Category Archives: Chevrolet Racing

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–CHEVROLET CORVETTE GRABS TOP-TWO SPOTS ON THE PODIUM AT MID-OHIO

CHEVROLET CORVETTE GRABS TOP-TWO SPOTS ON THE PODIUM AT MID-OHIO
Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittapaldi earn first victory of the season for Action Express Racing
 
LEXINGTON, Ohio (June 15, 2013) – Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi teamed to win the Diamond Cellar Classic on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette Daytona Protype (DP), giving the team its first victory of the season.  The victory is Barbosa’s 11th career GRAND-AM series win and Fittipaldi’s third.

Close behind in second place, giving Team Chevy the top-two positions on the podium, was defending race winner Michael Valiante in the No. 3 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP started by Enzo Potolicchio.
 
“After an intense battle throughout the race, it was exciting to see the No. 5 Action Express Corvette DP capture their first win of the season, and the No. 3 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP score their first podium since joining Team Chevy,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.  “Mid-Ohio is very technical, but our teams were up to the challenge today and added another win to boost Chevrolet’s lead in the important Manufacturers’ Championship battle. Congratulations to both organizations on their tremendous runs today. Now we head to Watkins Glen for the Six Hour Endurance race.”

Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor finished sixth in the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP, managed to retain a one-point lead over Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP, who finished fifth.  Action Express Racing’s No. 5 Corvette DP piloted by Brian and Burt Frisselle ended the day in seventh followed by the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP driven by Richard Westbrook and Ricky Taylor in ninth, to give the Bowtie Brigade six of the top-10 finishing positions.
 
In the Grand Touring (GT) class, Eric Curran driver the No. 31 Marsh Racing Corvette, passed the leader in the closing minutes. However, unavoidable contact was made resulting in a penalty which relegated Curran and co-driver Boris Said to a fourth-place finish.   John Edwards and Robin Liddell brought the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R to the finish in 10th place.
 
The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge pair of Matt Bell and John Edwards carried the banner for Team Chevy, bringing home a strong third-place podium finish in their No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R  to round out the weekend.
 
Next on the GRAND-AM schedule will be June 28-30 at Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York featuring both the Rolex Sports Car Series and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.
 
POST RACE DRIVER QUOTES:
JOAO BARBOSA, NO. 9 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE:
WITH ABOUT 35 MINUTES TO GO YOU AND RICHARD WESTBROOK WERE HAVING A GREAT BATTLE.  YOU WERE SO PATIENT BECAUSE IT SEEMED LIKE EVERY TIME YOU MADE A MOVE HE WOULD SHUT THE DOOR. WAS IT DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO USE THAT PATIENCE AND NOT JUST MOVE HIM OUT OF THE WAY?
“Obviously GRAND-AM has always been like this really tight competition and really intense.  Just I knew I was faster I just had to be careful with the guys that were behind me so I wouldn’t get caught off guard.  I was able to manage traffic really well during the whole race.  I was able to get the move for the lead.  Westbrook made it really difficult, but it was hard, clean racing.  I’m really proud the way he drove and I just hope we can continue racing like this in GRAND-AM.  It should be awesome to see in the next future races.”
 
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, NO. 9 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE:
HOW GOOD WAS THIS RACE CAR TODAY?
“Well it was definitely good, but it was good the whole weekend actually.  It didn’t turn out to be good only during the race.  We knew we had a strong car in the race.  We qualified pretty decent.  We were in the top-three.  We thought we had a shot at the pole, but unfortunately it didn’t go that way.  The race it all connected.  As you mention I had a very strong first sting.  Joao (Barbosa) just kept it on from there. He did an awesome job and he drove unbelievably well.  That is it. We ended up P1. The team really did a great job.  The Corvette was awesome the whole day.”
IT’S BEEN AWHILE SINCE YOU’VE BEEN TO VICTORY LANE HERE IN THE ROLEX GRAND-AM SERIES IS IT AS SWEET AS IT ALWAYS WAS?
“Victory Lane is always sweet it doesn’t matter where you are racing, how much time you have been out of Victory Lane.  Victory Lane is always Victory Lane.”
 
MICHAEL VALIANTE, NO. 3 8 STAR MOTORSPORTS CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE:
WE KNEW YOU GUYS HAD A TON OF SPEED IN YOU.  WE SAW IT IN DETROIT IN THIS CAR, BUT I GUESS WE ARE A LITTLE SURPRISED THAT YOU WERE AS DOMINANT AS YOU WERE TODAY.  HOW GOOD WAS THIS RACE CAR THIS AFTERNOON?
“Well first off I have to thank the team. It’s a brand-new car.  Enzo (Potolicchio) has done a great job putting this whole program together.  It’s just getting better and better each race.  We have so much to learn.  We hit it just right in the race.  Enzo did a great job in his first stint.  For me I was able to get a good jump on that middle stint and pull away from the field.  We lost a little bit of time on that last stop not sure why and kind of shuffled us back, but we had the pace to win today.  I think second right now is like winning for this team because we have been pushing so hard to get on the podium.”
 
ENZO POTOLICCHIO, NO. 3 8 STAR MOTORSPORTS CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE:
YOU HAVE DONE SO MUCH WITH THIS CAR.  IN FACT YOU GOT OUT OF THE RACE CAR AND LET SOME OTHER PEOPLE GET IN, GET THE PROGRAM GOING.  YOU WERE WORKING ON A TWO CAR TEAM AND THEN THE CAR GOT WRECKED AT DETROIT YOU HAD TO USE THIS BRAND-NEW CAR THIS WEEK.  IT’S BEEN A STRESSFUL TIME FOR YOU AS AN OWNER HOW SWEET IS IT TO BE ON THE PODIUM HERE AT MID-OHIO?
“It’s unbelievable what the team did in six days after the big crash we had in Detroit.  We hired the right guy (Michael) Valiante for the team.  We knew he is quality and the engineer loves him.  The feedback is excellent.  So we knew he was going to do well here.  The car, it’s just a team effort.  It’s unbelievable what these guys are doing.  We are a new team.  We were born in November last year. We promised we were going to be a contender by the end of the season and here we are.  This is a show of what these people can do and it’s just a team effort all around.  It’s unbelievable.  I have to thank Valiante for his podium.  It gives everybody more will to go forward and keep on pushing because we want to be one of the top teams and today we showed that we can be one of those.”
 
ERIC CURRAN, NO. 31 MARSH RACING CORVETTE GT:
TALK ABOUT THE CONTACT AT THE END OF THE RACE:
“Yeah, it was pretty wild.  It’s great running with Billy (Auberlen) he does a good job.  The Turner guys, Will Turner is a good friend of mine, all those guys are great friends.  It’s awesome to battle with those guys.  It was just good hard racing and I was better in some place with this Whelen/Team Fox Corvette, but he was better in others.  I thought it was all done after those two DP’s (Daytona Prototypes) hit each other in the key hole and I had nowhere to go but to touch the back of them and tore up the nose a little bit.  This Whelen/Team Fox Corvette was just awesome all the way through.  I love racing hard and I love racing with Billy he is a clean guy.  It was my bad for getting into him and spinning him.  That is not the way I want to win a race.  Feel bad about that, but real happy for Marsh Racing and Teddy (Marsh) and all the
guys.  That was a good run.  I wish it ended a little bit differently.  Just happy to be up on the podium, too bad about the penalty.”

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Ryan Hunter-Reay Wins Milwaukee for Second Consecutive Year

Ryan Hunter-Reay Wins Milwaukee for Second Consecutive Year
Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Drivers Sweep Top-Five Finishing Positions on Famed One-Mile Oval
 
WEST ALLIS, Wisc (June 15, 2013) – Ryan Hunter-Reay is not a stranger to Victory Lane at the famed Milwaukee Mile.  For the second consecutive year, and the third time in his career, the defending IZOD IndyCar Series Champion won at the storied track.
 
Driving the No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, Hunter-Reay was credited with leading three times for a total of 65 laps in the 250-lap/250-mile race.  He took the lead for the final time on lap 198 and never looked back on the way to his second victory of 2013 and the 11th of his career.
 
The victory was sixth for the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Twin Turbocharged engine in 2013 and extended Chevrolet’s lead in the IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship Standings.
 
It was an all-Chevrolet podium as well as an all-Chevrolet top-five.  Filling out the podium were the two Team Penske Chevrolet drivers.  Points leader Helio Castroneves finished second in the No. 3 PPG Automotive Finishes Chevrolet and Will Power brought the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet to the checkered flag in third position.  Castroneves now leads Hunter-Reay in the championship standings by 16 points.
 
Hunter-Reay’s Andretti Autosport teammates E.J. Viso and James Hinchcliffe completed the top-five finishers in the ninth race of the 2013 season.
 
“Following a strong command of qualifying, Team Chevy added another win to the season tally,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series.  “Ryan Hunter-Reay drove a solid race starting 4th to take the win for the second year in a row here at the Milwaukee Mile.  Congratulations to Ryan and Andretti Autosport, as well as Team Penske for Helio and Will completing the all-Chevy podium!  Team Chevy is working well together and this second consecutive sweep of the podium moves Chevrolet to a 9 point lead in the manufacturers’ battle.  We shift our focus now to Iowa for the unique qualifying format and short oval excitement.”
 
Pole winner and points leader coming into today’s race, Marco Andretti, suffered an electrical problem that sent him to the paddock for repairs. He returned to competition 74 laps down to the leader, but gained three spots in the finishing order to be scored 20th at the checkered flag.  He now sits third in the standings.
 
Next on the IZOD IndyCar Series Schedule is the Iowa Corn Indy 250 set for Sunday, June 23, 2013.  The 250-lap race is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. ET with live TV coverage on ABC TV.
 
Live radio coverage will be on IMS Radio Network XM 211/Sirius 211 as well as in conjunction with live timing and scoring on

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–IndyCar–Milwaukee Post Race

RYAN HUNTER REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – RACE WINNER: “The team did just awesome today.  We had varying levels of grip through the whole race, different levels of balance, and we just stuck with it.  In the end, we knew what we had to do to win.   What a race it was.  It was a lot of fun.”
 
A FANTASTIC PERFORMANCE ESPECIALLY IN THE LAST THIRD OF THE RACE:
“Yeah, thanks it was something else.  The other guys had such a great car, Helio (Castroneves) and Takuma (Sato).  I thought we might not of had a good enough car to win it.  Just pushed through and in the end we had the balance we needed.  Thank you to all the fans for coming out today and making this another Milwaukee Mile race that is very special.  I appreciate it.”
 
WERE YOU AWARE OF THE STRATEGY HELIO (CASTRONEVES) AND TAKUMA (SATO) WERE ON?
“Yeah, we had the pace of the race there in the beginning.  Then we had a yellow come out at the wrong time.  That put Helio (Castroneves) and Takuma (Sato) on a different strategy up front so we had to fight through it the whole race to get back up.  We were leading when we needed to and we were able to open a gap.  I just can’t say enough about these guys on this No. 1 car.  They did such a great job in the pits as they always do.  Getting me out in front of traffic, in front of other guys and just did an excellent job.  I’m so proud of this race team.”
 
HOW COOL IS IT TO GET TO CELEBRATE IN VICTORY LANE WITH THE LITTLE GUY?
“It’s the best.  Those last two laps I was thinking ‘man I got to do this for him.’ Here it is.  It’s so special six months old having my son in Victory Lane on Father’s Day.”
 
ON HIS RACE:
“Man, I did it for that little guy, my son. He’s six months old and I couldn’t be happier. Happy Father’s Day again; we did this again last year. It’s the best day on earth and I appreciate it. Man, it’s so great to win for DHL and Chevy and look at this. We’ve got this little guy here!
 
“The team just was awesome all day. We had varying levels of grip the whole race and different levels of balance and man, we just stuck with it. And in the end, we knew what we had to do to win. And what a race it was. I’m going to drink a lot of SunDrop tonight, I’ll tell you that.”
 
WE ARE SHOWING VIDEO OF YOU AND MARCO. YOU WERE HESITANT AT FIRST, BUT THEN YOU WENT BY YOUR TEAMMATE:
“Well, it’s my teammate. I wanted to not go by to aggressively. You can’t risk a teammate’s race at all. So we had to make sure it was close. But, thanks to my teammates. Thanks to my whole Andretti team. They just did an excellent job and I’m really happy to be back in the Winner’s Circle at Milwaukee. This place has been so special to me and I have this little guy in Victory Lane. It’s just magic. It’s awesome.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PPG AUTOMOTIVE FINISHES TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2ND: YOU ARE STILL THE POINTS LEADER HECK OF A DAY FOR YOU.  TAKE US THROUGH WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF NOW IN SITUATIONS WHERE YOU KNOW YOU HAVE POINTS TO CONSIDER DOES IT BACK YOU UP A LITTLE BIT IN TERMS OF YOUR AGGRESSION AND GOING FOR A WIN?
“Good question.  I am still thinking about it.  I have to say, wow what a race.  First of all let me breathe a little bit.  I want to thank obviously the PPG guys.  What a great job to come on board this race finish second.  You are right we started 18th we couldn’t do anything else though.  We just have to do a little bit different strategy.  RP, Roger Penske, what a guy, he is the man.  It was great to again another race with him because we are able to communicate well.  The car was on rails too.  The car was well set-up same as Texas.  The day before was crap. Then I’m like ‘oh we are going to be in trouble.”
 
THERE WAS ONE CHANGE FROM THE SET-UP AT TEXAS LET’S BE HONEST:
“We changed everything I tell you.  You talking about that I will talk to you later right there okay? Top for Chevy as well I’m really proud of Team Penske again; extremely excited for the championship and now we have to keep going.  It wasn’t the result.  We weren’t the fastest car.  We were very consistent again and I will take second place and go very happy home.”
 
ON HIS RACE:
“It was a great day for us. Starting from the back was tough. I was talking to Jonathan and our engineers and all we had to do with the car. Man, it was tough. But it definitely paid off. We were a little conservative and had to be patient and in the end it was a great job. I’m very, very, happy. It’s not a win. But you know what? I’m very happy for Father’s Day including mine.”
 
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING LATE IN THE RACE WHEN WILL POWER CAME UP ON YOU? DID YOU KNOW HE WAS COMING AND HOW CLOSE WAS THAT?
“You know, I was a little upset with traffic because we’re talking about 10 laps to go and I’m like come on guys. It’s not necessary to stay there, or just let’s move a little bit, or crack the throttle. When I saw him there I’m like whoa!. Then my spotter said he said ‘Inside, inside’’; sorry Rick, but I’m already moving. But at the end of the day it was a great day for Team Penske for second and third. Good job, Will, and now we’ve got to keep moving on.”
 
WE ARE ABOUT AT THE MIDPOINT OF THE SEASON NOW. HOW FOCUSED ARE YOU ON WINNING A CHAMPIONSHIP AS WE MOVE FORWARD?
“We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing. That’s the only thing I can say. I can’t think about a championship because right now we have a lot of races to go. But right now, we will take it step-by-step. You can’t count from one to 10 without going from two-three-four. And that’s what we’re doing. I thank everyone again from Team Penske. Man, I’m so happy today!”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 3RD: TAKE ME THROUGH YOUR RUN TODAY:
“I think by the end there we had our car sorted.  It was definitely fast.  I think it was fast enough to challenge Ryan (Hunter-Reay), I don’t know I think Hunter-Reay just took off.  You see we could really challenge Helio (Castroneves) at the end there.  Just happy to get a podium with the sort of year we have had.  This is a fantastic result for the Verizon car.  Helio got good points so it’s good for the team.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES SAYS YOU ARE AN OFF-ROAD KIND OF GUY AND THAT YOU CAN HANDLE THAT KIND OF STUFF. YOU HAD TO HANDLE IT, DIDN’T YOU?
“I was close. I wanted to race him very cleanly because he’s leading the championship, but if it’s an easy pass, I’ll go for it. But that was like man, I don’t want to take you out! Don’t just squeeze me that tight! But it was still a good result for Penske. Helio continues to get good points and it’s cool to get the Verizon 12 car up on the podium. But we’re just going to keep chipping away. In the meantime, am trying to help Helio as much as I can; but if I can beat him, I will, and make some headway on the championship.”
 
THERE’S A LONG WAY TO GO IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP. YOU DON’T WANT TO HELP HIM OUT TOO MUCH, DO YOU?
“Well yeah. In situations like that obviously if I was right there with him in the points, I could be a lot more aggressive. But hey man, at Team Penske it’s all about the team and we’ve got to keep that in mind.”
 
YOU JUST RAN 250 LAPS AND YOU LOOK FRESH AS A DAISY. TALK TO THE FANS.  WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GET ON THE PODIUM AFTER A HUGELY PHYSICAL RACE?
“I’m stoked to get on the podium. That’s huge. It seems like on the ovals we’re getting our best results right now. But man, that was physical.  A lot of g-force; we have maximum downforce here. So the cornering speeds are really high. And you’ve got to remain very focused because it’s always such a short lap
. You’re always in a corner and you’re always in traffic, lapped traffic. So, I’m very happy for the Verizon car to get that result.”
 
FOR YOU PERSONALLY FINDING YOURSELF NOW JUST OUTSIDE THE TOP-10 IN POINTS IT’S UNUSUAL TERRITORY FOR YOU.  WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET NOW AS WE HEAD TOWARDS IOWA AND YOU PERHAPS TRY TO SPRING BOARD OFF OF THIS?
“It’s the same as what we’ve had.  We just have to keep chipping away every weekend.  Keep getting solid results.  I’m sure at some point we are going to be presented with a chance to win a race.  We just have to make sure we are always there to take that.”
 
