CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
DESERT DIAMOND WEST VALLEY CASINO PHOENIX GRAND PRIX
ISM RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUALIFYING QUOTES
APRIL 6, 2018
DRIVER QUOTES:
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARD’S TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND
YOU WERE THE ONLY DRIVER SO FAR THAT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE COMPLETELY STUCK IN TURN 1. WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT EVERYBODY ELSE DOESN’T?
“Not exactly stuck. No, first I’m not giving away any secrets, but it’s not easy out there. Obviously, conditions are a lot better than it was this morning. I kind of like this morning better because it was make it very challenging. Right now, every car is going to get better. Obviously, track position the sun is coming down it’s going to get faster and faster, but I think we did a really good job considering the conditions. The car was, she was really nice, it was perfect, the No. 22 Menards team did a really good job. I think we’ve got a really good racecar, so I’m excited.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD:
“In practice the track temperatures were really high and we were having massive lifts. During qualifying, the track was just totally different and the car was really stuck. It felt really good. It is just a very different condition because all of the downforce comes from the floor. When the track gets hot, it loses a lot.
“I am hoping tomorrow night we can open a second lane because if that happens, it will make the racing great. Otherwise it is a single line and it makes it tough. So hopefully early on people will go up for a second lane and then it starts rubbering in as the race progresses.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 7TH :
“Yeah, the grip was good. Simon (Pagenaud) and Will (Power) did good laps, but I had a lot of understeer. I think we had a good shot there. We tried to do what we could after practice. We didn’t have the best first practice session, but we’ve got speed in this car. As you can see with Pagenaud and Power, they did a great job. Hopefully, they hold on and we will get a Team Penske pole position here, but just missed it there. (Turn) 3 and 4 were really the worst spot for me, so I think if we get that cleaned up and really focus on our racecar then hopefully tomorrow we can capitalize.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 14 ABC SUPPLY TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 9TH:
“That was a helluva save so instead of talking about qualifying, let’s talk about the save! The car’s in one piece. We were expecting the track to change but it gained more front grip than expected and that’s why we got loose. If it wasn’t for that we would have been a couple tenths quicker and we would have picked up a couple more positions but I don’t think we had a car for the pole. But I’m really proud of my guys, we’ve worked really hard. We’re in the top 10, so we’ll take it and go from there.”
KYLE KAISER, NO. 32 JUNCOS RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 14TH:
“I am very happy with the way my first Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying session went. The Chevy engine was super strong. We rolled out with a ton of power and I was getting used to it. As we got going the track was very different from the practice session earlier, but I felt really great. I personally feel like I may have left a tiny bit on the table not knowing how well the car was going to be during this session. Overall, I’m thrilled, I think we put down a good lap. Now let’s see how the car is during the race tomorrow night.”
SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 21 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15th:
“We’re still struggling a little bit to find the balance we had at the end of the test in February, but we made good improvements in qualifying. However, we’re still looking for more for both Fuzzy’s Vodka cars for tomorrow. It’s going to be a totally different animal during the race, with traffic and long stints on the tires. Phoenix is definitely a new challenge for me but it’s an exciting one!”
MATTEUS LEIST, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 16TH:
“The car is good. The first lap was a bit tough because I didn’t know how the car would be. It’s tough too because it’s my first oval track [in an Indycar]. Practice was tough because the track was so slippery and then we go right into qualifying. The car was better than it was in practice which means we made some progress. I’m looking forward to the race. We have 250 laps and it’s going to be a crazy tough race, probably the most difficult race I’ve ever been in. Hopefully we can get a top 10. Or maybe a top 5.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 18TH: “It was tough out there, for sure! The car had been feeling pretty good, I wasn’t quite expecting to get that loose. I had a pretty big wiggle in Turn 1 on my first lap which probably didn’t help my confidence for the second lap. It’s qualifying though, you just have to adjust the best you can. It’s going to be tough tomorrow night, but I know we’ll be up for the challenge.”
GABBY CHAVES, NO. 88 HARDING GROUP HARDING RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 19TH:
“This qualifying was a big improvement in terms of how the car feels from practice 1, so that is a major positive. We won’t be starting near the front, but at least we get to takeaway that we improved the car and hopefully we can work on it some more during practice and make even more improvements for the race tomorrow!”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 23 TRESIBA CARLIN CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 22ND: “Our qualifying result isn’t where we want to be, but I think we found the direction we need to go after the first practice. Part of it is that the conditions are a little bit easier and everyone is going quicker as the track temps cool down. We didn’t roll off the trucks setup-wise exactly where we wanted to be, so we’re just trying to get the No. 23 Tresiba Chevrolet back to where it needs to be for tonight’s practice. This last practice is going to be really important for getting ready for tomorrow night’s race with the conditions being similar to race conditions. We just have to keep making forward progress and make the car better, because anything can happen over 250 laps.”
MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 21ST: “Short oval qualifying is always a bit hectic – it’s out and within two minutes you’re completely done with qualifying. We went the wrong way with our setup for the first practice and unfortunately we didn’t have enough time between the first practice and qualifying to change it back. We just had to put a bandaid on the car and get it through qualifying. Now we just need to get the No. 59 Gallagher Chevrolet back to where it needs to be to make sure it’s ready for race running, which is really what matters tonight and tomorrow.”