CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
BOMMARITO AUTO GROUP 500
GATEWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP
AUGUST 26, 2017
Josef Newgarden Captures Fourth Victory of Season; Holds Championship Lead After Strong Win at Gateway Motorsports Park
MADISON, Ill (August 26, 2017) – Josef Newgarden took one more step in his quest for his first Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) championship with a strong performance and win at Gateway Motorsports Park. The driver of the No. 2 PPG Automotive Refinish Team Penske Chevrolet led five times for a total of 170 of the 248-lap race.
It was the fourth victory of the season for the first-year Team Penske driver and the seventh win of his career as the series returned to competition for the Bommarito Auto Group 500 on the 1.25-mile track just east of St. Louis, Missouri. Newgarden continues to lead the standings with a 31 point margin over second place.
“It was great to see Chevrolets running up front throughout the race in front of such a great and enthusiastic crowd at Gateway Motorsports Park,” said Mark Kent, Director of Motorsports Competition – Chevrolet. “Congratulations to Josef and the Team Penske No. 2 PPG team on their win tonight. They are carrying a lot of momentum into the driver’s championship fight with two races remaining in the season. With Simon and Helio having strong runs, it will be an exciting, tight battle.”
The win is the ninth of the season for the Chevrolet 2.2 liter V6 IndyCar program and extended the lead for the Bowtie brand to 100 points in the Manufacturer Championship contest.
Simon Pagenaud brought the No. 1 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet to the checkered flag in third to continue his defense of his championship. The run gave Chevrolet two of the podium finishers and kept the Frenchman fourth in the standings 43 points behind the leader.
Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Chevrolet, finished fourth to stay third in points, 42 points behind Newgarden.
Conor Daly rounded out the top five with a strong run in the No. 4 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet. His teammate Carlos Munoz in the No. 14 ABC Chevrolet finished ninth to give Chevrolet five to the top-nine in the finishing order.
“It was great to see AJ Foyt Racing have a very strong night with both of their cars in the top-10.” Kent concluded.
2014 champion Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, and Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet , were sidelined from the race on lap six in a multi-car accident. Power was scored 21st and remains fifth in the standings. Carpenter finished 20th.
JR Hildebrand in the No. 21 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet was also sidelined in an accident and finished 18th in the final order.
Scott Dixon (Honda) finished second to complete the podium and remains second in points, 31 down to Newgarden with two races remaining on the schedule.
Next on the schedule will be the 16th race of the season, IndyCar Grand Prix at the Glen on September 3, 2017 at Watkins Glen International.
CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
BOMMARITO AUTO GROUP 500
GATEWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACES QUOTES
AUGUST 26, 2017
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER:
“It was an awesome race. I’m so proud of the entire No. 2 group. I’m proud of Team Penske. They build the best race cars on the planet, so it’s a pleasure to be a part of the group. And, to win again in the PPG car; you know the first time we had them on, we won at Mid-Ohio. And it seems like we’ve got a little more mojo again here with having them. So, I hope they enjoyed it. I hope the fans enjoyed it. We had an awesome race. I felt like it was. It was a lot about strategy and fuel saving and I had a good battle with Simon (Pagenaud) at the end. That’s what we had tonight.”
YOU ARE NOW THE ONLY FOUR-TIME WINNER IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES FOR 2017. WHAT SORT OF STATEMENT DOES THIS MAKE TO THE REST OF THE FIELD?
“Oh, it just helps on points. We’ve got to be aggressive and try and win these races. It think that’s what’s going to win us the championship.
“With Simon there, I wanted to get inside of him. He gave me the lane and so I took it. It’s one thing if he was going to close it off, but he gave me a lane to work with and I just tried to thread the gap at that point, and he gave me racing room. I didn’t mean to touch him and push him out a little bit, but I’m happy he obviously didn’t get in wall and still finished in the top four there. So, that’s racing. We’ve got to go racing at the end of the day.”
