CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
DAY THREE PRACTICE
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
INDIANAPOLIS (May 12, 2014) – The No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet driven by Juan Pablo Montoya led the way for Chevrolet IndyCar V6 in the third practice session for the Indianapolis 500. The session was scheduled to run from noon to 6:00 p.m., but severe storms produced heavy rain forcing the Verizon IndyCar officials to cancel practice after an hour and a half of on-track activity.
Joining Montoya in the top-10 quickest of the 30 drivers who took time today were Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, and rookie Sage Karam, No. 22 Comfort Revolution/Brantley Gilbert Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom Racing Chevrolet.
Practice resumes tomorrow, Wednesday May 14, 2014 from noon to 6:00 p.m.
Qualifying for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 will begin Saturday, May 17, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. and conclude Sunday, May 18 with the Fast 9 Qualifying beginning at 2:00 p.m. ABC TV will air live coverage of qualifying from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.
DRIVER QUOTES:
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, 3RD IN PRACTICE: “We started today off in a little more of a qualifying setup on the No. 2 Verizon Chevy, just trying to creep up on what we’ll need for this weekend’s pole days. The car felt good and had a lot of speed since it was a more trimmed out. Unfortunately we had an electrical issue and it took us a couple of runs to figure it out, but that’s why I was stopped on the grass. Then the rains came and that was the end of the session. We ran a lot of laps yesterday in preparation for it so it’s nothing major and it gives the guys time to catch up on the car.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, 6TH IN PRACTICE: “Well it ended up being a short day today. We got rained out after about an hour or so of running. We worked again on long runs and race preparation in the Target car. It looked like the weather isn’t going to be much better tomorrow so we’ll just have to sit and wait. Typical May weather for Indianapolis.”
SAGE KARAM, NO. 22 COMFORT REVOLUTION/BRANTLEY GILBERT DREYER & REINBOLD KINGDOM RACING CHEVROLET, 9TH IN PRACTICE: “Today went well. We made some good improvements to the car which allowed me to run in more traffic and in bigger packs of cars. I was able to put up some pretty good times similar to what guys were running yesterday and close to the fast guys today. Getting into the top 10 is a good confidence builder for myself and the team. We’re going to work very hard to tweak the car and get it a bit better for me in traffic so I am more comfortable. Once we that happens, we are going to have a very good car for this month.”
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, 12TH IN PRACTICE: “We didn’t get a lot of on-track time today because of the weather, but I think we still made some really positive strides forward in the laps we did get completed. We were able to make some solid race runs and get the No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet into traffic. We’ll take any time we can get out there, but we’re really hoping that the weather can come around and we can get a full day in on the track soon.”
TOWNSEND BELL, NO. 6 ROBERT GRAHAM – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, 13TH IN PRACTICE:
HELIO CASTRONEVES, No. 3 PENNZOIL ULTRA PLATINUM TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, 14TH IN PRACTICE: “Another great day for the Pennzoil Chevrolet. We did what we needed to do before the rain came in. Now we are just making sure that we are ready to go as soon as the track is open tomorrow. It looks like the weather is going to be hit and miss again, so when the track goes green we will be ready. But we are getting close to qualifying and that is what we are starting to think about.”
TONY KANAAN, NO.10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI CHEVROLET (IN T CAR), 15th IN PRACTICE: “Not a lot on track today unfortunately. We learned a little bit but really didn’t have a chance to go through our run plan like we would have liked to because of the rain.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, 16TH IN PRACTICE: “Even though we didn’t have a lot of on-track time today because of the rain, we were still able to work on some setup changes. There are still some items on our test list that we need to work through and we’re hoping that the weather will clear up this week so we can make those changes. We can’t control or change the weather, especially in Indianapolis in May, but Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing is great at adapting and making the best of the situation that we’re put in. My engineers and I have a lot of confidence in the speed of the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet and we’re just looking forward to getting a full day on track.”
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, 17TH IN PRACTICE: “With raining coming in, we tried to do a bunch of things early today. We have a pretty extensive plan throughout the week, so we really want the track time. Everyone is in the same boat on days like today. We can then sit down and access our current situation with the cars. We just hope that rain doesn’t come back in the few days. It feels great to run with Ed and I am enjoying this team. It is low key and very professional. I hope to expand this program at Ed Carpenter Racing because I really like working with these guys. Some of the them I have worked with in my Indy Lights and IndyCar career. So it is pretty familiar territory for me.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, 18TH IN PRACTICE: “Surprisingly, the weather worked out for us earlier in the day to get enough laps in. It was great to get out there today and the Verizon Penske Chevrolet is running very well and fast. We’re making a lot of progress and, overall, I’m very happy with how the day went.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, 21ST IN PRACTICE: “It is tough when you can’t get a full day of running in at the Speedway. But we expect some rain in May. We just don’t pack everything up immediately too on a day like today. We have to take our cars through tech again and clean up some things so we are ready for qualifying. I felt really good about day one (Sunday). Then day two (Monday) and first part of day three (Tuesday) have been so-so. I think we are better than what the time sheets have shown. You want to be on track as much as possible with the changing conditions at IMS. You don’t want to be surprised on race day.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: No. 11 No. 11 HYDROXYCUT/MISTIC E-CIGS – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, 23RD IN PRACTICE:
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. AFS 17 KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET, 30TH IN PRACTICE: