Chevy Racing–IndyCar–Grand Prix of Long Beach

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6 DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES
GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH
STREETS OF LONG BEACH
 
DRIVER QUOTES:
MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER:  YOU ARE CALM AND COOL, BUT YOU’VE GOT TO BE FIRED-UP
“Yeah, I can’t believe I’m actually here. Wow, this is just an awesome job by the team. We just really hung in there all day. We weren’t sure what we had but I just hung in there all the way to the end and it just seemed to come to us. It’s just a fantastic job by the boys and the Fuzzy’s crew. Wow, I just can’t believe it. Two times Long Beach winner, It’s jus unbelievable. It’s so good to be back here.”
YOU BROKE THE FRONT WING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE RACE. HOW ARE YOU HERE (AS THE WINNER)?
“As you say, you never know; you just have to push as hard as you can all the time, and all the way to the end. I knew Will (Power) was going to be close and he was good off the last corner, but I knew I just had to keep it in clean air. Oh, and like the guys are saying he should be saving (fuel) but a second would have been good anyway, but I can’t believe it. And yeah, I had so much drag off that front wing. But, awesome.”
WOULD YOU HAVE TRIED TO PASS SCOTT DIXON IN THE FINAL LAPS KNOWING HE MIGHT HAVE TO PIT? DID YOU JUST WANT TO PRESSURE, OR WOULD YOU HAVE TAKEN THE CHANCE?
“I was thinking about it at the beginning. We got close a couple of times, but then after that it was hard to get really close enough for a pass. So, I couldn’t really get close enough to be honest, and I wouldn’t have risked it. But I couldn’t see him. I didn’t really know if he had to save fuel or not. The guys were telling me he had to, so I just stayed behind him and hoped he would pull in and he did, with two laps to go. It was like a gift.”
ON THE MULTI-CAR CRASH, HOW CLOSE WAS IT FOR YOU TO SQUEAK THROUGH THERE?
“Luckily our guy who was on the radio down in that section told me. He said to stay right, and so I did stay right through the corner and saw the two on the left and another two came together and speared right. I managed to stick it in between and that was it. Wow, I can’t believe I’m here. It’s so cool.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: “The No. 12 Verizon Chevy team never gave up.  We did everything that we could
and would have been happy to get a top 5 starting from 14th. But to finish 2nd, what a great day for our guys. We didn’t change anything going into the race and we had a great day. Looking forward to going into Barber and getting the pole and win.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: “That was an interesting race. What an amazing team and I really have to thank Verizon and Chevy. I could’ve been a little more aggressive at the end but I really wanted to make sure we didn’t get in any trouble and got a decent finish in the Verizon car. We had some close calls out there but we kept pushing and to come out of Long Beach with a top-five finish is pretty good.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA: NO. 17 KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET,  FINISHED 9TH:
“It was quite an interesting race. I made a big mistake at the start, stalling the car, but we kept calm and focused. We had a great car with great pace and that enabled me to move back through the field. I was also able to capitalise on the mistakes by others. Unfortunately with 10 laps to go we had a mechanical situation and then our main goal was to bring the car home. I was able to pick up some great points and am real proud of all of the KV AFS crew for keeping their heads in the game and not panicking when we got into those situations. I also need to thank my engineer for a great strategy and for getting me back in the race. We move on to Barber in a couple of weeks and I look forward to getting another great result.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AAA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11TH:  “The Automobile of Southern California boys did a great job. Unfortunately we got caught up in an accident in Turn 4. That was very disappointing. Then we got a penalty on one of the restarts late in the race. We need to figure out what happened with that. It was a very crazy race after the crash. We were taking it easy trying to save the car. We were just saving fuel and trying to make it to the end. It was a great job by everyone at Team Penske. Now let’s go to Barber.”
 
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET, FINISHED 12TH: “It was a tough situation for the Target team to be in there leading at the end and not make it. We ended up being about a half of a lap short on fuel and didn’t get a break with a yellow flag.  We could have stayed out and tried it but then we would have risked running out of fuel and wrecking the field.  I feel bad for the accident with Justin Wilson. I didn’t expect him to be there on the outside so I will go talk to him. Not the day we wanted but we’ll regroup and be ready for Barber.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: NO. 11 TEAM MISTIC– KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH: “This one really hurts.  I had a great car and I just made a mistake. The rear tires were going during the first stint and I started compensating with brake bias. When we put on new tires for the second stint I wound it back a bit, but not enough. During the out lap the rear tires were coming in, but the fronts were still not in. I touched the brake pedal and didn’t even slow down. I didn’t brake late, but was nowhere near making the corner. It was a very bad judgment call.  I want to thank my sponsor Mistic Electronic Cigarettes for all their support this weekend. I also especially want to thank the crew for sticking with it all day. It is just the second race and we know we are fast.  We will make this work together as a team.”
 
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 TNT CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17TH:  “We had some major mechanical issues throughout the race and we thought we might actually be done for the day.  We came back to the garage and our engineers were able to work with the Chevy engineers to get some things figured out and we were able to get back out there to make up some positions.  Obviously finishing 17th isn’t where we wanted to be, but it is encouraging that we were able to get back out there and get back some points. It’s just disappointing because Long Beach is one of my favorite races and we had such a good start by making up all of those positions so early.”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH:  “My wrist is a little sore from the accident.  It’s a shame for the Target team. They told me to take it easy on the radio when the accident happened but I guess I didn’t take it easy enough.  I didn’t expect to have four cars there and when Sato hit, I couldn’t avoid it.  It’s a shame overall but we were up there and what ever happened there in front of us today didn’t look smart.”
 
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 23RD: We’re not sure what exactly happened today with the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet yet.  We still need to get the car back and look over all of the data to figure out the exact problem.  We started the race out exactly as we planned by picking up a lot of spots early and getting through the standing starts cleanly.  The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew did a great job in pit lane by getting me in and out quickly and just as the yellow fell.  We had the right pace and the right tires to run a good race today, it just didn’t go our way with mechanical issues.  The team did a great job today and even though it wasn’t a great end to our weekend in Long Beach, I’m confident going into Barber here in a few weeks.”