CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
FIRESTONE 600
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (FT. WORTH, TEXAS)
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2016
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3rd:
THAT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST RACES OF ALL TIME
“Oh, that was so much fun. I’ve got to thank the fans that came back. I didn’t think there was going to be a lot of people but whoever didn’t come missed a hell of a race. “That was some old school Texas right there. It was a good night. We started way in the back, but we made up positions right away. I think with INDYCAR not changing the rules and the earlier race being a day race, we had a ton of downforce that we had to run during tonight’s race, so the cars felt a lot closer as you could see. I had to dig into my hard drive and remember pack racing again. It worked out pretty well. Big props to the guys in front who gave each other room, that’s why we finished the way we did. It’s always a pleasure to race like that. I feel bad for the people that didn’t come back tonight from the first race to watch because it really was a hell of a show.”
HOW EXCITING WAS IT AT THE END?
“When you have good cars going with each other, it’s quicker. I gave them hell!”
TALK ABOUT THE LAST LAP. WHERE DID YOU WANT TO BE?
“On the inside. But if Graham (Rahal) wasn’t pushing Hinch (James Hinchcliffe), I was going to have it. So, I was hoping for Graham to get greedy and go three wide. That was going to slow everybody down, but that didn’t happen. He was smart enough.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH:
TALK ABOUT FOUR-WIDE RACING: ‘My spotter said, ‘four-wide’, and I’m like uh, oh, that’s no good. And then Rahal touched me and I touched Hinchcliffe, so I was actually loose going into the corner and had to back out of it. It’s unfortunate. I really wanted to get that first oval win. But, I think no matter what, that was a great performance. The HP car was amazing all night. Thanks to Chevy, obviously; this aero kit is really amazing. It really shows what the IndyCars can do. I think tonight we had a great show. Did you guys enjoy it? I did. I didn’t have any breath left, you know?
“Wow. That was exciting! I don’t think I have any breath left. I thought we were going to get it, but when it went four wide I got touched and pushed me into (James Hinchcliffe) and I had to back out of it or there was going to be a big wreck. The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Chevy just got better and better all night. I really thought it was going to come together right at the end when we got back on the lead lap. We were able to come in for tires. Everything nearly came together.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AAA INSURANCE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5TH: “That was an eventful night. The AAA Insurance Chevrolet was really good from the very start. We ran up front and led some laps. Then, all kinds of things happened. We caught a break with a yellow which allowed us to come in and change both the front and rear wings. To dodge as many accidents as we did and finish fifth is very good. There were some crazy moves up there at the end that could have ruined just about everybody’s day. But we’re ready to head to Watkins Glen.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 TRESIBA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6TH: “It was kind of a crazy night out there. I’m really proud of the No. 83 Novo Nordisk guys here at Texas. I don’t think we were particularly strong here in June when the race started, but we learned some things from our teammates. The guys were solid all night in pit lane, the strategy calls were right on and we were knocking on the door of the top five which was good. It got crazy there at the end and we just couldn’t get our lap back which was unfortunate. It was a good day in the points for us which I’m happy about.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH:
COULD THIS BE THE RACE THAT CHANGES THE ENTIRE CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE?
“Yeah, I would say that. Obviously there are still plenty of points on the table. Simon (Pagenaud) did a good job to get up there and get his lap back and get tires to make it up there. But that was an intense race there at the end. I kind of just stayed out of it.”
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SINCE DETROIT THAT YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED FIRST OR SECOND. WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE TODAY?
“I think it was definitely the pit stop sequences. We kept going long. That yellow had us there at the end. And I think if we didn’t get that yellow, I would have finished around Simon; maybe ahead, maybe behind, however the stint played out, but much closer to him. But that was going to be a crazy restart at the end there. It was something to watch. “Intense racing there at the end, especially with the last restart and with new tires and cool air being a factor. The cautions in the midst of some of the pit stop sequences made it more difficult to get back up into the top two or three, but the Verizon Chevy was still strong today. We are still up there in points and Watkins Glen is right around the corner for us. We’ll look ahead to next week.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 HUM BY VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: “It was just okay. We struggled most of the night in the long run pace. The short run pace was good. I restarted last there, and drove up to fourth. It is little too late like every race has been. Just mistakes again that we really have to work on that.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 TEAM HYDROXYCUT-KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH: :”It was a tough night for the Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing Team. We knew we were going to be on the shy side with the downforce level because that was the way it was when we were here in June. At that time we didn’t anticipate that everyone else would stack up on downforce and we didn’t have some of the parts we needed. So, of course, we had to restart that way, which was quite frustrating honestly. I knew it was going to be tough in the beginning and it sure was in traffic. I was basically just trying to stay out of trouble and manage my tires. Then during the second stint when it stretched out, I went for it and after 15 laps the tires disintegrated and the car got very loose on my own. I was out of adjustments, so we had to make an earlier pit stop, which destroyed our race. After that we corrected. We were still not good in traffic, but could hold some decent speeds…204 (mph), 205 even toward the end of our stint. Unfortunately, the leaders were running 207, 208 and there was nothing we could do about it, so I went a couple of laps down. We fought our way through the race, but it is definitely not fun when you have to be that passive, just hanging on and trying to bring it home. The good news is we finished in the top-10 on all the ovals this year so we have made progress.”
MAX CHILTON, NO. 8 GALLAGHER CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15TH: “It was just an absolutely crazy race. It was two, three and sometimes four wide out there. I was struggling with the balance of the Gallagher car all night. We took three and a half turns of front wing out and it still didn’t feel right. I was struggling to get the car to feel right especially when we ran in a pack – it was just so neutral. There were times in clear air when we were quick, but on a whole it was a bit of a poor day. On the other side of things, we finished and ran all the laps and got good experience under our belts.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH: “The car was awesome. On long runs, I think we were for sure the best car out there. I’d cut into James’s lead every stint. He was a little quicker. We didn’t have the fastest car, but it was good on the long runs. I’m just bummed. It’s been such a rough year. We’ve had such better cars that what we had last year and really just can’t catch a break. Whatever happened with Scott and I there, when my left rear touched his front wing, it must have cut a tire and that led to the accident. I’m just really bummed. I thought tonight was a night that we could have gotten a good result. It’s going to be a long off-season before I can get back in the car, but we’ll come back strong next year.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH: “I like Ed [Carpenter] and he’s a good friend, but I don’t know what the hell he was doing out there. Three laps before that he nearly crashed me doing the same thing going into Turn 3. And then going into Turn 1 he just turned left into me. I don’t know if his radio wasn’t working or he didn’t have a spotter, but how you don’t get a penalty for that I have no idea.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 22ND: Involved in a two-car on-track incident on lap 41 and was unable to restart the race.