Rookie Carlos Muñoz Sets Fastest Lap of Week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 16, 2013) – Rookie Carlo Muñoz didn’t let the warmest temperatures of the month slow him down. Rather, the native of Bogata, Colombia posted the fastest lap of the combined six practices held so far for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500. Behind the wheel of the No. 26 Unistraw Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, Muñoz posted a lap of 225.163 m.p.h around the famed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 
Other familiar Team Chevy faces in the top-five of the final speed chart were: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves and E.J. Viso.
 
Joining the top-10 quickest were Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers JR Hildebrand, Ed Carpenter and Oriol Servia.
 
1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier made his first on-track appearance today to bring the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 roster to 17 for this year’s 200-laps/500-mile race. Lazier concluded his “installation” laps today, and will participate in a special 30-minute refresher session on Friday morning.
The final day of practice, Fast Friday, is scheduled to see cars on track from noon to 6:00 p.m. as teams make their final preparations for Pole Day for the Indianapolis 500. Qualifying is set for Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. when, in addition to the pole sitter being crowned; the fastest 24 cars and drivers locked into the field.  NBC Sports Network will broadcast pole qualifying live from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and again from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (Verizon FiOS 90/590, DirecTV 220, DISH 159 and AT&T UVerse 640). In addition, qualifying will be broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 211 and

Tony Kanaan, No. 11 Hydroxycut KV Racing Technology SH Racing Chevrolet, and teammate Simona De Silvestro, No. 78 Nuclear Entergy Areva KV Racing Technology Chevrolet met with members of the media at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Full transcript:
 
 
97th Indianapolis 500 Press Conference
Tony Kanaan and Simona De Silvestro
May 15, 2013
 
            MODERATOR: Welcome to Economaki Press Conference Room with another of our 11:00 o’clock press conferences with two very popular drivers obviously.  Simona De Silvestro is going into race four and Tony Kanaan has been a fan favorite here for a long time.
            TK, welcome back to Indianapolis, as always it’s great to see you.
 
            TONY KANAAN: Thank you.
 
            MODERATOR: Tell us about how things have gone this.
 
            KANAAN: Smooth.  The best field days have been more of a weather challenging as far as being cold and windy, but you know, we’re keeping our head straight with the program that we decide to do, doing some race stuff.  So far so good.  It’s early days to say anything, to predict anything.  I think a lot of the times that we see are being posted on huge draft, so the reality is still not there.
 
            MODERATOR: And that’s fairly obvious, we’ve watched that unfold.
            Simona, I would think for you this has to feel like just a great opportunity for you.  Coming into your fourth 500 with a solid organization behind you.  I can imagine your confidence has got to be pretty good.
 
            SIMONA DE SILVESTRO: Yes, definitely.  Coming here with KV is a very special feeling.  Definitely also having the Chevy engine behind us, it’s going much faster around here so it’s way more fun.  For us it’s been going pretty well.  Going through the motions every day and sticking to our program, going step by step, and that’s been really important.  Working with Tony, too, it’s been a lot of fun, you know, so I feel like as a team we’ve been doing pretty well and going through the motions, and I think it’s the right path right now.
 
            MODERATOR: Tony, I was thinking about this coming in.  Simona’s an accomplished race driver, that’s quite obvious.  But you have been in this sort of position it seems to me a lot occasionally with drivers, sort of taking them through their paces and understanding Indianapolis and the whole cadence of the event, that seems to be a role that you find yourself in a lot.
 
            KANAAN: Yes, I guess they picked the old guy to teach the young kids all the time, I guess that’s what it is. (Laughter)
            It was a role that I got.  Not that I wanted it, but back in the Andretti days, and it’s been following me every since.  I don’t mind at all.  I think if I can contribute to the team’s success, obviously thinking on my own.
            But with Simona, it’s different; it’s definitely a lot of fun.  I think we knew each other before she was my teammate; we got along even before that.  We had a couple accidents in separate occasions, but we caught fire and did similar things that we both went through.  I think, you know, last year she had a very, very tough year, which I appreciate.  I was watching from far, and the way she handled herself was remarkable.  I don’t think I could have done that myself.  You know, so she deserves what I can do and she’s extremely fast, so I got to worry about her.  (Laughter)
 
            MODERATOR: Very good.  Let’s open it up to questions.
 
            Q:  I’ve got a question for both of you.  How’s your hand?
 
            KANAAN: My hand is OK.  It hurts, but I guess — Jimmy Vasser told me in Brazil if I’m going to hurt my hand and go that fast every time he was going to hit the other one. (Laughter)
            It’s hurting, it’s going to take a while it heal.  Here in Indy I’m doing treatment at St. Vincent with the guys, and Dr. Trammell and all the guys are here in town, so I get a chance to see them every day.  But it will take at least eight months to be back to normal.  As long as I can drive — there are a couple things that I can’t do, but it’s not in the car.  (Laughter)
            So my wife will be able to help me out.  Don’t get bad ideas, guys. (Laughter)
            Typical things — but it sound wrong. (Laughter)
            So Simona, how’s your hand?
 
            DE SILVESTRO: Mine are fine.  They have been fine since like a year now so it’s all good.  I don’t have to wear any funky gloves anymore for s, you know, burn or anything, so we’re all good.
 
            MODERATOR: OK.
 
            Q:  Simona, last year was a frustrating season in the Lotus engine.  Is there anything positive that you can take over in 2013 with KV?
 
            DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, I think it is.  Especially here at the Speedway.  Last year was kind of a difficult month but, you know, after I crashed in 2011, I was pretty skeptical about the oval stuff.  Maybe last year actually really helped me kind of not having any pressure, just going through what I had to do, get comfortable out there, and I think that’s really helping me this year because I got this the car, felt confident with what I learned last year, and that’s been kind of pretty rewarding to myself.  You know when you take a big hit like that; it takes a little bit of time to get the confidence back in yourself and in the equipment around you.  So I think actually last year helped me a lot on the ovals, to be honest.
 
            Q:  Question for both of you.  Tony, first off, I’ve heard you say among other drivers that the Speedway picks you, you don’t pick it.  But there’s a lot of fans out there that feel like this place owes you.  How do you feel about that?
 
            KANAAN: I don’t feel this place owes me anything.  I have had great times here.  Although some people would say I’m making an excuse or I’m sounding like — but the experiences that I had which I can only say every time I’ve been here I put myself in the position to win this race.  That’s all I can do.  There’s a man sitting right beside (points to Scott Goodyear) you that knows exactly what I’m saying.
            The way the fans treat me, you know, and the privilege that I have to be here every year.  I’ve led in nine of the eleven tim
es — eight out of the ten times I’ve been here.  So I don’t think it owes me anything.  I love the way the fans think like that, because I think they know how much I work for it.  But it will be really unfair for me to say I deserve to win this thing because there’s other 33 people there looking for that as well.
            So to me the best memories I have, it’s every time I drive my golf cart out there I can hear my name big time.  The year that I started that last, we went all the way to the lead and we ended up finishing 11th because of a strategy at the end.  I got out of the car; the entire place was screaming my name and Dario had won the race.  If I never win this thing, I think I got the feeling like from the people around here how is it to win.  Obviously it will be a lot different if I would have my face on the trophy and stuff like that, but I don’t take it like that, I don’t think it owes anything.
            I am not going to go away years from now if I never win regretting or being a little bit bitter about it.  I mean, I had great time.  My name in IndyCar, it’s a lot bigger right now because of the fans of Indianapolis and because I have not won it yet than actually probably if I had won already.
 
