Chevrolet Aims for Third Win in a Row at Pocono
· Will Power has stood in victory circle the past two years
ᴏ Chevrolet has won three of five races since Indy car return to Pocono
· Team Chevy drivers seek to improve title prospects
ᴏ Josef Newgarden is third, Power is fourth in standings
· Ed Carpenter to mark 175th career race
ᴏ Team owner/driver relies on Chevy power since 2012
· Pocono Raceway hosts its 25th Indy car race
DETROIT (Aug. 15, 2018) – Past success at a racetrack is a tangible motivator for Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) drivers. More intrinsic, though no less significant, is a driver’s perceptions of the venue – “their enjoyability factor,” according to Will Power.
Power returns this weekend to Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, for the ABC Supply 500 with motivation and momentum. Power, the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion and four-time title runner-up, has won the past two 500-mile races on 2.5-mile tri-oval designed by Rodger Ward.
“Experience, understanding what I want from the car. I enjoy the track. I think that’s what makes me do well there,” said Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet who won the Indianapolis 500 in May.
To tackle the three distinctly different turns of the aptly named “Tricky Triangle,” drivers will have to compromise on car set-up to attain balance each lap over a full fuel stint.
“The most similar track is Indianapolis for the fact you take a total road course race line,” added Power. “I think the thing that differentiates that track is it’s three very different corners: one with a lot of banking, one that’s very open, pretty much wide open every lap, then one that’s kind of like Indianapolis with no banking and the car slides around. It is a great race circuit.”
Drivers backed by the 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged direct-injected V6 Chevrolet engine have won three of the five races at Pocono Raceway since the Verizon IndyCar Series returned after a 13-year absence. The event will be the 25th Indy car race at the racetrack. Mark Donohue won the inaugural race in 1971 and Danny Sullivan won in 1989 in a Chevrolet-powered car – both for team owner Roger Penske — before the hiatus.
Power, whose next pole start will tie A.J. Foyt for second on the all-time list at 53, is fourth in the driver championship standings. He enters the race weekend on the heels of a third-place finish at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Teammate and reigning series champion Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 1 Hitachi Chevrolet, is 60 points behind the leader in third and 14 points out of second place after a fourth-place finish on the Mid-Ohio road course. He has also had success each of the past five years at Pocono Raceway.
Both drivers seek similar outcomes in the 200-lap race to improve their title prospects with four races remaining.
“Our average finish here is 4.2, which is solid. I just seem to have good luck. The races seem to flow for me. We never really get caught up in anything,” said Newgarden, who has three victories this season including the 1-mile Phoenix oval and has earned the pole for the race on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval. “Pocono is a difficult track and, with a lot of really strong competition, it’s not an easy place to win.
“Team Penske tends to perform strong there and I know we have all the right people in place to give us the best car possible to make a run for the win. Every lap really counts between now and the end of the season. We need to be consistent and not make mistakes.”
The event will mark the 175th career race for Ed Carpenter, who will compete in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet. The team owner/driver has relied on Chevy power since the team joined INDYCAR for the 2012 season.
Carpenter, 37, competes in Verizon IndyCar Series oval races and Jordan King drives the No. 20 Chevrolet in road/street course races. Carpenter, who has three career victories, was the pole winner and runner-up in the Indianapolis 500 in May.
“It is such a unique track, which makes for a fun challenge,” Carpenter said of Pocono Raceway. “The fact that it is a 500-mile race is something that I look forward to as well.”
The Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport will pace the field to the green flag for the 500-mile race.