EJ VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – FINISHED 4TH: “It was my best finish here, and a top four is pretty impressive. We know we’ve had the speed because we’ve seen it at almost every event this year, but I think we hadn’t quite been able to close the deal. We have been struggling a bit thus far, and I think we’re due for some podiums and wins. Hopefully this is just the start. It’s a good result for the whole crew and the whole team – I’m just looking forward to the next race. I hope we can keep building this momentum and that more strong results are ahead. I’m happy for Ryan (Hunter-Reay) – he did a good job. I like Milwaukee, I like Iowa and the short ovals. These places are fun; they’re basically super fast corners on a road course. It’s a nice combination of factors, and we have a good package… We’ve qualified in the top five six races in a row.  We’re very close, we’ll keep fighting, and we’ll look forward to Iowa”
 
YOUR BEST FINISH HERE AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE.  YOU ARE PUTTING TOGETHER A GREAT SEASON:
“I think we had a pretty strong car as a team.  We just missed I think the podium big chance of winning the race the second to last stop we had an issue with one of the guns.  Anyways, I take a top-four.  We are recovering after a tough beginning of the season even if we had the results.  There is plenty of championship to go and we are ready.  We are just very close.”
 
A LOT OF BATTLING ON THAT FINAL RESTART WALK US THROUGH IT:
“Yeah, it was fun having cars all around and fighting for the lead.  This is proper racing it’s super fun.  Ryan (Hunter-Reay), my teammate, you know, one of us was going to be the winner. And of course he’s the winner now but I think that little mistake in the pits put me behind.”
 
BUT YOU HAVE TO BE ENCOURAGED BY THAT. WHEN YOU COME IN FOR A PIT STOP AND THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH A WHEEL GUN, YOU STILL HAVE TO BE ENCOURAGED WITH HOW FAST YOU WERE AND HOW FAST THE CAR WAS
“No, definitely. I’m very grateful of the cars that the team keeps giving me and I feel that we are very close to winning a race. We’ve shown it at every race this year. The performance that we have and putting fast laps together and qualifying already six times in a row in the Top 5. We’re just very close. I keep fighting and am just looking on to Iowa right now.”
 
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – FINISHED 5TH:  “Any time you get a top five in a series so competitive, it’s a good day. To have three of our cars in the top five is incredible; the team’s done a great job. I’m just a little upset we weren’t a tiny bit better in traffic today in the No. 27 GoDaddy car, because I think that would have helped us get around the lapped cars and we could have challenged the guys we were actually racing for position with. This track is the ultimate test of patience. It’s so easy to over-do it and get in the marbles and end up in the wall – and I had a couple close calls for sure – but you’ve got to be aggressive. You also have to have respect to this place…  it was a lot of fun out there either way. We always love coming here – I think it’s one of the best race tracks in the country. Hopefully we put on a good show for the fans. So, I want to wish a Happy Father’s Day to everyone. We wish the GoDaddy car was a little bit higher, but really happy for Ryan (Hunter-Reay), and having three Andretti Autosport cars in the top five is incredible.”
 
IF I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU YESTERDAY THAT YOU WERE GOING TO FINISH IN THE TOP-FIVE YOU WOULD HAVE TOLD ME I WAS CRAZY:
“Yeah, I would have said we would take it.  Then starting on the front row and being the third of the Andretti (Autosport) cars that finished that leaves a little bit to be desired.  The guys did a great job.  The car was such an improvement from practice. Our big thing we were just a tiny bit off in traffic today.  We spent a lot of time behind lap cars.  That kills you here.  It’s too bad we couldn’t get around some of those guys and be spending more laps actually racing the guys we were going for position with.”
 
DO YOU HAVE TO BALANCE BEING AGGRESSIVE AT A TRACK LIKE THIS KNOWING THAT YOU HAVE A BETTER CAR, BUT LAP TRAFFIC IS SO DIFFICULT TO GET AROUND?
“Absolutely, this track is one of the ultimate tests in patience.  It’s so easy to overdo it and get in the marbles and end up in the wall.  I had a couple of close calls for sure, but you have got to be aggressive at the same time you have to be respectful of this place.  There is a lot of fun out there either way.  We always love coming here.  It’s one of the best little race tracks in the country.  Hopefully, we put on a good show for the fans and you guys all enjoyed it we appreciate you coming out.  Happy Father’s Day to everybody and just wish we could have had the GoDaddy car a bit higher, but really happy for Ryan (Hunter-Reay).  Three Andretti cars in the top-five is incredible.”
 
YOU FINISHED TOP 5 HERE IN MILWAUKEE. IT IS A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT?
“Yeah, I think anytime you’re in the Top 5 in a series, as competitive as the IndyCar Series is right now, it’s a good day. For us, starting on the front row, you always want a bit more. But after where we were in practice, we’ve got to be happy with this in getting the GoDaddy car in the Top 5. I feel like we had the single car pace to do it, but we were a little bit off in traffic. I feel like I spent 200 of those 250 laps behind some lapped car and you waste time, you waste tires, you lose positions; it was definitely a lot of work out there today. Congrats to Ryan. I’m obviously happy for him and putting the three finishing Andretti cars in the Top 5, we’re obviously doing something right.”
 
HOW DIFFICULT IS IT, ON A SHORT-COURSE OVAL, TO DEAL WITH LAPPED TRAFFIC? AND HOW GOOD ARE SOME OF THE GUYS AND HOW BAD ARE SOME OF THE GUYS? THERE WAS CLEARLY A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE THAT DID HELP AND THOSE WHO DIDN’T
“Yeah, it’s a great point. There are some guys who are laps down who are driving like it’s the last lap of the race for the win. And they’re using every inch of the race track, from top to bottom, just making it absolutely impossible. And then you get other guys who are super respectful, who if you can’t get by, he’ll let you by. It’s a respect-thing. The thing is, it’s going to be the same guys next week. And the same guys the week after that. If you keep ticking people off, it’s going to come back and bite you. I know there are some guys frustrated; I’ve certainly frustrated a couple of people. But it’s the nature of short track racing.”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 HYDROXYCUT KV RACING TECHNOLOGY – SH RACING CHEVROLET –  FINISHED 10TH: “It was a very difficult race for us,  We had to battle all day long, but just didn’t have the pace.  We finished in the top-10 so I will take those points.  Now we move on to Iowa where hopefully we can have a better finish.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 6 TRUE CAR DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 13TH: “It was a very strong race in the beginning for us. The No. 6 TrueCar Dragon Racing car was keeping a s
olid pace with the front runners. The crew did an amazing job on the pit stops but unfortunately we had a mistake calling me into pit and that costs us positions and we couldn’t recover from that. I a bit disappointed with the position but it’s a good position for us after a rough start to the season. I defiantly want more and I will not settle for 13th position. Iowa we will be looking a lot stronger and carrying a lot of momentum, so we will stay focused and go for a strong race.”
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 14TH:  “That was a long day for us.  I thought we were going to be good after the early stages.  We were able to work our way pretty far up the charts ( to fifth from 20th starting position).  I slid a little on our second stop and I missed my marks.  So we lost a couple of spots then.  I got loose on a restart and lost a few more spots.  We were just loose that entire stint after being good early.  Then I got in the marbles and hit the wall in turn four.  And it just got away from us from there.  It’s so disappointing because it looked like we were going to have such a good day.  At the end, it feels like a missed opportunity today.  We’ll regroup and be ready for Iowa next week.  Hope for a strong run there.”

RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 15TH: “The National Guard Chevy was handling pretty good for us, but the gears were a bit long, so that was hurting us as we tried to race people off the corner. But the Panther Racing crew did a great job in the pits all day. We’re continuing to build on our continuity, and we’ll continue to get better working together. The plan is to race as many events in IndyCar as we can this year with Panther, so we’ll get them next time.”
 
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET –  FINISHED 20TH: “It’s unfortunate… We came here for a win and had a car to do it. We fell back after a delay in the pits and then had an electrical issue – I didn’t have any idea of what happened at the time. The voltage went straight down and I lost all kinds of power; I couldn’t shift, the clutch didn’t work. We came back for all the points we could. We’ve been strong at Iowa in the past so we will move on and try to get points back next weekend.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 7 MCAFEE DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET –  FINISHED 22ND: “It was a disappointing day for the No. 7 McAfee Dragon Racing car. We had a pretty good race going with a very strong start and I was passing a lot of cars making it up to ninth position. Then we had a fuel pump issue running out of fuel with still four gallons in the tank. During the first pit stop the wheel gun was not retrieved properly and ended up damaging the suspension and after that the car was never the same. We were two laps down and our day was heading south, I was trying to hang onto the car and after our final pit stop with new tires the car was loose for no reason. At that point I knew this day was not going to end well, so we brought the car in and parked it.”
 
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 78 NUCLEAR ENTERGY AREVA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET – FINISHED 24TH:  “The car was loose from the start and then it just took off. We made contact with the wall. The guys changed the rear wing and we went back out, but I don’t know if it was damage from the crash or what, but it really wasn’t driveable after that. I feel bad for my Nuclear Clean Air Energy sponsors that we had such a short race, but we just weren’t ever able to get the car fixed right.”
 

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Milwaukee–Qualifying

Marco Andretti Wins the Pole at Milwaukee to Lead Seven Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Drivers in Top-10 Qualifying Results
 
WEST ALLIS, Wisc (June 14, 2013) – Marco Andretti won the Verizon P1 Award for Saturday’s Milwaukee IndyFest, race nine of the IZOD IndyCar season.  It is the third career pole for the third generation driver, and his second at the historic Milwaukee Mile.
 
The driver of the No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet led a group of six additional Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers to secure the top-seven fastest in the final qualifying order.  
 
James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 GoDaddy Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, was second fastest of the 24 drivers making qualifying attempts for the ninth race of the IZOD IndyCar Series season. Will Power posted the third quickest time in his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
 
Posting the fourth and fifth fastest times, respectively, were Andretti Autosport Chevrolet drivers defending series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay followed by E.J. Viso.
 
“Congratulations to Marco Andretti for winning the pole in qualifying today at The Milwaukee Mile!” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series. “We are so proud of Team Chevy for securing the top seven positions at this storied venue in West Allis, Wisconsin.  The unique challenges of this short oval with flat corners requires a key setup and a dose of bravery from the drivers to get the most out of a lap.  We look forward to the race tomorrow and know a win powered by the Chevrolet IndyCar twin turbo V6 will have to be earned over the course of 250 grueling laps. “
 
The sixth and seventh fastest times were run by Team Chevy drivers Sebastian Saavedra and Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan.
 
The Milwaukee IndyFest  is set to start on Saturday, June 15, 2013 at 4:30 p.m. ET. Live television coverage is slated to begin at 4:00 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
 
Live radio coverage will be on IMS Radio Network XM 211/Sirius 211 as well as in conjunction with live timing and scoring on

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Corvette Racing–Mid-Ohio

The Taylor Brothers Make is an All-Corvette Daytona Prototype Front Row at Mid-Ohio
 
 
LEXINGTON, OHIO (June 14, 2013) – Jordan Taylor led a pack of Corvette Daytona Prototypes (DP) that held swept the top five qualifying positions Friday for the Diamond Cellar Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. But it is not only an all-Corvette DP front row; it is also an all-Taylor front row.
 
J. Taylor posted a final-lap best time of 1:16.947 (105.642 mph) in the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide/Toshiba Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP for his second straight pole position in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. It also put him 0.054 seconds in front of his brother Ricky Taylor in the Spirit of Daytona’s No. 90 visitflorida.com/GoPro Corvette DP for Saturday’s two-hour, 45-minute race.
 
“Today was another terrific day for our Corvette DP teams, and what a fantastic battle between Jordan and Ricky,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager for GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.  “There are so many dynamic elements that come into play at Mid-Ohio, and finding balance over the lap is critical. This certainly bodes well for our chances at scoring another victory and extending Team Chevy’s championship lead in Daytona Prototype.”
 
Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli entered the weekend leading the Daytona Prototype championship off their victory at Detroit two weeks ago. The five fastest Corvette DPs were separated by just 0.434 seconds after Friday’s qualifying. Christian Fittipaldi was third in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP at 1:17.200 (105.295 mph).
 
“That was a proud moment,” said Wayne Taylor, team owner of the No. 10 Corvette DP. “One lap, Ricky was on the pole, and then the next lap, Jordan was on the pole. I’m obviously happy to have both of my kids on the front row – this is the first time that’s happened.”
 
Filling the fourth and fifth starting spots respectively are the No. 99 GAINSCO Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP followed by the No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP.
 
John Edwards, going for a fourth straight GT victory with Robin Liddell, put the No. 57 Steven Motorsports Camaro GT.R on the class pole position with a lap of 1:22.957 (97.988 mph). The 22-year-old went 0.288 seconds quicker than Boris Said in No. 31 Marsh Racing’s Corvette.
 
Edwards and Liddell have gone two months without losing a race with their first victory coming in early April at Barber Motorsports Park. Wins at Road Atlanta and Detroit followed.
 
The top five GT cars in Friday’s qualifying were within one second of each other.
 
In qualifying for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, CKS Autosport’s No. 01 Camaro GS.R driven by Lawson Aschenbach set the second-fastest time in the GS class at 1:30.520 (89.801 mph).

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Michigan–Post Qualifying

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUICKEN LOANS 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 14, 2013
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/SEALY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SECOND
VERY FAST LAP TELL US ABOUT IT:
“It was a great lap it’s amazing how close it comes down after a two mile run.  Carl (Edwards) posted a fast lap early on.  I just wanted to go after it.  We just came up a tenth shy.  The good news is we keep unloading fast.  We are right there in the mix.  All the guys back at the shop that are working on the pull down rig and all the simulation they are doing their job to the best that I have seen in this garage area.  We just have to keep it up.”
 
12 RACES TO GO IN THE REGULAR SEASON WE ARE INTO THE SUMMER STRETCH WHAT DOES THIS TEAM HAVE TO DO TO MAKE THE CHASE?
“We just have to finish races stronger.  When it gets down to the final 50 miles or the final segment of the race on the last couple of pit stops that is where we haven’t been our best so  that is where we have to get stronger.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED THIRD
TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING LAP:
“We picked up a little bit from where we were in practice.  I was happy about that.  I knew Carl (Edwards) had a really good lap and we weren’t able to get there.  We still had a good lap with our Farmers Insurance Chevy.  We should end up in the top maybe three or four somewhere in there.  It’s a great spot for Sunday.  Looking forward to the race, I don’t know the track is really nice and it seems like it will move around some so it should be good.”
 
ONE LAP IS ONE THING 200 IS ANOTHER WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO WIN THIS RACE?
“Well there is a lot that goes on to win it.  We worked on some things in practice already, put about 40 minutes into kind of our race deal.  Felt pretty good with that so we have a good amount of time tomorrow to hopefully fine tune it more, but I think we are in a really good spot right now.”
 
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 MENARDS/CERTAINTEED CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED FOURTH
WE HAVE SOME CLOUD COVER NOW DID THAT HELP THAT LAP?
“It always helps when you have a little shade for sure.  We had a really good car in practice; we just could never really get a clean lap to show it.  Just proud of my guys.  We have had a rough couple of weeks.  Trying to get things turned around here in a good qualifying will go a long ways.”
 
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 33 AMERICAN ETHANOL CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED SEVENTH
HOW WAS YOUR QUALIFYING LAP?
“It was pretty exciting.  I felt like there was a little bit more out there, but I drove it and it got a little tight on me.  I had to check up off of (turn) two, but really proud of that lap.  The American Ethanol Chevy is fast so just now focused on race trim from here on out.  We got a solid lap in.  I think that will hold up possibly for a top-10 we were about ninth in practice.  So it should be right in there.  Man, I’m excited; I’m shaking that was a fast lap.  We will go on and keep working on it for tomorrow.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 10TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING LAP:
“I’m happy with where the Target Chevy qualified for the race on Sunday. We had a pretty early draw but the weather stayed the same so no one really had an advantage as qualifying continued. The car was loose when I was getting up to speed and I was a little nervous going into turn one but it ended up being a good lap and a top-10 starting position for us.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD “MAN OF STEEL” CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 12TH
YOU DON’T SEEM SO HAPPY WITH YOUR LAP WHY?
“I just I thought it was slow.  Everybody has been picking up.  We didn’t pick up, got on the splitter real bad down in (turns) one and two and just couldn’t get in the gas.  It shoved up out of the groove.  I don’t know that it ran that great in (turns) three and four either, but that really costs us a lot of time down in (turns) one and two.  We had a real good car in practice, felt real competitive and felt like we could put up a good enough lap for a top-10.  That is probably going to end up right around 19th or so we will see.”
 

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Michigan–Jeff Gordon

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUICKEN LOANS 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 14, 2013

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed his thoughts about MIS, the high speeds, his season, and more. Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT COMING TO MICHIGAN AND HOW PRACTICE HAS GONE FOR YOU
“I’ve always loved this race track. I was anxious to get here and see how the pavement has changed since last year. I’m anxious to see how this car dives on this track for the first time being here (with the new Chevy SS). I can’t say that I was overly disappointed with anything today. I feel like the car drove pretty good, but we are just lacking some speed. We want to make a couple of race runs. We basically got one race run in and I didn’t think it was too bad, just a little bit on the tight side. And then we switched over to qualifying trim. The last run, we had an issue where it just got too tight and got up the race track, so I aborted the lap. We didn’t put up the lap time that I think we are capable of doing. We’re going to have our work cut out for us going out first, but I think we’re a lot better than what we showed. But it’s fast and I’m looking forward to the weekend.”
 