            Q:  Simona, for you, obviously over the years, a slightly smaller brunette was vying to become the first woman to win here.  Realistically, which — where do you place your chances now that you’ve got your best ride, your best opportunity ever and the speed that you’ve attained so far this week.
 
            DE SILVESTRO: I think anybody that qualifies has a chance to win it.  For me it’s always been hard for me to put a result you know as a goal or anything like that.  But I feel like if we really do all the work we need to and be as prepared as we can and get a chance to win it for sure, you know, we’re going to take it.
            But right now, it’s kind of going through every day and kind of not, you know, expecting too many things.  That’s how it went in my rookie year and went really well because I went through the motions and then a pretty good result came out of it.  So now with a better team and a better engine and everything, you know, things can work out.  You know, I’m working hard towards that goal and hopefully it will happen.
 
            Q:  Two questions for you, Tony.  Number one, it was already said, you have much more experience than Simona in IndyCar.  Nevertheless, is there anything you can learn from Simona? And Question No. 2, last year you were driving together with your friend Rubens (Barrichello).  Are you still carrying on to convince him to make a return to IndyCar?
 
            KANAAN: Well, the first question is obviously I definitely can learn a lot from her.  More in the street courses right now because I think I can contribute a lot more to her oval experience.  But we’re exchanging information every day, her feedback, it’s remarkable.  So I think I definitely learn every day with her, and you know, I think it’s a learning process for both of us to understand the way we like cars and how we can migrate from one car to the other.
            The Rubens question is, I don’t think Rubens needed any convincing.  He wanted to do it, but for somebody like him that came from Formula One and the name that I think he brought it a lot to IndyCar by doing the switch, we didn’t do a good job getting him to stay.  When a guy like that put a lot out of his own pocket, almost $5 million to invest in his career after 19 years in Formula One, just because he wanted to keep racing, it was remarkable of him, but to ask him to do it again the following year I don’t think was fair.  Not blaming anybody, it was just a situation that we all face right now with the economy.  You know, it’s pretty hard to everybody.  It’s hard for big names in America already to find a meaningful sponsorship to keep racing.  It was just a matter of trying to put the two and two together and he felt that he couldn’t find that amount of money, got another offer to do stock cars in Brazil down there, and he’s doing some TV.  That was it.  I don’t think it was a choice, just the consequences of the financial situation right now.
 
            MODERATOR: Any questions?
            Let me ask you one, Tony, based on something you just said.  That is, there’s always this balance between what the engineers say the car is and what the driver likes and what the driver wants.  When you’re in a team, you’re the senior member; you give some feedback about what you want.  I don’t mean by age now, Tony, come on. (Laughter)
 
            KANAAN: Can I have a wheelchair? (Laughter)
 
            DE SILVESTRO: Who’s got the gray beard?
            Then you have Simona who’s new on the ovals and she has a feedback about what she feels or like.  How does the team work that out? How does that all sort of get dissected and understood?
 
            KANAAN: I would say me my engineer, as you call me, I’m an older man.  He doesn’t fool me anymore.  He will do what I say because I have been around.  Simona actually, when we find stuff that I don’t want to try.  I said, she doesn’t know any better. (Laughter)
            Let her do a couple laps, and if it works give it back to me.  I had that in the past with Zanardi, I remember, I used to ask Alex all the time, why do I try all those things? Because I don’t want to.  (Laughter)
 
            DE SILVESTRO: Simona that’s still going on.  (Laughter)
 
            KANAAN: That’s the difference.  When you’ve been around a lot, there’s things or days you say I’m not running today and you can see the rookie going, oh, I want to do it.  I want to go out.  You know.  All right.
            Like today, I can’t get into much details but we had a decision to make last night about setups and stuff.  And the young lady picked — there is stuff I didn’t want to do.
 
            MODERATOR: So you understand, Simona, he’s the senior member of the team.
 
            DE SILVESTRO: Yeah, he is.  I tell him sometimes and I always get in trouble for it.
 
            KANAAN: And she understood last night when she was on her way home what happened to her car, so she knows.
 
 
            DE SILVESTRO: Everybody kept asking me if I got pranked by Tony yet and until yesterday I was fine.
 
            KANAAN: You still haven’t.  Just the beginning.
 
           
DE SILVESTRO: Well, a little bit.  I tried to get in my car and I think he put all kinds of like — well, I don’t even know what it was.
 
            KANAAN: It was grease.
 
            DE SILVESTRO: Grease on my door handle.  I almost fell over when I tried to get in my car.  (Laughter)
              I told him thanks and he was, like, you’re welcome.
 
            KANAAN: I was going to leave you a note and a couple napkins so you could clean your hand.
 
            DE SILVESTRO: I had to do the walk of shame back to the truck and get some napkins and clean my door handle.
 
            MODERATOR: That’s what senior guys do.
 
            DE SILVESTRO: It is.  I think they have to try the difficult stuff –
 
            KANAAN: Should we tell about today?
 
            DE SILVESTRO: Oh, yes.  No.  I wasn’t even — I didn’t even know about this until he threw me under the bus.
 
            KANAAN: That’s not true.  Anyway, we want to find Simona a boyfriend.
 
            DE SILVESTRO: We don’t but apparently Tony is convinced.
 
            KANAAN: I want to go to dinner with me, my wife, you and your boyfriend.  So I launch on Twitter that people could send me pictures and their phone numbers and we’re going to pick the top five. (Laughter)
            But she’s not going to know them.  Me, my engineers and her engineer will pick the guy and I’m going to take them to dinner and she’s going to meet him.
 
            DE SILVESTRO: Great.
 
            KANAAN: And if she’s nice enough and he’s nice enough, she is going to come to the banquet with him on Monday night next week.
 
 
            DE SILVESTRO: He planned all this, I had nothing to do with it.  I just got dragged into it somehow.
 
            MODERATOR: We’re going to look at all the data, telemetry; we’re going to make the appropriate decision.
 
            KANAAN: We might get a new sponsor.  Maybe he has a lot of money.
 
            DE SILVESTRO: That won’t be bad. (Laughter)
 
            MODERATOR: Well, we need some updates on this one.
 
            KANAAN: Don’t worry, you’ll get it.
 
            MODERATOR: Other questions for these two? Thanks a lot.
 

Team Chevy Drivers Continue to Show Speed in Practice for Indianapolis 500 as James Hinchcliffe Takes Turn as Fastest of the Day
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 14, 2013) – Changing track conditions with higher temperatures, and stronger wind did not deter Team Chevy drivers from making use of every valuable minute of track time today as qualifying for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 inches closer.
 
James Hinchcliffe, behind the wheel of the No.25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet normally piloted by Marco Andretti, set the fast lap of the day at 224.210 m.p.h.
 
Hinchcliffe was followed closely by fellow Chevrolet IndyCar V6 powered driver JR Hildebrand in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet. Andretti, was third quick of the day back in his No. 25 Chevrolet.
 
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske Chevrolet was fourth on the speed charts followed by defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet who put up the fifth fastest speed of the day.
 
In all, nine Team Chevy drivers occupied the top-10 fastest at the end of Practice Session Four with E.J. Viso, Carlos Munoz, Oriol Servia and A.J. Allmendinger all turning in strong laps.
 
Pole Day for the Indianapolis 500 is set for Saturday, May 18, 2013 when not only will the pole sitter be crowned, but also the fastest 24 cars and drivers locked into the field.
 
Practice will continue Wednesday, May 15, 2013, from noon to 6:00 p.m. EDT.
 
