CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
BOMMARITO AUTO GROUP 500
GATEWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST QUALIFYING QUOTES
AUGUST 25, 2017
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER: “Very gratifying. We got all four Penske guys up there. (Power-1, Newgarden-2, Castroneves-3, Pagenaud-4). I got a little bit loose on the second lap into (turn) one that caught me by surprise. The Verizon Chevy is very quick obviously. Fantastic. 50 poles. Wow. I never would have dreamed of that when I started. I am very humbled to be up there with AJ Foyt and Helio Castroneves.
“I love ovals. I love oval racing. It was something that took me time to learn, but once I learned it, it has been good
“Tomorrow night we just have to be smart and see how it all plays out. It will be good if we stay up there with our teammates and get a couple of other Chevys in the mix. You never know in these races. Just be smart, good pit stops and no mistakes.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND: “We put together a great couple of laps in the PPG Chevy. I knew it would be tough to keep Will (Power) out of that top spot. That’s one of the great advantages of going last. We share all of our information. Sometimes I’ve been on the good side of that and sometimes I haven’t. That’s one of the hallmarks of Team Penske – it’s all one team. Sure, I would like to have the pole position, but we’re right there. I think we’ll get there, so it’s nothing that’s super disappointing or anything. We’ll start second and see what happens.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 SHELL FUEL REWARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD: ““What a run! We had a really fast car but not enough for the pole. Still, we had a really fast car. The No. 3 Shell Fuel Rewards Chevrolet will definitely have a great starting spot so it’s all about maintaining a good spot towards the front of tomorrow’s race. The track is really smooth and it’s great. I’m really excited for tomorrow night’s race at Gateway.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 1 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 4TH: “I wish we could gone out a little later, but nothing I can do about that. The Menards Chevrolet felt very comfortable. I like how the track feels. They did a great job with it. We’ll start fourth which is good, but I have my three Team Penske teammates in front of me which will make it more difficult. And unfortunately those aren’t the only cars to be concerned with. I think the race will be very competitive. Everyone will have to have complete focus and that’s not always the easiest thing. It’s not like Pocono where there are some long straights to take a little break. Turning 24-second laps is pretty quick, but we’re definitely looking forward to going for a win like we had at Phoenix.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5th: “We’re all still learning about this track! The first practice, that’s all we were doing – just trimming and trimming, trying to go quicker. We missed on the gears in practice too, so we knew there was time left in the car coming into qualifying. Team Penske was just a little more aggressive than us when it came down to qualifying. This next practice session is going to be crucial as well. It’s our last chance to really sort out our race downforce.”
CARLOS MUNOZ, NO. 14 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 8TH: “I’m very happy in general. I think it’s our best qualifying run of the year on the ovals. Really happy to be in the top 10. I knew we had a good car from testing. We have one more practice to go so we need to make some changes to improve it for the race tomorrow night.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 11TH: “It’s a good day for the team obviously to have both cars in the top 11. Really wanted to qualify a little bit better than I did because we’ve been fast here in previous sessions. Just had a big moment in Turn 1 – the car was a little bit loose. We’re starting quite a bit forward than we normally do so that’s a good thing. I think we’ve always had better cars in the race so I’m excited for tomorrow night.”
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH: It’s been a little bit tough just to hit the downforce level. The track is really good since they repaved it, we undershot on how fast we could go even at the trim level we were at! This morning’s session was super hectic, everyone was running around in the draft and it was hard to see where you were at. The Fuzzy’s Vodka boys did a really good job, the car feels really good. We’ll be in good shape for the race.”