CHEVROLET INDYCAR
INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
POST RACE QUOTES – FULL PACKAGE
May 24, 2015
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – RACE WINNER
YOU HAD TO DO THIS HARD WAY TODAY COMING FROM 30TH. “Yeah, it was fun. Our Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet was good all day. These guys at Team Penske did an amazing job. When I came through the field, I knew I had a good car. That fight there at the end… that was awesome.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW HAVING WON THE INDY 500 FOR THE SECOND TIME? “I don’t know what to say. This is too much! This is what racing in IndyCar is all about – awesome racing all the way down to the wire. It was just awesome. This is what racing and IndyCar is all about.”
ROGER PENSKE, OWNER, VERIZON TEAM PENSKE: I couldn’t believe it. To see those two guys out here… Ganassi was so strong all day long and they had a smart driver in (Scott) Dixon. Our guys stayed in there, and Montoya coming from all the way in the back… I’ll tell you, you give that guy the bit and put it in his mouth – as you know, he doesn’t give up. I’m just so thrilled for everyone who works for us, all the people who support us and all these race fans that here, what a great day.”
THERE HAD TO BE A LITTLE BIT OF NERVES WATCHING YOUR TWO TOP DRIVERS DUKING IT OUT ON THOSE LAST 10 LAPS. “I knew we had two up there. The worry was Dixon and the 83 (Charlie Kimball). At the end of the day, they played fair all day. There was good passing – in and out. All I can say is that we won the race!”
WILL POWER, NO. 1 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: “I was trying to keep the lead because I knew with the heat, the tires were degrading and eventually they wouldn’t be able to get runs. Montoya got a last run and maybe I was a little nice to him into Turn One and lifted. After that – I had set my car up being up front – I got behind and had a lot of push. I got really close to him after Turn 2 but washed out and had to lift. That was the race. It was serious racing and a lot of fun. Full credit to the team for finishing 1-2. They’ve done an amazing job all month. But man… just too much push. That’s all I had. Congrats to Juan. He was very strong all day and had to come through the field. It sucks finishing second. I’ve done that a few times in championships. But it’s the Indy 500. It was a good race and we’ll move on.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 NOVO NORDISK CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: “Well I was hoping they were going to push each other just a little bit too far and end up in the grey and I thought I was in the catbird seat. We just couldn’t capitalize on it and get close enough at the end to be able to make a run at him. But overall, the Novo Nordisk Chevrolet was quick when it needed to be and the guys made it better in the pit stops. They were money on Friday and they were money today.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: “I think we generally had a pretty good restart there. I was just trying to pace it. When I really needed to go, I just couldn’t turn the car. We were fighting a little bit with the car overheating, so we were trying to go over different ignition maps. There was definitely a lot going on. As the laps were counting down I was trying to make something happen. Every time I came to the apex at Turn Two or even Four toward the end, the front just wouldn’t hang on and I had to breathe it. Congrats to Juan. He drove a hell of a race and it was a good comeback from where he came from. Obviously Charlie did a good job too coming up to third. I’m real proud of the Team Target guys. They did a good job all month but unfortunately we came away with fourth.”
IN HINDSIGHT, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ASKED FOR DIFFERENTLY ON THE LAST STOP? “Probably would have gone more front wing or a pressure change or something to get a little more front end. I was OK when I was in second place, but if I dropped to third or fourth, it was keep the car turning middle off, and that’s what caught us out. We’ll come back. The Target team has been strong all year, but this one always hurts.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 SHELL V-POWER NITRO+ TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: “We had several issues today. One was the restarts. Somehow we weren’t able to pull away. I don’t understand because when as soon as everyone was like a freight train behind me. I have to go back and look at the timing. That was really a shame. After that, the car was actually not bad. We had a lot of close calls. The 83 actually put me in the grass and then we had a little issue with the front wing. And I was the one who has the title of biggest blocker. I’m going to have to pass the baton here. Unfortunately when we dropped back, it was just people chopping a lot. It was a very risky situation up to a point. I know there was a good fight in front. It was a good exciting race there, but back there it was absolutely insane. At the end of the day, I’m glad to finish the race because those conditions were unbelievable. Now we have to move on. The Shell V-Power Nitro Plus guys did an amazing job of putting me up front. Unfortunately seventh is the best we could do.”
