CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
100TH RUNNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFICATIONS DAY 1
MAY 21, 2016
The first day of qualifications for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 brought drama for the 33 drivers vying for a spot in the Fast Nine. Nine drivers locked themselves into position to compete for the coveted pole winner for the Indy 500 and lead the field to the green flag across the yard of bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Per the order established via a random draw on Friday night, drivers were required to make a four lap run with the goal of setting the highest speed of the day. A total of 30 of the 33 entries made their qualifying attempt. As a result of an on-track incident earlier in the day, the only Chevrolet entry failing to make a qualifying attempt was Max Chilton, No. 8 Gallagher Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Teams and drivers then found themselves in the difficult position to make a decision on making another attempt, or standing on their times.
Four Chevrolet powered 2.2 liter V6 IndyCar drivers earned a place in the Fast Nine when the gun sounded to officially ending day one of qualifying. 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion, Will Power in his No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet was third fastest on the day with a lap of 230.736 mph. He was followed by his Team Penske colleague Helio Castroneves piloting the No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet who set the fourth quickest time laying down an average of 230.500 mph.
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Josef Newgarden went out early in guaranteed attempt qualifications and was able to sit on his original time to make the Fast Nine qualifiers. The driver of the No. 21 Preferred Freezer Chevrolet ended the day sixth on the speed charts with a 230.229 mph effort. Verizon IndyCar Series point’s leader Simon Pagenaud placed his No. 22 Menards Chevy in the ninth and final position he too topped over 230 mph with a four-lap median of 230.102 mph. Sunday the Fast Nine take to to determine the pole winner for the 100th Running of the Indy 500.
All 33 drivers will return to the track tomorrow for the final day of qualifying to decide the exact positioning of the starting field for the 500-mile race scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. next Sunday May 29. Tomorrow afternoon 12 Team Chevy drivers will qualify in Group 1 which sets positions 10-33. After those position are established, Power, Castroneves, Newgarden and Pagenaud will all try to put a Chevrolet powered IndyCar on the pole for the fifth consecutive time since the Bowtie Brand retuned to IndyCar competition in 2012.
On-track activities begin at noon starting with practice followed by the final qualifying session starting at 2:45 p.m. Qualifying will be streamed on ESPN 3 until ABC live broadcast coverage begins at 4 p.m. ET
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES:
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
“The last lap, in Turn 1 and 2, it was lifting, shaking on the throttle. This is the hardest qualifying I’ve ever done at this place. It was very hairy on the last lap. We got in line at the right time. I think the conditions were really good. I’m sure we’re getting in the Fast Nine, so that’s really good. It was nerve racking, sitting there and wondering if we had the speed and all that. We’d been knocked out of the nine, so I am just happy to be there, honestly. I felt like we had a good car yesterday and I was kind of disappointed with that first run. It was just conditions.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PENNZOIL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
“Definitely tricky conditions helped us today. The Pennzoil Chevrolet has good balance, but unfortunately we haven’t found speed. These tricky conditions helped us to get ourselves up there. We are going to go out again and see what happens. But at the moment, we have to find some more speed. We have been lacking a little bit of speed that we don’t know exactly where to get it from. But my team is doing a phenomenal job. Chevy is doing a phenomenal job. But sometimes it is just what you expect. We are doing everything we can to minimize those issues. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is the race. We are still fighting to get up there in qualifying for the race.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
“The main objective was to get into the Fast Nine; it didn’t really matter how quick we were we just needed to be in that group. Fortunately we get to go for the pole tomorrow and then try and get as many points as we can because qualifying has a good amount of points; almost like a race win. I think our main goal is the race. Getting into the Top Nine was a big achievement, I think we’ll take whatever we can tomorrow but still going to try and go for it and get as high as possible.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, 2015 VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES CHAMPION:
“It obviously wasn’t the result we wanted today for Team Target so we just have to keep working on things. The field is really close and there are some guys out there who really put some speed on the time sheets today. We’ll keep working hard and hopefully get things pointed in the right direction.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
“I’m glad we got through the day unscathed. Josef’s in a good position, I think he’s got a car to go for the pole tomorrow. Unfortunately the No. 20 car and the No. 6 Preferred Fuzzy’s car just aren’t up to speed right now. All of the cars are handling great. We’re happy with that. I’m looking forward to Monday practice and getting ready for the race but we’ll see if we can go out tomorrow and move up from 14th and do our best as a team to see if we can win another pole with Josef. That car has front row potential.”
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 6 PREFERRED FREEZER FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
“It was a bummer that our first run wasn’t five minutes earlier or something. When we went back and looked at all of the data it appeared as if that was pretty much the only difference between myself and Josef. He did a great job. He ran four great laps. The wind picked up so we were slower in one straightaway and were barely quick enough to catch back up to his speed on the other side. So that was kind of a bummer and we went back out and gave it another run this afternoon. It was kind of a similar situation. We just didn’t quite have it dialed in, Ed nor I. We’ll go back and look at everything. We’ll take another crack at it and hopefully end up somewhere between 10th and 15th tomorrow and we’ll start working on the race.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET:
“Today was frustrating. We weren’t expecting to come right out of the gates and put up a big number for qualifying, but we were definitely hoping for some more speed than what we ended with. We just didn’t have the speed that we needed to get into the top nine. We’ll have to get back to work tonight and see what needs to change to at least qualify toward the front of that second group. I know how hard the NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing guys are working, so I hope we can make that happen tomorrow during qualifying.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 42 TRESIBA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET:
“I’m definitely disappointed with our qualifying run. We’ve been fairly strong all week and we just couldn’t get it done out there today. We obviously didn’t make it into the top nine, but we’ll get our chance tomorrow to put the No. 42 Tresiba® Chevrolet into a better starting position for the race next weekend.”
MATT BRABHAM, NO. 61 PIRTEK TEAM MURRAY – KVRT CHEVROLET:
“It is a wonderful feeling to say that I’ve been able to qualify for the race – it is one of those special moments in life. We’re here and I’ve made it and I’m going to be racing in the Indianapolis 500. How cool is that? I was definitely nervous before going out there; I wanted to get my four laps in very cleanly and not mess it up and ensure that PIRTEK Team Murray made the race. Once I got in the car and got through the first lap, I felt more comfortable heading into the second lap and it came together from there, I got four solid laps in.”
BUDDY LAZIER, NO. 4 LAZIER/BURNS RACING CHEVROLET:
“It’s nice to be back for the 500. I’m very proud to be here. We’re a small team, but we’ve been moving forward every day. On my first lap I was hard into the limiter, and by the end I’d worn the tires down towards getting a little loose. It really is man versus machine. If the car is 100 percent right it doesn’t take too much to get comfortable again, but this track always tests the driver. I came here to do a job that I enjoy doing. The Indy 500 is a very special piece of American sport. I think young people today are interested in telemetry and aerodynamics, and I think the future is very promising for IndyCar racing. I am very proud to be participating in the 100th running.”
MAX CHILTON, NO. 8 GALLAGHER CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET:
“I’m fine. A bit battered and bruised. Your first accident on an oval is never a great one. The timing is pretty bad, but that’s the issue with practice before qualifying. You just want to make sure the car is right. I felt like it was a little bit strong in the front but I don’t have the experience to know what’s too much. Now I know, I know for future reference. It was my fault. I was driving the thing, so that’s the way it goes. That was my first green flag lap. It felt good. But it felt too good, if you know what I mean. Now I know what’s too good. It went down to the line pretty quickly. I was cautious of the rear and before you have time to react, it had gone and you’re just a passenger from then on. Sorry for the guys. Hopefully, we can get out for the race.”