CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP
MARCH 9, 2019

Will Power Puts Chevrolet on Pole at Streets of St. Petersburg
Josef Newgarden Make All-Chevy Front Row

St. Petersburg, Fla (March 9, 2019) – Will Power just loves the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. For the eighth time at the very technical street course, and the 55th time in his career, the Team Penske driver of the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet, will lead the field of the NTT IndyCar Series (NICS) to the green flag.

With a lap of one minute, 0.4594 seconds/107.170 mph, the 2014 Series’ champion captured his first NTT P1 Award of the season. The top-qualifying effort was number six for a Chevy-powered driver since 2012 when the Bowtie Brand returned to NICS competition.

Today’s qualifying result was the 84th pole for Chevrolet and 264th for Team Penske in Series’ history.

Teammate Josef Newgarden will start along side Power on the front row in the No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet.

Chevrolet drivers occupied two of the Firestone Fast Six field that battled for six minutes in the third and final qualifying session to claim the pole.

Felix Rosenquist; Scott Dixon; Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi (all Honda) complete the first Firestone Fast Six group of the season.

NBCSN will telecast the 110-lap/198-mile race on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn road course live at 12:30 p.m. ET March 10.

DRIVER QUOTES:
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER: YOUR REACTION WHEN ROGER PENSKE SAID YOU ARE FASTEST WAS LITERALLY, WHAT? WERE YOU SURPRISED BECAUSE THE LAP WASN’T MAYBE AS GOOD AS YOU THOUGHT OR YOU KNEW YOUR TEAMMATES AND OTHERS HAD THAT ADVANTAGE WITH THOSE FRESHER TIRES?
“I was really surprised when he said, P-1, and I was like what? We had the used tires and it was just being there all session. But, it was a really neat lap. Obviously, the tires had a lap on them; but yeah, I was surprised. I thought someone still had another run to do or something, but yeah. Awesome job, awesome job. The car slowly climbed up all weekend. We were P-10 in the first few practices and moved to P-5. To get the pole for the first race of the season is awesome. It’s a really, really great start.”

WE TALKED ABOUT THE OFF-SEASON AND ALL THE EFFORT FOR TEAM PENSKE TO GET BETTER AT THE STREET COURSES. WHAT DOES THIS SAY, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU GUYS STRUGGLED SO BAD ON FRIDAY?
“Chevrolet has done a fantastic job with the engine. We worked really hard on the off-season. And we’ve kind of gone back and had a really good look at our street course performance because it was not good enough last year. We’ve definitely come back with a nicer car to drive and much more in the window. It’s great work from the whole team; all three guys, we’ve all worked hard together to get this result.”

WHAT IS THE ADVANTAGE ABOUT STARTING UP FRONT HERE. TURN 1 IS TIGHT, THAT’S WHERE EVERYBODY SEEMS TO WRECK. AND THEN YOU GET DOWN INTO TURNS 4 AND 5, AND IT’S TIGHT THERE AS WELL
“Yeah, you’ve got to remember it’s a long race. It’s like 110 laps. So, you’ve got to be smart. I wasn’t smart last year and spun in the first corner and just put us on the back foot from the beginning. So, I want to have a great start. Obviously being on pole really helps. And getting through that first lap and do what we can to try and win another race.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET QUALIFIED 2ND: “It was kind of a medium start. We weren’t bad. We were in the Top 10, but we weren’t crazy-stellar. And we definitely found our footing this morning. I think we made the cars really good. Everyone really executed today, for sure. I’m only disappointed in myself. I didn’t put together the best lap there when it really counted, you know? We did a great job getting in the Fast Six as a team. And a 1-2, you can’t be dissatisfied. It’s very positive for the whole group.

“Team Chevy did a great job. They worked really hard over the night for us to make sure we had what we needed. So, thank you Chevy, for giving us everything we need. But yeah, it’s hard to not be disappointed when you’re quick and we had a little bit better tires. So, when you have the preferred tire to run on, you want to capitalize and I messed up the first lap and over-cooked it on the second. So, it was close, but it just wasn’t good enough.”

CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 23 TRESIBA CARLIN CHEVROLET, QUAILFIED 8TH: The Firestone alternates really have one good lap in them around here and on my best lap I was coming into turn 10 up on my previous good lap time and came across the No. 88 in about second gear at the apex. I was able to slide by him but had to threw that lap out completely. My next lap, which was my best, just wasn’t quite good enough to move into the top six. Honestly, I’m really proud of the Carlin team and the progress we’ve made in 12 months. You know to come back in the No. 23 car this weekend with Novo Nordisk and to qualify in the top 10 is pretty great. I’m just looking forward to the green flag tomorrow to see what we can do with our solid qualifying effort.”
BEN HANLEY, BEN, NO. 81 10 STAR DRAGONSPEED CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 12TH:

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 13TH: “I didn’t get to play. It was quite unfortunate. I wasn’t even able to go full speed. We had a two red flags in the wrong spot for us. It’s really unfortunate because I felt that the No. 22 Menards Chevy was awesome. We made a huge improvement today and the car was awesome this morning. I’m just a little disappointed I didn’t get to showcase what the team has been working on. Obviously my teammates are starting one and two and had not what gone down, I would have been right there with them. That’s the only frustrating part but you can’t dwell on that. That’s outside factors you can’t control. We’re going to regroup and go hard tomorrow.”

ED JONES, NO. 20 ED CARPENTER RACING SCUDERIA CORSA CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH:“Qualifying was super frustrating. We weren’t the only ones caught out by the red flags, but what hurts the most is that the team did a fantastic job over last night to improve the car. We were 6th this morning and the car felt great. Unfortunately, no one did a the last two years, you can start at the back and still win the race!”

SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 21 ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIED 16TH: “We just kind of missed the balance there on the red tires today. Unfortunately, the car wasn’t behaving like it did yesterday in second practice. We’ll go back to see where we can improve and get the car back to how it was. Hopefully, we’ll have a good race tomorrow for Autogeek and have a strong start of the season for Ed Carpenter Racing.”

TONY KANAAN, NO. 14 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 21ST : “I can’t call this qualifying, we got two red flags so nobody ever put a fast lap in our group. The fastest lap was an out lap at a 1:03 and we were running .59s. It’s a shame but it was out of our control. We didn’t cause the red flags, but we just didn’t get the lap.”

MATHEUS LEIST, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 22ND: “It’s not the result we wanted in qualifying, we will be starting from the back tomorrow so we have a lot of work to do. Even so I’m looking forward to the race because it is a place that I like and I usually drive pretty good. So we’ll try to move to the front and have a good result tomorrow.”

MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN, QUALIFIED 24TH : It was a disappointing day for the No. 59 Gallagher Chevrolet. We had an issue with the clutch in the first session that cost us quite a bit of track time, which you never want to happen in the last practice before qualifying. We aren’t starting where we want tomorrow, but now we have an opportunity to come from back with an alternate strategy and get the result we know we can get.”

POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE:
Will Power
Josef Newgarden
THE MODERATOR: Joined by Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet for Team Penske. He will be starting on the front row tomorrow in second position, a new career best for Josef here on the streets of St. Pete. Josef, practice was I’m sure a learning experience and getting back into the rhythm of things yesterday as you went through the first day of the 2019 season, but what did you learn from yesterday that was able to help you out today in qualifying for a front row start?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, we had a decent start to the weekend. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but we were top 10 yesterday, which was good. It was encouraging. But we felt like we were working really hard just to be in the top 10, so we needed to be better. We took a big step this morning. I think we were very fast in the morning, trying to figure out how to get the car to turn, which was what we were struggling with yesterday, just getting rotation, and yeah, that led into qualifying, and I think all three of us were great.
Poor Simon got really hung out to dry in the first session there, which was a shame. I think he would have been up there with us for sure, as well. And then at the end, obviously it’s a great lockout to have Will and me on the front row. That shows that we found some strength today, and now we just need to make sure we’ve got a race car to follow it up.
THE MODERATOR: When you were going into qualifying, it’s no secret that your teammate Will Power is the driver to beat here on the streets of St. Pete and arguably at other racetracks, as well. Do you work with him a lot in terms of feedback that you can share to hopefully best him when it does come to qualifying?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, it’s just about executing, and he did a great job executing. He always does. We know that about Will. I just did not — the one time I needed to get the lap perfect, I didn’t do that. And I had a little bit better tires than he did. I only had an out lap on my set. So theoretically I should have had better tire life, and I messed up the first lap. I had a pinch in the first front into 13 and 14 and then I just wasn’t clean the rest of the lap, and I tried to salvage it on the second lap and got a little more out of it, but it wasn’t just quite there. It always sucks. I hate pacing him and then he nips me at the very end, but that’s how it goes. It’s give and take.
Last year we kept giving and taking between each other in qualifying, and I’m sure it’s going to be the same this year. But the real key here is both of us are up front, and that’s what really matters.
I for sure want to execute better and get the pole, but we’re both 1-2, and that’s going to play really well for the race, so we can hopefully protect each other and get a good result in the race, which is what’s most important.
Q. The Chevy engines locking out the front row, how much has the engine improved since last year?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Well, Chevrolet did excellent today and this weekend so far. We worked really hard last night to look at everything and try and get the most out of today, and without a doubt, I think 12 months later we have — we’ve really figured out a lot of the drivability of the engine and improved quite a bit. Percentage wise I don’t know, but we’re for sure better than what we were last year from a drivability standpoint, and Chevy has done a great job. We can’t thank them enough for the way we integrate with us, honestly. We work as a team to get the most out of the car, but Chevy is right there with us to match the engine to that, and today that really showed.
Yeah, I was so pleased with where we’re at so far.
Q. Cars, drivers, even the asphalt here changes over the years, but it still comes down to Penske guys being really good. Why is that?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Oh, man, we’ve got a good group. I mean, it comes down to the people. Yesterday we didn’t have the best cars yesterday, we just didn’t. Like I just said, we were scrapping to get in the top 10 yesterday, and so we made a big leap today, and it takes people to do that. You’ve got to put the right people together, and you’ve got to be able to work through it every weekend, and I think we do that — I would say we do it the best. So that’s what made the difference today, going over everything last night and making the jump, and that obviously includes Chevy like we were just talking about. The way they integrate with us is a big part of it.
And it’s people. Roger preaches it, but you’ve got to have the right people around each other and you’ve got to have the right mindset, and I think that’s why we’ve good cars around here. I think that’s generally why we have good cars on qualifying day and we figure it out.”
THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Will Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Your eighth pole here. The obvious question is what is it about this particular track that you just seem to have mastered so well in qualifying?
WILL POWER: Yeah, actually I think it was the nap I had before. I actually had a really good nap. It actually felt sweet, kind of fresh. It was just a — it’s been a tough weekend. We were 10th in practice and have just slowly worked on the car and got it better and better and better, and even in qualifying we’re making some kind of big changes. By the time we got to the Fast Six, had a reasonable car, good car, obviously, and better on used tires. New tires it was okay. And very good on blacks. But yeah, I was over the moon. I really didn’t think I’d get pole. I knew Josef had really good tires, and he had a similar car to me. So yeah, we’re just happy for the team. We were on the back foot starting this weekend.
THE MODERATOR: But naps are the answer apparently? A nap?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I had a good nap. I wasn’t even stressing, I just fell asleep. It was good. My little guy was having a sleep at the same time, so the bus was quiet.
Q. For Felix, you seem from what you said to be reasonably happy with your car, made it to the Fast Six, and Scott’s car went through a number of changes to get into the Fast Six before you actually ran, and your pits aren’t that close together. Felix, were there major changes done to your car, and what about the communication between the two pits?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I think they should, because in the past everyone got one lap when that situation came up because no one really got a lap on reds. Me, I think in that situation, everyone should get a chance of doing one lap, and the rule used to be you had to leave the pit lane within 60 seconds and you got one chance. We were very surprised through the checkered.
Q. Will, shoot me straight. You’ve won the pole here eight times in ten years. Were you really surprised that you won?
WILL POWER: No, I was, yeah. It’s not easy in this series. Any time you get pole, you’re pretty happy. Obviously I like the track, but everyone is on top of each other about getting it right for the session. It’s come down to literally understanding the condition and really thinking on the fly with what you need to do with the car because driving-wise everyone is capable of pumping out a pole lap. It’s just can you get the car in that window quickly through those first through rounds to understand the condition of the track.
Yes, I was. The car wasn’t perfect until the Fast Six on used tires. Yeah, if you watched the times all weekend, you would expect someone would say that because no one has stood out.
it’s definitely an always-moving target, especially on these street tracks as the grip level kind of improves throughout the week.
give up, I guess.
Q. Will, yesterday Roger and TC were talking about all the success that Team Penske is having right now and across the entire organization, and they both said that it motivates you guys on the IndyCar side, and you came here knowing that you guys have to step up and keep up with the rest of the program. Is that accurate?
WILL POWER: Yeah, not like you’re thinking about that while you’re out there, but obviously winning the first two V8 Supercar races and the last two NASCAR races, the team is firing on all cylinders, so yeah, the pressure is on for us to perform. Yeah, we need to keep performing. We weren’t happy with our street course performance last year, so we really focused on it in the off-season, and I feel like we got definitely a nicer car to drive. Time will tell as we get to some of these more bumpy tracks, but hoping to be further up the front on some of the street courses this year.
Q. Mentioning Robert Wickens earlier, how good has it been to see him here this weekend?
WILL POWER: Yeah, it’s awesome to see Robby here and see his progress. You know, it’s just such a travesty that guy is not here in a car. But you know, he’s working really hard, and just awesome to see him. He’s probably the best guy I’ve seen come along in a long time to be able to rock up and be a legitimate contender from the beginning and on ovals and everything. Yeah, really happy to see him and hope he continues to progress quickly.