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 6 PREFERRED FREEZER CFH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH: “It just says everything about this team and our sponsor, Preferred Freezer Services, for bringing us out here and being able to finish well. The CFH Racing boys have been busting their rear ends to get everything sorted out. The conditions could not have been trickier today, the cars were all over today the place. The track got away from us quickly, as expected, with the sun being out. I, along with a lot of other guys, was just hanging on for the first couple of stints. We had some dicing around in the pits, the stops kind of went both ways for us as we got through the race. We caught some timely yellows, caught some guys off strategy, and we ended up with a top ten. I can’t thank all of the guys here enough, Preferred Freezer and the CFH team for giving me a shot again this year. I’m bummed for Ed (Carpenter) that he didn’t get to finish the race out, but all-in-all, given how tough it was out there, I think we can be pleased with where we finished.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 CENTURY 21 CFH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: “Relative to everything that was going on, it was nice to get a solid finish for Century 21. We had them here in 2013 and it just wasn’t the race that we all wanted to have. A top ten is a solid day. We were in the mix there at the end and that’s exciting for us as a group, with everything that we had to go through during the week. I can’t say enough about having teammates like JR (Hildebrand) and Ed (Carpenter), they have really been top notch with helping push the program forward. We struggled a little bit with the conditions. It was hot, greasy, really hard to keep the car underneath you, and we battled that. I can’t ask for a better group than CFH Racing, they’re the hardest working boys out here. We sure showed a lot of heart today and we were at least able to battle all the guys up the top. A top ten is pretty rewarding.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 AVAYA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINIS8HED 10TH: “The car was amazing. I thank Team Penske. It was a great day. The Avaya crew was on it, fantastic pit stops. What a race – we led, we were just cruising behind Dixon, saving fuel. At Lap 170, we knocked our front wing on Dixon and we had to come back in and we were last. We came back up to 10th in 10 laps. That just shows you how good the car was. I’m disappointed, too, but I’m really happy for Juan Pablo and Team Penske. It’s amazing. This team’s incredible.” (On Team Penske): “The cars they give us are just off the charts. They’re comfortable to drive, they’re fast and this team is all about winning. I want to thank Roger (Penske) and Team Cindric for the opportunity.” (On Montoya): “The guy is amazing, especially on ovals. He deserves to win. He came back. I guess he had a little issue at the beginning, he had time to recover. That’s Juan Pablo. He’s so good on those superspeedways. I’m going to have to learn from him a little bit. It’s great to be part of such a great team with such great teammates.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 TEAM HYDROXYCUT KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11TH : “It was a tough day for the Hydroxycut Haus Vaporizer team. I was dreading these conditions because on Monday and Carb Day we saw that we were not on the money when the track temperature went up. Unfortunately, it was 85 degrees and windy today. The track temp got up to 125 degrees, so I just did the best I could. I really struggled on restarts and lost a bunch of positions. That is something I am going to have to work on. The balance wasn’t an issue we just lacked overall grip. I was hoping I could stay at the front and make up a couple of positions at the start of the race, but instead I lost a couple straightaway. However, we stuck it out and almost finished in the top-10, so we will move on from there. Overall, I feel kind of lucky and happy to finish 11th.”
