CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
GRAND PRIX AT THE GLEN
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES
SUNDAYSEPTEMBER 4, 2016
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: YOU HAD A LOT TO OVERCOME TODAY. YOU HAD TO SAVE FUEL, YOU WERE FAST, YOU HAD A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING. THIS MUST BE SO GRATIFYING
“Yeah, I think this was actually a Chevy Volt like we were running on electric, or something. We got amazing fuel mileage. I cannot thank all the fans here in The Glen area and everybody else for coming out here today; especially on such short notice. The support from Verizon, they’ve been fantastic with this series; and the support they’ve shown us has been phenomenal. A huge thank you to them, as well. But, look at this Team Target, man this is so cool, so cool.”
LUCK WENT YOUR WAY. YOU PITTED, AND RIGHT AFTER YOU PITTED A CAR SPUN. NOT ONLY DID YOU MISS IT, BUT THAT WAS THE CAUTION YOU NEEDED TO STAY OUT FRONT.
“It was. They roll either way. Sometimes you’re going to get them, and sometimes you’re not. But today, after it bit us pretty good in Toronto, it was a nice way to turn around.
“A huge thanks to everyone who has been giving to the Justin Wilson kids’ fund. I’m actually going to donate my winnings here today to their children’s fun. I want to say hi to everybody. Please keep supporting them.”
THE QUESTION THEY ASKED IN THE BOOTH WAS HOW CAN SCOTT DIXON GO THREE MORE LAPS THAN HELIO CASTRONEVES WITH THE SAME POWERPLANT?
“This car, you could just roll through the corner. I felt like I haven’t even had to downshift sometimes. I can’t thank Chevy and Target and everybody here enough this weekend. It’s been almost a sweep this weekend and you don’t get these too often, especially with the competition level that we have in the Verizon IndyCar Series. I’ll definitely remember this one.”
40th WIN, 4th WIN AT WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
“Super happy man. Just a fantastic weekend for us. Qualifying was definitely demanding, but the car was just phenomenal. There was nothing that we couldn’t do today. We could save fuel. We caught that caution which was definitely fantastic for us and definitely a nice reversal of some others earlier this year.
“These things are never easy, man. It is definitely a testament to the hours our team puts in on these cars. We have had some rough runs this year, but our car has had phenomenal speed at a lot of the tracks. It’s about the partners. It’s Target; it’s Chevy. I have to thank all the friends, family and everybody that works on this team day in and day out to make this car, and put me in the seat which is a lot of fun.
“This weekend there were a few unknowns for Firestone because it was the first time back here with the new surface and a totally different car. The reds were perfect, they didn’t go off – they just got better and better and better. The blacks were as probably the favorites of mine just because they were a little bit easier to drive in the high speed corners, but as always, Firestone was good.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: “Well, there’s a little discrepancy there with the timing stand of the driver. They give you a number to hit for fuel, and if you beat it a couple of laps in a row, you think ‘Okay they’re going to raise the number and give me more fuel.’ And they weren’t giving me more fuel! So, I was screaming at them. I was like, ‘Guys, I’m hitting this number, you give me more fuel now!’ They finally gave it to me in the end. We were kind of in a different race compared to (Scott) Dixon. The right guy won it this weekend. There was really no stopping this guy. Congratulations to him and all of Chip Ganassi Racing. For us, I think we can’t be too displeased with second place. It’s been a tough weekend. It’s not been our smoothest. I think we came back really strong. We had a phenomenal race with great pit stops and we got on the podium. So, it’s a pretty good day. Hopefully we can go to Sonoma now and get even better results to finish off the year right.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: YOU HAD TO PIT THERE AT THE VERY END FOR A SPLASH OF FUEL. WHAT WAS IT LIKE THOSE LAST FEW LAPS IN FUEL-SAVE MODE?
