CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH
STREETS OF LONG BEACH (CALIFORNIA)
CHEVROLET DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES
APRIL 17, 2016

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, broke through to capture his first victory behind the wheel of a Chevrolet IndyCar taking the checkered flag at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. It is his first win since joining Team Penske and his fifth career Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) win.
Pagenaud led a Chevy sweep of the podium with defending VICS champion Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, finishing second and Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Auto Club of Southern Californi9a Team Penske Chevrolet filling out the podium with a third place finish.

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER:
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DREAMING ABOUT WINNING THIS RACE AT LONG BEACH?
“Yeah, 2006 was my first American race right here. So, a lot of memories, you know? The funniest one was in Sports Car when I won on the last lap. But, this one, holding (Scott) Dixon, that’s a lot of work. I’m just so proud of the guys. As you saw, the pit sequence just won it; was just awesome. I don’t know what to say. The PPG car is actually good luck for me. Every time I’m driving this car I get good results. Hat’s off to Ben (Bretzman), my engineer. A big gamble, as you know, paid off.”

THAT BIG GAMBLE WAS TRYING REALLY LOW DOWNFORCE IN PRACTICE AND YOU DECIDED TO GO AHEAD AND GO THAT WAY “Yeah, with the package the way it is, it’s so hard to pass. The only way to pass is to afford running less downforce in the corners and be fast on the straights. So, I had to take care of the tires a lot, but we managed to do it and to be in position to pass people. Whew! It’s awesome.”

YOU GOT THE LEAD ON YOUR LAST PIT STOP. GREAT IN-LAP, GREAT OUT-LAP. DID YOU KNOW THAT THE EXIT WAS REVIEWED BECAUSE YOU WENT OVER THE YELLOW LINE? DID YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT BEING REVIEWED? “It was an inch on the race track there, so I’m good.”

WHAT’S YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE RULE IS? HOW MANY WHEELS DO YOU HAVE TO HAVE BESIDE THE YELLOW LINE? “The left sides on the right side of the dots, which it is; so I’m good.”

THEY GAVE YOU A WARNING SO THAT WILL APPLY FOR NEXT YEAR. DOES IT MATTER FOR NOW? “I don’t care.”

SCOTT DIXON MADE A LITTLE RUN AT YOU AT THE VERY END. DID YOU SEE HIM COMING BEHIND YOU? DID YOU GET A LITTLE CONCERNED ON THE LAST LAP? “When you have Scott Dixon behind you, you always need to push it. You push it as hard as you can. He was really, really pushing. We were saving fuel, still. There was a lot of, that was the funniest thing I’ve seen, there was a lot of marble on the race track on the race line in the hairpin and I was really struggling to turn the car there. I was trying not to lose any time in the last section to create a gap, and it worked.”

SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: YOU CAME OUT ON THE SHORT END OF THE ISSUE WITH SIMON, YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT? “I really haven’t seen the replay too much but from what I am told, he was definitely over with all four tires, which is a drive through or some sort of penalty to give the spot back. I don’t know what has happened there with no warnings anymore. Apparently the 22 car got a warning for that opposed to getting a penalty. All in all I have to thank everybody here because it is always a fantastic race here at Long Beach. Team Target did a hell of a job and we just missed by a little bit there. But obviously good points for the championship but ultimately we would have been liking to walk away with the top spot here.”

COMING OFF PHOENIX IT’S A GOOD START TO GET THE POINTS GOING: “Yeah, it is. But a win is a win and you always want to win.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: HOW GRUELING IS IT TO GO FROM GREEN TO CHECKERED HERE AT LONG BEACH? “It was actually fine because as long as we keep the rhythm and it was one rhythm. The AAA car was really good in the beginning. We were leading a lot of laps. But, in the end a little bit of a strategy there, we got traffic, and we decided to come in. The guy came in the same time, and that basically killed us and we ended up losing two spots at once. At the end of the day, contrats to Simon; the first win for him and Team Penske, so at least I’m glad that one of the Team Penske teams ended up getting this victory. Let’s go for the next one.”

