nothing to lose so we kind of swung at it a little bit.  Ultimately the speed wasn’t there, but for as hard as I worked and as loose as that car was man it sucks to have one lap like that on the board.”
 
NINTH ISN’T ALL THAT BAD:
“Well exactly right if ninth is a bad day for us that means certainly this team is doing something right.  To have all five Andretti Autosport cars in the top nine it’s incredible when you look at how competitive this field is right now.  Huge credit to the guys, Chevy, Firestone, GoDaddy, everybody, it’s not a bad place to start for next Sunday.”