CHEVROLET AERO KIT INDYCAR V6 2.2 LITER
STREETS OF LONG BEACH
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE QUOTES
APRIL 19, 2015

SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET – Winner
HOW WILL THIS WIN RANK AMONGST THE OTHERS?
“I was lucky enough to win here back in the day in 2009 in Indy Lights; I’ve never had a chance since then. But a huge credit to the team. I don’t know what happened to Helio (Castroneves) and TK (Tony Kanaan) there in the crossover in the pit stop exchange there. I still can’t believe we won here at Long Beach. It’s such a memorable and worthy track. I’m just so stoked. There are so many Target people here today, too. It’s one of their events and it’s just fantastic. I can’t believe we’ve done it.

“I like coming here, I love the event. But as far as an event and coming and doing well and looking forward to it, it was never really on that list. To finally conquer it, a lot of credit to a lot of people. That pit stop exchange there definitely helped us get to the lead, but the car was fast and we needed to maintain it. All in all, this is huge. Long Beach, I finally get to crack this one and I’m really happy. Firestone did a fantastic job. We even started on used (alternate) reds for the opening stint and were able to maintain pace. They are always good and we were able to maintain and look after them. For this weekend, our car was just dynamite on the (primary) blacks.”

YOU MADE THE MOVE ON MONTOYA EARLY IN THE RACE. WAS THAT PART OF THE GAME PLAN?
“Yeah it’s always hard to know. I tried to go to the left and tried to go maybe to the inside of Helio and Montoya, I wanted there; and I think Helio ended up sort of moving over on Montoya and it sort of messed up his momentum and I could get a clear run on the outside. Credit to him for giving me the room because he didn’t have to. But that definitely started off the day well and I think we had the pace. I knew we had the pace. We were very close, obviously, to the No. 3 car, but once that pit stop exchange got us in the lead, there was no looking back.”

YOU NOW BREAK THE TIE WITH BOBBY UNSER FOR FIFTH ALL-TIME WINS IN THE SERIES. WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT FOR YOU?
“Stats are stats and hopefully something you can look back on when you’re done with racing and be happy with it. For me to be in that group and list of names means a lot. They were my heroes and people I looked up to and still feel thankful to have them around in the racing community. But we’re going to keep digging and hopefully we can add to this.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2ND:
YOU CAME UP JUST A LITTLE BIT SHY. WHAT ULTIMATELY DECIDED THIS RACE?
““The Automobile Club of Southern California Chevy was on rails. It was really competitive day between our Team Penske teammates. Certainly Scott (Dixon) did a great job on the in lap and the out lap on the first pit stop. My guys did a helluva job too. It was just a chess game out there today. The track changed so much over the course of the race. We had to constantly try to stay ahead of that, from adjustments to driving style. I can’t give my team enough credit for the job they did all weekend. We had a great car and just came up a bit short. The first pit stop, unfortunately we got into traffic there and we opened up about two or three seconds I believe. The car was fantastic, especially in that first stint. It was really, really good. And unfortunately that section that was about to be great time for pit stop, unfortunately when I caught the traffic and it threw all that gap away putting me back. Obviously when we pit, those guys were able to pass us. The guys did a great job. Our AAA machine was awesome. And the boys did a hell of a job. And it was like a chasing scenario. We kept chasing and trying to find here and there where to go. And in the end, Scott (Dixon) did a very good job. My boys did a great job. We were just a little bit short. It was actually nice, the weather. Obviously Southern California is nice. Certainly the track was constantly changing. Every time it gets new tires, reds versus blacks and things like that, it’s about two hours of racing and the track changed quite a lot. For us, we kept constantly changing a little but of the driving style because one lap is good and another was different. The Firestone tires were actually holding pretty good for me. My AAA car was awesome and we were pretty good all the way. The guys did a great job in the pits and especially the incident between me and Ganassi. It was just perfect. It was better to be safe than sorry, but it was a great job overall for Team Penske. … At the end of the day, second place is not bad.”

JUAN MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: “Our Verizon Chevy was strong all day. We hung in there the entire race and everyone did a good job. I had a really good run on Helio at the start. He made a move on me and I had to check up, which lost me one spot to (Scott) Dixon. We ran strong all day and ended with another podium, which is great for the points battle. Two podiums in three races is a bit different start than we had last year and that is something I’m very proud of.”

