CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
101ST RUNNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY CARB DAY RECAP
MAY 26, 2017
Helio Castroneves recorded the quickest lap during “Carb Day” practice as 15 Chevrolet drivers made final on-track preparations to their race cars for the 101st Indianapolis 500.
Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Chevrolet, posted a lap of 227.377 mph/39.5819 seconds on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval to top the speed chart of the 33 drivers that logged a total of 960 laps during the one-hour session.
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 hum by Verizon team Penske Chevrolet, and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 22 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Team Penske Chevrolet, also were in the top 10.
Castroneves is seeking to capture his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 victory and first since 2009. He will start from the 19th position for the 200-lap race that will be telecast by ABC at noon ET Sunday.
“I think today it was just a great way to finish practice like this, show that we have a good car, a good-balanced car, and we’re going for the big one on Sunday,” Castroneves said.
Verizon IndyCar Series team owner/driver Ed Carpenter, driving the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet, will lead Team Chevy drivers to the green flag of the 500 Mile Race from the middle of the front row.
Will Power and his Team Penske crew on the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet won the Tag Heuer Pit Stop Competition. It is the 17th win for Team Penske.
SELECTED TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES:
CONOR DALY, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET: “Probably our best day on track so far. The car was really good, really stable in traffic. Had a lap going that probably would have put us P1 but we just caught the cars too fast in front of us in Turn 4, so I’m really happy with the car going into the race for sure.”
SAGE KARAM, NO. 24 DRR MECUM AUCTIONS CHEVROLET: “Good practice week. Good month overall so far. It’s good going into the race with no damages or crashes in the month. That’s a big plus. I’m feeling good about the car. It feels the same as it did when we unloaded, so that’s good. Practice felt good today. For some reason, I had less grip than usual. I’m not sure if it’s because of the rain or the tire wear from the Indy Lights cars. A lot of people seemed to struggle with that today as well. But I’m looking forward to Sunday.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET): “It was a typical Carb Day for us, it’s a one-hour session so it’s hard to get much done. It’s easier to mess things up then anything, but I still feel good about the car – there are always things here or there that could be better. Last Monday’s practice, I felt like we were race ready and I still feel that way. We just need things to fall our way and be the type of race we need it to be to have a successful day come Sunday.”
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 PERFERRED FREEZER SERVICES ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET): “Today, we are trying to make some little improvements on what you already have. With a whole week of practice and then a few days off, there are always going to be things that linger and you think about the things that could be a little different. Carb Day is the final chance to feel out how you feel about where you stack up with the cars you think will be around. It was hectic and crazy how it usually is, but we feel pretty good and we are looking forward to race day, where we know anything can happen then.”
CARLOS MUNOZ, NO. 14 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET: ““I’m really happy with the car today, but it’s Indy, you know so one day you feel really good and the next day may not be as good. Hopefully the car stays for us in the race. I’m really happy with my car. I think we made a lot of changes compared to Monday when I wasn’t happy with the car. The feeling of the car was great – my engineers Will and Danieli worked really good. We made some good changes so hopefully we stay like this on Sunday. We just need a little bit more speed, but my sensation is good from Carb Day so we’ll see how we go for the race.”
GABBY CHAVES, NO. 88 HARDING RACING CHEVROLET: “That was our last practice before the Indy 500. The No. 88 Harding Racing car felt okay, there are definitely things that we can improve upon. Now we just sit down and figure out what we can do to put together a winning car for the race.”
ZACH VEACH, NO. 40 INDY WOMEN IN TECH CHAMPIONSHIP AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET: “Wow, that was our last practice session before race day. These last couple weeks have gone by insanely fast. I think that was our best session yet-just focusing on our race car. We finally got everything pretty much covered from our incident last Friday. We just made a lot of progress and I think we have a really good starting point moving forward for the race. That will continue to change as we getting later into the race. We will continue making adjustments every stop. I think we have a great starting point and a great race car. We’ll just have to make a few minor tweaks from here on out.”
SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 11 JUNCOS RACING CHEVROLET: “We’re still looking for some speed. We need to keep working on the balance and trying to get it just right in traffic which is very difficult, but I think we made a little bit of progress today. Obviously, we have more to go so we’ll be studying a lot over the next few days and try to make some good changes for the race. As far as expectations for the race, we just want to hopefully start marching our way up the field a little bit. We want to finish the race and hopefully the last 30 laps we can find ourselves somewhere around the top 10. We’ll see what we have.”
BUDDY LAZIER, NO. 44 LAZIER RACING CHEVROLET: “We have a good race car given we started on Friday and only had about 30 laps going into qualifying. We are happy with where we are but I think we are a lot faster than the time we posted. We were able to do a lot of work today on the no. 44 Chevy and I think we’ll be good. During that run, I had to be a little cautious running behind guys because I had an issue with my brakes. Other than that, I think we are pretty damn good actually.”
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 17 AFS/JUNCOS RACING CHEVROLET: “The No. 17 AFS/Juncos Racing car feels like it took a little bit to get back to where we were Tuesday. I don’t know what happened these last four days. However, we ended the session in a very positive way and getting back to a very comfortable stage. We shall see what’s going to happen Sunday of course. The weather is going to change on us, but so far I feel very good with traffic and there’s going to be plenty of that throughout the race. We’re just going to continue looking through the data from today and go from there.”
An interview with HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 SHELL FUEL REWADS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, who topped the speed chart during the final practice for the Indianapolis 500 with a lap of 227.377 mph/39.5819 seconds:
Q: YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK ON THE CAR. TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW FROM WHAT YOU EXPERIENCED TODAY.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: One year it happened that Chevy wasn’t with their game, I think it was when Dario (Franchitti) won, and they came back. Even 2014 when (Ryan) Hunter-Reay won, they came back and did a great job. So our goal is pretty much the same. Qualifying did not work out the way we wanted. We keep working, digging, obviously finding a way. We’re going to fight extremely hard out there and showing a little bit of speed certainly.
I remember Tony Dungy just before the Super Bowl a couple of years ago or long time ago, when I was there he finished the practice, everybody really pumped, and I think today it was just a great way to finish practice like this, show that we have a good car, a good-balanced car, and we’re going for the big one on Sunday.
Q: So because it’s unusual for you to start so far back, what do you hope to avoid during the first 50 laps or so?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Well, normally you’ve got to check those boxes that we in the past we didn’t have to. We’ve got to pay attention with the people that surround you, make sure that, you know, you control everything on your own, put yourself in a good position so that if somebody makes mistakes, you don’t be part of it. And be patient, obviously, is always a good thing at this place. And, you know, take your time. Obviously when you have a good car like that, you don’t want to rush into things because it’s a long race. That’s probably what we’re going to do.
Interview with winner Will Power and No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet Crew after winning TAG Heuer Pit Stop Competition:
MODERATOR: So, ladies and gentlemen, again this is the winning squad for the traditional pit stop competition. We actually have some stats on that like we have everything else. This is the 17th win for Team Penske, that means one more victory in the pit stop competition at the Indianapolis 500. Now, I suspect Roger is quite well aware of that.
For Matt Jonsson, you joined three other crew chiefs as having won three times. Your distinction is you won with three different teams, which is very interesting. You join Chuck Sprague, Rick Rinaman and Owen Snyder. So congratulations on that, as well.
So one of the things that we do as part of this conference is we pass the microphone along, have the crew members introduce themselves and say your hometown.
MIKE STROUSE: Michael Strouse, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
QUINTON WASHINGTON: Quinton Washington, St. Stephen, South Carolina.
BLAINE HARDY: Blaine Hardy [?] Espa, Georgia.
WILL POWER: Will Power, Toowoomba, Australia.
MATT JONSSON: Matt Jonsson, originally from Sweden.
SHAUN RINAMAN: Shaun Rinaman, Sarasota, Florida.
TREVOR LACASSE: Trevor Lacasse, Gilford, New Hampshire.
JOHN TURPIN: John Turpin, England.
MODERATOR: Matt, I’m going to start with you. Since the time you’ve been here, Team Penske has been here a number of times. I say this every year, and I want you to agree or disagree. This is a competition, and therefore because it is a competition, Mr. Penske expects you to win it.
