CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
CHEVROLET DUAL IN DETROIT PRESENTED BY QUICKEN LOANS
STREETS OF BELLE ISLE (DETROIT, MICHIGAN)
RACE ONE POST RACE DRIVER QUOTES
SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2016
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 TEAM HYDROXYCUT-KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: ON TODAY’S WIN: “The car was obviously really quick and all we needed was clean air to come back from that pretty average qualifying. I really couldn’t dream of that. I don’t even know how we got there. I couldn’t be any happier for Chevrolet and Hydroxycut today.”
THE KEY WAS THAT YOU DIDN’T CARE FOR THE RED SIDEWALL FIRESTONES SO YOU WANTED TO GET RID OF THEM. YOU PITTED ON LAP THREE AND THAT TURNED OUT TO BE A GOOD STRATEGY BECAUSE YOUR PIT SEQUENCE THEN WORKED PERFECTLY: “Yeah, I think it would have worked even better had we not pitted with everybody else. We ended up just pretty much where we were before. I couldn’t pass Gabby (Chaves) and it was like for a long time I really thought the strategy was a total mess and was never going to work. When we finally got some clean air then I could start to click some quick lap times and make it happen.”
LAST YEAR YOU WON RACE NUMBER 2 NOW YOU HAVE WON RACE NUMBER 1 WHAT ABOUT THIS MOMENTUM FOR TOMORROW? “I can only hope for good conditions and hopefully a better qualifying because I think if we put that No. 11 car up front in qualifying it’s going to be tough to beat.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: “We just didn’t push it. We were saving fuel while leading and were trying to open a small gap. We didn’t want to pit and then come back in two laps if it rained. It was a smart move. Looking at the radar, the rain was coming. Everyone at Verizon, Team Chevy and Team Penske have done an amazing job. We had a boost problem at the end, so I don’t think we would have won anyway.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5TH: WE KNOW YOU WERE REALLY IN A FUEL CONSERVATION MODE HOW CLOSE WAS IT? “Well I know I should have one more lap we would be able to make it. We came all over here so we did it. The Hitachi car was awesome. I was doing everything I wanted. Obviously, the red tires was a little bit tough, but towards the end Roger (Penske) and the team was like ‘okay you’ve got to make this number, oh no, this number’ I was like ‘guy’s you’ve got to sort it out there because I don’t have much time.’ Great job for the entire Team Penske. Obviously, top five is not what we expect, but at the end of the day I will take it. The good news is we have one more race tomorrow. The car is good, just clean it!
“I have to say the Hitachi Chevrolet was fantastic and ran really well and we were in great position to win. On the other side, we had to save fuel for about 30 laps. But if we look at the positive side, we’ve gained a lot of points in championship (now second) and that’s very good for Team Penske. We will go back tomorrow and look for better results.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 TRESIBA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH: “What a day. It’s hard to really describe the day because so much went on. We tried a bunch of strategies. The 83 guys on the stand were awesome – just trying to do something to get us in the best track position. I was racing guys hard and honestly the No. 83 Tresiba® Chevrolet was better than eighth. It just didn’t quite work out on strategy. Between the rain drops, the way the yellows fell, and who we were racing we got a little bit caught up there. It was a tough day. Anytime you’re racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series with such tight competition it’s not going to be easy, especially at such a physical track like this one. A big thanks to the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team and really all of Chip Ganassi Racing – I know they’ll be here late tonight getting the cars ready.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: “I’m not thrilled with our race today. I think we had at least a top-five car but we ran into some bad luck throughout the race. We went off strategy and came in just for fuel on our last stop thinking we’d be able to pick off some of the guys ahead of us who were saving fuel, but we weren’t able to get to them. At about 10 to go, I realized I had a broken front wing and then we got a blocking penalty with three to go that caused us to lose a spot. I’m still not sure I 100% agree with that call, but we’ll take a look at the replays again tonight and try to see what they were looking at when they made that decision. Regardless we’ll get the car put back together tonight and work through our strategy to have the No. 10 NTT DATA Chevrolet ready to go to qualify in the morning and race in the afternoon.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 13TH: DID THE WEATHER CHANGE YOUR STRATEGY FROM THE WAY YOU GUYS HAD PLANNED AT THE START? “No, not really. The opportunity that really caught us was the 8 car hitting the wall at the beginning of the race. I think that made everybody decide to do a really aggressive and early pit strategy to get off the red Firestone tires. We were fine so we stayed in the lead. We lost the lead and then we got it back because the HP car was really strong. The opportunity ended up being a fuel-saving race for us because we couldn’t make it full bore. We started saving and we made it, but it was just enough for 13th, which was a shame because we had so much pace in the car. We salvaged the day and it’s not that bad.
“The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Chevrolet was strong today. We were running strong all day in the front, but it ended up being a fuel strategy race after we got caught up during the first yellow when we were in the lead. From then on, strategy was difficult. We needed a load of fuel to make it at the end but unfortunately there wasn’t much we could have done. If we came in, it probably would have been the same. The crew did a fantastic job. It just didn’t work out for us.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER/FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14th: “It was not a fun day. We could have a better finish there with the Fuzzy’s Vodka Preferred Freezer Services car. We ran into some trouble there towards the end during the fuel saving component of the race. We probably could have gotten a top five, we just had to nurse the car home. We got it across the line, which was priority number one. We still got some points, we just weren’t as high up as we could have been so we’ll come back tomorrow and try again.”
SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17TH: “It was a tough race. Starting in the back never makes things easy, but we tried to improve throughout the race and I think that we did that. The guys were good in the pits and it was unfortunate that a couple of things happened set us back. We’ll try and come back even better for tomorrow.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH: “It wasn’t a great day for us today. We had a new left front tire on at the start and it was a Firestone red and I just got really loose at the start and lost positions because it had way more grip than the other three tires. Then we came in on the next stop and the Target car was super-fast. We had a fueling issue and went to the back and raced our way back to the front. The car was still really fast and we were fast with clear track in front of us. We left after our last stop and had a gearbox issue I think which led to not being able to use the clutch or shift at the end of the race.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 20th: “The Verizon Chevy was great today. We started in ninth and were able to quickly gain ground and get up front. The car was really fast and felt very comfortable. Then we had that pit stop and problem with the wheel. You can’t do much about it. Things happen. My crew is the best. It was just one of those things. We’ll regroup and give it another go tomorrow.”
MAX CHILTON, NO. 8 GALLAGHER CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 21st: “We started 18th. We knew we had to go forward, so I pushed like mad for the first eight laps. People pitted early and then my pace didn’t drop off so we thought we might as well keep going. We finally made the stop because we needed fuel and then my out lap was mega. As soon as I came out of the pits I felt like I had a very strong front end. The steering was heavy but I still had the grip so I thought maybe it was just the black tires. Then, I think it was the third time down the back straight everything felt normal and then as I went left for the kink, and my wheel just went left. I was just a passenger from that point. Something gave way on the column because I couldn’t take the wheel off when I got out.”