Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Mid-Ohio Qualifying

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE, LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUALIFYING QUOTES
SATURDAY JULY 30, 2016

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, VERIZON P1 POLE WINNER: ON POLE WITH TRACK RECORD: “I didn’t know about that (new track record). That is good. The PPG car has been really good this weekend. It was more on me really because I have been struggling a little bit with my really bad lower back. They did a lot work on me. We didn’t need to do too much on the car, more on me this weekend. We put those Firestone red tires on and again, the car was beautiful. That was an interesting qualifying. The expectation of rain, no rain. There was some drops in Q2 that made it more difficult. And there at the end I think the strategy was perfect to start Q3.”

WHAT WOULD A WIN HERE MEAN FOR YOU? “That is exactly what we need to do for the championship. It is a long season, so if you can repeat wins like we were doing at the beginning of the season then it would be great to extend the gap. We’ve been just as competitive all year. It has been just an incredible year. A lot of fun for sure.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND: “Yeah, it was just like mayhem, you know, not knowing what tires to use, and everyone went out on reds so we went out and did one lap on blacks and came straight in for reds. It was just a mixed-up session, and it was tiring as hell because you had to run every single lap like — the Fast Six, I took a lap to take a breather. It was crazy.

Yeah, good to start on the front row. Going to be pretty long day, 90 laps around this joint is tough. See what I can do.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD: “It was really exciting, actually. I was nervous in the second round. We were debating new or used reds in the second group, no one really knew it what it was going to do. It looked like it was going to rain, then it didn’t, then it kind of did! We ended up going out on scuffs and I struggled, I couldn’t really get a good lap time on them. We came in and put on new tires and it started raining in Turn 4. I thought ‘Well, we just shot ourselves in the foot!’ The next lap it dried up and I got a good time and got in the Fast 6. We did a pretty decent job and ended 3rd. I feel good about where we are starting, that’s a good spot for us. We should try and challenge the two Penske guys for the whole race. They’ll be tough to beat, they’re really, really good around here on their tires. I think that’s what it’s going to take, kind of like Barber, you have to have good longevity on your tires That’s where we got beat in Barber, so we have got to work on that tomorrow morning. If we can do that, we should have a pretty good day with the Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevy.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 TRESIBA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 6TH: “There was definitely a lot going on out there in qualifying. One of the challenges for us in Group 1 qualifying was going out on a green track. It took a long time for the grip to come in and the Firestone tires to start really working. A lot of people went with two sets of alternates in anticipation of the rain. I thought we might have shot ourselves in the foot a bit going out on used primary and alternate sets and running around 10th or 11th at the time. At the end we took a set of sticker tires and ended up in the 64.40 second range which proved to work. Overall I’m happy with the effort and looking forward to a great race here tomorrow.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 7TH: “We just missed the final round by a little bit. We have to stop doing that. (laughs) Seriously, the Hitachi Chevrolet felt good today. The guys give me a great car every week. They’re the best. It would be great to start a little closer to the front, but we’ll see how the yellows shake out tomorrow during the race. I’m excited and think we’ll be able to make some noise.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 HAWK PERFORMANCRE EAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 8TH: “The Hawk Performance Chevrolet was very strong today and we almost made it to the Fast Six. We would have had it not been for a few wet areas on the course, especially on turn four and five. But we’ll take our starting position and attempt to work our way to the front in tomorrow’s race.”
SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 11TH: ON QUALIFYING: “We waved off our last run and we thought we were going to be safe where we were in the Target car. Obviously there at the end I said the track was getting faster on the radio and they didn’t hear me, so it was just a bit of miscommunication unfortunately. The times just picked up from there when it continued to dry out and that was it. The car has been fast all weekend so it’s disappointing not to get through, but we have a fast race car for tomorrow that’s for sure.”
MAX CHILTON, NO. 8 GALLAGHER CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 13th: “This morning we were looking pretty good with the Gallagher car. The track just changed so much from this morning. I went with Firestone red tires in both runs and we still couldn’t get through. I tried my best that last lap with everything I had and it wasn’t good enough. It was frustrating but considering where we started this morning without testing here I’m happy.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 14TH: “We’ve been working hard and we’ve had a fast NTT DATA Chevy so far this weekend. The car definitely has speed and we know it. I think we took a direction in qualifying and looking back the right direction would have been to take tires. It’s just one of those situations you learn and move on from. I’m confident we’ll have a strong car for the race tomorrow.”

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 TEAM HYDROXYCUT-KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 16th: “Obviously not what the Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing Team wanted or expected in qualifying. I lacked overall grip especially in the rear. Once again, we have a good car on black (primary) tires, but can’t seemed to figure out the red (alternate) tires. We will just have to hit the reset button and see what we can come up with for the race tomorrow.”
SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 19TH: “Obviously today was a tough day, we need to figure out how we can improve qualifying. We at least want stay where we have been in practice instead of losing positions. We’re going to make that the goal for qualifying in Watkins Glen. For tomorrow, we’re going to focus on the race and see what we can do with a different strategy. We have good pace and I know the Fuzzy’s Vodka Rising Star Racing guys will give me good pit stops. I’m excited to see what we can do.”