ON SIMON PAGENAUD: “He had a little less rear wing. To be honest with you, I was surprised my tires were going off and not his. But mine went off and I saw him coming if so I just had not to make a mistake, make sure I come out of the last corner (well). He was a little quicker down the straight so just pay attention how close he was and use the button, stuff like that. He was never really that close. He got close, maybe his nose to my rear tires, but that was about it. He never got next to me or anything.”

WAS TODAY A GOOD RESULT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP PICTURE? “Absolutely. That’s why I didn’t let Simon by. Third or fourth place, yeah, great we got a podium but it’s more points. It’s about being consistent and being smart. I said as long as I don’t have to risk the car to protect the points, it will be fine. And it worked well.”

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 PENSKE TRUCK RENTAL CHEVROLET – Finished 4th
YOU HAD A LOT OF GOOD LOOKS AT JUAN PABLO MONTOYA. THIS WAS GOOD, CLEAN, AND ENTERTAINING RACING
“Yeah, it was a good race. It was a lot of fun. The Penske Truck Rental car was really, really fast. It’s a shame we didn’t start further up because we had a lot of pace in the car. It was good racing and good fun. The Team Penske cars were pretty exciting today. It’s a good start to the season. It’s only my third race with Penske, so it’s good to be up there.”

IF THAT WASN’T A TEAMMATE, WOULD YOU HAVE MADE A STRONGER TRY?
“No, I tried everything. It’s Juan Pablo Montoya, too. It’s not like they give you much room to pass. It is what it is. You’re fighting two of the top guys, you know? Helio and Juan Pablo. So, I don’t expect them to give me any room. It was a good race out there today, a lot of fun. The Penske Truck Rental Chevy was really fast today. I just wish I could’ve made my way past Helio there. That would have changed the whole complexion of the race. It was a good fight. I have to take my hat off to my engineers. They gambled a bit on this setup and the car was mega fast today. Next time we just need to start a bit closer to the front and it may be a different story.”

ON JOINING THE TEAM
“It’s fun. The cars are beautiful to drive and so much fun to drive every lap. You can be so consistent. But the biggest thing is the four of us, we just push each other really hard and we get to see with all the technology on board now, we get to see on the graphic what everybody is doing in each corner. So, you get to improve every lap, every practice, and then you end up being in the top five every session. So far, so good. It’s going to be a long season.”

TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 5TH:
IT WAS QUITE A BATTLE AT THE END. YOU HAD ALL THOSE PUSH TO PASS TO USE, DID YOU THINK YOU WERE GOING TO HAVE A LITTLE MORE FOR THE GUYS AHEAD OF YOU?
“Well, I had it. But I had to close the gap from so far away, that by the time I got there, I kind of used my tires a little bit, so the push to pass with the old tires was kind of like an equalizer. But the way we race now days, it’s so close. Those two guys are to me among the top five best drivers I’ve ever seen driving. So, I knew it was not going to be easy to pass them. So I said you know what, I’ll keep it close and put the pressure. If one of them makes a mistake, we’ll take advantage. But it was a great weekend for the team. Dixon winning and us finishing in the top five, it’s good points for the championship. So, we’ll take it.”

SEBASTIAN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 TEAM HYDROXYCUT-KVSH RACING CHEVROLET- FINISHED 6TH:
“Our guys did a heck of a job. We tried to be a little creative with set-up and we got lost and it’s a shame because we put last year’s set-up back on the car and guess what? It’s just a bit of a shame. But it’s our second top six finish. It was a good day. We had consistency. Hopefully we’re going to be on a roll and keep piling on the points. it was a trying weekend, but we hit the reset button and the Hydroxycut machine was good. The guys really did a hectic of a job. In one way it is frustrating because we struggled so much in practice and qualifying, but at the same time it is encouraging because we were able to recover. We tried something and it didn’t work, so we really hurt ourselves, but then when we got the car back in the window for the race we were quick. There will be some other weekends like this and we will just have to work hard to capitalize. Thanks to Hydroxycut and Mistic we have a strong package behind us and we just have to keep digging.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 67 HARTMAN OIL CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: “It was definitely a decent result. Our guys have been working hard and it’s nice to get some consistent results over the last couple of races. Obviously we wanted to be higher. I tried to get by Montoya after that first stop and got into the rubber on the outside of Turn 10. I picked up a lot of debris on the tires and it took me a long time to clean it up. I lost a lot of time to the leader and fell into the clutches of Bourdais and Kanaan and never got back away from them. We had a little bit of trouble in the pit stop as we had to wait for Graham and after that we lost out to Tony and Sebastian. We came home seventh, so it’s disappointing that we didn’t reach our potential. We are pushing hard at CFH Racing, we’ve got a really strong group and we’re close to knocking on the door. We will come back for the next round in Barber and try and one up these guys!”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRAM NO, 8 AFS CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 10th
TALK ABOUT YOUR WEEKEND: “It was awesome all around. I have awesome teammates. Everybody has helped me so much to get into it quick. And P10, I’m very happy for everybody. And of course I’m happy for Scott (Dixon) being first. That’s huge for the team. I’m looking forward to what’s next.”