JONSSON: That’s true. It’s true for us. It’s a lot of fun. We have to thank the Speedway and TAG Heuer and everybody that’s involved that puts this on every year; it’s for the crew. Obviously the driver plays a big role in being on his marks and doing his part of this. It’s great. We’ve got great equipment, obviously. And just like we had down there in the photo shoot, anytime time you can be in the picture with TC and RP, it’s typically a good day. When Kathy (Penske) joins in, it’s even a better day.
MODERATOR: That’s TC, Tim Cindric, of course.
JONSSON: Yes, sir.
MODERATOR: I know for you as a team, Will, one of the things with the Indianapolis 500, and we know it, you can have the best race car in the world, and that race can be lost in the pit area. You’ve got to rely on these individuals to be successful, to reach your goal, and I know it means a lot to you to let them, be the ones who shine for a moment.
POWER: Yeah, absolutely. These guys, all the teams, all the crews on all the cars at Team Penske work very hard in the offseason practicing pit stops, you know, and working out. They’re all fit, and they’re all ready to go. That was an example of four or five perfect pit stops, no mistakes.
You know, when you think about the “500,” that’s what wins races. Mistakes like no mistakes on pit lane, quick pit stops under yellow, and I have absolute faith in these guys every time I pull in the pit box.
MODERATOR: How much pressure do you feel?
POWER: Yeah, I mean when you’re provided with the best guys and the best cars, you really want to perform. You want to get it right. Every time you want to hit your marks for the guys because, if you do, they’re going to give you the best pit stops. It just comes with driving for Penske. You put pressure on doing everything right.
JONSSON: Even golden equipment.
POWER: That’s right.
MODERATOR: As I look back, we can’t help but celebrate the history of this race. Its history is so much a part of Indianapolis, the pageantry and the things that we do at certain times, but there are things that change. And one of the subtle things I think has changed over the years, not just the pit stops but the expectations on guys like their physical fitness level. They’re prepared to do the job and deal with the grind. I’m assuming there’s a fair amount of attention to that, training and all the things that go into making a smooth pit stop.
JONSSON: You’re very right. I mean, that has changed greatly over the last 10 years, I’d say, how much goes into that. Before it was still the mechanics doing it; it still is today. But the difference there is obviously the physical training and much like you’re saying, the time spent at paying attention to that. It’s quite a bit different.
MODERATOR: Sure is. I’ll open it up for questions before we let these guys enjoy the day and the rest of the day.
Q: Given the importance of pit stops in this series because there are so many of them compared to other high-level racing series, when during the year do you put a pit crew together? And what sort of time do you spend per week practicing pit stops and getting to this level of expertise?
JONSSON : It varies with the schedule, obviously depending on how much we’re home and so on to get ready. We spend a great deal of time and to answer the question there, when you pick a pit crew, honestly it’s done per event. You may not be in that spot for the rest of the year if you don’t perform. We do have backup guys. If backup guys start performing better than the ordinary guy, if you so will, there will be a trade-out on that position. But that’s how we go about it.
Q: This question is for Will. Will, you looked at Helio today, fastest in Carb Day practice, you were fast, as well. After qualifying and everything, does that restore some confidence and give you good feelings going into Sunday?
POWER: Yeah, it’s more about the car setup and feeling rather than speed. Obviously you can get a massive tow, honestly, out front, you would be doing 222s. So it’s more about eliminating any setup items that you thought might work or which may not which we got to do. And we weren’t really looking at time charts. Everyone was just ticking the boxes they need to tick, and the final hour of practice because we’ve worked the whole month on the car. If you’re out to lunch and you have to completely change a car, you’re in a bit of trouble. But I feel we’ve been in a great window all month.
MODERATOR: Other questions? Ladies and gentlemen, those of you that can hear me and are paying attention to this podium, we break from normal press room protocol given the fact that somebody is going to win the race, somebody is going to drink the milk and somebody is going to get the wreath put around their shoulder and it’s never the crew guys who did a lot of the work. They’re the ones behind the scenes. This is the one time that we reward them with applause as they have just won a very important competition. Gentlemen, congratulations.
JONSSON: Thank you and thanks for the crowd that came out today.