CHEVROLET DRIVER QUOTES – PRACTICE DAY THREE:
 
POST PRACTICE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET:
 
TALK ABOUT THE SPEED ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HAS HAD OVER THE SEVERAL DAYS OF PRACTICE:
 
HINCHCLIFFE: “I guess we are good at playing tow wars.  It is what it is.  Every day you get guys going out there and getting a little bit of I don’t know… did you genuinely do a 223?”
HILDEBRAND: “Of course.”
HINCHCLIFFE: “So, now I’m a little nervous because Marco’s (Andretti) angry not only did I like rock the big tow, which he is famous for, I did it in his car.  Marco ‘Towdretti’ is a little upset with me right now (laughs).  No, obviously it’s going to be up there, but at the end of the day those numbers don’t mean a lot right now.  It’s about the work you do on the race car and making sure that you are going to be good not over one lap, but over 200 in a couple of weeks.”
 
THERE IS BIG MONEY AND PRESTIGE OF WINNING THE POLE. THAT IS IMPORTANT, BUT I WILL SAY THIS EDDIE CHEEVER USED TO ALWAYS SAY ‘WHY SHOULDN’T WE PRACTICE LIKE WE RACE?’  WHEN YOU RACE YOU ARE IN TOWS SO THAT STILL SEEMS TO BE PRETTY IMPORTANT:

HILDEBRAND: “Well, I think especially with qualifying sort of Friday/Saturday situation with added boosts and blah, blah, blah being the way that it is.  I think that is why you see a lot of that over these first few days.  Besides just generally making the car better and kind of trying to go into Thursday/Friday with some idea of what is going to happen when you qualify it all totally changes.  We basically spent the entire day just trying to run around in some form of traffic.  Not trying to put big laps up, but just trying to understand how the car works behind, one car, two cars, three cars, four cars and different speeds of cars. It was nice for us at the end of the day to kind of be able to join in the midst of the Andretti tow battle that goes on daily.  At some point because at the end of the day you want to figure out how your car is kind of going to work with other cars that you think you might be able to race with. That is where a lot of the speed comes from.  That is where the focus I think generally is going to be.  You saw a lot of it yesterday, today and probably mostly tomorrow.”
 
WHEN YOU RUN SO MANY LAPS OUT THERE IN RACE SIMULATION YOU ARE ONLY ALLOWED 32 SETS OF TIRES FOR THE MONTH OR 33.  HOW DO YOU MANAGE ALL THAT?

HINCHCLIFFE: “We work backwards at the start of the month.  We set aside what we need for the race.  We set aside what you need for qualifying day and bump day depending on because you don’t know how your weekend is going to go.  You can’t assume anything.  I think that is why you see normally everybody kind of goes out at the end of the day and does one full run, maybe two if you have budgeted two that day.  It kind of works out to one or two sets for the end of the day for that kind of thing.  You try and do it in the most realistic conditions for what you think race day is going to be.  Obviously, today is the hottest day that we’ve had which was good.  We needed to get a hot, nasty, slick race track and we are starting to get that.  We don’t know what it’s going to do on race day yet.  We have obviously done some running in the cooler weather now.  If we do some running and can work on the car in the hot weather then we can be prepared for whatever Memorial Day throws at us.”
HILDEBRAND: “I would say the same thing.  You look at what your tire budget basically is.  The time of the month you eat up the most tires is when you are getting ready for qualifying because you are not running a set of tires for more than a run or maybe two at the maximum.  I think depending on what the conditions are like and how fast we are actually going on Friday and Saturday is probably just going to be one run per set of tire type of thing.  Days like today where you are doing a lot of race running you are actually not, even though there is a lot of laps being spent you are not really going through more tires than you would be on a standard day.”
 
SO IF YOU FIGURE 12 SETS FOR THE RACE AND THEN ANOTHER 7/8 YOU WOULD FIGURE ON BUMP AND POLE DAY.  SO THAT LEAVES WHAT 13 SETS THAT YOU CAN KIND OF GO OUT THERE AND BURN UP DURING THIS WEEK?

HILDEBRAND: “Yeah, I mean you are sort of looking through like 12 to 15 sets of tires that you use at some point for some reason.  You try to hang on to some if you think that you can obviously.  Yeah, it also depends on where there is kind of … it’s not a game, but there is a bit of a mix of where people are at on engine mileage and so that plays some role into how many laps you are actually trying to do or not.  I would imagine, for teams that have multiple cars they are probably all slightly different on mileage and that is a big piece of how you play it for sure.”
HINCHCLIFFE: “Yeah, exactly right.  The engine mileage certainly plays a role and if you have a really bad change that means you have to go back to the garage and change your run plan for a day.  It means the next day you have an extra set of tires.  It’s kind of a fluid situation, but call it two sets a day plus or minus depending on how your program is going.”
 
ALL THE STUFF YOU ARE TRYING DURING THE PRACTICE RUNS HOW MUCH IS THIS RELATED TO THE WEATHER?  LET’S SAY DURING QUALIFYING OR RACE IT WILL BE EXTREMELY COOLER OR HOTTER CAN YOU THROW EVERYTHING AWAY AND START WITH ZERO AGAIN?

HINCHCLIFFE: “I guess, kind of yeah, unfortunately this track is a cruel mistress and she is very temperamental and very sensitive to weather.  Obviously, we have been battling a lot of windy conditions on top of the varying temperatures which definitely throws a bit of a curve ball.  I mean today was a completely different direction.  It’s pretty nerve racking.  That is where I think experience comes into it.  Not only on the driver’s side, but on the team side because the teams that have a massive book of data from tons of years and lots of different cars you can look at trends in weather and what the track does.  I think
that goes certainly a long way and maybe the teams with a bit more experience will be better suited for qualifying day if all of a sudden the conditions are vastly different.”
HILDEBRAND: “Yeah, when you look at it, when you talk about weather, you talk about basically the wind is kind of a factor that you can’t account for much one way or the other.  Besides gearing strategy you are not making set up changes based on it being windy or not.  Otherwise in terms of how hot it is you are looking at track temperature.  A day like today it definitely started getting a little greasy out there.  The track was feeling a little bit slicker particularly in (turns) one and two.  Otherwise the big angle is how hot it is changes the air densities that changes what kind of downforce and drag you are looking at.  That is something that at the end of the day we have a lot of data about what different temperatures how that relates to how much downforce the car should be making when we go back out.  You saw a lot of teams when it was colder out doing their race runs with a lot less wing in the car and things like that.  That is to try to simulate the downforce that you would be making if it gets hotter out with more wing in it.  Those are all things that at the end of the day they are just estimates on how the car is going to feel.  Our engineers would like to tell us I think that they are totally dialed in and feel great.”
 
WHAT WEATHER WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE PERSONALLY?  HOT OR COLD OR MEDIUM TEMPERATURE WISE?
 
HILDEBRAND: “I don’t know I would prefer like a nice kind of 70 degree day.”
HINCHCLIFFE: “Yeah that would be nice.  70-74 degrees, a little breeze, some cloud cover, but nothing, generally sunny.  Partly cloudy I guess.”
HILDEBRAND: “Winds down the straights not down the short shoots.”
HINCHCLIFFE: “Yeah.”
 
WHEN YOU GUYS ARE IN THE TOW THIS YEAR IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CLOSING RATE NOW THAT YOU HAVE A YEAR UNDER YOUR BELT WITH THE CAR THIS YEAR COMPARED TO LAST YEAR?

