CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
RAINGUARD WATER SEALERS 600
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE QUOTES
JUNE 10, 2017
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER:
ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10 HOW INTENSE WAS THAT RACING AT THE END?
“It was very intense. I could see (Scott) Dixon was able to pass me at the start/finish line. So, I was starting to think about what I was going to do there at the end. Phenomenal job by the guys in the pits. I am so stoked, so happy for Verizon. Shows you how good that Chevy engine is, man, it was super-fast tonight.
“I’m so stoked to win in my second home, where my wife (Liz) is from, Texas. All the family is here, it just feels awesome.”
IS THAT THE SIGNIFICANCE WINNING FOR LIZ AND HERE FAMILY? YOU GUYS HAD A FAMILY REUNION ON THURSDAY:
“We were just talking about it and her cousin said ‘man you haven’t won for me here yet’. And like, he has come year after year and I really didn’t think that it would be this weekend, but oh man, you don’t understand how good that feels.”
IT’S BEEN SUCH AN UP AND DOWN YEAR FOR YOU GUYS. NOW WITH THIS WIN, YOU ARE ONLY 40 POINTS OUT OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT CONSIDERING HOW THE YEAR STARTED?
“Yeah, I know. I mean, I’m so stoked for the win, I don’t really care about the rest. I just wanted to win here in Texas and I did it.”
ROAD AMERICA IS NEXT, SO THAT IS A GOOD SIGN:
“Yeah, man, we are coming. We are coming.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 1 DXC TECHNOLOGY TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3rd
HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH THE THREE-WIDE SITUATION AT THE END?
“Yeah, well, it was very much pack racing, so we were trying to get away from the pack, which we did for quite a while. It was a way also to save some fuel and stay behind him (Will Power). I was trying to protect him so that we could just go as fast as we could and it worked out really well. At the end there, I was hoping we were going to go a little longer because I had a really good car. It was a lot of fun. It got a little crazy at the end. I tell you, it is just incredible how close we can race against each other. Good fun, good night, awesome working with Will. That is Team Penske, we all work together, you guys don’t believe us, but we do and we showed it tonight.”
GABBY CHAVES, NO. 88 HARDING RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5TH: “We did what we had to do. We kept our nose clean. We had a solid car. I think before the accidents, we were inside the top-12. We had great Chevy power until the end, and just made the passes when we had to. Just really proud of the team effort.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: “That was the crazy, I think the biggest thing tonight is that I learned a lot. That was the first time ever on an oval that I raced side by side or that close to anyone. Indy we’re never like that and last year I didn’t make it through much of the race. It was a huge level of experience gain. We made progress on the car all the way through and on the last stint, I thought we were really in contention for a top five—we were right in the fight which was really fun. I’ve never experienced any racing like that in my life. Really enjoyed it, it was crazy to spin at the end but we kept going, so overall just a nice day for us to make it through and survive. I think my guys did a great job—tonight was a lot of work in the pits—we were adjusting the car every stop so I have to thank them for all their work.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11TH: “It was a wild night. We overcame a lot of adversity. First the spin – I was hoping for a spin and win! – and then got caught up in that big one. But there’s no quit in Ed Carpenter Racing. As many cars as were crashed out, we figured we’d patch it back up and salvage some points. You collect points all year long and you never know what a night like tonight might do at the end of the year for the entrant championship standings for both the No. 20 and the No. 21. I’m proud of the Fuzzy’s Vodka guys putting in the extra work. The easiest thing to do would have been packing up and heading home. I’m thankful for the drive of this team, getting back out there and finishing with both cars. There was a lot of tore up stuff tonight, but all things considered we got out of it alright for crashing twice. But it was really unfortunate, I think we could have raced with those guys at the end. We just had too many things happen, but that’s the way it goes.”
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 12TH: “Huge credit to the team for recognizing that there was an opportunity to fix the car, get back out, and pick up some positions. The Fuzzy’s Vodka crew killed it. With no set up pad, the car that I rolled back out there with could have competed for a Top 5 finish today with no problem. I’m really proud of the guys. It is a big confidence boost for everyone, the day goes totally sideways and we’re able to end on a positive note which always feels good. Ed (Carpenter) and I were both able to take advantage of the team doing awesome work. Hopefully this kind of gets us on a bit of momentum heading into the rest of the year, we have a lot o”f racing left to do. It is a bummer not to get a much better finish that we easily could have gotten today, regardless of the carnage, but it makes us all feel good about what we can do from here on out.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HUM BY VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 13TH: IT LOOKED LIKE YOU TRIED TO AVOID THE DEBRIS GOING HIGH BUT IT LOOKED LIKE THE OIL DRY GOT YOU: “It was definitely a bad decision. It seemed ok, he might be right with the oil dry, so of those strips up top, we just got loose. It’s hard to tell if that’s what it was or not, probably going third lane was not a right idea. I was just trying to get some space with Dixon, I didn’t know exactly where he was going to go. I probably could have back out of it sooner and realized it’s not going to be good up there. Its just my fault, I feel bad for the guys in the #2 car. With everything we have been doing, HUM and Verizon on the vehicle with us we’ve had fast cars and it’s always a shame when you make a mistake for your guys. I put that on me, just trying to race hard, and the third lane wasn’t there, so we didn’t have it tonight.
WE TALKED BEFORE THE RACE, AND YOU WENT FROM 17TH TO 2ND:
“There were a lot of ups and downs, and our car was awesome. Right in the beginning you could tell it was really good and we could get through the field really quickly. We had some sort of miscue at pit lane again, we had been fighting some issues with that, ever since the GP of Indy we have been fighting some issues so we have been trying to figure that out. And then we had a couple different tire deals we were working through. It was up and down, but once we got those items sorted out I thought we were really good at the end.
CARLOS MUNOZ, NO. 14 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH: “I’m proud of my team. From yesterday’s mistake we wanted to go to the front and we were coming. We were in the top 10 most of the time & looking pretty good. On ovals you have everyone in a pack and when there’s a crash in front of you, there’s nothing you can do. I couldn’t avoid crashing. It’s racing, it’s ovals. This is my first crash on an oval so I guess there’s always a first time. I was proud of my team–we were running pretty good and staying with the leaders. It’s a shame.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AAA INSURANCE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 20TH: WHAT HAPPENED: “Unfortunately, I felt vibration four laps before the incident. The right front tire gave out, right in the middle of turns 1 and 2, I wasn’t inside and there was nothing I could do. This nothing like NASCAR you can come back, change tires and go again. It was a big hit. I have to thank all the safety crew, the safety wall as well. I remember when this used to be all concrete walls…it hurt a lot!
YOU HAD MADE A GREAT COME BACK, YOU HAD COME FROM THE BACK TO THE FRONT AGAIN: “Yeah that was awesome, I had no problem to be honest, there was a little bit of shoving and people chopping you down, but the top grove started coming in. I had a phenomenal car. AAA Chevy was really good, I knew I could be up there, but unfortunately, it wasn’t our night.”