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER:
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DREAMING ABOUT WINNING THIS RACE AT LONG BEACH?
“Yeah, 2006 was my first American race right here. So, a lot of memories, you know? The funniest one was in Sports Car when I won on the last lap. But, this one, holding (Scott) Dixon, that’s a lot of work. I’m just so proud of the guys. As you saw, the pit sequence just won it; was just awesome. I don’t know what to say. The PPG car is actually good luck for me. Every time I’m driving this car I get good results. Hat’s off to Ben (Bretzman), my engineer. A big gamble, as you know, paid off.”

THAT BIG GAMBLE WAS TRYING REALLY LOW DOWNFORCE IN PRACTICE AND YOU DECIDED TO GO AHEAD AND GO THAT WAY
“Yeah, with the package the way it is, it’s so hard to pass. The only way to pass is to afford running less downforce in the corners and be fast on the straights. So, I had to take care of the tires a lot, but we managed to do it and to be in position to pass people. Whew! It’s awesome.”

YOU GOT THE LEAD ON YOUR LAST PIT STOP. GREAT IN-LAP, GREAT OUT-LAP. DID YOU KNOW THAT THE EXIT WAS REVIEWED BECAUSE YOU WENT OVER THE YELLOW LINE? DID YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT BEING REVIEWED? “It was an inch on the race track there, so I’m good.”

WHAT’S YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE RULE IS? HOW MANY WHEELS DO YOU HAVE TO HAVE BESIDE THE YELLOW LINE? “The left sides on the right side of the dots, which it is; so I’m good.”

THEY GAVE YOU A WARNING SO THAT WILL APPLY FOR NEXT YEAR. DOES IT MATTER FOR NOW? “I don’t care.”

SCOTT DIXON MADE A LITTLE RUN AT YOU AT THE VERY END. DID YOU SEE HIM COMING BEHIND YOU? DID YOU GET A LITTLE CONCERNED ON THE LAST LAP? “When you have Scott Dixon behind you, you always need to push it. You push it as hard as you can. He was really, really pushing. We were saving fuel, still. There was a lot of, that was the funniest thing I’ve seen, there was a lot of marble on the race track on the race line in the hairpin and I was really struggling to turn the car there. I was trying not to lose any time in the last section to create a gap, and it worked.”
SIMON YOU GOT IT DONE ON THE STREETS OF LONG BEACH, CONGRATUALTIONS.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool because this is my favorite street course like I said before the event. The competition level of IndyCar is so high that it’s amazing. The PPG car is good luck on me because every time I have been in the car I have been on the podium. Glad to represent those guys, and glad to represent Chevrolet as well. It’s the first win for Roger so that is a check.”

OBVIOUSLY YOU SAW THE REPLAY WHEN YOU CAME IN ON THAT FINAL STOP AND YOU CROSSED THE LINE AND YOU GOT A WARNING. THOUGHTS ON THAT? “I have no idea. I have no idea what it showed on TV but it showed I was an inch on the right side of the dots, so it was okay.”

TELL US ABOUT THE FIRESTONE FIREHAWKS TODAY. THAT CREW DID A GREAT JOB ON THAT FINAL STOP BUT YOU REALLY MADE TEHM STICK ON THAT FINAL STINT “Since Phoenix we won the Firestone pit crew challenge because my pit crew was the fastest on pit lane and I guess they did it again today and put me in position to win the race. Like I have said the last two weeks it is a team sport and I couldn’t do it without my guys on this 22 car.”

HOW DOES THIS ONE RANK FOR YOU? “It is the sweetest because it is the first one for Roger. It’s pretty sweet. But hopefully there are more to come.”

SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: YOU CAME OUT ON THE SHORT END OF THE ISSUE WITH SIMON, YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT? “I really haven’t seen the replay too much but from what I am told, he was definitely over with all four tires, which is a drive through or some sort of penalty to give the spot back. I don’t know what has happened there with no warnings anymore. Apparently the 22 car got a warning for that opposed to getting a penalty. All in all I have to thank everybody here because it is always a fantastic race here at Long Beach. Team Target did a hell of a job and we just missed by a little bit there. But obviously good points for the championship but ultimately we would have been liking to walk away with the top spot here.”