HILDEBRAND: “To be honest with you it is very difficult to tell until you are actually in the race to really know what is going on.  I mean I know last year… because you are dealing with, you are rarely in a group of cars that is the like speed that you are going to be at.  When you are running around in practice there are a couple of cars in front of you that are a mile and hour and a half slower than you.  Then there is somebody that is a lot faster than you.  That creates kind of weird situation to figure out how the draft is going to work.  I think the fact that the speeds generally are a little bit faster will make the race better.  It will be less of kind of like musical chairs.  You know you can’t pull away, all that kind of stuff.  It will be more of a real race at that point and less of a kind of lottery up at the front of the pack.  But, like I said, we don’t really know that until we get to race day. I thought the cars all around watching you guys running around in a draft ourselves.  I think they feel pretty racy which is nice and it gives the driver something to kind of work on as far as how to make it work at one end of the track or the other.”     
HINCHCLIFFE: “Yeah, I think maybe compared to, I know when we first got our hands on these things here last year we were talking about quicker closing rates than the old car.  I think part of that fast forward a year right now I think guys are running at much lower downforce levels than we were at this time last year.  Just because we didn’t know the car yet, we were kind of building up to it.  So when you are running around with a bunch of drag, yeah sure, the closing rates are a lot higher.  I completely agree with JR (Hildebrand) that it’s going to be a lot less kind of the musical chairs approach and good cars are going to find their way to the front.  Those are going to be very easily identifiable I think on Sunday.”
 
ARE YOU GUYS FIGURING NOBODY IS GOING TO REALLY BE TRYING QUALIFYING RUNS OR QUALIFYING SIMS UNTIL FRIDAY?
 
HINCHCLIFFE: “Thursday/Friday you know it’s one of those things.  Like JR (Hildebrand) says when you are running at that trim you can really only do one run safely on a set of tires, maybe two.  So, I think Thursday you will see the first run on every set of tires be a qualifying simulation.  Then go back to your race set up and pan around for the rest of the life of the tires and repeat.  Obviously, until we get the engine modifications nobody is really testing the actual limits yet.  That is kind of the only time it makes sense to really go for it.”
 
BACK UNDER THE OLD SCHEDULE WHEN IT WAS TWO WEEKS OF PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING IT’S ALMOST LIKE WHAT EVERYBODY WOULD DO THE SECOND WEEK THEN WHICH WOULD BE RACE RUNS THEY ARE NOW DOING MOST OF THIS WEEK BEFORE QUALIFYING.  IS THAT PRETTY MUCH THE WAY IT SEEMS TO YOU GUYS?
 
HILDEBRAND: “Yeah, I think basically at some point you kind of start to trim and figure out what the car, what the tendency of the car is going to be.  Last year frankly, I didn’t think that with the boost increase that didn’t drastically change the way that the car worked.  We were still basically at maximum trim level before we had the extra boost and then afterwards.  Depending on how much faster the cars go we might cross over that threshold.  Certainly at some point we will.  If we roll out and the cars will go 230 (m.p.h.) certainly that changes the situation.  But, to your point we basically just won’t know that until Friday.  I don’t think that anybody will spend too much time being overly concerned with it until then.”
 
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “I think today went well. I’m quite pleased with how things are going for us so far. Working with the car in the heat of the day can be challenging, but we made a lot of progress to get where we are. We are going to continue to look at things and try to be faster by race day.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO 3 SHELL V-POWER PENNZOIL ULTRA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: ON PRACTICE: “It was another good day today for the Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Chevrolet, we feel we’ve identified the places where we can improve and so now we have to continue working. Finishing near the top yesterday and today shows we hopefully have the consistency that it takes to win the race in the end.”
 
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE:  “It’s certainly getting interesting now with the heat and the wind. Conditions are changing every day so it’s keeping the team on our toes, and we’re just trying a lot of different settings now. We have five cars so we have a lot of options and, I think, as we work through the week we’ll work ourselves into a good car. But it’s a work in progress.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: ON PRACTICE: “We put in another steady day of work on the Verizon Chevrolet. We feel as though we are making progress on our set-up. It was a good day at the office and definitely a beautiful day here at Indy. Hopefully we get more of the same tomorrow.”
 
CARLOS MUÑOZ, NO. 26 UNISTRAW ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “It was another good day of practicing a few different race simulations; I learned a lot on each of them. The conditions were hotter today then that last few practice sessions, so I had to adjust with each of the new tests. The track had a lot less grip, but that is something we need to keep working on in the upcoming days. There are still a lot of days left to figure out which run is going to work, but my team is working really hard to find the best one. I’m feeling more and more comfortable with the No. 26 Unist
raw Chevy, and I think our team is doing a good job, but we need to take it day-by-day. Each time I go out on-track I’m gaining more confidence, especially on the race runs with my teammates and other drivers.”
 
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HVM CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Very long day for me today; I completed 134 laps – it’s enough to get the engine swapped. Anyways, it was a very good, productive day. We went through some tests…which we found some good answers. We did a couple of long runs with the rest of the Andretti Autosport guys, and we are still finding new answers every time we go on a run together. Today was a little bit hotter than the other days, and the weather predictions say that race day is going to be even a bit hotter than today. So I think the running that we did today was pretty productive to gather some data.”
 
A.J. ALLMENDINGER, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:  ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Today was the first day it has been warm outside which was something I had not experienced yet. The track changed throughout the day, getting slicker than it’s been on the cooler days but we were able to make adjustments to the IZOD Team Penske Chevrolet that helped us put down some pretty good laps. I was able to learn a lot with a lot of cars on the track today, which obviously critical for me as we get close to the race. Productive day in all but I still have a lot to learn.”
 
ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 22 MECUM AUCTIONS PANTHER DREYER AND REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET:  “It’s starting to get interesting out there. The track was very hot – up to 130 degrees at some points. It makes things a lot more difficult but that’s how race conditions are going to be. We lose a lot of downforce when it gets hot like this and it just gets tougher to get a good set up. It still was a great day. We were running in the top five most of the day so I’m very pleased. Third day of running for us and we have excellent notes. I’m very happy with where we are.”
 
TOWNSEND BELL, NO. 60 SUNOCO “TURBO” PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET: “It’s just great to be back out here with Panther Racing, we’ve got so much support from Sunoco and Turbo and they’ve all given me a great opportunity to be in good equipment. I was in Laguna Seca this weekend, and the Panther guys handled every little detail so we were ready to roll when I got back. In a lot of ways it was like I never left – it’s still John Barnes running the organization and they still have a lot of great people. I just love coming (to Indianapolis) and luckily this is my seventh time and it starts to feel pretty normal after awhile. Although the first outing I don’t think I took a breath for a good three-and-a-half minutes, but the car feels really good so far.”

Marco Andretti Puts Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Power on Top of Speed Charts at Conclusion of Third Day of Practice for Indianapolis 500
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 13, 2013) – Optimum conditions drove speeds higher on the third day of practice for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 as Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet turned the day’s fastest lap of 225.100 m.p.h.
 
Also breaking the 225-barrier was Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves with a lap of 225.075 m.p.h. behind the wheel of the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Chevrolet.
 
Team Chevy drivers occupied the top-five in the speed charts. Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet was third quick; Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, turned in the fourth quickest time and JR Hildebrand, No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet was the fifth quickest around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 
A.J. Allmendinger, James Hinchcliffe, Carlos Munoz and Tony Kanaan all posted top-10 speeds behind the wheel of their Chevrolet V6-powered Indy cars.
 
Practice will continue Tuesday May 14, 2013, from noon to 6:00 p.m. EDT.
 
CHEVROLET DRIVER QUOTES – PRACTICE DAY THREE:
 
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Obviously it helps when you can simulate a mini-race, so we had that luxury and we’ve been taking full advantage of it, and personally I feel like that’s how the Ganassis beat us last year. It was the first year for me that pole was in reach, so I got too fascinated with just how fast would the car go instead of getting the proper car underneath you for the race. And everybody’s like ‘Last year you were really strong in the race,’ and this and that, but the car was a handful in the race and obviously it bit me there in the end, so we knew we needed to make some gains and we have so far, but obviously we know how Indy goes, it’s early.”
 
