Chevrolet Aims to Continue Success on Long Beach Streets
· Simon Pagenaud seeks to successfully defend Grand Prix victory
ᴏ Reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champ to drive No. 1 Team Penske Chevrolet
· Chevrolet has won three of the past four races on 1.968-mile street circuit
ᴏ Chevy drivers have swept the podium in 2016 and 2015 races
· Team Penske has earned pole position six of the past eight years
ᴏ Helio Castroneves has claimed past two poles starts, set track record
· A.J. Foyt Racing’s Conor Daly remembers his call to duty in 2015 race
DETROIT (April 5, 2017) – Since returning to Verizon IndyCar Series competition in 2012, Chevrolet has won three of the four races on the streets of Long Beach, California, including podium sweeps the past two years.
Team Chevy drivers will aim to continue that success in the Chevrolet IndyCar Aero Kit with integrated 2.2-liter, V6 twin turbocharged engine in the 43rd Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach this weekend. The venerable event on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit will be telecast live at 1 p.m. PT Sunday on NBCSN.
“Long Beach is a special event for me. I really like the whole California vibe. There’s just a different feeling in the air there,” said reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Simon Pagenaud, who won the 2016 race.
Pagenaud, who will drive the No. 1 Menards Chevrolet for Team Penske, led 28 of 80 laps at Long Beach after starting third. He was runner-up in the season opener last month in Florida for the second year in a row.
“The St. Pete race allowed us to make a lot of points right away in our championship quest and it is what the Menards Chevrolet team does so well,” added Pagenaud, who has finished in the top five four times in his six races at Long Beach. “We’ve done some testing during the break, which has gone well. The whole team is very hungry. Long Beach has been kind to me and especially last year when we got my first Team Penske win. We’re ready for the street fight.”
Team Penske has won six of the past eight pole positions, with Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet, claiming the pole the past two years. Castroneves, who has finished third and second the past two years at Long Beach, holds the track lap record of 1 minute, 6.6294 seconds (106.331 mph) set in 2015.
In that 2015 race, Conor Daly was summoned into action after another driver injured his hand in a practice crash. Daly, who will drive the No. 4 ABC Supply Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing this weekend, was on site and surprised to receive the phone call 45 minutes before the next practice session. He borrowed a seat, zipped up the firesuit he was to wear driving a two-seat Indy car for the weekend, and reported for duty.
“I always look forward to traveling west for the Long Beach Grand Prix,” said Daly, who made his Verizon IndyCar Series debut with A.J. Foyt Racing in the 2013 Indianapolis 500. “There is such a great atmosphere all weekend and the track is fantastic. It was the site of my first Indy car street-course event and my first Indy Lights win (2011) so it’s always meant a lot to me.”
JR Hildebrand, who will drive the No. 21 Preferred Freezer Services Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, also won an Indy Lights race (2009) on the streets of Long Beach, and has high finishes of fifth in 2012 and ‘13 in Chevrolet-powered Indy cars.
“It’s kind of like Indianapolis in some ways; you can feel the vibe of everyone being excited about (the race) there,” said Hildedbrand, who advanced six positions relative to his starting spot to place 13th in the opener on the St. Petersburg street course. “It’s a challenging racetrack, but it’s also a lot of fun. I’ve had some good success there, and I’m looking forward to making more progress. We have had a couple of tests since St. Pete and are ready to put in some more work and move our way up the grid.”
The 85-lap race will be paced by a white 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51 Coupe.
With the Verizon IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sharing the Long Beach race weekend, fans at the event have a chance to see the very best that Chevrolet has to offer on and off the track.
The Chevrolet Racing and Corvette Racing displays will share space inside the Long Beach Convention Center will plenty of vehicles and products for fans to peruse from Friday through Sunday. Among them:
• Chevrolet production vehicles such as the Corvette Grand Sport Convertible, Camaro SS Convertible, Cruze Hatchback, Silverado and Silverado HD and Colorado Z71
• A Corvette C7.R show car and Verizon IndyCar show car
• The new 2018 Next Gen Equinox
• The Chevrolet Trax Redline and Chevrolet Bolt
• Samples of Chevrolet engines, performance parts and accessories available to fans for purchase from their local Chevrolet dealer
• A variety of Chevrolet and racing related activities for adults and kids
• Commemorative T-shirts for fans who sign up with Corvette Racing as well as at the Verizon IndyCar Series desk.
Fans also can meet and ask questions of their favorite Team Chevy drivers Friday at the Chevy Racing pit box: 3:35 p.m. local – Team Penske (Simon Pagenaud, Josef Newgarden, Helio Castroneves, Will Power).