CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
FAST FRIDAY
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
INDIANAPOLIS (May 16, 2014) – Fast Friday was exactly that for the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 teams and drivers at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Inclement weather once again played havoc with track time prior to Saturday’s start to qualifying for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500.
However, Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, made the most out of the 18 minutes of running time turning in the fastest lap of the month, 230.522 mph/39.0418 seconds, to win the $10,000 FE Harding Asphalt Company Fast Friday Lap of the Day Award.
There were four additional Team Chevy drivers who turned fast times that landed them in the top-10 in the order: Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske Chevrolet – 229.843 mph; JR Hildebrand, No. 21 Preferred Freezer Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet – 229.384 mph; Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – 229.205 mph and Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet – 229.0-62 mph.
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.
FASTEST LAP PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
IS THERE ANYTHING LEFT IN THAT THING?
“Well I mean that was a tow lap that wasn’t totally honest there. We will find out tomorrow. I mean I really think it’s going to be close. I think it’s going to come down to a lot like last year the conditions and who gets it right for the conditions on that given run. With tomorrows format and the ability to make multiple attempts without pulling a time and 33 points being available for the quick time I think we could see a lot of attempts just because those points are valuable. 33 points you can only get 40 or 50 for a win. It’s going to be enticing.”
HOW DID THAT LAP FEEL AND WHAT DID YOU THINK?
“It felt good. I mean the cars definitely have the speed this year. I think when it comes to trying to predict what the pole is going to be I think a lot of it is just going to come down to what the weather is. That 230 mph I did today I don’t think that would have happened on a clean track. Obviously I had (Sebastien) Bourdais in front of me for half of the lap. But if it warms up enough and the air gets a little thinner certainly I think 230 mph laps are realistic and even up to 232 or 233 if the weather was right I think.”
IS ANYBODY THAT YOU KNOW OF HAD A CHANGE TO DO A FOUR LAP SIMULATION YET?
“I haven’t I was on the fourth lap when it started raining there. Yesterday when I was trying to do one I caught up to JR (Hildebrand). That is what has been hard. It’s hard compared to years past we had more time to be on track. The way it’s played out with weather and engine mileage and everything else. The limited time we have had the past three days everyone is out there all the time. When you have 25-30 cars on this track even though it is 2.5-miles long it’s nearly impossible to get a clean lap. No one really knows what anyone can really do out of a tow. We do all these no tow reports to filter out laps where people got a tow and right now there are not many people on the list. It’s hard to really know where people are. I know that we feel confident in our speed and hopefully we will be a factor this weekend and be able to have some fun.”
IS QUALIFYING TRIM JUST GUESS WORK OR YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO WITH THE CAR?
“I think for us I feel okay about it. JR (Hildebrand) and I both did a three-lap, well he did four yesterday, I did three yesterday and then he got in four this morning clean. I got in three not clean, but we’ve done enough and trimmed enough that we feel good about where we are. Maybe a few minor tweaks here and there. I think a lot of guys out there this morning we got pretty far trimmed. It looks like the Penske cars got pretty far trimmed, but there are some other cars that still had a ways to go. I would rather be in our position where we have gotten a little further with it than having to be on the other side where maybe you haven’t trimmed as far as you think you need to go for qualifying. You never want the first time that you do it to be in qualifying.”
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO SIT ON THE POLE FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR?
“Even though it wasn’t a lot of track time and I didn’t even run as many laps as I had hoped because we had a couple of issues, but I still feel like we got a lot of work done with the race car. I really feel like we are in a good situation having a second car here this year. If JR (Hildebrand) wasn’t on board and we had this type of weather and everything play out as a single car team I think that we would be further behind. Having the second car here this year we have gotten more work done. I feel good about where things are for the race. It seems like the cars have some speed in them. When you have a chance to make a run at a pole here at Indy you would be crazy not to try for it.”
IS THERE ANY ADVANTAGE IN THE FACT YOU WENT THE FASTEST THEN THE RAIN CAME? IN TERMS OF THE PSYCHE OF THE OTHER COMPETITORS?
“I don’t know. I got 10,000 bucks. You know Helio (Castroneves) went out and worked pretty hard to knock me off yesterday so I’m sure they would have done it again if they worked hard enough at it. Other than that today doesn’t mean anything. Tomorrow is a new day and the weather is going to be different. The team and driver that go out there and get the right combination will be fastest at the end of the day.”