WHEN WILL WE SEE TEAMS WORKING ON QUALIFYING SETUP? “It just depends on how much progress we get done with the race car. If we are pleased, and we get a lot of stuff checked off the list, why not?”
 
DO YOU THINK ABOUT WINNING THE INDY 500? “We have the dream, but there is a lot of work that needs to get done in between. We are just focused on the task at-hand. We are taking it day-by-day.”
 
THERE ARE THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT THE FUTURE OF THESE CARS IS TO PUT BACK IN DRIVER’S HANDS WITH LESS GRIP AND MORE HORSEPOWER AND TAKE DOWNFORCE OFF. WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THAT DEBATE? “We need more power. I think we can take downforce off now, we just don’t want to. (Putting a cap on the minimum downforce) it would make it harder to drive. We’d like more power, any driver does.
 
“Just to add to that, I don’t think, in my opinion, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. We are putting on great shows. Last year at Indy, I don’t know how many lead changes, but there were passes every lap. They don’t often get that here every year. The only thing that gets kind of hairy in our hands are the restarts. It gets crazy the way these cars tow-up, so people are five-six wide, four rows back. That part of it can get kind of hairy, but once that settles in, it makes for a good race I think.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO 3 SHELL V-POWER PENNZOIL ULTRA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: ON PRACTICE: “Every time you come over here to Indianapolis, it is a great birthday, so I am happy to celebrate here. We are kind of managing mileage on the engine as well, so yesterday we did not run. We are sticking to the plan. I didn’t want to run yesterday, but now Team Penske is working to make sure we hit the schedule and keep on track.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT GOING FOR FOUR WINS? “Right now we’re trying to follow the schedule. We’re not worried about the result. Rick Mears always says that (Indy) is two races and right now we’re worried about the first race, which is qualifying. Plus there is the weather and things like that, so we’re not thinking about the result. I dream about it. About becoming a four-time winner, but right now you have to work before you achieve your dreams. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
 
THERE ARE THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT THE FUTURE OF THESE CARS IS TO PUT BACK IN DRIVER’S HANDS WITH LESS GRIP AND MORE HORSEPOWER AND TAKE DOWNFORCE OFF. WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THAT DEBATE? “10 years ago, we change a little bit the format going flat-out all the way around an oval, and when they started in 1998 to go flat-out, it was absolutely very difficult to do because we had so much more power. I believe now that is the way we should go back as well. The car is always very difficult to drive, and this place is always very difficult to drive no matter if you are flat or not. Again, when you have that kind of scenario in other places I believe, I am very in favor of the same suggestions. So hopefully we can make that happen.
 
“I’m not talking about this place (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) because this place you can go as much as you can on the wing. But for the other places, something related to that. He (Marco Andretti) drove at Pocono, I didn’t, but sounds like it is going to be fun. If we cannot achieve that, we should go to small circuits; small ovals that where IndyCar seems to do very well.”
 
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE:  ““I think it was another good day of practice, we’ve been trying some changes – some work, some don’t – and that’s all part of testing. Had another opportunity to run with the teammates and it’s really good to see all of Andretti Autosport working together that way. We’ll put our heads together tonight and continue to make the DHL Chevy stronger.”
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: ON PRACTICE: “We had a good day in the Verizon Chevrolet. Everything went according to plan as we worked through our process. Towards the end of the day we turned a decent lap and we will work to improve on what we learned today.”
 
CARLOS MUÑOZ, NO. 26 UNISTRAW ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – FASTEST IN PRACTICE: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “It was another day of testing for the No. 26 Unistraw Chevrolet. We are just crossing different programs off of our list to practice before we head into the weekend. There are still a lot of days to go and different runs to try. This afternoon’s run with my teammates was a learning experience; I still need to prove myself. We have to continue to work on our practice checklist and figure out what is going to work best for the team.”
 
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HVM CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Another day at the track just preparing and slowly trying to hit all the points in our to do test list; little by little we’ve been accomplishing them. Today we had some things we had to check in the engine which is why we couldn’t run at the end of the day. Anyways, as a team, we’ve been progressing. As of now, we’ve all been doing our jobs which is bringing the best information together so we can make some clever decisions and continue to put a good setup together. Tomorrow is another test day and we’re planning to keep following our (to do) list.”
 
A.J. ALLMENDINGER, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:  ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “The No. 2 IZOD Chevrolet was good today. It was another day in the car and as more downforce was taken away from the car, the more comfortable it felt. It’s really about logging laps and becoming confident behind the wheel. We ended up seventh on the charts and were able to gain more information regarding the set-up of the car. Looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the week.”
 
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:
ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Solid day. We purposely were limiting miles a little bit, but on the runs that we did I think we
accomplished what we wanted to, and got some more good running in the pack this afternoon with the guys. Everybody is getting more comfortable and sort of blowing the dust off of running in a pack here which is very unique to running in a pack to anywhere else. I say good day for the GoDaddy crew and we’ll just keep progressing like this; if we do that we should be in a good position by the end of the week.”
 
ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 22 MECUM AUCTIONS PANTHER DREYER AND REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET: “The position means nothing. It’s all about how much tow you get and we’re not playing that game yet! I’m just very happy. Yesterday was a perfect first day, today was a perfect second day. We’re actually in a much better position than we were last year at this time. We have learned a lot about the car and the team has done a great job preparing it. Every time we go out we have a plan of what to try and the plan is working out well. Also, we have to other cars – JR and Townsend – we’re starting to get to a similar set up so that only helps. We have a very good pace and we’re very happy with the progress so far.”

Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Driver Carlos Muñoz Fastest on Day Two in Indianapolis 500 Practice
 
INDIANAPOLIS (May 12, 2013) – Andretti Autosport’s Indianapolis 500 rookie Carlos Muñoz turned the fastest lap during day two of practice for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500. The 21-year old native of Colombia recorded the day’s top speed of 223.023 mph behind the wheel of the No. 26 Unistall Chevrolet IndyCar V6.
 
Defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, No, 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, was second quick in the final order after the six-hour session.  His teammates E. J. Viso (No. 5 Team Venezuela PDVSA Citgo Andretti Autosport HVM Chevrolet) and Marco Andretti (No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet) delivered the third and fourth fastest times respectively.
 
Another rookie, A.J. Allmendinger (No. 2 IZOD Team Penske Chevrolet) rounded out the top-five fastest on the day.
 
Other Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers in the top-10 fastest today as teams continue to prepare for qualifying and then the May 26, 2013 running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” were Ed Carpenter, and James Hinchcliffe.
 
Practice will continue Monday, May 13, 2013, from noon to 6:00 p.m. EDT.
 
CHEVROLET DRIVER QUOTES – PRACTICE DAY TWO:
CARLOS MUÑOZ, NO. 26 UNISTRAW ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – FASTEST IN PRACTICE: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: -” It’s really nice to be on top. It just wasn’t a tow, but maybe a little bit better tow than my teammates. Its a long week, long race too. Still learning, but I have a great car and need to be confident. My teammates help me a lot, and let me know when I do wrong. “
 
ON RUNNING IN GRASS IN TURN ONE – ” It was just a misunderstanding. Inside the turn I went into the dirt, it was close. In the race I’m going to have those situations. I had 2 tires in the grass, so I was lucky to continue. After that I was more comfortable behind the guys.”
 