TIM CINDRIC, RACE STRATEGIST FOR JOSEPH NEWGARDEN AND THE NO.2 TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: “It was close racing and all that, and I’m glad both of them made it through that corner. I’m sure those guys will sort it out one way or another. Without a doubt, Josef… he’s done his job, for sure. We let him down in the pits there a little bit, and he recovered for us. He wasn’t going to be denied tonight, so great job for our team.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 1 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: “We had a great race with the Menards Chevrolet. All of the adjustments left us with a great car at the end. When we needed to come up with a great pit stop; we did. Those guys really are the best. They always come through when they have to. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out there at the end. I can’t say that I’m overly pleased, but that’s racing. We still have the championship out there, so we’ll get ready for Watkins Glen.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 SHELL FUEL REWARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: “The Shell Fuel Rewards Chevy was awesome tonight. We had a little mistake on pit road that cost us and that was unfortunate. The car was definitely good enough to win. It was fantastic to be back at Gateway. The crowd was amazing. It looks like the whole community has embraced this event.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5TH: “We had a good car all weekend. I was really upset with myself after qualifying, just had a big moment at the exit of (Turn) 1, but we redeemed ourselves. Then I tried to screw it up for myself again in the pits, but we were able to drive back. The car was just fantastic. I have to thank the team, I have to thank ABC Supply for sticking with us. I know it’s been a tough year, but I know we can do it. I know this team can do it. We’re just improving, and it takes time, this is a hard sport.”
ON CLOSE CALL WITH CHARLIE KIMBALL: “I won’t say anything bad about (Charlie), but it was just one of those really late moves that, being on an oval it’s not great to do. I mean everyone’s racing hard, it’s obviously tough on a short oval to make ground, but I mean that could have ruined my race right there. I thought the wing was gone going into the next corner, but it was still there! So thank you Chevy, for making strong pieces. But, yeah, I’m just happy to be here, and just hope I can be here for many more races.”
CARLOS MUNOZ, NO. 14 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9th: “It was a race with ups and downs. The whole team did a great job the whole weekend. Happy for Conor, he did a really good job finishing fifth. And with me 9th we had two cars in the top 10. I just needed a little more speed in Turns 1 and 2 especially compared to my teammate. Finishing like that in the last stint, I had a really bad vibration that cost me a little bit but I’m really happy for the team overall.”
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, (INVOLVED IN SINGLE-CAR INCIDENT ON LAP 100) FINISHED 19TH: “All of a sudden, we had no steering and were going straight. I feel like something must have broke or we had some sort of an issue. Hopefully, for the sake of everyone else, we can isolate it on our side just for the certainty of the race That’s about all I have to say! We were having a pretty good run. It is just a bummer to have both of the Fuzzy’s Vodka cars out of the race so early.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, (INVOLVED IN MULTI-CAR ACCIDENT ON LAP SIX) FINISHED 20TH:
“It was slick, even warming up the tires. It may have been the combination of tires that had run before us. We ran a little bit after Indy Lights, but just for the pit stop practice so it wasn’t a lot. Even with the tires warmed up it was hard, but that’s no excuse. I saw Will (Power) get loose in front of (Takuma) Sato. I was under Sato, he was sliding around. I finally got loose like those guys were. I corrected and went under Sato, but once we made contact, it sent me around. I’m just super disappointed. I have such a chance to get a good result tonight in front of tons of family and friends from Indianapolis. 2018 can’t come fast enough. I’m thankful that Fuzzy’s Vodka is behind us so much to give us an opportunity to come back and be even better next year. But man, it is disheartening right now. It’s going to be a long off season to get this taste out of my mouth.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, (INVOLVED IN MULTI-CAR ACCIDENT ON LAP SIX) FINISHED 21ST : “It wasn’t a fun ride. Josef (Newgarden) went around the outside and got some of his dirty air and just lost it. Unfortunate. Very frustrating. Unbelievably frustrating for the whole Verizon Chevrolet team. It was just slippery. Super slippery. I wish I had done a few more burnouts to get more heat in the rear tires. The fronts were very slippery too. He just took my air going around on the outside. I tried to get back to power and got some dirty air. It just went. Unfortunate.”
