Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Verizon IndyCar Series
Post Race
Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park
Scott Dixon Puts Chevrolet IndyCar V6 on the Podium at Barber
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 27, 2014) – Scott Dixon, defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion, led the way for the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 contingent with a third-place podium finish today in the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. It is the fifth consecutive podium finish at Barber Motorsports Park for the driver of the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, continues to lead the championship standings with a fifth-place finish in today’s rain shortened race. The scheduled distance was 90 laps, but the start was delayed approximately two and a half hours due to severe weather. The race was cut to 100 minutes and competitors completed 69 laps.
Also scoring a top-10 finish in the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 powered cars were: Tony Kanaan, No. 10 GE Reveal Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet – ninth, and Charlie Kimball, No. 83 Novolog Flex Pen Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet – 10th.
Next on the schedule is the Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 10, 2014. The live ABC television broadcast is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m ET.
DRIVER QUOTES:
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD:
ON THE DAY: “Overall it was a good day for the Target team. We wanted to take one more step up on the podium to first after finishing second here so many times, but we ended up going in reverse this time unfortunately. We’ll take third but the tough conditions were the same for everyone with the wet start and a timed race. We seemed to burn up the front tires quick, but we had some great pit stops and overall a solid day.”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR DAY: “It was definitely an interesting race with the weather mixed in there. Hopefully we put on a good show for everybody. We were trying. We seemed to burn up the front tires quickly. The same thing happened on the wets after Helio (Castroneves) jumped the start and passed a couple of cars which is typical, I guess. We had to fight back and had a good pit stop exchange. (Will) Power pitted early and we were able to put down some good lap and gain some spots. We just didn’t have enough for Marco. He did a hell of a job, so congrats to Andretti for a 1-2 finish.”
YOU HAD A GREAT PIT STOP AND WERE RIGHT ON MARCO BUT STARTED TO BACK UP. WHAT HAPPENED? “The race was really fun. In the wet conditions, there was a little puddling and standing water which made it pretty tough… especially in the fast sections around the back. It was one of those races where at the start you kept it clean and stay out of trouble. I think Helio (Castroneves) got a bit greedy on the restart and jumped us which was frustrating because he backed us up some. It was fun to race with Montoya; he was making some pretty good turns onto the frontstraight. We tried to pull as much as could out of it and kinda burnt the front tires off the thing trying to push so hard. Congratulations to (race-winner Ryan) Hunter-Reay and good job by Marco (Andretti). More importantly, a big thanks to the fans who stuck it out through all this weather.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5TH : “The Verizon Chevrolet was really fast on the wet tires and I just got in trouble in turn 5. I keep moving my braking point further and further into the corners and I got caught going too far. It’s tough to not push past the limits with wet patches everywhere. We really didn’t have the pace in the dry anyway, but that sure didn’t help our cause when I went off course. We may have just been a bit heavy on downforce. Still a fifth-place finish today and we have the points lead going into the month of May.”
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 GE REVEAL CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: It was a good day for us. I mean we passed half of the field on a track that people say you can’t pass on. We’ll take a top-ten finish, especially after the weekend we had and qualifying in the back. It was a great day for the GE Reveal team. We had some great pit stops and we’ll just continue to go forward from here.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH : “I have to say that I’m just so proud of the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew and the whole Chip Ganassi Racing team. After crashing this morning, everyone from all three teams came together and just really put their heads down with no complaints and started working. It was a really upside-down race with it starting wet and ending dry, but we had really good pace and clean air. We just did what we could do and made the most of where we were at. I’m pleased to be able to bring the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet home with a top-ten finish and now we’re just ready to move onto the month of May.”
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11TH: “It was a fun race starting in the rain and then going to slick tires, but it was a bit challenging with the fuel conditions. We were able to stay out of trouble and really keep our nose clean allowing us to move up a ton of positions. The whole NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing team definitely wants to be higher than eleventh, but considering where we started today I was really happy with the result.”
MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH: “It was a pretty long day for us today. I guess we’ll have to take 14th from starting 21st. We struggled in the wet with overall grip. I tried to make a few moves in the early portion of the race and they just didn’t work out. We felt quicker on the slicks, especially on the earlier segments of the runs. But once everyone had their tires up to temperature, we couldn’t get up to make a move. It’s a frustrating. I hope we can improve on the road circuits. I’m excited to go to Indy for the test this week on the road circuit and race in the upcoming Grand Prix of Indianapolis. But we need to work on the setup some more to fight for a win there.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: NO. 11 TEAM HYDROXYCUT – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15TH: “I had another fast car and another disappointing result. Once again, I feel bad for the KVSH Racing guys. They did a great job. I want to thank my sponsors, especially Hyrdoxycut for their support this weekend. We just have to move on and try and win the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.”
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA: NO. 17 KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH: “It was disappointing to finish 18th as we had been consistent in the top-10. We had an amazing car in the dry conditions, but in the wet we really struggled. At the beginning I had to let cars through because I couldn’t see anything from the spray and once we got back into the race pace I didn’t have anything. We had a great initial strategy by staying out longer than the rest, but by the end we couldn’t make it work. We were the only ones that could have done a two-stop race because of all the fuel saving we had done, but by the race being shortened by that couple last yellows everyone was then on a two stop and we stuck at the back. We had an amazing car, so I am very proud of all the KV AFS guys. We go on to Indy and will get back to business. We are so close to getting something special, we just need to get all the bits working together.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. AAA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH: “Man, what a race. The AAA guys did a helluva job once again. Unfortunately I confused our pit stall with the 19 car of Justin Wilson. We were pitted right beside each other and our colors were very similar. I stopped in their pit stall, which was bad, but I also had to serve a stop and go penalty. With
the cautions the way they fell, I could never get a full green flag lap to serve my penalty. I feel so bad for the guys because that was completely on me. Thank you to AAA. The Chevrolet was great today. This is a race we shouldn’t forgot because we don’t want that to happen again.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 PPGTEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 21ST: “We had a good car in the wet…I thought it did a pretty good job in the wet. We had trouble with the radio, so I tried to plug myself back in while driving. So that was fun. I had a good restart on cold tires. We were going through the esses, and I was right behind the No. 9 car (Scott Dixon) . He had a big moment, and I lifted then ended up having a bigger moment myself. I went in and I kind of referenced and measured with the wet, and I did the same thing I was doing in wet. He lifted more than I expected and I had to lift a lot more and it started tail slapping. After that, something broke in the car..I don’t know what happened.”