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE:  “It’s just so great to be back at Indy. The feeling of the first day back on track is pretty special. Andretti Autosport has had a good season so far. We have certainly had a strong run, but all that has nothing to do with Indy. It is kind of like you start over here. We really don’t know where we stack up yet compared to everybody because we haven’t had a full-field out there yet. Today was a good day just to check some things out. We went through some of the bigger changes trying to understand a few things that we were looking at in the winter. Then, we had a chance to run with the teammates. That got interesting at times, but it was fun though. It was fun just getting back in that rhythm of running in traffic at Indy. This place is so special for so many reasons, and it really drives like no other race track. It was good to get back in it; shake a little bit of rust off at Indy, and ready for the week.”
 
ON HOW THE TEAM TRIES TO FORECAST AND PLAN FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK: “With these cars, the way IndyCar is now, you have no idea who’s done what in the offseason. To tell you the truth, what we saw last year from Ganassi and Honda, you had no idea that was going to happen on Race Day. I think qualifying will be one show, then the race, you have no idea what anybody has until you get there.
 
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HVM CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Well, first day on track… back to historical Indianapolis; very happy to be here. This is my second home during the year and I’m very proud to be part of the team. I think the job we’ve done as a team has been impressive. These guys have put together a fast setup for us for this year. Today we realized we actually went pretty fast; we had a good car on our own and a good car in traffic. I think it’s going to be a flawless and smooth month and I’m really looking forward to it.”
 
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “So far the RC Cola car is not quite on pace with my teammates, but I’m not too worried being this early in the month. We put in some good laps, and got a lot out of today’s practice. We’re working a lot on trying to find a good setup that will put us up front – a lot of improvements have been made since last year’s DW12, so I’m pleased with where things are going right now. “
 
A.J. ALLMENDINGER, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:  ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Another day in the learning process today and we got a couple different things tested in the No. 2 IZOD Team Penske Chevrolet that should be helpful as we move on. We did a couple of short runs and a full tank run so I could see how the car would feel and I am getting more comfortable with it. To a certain degree I also got to see how the car is going to react in traffic and I thought that was really good. Obviously the cold conditions are a little different than what we will probably have for the race. But to do a race run the car felt pretty good and I’m happy with the progress we made.”
 
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:
ON RUNNING WITH ALL FOUR OF HIS ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT TEAMMATES (ANDRETTI, MUNOZ, HUNTER-REAY, VISO): “The last time we all ran together on an oval was last September, so to get out there with all the other guys was a good starting point. It was really just, more than anything, blowing some of the cob webs off ourselves as drivers running in a draft at a place as tricky as the Speedway. I think it’s a good starting point. There’s obviously a lot of work to do; we’ve got some things we want to try and I think you’ll see us running together a lot over the week.”
 
ON THE MINDSET DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RUNNING ON A ROAD COURSE VERSUS AN OVAL: “I think you’ve got to have a lot of respect for each other and the racetrack when you’re here, certainly. Because the speeds we are going are just so much greater than on a road course. Also the nature of the racetrack – it’s just one groove and it’s a very sensitive place to race. We’re showing each other a lot of respect out there right now, but we’ve got to keep doing it and working to make sure we can be aggressive as we need to be on Sunday (race day).”
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE:  “Yesterday (Saturday) we had a good day and got through everything we wanted to.  Today (Sunday) we had a couple of issues we had to work through.  They are not a big deal, but they got us sidetracked off our game plan a little.  I still feel decent about where our Fuzzy’s car is at right now.  At the same time, we were hoping to get a few more things done on our planning list today.  But we can make it up on Monday.  I want to wish my mom (Laura) and my wife (Heather) a Happy Mother’s Day.  We have spent a lot of Mother’s Days here at IMS over the years and I want to thank the ladies for their continued support here.”
 
JR HILDREBRAND, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “We just opened our account. It was nice to get out here and run some laps, but this was mainly just a shake down for us. The National Guard car felt fine out there and weobviously weren’t being very aggressive with the car. It’s always nice to get back out to the Speedway and we’re excited about continuing our program this week.”

NO. 3 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R WINS AT LAGUNA SECA WITH FLAWLESS RACE
No. 4 Compuware Corvette Finishes 10th after Gear Box Issue Early in Race
SALINAS, Calif. – (May 11, 2013) – A well-executed team effort helped Corvette Racing return to victory lane at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Laguna Seca road course for the second consecutive year.   Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia, drivers of the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R, scored their first American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT Class win of the season and first since 2011.  Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, drivers of the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R scored Corvette Racing’s first win of 2013 in the season-opening race at Sebring.
Gavin qualified fourth for the ALMS GT Class at Laguna Seca while Garcia posted the sixth-fastest GT time in his No. 3 Corvette.
Right out of the gate, the No. 4 Corvette team faced adversity as they made contact with another car but were able to continue on with no damage.   After both cars stopped for fuel and tires just over an hour into the race, the No. 3 car piloted by Magnussen powered their way to the front of the field while trouble struck the No. 4 Corvette again when Gavin radioed the crew that his car was stuck in sixth gear.  
A full course caution coincided with the gear box problem and the crew brought Gavin down pit road and to their attention under yellow.   The team quickly identified the problem which was a cracked hose in the gear box.   Unfortunately the repairs cost the team five laps and they fell to the rear of the GT ranks, and came home in 10th position.
At the halfway mark of the race, Magnussen had stretched out a two second lead over second place until a full course caution fell for a car stuck in the sand.  That is when the No. 3 team decided to bring Jan in for tires, fuel and a driver change.  It was yet another lightning-fast stop for the Corvette Racing crew which kept the car at the front of the field.
With Garcia behind the wheel, the No. 3 team would not relinquish the lead again.  The margin was tight most of the race and varied from three-tenths to almost two seconds.  The crew and drivers had no room for error in such a close race. The No. 3 Corvette team impressively spent four seconds less on pit road than their competitors in second place.  A number which surely factored into tonight’s victory.
Magnussen was happy with the long awaited win in a tough race.  “I have to say, today was one of the most perfect races we’ve had with Corvette Racing,” he said.  “We were under pressure the whole way. We never had a big lead, we really had to work through traffic and not get stopped by the slower cars and lose too much time. It was a matter of being precise the whole race. The pit crew made perfect stops. We didn’t have any issues in the pits. We did the driver change during only a short fuel, so there wasn’t a lot of time to make it. I am so happy we finally get a win over a year and a half. With this one, if you can’t win driving like this, you can’t win. It is a lot of pressure, but we have a great crew behind us the whole time.
“I knew right away we had a good car, but immediately in my mind I didn’t think we would win it because we have been in that situation many times last year where we had a good car, and a good situation going, but didn’t get the win.   So this race was just a really tough race because we were under pressure the entire time and there was no room for any mistakes in the pits or on track and the whole team just performed fantastic.”
Garcia, who drove the final laps under intense pressure, gave much credit to this team. “It was brilliant,” said Garcia.  “Even the driver change was amazing.  Even if it was 11 or 12 seconds on fuel, we made it out on time and I could hardly even do my belts before taking off.  So basically that is the main thing.  The Corvette crew did a great job out there and all the pit stops were under yellow and even if we were coming in bumper-to-bumper, every time we were going out of the pits, nobody was behind us. They were behind, but they were further back than when we came in.   You need a fast Corvette race car, but just as important is having a crew that performs like these guys did today.  I think last year we did like 5 second places, so we really deserved a win or two. I thought today, with as perfect as we’ve been driving, if we don’t get this win, I don’t know what else to do. Everything worked, right where it needed to be.”
Gavin teamed with Milner to win the GT class in last year’s event at Laguna Seca, finishing 3.45 seconds ahead of the No. 3 Corvette C6.R, driven by Garcia and Magnussen for a 1-2 finish.  Gavin and Milner continued their success that culminated in winning the 2012 ALMS drivers’ championship, and opened the 2013 season with a victory at Sebring last month.
The other top-ten finishers in Saturday’s race in ALMS GT competition were, No. 17 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2nd), No. 56 BMW Z4 GTE (3rd), No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R (4th), No. 23 Ferrari F458 Italia (5th), No. 55 BMW Z4 GTE (6th), No. 48 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7th). No. 06 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8th), and the No. 62 Ferrari F458 Italia (9th).