IndyCar Media Conference
Saturday August 26, 2017
Press Conference
Josef Newgarden
Simon Pagenaud
THE MODERATOR: We have a saying in the newspaper business: You don’t bury the lead. The lead says you won the race. The second part says it was interesting how it happened. Tell us about that.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, it was a great night. We had first off an awesome crowd. It was amazing actually what was out here tonight. I felt like the energy for this event, it really spurred everyone on. You should have seen all the drivers. I felt like everyone was a little extra nervous tonight because of the energy in this place. A lot of that is down to St. Louis, all the promoters here, Ed Gateway, everything at the track, the sponsors at the track have done to try to get people out here and come back to this race. It’s fun to see it back here.
I remember watching this race when I was younger. They stopped coming here, I think 2003 was the last race. It’s fun to have it back in 2017, see it so well supported for the first year. It was a great night to go racing.
I felt like we had a good car. We had four good cars at Team Penske. Happy to get the win on the 2 car side because I felt like we had the car to beat. I didn’t want us to be denied tonight for sure.
THE MODERATOR: Simon came here, wasn’t very pleased. Talk about going into turn one, obviously had a good car. You saw an opening and went for it.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, Simon gave me a lane to work with. I had a good tow on him, put my car inside in the opening, got about halfway alongside of him. One thing I didn’t want to do was touch him too hard. I think if I would have stayed too far left, I would have jumped the curb and that would have taken both of us out.
I tried to get Simon to move over a little when we were coming to the opening of the corner. We both had to slow up. Fortunately worked out well for us on the 2 car side. Pagenaud, didn’t get up into the wall or anything like that, so I would say it worked out okay for him, too.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. How was the fuel consumption? You had reserves to keep Dixon under control?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, for sure. Think we had plenty of fuel. The only point where the gap kind of grew with the lead was Helio there, he pitted a little sooner when he was in the lead. I think he was burning more fuel and on a different strategy. We were saving fuel at that point. As far as at the end, yeah, we had no problem with fuel. Not at all.
Q. What would you attribute the issues of the track at the start, kind of the odd delay to get the race going?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. I haven’t seen the Tony deal. I heard about it. I mean, it felt slippery in the beginning. I got to think that’s down to some of the Mazda Road to Indy rubber from the junior series, I think that contributed to the track being slick to start. I don’t know if that’s what caught out Will, too. Seemed like he got loose on the bottom as well.
I just got to think the track was a little loose from the junior rubber. It seemed to work itself in. The balance was shifting all night as the track cooled off. Seemed to get more neutral as the night went on.
THE MODERATOR: Five straight Penske wins. You’ve taken a firm grasp of the championship with two to go.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t know if it’s firm. It’s never firm with Sonoma, with the amount of points you got there. It’s going to be difficult. I think we’re — regardless of how Watkins Glen goes, I think it’s going to come down to Sonoma and who does the best job there. It’s just the way this championship works with the way the format is right now.
But we certainly have a good position, I would say for us. We feel good about our position. You know, you really can’t (indiscernible) about it. I think we have a good lead. That’s always better in my opinion than chasing. We got to make sure we look after everything in Watkins Glen, then we really got to prioritize Sonoma and have a phenomenal race there.
Q. Helio’s spotter said the nature of this track leads to not an act of desperation, but that’s the only chance you have to make a pass. Is that how you saw it?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Are you speaking of the legendary Rick Mears? No one knows that’s Helio’s spotter.
Yeah, I didn’t really talk to Rick much about it before the race, just ’cause the weekend was such a tight schedule. But for sure if you looked at practice last night, there was no clearing people here. You’re not going to pass ’em and clear ’em before the corner. You’re going to get halfway, three quarters alongside someone, that’s how you’re going to pass ’em.