YOU ARE RUNNING OVER 200 MPH HERE. IS IT A COMFORTABLE 200 MPH?
“Yeah, I think you have to ask Kasey Kahne. He went over 200 mph. I didn’t go over 200 mph, not on the average lap. There is some edginess on sticker tires, so the first couple of laps on cold sticker tires, I can’t say it’s the most comfortable. But I feel like it’s better than the last time we were here. When we were here the last time, it was very edgy for the first couple of laps. I feel like everything was pretty comfortable out there. You don’t go that fast at a track like this without the car sticking pretty well. So, I think that what’s going to be interesting to see is how does it change when the track sits and we go to qualifying. What I saw a lot of in practice today was people scuffing tires and making fast runs on tires that had a little bit of heat and temperature in them, so when those tires are ice cold and everything else is cold and you out to try to make that fast of a lap, it seems like that’s when we start feeling the edginess of the grip level. But the car, I thought, stuck really good. So, from everything I felt in practice, it was pretty comfortable.”
 
IN THE AFTERMATH OF JASON LEFFLER, YOU GREW UP ON A LOT OF SHORT TRACKS AND RACED ON THOSE. HAVE YOU SEEN IMPROVEMENTS ON THOSE TRACKS LIKE WE’VE SEEN ON THE NASCAR TRACK, SAFETY-WISE?
“The problem is that those cars have such different uniqueness when it comes to crashes and how to handle those kinds of impacts. They just can’t contain their heads, and I don’t know and I haven’t seen all the results where that really caused Jason’s death. Obviously we know it was a tremendous crash and you could see it in the aftermath of the car. I heard about him having a Hans-type of device on there, which I was happy to hear. But even a couple of weeks ago I saw a highlight of the Chili Bowl where there was a car that broke an axel and flipped outside of the track and I just remember thinking to myself how violent the head movement was in that car when it was going through those flips. To me, they’ve done a great job. They’ve done a lot.
 
“But it’s just so hard to contain when a car is flipping and moving different directions like that. Our cars, we’re usually more predictable as to what impacts are going to happen. I’m not saying you can predict them all, but you don’t have cars flying through the air and flipping and doing some of the different movements that those cars go through. It just seems to me like it is more difficult to prevent some of the angles and impacts that those drivers go through in those cars.”
 
AT WHAT AGE DO YOU START REALIZING THAT THOSE TUMBLES COULD HAVE AN ADVERSE AFFECT?
“Well, we’re race car drivers. If we thought that way, then we wouldn’t be race car drivers. I’m sure at certain stages of your life you might start thinking that way, but when you’re young, you just want to get the opportunity to get in the next race car. And if you’re good, you’re going to push the limits in everything you get into and you’re going to hit the wall and you’re going to get back out there moments later or the next day and go just as fast or faster. That’s what it takes. It’s a dangerous sport and so are a lot of other sports. And you have to try to do all you can to make sure that the equipment you’re in is as safe as possible. The number one thing is making sure things don’t fail. That’s the number one thing. The number two thing is making sure that everything around you is as safe as it can possibly be.”
 
JASON LEFFLER HAD TWO SHOTS AT RACING NASCAR CUP AND IT DIDN’T WORK OUT EITHER TIME. HOW DOES A RACER JUST DECIDE TO STOP RACING? WHEN YOU’RE DONE WITH CUP, WILL YOU JUST NOT RACE AGAIN AND NOT FEEL THAT DRIVE AGAIN?
“I kind of look at everything as risk versus reward. What’s the risk level and what’s the reward of being out there on a full-time basis? Are you competitive enough to compete at that level? If you are, then you have sponsors and the car owner puts you in and then that’s what you’re going to do. If you get to that point where you’re either not as competitive or things didn’t work out the way that you wanted, you start thinking about your career decisions.
 
“Again, it’s risk versus reward. If you can step down a couple tiers and get a good ride and go out there and be competitive and enjoy what you are doing and go out there and at least have a shot at winning races, then you adjust. You adjust your lifestyle. I think that if you decide to step away from the sport; if a professional baseball player or a football player thought he could step away from the sport but come in and play a game or two and still be competitive, and they let them do that, I think he’d do it. I think it’s the fact that nobody really allows that to happen.
 
“But in our sport, they do. I think Mark Martin is a perfect example of, here’s a guy that still has tremendous talent and can bring a lot to a team and help them maybe get to that next level or find something in their car that they need, or just bring a team together like he did for the No. 5 car.
 
“That car and that team needed some things to get their team to that next level. And they wanted to make sure that the driver wasn’t a question mark. They put Mark Martin in there and look what happened. The team stepped up. I think if you’ve had a good enough career and you’ve fulfilled all your dreams, then I think you can find that day when you just step away from it altogether. I like to never say never, so I think that guys would like to step away and not necessarily say, ‘I’m never going to drive another race car ever again’, because what is there was something on their bucket list that they wanted to do? Would it be the Baja 500 or the Baja 1000 or driving a Rally Car or, I don’t know; or riding a motorcycle? I don’t know. If you feel like you can do it, it’s your prerogative to go out there and do that.
 
“I think that the way I would be approaching it is when that day comes for me, I would be closing off full-time running for the championship. I wouldn’t necessarily say I’ll never go back out there and run at Martinsville. I know that there would probably be some that I wouldn’t do (laughs). But like Sonoma, I think. I think there would be some where I’d feel like hey, I can still be competitive at this track regardless of what the rules and the cars are and what’s happening within the sport, and do out there and still be competitive even though I’m not racing week-in and week-out.”
 
DO YOU THINK DALE EARNHARDT JR. AND HIS TEAM IS IN THAT WINDOW WHERE HE NEEDS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF RUNNING FOR A CHAMPION
SHIP, OR THERE MIGHT NOT BE ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY?
“Well, gosh. I don’t know how you can say when a team is necessarily in that window of opportunity and how long that’s going to last. You can’t predict that. I wouldn’t have predicted Tony Stewart was going to win at Dover, and they did. And they ran good at Pocono and he was running good today before he had the issue (hitting the wall during practice and going to back-up car) and will probably still run good this week.
 
“So, I think there are certain teams that are capable of getting behind or being off and climbing their way back up. I think there are certain teams that are just right on the brink of making things really, really good. I thought Junior had a very impressive run last week. He was very competitive and it was great timing for them because this is a track that I know he likes and does well at; he did well last year. So, if this is a window of opportunity for him, it’s opening.”
 
YOU’VE HAD SEVEN RACES WHERE YOU’VE FINISHED OUTSIDE THE TOP 10, INCLUDING POCONO. YOU CURRENTLY SIT 11TH IN THE POINT STANDINGS. HOW DO YOU BREAK INTO THE TOP 10 MORE OFTEN? DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOUR CHANCES THIS WEEKEND AT MIS?
“Well, we didn’t have a great day, today. So, I’m optimistic, but it’s hard to be optimistic. We’ve got to qualify better, and today it’s going to be tough to qualify where I feel like we need to, to be competitive on the race track. I think our cars are competitive. Our team is competitive. But track position is going to be very important. I feel very fortunate to be 11th in points, to be honest with you, with all the DNF’s that we’ve had. And I feel like we’ve had some good runs and we’ve had some lackluster runs that were non-impressive. I’m still sitting here pretty shocked that we’re 11th. I think we have so much more potential than what we’ve shown. We’ve got to step it up. We know that. But I also know we’re very capable of that. I feel like we are on the brink of an opportunity to get ourselves more Top 5’s and Top 10’s and getting ourselves solidly in the Top 10. I’m just thankful for that opportunity to be as close as we are right now.”
 
IN OTHER SPORTS WHEN A PLAYER RETIRES, THEY’LL COACH. WHY DON’T WE SEE DRIVERS RETIRE AND BECOME CREW CHIEFS?
“That’s funny (laughs). Let’s see. Where do I begin? One is race car drivers don’t work hard enough to be crew chiefs (laughs). We don’t get up early enough to be crew chiefs. I definitely think there are some drivers out there that could be crew chiefs. I do. I wouldn’t say it’s any of the top drivers though (laughs). I think that there are certain students of the game when you look at other sports. Most coaches were players. I think it’s kind of opposite in our sport. The best the best crew chiefs were drivers and I think they understand the car and what’s going on out there. And then they understand the engineering. I think that would be my biggest thing. If you’re an engineer and you have an engineering background or a very good understanding of engineering, then you could be a crew chief.
 
“But there are very few drivers that I know that have that kind of understanding that it takes to sit in a room with other engineers and aero guys and all these computers that are giving you a lot of information. There are very few drivers that I know at the highest level that could pull that off. I think the hardest job there is in this sport is being a crew chief. They have a tremendous amount of pressure on them. Their hours are ungodly. These guys never stop. They rarely sleep. They work themselves to the bone; the good ones certainly do, and they have such a great understanding and appreciation of everything that goes into these cars that I don’t think most people can truly appreciate. Not to mention dealing with all the different personalities and have to travel all the time. That’s a tough job. I’d like to see that happen.
 
“But, not for me.  No, no, I won’t be doing that.”
 
HOW WILL THE NEW GEN-6 CARS ALTER WHAT WE ARE USED TO SEEING ON THE ROAD COURSES?
“To me, double-file restarts are what made the road courses so intense and exciting. We tested a road course the other day and I didn’t think there was a significant change. It felt good. It stuck good. The lap times were good. So, I don’t think you’re going to see a lot of big changes there. We should still see a pretty wild and intense and crazy race on those road courses.”
 
DESCRIBE MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY IN ONE WORD.  COMPARE THAT TO DAYTONA AND TALLADEGA
“Well, first of all, you know I can’t do one-word answers (laughter). That just does not exist. In my vocabulary, every word goes with another word. Usually it’s a sentence or a paragraph. But I could just say ‘fast’ because it is very fast. As far as the race, it’s a totally different type of feeling in comfort level than you have at Daytona. At Daytona, that is a track that we are capable of running 230 mph on. If you took the restrictor plates off of us, who knows how fast we would go; but just saying, in throwing a number out there. And at Daytona, we’re going close to 200 mph. So we’re under what the track is capable of. Here, we’re pushing the limits of what the track is capable of. So 185 mph would probably be pretty comfortable. But at 200 mph, you’re there on the edge. And the cars around you change things dramatically.
 
“What I’m anxious to see this weekend, one of the things I love about this track so much, is how the groove is. You have a bottom, a middle and a top. And it will get there eventually. But because it’s new and the tire is pretty hard and the cars have a lot of downforce, we’re pretty much finding about a one-and-a-half or two-lane groove at the time, right now, until we get in the race. That definitely means that the car up front is going to be a lot more comfortable than the car behind. Until that widens out; that’s why I’m focusing on qualifying and thinking about how good I want to qualify because that I know, no matter what, that if it’s tenth or farther back, there’s no way the car is going to drive the way that I want it to drive. It’s going to be a little uncomfortable at those speeds. But it also give me motivation to try to get up front.”

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Michigan–Danica Patrick

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUICKEN LOANS 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 14, 2013
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway and discussed the loss of Jason Leffler, racing at MIS and other topics. Full Transcript:
 
DID YOU KNOW JASON LEFFLER AT ALL?  
“Yeah, I did know Jason.  I didn’t know Jason really well, but I definitely knew him on a ‘hello, how are you doing’ basis for sure. He was a really nice guy and saw him a lot in the Nationwide garage.  Obviously it was really, I’ve been saying it for the last couple of days, it’s just really shocking stuff.  It’s a lot of reality when someone that you know passes away racing cars.  Really sad for obviously his son and his family.  He will be missed that is for sure.”
 
HAPPY TO BE HERE?
“I don’t know.  I think that each weekend has been different.  Sometimes they go better than I expect and sometimes worse.  I feel like in the last few weeks we have been a little bit better on speed and we just haven’t had results to show for it.  I’m not really sure where we are at right now.  I feel like we spent most of the practice session before qualifying here is try to get the splitter off the ground.  Unfortunately we didn’t make a lot of handling changes.  Hopefully we can get it to a good place for qualifying.  Traffic is going to play a big role I’m sure here as it has at every other track we have gone to the faster the more difficult traffic is in these cars.”
 
IN LIGHT OF JASON’S DEATH DO YOU THINK MORE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS NEED TO BE MADE AT SOME OF THESE TRACKS?
“I have never raced on dirt.  I have never raced midgets or sprint cars or anything like that.  I can’t speak for what they do on the safety side of things.  I know from my experience in all the divisions I have ever been in is that safety is really important and there is always work being done to make things safer.  It is a reality check when something bad happens.  At the end of the day too we all know as drivers and competitors in the sport that it is dangerous and that we are driving as fast as we can for a living.  Unfortunately it is a dangerous sport.”
 
HOW HAS THIS TRACK CHANGED SINCE LAST YEAR?  A LOT OF PEOPLE TALK ABOUT HOW IT HAS LIGHTENED UP IN COLOR WHAT DOES THAT TRANSLATE TO?
“Usually it lightens up in color and it loses some grip.  I think that they were talking about that last weekend for Pocono and for sure when we got there for the test the week before Tony (Stewart) and Ryan (Newman) were surprised how much lighter it was.  I don’t know if maybe in these colder areas that we are going they get snow and get much colder weather if they are aging quicker.  I would imagine that is probably the case.  Little bit less grip and we will be relying I’m sure on the Nationwide cars to rubber in a wider lane.”
 
WHAT IS YOUR STRENGTH ON THIS TRACK?  WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE OF DRIVING ON THIS TRACK?
“I think it’s a momentum track and I feel like I come from a background of carrying a lot of momentum and using a lot of throttle.  Being smooth and hopefully that is something that can help me here.  At the end of the day it has to handle well.  It has to feel good.  It has to be a fast car.  Here at this Cup level it’s very competitive and being a little off is being a lot off.  I think that my strength is carrying momentum is something I’m used to doing.”
 
YOU ARE FOUR TIMES THE OTHER CELEBRITIES WHEN IT COMES TO SOCIAL MEDIA GETTING YOUR SPONSORSHIP OUT.  TALK ABOUT THAT:
“It’s a little surprising, but at the end of the day I have always tried to be very authentic with my answers whether I’m standing here or what I talk about on social media, which for me is just Twitter.  I have been very adamant to make it my own and do it myself.  Also, at the same time my sponsor Tissot was the one who said that they would help sponsor my Twitter page and launch it.  I was kind of one of the first ones that was getting the sponsors involved from a social media aspect on Twitter at least to my knowledge then.  But, I’m doing it myself so I think that is all I can say about doing a good job for my sponsors is that I make sure that they know that I have to make it my own.
 
I SAW YOU WERE HANGING OUT IN YOUR PAJAMAS ALL DAY THE OTHER DAY ON TWITTER:
“I was, I made it until about 6:30 that night.  It’s that kind of stuff that I do it myself and I let my sponsors know that is a platform that I have to be able to do it on my own. We can’t make it where people don’t want to follow me because it’s all advertisement.  I talk about what I’m doing and if I’m at a GoDaddy photo shoot then I will talk about it and take a picture.  That is how I do social media.  It’s a big honor I guess to have my social media because I mean sponsors these days it’s crazy how important social media is for them and how it’s a huge selling point it’s what the kids are doing these days.”
 
LAST YEAR AT ROAD AMERICA YOU RAN PRETTY WELL ON THE ROAD COURSE.  HEADED TO SONOMA HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO WELL?
“Every step up you take it another level of difficult and by all means in the Cup series there are a lot of good road course drivers.  It’s going to be challenging.  I don’t think it’s going to be one of those things where I’m going to go qualify in the first two rows and lead the race the whole time or at least I shouldn’t expect to be able to just do that right away.  It’s still took a little bit for Tony Eury, Jr. and I to get a set-up that worked for me good on the road courses.  My first trip to Montreal was very different than my second trip.  It’s going to take a little bit of time, but it is a little bit of a comfort zone for me.  I feel like I know what I’m doing and I feel comfortable.  I talked to Ricky (Stenhouse, Jr.) about that and he was talking about how he just doesn’t feel like very unfamiliar out there and like he’s not sure where he is supposed to be at and what he is supposed to do.  That is someone who has done pretty well at them.  Stock car drivers just don’t get a lot of time on road courses and I’ve spent my whole career for the most part doing it.  It’s nice to go to a place where I feel comfortable I suppose.”        

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Michigan–Tony Stewart

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUICKEN LOANS 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 14, 2013
 
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway and discussed his relationship with Jason Leffler, the safety at local short track facilities and much more.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JASON LEFFLER:
“Yeah, I have known Jason for a long time obviously.  We grew up racing together and followed the same paths racing-wise.  So I mean he was a friend, he was a roommate, he was a teammate and I got to be around him a lot.  He loved nothing more than being behind the wheel of a race car. I was just shocked to hear what had happened and obviously it’s just a reminder of how dangerous our sport is, but we have had a lot of safety innovations over the last 15 years since I have been in Cup.  It’s just proof that we will never get to the stage where everybody is immune to getting hurt in a race car.  That is just the scenario that we are in and there isn’t anybody that gets behind the wheel that doesn’t understand that going into it, and Jason was that way as well.  He just loved doing what he was doing and it was just a rough week there and obviously Charlie is the one that we are all thinking about the most right now.  His girlfriend Juliana, it’s hard for both of those two and Amy and their family and just thinking about all those guys this weekend.”
 
