CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
ROAD COURSE AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
INDIANAPOLIS, IND
INDYCAR GRAND PRIX
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES
MAY 11, 2019
DRIVER QUOTES:
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: WAS THAT YOUR MOST INTENSE FIVE LAPS EVER?
“Oh, yeah, it was. It was amazing the whole race. I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ I thought everyone was saving fuel; I was just so fast. Chevy did a fantastic job giving us the horsepower. Third time – I’m equal with Will (Power). That’s awesome; we kept it in the Penske family. I can’t believe it; it’s awesome. What a race! I want to thank Team Penske, everybody who supports me, obviously. This is the sweetest win I’ve ever had, I guess.
HEARING THE CRITICS:
“I answered it, and I know what I’m worth. I just have to get everything right. We did that this weekend, slowly and surely. The starts just didn’t align. The performance has always been there this year. The team has been fantastic giving me what I need, so here we are.”
MATHEUS LEIST, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: “Just finished our best result here in IndyCar. It’s an awesome place to have my best finish in IndyCar and if you go back to 2017, here is where I had my first best finish in Indy Lights too, so I think this places likes me at the same time that I like it, so let’s try to keep the momentum going now for the 500. And about the race, it was just another tough one. We started from 21st and it had been a pretty tough weekend here until the race. But the good thing about this team is that we never gave up and we always kept going, we always kept working hard and trying to improve as much as we could. Today before the race I was like ‘Man, today I want the rain to come so we might have a shot here.’ I was probably the only one on the team who wanted it to rain, and when it started raining and I was restarting the race in P4 I knew we had a shot. I knew we could stay there and finish up there and that’s exactly what happened. Just so glad for the team, for all the ABC Supply No. 4 Chevrolet crew – they did an amazing job in the pits and they all deserve it. And also for A.J.. We’ve been together a year and a half now pretty much and I am always looking forward for these kind of results. That’s where we belong and where we want to be. So let’s try to keep the momentum going and have a good one in the 500 too.”
SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 21 AUTO GEEK ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5TH: “It was a really tricky race that threw everything at us. I had a lot of fun as I was able to pass a lot of guys in the dry and I thought our pace was really strong. The rain was teasing us the whole race. The team made a great call to go on the wets when we did as we were able to jump a handful of cars. I’m happy with fifth and it was a good, strong finish for me. Ed Carpenter Racing has done a great job and I want to thank ECR, Autogeek and Chevy for all their hard work.”
ED JONES, NO. 20 ED CARPENTER RACING SCUDERIA CORSA CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6TH: “We didn’t know when to expect the rain so we didn’t want to pit at the wrong time. It wasn’t too bad when the rain was lighter as the cars on track help to dry it. The yellow at the end made it interesting but everyone was already on the same strategy. It was quite a good weekend as it was the first solid race we’ve had this year. It feels good to have this result going into the Indy 500. Now we get to focus on the oval! I’m excited to see the red and white car on track!”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: “I don’t really know what our biggest issues were today. The strategy guy the calls made was the right one to get us the track position that we lost. We were reasonable in the wet, but in the dry we just weren’t good. Then I made a mistake. It was just a rough day. But great for Simon. It’s funny that only me and Simon have won this race. He won again. I was stoked when I saw him win the race. Congrats to him, he really needed that. But it was a great day for us. I’m really happy with seventh considering how much we struggled in the dry.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 FITZGERALD USA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15TH: “I knew we were sitting pretty good. I thought we pitted right at the right point. We had at a great car. I could get through traffic. Everything was clicking and we were just kind of cruising there until that final pit stop. I think what really put a knife in us was the caution that came out. We still had another four or five laps of fuel, se we could have dictated when we pitted. When we did pit for the caution, it wasn’t time – the track wasn’t quite there. We probably needed two or three laps on the dry (tires). When I came in I was screaming to stay on red tires. I really thought (the track) wasn’t ready yet, and I didn’t want to go to rain tires, and that was probably a mistake. I should have said, ‘Go to rains.’ If we would have gone to rains we would have been in the catbird seat still coming out first. Just a calamity of errors there at the end put a couple nails in our coffin.
“I’m proud of our boys; I thought we did a good job. Chevy did a great job. Congrats to Simon; good to see him get a win, (and) it helps me a little bit in the championship. We kept it in the family and Team Penske got a win today.
“That’s what this team does; we execute when it’s time. We’ll make a car that doesn’t look quick enough and we’ll make something of it. That’s what we tried to do today, and I thought we did it for the most part. We got tripped up a little there at the end, but hey, you’re going to have those days. It’s impossible not to get a couple of these moments. I’m still proud to be a part of this whole thing. We’ll go on to the big one and try to win the 500.”
MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH: “These types of races are always such a toss-up and honestly we were a few small calls away from having a very good day today. We had a pit stop issue at one point getting the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet into gear and a couple of little electrical issues we were trying to work through, but I know we were quicker than Leist all race and he came away with a fourth-place finish. It really was just one of those races that could’ve gone either way and unfortunately it didn’t go our way today.”
PATRICIO O’WARD, N0.31 CARLIN CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH: “This has just been a really tough weekend. We had issues yesterday and again this morning, but I feel like we ultimately ran a really good race up until the rain started coming down. We made a mistake on the tire to be on and it was like driving on ice. We lost all of the track position that we had made up during the race, coming up from 19th to consistently running in the top five. Considering where we started and a mishap on the start, we had made up a ton of ground. Regardless of how the race ended, I think we should be very pleased with how we ran and our overall pace. In the end we just made a mistake.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 14 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 20TH: “We decided we were going to split strategy between the 4 and the 14 car and the 4 car got it right. We got our first top 5 finish of the year and I’m extremely happy for Matheus. Our day after that we just started to try different things as far as strategy to see if we could go back to the front but it didn’t work. I’m happy for the team.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PENNZOIL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 21ST: “Man it was fun to get back out there in the Pennzoil Chevrolet. Like all of our teammates, we struggled with the speed in the dry conditions, so we were hoping for some rain to see if that could jumble the strategies up. Our Pennzoil Chevy was better for sure and we were able to avoid some trouble and make up some track position. Unfortunately, we just had some issues coming out of the pits on the wets and stalled the car. But we got some laps in – some reps – and we are ready for the big race in a couple of weeks. That is what we are here for. And congrats to Simon. What a drive there at the end and what a win. Great to see him back in Victory Lane.”