CHEVROLET RACING
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
MAVTV 500
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES
AUGUST 30, 2014
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2ND IN RACE, FINISHED 3RD IN FINAL STANDINGS: “Wow, that was one heck of a way to end the season with a 1-2 Team Target finish. It’s always a good feeling to head into the offseason with a good result and strong momentum. I’m so happy for Tony and the whole Chip Ganassi Racing family.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: “I was pretty upset with the lapped guys tonight. We were trying to race for the win and they just wouldn’t move even when they are several laps down. Where was the blue flag? I just don’t get it. On the final restart, I got a good start and I got in the hunt with Helio (Castroneves), Will (Power) and Scott (Dixon). But as the laps went on and we had traffic, it was very tough to pass the lapped traffic. I know they are racing too. But we talk about having some courtesy on the track in the meetings. Oh well, we got back on the Fuzzy’s Vodka 19th Hole Victory Lane for the third straight year in the Fuzzy’s Chevy. It’s a good way to finish the season. That penalty hurt us too. The pit speed limiter didn’t work on the third stop and we were too fast I guess. And the limiter didn’t work the rest of the race and I had to read the speed into the pit until the end. It was a hard race tonight and I feel like we fought back from a lot of stuff. The Ganassi guys were fast at the end. We had a better pace in the end of the stints though. But I couldn’t get to them in that last stint. Overall, ECR team was just sensational throughout the year. I’m very proud of them.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH IN THE RACE; FINISHED 4TH IN FINAL STANDINGS: YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE GOING TO BE IN CHAMPIONSHIP FORM COME 2015: “Yeah, this year, podium or championship, I never even thought about that. I figured if I got a podium once or twice this year I would be happy. We had a pole and won one race. Today, we had a car that was so fast but we had a problem with the weight jacker and we had to add six or seven pounds just to get it to drive decent again.”
HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT BECAUSE WE COULD HEAR YOU ON THE RADIO AND AFTER LEADING SO MUCH OF THIS RACE YOU WERE REALLY STRUGGLING:? “I started struggling at lap 20. I was doing good and I looked down and I was like, “oh”, and the weight jacker was all the way to the right and I went to reset it and it wouldn’t work.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT TEAM PENSKE AND WILL PICKING UP HIS FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP WIN? “It’s great for Team Penske and for Will. For me, the first year in being with them and helping with the championship is really cool.”
YOU HAD A TOP FIVE FINSIH IN ALL THE 500 MILE RACES WE HAD, WHAT CAN THAT DO FOR YOU IN THE OFFSEASON? “To be honest with you, we are really happy and happy with the car. On the ovals we are really good, street courses we are good but on the street courses and road courses I want to get a little better. I think we need to get our qualifying a little better, I need to do that. Not them, a little bit more on me. I want to work a little harder in the offseason and get ready for next year to see what it brings.”
ARE THERE MORE EXPECTATIONS FOR YOU NEXT YEAR? “I worked really hard and put a lot of pressure on myself. I worked really hard, worked out really hard, trained really hard and I am just so pumped. So happy to be a part of Team Penske. Roger has given me this opportunity and I am going to use it the best that I can.”
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATE CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: “It’s hard to believe this season is over already – it seems like we just started! I couldn’t be happier for Tony and Dixon on their 1-2 finish. Tony deserved that win and it’s just a great way for the team to end the season. I wish the No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet could’ve finished higher, but a top-10 finish in a series this competitive does mean something. It’s been a great year for NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing and I’m so proud to be a part of this team.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVO FLEX PEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 12TH: “I have to give a lot of credit to the entire Chip Ganassi Racing team, especially Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing. They were able to really come together and rebound from our incident last night. I knew from the first lap that the car was going to be really good. I got caught out in the dirty air and hit the wall lightly in the middle of the race. That put us behind a little, but we were able to fight back as a team and finish in 12th. After the night we had last night, I’d say that’s pretty good. Congratulations to Tony and Scott on the 1-2 finish.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 2 AAA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH IN THE RACE, FINISHED 2ND IN FINAL STANDINGS: YOU COME UP A BIT SHORT TODAY, WHAT IS THE EMOTION? “You know, obviously for the team its great. At the end I was pushing extremely hard and I knew the only way for us to get in front was through the pits and I knew that our in and outs seemed to be working pretty well, except for the last one. I got a drive through and I am sorry guys. I have to thank Chevrolet, Shell-Pennzoil, SKF, Verizon, and everyone. Hitachi especially. You guys, thank you for a great season and well done. Congrats to Will for being a champion and great job. I hope the rate in his house doesn’t increase because every time I stay with him, he charges me. But at the end of the day, great job for Team Penske. We were one, two and four for Juan Pablo. But for me, it’s another second.”
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 17 AUTOMATIC FIRE SPRINKLERS KIV AFS RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17TH: “”Can’t believe we have just had the last race of the season. Sad to say goodbye to racing for a while but really motivated for what’s next. I’m really proud of the Automatic Fire Sprinklers – KV AFS team, we stayed focused and stuck together through the good and the bad times. Tonight we were expecting a little bit of understeer at the beginning but that didn’t happen and we were very loose. It took us a couple of stints to get back to being competitive but then I was already a few laps down. The engineers did a great job to get the car more balanced and once it there I was able to get a lap back and start fighting and move up some positions, but it was just a little too late. The crew did some fantastic stops and everything went according to plan and I look forward to doing it all over again next year and having the chance to fight at the front.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 TEAM HYDROXYCUT KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH: “It was a very tough night for the Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing team and that is all I have to say about the race. I want to thank Kevin (Kalkhoven), Jimmy (Vasser) and Sulli (James “Sulli” Sullivan) for the opportunity to race with the team this year. I want to thank the sponsors, Hydroxycut, Mistic E-Cigs, Circle K, Plantronics, American Racing Wheels, GEICO and Hippino for all their support. I also want to thank Chevrolet and Firestone. I especially want to thank Steve Moore and the entire team for all their hard work. We worked hard and showed good pace a lot of the time. We earned two poles and won a race. We didn’t meet all of our expectations, but we are building something here and I am looking forward to continuing the process during the off-season and next year.”