COMING OFF PHOENIX IT’S A GOOD START TO GET THE POINTS GOING: “Yeah, it is. But a win is a win and you always want to win.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: HOW GRUELING IS IT TO GO FROM GREEN TO CHECKERED HERE AT LONG BEACH?
“It was actually fine because as long as we keep the rhythm and it was one rhythm. The AAA car was really good in the beginning. We were leading a lot of laps. But, in the end a little bit of a strategy there, we got traffic, and we decided to come in. The guy came in the same time, and that basically killed us and we ended up losing two spots at once. At the end of the day, contrats to Simon; the first win for him and Team Penske, so at least I’m glad that one of the Team Penske teams ended up getting this victory. Let’s go for the next one.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: “We had a very fast Verizon Chevy, but we just had a hard time getting to the front. Track position is pretty important here and we lost some early when I made a mistake and we fell behind Will (Power) – they just had more top end speed. We did a good job and battled back but it wasn’t enough. Congratulations to Simon and the No. 22 team. That’s a great win for him and Team Penske.”

TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6TH: “NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing had a really quick car for today’s race. We struggled all weekend in practice to find setups that worked and then really came through in qualifying to get up toward the front for the race. The car was strong and I don’t think we made barely any changes during the race, but we just couldn’t make the passes we needed with no yellows and everyone up front on a similar strategy. I’m not thrilled with a sixth-place finish, especially when I know how strong the car was but we’ll take a top-10 finish and build on what we have for Barber.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: “We had that unfortunate pit stop. Sometimes it takes longer. I can’t complain. My Verizon Chevrolet crew is phenomenal. We qualified where we qualified and were able to get another top-10 finish. Congratulations to Simon and the No. 22 team. That’s a great win for him and Team Penske.”

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 CALIFORNIA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: “It was a tough day at the office. I am very proud of the California Baptist University – KVSH Racing crew…everything well done in the race. It is just a shame. Yesterday (qualifying) didn’t really put us in the position to contend any higher than we finished. The car was pretty good today. We made some big moves and passed six cars in total, moved up five positions. I am just proud of the guys. We just did a good job. There were no yellows (caution flags) and not many more opportunities to move higher than what we did. So, kind of disappointed that we finished ninth at Long Beach, but happy that we took ninth under the circumstances.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH: “Well, not the weekend we wanted! But, it’s always good if you get a Top 10, so points wise, not the worst weekend. Also, not the best weekend! With the way the race shook out, qualifying probably hurt us more than anything today. No yellows and tough to pass, but the race car was dynamite. The whole Fuzzy’s Vodka crew has been working their tails off and we had no real missteps this weekend. We had a little bobble there on the last pit stop, but we’ve got some of the best guys in the paddock. It’s going to come down to just qualifying better and running away with the thing, so next weekend that’s what we’ll try and do at Barber

CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 TRESIBA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11TH: “I feel like the No. 83 Tresiba® Chevrolet recovered really well. Everyone on Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing was disappointed with qualifying yesterday but we rolled the dice on strategy today and we were really hoping for a yellow at some point to make the strategy a little healthier. I can’t say I’m happy with an 11th-place finish, but I know we were fast enough to be in the top-five and it’s a good recovery after our qualifying yesterday. We’ll carry this momentum into Barber on Friday and Saturday to try to qualify up front and ultimately race up front on Sunday, especially after proving that once we’re racing strong we can stay strong.”

MAX CHILTON, NO. 8 GALLAGHER CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH: “It was a really fun, exciting race. It could have gone two ways and it ended up not being too bad. In the start I struggled with constantly getting caught in traffic and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We had a really good strategy all race, especially the last stint when we did a full fuel stint when the others didn’t and ended up struggling a bit at the end. I was able to catch a couple of cars in the last five laps and then get past Rahal at the finish line. It’s not the best result, but considering where we started I don’t think a 14th-place finish is all that bad.”