CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
DRIVERS IN 10TH – 33RD STARTING POSITIONS
DAY TWO QUALIFYING
NOTES AND QUOTES
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS QUALIFIED FOR STARTING POSITIONS 10TH THROUGH 33RD FOR THE 98TH RUNNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500:
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 10TH: “It was good the Verizon car was really really quick. Team Penske did an amazing job. Yesterday we missed it a little bit. We missed the car a little bit where we needed to be. The team did an amazing job today. Still we have a pretty quick car hopefully my guys can learn something for the Fast Nine my teammates Helio (Castroneves) and Will (Power) but I think that will put us in a good spot to start the race.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 11TH: “It was a big improvement from where we were yesterday and I’m happy with our result today. We still have another practice session tomorrow under the new format next week so we’re going to keep working hard to keep the Target cars going in the right direction. The car was really smooth to drive and I think we could have been faster if I hadn’t had to deal with a bit of a crosswind on my run. Overall a better day than yesterday.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 16TH:: “The whole Target Chip Ganassi Racing team did a great job today. They stayed late last night and put the time in to pick us up some more speed today. It was a total team effort today. Again, like I always say, it’s not where you start here at Indianapolis. I started from 12th last year and was a contender and won here, so anything is possible.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 HYDROXYCUT/MISTIC E-CIGS – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 17TH: “I am very happy for the Hydroxycut/Mistic E-Cigs crew. We were desperately trying to get a read on a change we made yesterday, but we didn’t get out, so the guys kept working and did a great job overnight. We made progress. I honestly didn’t think we had that much speed in the car, but I stayed on top of it. I’ll take it. Now it is back to race mode and we have already done a lot of work on that. So we will just go from there.“
TOWNSEND BELL, NO. 6 ROBERT GRAHAM – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 25TH: “We had good balance on the run in the Robert Graham – KV Racing Technology car. I’m just not quite sure why we aren’t putting up the numbers we expected. It was nice to see (teammate Sebastien) Bourdais pick up a lot of speed, so maybe we can learn something there. We will keep rubbing on the car. Race trim wise I am happy with the car, so we are excited to get to race day.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL,, NO. 83 NOVOLOG FLEXPEN CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 26TH: “We’re a little disappointed in the speed we saw today with the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet, but I still have full confidence in my race-day car that my team has given me. I’m really proud of the crew for working hard to find me more speed for today and I think we got some good data that we can use to our advantage for next year’s qualifications. I’m still very confident in what we can do at the Indianapolis 500 with full tanks. Last year I started towards the back of the pack here and spotted the field 100 miles and I still ended up with a top-10 finish. Anything can happen and I’m excited for next Sunday.”
JAMES DAVISON, NO. 33 KV RACING TECHNOLOGY/ALWAYS EVOLVING RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 28TH: “It was fast, but not quite fast enough. We ran our first 229 (mph lap) by ourselves, so that was good. I’m aware that it’s all about the race, so from now on we focus on that and get the car to handle well in traffic. The conditions were perfect today, this is the best the weather has been in quite a few days. Considering how little track time we’ve had, we have to be pleased with the qualifying result. I’m just excited to be here, sporting the Always Evolving colors and looking forward to a good race.”
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 30TH: “I was really hoping for more speed today out of the No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet, but it just didn’t happen. I think we got a little greedy with the downforce and I was sliding all over the place out there. It is what it is and I’m optimistic for Sunday. I’ve felt all week of practice that I have a great race car, so we’ll just get to work switching the car back to race-day setup tonight and get out there and do some work tomorrow during practice.”
SAGE KARAM, NO. 22 COMFORT REVOLUTION/BRANTLEY GILBERT DREYER & REINBOLD KINGDOM RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 31ST: “We went slower than we did yesterday and everyone else was going faster, so it was definitely a frustrating run. We didn’t go out this morning for the warm up, and I think that might have contributed to it. I didn’t have the time to feel the track out, and I think we missed on the set up a bit. But the team has diagnosed the problem and corrected it, so we’re ready to go for tomorrow’s practice. I think we had a better race car than we do a qualifying car anyway, so I’m really looking forward to the race next Sunday. You can win this race from any position really, and that’s the beauty of the event. Everyone is so close on speed, so you know it’s going to be a really good race, and hopefully we can get the No. 22 Comfort Revolution/Brantley Gilbert Chevrolet right in the thick of things. ”
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 17 AFS KV-AFS RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 32ND: “I am disappointed for sure. We did some changes last night which apparently showed on the data we could gain a mile per hour but instead we lost a couple, which hurt us a lot in our qualifying effort. It’s a little more painful because the KV AFS guys have done such a fantastic job, given their lives to this car this last week and to not be able to show all their hard work, is heart breaking. This is just the beginning and we need to focus on the race, which is what matters. I have full faith that we have a great race car…..it doesn’t matter where you start, its where you finish and keeping a cool head and doing the right things will mean we will be upfront and that’s what we need to focus on.”
BUDDY LAZIER, NO. 91 WYNN INSTITUTE FOR VISION RESEARCH CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 33RD: “We’ve had a really short weekend and that’s what has hurt us. We got way behind, but the crew has done a great job considering the limitations, and we’re just working hard. We’re trying to short-cut everything to catch up. These are the best teams in open wheel racing, for oval track racing, by far. You can’t just say let’s skip this practice and just go straight to being quick. There is a lot of learning left to do and we’re learning as quickly as we can. Every time in the car, we’re quicker than the time before. So far, so good.”