HOW WAS PRACTICE OUT THERE FOR YOU?
“I think as the session went on, the track got more grip in it.  It was pretty slippery to begin with and you could tell it started getting some rubber in the track and it seemed here watching the times that I obviously had a problem and got loose, caught it, and just ran out of race track trying to get around the corner.  I got to watch the lap times a lot and it seemed the longer the session went, the better the track got.”
 
YOU AND JASON WERE CLOSE, WHAT STANDS OUT MOST ABOUT HIM?
“We got to hang out a lot away from the race track as well as at the track.  When he moved from California to Indiana to start racing USAC fulltime, he moved in with me and lived with us for a little under a year and I got to see a lot of things and he was just a lot of fun.  He was a racer and didn’t care what he raced, where he raced, when he raced, it was all he wanted to do was to drive a race car.  It was fun to have a roommate like that who had the same passion and desire that I had.”
 
YOU GUYS AS A TEAM HAVE REALLY BOUNCED BACK HERE THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS.  HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU IN MAKING THE CHASE?
“I feel like our whole organization is getting it going and I have been really encouraged the last couple weeks and if you take our last three weeks, we have made big gains.  Until I had the problem today we were third on the sheet at the time I crashed the car.  So I feel encouraged that we are gaining ground on it and starting to get back to form a little bit.  Regarding this weekend, I was real anxious to get on track to see where we were.  The last couple weeks we had the advantage of using two tests to get ready for Pocono and Dover so we didn’t do that for here so I wanted to see how we came out of the box here and I was pretty encouraged by what I have seen during the day there.   I feel like we are gaining on it and I don’t know if we are where we to be yet, but I feel like we have definitely made big gains in the last month so I am encouraged by that.”
 
YOU RACE IN ALL FORMS OF RACING, HOW CAREFUL ARE YOU?
“I am as careful as I am when I get in a car on a city street.  There will be more people that die in car crashes today than die in race cars today.  It’s just part of it and I am one of those that believe when it’s your time, it’s your time.  I don’t know the details of what happened up there but from what I have been told by people is that something broke on the race car.  Whether that is what happened or not, I do not know. The cars I drive, I know the equipment.  The sprint car that I drive is one of my own cars, and its prepared by our own guys.  We have a full containment seat and we do everything we can do with the race car to make it as safe as possible. Just like we would with any other race car we drive.  So it wasn’t the fact that it was a sprint car it was the fact that it was an accident and something went wrong and we lost Jason (Leffler) because of it.”
 
IF YOU COULD USE A SINGLE WORD TO DESCRIBE A LAP AROUND MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY AND THEN ALSO COMPARE WHAT MICHIGAN IS LIKE IN RELATION TO OTHER TRACKS THAT COULD BE AS FAST AS THIS TRACK?
“It’s fast. It’s a two mile track that’s been freshly re-paved so it’s got a lot of grip and you carry a lot of corner speed. And when you carry corner speed, you make straightaway speed. It’s no different than anywhere else. Anytime they repave a race track it’s fast right off the bat. Now that I’ve seen from last year to the spring the color of the track has changed quite a bit. Normally in the fall the grip starts going away. It didn’t seem to be quite as line sensitive as it was last year which means it’s starting to age a little bit. It’s just a matter of getting some rubber on the track it seemed like today. As far as what other race tracks can be like, everyone is different there’s no two tracks the same. They’ve all got their quirks and characteristics about them that that make them unique.”
 
DO YOU HAVE TO DO ANY CONVINCING OF YOUR SPONSORS TO ALLOW YOU TO DO AS MUCH RACING AS YOU DO?
“No.”
 
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT MAYBE IMPROVEMENTS THAT YOU HAVE SEEN IN SHORT-TRACK RACING AS FAR AS THE TRACKS THEMSELVES OVER THE LAST FIVE OR 10 YEARS?
“Most of them have safety teams at each facility. I know that’s something in the promoter’s workshop down in Florida in the spring when all the promoter’s get together and track owners and operators get together that’s a high. That’s probably the one thing I’ve seen the most of is having adequate safety teams there and making sure they can respond to the problem pretty quick.”
 
THERE HAS KIND OF BEEN TWO OPINIONS ON SHORT-TRACKS THAT I’VE HEARD THIS MORNING.  DAVE BLANEY SAID HE WOULD RACE AT ANY SHORT-TRACK FOR THE MOST PART THE STANDARDS ARE PRETTY GOOD.  BRAD KESELOWSKI HAD ANOTHER OPINION HE SAID THAT THE STANDARDS NEEDED IMPROVING THAT THEY WERE DISMAL.  YOU ARE A TRACK OWNER WHAT IS YOUR TAKE? ARE THERE ANY PLACES YOU WOULDN’T GO TO RACE?
“I think things are the best they’ve ever been at this point. There’s facilities that need some work and there’s facilities that put a lot of effort into it. It’s like getting on a city street today.  Can it be safer? Sure. Do we have to go two lanes into oncoming traffic? No we don’t have to do that. There’s always things you can do better.  Am I scared to go to any race track or feel concerned of not feeling safe at a race track? No. I think for the majority just about everywhere you go does a pretty good job and do the best they can under the circumstances they have to work with. The safety standards weren’t what caused the problem. I’d be grateful if you guys would understand that what happened this week wasn’t because somebody didn’t’ do something right with the race track. It was an accident. Just like if you go out and there’s a car crash. It’s an accident. Short track promoters are doing everything they can do to operate and just stay afloat and to keep having tracks for drivers that are upcoming that want to be NASCAR drivers just to have the ability to go to and race and learn so they can come up to this level. It’s hard enough for these promoters and track owners to do what they’re doing so please try to cut them a little slack this week. Nobody
as a track owner wants to go through what happened this week but it’s not due to a lack of effort on their part to try to make their facilities as safe as possible under the conditions they have.”
 
YOU’VE DONE SOME IMPROVEMENTS AT ELDORA FOR THE TRUCK RACE, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT THOSE IMPROVEMENTS WERE AND WHAT THE THOUGHT PROCESS WAS WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA RECOMMENDING YOU DIDN’T NEED SAFER BARRIERS THERE?
“They did recommend that we not use them. They did make recommendations and we made the changes accordingly. The way we looked at it was a huge honor to have the opportunity to have that group come to our race track and help us make improvements. It’s something that I’m sure if every short track across the country could have that opportunity it would make things better.  That’s why I say, given the circumstances I think tracks do a really good job with what they have. But we did. We made every change that they recommended. We made those adjustments. A lot of it was with inside walls and the angles of the openings. Those were addressed right away. Roger Slack can give you the full run down of everything that was recommended and what we did to address it.”
 
IS THERE SOMETHING THAT’S MORE COMPELLING ABOUT RACING THE SPRINT CARS THAT KEEPS DRAWING YOU BACK IN?  
“It’s just something different. I get to race with the best stock car drivers in the world every weekend here for three days a week. In the evenings I get to go do something that’s the polar opposite end of the spectrum and it’s a challenge because it’s the opposite end of the spectrum for us. They’re 910 horse power cars that weigh 1400 pounds. It’s probably the best power to weight ratio other than a motorcycle. You put a 25 square foot surface area wing on top of it and you get to run around race tracks really fast. It’s hard to explain without getting in it. I didn’t even understand it until I got in one the first time of what it’s really like. They’re a lot of fun. Just like there’s great race teams in NASCAR, there’s great sprint car teams and late model and modified teams all across the country and getting to go to different places and run with different groups and different drivers is something that’s fun. When you want to race that’s just what you want to do and that’ just a type of car that I’ve been very interested in.”
 

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Michigan–Dale Earnhardt Jr.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUICKEN LOANS 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 14, 2013
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD “MAN OF STEEL” CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) and discussed last year’s victory at MIS, his memories of Jason Leffler and other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT LAST YEAR’S WIN AND THIS PAINT SCHEME THAT YOU HAVE THIS WEEKEND:
“We are excited about the car. The car looks great.  It’s not difficult to come up with a cool paint scheme when you are working with Superman and like we did last year with Batman and all that.  It’s pretty simple to come up with something really cool and fun.  Definitely makes that kind of a job easier.  I think the car does look good. Hopefully it’s as fast as it looks good.  That is going to be more important to be able to repeat and get the win this weekend.  We feel pretty good coming in to this race.  We had a great run last week that sort of hopefully got us back in the right direction.  We talked about it last week after the race, but we kind of had some misses here lately and not many hits.  As far as showing up to the race track and being competitive and getting the job done putting together a full weekend.  We haven’t been able to do that.  We started the season off so promising the best that I had ever started a season.  It just seemed like things were going so perfectly and it’s the way it is in this sport.  You will think you have everything going in the right direction and then odds and fate and everything else get in the way.
 
“We feel like we are coming through a stretch of races and race tracks if you take out Sonoma that we should run pretty well at and have a lot of confidence at.  Not that we won’t go to Sonoma and hope to run well, we will, but the track record speaks for itself there.  We did test at Kershaw (Carolina Motorsports Park) to try to get ourselves a good chance of getting maybe hopefully my career-best finish at that place.  We will try to do that.  We are just hoping for another good weekend.  We would love to get a win.  If we can get a good run and put two in a row together and give us more momentum, give us more confidence.  This is a great race track.  Enjoy coming here, always enjoyed racing on this track and just looking forward to getting out there and getting some practice.”
 
RICK HENDRICK SAID YOU AND STEVE AND YOUR TEAM WERE PERFORMING BETTER COMING INTO THIS RACE THAN YOU WERE ONE YEAR AGO WHEN YOU ENDED UP WINNING.  DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT ASSESSMENT?
“Well, it’s probably easier to see the truth from his position on the other side of the fence so to speak.  It’s more difficult to see growth and improvement within the team when you are part of the team.  It’s kind of like when you are a kid and you are getting taller.  You are 10, 11, 12 years old and you are wanting to be six foot three (inches) one day you can’t tell you are getting taller unless you are marking the door jam.  Otherwise you wouldn’t notice any change of height.  That is kind of what it feels like when you are part of the team.  You don’t really notice when things get a little bit better or things get a little bit worse.  Really what you end up doing is you are never really satisfied just like that kid, you are never really satisfied with where you are at.  You are always wanting to be better.  I feel like we are as good.  I think we started the year off doing so good and having so many good runs back to back there.  I felt like, yeah, we were starting the season better, we are a better team and we are able to do a better job than we were last year.  But then we came back to reality and had some rough weeks.  You kind of revert back to trying to scramble and feeling like you need to get better and feeling like you need to work harder.  Hopefully that stuff is going to start to pay off.  We are working hard.  We ran good this past weekend and I feel like we will be competitive this weekend. That doesn’t answer the questions we have at places like Charlotte, Dover that we have to go back to.  We still have to work hard and figure out what we have to do to get back to those places and be faster.  The answers aren’t here at Michigan. They weren’t at Pocono the tracks are all too different.  We still got some holes to fill so to speak.”
 
WHY HAVEN’T YOU WON AND HOW FRUSTRATING IS IT?
“Well, we have come close.  We almost won Charlotte last year when we ran out of gas coming off the corner.  I don’t know if we could have won Daytona this year to beat Jimmie (Johnson) if we had a few more laps.  It’s been good to be close.  That is the difference I think between where we are and where I want to be.  We want to win more races.  We want to win numerous races and multiple races in a season.  We want that to be the status quo.  We want that to be the norm. We want that to be what is expected.  When we first started working together we were trying to figure out how to get a 15th-place combination into the top-10 and we were happy when we did.  Now when we run in the top-10 it’s just another weekend and what do we have to do to win.  That is how we feel.  I think that the perception from you guys is similar to how we feel.  We are like a lot of teams trying to find that extra step.  It’s difficult to win in this sport.  It’s really competitive.  It’s not much more for us to be able to get to that level to be able to win more than just that off chance such has been the case last year.”
 
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN A WINDOW NOW OF YOUR CAREER WHERE THIS IS WHERE IT HAS TO HAPPEN NOW AS OPPOSED TO TWO OR THREE YEARS DOWN THE ROAD THAT YOU HAVE TO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN RIGHT NOW?
“No, I don’t really feel that urgency. I feel pretty young still. I feel like I’m in good shape.  I feel young in my mind.  I feel like I have good energy.  I’m not burning out.  I think that the passion and the commitment probably goes before the physical end of it goes in this particular sport.  I feel like I’m in the best opportunity of my career.  There is a ‘seize the moment’ kind of feeling because I’m in such good equipment around such good people.  I don’t feel like there is a clock in the background ticking away that is annoying me or anything like that.”
 
YOU RECENTLY SAID THAT YOU HAD CHANGED A LITTLE BIT IN THAT YOU DIDN’T HANG OUT WITH DRIVERS AWAY FROM THE TRACK.  HAVE YOU CHANGED IN ANY OTHER WAY IN YOUR RACING WITH STEVE (LETARTE, CREW CHIEF) AND IF YOU COULD EXPLAIN THAT?
“Well, I don’t think it’s by choice I think it’s just the nature of the sport and our age and what was fun five, 10 years ago and what is fun now. I think people go in different directions.  People come and go. I learned a really hard lesson back when I race late models and I first got paired up with Gary Hargett to run late models.  That was the first guy I was introduced to that was really going to be a guy that I worked with and a guy that would mentor me.  He became a really close friend.  I was only about 20 years old he was about 55 years old, but he was like a father in a sense.  Just really big time mentor and I just listened to him followed him everywhere he went.  We raced together for several years down at Myrtle Beach and stuff.  Then there came the day when I had to make a change not from him, but I had to make a change where the car was.  We were keeping it down at his place and I wanted to bring it up…Dad offered me the place to put it where his deer head shop was.  I thought ‘man for me to be a better race car driver I need to
be working on my car everyday’, instead of driving down there to Union, South Carolina once a week. I knew I had to do that and Gary wouldn’t come up there to work he wasn’t going to drive an hour to work.  I had to make the decision to help myself and then he and I weren’t going to work together anymore.  That was a really tough choice.
 
“I learned then that people are going to come and go things are going to change in your life.  Things don’t last forever.  I’ve got some great friendships, made some great friendships in this sport.  I still consider a lot of those people friends, but the days of being able to take a weekend off before Daytona and go down and hang out with an Elliott Sadler or Jamie (McMurray) or (Martin) Truex those days are gone.  We had a lot of fun and I’ve enjoyed some good times with all these guys that I race with, but you get older and your priorities change a little bit.”
 
YOU SEE THE NO. 48 TEAM FROM THE INSIDE WE SEE THEM FROM THE OUTSIDE. IS THERE A SENSE THAT THE FANS AND THE MEDIA DON’T APPRECIATE WHAT WE ARE SEEING FROM THOSE GUYS OR MAYBE EVEN WHAT THEY ARE DOING THIS YEAR THAT WE WON’T APPRECIATE IT UNTIL IT’S OVER WITH?
“I think that there are those that appreciate it.  I certainly appreciate it.  I think just to sit and think about winning five championships in a row is, even though someone has done it, it’s unbelievable.  Even though it’s been done and there is someone in that garage right now that has done it, it’s hard to believe that it happened.  I don’t see it ever happening again.  You think about all the great accomplishments in the sport.  If you were fortunate enough to remember where you were when they happened and think about how different it is from that moment when you were there and witnessing that happen to 10 years down the road when you recall it as a memory.  There is a bit of a difference there.  There is probably more appreciation for how challenging and difficult of achievement it was.  I certainly think that everybody appreciates it.  I think we are still pretty much in shock that it’s accomplished, that it happened.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF JASON LEFFLER AS A PERSON AND AS A RACER AND WHAT WILL YOU REMEMBER ABOUT HIM?
“I will remember the pass he made to win at ORP (O’Reilly Raceway Park) when he basically just sold the farm down in (turns) one and two to make that pass.  It was a really aggressive move, but that was a hungry driver.  It’s the perfect definition of how hungry he was and most all drivers have that somewhere inside them.  It was just a really interesting moment.  I wasn’t very close with him.  Didn’t have a friendship I would say, but that was an impressive moment.  When I think about him that is one of the memories that I appreciate the most; I think it said everything about him as a driver.  He liked to race. You always heard about the guy running here and running there.  He had up’s and down’s in the top tier series as far as the Truck Series and the Nationwide Series, but he didn’t seem to let that deter him from doing what he liked to do.  If he could be racing somewhere he was there racing.”
 
CAN YOU NAME ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE WHAT A LAP IS LIKE HERE AND THEN A DEFINITION FOR THE 200 LAPS?
“It’s just a simple race track that has not got a lot of challenges.  It’s very easily laid out and understandable for a driver.  It really comes down to just getting your car to work.  There are no bumps or no bad transitions, there is nothing really that you are out there fighting or worried about or dreading.  It’s just a simple race track and very wide, there is a lot of room that invites hard racing, passing.  It’s a place that I enjoy.  A lap here especially in qualifying driver’s aren’t supposed to be terrified, but terrifying is a word that comes kind of close to what qualifying is like here especially with this new surface and this tire. Last year it was a guessing game as far as whether that thing was going to stick in the corner or not.  The guys that did run well, as far as I remember (Greg) Biffle got the pole last year.  He was quite shaken by the process of running that lap.  It was an impressive lap. The racing is different.  It’s amazing how much the racing itself when you are in the race it slows down everything sort of slows down and the laps aren’t a challenge anymore just trying to run on the edge of the grip.  You are just trying to find some clean air, trying to find a little speed through the center, do whatever it is that needs to help you get to that next car in front of you.  It’s quite different than the way qualifying is being as treacherous as qualifying is.”  