TOWNSEND BELL, NO. 24 THE ROBERT GRAHAM SPECIAL DRYER AND REINBOLD CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14: “That was a wild race in the middle of the field today. I thought there was going to be a couple of big crashes on the back straight. I’m not sure how everyone made it through some of that stuff. At the end, there were people on the grass and in the gray stuff. At the start, I was sure than (Takuma) Sato was going to hit my right rear wheel when he came off the wall. I had to do a big swerve to avoid him. My first stint was pretty shaky as the car was pushing (understeer) badly. But we took on a half-turn of front wing and the Robert Graham Special really came alive. I think I passed like nine cars in the next stint. We really didn’t make too many changes throughout the race after that. The last stint wasn’t the best but our Dreyer & Reinbold – Kingdom Racing crew was spectacular on the last pit stop. In fact, they were outstanding all day in with the pit stops. Overall, the conditions were difficult at the end and we didn’t have the setup to stay in the top-ten. Graham (Rahal) took fifth and I raced with him a lot today. We just were a little light in downforce later in the race. I’m happy to take it to the checkered flag. Just wish we would have finished up further on the scoring pylon.”
SEBASTIEN SAAVEDRA, NO. 17 AFS CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVEROLET, FINISHED 23RD AFTER CONTACT ON LAP 175: “It obviously wasn’t the way we wanted to end our race today but I feel very proud of the job the team has done this month. We didn’t have any issues and we kept fighting and fighting. We had amazing pit stops today as well that gave us great track position for the battle. Once we got the balance of the car right we started moving forward. As far as the accident I think I was the victim of a rookie mistake. The result makes me want to come back and do better even more next time.”
STEFANO COLETTI, NO. 4 KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 25TH AFTER CONTACT ON LAP 175: “We had a pretty difficult start to the race. The No. 4 KVRT car had a lot of understeer in traffic but with each pit stop we were able to make changes and in the end the car started to feel good in the last stint. We were finally able to run in the tow and attempt some passes. With about 25 laps to go, I was coming into turn 4 and the two guys in front of me crashed and hit the wall and I was able to avoid the first one, but not the second. Its unfortunate because I think I could of had a top-15, but that’s the way it ended. I just wanted to finish my first Indy 500 and I didn’t so hopefully I can do better next year.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET – CRASHED AFTER 151 LAPS, FINSIHED 26TH: BEFORE THE LAST STOP, YOU WERE DISCUSSING A QUARTER-TURN OR HALF-TURN…DID THEY MISS IT? “We missed it. Obviously it got really loose and unfortunately we lost it. I can’t thank my guys enough. We were strong all day. It was the last stop and we were going to go for it, and I was going for it. I’d rather get out of the race like this trying than rather just sitting back there. For me, it’s either win or nothing. It doesn’t matter to me, second or third. I feel bad for the sponsors and NTT. All the guys were all here watching us. One thing on a positive note. We proved to the critics that we don’t flip a car every time it crashes. So there you go guys.”
CHIP GANASSI, TEAM OWNER, CHIP GANASSI RACING: “We had just made a downforce change on the car. It looks like something caught him off guard there. He had a little wiggle and couldn’t catch it.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S AWARD WINNING VODKA CFH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 30TH AFTER CONTACT ON LAP 113: “My guess is that there is some fault both ways. Oriol blocked me a little too heavy for that point in the race, he had gotten by me earlier and I certainly didn’t block him as aggressively as that. Once I saw what he was going to do, I was hard on the brakes trying to get out of that situation and not cause a crash for either of us. It doesn’t really matter who’s fault it was, at the end of the day both of our races are over. That was the end of a bad month for me.”
BRYAN CLAUSON, NO. 88 JONATHAN BYRD’S RACING/ CANCER TREATMENT CENTERS OF AMERICA CHEVROLET, FINISHED 31ST AFTER CONTACT ON LAP 61
SAGE KARAM, NO. 8 COMFORT REVOLUTION/BIG MACHINE RECORDS CHEVROLET, FINISHED 32ND AFTER CONTACT ON FIRST LAP: “You know you train all month and you prepare yourself to the fullest for the Indianapolis 500 and you never think it could be cut short like it was today. My crew did a great job giving me a strong car but it’s just frustrating not even getting to Turn 2 before something happens in the biggest race of the year. I was running side by side there with Hunter-Reay and Sato made it three-wide and we made contact and that was all it took today