YOU HAVEN’T DRIVEN A RACE CAR FOR SEVEN MONTHS. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE FOR YOU TO GET BACK IN THE SADDLE?
“Wow, it took me a little bit to get the rust out, for sure. Mostly I tried to see what these new aero kits did; so much more powerful with the AFS Chevy. And just trying to put everything into your brain. You only have two 45-minute sessions. To go quick out of the batch, the good thing is that we had a good car out of the box. That helps a lot for me. But, at the end, I have awesome people behind me that supported me throughout the weekend and they pressure me enough to be where we are today. So, I’m very happy.”

CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15TH: “It was kind of a frustrating day for the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet here in Long Beach. The Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing guys did a great job all weekend with pit stops and making the car better all weekend, so it was just unfortunate that we had a mechanical issue early in the race and then we had to come in to change the front wing. Overall the car was really fast, which bodes well going into next weekend at Barber.”

WILL POWER, NO. 1 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 20th:
TALK ABOUT THE DAY: “”I feel bad for the Verizon Chevy Team. They worked so hard and me finishing P20 was a result of a bad day in qualifying. I didn’t get it done and it was snow ball effect from there. Today I made mistakes and I stalled the car on pit road during the first pit stop. Was hoping for a top ten finish but it didn’t happen. It makes me more motivated to make up for it the next couple races. This whole day stems from a bad deal in qualifying. It’s just amazing that it comes down to just me having gone out there and just put a banker in and that’s racing, right? It’s just like a snowball effect.”

WERE YOU THINKING ABOUT CHAMPIONSHIP THE WHOLE DAY?
“Well, no. Once we went a lap down you’re just praying for a yellow. I’m just kicking myself. I mean I made mistakes. I stalled the car. It could have been a reasonable day. We may have gotten a top 10, but yeah. I just look at this whole weekend. If I had done my job in qualifying, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

HOW DO YOU NOT LET THIS CARRY OVER INTO NEXT WEEK AND NOT GET YOU DOWN?
“Well, it usually makes you more motivated, right? You just want to have a good, clean weekend. I feel sorry for all my crew and the guys, I let them down. I had a really bad weekend and I want to make up for that for sure in the next couple of races.”

LUCA FILIPPI, NO. 20 FUZZY’S AWARD WINNING VODKA CHEVROLET, FINISHED 22ND: “We were going to pit under the first caution, but I had an alarm and the engine switched to safe mode. The engine shut down at that point, so I lost power. The team had to fire the engine up and reset the system in order to restart the car. We lost two laps to the leaders so we had to drive around ourselves, trying to avoid contact and the other cars as to not to ruin their race. It’s a shame because for most of the race we were one of the fastest cars on track. We had probably the best pace on the red tires so it would have been interesting to see what we could have done. At least it was a good practice for us to find a good rhythm. Hopefully next week in Barber we can start with the

STEFANO COLETTI, NO. 4 KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 23RD: “We had a great start and then the yellow came out. The team called me in for a splash of fuel and it was a really good strategy move, because we were able to pass five or six cars doing that and rejoin the race in 17th. I carried on jumping up tracking positions and got as high as 15th, which was pretty good coming from last but then I had a gearbox problem. I had to come into the pits to repair it and then my race was pretty much over and I was racing on my own. It’s a shame because the No. 4 KV Racing Technology car was really fast and the team gave me a great car, which I showed by setting the fastest lap of the race. We could have easily ended up in the top-10 and it’s another race that ended up like that, but we will keep on working and be ready for Barber next weekend.”

CHRIS BERUBE, CHEVROLET RACING PROGRAM MANAGER, VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: Congratulations to Scott Dixon and the Target Chip Ganassi Racing contingent for such a solid run to victory lane today on the streets of Long Beach. Scott and his #9 team really executed a top flight race under perfect conditions in front of a huge crowd – A great day for IndyCar racing! Really proud of the efforts put forth by our Chevrolet teams and technical partners in response to the setback presented to us at the start of the weekend. We now focus forward to the highly competitive venue at Barber Motorsports Park.”