For me, I think what allowed the pass to happen was Simon left me a lane. I took the lane. That’s about as far as I was going to get up on him. We ran hard into the corner. Had to check up and both got through there.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I did see a replay and we did touch. I moved over on him one time. But that was right as the corner was closing. I didn’t want to jump the curb because if I would have stayed full left, I think I would have jumped the curb. I kind of was hoping he would open the door a little more when I was alongside of him. He didn’t open it any further. I feel like if I didn’t move him just a touch, if I jump the curb, we both would have been in the wall. If anything, that was a good thing.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t know where I got it. It was kind of just in the moment. I honestly thought Simon was going to lift and move over once I was there. And he didn’t. So then it was a matter of trying to sort it out when we were getting into the corner.
THE MODERATOR: I remember two other trying moments in the race. Helio got you in the pit stop for the lead. You and Kanaan had dicing going on on the backstretch. Do you remember that?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Not with Kanaan, no. I don’t remember that. Definitely I think the key ones were Will at the start, how we raced into turn one. Pit stops were a big deal. Our box was a little bit tight tonight. I had a lot of wheel spin for sure. I probably didn’t help our case trying to have fast stops. Those were always kind of an issue for us.
Then, you know, if anything, it was just managing lap traffic. I feel like when Helio was behind me trying to get past Chilton and Marco and some of the other guys at times a deciding moment was if we’re not going to be good in traffic, we’re not going to be able to keep Helio behind us.
THE MODERATOR: Three-wide on the parade lap.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I felt like I heard the crowd reacting to it, to be honest, in the car going by. That’s a tribute to what we do at Indianapolis during the month of May for the 500. So I think it was cool the track wanted to do that. It’s obviously a very close market to Indianapolis. I felt like we had a lot of Indianapolis fans out here. It was fun to do that, kind of show our roots from the Indy 500. Spread the love a little bit here in Gateway, too.
Q. Do you think the finish saved the show? Before that, it was looking like a Penske parade.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think people like seeing passes for the lead, especially when it comes down to the end of the race. I got to think they enjoyed that. The rest of the race, I didn’t see it from inside the car. I hope it was a good show. There was some fuel saving going on, which never helps. But I felt like we were able to pass somewhat and get by lap traffic. I hope that put on somewhat of a show for people.
Q. Simon was saying before when he was asked about that move, he said he lost trust in his teammate there. He said he lost trust and respect. How do you approach him when you see him next because he is frustrated?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’ll approach him the same. He knows we’re racing. He knows we’re going to race in the future. We’re going to race for many years. This isn’t the first time we’ll battle, I’m sure. Hopefully he knows next time it’s getting a little tight in the corner, give me a little more room.
But I think he’s one of the world class drivers that you race against. That’s what made that work. I can trust him to not lose the racecar and hold his own into the corner. That’s really what made the move work. Any other guy, he might not have had the ability to make it work. Simon has that and even more. So he’s one of the best drivers in the world to go head-to-head with.
Q. What does Roger think of something like that?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: For sure. That’s the great thing about Team Penske, they let us race. They want to make sure we secure a victory for the team with one of the cars. I think he was able happy we were able to win the race with one of our cars. If it’s not me it needs to be Simon, Helio or Will. He was just happy we had a team victory tonight. Certainly Simon and Helio were not far behind. They were a couple spots behind. He seemed pretty happy. I think it was a pretty good day for points.
Q. In that situation where you did pass Simon, you have the long straightaway, do you think he knew you were coming? Can you actually see that? Happened so fast that the spotter can’t really tell him. Maybe he wasn’t expecting it?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think if you look at his car positioning, he was definitely expecting it. I would be surprised if he was putting his car there not expecting me. Yeah, he for sure saw me and was expecting it. He knew I was having runs at him lap after lap, setting it up. He was prepared for it.
