CHEVROLET RACING
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
MAVTV 500
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST QUALIFYING QUOTES
AUGUST 29, 2014
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AAA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, POLE SITTER: ON WINNING THE “Yes! That’s exactly what we needed to start this weekend. The Auto Club Chevy guys did a great job today and winning the Verizon Pole Award feels fantastic. I really have to thank my guys and Will (Power) and Juan Pablo (Montoya). Going out last (in qualifying) really helped because I was able to get my teammates’ feedback and we made some changes that really helped us get the pole. Now, we need to keep going. We are starting up front but it is a long race and we know what we need to do to make it happen. This is the first step. Now we need to make sure we end up where we start tomorrow night.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND: “I feel that we have a really good Verizon Chevy. We really had it set up for race trim, so I wasn’t expecting it to be that good for qualifying. But it was. It was really quick, especially for the hot conditions that we had to qualify in. We ran the same time that we ran this morning and it was much hotter. I’ll be honest I didn’t think that time would hold up that well. Congrats to Helio (Castroneves) on the Verizon P1 Pole Award. It’s going to be an interesting race tomorrow night.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH: “With this heat it’s so tough on this tires and you can feel them going off in the first corner. If you start loose, it’s only going to get more loose and with our situation we had a bit of understeer and I had to lift in Turn 2 on the exit. That definitely hurt our second lap but it looks like a lot of people are experiencing the same issues. Overall it’s good to have the Target car starting up near the front.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET , QUALIFIED 6TH: “The No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Cherolet has been really good both in qualifying in the heat and sun and then also when it cools down in race trim. The team Chevy power has been really good here all week and I’m excited to see what we can do in the 500-mile race. I’m really happy with the fifth place qualifying result, but we still have a little work to do before tomorrow night to make sure we have the best race car possible.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 7TH: “We had a decent lap with the Target car and as soon as I got done I ran down to talk to Scott [Dixon] and Charlie [Kimball] to give them feedback before they did their laps. I think the higher line was the way to go but it is what it is. Like they say at these races its 500 miles and it honestly really doesn’t matter where you start from.”
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 12TH: “Well it wasn’t the best qualifying effort we’ve had this season. The car just felt a bit loose and I wasn’t able to correct it to get the No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet to the top of the pole. As a team, NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing is still really optimistic going into season finale tomorrow here in Fontana. You’re only as good as your last race, so to end the season on a win would be awesome. We obviously have some things to work on tonight and in the last session, but I’m ready to race tomorrow night.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 14TH: “Wow, I almost crashed on the first lap. Then really almost on the second lap. I had to get off the throttle badly in turn two. The track is just too hot for our setup. Something like 140 degrees. Much different from this morning’s practice or tonight’s practice. I got really loose on the first lap but I kept my foot in it and we ran 218.7. But the second lap was even worse for me (212.0). I thought we had a shot at the pole or the front row. But we added a little too much front wing since we were pushing in practice. We just went a little too far. Coming from 14th is what I wanted for this race. Luckily, it is a 500-miler.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 HYDROXYCUT KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH: “The Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing team has been struggling both during the test on Wednesday and today. The car was better than it was this morning and that showed a little bit on the speed charts being 15th in qualifying. We are lacking a lot of grip. Even running at the top of the track we can’t make the car stick. It’s tough. The good news is we have another practice tonight and we will just keep working and digging. Hopefully, the guys will come up with something to improve the car for the race tomorrow.”
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 17 AUTOMATIC FIRE SPRINKLERS KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 20TH: “We have been struggling to find pace and balance since this morning’s practice and so that hurt us today in qualifying. The good news is I feel a lot more comfortable with the direction we are going for the race tomorrow and we will have more time to focus on that again tonight. I look forward to having a good final race tomorrow.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 21ST:
“For starting positions we would have liked the Verizon Chevy to start from the front, but starting in both the front or very back can help keep you out of trouble. From the back you learn what your car is like in traffic and we will have 3 hours to do it. It will be a long race. We have another practice tonight to work on things, as the Verizon Chevy was too lose. The start is to be there at the end and it’s far from over. The Verizon Chevy boys are going to do everything possible to make it happen.”