JEFF GORDON SPEARHEADS TEAM CHEVY WITH THIRD-PLACE FINISH AT DARLINGTON
JIMMIE JOHNSON MAINTAINS AS POINT LEADER
 
DARLINGTON, S.C. – May 11, 2013 – In his 700th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career start, Jeff Gordon took the lead for Team Chevy by scoring a third-place finish at the Bojangles’ Southern 500 in his No. 24 Cromax Pro Chevrolet SS.  A seven-time winner at Darlington, this marked Gordon’s 300th top-five finish in the sport; which recognizes him as becoming the fourth driver to accomplish this feat (joining David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Richard Petty).
 
“We all wanted this 700th start to be a memorable one and not one like we had last year,” said Gordon following the 367-lap contest. “So, it was a great effort by this Cromax Pro Chevrolet team. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) made great calls and the pit stops were fantastic; especially when it counted the most there at the end. We were just bouncing between tight and loose and right there at the end, it was about the best that it had been all night.”
 
Last year’s Darlington race winner, and five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, brought his No. 48 Lowe’s Emerald Green Chevrolet SS home in fourth.  With his top-five finish, Johnson maintained his position as the current Series point leader.
 
A stout fifth-place finish by Kevin Harvick in his No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet SS, not only boosted him to 10th-place in the standings, but also gave Team Chevy three of the top-five spots in the finishing order.
 
Three other members of the Bowtie Brigade posted strong runs at ‘The Track too Tough to Tame’, giving Team Chevy six of the top-10 finishing spots:  Juan Pablo Montoya, in the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS finished eighth, boosting himself three slots in the standings to 22nd overall.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS finished ninth, and is fourth in the rankings.  Ryan Newman, aboard his No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS, was 10th in the 500-mile race, and is 17th overall.
 
Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was the race winner and Denny Hamlin (Toyota) finished second to round out the top five.
 
Next stop on the tour will be at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 18th for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 CROMAX PRO CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED THIRD
POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
KERRY THARP:  We’re going to roll into our post‑race press conference.  Our third‑place finisher is Jeff Gordon.  His 700th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 300th career top‑five finish in the Sprint Cup Series.  Only four drivers in total have done that.  Next up for him to join would be David Pearson.
 
Jeff, congratulations.
 
JEFF GORDON:  Is he 100 ahead of me?
 
KERRY THARP:  I think he’s 1 ahead of you.  I think you’ll probably get that. But talk about your run tonight and the race here this evening at Darlington.
 
JEFF GORDON:  It was a great result for us.  Just a great battle by this team.  We had a decent car before the sun really went down, the track cooled down and then we started battles between the balance from one end to the other, which is not uncommon here.  Seems like you don’t fight that as much during the day when the pace drops a lot more.  At night, that’s what you deal with.  Pace picks up, the balance changes.
 
We started freeing the car up, then the track started freeing up and then we tightened up.  We bounced back and forth.  I’m most proud that we kept battling.  We had good pit stops, the last one being a great one.  Great calls by Alan, staying out when we needed to stay out, coming in when we needed to come in.
 
The last run was the best the car had been.  We got a good restart.  Fortunate to come home with a third‑place finish.  Very happy with it.
 
KERRY THARP:  We’ll take questions now for Jeff Gordon.
Q.  Jeff, it seemed as though the low line in three and four tonight really was paying off for some of the cars.  Were you able to get down there at all?  Did it work for you?
JEFF GORDON:  That’s called the apron (laughter).
 
Yeah, I mean, early on in the race, (Kevin) Harvick went by me down there and I tried it and it didn’t work that well for me.  Later in the run it started working for me.  I started using it a lot more throughout the night.
 
It just depended on how my car was balanced out.  If I was tight, I couldn’t get down there.  You know, you try to go wherever the car in front of you isn’t.  At this track, that’s hard to do in one and two.  But in three and four, it’s nice to have that option.
 
Sometimes it worked well for me and we got by some cars.  It’s nice in lap traffic to be able to have that option.
 
I mean, I don’t know if it’s this car or this track or whatever it is, but guys were using the apron off of four, into one, all the way through three and four.  Pretty crazy when you think of what parts of the track we’re starting to utilize.
Q.  How special is it to have your 700th consecutive start here at Darlington and then come off with such a great finish?
JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, no, we’ve known for some time that this should be where it should happen.  I thought that was very cool.  I think, looking back throughout my career, this track has been one of the best for me, a very special place.  Holds so much history for this sport.
 
To have the seven wins here that I have, I couldn’t think of a better place to come to and get the 700th starthere.  Then to go out there and have a strong performance, it felt great.
 
I wanted the 700th to be a memorable one, and I’m glad it wasn’t like last year’s memory where we blew two left rear tires back‑to‑back.  This was much better than that.  Top three, that’s fantastic.  I mean, we needed this kind of performance, a gutsy performance, for the points as well as to make this one memorable.
Q.  Were you surprised to see it go green as long as it did at the start of the race?  Kyle Busch mentioned to Dave Rogers a couple of times he was struggling with lap cars.  Did you find it more difficult than normal trips here to Darlington to battle around lap cars?
JEFF GORDON:  Only thing I’ll add to that, I see every position being challenged, people racing one another far harder than they ever used to.
 
I heard Jeff Burton on the telecast last night during the Nationwide race talking about the give‑and‑take.  There used to be a lot of give‑and‑take here because you could let a guy go, let him wear his tires out, you could run him back down if you conserved.  That’s not the case anymore.
 
Even if you’re a lap car, especially the leader, you’re going to fight that leader as hard as you can to keep those positions.  When you’re the leader, you don’t like coming up on lap cars because you know they’re going to fight you more, then they let the guy behind you go as soon as they get to you, and it’s frustrating.
Q. 301 laps with one caution break.  How mentally taxing is it knowing you’re running that close to the wall, to run that many laps without the three or four caution laps you had in the middle of that?
JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, you know, I like getting into a rhythm.  The only thing that was different is the track conditions were changing each time you came out of the pits on new tires because the sun was going down, the track was cooling down.
 
I think it depends on how the race is going.  If you feel like you need to make up time on guys, you want a caution.  If you’re running up front, you don’t want to see a caution.
 
I don’t know.  I just kind of got into a rhythm.  It felt good to me.  I wa
s enjoying it.  I feel like green‑flag stops kind of separate the good pit crews and teams, and you can get yourself in a position, where as a competitor, you want to race against the least amount of guys as possible.
 
For the fans, you want to see cautions, restarts, sparks flying, things like what happened with Kasey and Kyle.  I hated to see that for Kasey.  I loved seeing him dive up there and take the lead.
 
The first portion of the race, it was surprising.  I didn’t expect us to go that long.  But I was kind of enjoying it actually.
                      