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Milwaukee IndyFest–Helio Castroneves

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
MILWAUKEE INDYFEST
MILWAUKEE MILE
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 14, 2013
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at the Milwaukee Mile and discussed racing on Milwaukee Mile, winning at Texas, the championship battle and other subjects.  Full transcript:
 
TALK ABOUT RACING HERE IN MILWAUKEE THIS WEEKEND: “This place here, for me, I got my first pole position ever, but it did not give me a win yet. So, it will be very good, and very fast. Hopefully it will be this weekend that we can get the number one spot. We are going to continue doing what we do, because certainly we know that what we are doing we are right. It is just circumstances out of our control that happens. Hopefully this year it will be a different way.
 
“We have the new colors, as you can see, we have PPG, who have had a partnership with Team Penske for a long time. It is great to have new colors on the car, and I am excited to represent them. Hopefully we will be putting them on the podium as well.”
 
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WE YOU FOUND OUT THE CAR HAD FAILED INSPECTION (FOLLOWING THE TEXAS RACE)? “I was very shocked because the team did an absolutely amazing job. For me, I will not allow this scenario to out-shine what we did because even that made my car go actually slower. For us, a simple mistake, does not (inaudible) what we did. For us it’s great to have the win; to have this momentum and put all these things behind, because we know unfortunately was a little mistake which I sometimes apply, which I’ve been talking about, the schedule has been very busy for everybody. Maybe details like that happens, not because….just because people are so tired from turning cars from street course, to road course. Anyway, for me, I was very shocked.”
 
THE TEAM STATEMENT SAID THEY RAN TESTS ON THE CAR TO MAKE SURE IT DIDN’T CREATE A PERFORMANCE (INAUDIBLE).  IS THAT WHY THEY DID IT WAS BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO KNOW? “Correct. I believe just to show that Team Penske didn’t have…when people start making noice…did not have any intention to do what happened. It was just a simple mistake. And with that mistake, they spent the money to put the car in the wind tunnel to prove that it didn’t go to improve the performance. One pound of drag, believe it or not, it cost a lot, especially at Texas Speedway. I’m glad that the setup was so good that even that didn’t let our car go in a bad way.”
 
IF YOU ARE SECOND, AND YOU ARE TOLD THE WINNER’S CAR IS ACTUALLY AT A DISADVANTAGE – HOW DO YOU RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION? “It would be shocking as well because it would be unexpected. We had a winning car, I don’t think we had the fastest car to be honest. I think we had a consistent car. While people were doing 215s (mph), we were doing 214s (mph). And when people were doing 205 (mph), we were doing 207 (mph). We kept a little more consistent. And it would have been a disappointment. Mistakes happen, and we shouldn’t judge that because of a simple mistake.”
 
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE TEXAS RACE? “I think there was two things here. I think there was a lot of passing. Unfortunately editing on the race probably did not catch that. I watched the race afterwards, and there was a lot of passing, and some of there is that it probably didn’t get picked up. With that, it is very difficult. You have to drive the car. It wasn’t the typical race that we try and avoid, which is flat out. I feel that the cars that had a better setup went better. That cars that was thinking about the speed did not go so good. In my view, it was very difficult because you have to think a lot, you have to plan a lot in passing something. And, trying something that you normally don’t do; different lanes; running high; running low. I thought as a driver it was a big challenge. For me, that is why what we did – winning the race – it’s a big reward because my experience I think it paid off in that race. I wish we have something like. Sometimes if people didn’t see a lot of passing, it wasn’t because of that. It was because, unfortunately, producers miss a lot of action in the back pack.”
 
DID YOU THINK THE FIRESTONE TIRES DID WHAT THEY WERE DESIGNED TO DO (AT TEXAS)? “Firestone is always trying to make a better tire; trying to make a safe tire first of all, and a good performance. The combination with the low downforce and the tires, to be honest, it was actually in a good way. Last year the rears (tires) were going off pretty bad, and that was becoming very tough. We didn’t have a crash actually in the last race at Texas. We had a spin, but I don’t think it was a crash. So that shows that at least what Firestone designed the tires to do, it was the fronts coming off a little bit. So which warned the driver that you have to change your style to drive, or you have to change your setup, or something like that. I have to say Firestone did a great job.”
 
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO MILWAUKEE? “It is interesting this place because you carry a lot of downforce. Inside the car, it looks like you are going over 200 miles an hour, but we’re not. Actually we are going about 180 to 190. It shows you have to drive the car here as well. Plus, because we don’t have banking, you know your car change quite a lot. When the tires start going away after about 20-25 laps, you still have 30 more to go, and it is still very tough because of the turbulence here. Because of the lines people are running are the same as yours. It’s like a road course in ovals, and that is why it is so much fun. The secret? I won’t tell you because then it won’t be secret anymore.”
 
HOW IS IT TO HAVE DIFFERENT STRATEGISTS AT CERTAIN RACES? “Roger (Penske) is just incredible. He does give you a lot of information, which is good. Which I have to say helped me a lot in the last race. Right now we should be win and win (with Roger) because in St. Pete unfortunately I made a mistake. So we finished second in St. Pete and finished first last race. Hopefully we keep the conditions. But, it is not about the strategy. It helps a lot, but it is about team combination. I feel Roger, his experience, you can’t buy that. Sometimes he forgets about the computers. I think what he does…because so many times he been through those circumstances he remembers that kind of thing. His database is pretty good for unique circumstances. That’s why it is important to have him as well.
John (Erickson) is (inaudible) actually…it is a great group of guys that brings everybody together. We have a good group this year and hopefully we keep going that way.”
 
IS TOO MUCH MADE OF THE FACT THAT YOUR WIN AT TEXAS IS THE FIRST FOR EITHER A PENSKE OR GANASSI TEAM THIS SEASON? (SMILES) “You guys in the press obviously want to sell news and this is a way to sell news…Penske didn’t win. But, you have got to say we’ve been competitive. I made a mistake in the first race of the season. It’s circumstances. All the teams are improving. You have to say it is not about Team Penske or Team Ganassi; other teams step up their game. The rules not allow you to change much, so basically there is only so much you can do. A big credit for the small teams. It shows that the series is very, very competitive. It gives an opportunity for a guy – rookie – to win races. That is why our series is one of the best.”

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Michigan–Jimmie Johnson

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUICKEN LOANS 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 14, 2013
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed his early success this year, making the Chase, his friendship with Jason Leffler and more. Full Transcript:
 
ARE YOU READY TO CHECK-OFF MICHIGAN ON YOU WIN LIST?
“I’ve been ready for a long time. We’ve been so close here. But, when it happens, it will make it all that sweeter for us. The exciting thing is we’ve been plenty fast here over the years. But getting to the final lap and seeing that checkered flag has been a little more difficult than I could imagine.”
 
THE WAY YOU’RE RUNNING THIS YEAR, CAN YOU COMPARE THAT TO THE FEELING YOU MIGHT HAVE HAD OVER THE FIVE-YEAR STRETCH OF CHAMPIONSHIPS? ARE THERE PARALLELS? ARE THERE SIMILAR THINGS YOU ARE FEELING IN TERMS OF HOW GOOD YOU ARE RIGHT NOW?
“There are points in time. But it’s still so early to think ‘championship’. And I know it might sound crazy, but I still just thinking ‘Chase’. A lot can go wrong. You can hit a streak of bad races. I feel like our wins right now will lock us in there; but my mind is still on running well now and getting ready for the Chase, honestly.
 
“And in the Chase, there definitely is a feeling that takes place. You have to have speed. You have to have Lady Luck shine on you at times. You’ve got to make things happen. You’ve got to overcome adversity. But right now, things are pretty calm for us and we’re off to a great start and that pressure isn’t there. And that pressure is so intense in the Chase and that’s really where those feelings come into play. It will be here before long and I’m going to enjoy these last few months.”
 
WHAT’S THE LUXURY OF BEING PRETTY-MUCH LOCKED-INTO THE CHASE WITH 11 OR 12 RACES TO GO?
“Just that. The luxury of being locked-in and feeling like three wins will guarantee us a spot in the Chase. At the same time, the big points lead we have can also come back to be a problem. I don’t think it will take place for our team and we’ll focus very hard on not being complacent, but getting off to a quick start is wonderful and great, but you want to peak come September. And I don’t feel like we’re peaking too early. Some may want to say we are and some may want to hope we are, but time will tell and we’ll keep working hard to make sure that we don’t and head into Richmond and the Chase with as much momentum as possible.”
 
DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO HAVE SUCH A BIG POINTS LEAD AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON?
“I really didn’t. And I look at Charlotte and Dover as misses to even have 20 or 30 more points. I really am shocked that we are so far out ahead of everybody. And I know that the No. 20 (Matt Kenseth) has had some bad luck and a couple of other guys have, too. But we’ve had a little bad luck as well. So, I just wish we were in the Chase. I just wish this was the end of the Chase right now (laughs) and we had this big points lead. But, we’ll have to wait until a little later in the year to get started on that.”
 
ON THE DEATH OF JASON LEFFLER:
“Oh, that was some tragic news. I lost a friend and our sport lost somebody that really was involved and loved this sport and made it his life. And we’re all going to miss him terribly. I certainly think of his family. I think of his little boy, Charlie. It’s just a sad, sad time. I remember meeting Jason in the early nineties; maybe 1992 or 1993. I was at an off-road race in Parker, Arizona and PJ Jones, Paige Jones, and Jason Leffler were all returning from a Sprint Car race to Parker, Arizona to watch the desert race and had a summer home there. And I met Jason then and formed a friendship with him that I’ve had for a lot of years. So, it’s sad, sad news to say the least.”
 
WHEN YOU WIN A POLE OR ARE FASTEST IN PRACTICE ON A FRIDAY, DO YOU THINK IT SENDS A MESSAGE TO OTHER TEAMS, OR IT’S DEMORALIZING FOR OTHER TEAMS, BECAUSE THEY KNOW ON FRIDAY THAT YOU GUYS ARE FAST?
“Yeah, I think our Friday speed shows what we’ll have for the weekend maybe more than other cars. So there’s that chance; but at least from my standpoint, every time just before it (the track goes hot), it’s a new opportunity for somebody to be better. And I don’t rule others out based on Friday, knowing that we have two practices on Saturday. Even then, if someone’s close on Saturday in second practice, they can dial themselves in for Sunday. I’m not sure what others think of us, but I really don’t want to count anyone out.”
 
THERE WERE A COUPLE OF ARTICLES EARLIER THIS YEAR COMPARING YOU TO THE CELTICS OR THE YANKEES OR THE CANADIANS IN THEIR HEYDAY. WHAT DO COMPARISONS LIKE THAT MEAN TO YOU?
“I’m very thankful to be recognized like other dominant sports figures and teams. To be honest, that’s what we’re all here to do. I’m just very happy that my hard work and my team’s hard work is all grouped together and we’ve been able to experience that. Not everyone gets to experience it and I’m enjoying it and working hard to maintain it.”
 
ON BRAD KESELOWSKI’S COMMENTS TO THE MEDIA REGARDING RECRUITING MOVES BY HENDRICK AND GIBBS. ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH ANY GUYS THAT YOU HIRED FROM PENSKE OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS?
“He raised up a valid point as far as the Roush aspect of sharing information there. That’s something I hadn’t thought of amongst the Ford umbrella. We are friendly with Childress but it’s not like we open up our database and show them all that we have. So, I get that and understand that, for sure. From a crew member standpoint, we do have a mechanic that came over from Roush last year. The real speed in any race car is within the engineers and the crew chiefs. So, I don’t find a lot of merit in that. I think we picked a guy up from Dodge who is on our engineering staff, but he wasn’t all that close within the race team. I’m not saying that he (Keselowski) doesn’t have a point, but I’m not sure that we benefitted greatly from those situations. I think the real truth in what he’s saying is relative to the Penske-Roush relationship. I fully understand that. I’m sure both sides are protecting something. We’re all racing each other for Chase slots and championships and race wins. So, I get that.”
 
IS THAT JUST A PART OF NASCAR WHERE TEAMS WANT TO HIRE THE BEST EMPLOYEES AND OUTBID EACH OTHER?
“Well, the best employees are under long-term contracts. So, I can’t go get the best Penske guys or Roush guys. They can’t come get the best pit crew guys. That’s just the way it goes. But in every off-season, there’s a lot of people changing guys going to different race shops.  Maybe within their own shops they can’t go up the ladder so they have to go elsewhere to go up the ladder.  I think of Chad (Knaus, crew chief), Chad started at Hendrick.  Went to a few other teams and ended up at DEI (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) then came back.  That is pretty common amongst guys really trying to cut their teeth in the sport.”
 
BEYOND YOURSELF AND CHAD (KNAUS, CREW CHIEF) DO YOU ALREADY HAVE A CONTRACTS WITH YOUR GUYS LIKE RON MALEC (CAR CHIEF)?
“Oh yeah, it’s common in the industry.  Everybody contracts their important people and locks them down as far as they possibly can.”
 
ON GOING TO SONOMA NEXT WEEK
“I’m excited to get out there. It’s a beautiful time of year to be there. I’ve understood the track and have had some good runs there over the past few years and I look forward to going back out and hopefully getting another road course win.”

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Corvette Racing–Jan Magnussen

In His Own Words: Jan Magnussen
Danish star talks ahead of his 10th Le Mans with Corvette Racing
 
LE MANS, France (June 14, 2013) – The 90th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours is quickly approaching with practice and qualifying starting Wednesday. Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen shares his thoughts on his 10th start for the team ahead of the prestigious June 22-23 event.
 
Question: The last time you and Antonio (Garcia) raced, the No. 3 Compuware Corvette ran a perfect race to win at Laguna Seca in the ALMS. Can that carry over to Le Mans?
Jan Magnussen: The most important part of winning at Laguna Seca for us was to make it clear what we needed to do to win. Last year we were so close in the ALMS to winning races with five second-place finishes, and little things got in the way and messed it up completely. What the Laguna win showed is that when we work together and execute perfectly, we can win races. It also was a mental thing for the crew to show that we can do it, especially right before Le Mans. There is a lot of self-confidence on our crew and belief that we can do it. You need to be fast at Le Mans but also perfect. Hopefully we can learn from Laguna. If we aren’t the fastest car on track, we will need to stick to our plan and try to be faultless, which is really, really hard over 24 hours – not to mention four.”
 
Q: Corvette Racing poses a formidable two-car lineup. Is that a huge advantage at Le Mans?
JM: We measure ourselves against the (No. 74) car. They are strong competitors for everyone. Our advantage is that we work together with them, and the two cars work off each other to get faster as a team. At Le Mans that’s much more important – both cars need to be quick. It’s definitely much more of a team effort than in the ALMS. We do push each other a lot. We have to be perfect, just like they do.”
 
Q: Can you take us back to the 2004 race at Le Mans – your first win with Corvette Racing?
JM: At midnight we were leading by a couple minutes when I got taken out by one of the Audis at the Ford Chicane. I limped back to the pits, and the car was heavily damaged. The guys fixed it but we went six laps down. For the next eight hours, we were fighting back and gaining a little on the leaders but six laps was too much. Then with three or four hours left, the leading Prodrive car came in with huge problems and lost the same amount of time in the pits we did. I was getting back in the car at this time, and we came out of the pits together but we were 20 minutes ahead. So the race was back on in a big, big way. It was such a fantastic feeling getting the last briefing by Gary Pratt. Everyone was screaming on the radio when we pulled back out saying, ‘We gotta go! We gotta go!’ Then getting the win was perfect.
 
Q: The contingent of Danish fans at Le Mans is one of the largest at the race each year. How fun is that to see?
JM: To be at Le Mans as a Danish driver is one of the most fantastic things that a Dane can experience. You have to understand that there are more Danish fans at Le Mans than at the biggest Danish race. We don’t have very big race tracks in Denmark. There are years where we have had upwards of 40,000 Danish people at Le Mans. It’s quite a drive! They go there, make a vacation and party out of it. There is no doubt their favorites are on track. You really feel that every place you go.”
 
Q: You are quite fond of Le Mans today, but that wasn’t always the case was it?
JM: “My first Le Mans I have to say was a horrible experience. Our car (a Panoz prototype in 1999) was unreliable. We weren’t that fast. It was the first real long-distance race I had completed in. I have to say after 10 hours, it did not make sense to me. I wondered why we were here. But then I got the chance to drive the car across the line at the end of the race and see all the mechanics and the happiness there. For most people, it is more than a race where you go to win; for most you go there to finish the race and it’s a huge accomplishment to be there at the end of 24 hours. That experience driving the car across the line gave me real respect for Le Mans, and that is when I understood what it was about.”
 

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Tuesday Teleconference–Ryan Newman

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 QUICKEN LOANS CHEVROLET SS, WAS THE GUEST ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT FROM TODAY’S INTERVIEW:  
 
THE MODERATOR:  Ryan, we thank you for joining us today and we wish you the best of luck at Michigan.
 
Welcome to today’s NASCAR conference.  We are joined by Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for Stewart‑Haas Racing. Newman has two wins at Michigan International Speedway, and has two Top‑5 and seven Top‑10 finishes so far in 2013.
 
Ryan, you have two wins at Michigan and three of the last four races you finished inside the Top‑10.  You’re coming off a race where you matched your best finish of 2013 which was a fifth place at Pocono.
 
How are you going to capitalize on the momentum heading into this weekend as we get closer to the Chase?
 
RYAN NEWMAN:  Well, I’m not 100 percent sure, but I know it’s important that we do.  We have ‑‑ aside from Dover, we have had some good runs in the last four races.  And you know, carrying some of that momentum, as well as obviously Tony had a good weekend in Dover, but just keeping the ball rolling.
 
I think that there’s some things that we learned at our Pocono test that we can absolutely carry over from the Pocono race into Indianapolis going back to Pocono, and as well, I think at places like Michigan that are smooth and have similar asphalt and are really fast, as well.
 
So hopefully the things that we’ve learned will help carry us for the most part through some of those things.  It’s all about having a fast race car, especially when you go into a big weekend like we have with the Quicken Loan’s 400 being the sponsor of the race, as well as my race car.
 
So pressure from the outside, but from my side, just doing my job and staying focused and hitting my marks.
Q.  With Father’s Day coming up, can you tell me what your dad has meant to you at the race track and away from the race track?
RYAN NEWMAN:  We don’t have that much time, but it’s special.  Whether it’s Father’s Day or not, it’s special to have that relationship with my dad, and at the same time, to have that relationship with my daughters, and I guess maybe be able to share it to them a little bit more especially on Father’s Day.
 
I think the most memorable, and I think there’s two memorable Father’s Days, in my mind, with respect to my father, and that was the midget race I won in Salem, Indiana, and the Cup race I won Father’s Day weekend in Michigan.  I told him, I said, you know, before I got in the race car, I said: This is the only thing I’m going to try to get you is this victory and there’s no guarantee to and, but know that I’m trying and that’s enough for my dad, because he’s a racer.
 
To have a person who is not just my father, but my friend and somebody who has taught me a large percentage of everything that I’ve known, and at the same time, given me the attitude and the personality that I have, that, whether you like it or not, it’s who I am, and we all go on.
 
So I look forward to Father’s Day weekend now for two reasons, because I still try to win each and every race for my dad, especially Father’s Day weekend, but obviously for my two girls, as well.
Q.  Curious how you think the new car will perform on a road course like Sonoma.
RYAN NEWMAN:  I think it’s safe to say it’s going to be faster.  I don’t know that that means we are going to have more passing or less passing or what the exact situation is going to be.  But faster usually leads to more braking, and more braking usually leads to more heat, and I think it’s definitely going to be a situation where you want to have track position no different than it ever has been at Sonoma.
 
We had a one‑day test, us and Danica actually went to VIR to basically knock the rust off the drivers, try a couple things for the crew chiefs and get the cars ready to make sure everything was good.
 
I feel like on our side, we’ll be competitive and we’ll see what happens.  But the Gen‑6 car has proven to be a faster race car, pretty much every racetrack we’ve been.  Sometimes the weather conditions are not conducive for it, but we are breaking a lot of track records this year.
Q.  What do you think, it’s the 25th anniversary of road course racing and Cup racing at Sonoma; what are your earliest memories of the race in Sonoma each year, watching it on TV, or what are some of your earliest memories of the place?
RYAN NEWMAN:  I guess as an avid NASCAR fan watching something that’s so totally different from a racing standpoint than the ovals.
 
I think it’s just, you know, when you’re a fan looking at it, it’s different than being a race car driver looking at it because a driver, he just drives a race car but I fan, you see the oval side of it and then you go to the road courses and you see ‑‑ like it’s a totally different kind of ‑‑ what are these cars doing, these are for road race cars, not NASCAR stock cars.  It’s just a different perspective of when I was younger than what I have now, is what I’m trying to say.
Q.  Is there a potential of a lot more drivers winning this race these days than there was maybe ten, 15 years ago?
RYAN NEWMAN:  Maybe ten, 15 years ago, yes.  Ten years ago, I think you had a few good drivers, meaning one hand, and then a couple road course ringers that came in and now I think you’ve got, maybe, ten or 15 drivers that are capable of winning.  But I think that goes without saying in all the other racing, as well, not just road courses.
Q.  You mentioned Danica earlier.  What have you seen from her as far as her progression?
RYAN NEWMAN:  As you say, progression or aggression?
Q.  Progression.
RYAN NEWMAN:  I think she’s got great feedback.  I think she understands a little bit more each and every race, each and every opportunity she has to feel the race cars and give the feedback and build that library of feels to be able to relate to how she needs to say it to her crew chief.
 
But I know in our debrief, the one thing that when we talked about this past weekend, is that she just has not really had good track position. Whether it’s a less‑than‑average qualifying run or being stuck in the points, having to start in the back with rain, she’s just ‑‑ she’s kind of fighting a battle of track position right now.  I think if she could get up front and feel her race car in cleaner air, it would make a world of difference to her confidence right now.
Q.  You talked about pressure on the outside with Quicken Loans being the title sponsor of the race, curious if you feel this race is any more important for you in terms of trying to keep them as a sponsor of yours and the future, no matter where you end up racing?
RYAN NEWMAN:  Every race is important with respect to that.  For me, I look at it from this perspective:  If I go out there and do my job as a driver, then I’m protecting my relationship with my sponsor and with my team and everybody else, and the second part of that is, you would think that it would be self‑centered but it’s really not.  If you take care of the one, it takes care of everything else.
 
There’s no pressure from the outside, I think people view it as pressure, but from my perspective it’s an opportunity to do something even greater, to win your own race as a title sponsor and a car sponsor.  I’ve had the opportunity to do it before and haven’t, so I look forward to another opportunity.
Q.  Does it matter, I assume that there’s going to be several executives from Quicken Loans at that race.  Does it matter to perform well at a race that they are physically at, rather than watching maybe on television?
RYAN NEWMAN:  I think it makes a difference to them personally.  You know, results

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Pocono Post Race

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PARTY IN THE POCONOS 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 9, 2013
 
CHEVROLET SS DRIVER JIMMIE JOHNSON DOMINATES AT POCONO
Team Chevy Grabs Four of Top-Five Positions
 
LONG POND, PA. (June 9, 2013) – Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet SS, scored his third win of the season and third win at Pocono Raceway in dominating fashion today.   Johnson closed the deal by leading 128 of the 160 laps in the race, and was untouchable while cruising to his 63rd career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) victory.   He extended his overall lead in the series to 51 points over second place with his ninth top-10 finish of the season.
 
Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS, finished third in today’s event and moved up two spots in the standings to fourth.   This was Earnhardt’s fourth top-five finish of the season and his 10th career top-10 finish at Pocono.  
 
Last week’s race winner, Tony Stewart, posted a solid fourth-place finish in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS and moved up another three spots in the standings to 13th.  His Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Ryan Newman, also had a good run in today’s event and came away with his second top-five finish in fifth in the No. 39 HAAS Automation Chevrolet SS. 
 
Kurt Busch started 20th, but drove to the front and stayed in the hunt all day long before finishing seventh in his No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet SS.  Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet, scored his sixth top-10 finish of the season with a ninth-place finish, putting six Team Chevy drivers in the Top-10.  Busch moved up two positions to 15th in the standings while Harvick maintained his fifth-place point position.
 
Greg Biffle (Ford) was second to round out the top-five finishing order.
 
Next stop on the circuit will be Round 15 at Michigan International Speedway Sunday, June 17th at 1:00 pm ET on TNT, Sirius/XM Channel 90, MRN Radio and

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Pocono Post Race

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PARTY IN THE POCONOS 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JUNE 9, 2013
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET SS – Finished 19 laps down in 36th following a mechanical issue on the opening lap.
WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE CAR?
“We have no idea yet. They (the crew and engineers) have been looking at things but they’re still unsure. I know that when I took off, in second gear, I had no power and it was just vibrating like crazy; and then in third (gear) and fourth.  The faster I went, the worse the vibration was. I came in and they changed a bunch of stuff and went out and was perfectly fine and had a lot of speed.  They changed a lot of things, but nothing was wrong. In looking at everything, it all looked fine. But still, you can’t make up 20 laps at Pocono.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR, NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD
WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED TO GET UP TO BATTLE FOR THE WIN?
“It looked like to me we got beat through turn three pretty bad.  Jimmie (Johnson) was just real fast through there.  We had a great car. Just thank all our sponsors, National Guard and Diet Mountain Dew. The guys did a good job on pit road, and the car had good speed. We held on and had a good run. Want to congratulate Chase Elliott on his (ARCA) win yesterday. That was pretty awesome. That guys has a good future, and just happy to get one in the bank, you know. We’ve been struggling a little bit, and this is a good run for us. We’ll have a good week.”
 
WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM A DAY LIKE THIS CONSIDERING THE PAST FEW WEEKS?
“We have been running good all year just have had some troubles.  It’s good to be able to run good again.  All the fans listening to Dirty Mo Radio tomorrow will be excited and get to talk about something positive.  It’s been a good weekend.  Chase Elliott won yesterday; he has a bright future, excited about that.  Excited to be able to run well we had a good car all weekend, glad we could get a good finish.
 
“Jimmie (Johnson) was much faster in turn three, much faster.  That is where you have to be good.  That is where he was good.  We got to gain a little bit there we know some things we can try to get better before we come back.  We will be back here seems like in a month.  Good race track, good day for the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet team did a good job.”
 
CARRYING A LOT OF MOMENTUM INTO THE TRACK WHERE YOU LAST WON MICHIGAN:
“Yeah, we have been carrying momentum for a good solid year now.  We had better finishes last year; we started the year off this year off really good.  We just had a lot of problems since then and just struggled to get good finishes.  We are all right.  We know what we need to do. Confidence is there all the fans can rest assured we feel like we are on the right track.  We want to get a win man, I could see it right there in front of me today.  Jimmie (Johnson) has been so fast all weekend, but really thought we got close.  If we keep getting close we are going to get one.”
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 5TH
OUTSTANDING TRACK POSITION AND A FIGHT FOR POSITION THOSE LAST LAPS. TALK ABOUT THAT:
“I thought I was going to be in the middle of a Busch (brothers Kurt and Kyle) sandwich there at the end going into Turn 2. But, I have to thank them for giving me a little bit of room. We had an awesome Haas Automation Chevrolet. Thanks to all the fans for coming out today. It is good for the Quicken Loans group with their “Bring it Home Mortgage”. Go to QLRacing.com, and there are five people that get their mortgage paid for a month. And obviously a Bloomin’ Monday for everybody from Outback Steakhouse.”
 
REALLY THE ONLY DRIVER THAT WAS ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH JIMMIE JOHNSON MOST OF THE DAY.  HAVE YOU GUYS FINALLY GOT SOME SPEED IN THE STEWART-HAAS CARS?
“Well we did today there is no doubt about that.  Tony (Stewart) won last week and for him to finish fourth is not so big of a deal, but for us to come off of a DNF (did not finish) and finish fifth I’m proud of the guys.  Strategy worked out to our benefit with the yellows there at the end.  It was a great day for Haas Automation obviously for being in the top-five, but for Quicken Loans and their Bring it Home sweepstakes.  Go to QLRacing.com to find out more about that.  You can get your mortgage paid for a month for free, which is paid for a month.  Good day for Outback as well too, go to Outback tomorrow and get your Bloomin’ Onion.  Just a good rebound day for us.  That is something we definitely needed as a team.  Matt (Borland, crew chief) and the guys did a great job on the strategy.”
 
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/BASS PRO SHOPS – FINISHED 4TH
TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY:
“Really happy with it. We got kind of pinched down there in the tunnel; or not pinched down – we were the one doing the pinching, and got hit in the left rear there and moved up the track, and fell back to 12th and fought back to fourth there with all those restarts there, so pretty happy with that.”
 
ON PROGRESS OF SHR:
“Definitely progress fro sure. It’s one thing if one car runs good, but to have two or all three of us running good shows that we are gaining momentum. It’s not just one team, the whole organization is gaining momentum. Really proud of our group at SHR. The Hendrick engines today were awesome. There’s not doubt of having four of the top-five cars with Hendrick horsepower shows the strength there. Just happy and proud of that effort too.”
 
IMPRESSIVE DAY AND YOU JUST ABOUT SAW EVERYTHING. IN FACT, IT SHOWS ON YOUR LEFT-REAR QUARTER PANEL:
“Yeah, it’s part of racing here at Pocono.  The restarts get tight in spots.  Fell back to 12th there and then battled back to fourth so I’m pretty proud of that.  Proud our group had a good run.  I mean fourth and fifth today is something for our whole organization to be proud of.”
 
WHEN YOU LOOK ON THE PROGRAM ITSELF AND GOING ON TO MICHIGAN ANOTHER INTERMEDIATE RACE TRACK, WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN TREND WISE STARTING BACK TO CHARLOTTE?
“Well, I think that is more of a question for Steve Addington (crew chief) and the engineers.  The good thing is we have confidence of the last three weeks in a row.  Today Hendrick horsepower was huge obviously having four of the top-five cars, proves that the Hendrick engine department really was a factor today for us.  For Ryan (Newman) and I to finish in the top-five that is great for SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing).  Danica (Patrick) got going better too so its improvement all the way through.  For her first time here at Pocono I thought she did pretty well.  We are just gaining on it.  The good thing is all three of us are getting better at the same time.  Really shows the works that SHR is doing.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
ON HIS DOMINANCE TODAY:
“That is the top of my list. I’m sure we’ve had some other really strong races like that, but not in recent memory. What a race car. Not only the car and the handling and the grip that it had, but also the engine and what was under the hood. When I would lean on the throttle, this baby would yard anybody and everybody. Hats off to everybody in every department at Hendrick Motorsports. Big thank you to all the fans for coming out. Big thank you to Sprint for sponsoring our awesome sport here. I can’t go without thanking Lowe’s and Kobalt Tools for their continued dedication to this race team. Then there’s my boys…my guys. They did an awesome job on pit road. Chad (Knaus, crew chief) called a great race. I had a great race car.”
 
ABOUT SAVING FUEL:
“Well, I could tell by his voice that it was needed. There was an urgency
in it. There was a lot of cautions there at the end, which allowed us to do it. I was working on what I could inside the car trying to save fuel.  Once I could get a little gap on those guys and save some fuel. It is never fun stressing about fuel, but today everything worked out, and there was enough to get us to the end.”
 
TAKE US THROUGH THOSE RESTARTS AND HEADING INTO TURN 1:
“I learned a lot racing with Ryan (Newman) on those restarts, and I was able to get the lead each time. So I used that going into the final few times, but there are only so many things you can do down there in the zone. I knew that third place would lag back and try to get a good run on second. I was just hopeful we weren’t three wide getting down into the center of the corner in turn one because I was in a losing situation with that point. Luckily I was able to stay in the throttle and get around those guys on the outside each time.”
 
IS THAT THE BEST CAR YOU HAVE HAD ALL YEAR LONG?
“That is the best car I have had in a long time.  What a race car.  Not only a great race car, but an engine, had fuel mileage and plenty of power.  It was awesome on the straightaways today to be able to do what I wanted around other cars.  Hats off to chassis, aero and the engine shop for this awesome race car.  I’m very happy for Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools to get this car into Victory Lane.  It’s been a long time since I’ve won here and very excited to do it.”
 
SINCE DOVER DOES THIS MAYBE MAKE UP FOR LAST WEEK HAVING THE DOMINANT CAR THERE AND NOT WINNING?
“No, but it’s okay.  It doesn’t make up for much, but we know we are a great race team.  Things won’t keep us down.  We had a great race car today.  Just had a lot of fun that was a lot of fun out there.”
 
TWO THINGS THAT MAY HAVE WORRIED YOU, NUMBER ONE ALL THOSE RESTARTS THAT YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH AND NUMBER TWO THE VIBRATION THAT KEPT COMING BACK THROUGHOUT THE DAY HOW MUCH OF A CONCERN WAS THAT?
“Yeah, it was a concern.  I think we were spinning the left-rear tire on the wheel itself.  It would start vibrating.  I thought it might have been a loose wheel the way it shook in the corners and not on the straights, but it never got any worse.  They were able to diagnosis what that problem was.  Then those restarts there are only so many tricks you have if you play by the rules.  They were figuring out everything I could do in that zone.  Fortunately I was able to get the lead and have clean air again at the end.”
 
CHAD KNAUS, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – WINNING CREW CHIEF
YOU GUYS HAVE HAD SO MUCH SPEED.  WHAT HAVE YOU REALLY FOUND WITH THIS CAR?
“Well it’s been a long process.  I think that we have worked really hard, everybody back at Hendrick Motorsports to try to get these cars running a little bit better.  Just getting accustom to the Gen-6 car has been a bit of a challenge I think for everybody. Track position is so important, but we had a really fast KOBALT Tools Chevrolet today.  I just have to say thanks to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports the chassis shop, the engine shop, gear and transmission.  This track is awesome it puts all the elements of racing together and you really have to be spot on here and the guys did a great job.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET – FINISHED 7TH
ON THE RACE:
“We had a fast car again, ran up front but a mistake on my part on pit road stalled our momentum (overshot pit box Lap 126).  But we battled back with a solid finish.  To win you have to be perfect out there and we weren’t today. But the good news is that we know how to overcome adversity and the more we perform the way we have been the better we’ll get. We’ve made great strides in the past month and need to continue the progression. I don’t see any reason why we can’t.”