“It was really good. The car was actually running smooth. But, unfortunately when I saw the numbers, and the way the set-up for our car, I don’t think we’d be able to save fuel. And I told those guys on the radio. Guys, let us think of some other strategy because this is going to be tough to save fuel. I’m glad they were able to pick-up really quick. We bailed out right away and were able to push as hard as we could and open up enough of a gap so in the end, I guess the No. 5 and the No. 18 ended-up running out of fuel, so it was a great strategy with Roger (Penske) and the Hitachi car. Now let’s keep going. I know the championship might be over, but it’s not over for Team Penske. So, now we need to focus and go win Sonoma.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 TEAM HYDROXYCUT – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5TH: YOU STARTED THE DAY WITH A SPIN, BUT CAME ALL THE WAY BACK FROM LAST TO FIFTH:
“Yeah, it was an interesting day, I guess. I just didn’t use the push to pass. I get touched because as you see everybody is on the push to pass and I kind of stupidly, I guess, decided to not use it on the front straight and use it on the back straight. Otherwise, in one start you have already used 20 percent of your account. It was a tough choice. But it is what it is. Obviously we recovered very nicely. It was pretty nerve-wracking those last few laps. I knew we were good on fuel. I wasn’t sure about the tire situation, but I knew I was good on fuel.”
YOU DIDN’T PIT EARLY. YOU STAYED OUT AND WERE RUNNING FAST LIKE 10 LAPS IN
“Yeah, like I said, the car was good. The problem is it seemed like if I was running hard, I couldn’t do more than 10 laps on tires. So, that was going to be a problem, obviously. The first set of tires, we came back with blisters all over. And it was time to pit. But, I think we showed that the Kydroxycut-KVSH machine was awfully quick all weekend. Now we’ve got to find a way to make the tires last. If you have to pit four or five laps before everybody, that’s not a good thing; but, we’re definitely making progress and it was good to finish in the top 5.”
ON RACE: “Overall I am pretty happy. The Hydroxycut/DPS Nutrition – KVSH Racing Team was competitive all weekend. It was a tough race and we knew push-to-pass was going to be really important. I didn’t want to use it at the start. That was a mistake because everyone else did and I got swallowed up and got hit. After that it was always going to be a tough race trying to come from the very back. I got a lucky break with the first yellow and then as usual we were really good on fuel, so I wasn’t worried about that. I was getting big vibrations and blisters on the rear tires. The last two or three laps I was really worried. I am just glad it stuck and thanks to our sponsors Hydroxycut, DPS Nutrition and Chevy. I am just really happy for the whole KVSH Racing organization. We had the pace, passed a couple of cars and to finish in the top-five is very satisfying and a heck of an achievement.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 TRESIBA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6TH: “I didn’t think we had a lot of contact with Graham – I felt like I gave him plenty of room around the inside. I was focused on the exit because the big passing opportunity especially with a restart like that was up the hill into the Bus Stop. The 83 Chevrolet was so fast and the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing guys were so fast in the pit lane. That last stint we were focusing on the fuel mileage number. We came up the hill and everyone else that I passed I got to the left, and everyone stayed right to block, and Will – it’s like he had no idea I was there. He just kept following I think the 26 car over, and ran me onto the grass, and when I bounced off the grass I bounced into him. I was sorry to have gotten into him, but frankly if he would have known I was there, I know he wouldn’t have run me off the road. It was a crazy race for us for sure. If you would’ve told me after we had to stop at the end for a splash of fuel that I’d end up in the top six I’m not sure I would’ve believed you. I’m really happy with the result for the No. 83 Tresiba® Chevrolet and even happier for Dixon for grabbing the win today.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH:
MAX CHILTON, NO. 8 GALLAGHER CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH: “It was a day that could have been fantastic but ended up slightly disappointing after running P2. I got damage on lap 1 turn 1 with the steering and then for the rest of the race my pace was pretty decent considering I was held back by the issue.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 13TH:
SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 2O FUZZY’S VODKA ED CAPRENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15TH: “The race was going pretty well. We were battling inside the Top 10 for the majority of the race, especially through the middle stints. We were looking good to get a Top 10 finish but after we had to start saving fuel we fell back. It was a bit of a shame we had to start saving so much. We couldn’t keep the pace up and save fuel, so we fell back to 15th. It was a lot of fun, I had some great battles out there. The car was really good and the guys gave me excellent pit stops. It was great to have Samsung come on board this weekend and also thanks to Fuzzy’s Vodka, Rising Star Racing, Mockett and everyone else that makes this happen.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH: Tony Kanaan, No. 10 NTT DATA Chevrolet: “We had such a fast car with the No. 10 NTT DATA Chevrolet – I think we actually had the fastest lap of the race. It’s just a shame that we had the issue we did and lost a few laps getting it fixed in the pits because we definitely had a chance to get on the podium today. I’m really happy for Scott though – he really deserved this win, especially with how much he dominated here all weekend.”