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
BOJANGLES SOUTHERN 500
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MAY 11, 2013
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 CROMAX PRO CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED THIRD
ON YOUR 700TH CAREER NASCAR SPRINT CUP START, YOUR 300TH TOP-FIVE FINISH, JUST HOW MUCH DID THIS TRACK CHANGE FOR YOU GUYS?
“Well we all wanted this 700th start to be a memorable one and not one like we had last year. So, it was a great effort by this Cromax Pro Chevrolet team. Alan (Gustafson) called great calls and the pit stops were fantastic; especially when it counted the most there at the end. We were just bouncing between tight and loose and right there at the end, it was about the best that it had been all night. That’s what you want, you know? To be able to have good track position and have the car pretty well working for you; so, it was a really solid night. I’m very proud of this.”
 
WHAT DID YOU NEED IN YOUR CAR TO GET THE BIGGEST NUMBER TO WIN TONIGHT?
“Well I was excited that Darlington was going to be our 700th start and our team was ready to go out there and do battle and that’s what it takes at this tough race track. I’m really proud of this Cromax Pro Chevrolet team. I thought Alan (Gustafson) called a great race. We made the right adjustments at the right time and got good track position with tires there at the end and had some good re-starts. We needed track position. I thought our car was actually pretty fast there at the end. But, I don’t know, you know. We just couldn’t quite get it. We were always balancing between tight and loose and right there at the end was about the best the car had been. It took off really good, but it started getting tight on me and then Jimmie (Johnson) started catching us. So, I think that’s about the best we could have asked for. You always want to get out there in clean traffic and see what it will do.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S EMERALD GREEN CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FOURTH
HOW WAS THE RACING OUT HERE TONIGHT?
“It was just a great 500 miles here at Darlington. There is nothing easy about this race track. It keeps you on your toes all night long. We had a great car. We lost a little tack position at the end. But we still got back into the Top-5; but I kind of ran second and third all night long; wish I was a little bit better, but this Emerald Green Lowe’s Chevrolet was doing a good job. We had fun (laughs). I love this place. I wish we could race here three or four times a year.”
 
HOW DID THE TRACK CHANGE AS THE RACE WENT ON?
“It changed a lot from yesterday in the first couple of segments. I wasn’t prepared for the track to change as much as it did there; and then it kind of stayed there all night long. But my first run or two was far different than I expected.”
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FIFTH
A NICE FIFTH-PLACE FINISH FOR YOU. TELL US ABOUT YOUR EVENING:
“We had a good Budweiser Chevy all evening long, especially on the long runs, and that really kept us in the game at the beginning of the race when we had so many green-flag runs. So, we got caught with that one caution; luckily we were running fifth at the time and we were able to take a wave-around and restart I think 11th. So, it didn’t bite us too bad and we were able to get back where we were and that’s probably about where our car should have finished.”
 
WHAT WAS THE DEAL WITH THE INSIDE GROOVE? THAT’S SOMETHING WE REALLY HAVEN’T SEEN MUCH OF AT DARLINGTON:
“It worked here last time. Probably not as good as it did here tonight. But, it’s nice when you have some options and my car was just too loose to run really up in the fence. I did at the end, but the low line was fast enough to where you could conserve the car and still make decent lap times.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED EIGHTH
SOLID TOP-10 RUN FOR YOU TONIGHT TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN:
“Well, we didn’t unload as good as we wanted, but we got into it really good.  We did a really good job.  Everybody on the Target Chevy has been doing a great job.  We have been running like this all year.  We’ve just had all kinds of mistakes and things.  I keep telling the guys we have got to execute.  If every person here does their best we are going to be looking like heroes here.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED NINTH
ON HIS RUN:
“We had a real good car all weekend.  Just never really got great track position.  The last half of the race the car was a little bit up out of the race track, but we were still pretty happy.  Traffic was terrible, just real dirty air out there.  We were faster than the No. 42 at the end of the race, just couldn’t pass him.  Probably faster than the No. 99 and No. 29 too, but got to be in front of them.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 TIME WARNER CABLE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 17TH
HOW WAS IT OUT THERE TONIGHT RACING?
“Oh, we were racing hard. I had a great Time Warner Cable Chevrolet and I cleared him, getting into (Turn) 3, so I had the outside and I then I saw he entered so early that I knew he was not going to be able to turn when we got to the corner and I was going along and the next thing I knew, I was spinning. So, I felt really good. The car was getting better and better as the race went, but they had to make a lot of adjustments and things. But, I don’t know. Three times this year me and Kyle (Busch) have had contact. And I’ve had capable of winning cars. It’s disappointing on the point’s side and not winning races. But that was close racing. He entered so early and he was just going straight to the corner. So whether he hit me or just blew the air off, whatever it was, he blew his entry and I’m not real sure what he was thinking on that.”
 
ARE YOU DONE TALKING WITH KYLE (BUSCH) NOW?
“Well, he needs to quit… I mean he’s got to just race me.  I mean I’ve never touched the guy in my life as far as on the race track.  Three times this year, there have been other times in other years.  I don’t really know what his deal is with me.  He blew that entry into (turn) one.  I got to the outside.  I got by him into (turn) three.  We had a great restart.  We kept getting our car better.  The guys did an awesome job.  Then he just blew his entry into (turn) one.  Whether he touched me… I mean it was very close whatever it was.  The angle he took into the corner, he had no steer and just went straight.  Then I went spinning.  It was definitely a tough way to end our race.  We had just got to the point where I could move off the bottom. I could move up higher because we had been so loose and I felt really good.”
 
WAS THAT A RECKLESS MOVE THEN ON HIS PART?
“I think he just struggles racing me and he just made an error as far as his entry.  Like he entered so early and had no steering.  You figure that out throughout the whole race.  He passed so many lap cars he knew what was going to happen.  He tried to stop but he couldn’t slow down at that point.  I don’t know he just kind of just screwed up again.  This is his third time this year he has screwed up.”
 
WHAT HAPPENED GOING INTO TURN NUMBER ONE?
“It was just close racing really.  He (Kyle Busch) messed his entry up; he entered early and then couldn’t turn once he did that.  So he was just kind of going straight across the track.  I was like ‘figure it out.’ If he would just figure it out we wouldn’t have any issues.  I have never even ran into the guy.  So it’s kind of crazy, but we had a great Time Warner Cable Chevrolet.  The guys did a really nice job throughout the race.  We kept getting better.  At that point in the race was the first time I could actually move to the outside and had some grip.  It was way looser
up high, but there was more momentum or speed up there.  I was just getting up to that area and it felt really solid with our car and where we were at.  Disappointing way to end.”
 
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE MOVE KYLE BUSCH MADE?
“I think he (Kyle Busch) just made another mistake.  That is his third one when he has been around me this year.  I don’t really understand it.  We were battling for the lead or for the top two or three spots each time.  Where he entered and hit his breaks he just crushed the splitter.  We do it all race long and the way he did it he hit the brakes and he has no front-end.  You just slide, he went straight on entry.  His car is going straight it’s not even turning left.  It’s just a mistake on his part.  I imagine he will call me again tomorrow and say he’s sorry.”
 
HOW WILL YOU RACE HIM NOW?
“I will race him the way I’ve always raced him the way I have always raced everybody.  I don’t know you try not to screw up and take people out when you are around them.  That is how I’ve always raced.”
 
DID HE ACTUALLY MAKE CONTACT WITH YOU?
“It was very close.  I could see him and I was like ‘oh shoot, oh shoot’ and then the car moved and just spun out.  I don’t know if he actually touched me or what, but his angle into the corner.  If he would have just entered like normal, the way he has entered the whole race it would have been no issues and I would have been leading off (turn) two and he just didn’t want that to happen so he blew turn one. So whether he hit me or not he still caused that whole deal with screwing up.”