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Corvette Racing–Le Mans

Corvette Racing Off to Solid Start in Le Mans
Magnussen fifth, Milner seventh in testing for highly competitive GTE Pro field
 
LE MANS, France (June 9, 2013) – Corvette Racing successfully worked through its testing program Sunday for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The pair of velocity yellow Compuware Corvette C6.Rs completed eight hours of running with no major issues ahead of the world’s most famous endurance race on June 22-23.
 
Jan Magnussen set the team’s best time of 3:59.491 (127.3 mph) in the No. 73 Corvette C6.R to finish fifth in the GTE Pro order. Magnussen, driving with Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor, opened and closed the test in differing conditions. The session began cool and damp, but the track eventually dried in the afternoon when the fastest times were set. The No. 73 Corvette turned a class-high 42 laps in the second session.
 
Meanwhile, Tommy Milner posted the best time in the No. 74 Corvette he shares with Oliver Gavin and Richard Westbrook. Milner’s best effort was a 4:00.319 (126.9 mph). The top six cars in class were separated by less than a second.
 
“Our guys followed the three golden rules today – don’t hit anything, don’t break anything and stay on the race track,” said Doug Fehan, Program Manager for Corvette Racing. “Considering the weather and track conditions, we feel comfortable with where we are in the program. Recording the fastest lap is never our ultimate objective during this test. Our experience at Le Mans has taught us that speed isn’t the single deciding factor. Our goal is simply to be capable of running a competitive pace and keep our time in pit lane to a minimum with great execution on every stop. You meet those objectives and good results will follow.”
 
The next time Corvette Racing takes to the circuit at Le Mans is 4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 19 for free practice and qualifying. Corvette Racing will go for its eighth class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001 at 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 22 with coverage on SPEED. Corvette Racing’s last victory at Le Mans came in 2011.
 
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
You were out early in the wet conditions. It had to be less than ideal.
“It wasn’t so nice out there. The track was right in between were the tires work best. Some parts of the track were dry-ish – not quite dry, but at least there was no spray. But it’s good to see the track again and get into the rhythm. But in those conditions you don’t really learn anything. You just get through the motions. I think that laptime-wise we were quite OK considering the conditions when we were out.”
 
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
How much did the track conditions improve in the afternoon?
“Finally we got to put the slick tires on the car, which was good for us because every single lap you can do in the dry here may be very important toward the race. I know It’s only two hours in dry conditions but we just need to focus on making the most of every single lap we can do. I was the first out on slicks in tricky conditions, which wasn’t maybe the best moment for the track (conditions).  But at least I got to run a bit in the dry. The car felt quite good, as it has been doing during the season. We still need to double-check how it really goes, but so far it’s heading in the right direction.”
 
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R:
Did you enjoy your return to the Corvette and Le Mans?
“It was good to be back in the car for the first time since Sebring, and first time back at this track since last year’s Le Mans. So it was good. This was the first time I did a run in the rain in this car so I learned a few things, but overall we’re learning as much as we can on a day like this. So far so good.”
 
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
Were you satisfied with the test day?
“It was a kind of boring first half of the day. It was good to get some wet weather running since we don’t do that a whole lot on those cars. We got a good feeling for the car in the wet. It was good to get some dry running at the end there and prove some of the bits and pieces we’ve developed over the year. We got some new tires from Michelin to try and see how those worked. It’s nice to have sort of a baseline going into race week. For me it was good. I think I could have gone quite a bit quicker; my in-lap would have been quicker and probably have put us right at the front (note: Milner’s sector 1 and sector 2 times were the fastest of the day for the No. 74 car before he pitted). So the pace is good, and the car is comfortable to drive.”
 
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
The changing weather didn’t do anyone a favor, did it?
“The track was drying out, which was good as it gave us some good data. It looks like we’re there in the ballpark with everybody else so that’s encouraging. But it’s been a frustrating day for everybody; it’s been wet and then it’s been dry again and then wet again. You have one day a year here to test and it was beautiful the week before and it looks like it’s going to be nice next week. It’s frustrating for all but it just so happens that the wet day was today. But the car felt pretty well and things look good for next week.”
 
RICHARD WESTBROOK, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
Do you feel confident for the race after today?
“It’s always good to be back at Le Mans. It was a good test for us but it’s clear the competition has stepped up as it always does in GTE Pro. Just when you think it can’t get any tougher it seems to be getting more competitive. We’ve definitely got our hands full this year, and therefore it’s important we focus on our own job and that’s what we did today. The main thing is the car feels good and drivable for 24 hours. We’ve definitely got a good starting point for race week.”
 

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Indycar–Texas Post Race

Helio Castroneves Captures Fourth Career Win at Texas Motor Speedway to Lead All-Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Top-Five in Firestone 550
 
FT. WORTH (June 8, 2013) – Helio Castroneves made a statement tonight at Texas Motor Speedway.  The No. 3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet IndyCar V6 driver took the lead on lap 97, and never looked back as he held the point for 132 laps on the way to capturing his first victory of the 2013 season and the 28th of his career.
 
Tonight’s win was the fourth trip to Texas Motor Speedway Victory Lane for Castroneves making him the all-time IndyCar winner at the 1.5-mile track. Starting from the sixth position on the 24-car grid for the 228-lap/324-mile race, Castroneves masterfully worked through traffic, and drove a flawless race called by his team owner, Roger Penske.
 
Defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay finished second behind the wheel of the No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, after leading for 35 laps on the way to his fourth podium finish of the season, including one win at Barber Motorsports Park. Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan brought the No. 11 Sunoco “Turbo” KV Racing Technology-SH Racing Chevrolet, to the checkered flag in third to make it an all-Chevrolet podium.
 
In total, Team Chevy drivers of the 2.2 liter V6 twin turbo charged engine swept the top-five finishing positions with Ed Carpenter and Marco Andretti completing the top-five. And, eight of the top-10 finishers were powered by Chevrolet with Will Power, James Hinchcliffe and E.J. Viso finishing seventh, ninth and 10th respectively in the eighth race of the season.
 
“Team Chevy collectively bounced back from last weekend with  a powerful win at the Texas Motor Speedway,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series.  “Helio Castroneves and Team Penske executed a dominant strategy to take the win, followed by four other Team Chevy drivers; Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Ed Carpenter and Marco Andretti.  Congratulations to Helio, the new points leader, for managing his tires and his focus to lead the posse of Chevy Indy V6-powered Dallaras to the checkered flag.  We are proud of our Chevrolet teams and technical partners, and shift our focus now to the race at Milwaukee next weekend.”
 
With the victory, Castroneves extended his points lead to 22 points over fellow Team Chevy driver Andretti.  Hunter-Reay is third in the standings, and Kanaan jumped to fourth.  Chevrolet continues to lead the IZOD IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship Standings.
 
Next on the schedule is the Milwaukee IndyFest at the famed Milwaukee Mile on Saturday, June 15th.  The 250-lap race will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network at 4:00 p.m. ET.
 
 
An Interview with Helio Castroneves, Roger Penske, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan
 
The MODERATOR:  We are joined by the winning team owner, Roger Penske. This is Mr. Penske’s eighth win at Texas Motor Speedway in the IndyCar Series.
 
Roger, if you can talk about your evening and how proud you are of Helio getting his fourth career victory at Texas Motor Speedway.
 
Q. Just talk about tonight’s race, are you surprised ‑‑
 
ROGER PENSKE:  I think it was ‑‑ we knew there was fall‑off going into the races ‑‑   certainly, delivered it today and he’s a great race driver, you don’t win the Indy 500 three times ‑‑
 
Q. Inaudible.
 
ROGER PENSKE:  Well, I think all of us were on edge because we knew we were better ‑‑ we have got great competition with the cars and the engines as close as they are and we have great drivers out there and to me that’s the great thing about the series that we have to make sure everybody understands.
 
It’s a matter of us putting it all together. The key thing here was to have that car be able to run over 200 miles an hour with over 45 or 50 laps on the tires, and Helio was able to do that. I think it was the car setup and obviously his driving ability made the difference.
 
Q. How much fun is it to win at Texas, be in the victory lane?
 
ROGER PENSKE:  I always like ‑‑ Eddie’s (Gossage) funny, I told him, it’s a great place, Bruton (Smith) is one of the greatest promoters. I’ve known Eddie for a long time when he worked with us at Miller and it’s great to see whatever he does here, whatever racing is going on. To me it’s a great place and it’s.
 
Q. Inaudible.
 
ROGER PENSKE:  Obviously take care of the tools in your car to keep the tires underneath ‑‑ quite positive and Helio did a grit job. To me, he should get the credit for it. He drove all night long and coming up on cars that are ten or 15 miles an hour slower and is able to maintain his speed and the distance between the cars behind him. So overall, it was positive.
 
Q. There was a point about the midpoint of the race where Helio ‑‑
 
ROGER PENSKE:  We wanted to get a yellow or something and be able to have a lap or two on most of the field. He was running 200, 201, 202, and then if you looked at the difference between 212 miles an hour, and 200 miles an hour, it’s only 1.2 seconds on the track. So it would take 20 or 30 laps for someone to lap him.
 
So we looked at all that strategy, and, in fact, Helio and I went over it this afternoon before the race. We knew we wanted to run as long as we could and the tires were so good when we took them off the first time, we didn’t have to worry about any cording of tires. The tires were strong all day, so tires were good.
 
We wanted to get to our field ‑‑ a lot of guys came in and made that last stop. Kanaan had to come in, Marco came in, and I think even the car had to come in early one time because the handling had gone away. We just stayed steady the whole time. By running a consistent race, it give him the advantage to be strong at the end.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We are now joined by tonight’s winner, Helio Castroneves, driver of the No. 3 AAA Insurance Chevy, his fourth win at Texas Motor Speedway, first of the season and he’s now the winningest Indy Car driver at Texas Motor Speedway surpassing Sam Hornish, Junior, ninth career.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Don’t bring him back, don’t bring him back, Roger, please.
 
THE MODERATOR:  You’re the points leader and you moved, this is your 28th career
victory, and you are now in sole possession of 12th place on the all‑time win list, breaking the tie with Johnny Rutherford.
 
Talk about your evening tonight. You showed a lot of emotion in victory lane.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Yeah, the AAA boys did a hell of a job. The car was absolutely on rails, and picking up on what Roger said at the end, we discussed ‑‑ Jonathan, my engineer this year, he did a hell of a job putting everything what I was looking for. We started the race, the car was already ‑‑ and then we just try to understand what the track was doing.
 
Most of the managing of the tires during the race ‑‑ any time Roger was telling me, save fuel, go fast; honestly we were running lights‑out. Everything was smooth.
 
And in the end of the day for us, a little bit of an issue with the lights that we had on the pits when we come in, some of the lights wasn’t on because it was daylight. And I wouldn’t see my pit very well, so I had to put my hand up coming in, and on my end coming in was a little bit slow ‑‑ but we were able to have a flawless everything. It was great.
           
And towards the end, to be honest, we had a long ‑‑ Roger telling around 10, 11 seconds and I’m like, okay, I’m just going to manage the tires now, 40 laps to go. So ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ I didn’t know, I saw Tony, I could keep going, but I was thinking more about the long term and not in the shor
t term.
 
So it was saving, it was about five seconds that I understand Hunter‑Reay was behind me and I got a good chance to go and I did it and we opened up a gap and it was just great.
 
Q. Inaudible.
           
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  In the winner’s circle right now but I thought, we had to drive the car and it’s not about ‑‑ and you said it, sometimes it changed the track. But I think with my spotter, we were able to be ahead of the car and he was giving me some tips while I was driving to be honest and it was paying off.
 
So everything we were managing most of the times, the tire and ‑‑ the setup was fantastic. So when you have both this combination and it feels like that …
 
Q. Yesterday in final practice, you came in and hopped out of the car very, very quickly, and spent some time with a member of your crew really, really looking at the right front tire, a pockmark; could you tell us about that conversation and if that had anything to do with your setup tonight and your miraculous win?
           
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Very good observation. Yes, we finished the practice yesterday, we were having some handling problems unfortunately and everybody went back to the truck and ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ that’s why it seems big. Things doesn’t happen like a miracle. You have to work hard, you’ve got to look for details and ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑
 
Q. The last five laps, what’s going through your mind?
           
ROGER PENSKE:  Well, I’ve been around this a long time and been leading with five laps to go, so I never count our chickens. In the end Helio, I just wanted to give him the cars he’s coming up on, and said, let him go by, we just didn’t need to get trapped and get ourselves in trouble.
 
I was just waiting with ten to go and then five to go, and to me, the big move was when he went back by Franchitti, because we let Franchitti go by, there’s no reason wearing the tires out trying to stay ahead of him. I think that was good, and I think his line, he ran high; he could run high, he could run low.
           
One thing, he running ten miles an hour slower, so he came up high speed, he had to be careful. His oval skills, what you saw win at Indy three, times you saw it here tonight. I just wait until the end before I celebrate, and that’s what I did tonight.
 
Q. So much is made about past races and guys going flat out, how different for you was this win tonight?
           
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Very, very different. It was nothing like in the previous years. It was tough. Hardly going flat, only when I took the lead for the first time on the restarts was I able to go flat.
           
Other than that, the entire race was very, very different from the past. As you guys mentioned and as you could see, a lot of cars were going forwards and a lot of cars were going backwards. Because of that, it just changed and you had to be ahead of the game.
 
Setup is important and is a big part of it and very fortunate to have great guys in my crew and to be able to do what I wanted. So that’s one of the reason we were able to be in victory circle today.
 
Q. You talked earlier this week about how you would take seconds and thirds all year long if it meant winning the championship. Do you think that took some pressure off yourself?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  No. Absolutely not. We can’t stop right now, because the championship is still wide open.
 
Like I said, we’ve got to be consistent, but when you have opportunities, and good opportunities like I had in St. Pete, and unfortunately I miss it, you know, you can’t do something like that. But at this point, just got to keep moving on and today we had a phenomenal opportunity, extremely excited and to be in victory circle.
 
Right now, maybe tomorrow still going to celebrate a little bit, but Monday, got to turn the page and focus on the next race.
 
Q. One of the story lines of the whole season is that the ability ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ how much of a relief is it for you to check that box and get that win?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Well, for us, we want to win races. It doesn’t matter at this point who is who. I know the press itself ‑‑ has to write stories and it’s over now, but I don’t feel any pressure.
 
I feel pressure to go out there and perform the best, and when you have the opportunity, you have to go for it. And today, we keep pushing the same button about this, but it’s true, the car was just fantastic, and we were able to do that.
 
Q. Toward the end of the race, yellow came out and TK seemed like he had the fastest lap at that point.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  At the beginning, I saw Marco taking away a little bit when I was fourth or third I think, and I thought, well ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ and I was just taking it easy, when traffic is going to come up ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ race early and seeing Marco running up there. We had, probably we were similar at that point.
 
But I was adjusting the car and the car actually wasn’t bad. I was just waiting for a little bit of an adjustment inside the cockpit trying to make something different there. As soon as I took the lead, I thought, you know, just try to keep going.
 
So next stop, put new tires ‑‑ I didn’t know about Tony to be honest. I saw Tony as soon as I came out of the pits, and he was passing on the outside. And I was about actually to go with him but I decided, just take it easy, because the team told me ‑‑ the lead, and I’m, wow.
 
So I decided not to be involved in that traffic scenario, because there’s still 40 laps to go, so just take it ease‑and see what happens. In the end, it was very good.
 
Q. Inaudible.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Just got to trust in what your car is telling you to do.
 
Q. Do you like the bump in turn two?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  The bump, yes, it’s a little bump. If we can have Eddie to resurface that area it would be fantastic. But if not, it’s just another challenge that we have to face.
 
Q. I watched you last night in practice ‑‑
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  It was difficult, when you go ‑‑ people don’t understand. When you go high, the car changes a little bit of the setup. It change the feeling, and when you go low, you have another one.
 
And that’s where it was very difficult, even for me. But we set up the car that when I do some adjustments, I was able to go high, and then I can move back when I have a low line. It was an interesting scenario.
 
But the car was great. When you have a car like that, running high and low, man, it’s a dream. So, I love it. I just love it.
 
Q. Seemed like Marco got it right when the sun was out and you nailed it when the sun went down. Were you surprised more people didn’t nail the setup?  When you both were hooked up, you were considerably quicker than the rest of the field.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Yeah, at the beginning, it was different, because remember, when we practice, we never practice at night. We always practice in the day, so it becomes very difficult to predict. But the car, I think because the temperature of the car cools down, you don’t have any more downforce with that, the car was just much, much better.
 
And what happens is if you don’t have that kind of dial down, it’s becoming a little push or it’s becoming loose. It’s a very difficult place, there’s no question, it’s a very difficult place. That’s why it’s exciting. Maybe it’s terrible in the beginning but it’s great in the end.
 
Q. After qualifyin
g when your teammates ‑‑ you made a comment about the setup and how ‑‑ did you go get that set up?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Yes. I was a little bit disappointed because I let my engineer decide it, and when I went back, I saw a two and a half mile, one‑and‑a‑half‑mile an hour difference, and I’m like, dude, what did you do. And I found something and I’m like ‑‑ we found something, and I’m like, come on, man, can’t miss this opportunity. But in the end, we use a lot of the information and we applied it.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We are joined by tonight’s second place finisher Ryan Hunter‑Reay, driver of the No. 1 DHL Chevy. It’s his career‑best finish at Texas Motor Speedway, fourth top five of the season and he’s now third in points, 27 points behind Helio. Ryan, talk about your evening.
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  Oh, man, that was interesting. It was a battle (phonetic) out there. It was like, at times, a race against yourself, just to save the tires and keep yourself off the wall. It was just a very challenging race.
           
But the No. 1 DHL Chevy was great all night. We made it better and better. I was searching around for grip, getting into a rhythm, but definitely has the full range of racing here at Texas Motor Speedway from 2008 to now. It’s so difficult to get the package exactly right with the downforce and the tires and the degradation of the tires, and as a series we’re working toward that.
 
I think we’ve nailed it perfectly in the past, and we’ll get it right, for sure. But I don’t know, I didn’t watch the race, but it was sure ‑‑ it was sure a struggle in there for me.
 
TONY KANAAN:  It was exciting from my perspective.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Driver of the No. 11 Sunoco Turbo, Chevy. It’s his eighth top five finish at TMS, third top five of 2013 and 4th now in the standings, 64 back of Helio.
 
TONY KANAAN:  It’s a long night. I think Ryan said it all. It was a difficult race at times. I decided to go off strategy because I was not comfortable with my car towards the end; I didn’t know what ‑‑ guys, I want more tires, give me more tires; well, you’re going to go a lap down.
 
In the end, when I saw Ryan pitting right away, earlier than me and it worked for him, I drove into the pits. But I think unfortunately, I caught more traffic than he did on my out‑laps and that kept me ‑‑ but great result for us. First race that Sunoco came aboard with the Turbo car, so it’s a great result for them; and top five, Chevy, so great result for them, too.
 
So we’ll go back and talk about. It, talk about the package for next year.
 
Like Ryan said, I don’t know what happened behind me but I can tell you that I had my hands full, so comeback and try to make a better package.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Talk about the momentum you have, two oval races, two top‑three finishes, talk about the momentum as you head into a stretch where there are a lot of ovals on the schedule.
 
TONY KANAAN:  Well, I think the races that are coming up are extremely favored for me and this guy right beside me here. We have a pretty good chance and we need to take advantage of that. I think that we haven’t got the handle that we wanted it to have on the speed and road courses, so we need to try to maximize the races right now.
 
We do have a great momentum on the team. It’s extremely tired. I mean, we have a lot to celebrate but also we had a lot of work. So try to keep the boys on their toes and take advantage of the momentum.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Talk about eight winners in nine races, just the competitiveness in the series right now.
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  Yeah, it’s been amazing, any weekend; it could be any driver in this series. Especially the top, I would say, 15 to 20 drivers, any weekend could be theirs, which is a great thing. You go into every race thinking you can win it. There’s not a whole lot or other any series out there that’s like that. It’s great to see all the change‑ups, but I’d like to make a move.
 
Q. Last year, the races coming up on the schedule ‑‑ do you both feel that these races, Pocono, the doubleheader is where we are going to see the championship ‑‑
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  I think it’s going to come down to the end, the last race like it always does. There will probably be three drivers in it this year again for the last race and hopefully we are one of them.
 
Tony and I were on the podium for the next two races last year, and then we have some new challenges. I like Pocono being on the schedule, it’s a new challenge and it will make everybody think, take everybody out of their comfort zone a little bit.
 
But we have doubles at Houston and Toronto, and there’s a lot of curveballs coming at us, so it should be an interesting championship.
 
TONY KANAAN:  I don’t think you’ll see anybody dominating. Obvious, nine race,
eight winners, consistency is going to be the key. I think right now for us, we need to try to maximize, and obviously maximize winning; but if you didn’t, you’ve got to finish in the top five, that’s because what’s going to play down at the end.
 
We have seen a lot of inconsistency. That’s why we have it bunched up the way it is. So I think from now on, people are going to have to start being consistent.
 
Q. And tweaking the package, would it be just a little longer on the tire or just a little more downforce ‑‑
 
TONY KANAAN:  It’s both. I mean, Firestone has a great tire. But you can’t ask everything, for the tires to do everything. So I think it’s a combination of both. More downforce to make the tire less ‑‑
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  Firestone could easily make some tires that we could run around here.
 
TONY KANAAN:  But we don’t want that.
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  They are a big part of our product and the race itself. It needs to be the right combination.
 
TONY KANAAN:  Both. And once we decide the package, the aero package, then we need to go to Firestone, and stay, look, and then we’ll come back here and we do a tire ‑‑ a proper tire test and we try to make a decision. Because you can’t take ‑‑ my tires went off; yeah, well, unfortunately those aren’t only the things ‑‑ it’s not the tire’s fault.
 
This car has plenty of downforce. You need to remember:  We do not want a packed race. That is what we don’t want to have ‑‑ going overboard a little bit. This car is capable of downforce.
 
Q. Inaudible?
 
TONY KANAAN:  No, no, it was bad luck, no. We create our own luck. It was planned. I wanted to have a better tire. The way the race was playing out, I knew that I was not going to win, because of the gap that Helio had at the time.
 
So me and Ryan, we chose a different strategy and again, it worked, definitely worked better for him. He did a better job coming out of the pits. But I knew that it ‑‑ there was two things that I thought. The worst‑case scenario, we are going to finish in the top four, which is that’s what I wanted because the win was going to be very difficult.
 
But, if it had gone yellow, it was going to be a battle between me and this guy, and I probably would have had nothing ‑‑ because of the disparity of the grip of the car, didn’t happen.
 
Q. Which one of you is going to be the favorite?
 
TONY KANAAN:  Give him a hard time ‑‑ there’s plenty of other guys. I think Marco is going to be extremely strong.
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  Helio.
 
TONY KANAAN:  Hell of a battle. You know, you go to the next two tracks, we finished on the podium the last three years; so it’s hard not to think that we are going to have a shot. But, having said that, I’d be very confident at two places one ye
ar to the other and been nowhere, so there’s no guarantee.
 
Q. Tell me what it’s like running at the end of a stint ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ and how hard is it to hold on?
 
TONY KANAAN:  How can I describe that to you more?  Those cars are not made to run at 190 miles an hour. The slower you go, the slower you go, the worse it is.
 
So I don’t think we are describe a feeling, because unless I put you in the two‑seater and give you an example, but it’s extremely uncomfortable. Because here, you’re along for the ride. Things that you know, if you lift, the car is supposed to slow down, not speed up and get closer to the wall.
 
Or, if you turn the steering wheel, the car is supposed to turn, not to go great. And then it goes straight, and all of the sudden hooks up and then it gets loose. I mean, just horrible.
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  The lack of predictability ‑‑ the car gives you a feeling and then it does something different and then ‑‑ I liken this place into dropping into a bowl and comeback out of it. When you don’t have the downforce or the tires, it does not want to get into the corner at all, because you’re going in and the rear ‑‑ so you’re coming around, and then when you’re leaving the banking. The car does not want to come up out of the bank. Once it does, the rear just snaps loose, and I had some major ones, corrections; I’m sure everybody did tonight.
 

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–IndyCar–Texas Post Race

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
FIRESTONE 550
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 8, 2013
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AAA INSURANCE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: IT HAD BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE YOU HAD CLIMBED THAT FENCE.  HOW GOOD DOES IT FEEL TO WIN?
“Oh it’s been great.  I tell you first of all I want to thank AAA, the boys did a hell of a job.  The Hitachi’s guys, SKF, Quicken Loans, Verizon, all of our sponsors, Shell-Pennzoil come on PPG, everyone if I’m forgetting I’m sorry I’ve run out of memory.”
 
HOW WERE YOU GUYS ABLE TO MANAGE THE TIRES SO EFFECTIVELY?
“Jonathan (Diuguid, engineer) did a great job, the Chevy guys did a great job because we were able not only to manage the tires, manage the fuel and it was setup.  We were just doing a lot of homework and it paid off.  Thank God it paid off.  Texas is awesome.  I love this place.”
 
FOURTH WIN HERE AT TEXAS I DON’T KNOW IF I HAVE SEEN YOU THAT EXCITED GETTING OUT OF A RACE CAR:
“I’m excited because it’s a lot of things going on.  Obviously these guys deserve it.  We certainly had a great car.  We just putting nothing wrong out there and that is what we need.  We need small details to make it happen.  We battle for the championship and that is what we need.”
 
YOU SAID IF WE COULD WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP WITHOUT WINNING A RACE THAT WOULD BE GREAT.  COME ON THIS FEELS PRETTY GOOD DOESN’T IT?
“It feels fantastic right now.  We feel great.  We have got to keep going.  Right now I’m going to enjoy this awesome moment.  This is awesome.  I want to thank the Lord as well because man that guy upstairs always keeps looking after me.  So it was great.”
 
YOU LED 132 LAPS.  YESTERDAY WHEN WE TALKED YOU WERE A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED WITH HOW FAST YOUR TEAMMATE WAS.  WHERE DID THE SPEED FROM THIS RACE CAR COME FROM?
“Well we might not of had the speed by ourselves, but we definitely had a consistent speed.  The balance was just absolutely great.  Like I said Jonathan (Diuguid, engineer) and the boys did their homework.  They look after what we need to be done and we done.”
 
ROGER PENSKE, NO. 3 AAA INSURANCE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – WINNING TEAM OWNER
THIS IS A BIG WIN FOR THIS ORGANIZATION ESPECIALLY FOR HELIO CASTRONEVES:
“Well they did a great job.  The guys had a good car for him.  There is no question that he drove the wheels off it.  Terrific, just a terrific day.”
 
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: YOU WERE BEHIND HIM (HELIO CASTRONEVES) BUT YOU JUST COULDN’T GET CLOSE ENOUGH.  HOW MUCH OF A HANDFUL WAS THIS CAR TONIGHT?
“Yeah it was just varying levels of bad just because of how loose it was.  Man, the drivers had to drive it tonight.  That No. 1 DHL Chevy was great.  We made the most of it.  We just lost it there with the yellow when it came out.  Our strategy was such that we needed that yellow not to come out and we had a good shot at winning it today though.  It’s just… man after a long day like that need to down some Sun Drops.  That was interesting.  It was hard to even get by some of the slower traffic.  You were just searching everywhere for grip.  I had so many catches out there that I thought were going into the wall.  Man, even be tough to go to sleep tonight.”
 
A CHAMPION CALIBER KIND OF RUN TONIGHT IN TEXAS:
“Yeah, I’ve got to bring it home on days like today.  I thought we had the car to win there for a bit, but great job to Helio (Castroneves), congratulations it was just light out there.  You had three or four laps to really go full out and then from there you are just pedaling it searching for grip.  I was begging the team to throw me a life jacket.  It was definitely treading water out there today.  It was interesting.  The No. 1 DHL Chevy was great.  Going to down a Sun Drop here and hopefully be able to go to bed at some point.  I’m pretty jacked on adrenaline after that.  I caught the car many times thought it should have gone in the wall.”
 
YOU LED 35 LAPS YOU ARE NOW THIRD IN POINTS JUST 27 BACK.  ARE YOU HAVING THE KIND OF SEASON THAT YOU WANT?
“Yeah, we were third in the points coming in.  Unfortunately the guys that we are fighting Helio (Castroneves) and good job to Marco (Andretti), unfortunate for him. The guys that we are fighting had a good day too.  It’s tough, but so early in the season still and now we are getting ready to get into the string of races where we were pretty strong last year.  We are certainly not expecting to go out and win three straight like we did last year.  We are just expecting to be strong and that is all we can do.”
 
IF THERE WAS ANOTHER CAUTION YOU HAD TWO SETS OF STICKER TIRES.  DO YOU THINK THAT WOULD HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE IF THE CAUTION DID COME OUT?
“I would have been begging them to come in for new Firestones that is for sure.  I mean it was a handful.  I hope it was a good show.  We had a bit less downforce today.  The racing has been awesome this season.  We are going to keep moving on and I think Milwaukee next weekend is going to be an awesome race.  We love going there.  I love that track.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 SUNOCO “TURBO” KV RACING TECHNOLOGY – SH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: “First of all it was a great job by the team and I’m very happy to give Sunoco and Turbo this podium on their first race with us. On our strategy we were actually counting on a yellow toward the end of the race which would have put us in a very, very good position for the win, but I’ll take third place here any day. The next stretch of races should be very good for us. We’re fourth in the championship and we think we can keep up the momentum from the win at Indianapolis going forward.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4th: “I thought we had a shot for a podium finish (3rd) but Tony (Kanaan) had a lot fresher tires (35 laps) at the end.  We will take fourth tonight and we scored some points for the ECR/Fuzzy’s Vodka team.  It was a great night for Chevrolet with a one through five on the scoreboard.  We had a couple of miscues in the pits, one with some debris on the front of the car, and I didn’t hear the guys call me in for the stop.  Overall, those didn’t hurt us.  It was hard out there tonight.  I was racing more car more than the other drivers at times.  I hope the race was good for the national television audience tonight.  This place is one of the toughest oval on the series now.  The cars are a handful here.  But we’ll take the fourth place and move on to Milwaukee next week.”
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5TH: “It’s always easier to be the Monday morning quarterback. I think it worked out for Ryan (Hunter-Reay) – he had a vibration and came in early. He went out, running some quick laps and he didn’t catch a yellow. We tried to do the same thing, we caught the yellow and the RC Cola car ended up a lap down. So, it’s unfortunate and to top it all off the worst guy in the championship fight against me won, but congrats to him (laughter).”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: “It was definitely a good day for the Verizon Chevrolet. I thought we had a car that was good enough to win but unfortunately the car went loose on the last stint to cost us quite a few positions. All in all, it was a productive day with the top-10 finish and obviously a great day for the team with Helio taking the win. He was just on another planet.”
ON HOW THE RACING WAS TODAY: “You were really earning your pay out there today, you really had to driv
e the car. It was great racing.”
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: “At the end of the day, I’m pretty pleased with a top 10; it was a tough night. The whole setup with the new tire and downforce configuration made it tough to drive, the GoDaddy guys gave me a good car, but I think we were a little hampered by track position. Clean air was definitely king today, and starting back where we did, we had to fight in the thick of it a lot more. We ended up stopping it a bit early on the first two stops, and we got both those yellows – just really hurt us. We lost a lap and had to earn it back. If we had managed to have the yellows fall at a better time for us, I think maybe we would have been a bit higher. But it’s so close, it’s so tight, everybody was struggling… we’re just happy to bring it home in one piece.”
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HVM CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH: “Tough race. I think I got an unfair penalty… we had everything to finish in the top three. I’m not very impressed in how this situation was handled, and I feel they penalize certain people for certain things and not others in certain situations. The penalty happened because I hit one of Ryan (Hunter Reay)’s tires during the pit stop, but I just touched it and he came back out in his original position. For me, they made the wrong call. Decisions can affect the sport as we just saw.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO.  6 TRUECAR DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH:
 
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 78 NUCLEAR ENTERGY AREVA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 16TH: “The car was awesome all night and we just kind of got unlucky out there. First of all with the yellow; when it came out we were stuck behind the leader. We fought our way back and then we got a 30-second penalty; I don’t really know why. But, at the end of the day, the car was awesome and I think we could have had an awesome finish. We learned a lot. I think for me it was a really good experience. It was just a lot of fun out there racing and passing people. Big thanks to the team; they did an awesome job the whole week. They gave me a really comfortable car out there, so big thanks to them, Chevrolet and Nuclear Clean Air Energy.”
 
ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH: “Definitely not the initial race I wanted representing the National Guard and Panther Racing. I had really high hopes to go for a win, since we’re out of the championship anyway. We made a bunch of changes before the race, and I think the car was not way off, but one of the stints we put too much wing in, and at the end of the tires we probably should have come in two or three laps before that because we were already very loose. Then on one of the bumps the rear just went, which was unfortunate. Luckily we saved the car, but the truth is the race was still not lost, because sometimes you can get your laps back at a place like this, but with no more yellows we couldn’t make any miracles happen.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 7 MCAFEE DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 20TH:

Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–Will Power Wins the Pole at Texas Motor Speedway

Will Power Wins the Pole at Texas Motor Speedway
Marco Andretti Makes it All-Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Front Row for Firestone 550K
 
FT. WORTH (June 7, 2013) – For the 31st time in his career, Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, has won the pole for an IZOD IndyCar Series race.  With a lap of 219.182 mph, Power topped the leaderboard of 24 drivers making a qualifying attempt for Saturday night’s 228-lap/324-mile/550 kilometer Firestone 550 under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway. 
 
Power’s effort is the fifth time this season that the Chevrolet IndyCar 2.2 liter V6 has powered a Team Chevy driver to the number one starting position.
 
Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, qualified second to make it an all-Bowtie front row.
 
Defending series champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay, turned the third fastest qualifying time behind the wheel of the No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet.
 
“Will Power not only won the pole this afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway, but did so with a breathtaking 2-lap average speed of 219.182 mph which was over 3.4 mph faster than the pole last year,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager for IZOD IndyCar Series.  “Congratulations to Will and Team Penske for setting such a strong benchmark and to Andretti Autosport’s Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay for rounding out the top three fastest qualifying times.  Team Chevy is positioned well for the race tomorrow night under the lights which will require good preparation, focus and tire management to finish on the podium.”
 
E.J. Viso posted the fifth quickest time in the No. 5 Team Venezuela PSVSA CITGO Andretti Autosport Chevrolet. Dario Franchitti completed the top-five qualifiers for the eighth race of the 2013 season.
 
The Firestone 550 is scheduled to start on Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. CT (8:30 p.m. ET) with live television coverage on ABC.