Will Power Puts Chevrolet IndyCar V6 on the Pole at Auto Club Speedway
Team Chevy Drivers Post Six of Top-10 Fastest Times in Qualifying for Season Finale
 
FONTANA, Calif. (October 18, 2013) – Will Power set the pace during qualifying for the IndyCar Series season finale at Auto Club Speedway. For the third time this season, the driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet IndyCar V6 has won the Verizon P1 Award.
 
Team Chevy drivers posted the four fastest times of the 25 cars qualifying for the 250-lap race on the 2.0-mile track D-shaped track.  Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Auto Club Team Penske Chevrolet, turned in the second fastest time of the day followed by the third Team Penske driver, AJ Allmendinger in the No. 2 IZOD Chevrolet. Sebastien Bourdais, No. 7 McAfee Dragon Racing Chevrolet, was fourth fastest.\
 
Giving Chevrolet IndyCar V6 six of the top-10 fastest were Marco Andretti, No. 25 Dr Pepper Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, in eighth, and Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka/Ed Carpenter Chevrolet turning in the ninth fastest time.
 
The 500-mile race is scheduled to start Saturday at 8:00 p.m., PST with live TV coverage on NBC Sports Network.  Additional live coverage will be provided by IMS Radio Network on XM and Sirius Channels 211 as well as on www.indycar.com live timing and scoring.
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – POLE WINNER:  ” ON WINNING POLE: “As soon as I drove out on the pit lane today, I felt the car was pretty quick in qualifying trim. I thought we had a pretty good shot. The way the order worked out, Scott (Dixon) was after me; I was after Helio (Castroneves), ….it is hard to predict what kind of laps you are going to do anyway, and it would have been nice for Helio to get the point (pole winner gets one point for winning Verizon P1 Award). But Scott didn’t (win the pole) either.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AUTO CLUB TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND: ON QUALIFYING: “Good effort for entire Team Penske. The AAA boys, they did a hell-a-va job putting everything together from this morning.  We had a little issue with the right rear shock. The good news is we found it, and the car was awesome. The car was exactly as we left here (after test)…pretty fast. It was unfortunate that we didn’t have a crystal ball to tell my buddy here (Will Power) to slow down (LAUGHS). But Scott was behind him, so I am glad he went for it. The car was able to do what we needed. It showed we did our homework, and I am proud of those boys.”
 
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD:  “Qualifying third here at Auto Club Speedway is huge. I am a little bit behind in the race car right now so I’m just trying to play catch up. Obviously, it’s a lot different going around here in a Cup car versus an IndyCar so getting used to the corner entry right now for me is the biggest deal. It’s clear that Team Penske has really fast race cars and Chevy has brought a lot of horse power to the table for this weekend. Will (Power) and Helio (Castroneves) have been great teammates to me, as they’ve been all year. They have really helped me get back up to speed. It’s a long race tomorrow and our goal is to be there at the end.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 7 MCAFEE DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 4TH:  “That car was just a little too fast on the right (LAUGHS).  I kinda scared myself on this one (LAUGHS). I convinced myself it was going to alright, but then as I was going through turn one counter steering a little bit, I wasn’t too sure anymore. I am just glad it stayed with me. I am happy for Dragon Racing, McAfee, Variety-TrueCar effort. Thanks to Chevy, we have some real fast cars. Boy it is a great way to finish our relationship. Hopefully we can make it stick, and show we can do it on ovals.”
 
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 DR PEPPER ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 8TH: “It was a big change from Lap One to Lap Two (of qualifying) in the Dr Pepper car, and you just take advantage of the new tire grip and the dropoff was pretty big – we got a little too aggressive. I wouldn’t say it (tire wear) is going to be an issue; I think Firestone did a great job of shaking the race up – it’s going to be a heck of a show.”
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA/ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 9TH:  “We struggled a lot this morning.  The car only ran a few laps that were good and then the car got worse with each lap.  I wasn’t sure if it was me or the car.  It was frustrating.  But when we got the car back in the garage after practice, we found a big problem that caused our troubles.  We had a broken damper (shock). Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try a simulation of our qualifying run.  I know we would have been faster with some additional laps with the proper setup.  I’m just glad we figured out our trouble before qualifying.  Now we can work on our race setup in tonight’s practice.  It’s a long race on Saturday with 500 miles.  We learned how to win last year and we really want to get back to that Fuzzy’s 19th Hole Victory Lane.” 
 
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 11TH: “With the race starting when it does here, the track and temperatures are going to change a lot over the course of the race, and it’s going to be the team that stays on top of that the best, the team that’s there at the end and still in contention to win. For sure if you’re not good at one stage of the race, as long as you’re in the final stint, you can definitely come back from that. I don’t think our qualifying run was quite as quick as it could have been, but a 500-mile race, like I said, you don’t have to start on pole to win this one. We’ll do what we can with the GoDaddy car and hopefully we’ll be there (in the winner’s circle) at the end of 500 miles.”
 
TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 HYDROXYCUT KV RACING TECHNOLOGY – SH RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 12TH: “We went a little aggressive with the setup so I knew the second lap would be slower. It’s a 500-mile race and we have a good race car. Hey, we started 12th at Indy.”
 
CARLOS MUNOZ, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 14TH:  “Yeah, it was really difficult my first time in the IndyCar this morning was really tough; it was completely different from the (Firestone) Indy Lights practice. You have to drive it a lot physically, there are a lot of issues with the conditions, so it’s not always the same especially when the tires were gone. In qualifying, I ran my first lap flat, so I felt like ‘Yeah, I can do it flat,’ but I think I need more miles on the track to get used to it. The other guys tested here before, and I think I’m getting there; we still have one more practice. It’s more experience for me, hopefully for next year, so that’s what I’m focusing on.”
 
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH:    “We have some imbalances we have to work on, but I’ve got great memories of this track from last year and certainly felt the most pressure I’ve ever felt in my life, and I wish I could do it all over again. It’s unfortunate we don’t have it all to put it the DHL Chevy on pole today, but it’s a part of racing. It’s the ebb and flow of the whole sport and I couldn’t be more thankful for the position I’m in. We have a shot to go for it (the championship) again next year, and I certainly believe that we can. We’re going to have some fun (tomorrow); we’re going to work on the car this evening in practice and hopefully make it a bit better. We’re really working on trying to use all lanes – that’s our biggest goal right now. We’re going for it (the win)… it may not be possible, but we’ll try it. I’m sure tomorrow night will be an exciting show.”
ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIE
D 17TH; “Our qualifying run was good and the National Guard Chevy felt as good at it’s felt so far this weekend. The balance and the gears were great, the speed was just a little slower than we thought it would be. But as we know tomorrow is a 500-mile race and we definitely want to give all our partners at the National Guard and Chevrolet a great last race of the season, and we’ve got the car to do that.”
 
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 78 NUCLEAR ENTERGY AREVA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET,  QUALIFIED 21ST: “I was actually looking forward to coming here, which hasn’t really happened for a long time. Usually with the ovals, I was always not quite sure about them. But now I think I’m pretty confident on them for sure, so I’m a bit disappointed that our qualifying run wasn’t great. It seems like when the track got hotter we started picking up a lot of under-steer. We had the same thing happening in the morning session. Maybe that’s actually a good thing for the night race, because usually the car gets a little bit looser at night. I think our race car feels pretty good and the race is what’s important. Wherever we start I think we can be consistent, especially on old tires, and I think that will be the key to the race.