If anything, I was surprised he left me a lane. If you leave me a lane, I’m going to take it. Especially in the situation where we were leading most of the laps, we were in position to win the race, we lose out on a pit stop exchange. He’s got to know I’m going to try to get back by him. That’s not the way we want to lose the race.
Yes, for sure. I’m sure he knew I was coming.
Q. Back to the start of the race, you drove it in pretty deep on the high lane. Were you trying to get the lead early on?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I felt like I was in a better position. Will was pinched down to the bottom. I left him the bottom lane, I took the second lane. At the start you can do that. You have more of an advantage to take the second lane at the start. Marbles, even when they sweep, it’s a lot dirtier and difficult to do. I tried to stay on the second lane, keep as much throttle as I could. Seemed to be enough to clear him.
I don’t know if it was premeditated, but it was just sort of my strategy.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks a lot, Josef. See you next week in Watkins Glen.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Thank you, guys.
THE MODERATOR: Joined by Simon Pagenaud, third-place finisher. We saw what happened in turn one. We’ll start there, unfortunately.
SIMON PAGENAUD: Go ahead. Knock yourself out.
THE MODERATOR: How did you see what turned out to be the move of the race?
SIMON PAGENAUD: I think if it wasn’t me, he would be in the fence with somebody else. That’s what I’ve got to say.
THE MODERATOR: Talk about how the evening went. Did you feel like you could pass? Did you feel like it was the kind of crowd you expected, that kind of thing?
SIMON PAGENAUD: The crowd was amazing. A really amazing event. I think the track did a phenomenal job at, you know, repaving the place. It was really a proper track for IndyCar, I have to say. A lot of fun to drive.
Not that easy to pass, but overall it was a good race. Really had to work on the racecar the whole time. We did a good job with that on the 1 car, the Menards car with Chevy. Chevy was dominant this weekend.
I’m glad we didn’t leave the win to this guy because that would have been bad for the team and for Chevy, considering how dominant we were as a team. He did a fantastic job.
But, you know, overall I’m pretty happy with the night. Obviously I wanted to win. We all want to win. Sometimes, you know, it is what it is.
THE MODERATOR: You had a good look at Will’s situation.
SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, it was tricky. Cold tires, different rubber on the racetrack. The start was very difficult to get temperature in the tires. Obviously IndyCar, with the downforce level we have, the faster you go, the more you press the tires on the ground, creates pressure. It’s very difficult the first few laps. We got caught out. It was a big moment. It was pretty hectic on the first lap.
It was very unfortunate for Will.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. Simon, do you lose a little bit of the trust factor racing with Josef?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Absolutely. And respect, too. He doesn’t have respect for me. I’ve never seen Scott do that to his teammates in his career, whole career. I respect the hell out of this guy here. Four-time champ. You know you can race him. He’s a perfect example. You know you can race each other. Especially on an oval it’s quite dangerous if you have an accident.
As a teammate I think we need to work together. Because if we (indiscernible) work together, he wins the race, it’s terrible for the team. That’s the kind of thing that’s disappointing. At the moment it’s not something I really want to talk about with him. But it will come to a conclusion, I’m sure.
Q. Simon, along the same lines, are you surprised it wasn’t reviewed?
SIMON PAGENAUD: No, because there’s no crash. It’s more, how do you call it, a driver rule. It’s how much you respect each other. When you think the gap is open enough to risk it on an oval. I’m not talking road course. I think on a road course, that was a beautiful pass. But we’re not on a road course. There we are going 40, 50 miles an hour. Here we’re doing 190 there. It’s completely different story.
Q. Simon, when that happened going into turn one with your teammate, it looked like you had contact. I was wondering if you were worried about your car.
SIMON PAGENAUD: Wasn’t much contact. It was a bit of a bump. I was wondering if (indiscernible) quite frankly. That’s all. I was just busy trying to stay off the wall. So that was it. My momentum was dead. So, you know, at the time I was trying to get around Scott again, and the car felt great. It’s just a real shame I couldn’t stay out front.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys.