CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX PRESENTED BY LEAR
RACEWAY ON BELLE ISLE
DETROIT, MICHIGAN
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP
JUNE 4, 2022
JOSEF NEWGARDEN PUTS CHEVROLET ON POLE AT DETROIT GP
NEWGARDEN AND PATO O’WARD EARN STARTING POSITIONS THROUGH FIRESTONE FAST SIX
DETROIT – Josef Newgarden laid down an on-the-edge lap of one minute 15.2153 seconds, 112.477 mph to grab the NTT P1 Award for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on the Raceway on Belle Isle.
It is Newgarden’s 16th career pole, his third on Belle Isle and his first of the season. He has two podium finishes in Detroit – a win in 2019, and a runner-up in 2021.
It is the fifth pole for Team Chevy in 2022.
Giving Team Chevy two drivers in the Firestone Fast Six was the 2021 Race 2 winner, Pato O’Ward, 70-lap race/164.5-mile around the 2.35-mile 14-turn track.
Takuma Sato, Simon Pagenaud, Helio Castroneves and David Malukas completed the Firestone Fast Six qualifiers.
The remaining Team Chevrolet drivers qualified as follows:
10th Scott McLaughlin
13th Conor Daly
14th Rinus VeeKay
15th Kirk Kirkwood
16th Will Power
17th Santino Ferrucci
24th Tatiana Calderon
25th Dalton Kellett
26th Felix Rosenqvist
Chevrolet and the NTT INDYCAR Series continue the 2022 season with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 5 from the Raceway at Belle Isle Park. The race will air live on USA, the Peacock streaming service and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation (Channel 160) beginning at 3 p.m. ET. Live timing and scoring will be available at racecontrol.indycar.com.
TEAM CHEVY QUOTES
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – POLE WINNER:
YOU SAID IT WAS LOOSE, HOW ON THE EDGE WAS IT?
“It was loose and I was about hitting the wall every lap. Not every lap, but every corner I should say. I think we needed two laps to get temperature and this set was a little better than the first set that I ran. Just struggling to build temp, but it was so loose and I was like, ‘I just got to stay in it’. I knew the track was grippier and that was a good pole. Sometimes the car is just so good that its just hooked up. I was loose today and we put it together. I am really proud of the team and thank you to Team Chevy and Hitachi. In their backyard with Team Penske here. It’s a good spot to start tomorrow, but I have been here before. We did this last year and fell short so we have to be really focused on the race and how we are going to get to the end and finish it off.”
WHERE DO YOU NEED TO BE TO FINISH IT OFF THE RIGHT WAY THIS YEAR?
“Its going to be really difficult. I think this field is so deep nowadays and everyone is good. You just have to be on it all the way from start to finish and understanding the strategy and not having a misstep. Hope we can get it right tomorrow, but I have got always the best of the best behind me with Team Penske.”
YOU MAKE IT LOOK SO EASY
“It was by no means easy. I was almost on the wall in three or four spots just trying to hang on. But this crew is incredible. I love driving for Team Penske and to have Hitachi and Team Chevy right in their back year. It’s good to get a pole, but the win is what we really need, so we are focused on that.”
HOW ARE TIRES GOING TO PLAY OUT TOMORROW?
“I think its going to be a similar case to last year where we learned it was difficult to understand whether you should take your medicine early or late. Seems like the red tires are more fragile. So, it makes it interesting. Do you want durability, or do you want a little speed to start the race? I think we will get that equation in a better spot than last year. We got pipped at the very end of the race, but we can do the job.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WIN HERE AT THE HOME OF CHEVROET AND A RACE THAT MEANS SO MUCH TO PENSKE?
“We’ve done it before. I definitely believe we can do it again.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 McLAREN CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN SP, QUALIFIED 2ND :
“We had a really solid day. The car was really good on one lap, but we slightly missed the window. I don’t think we made the right call on the tire choice and which red to take for Q3, so we hit a cliff and the tires never really went into the peak. Fifth is good around here, we can work a lot from there. The car is good so tomorrow will be important to see what we can do on a long stint for us to basically help ourselves during the race.
“I love this place. It’s a long race, it’s a physical race. A lot can happen because there’s usually a lot of people making mistakes, so I think the first priority is ‘don’t make a mistake’ and second priority is just ‘try to make your way forward as you can and get a good solid points day.’ “
SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 GALLAGHER INSURANCE CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE, QUALIFIED 10TH:
“It was not to be, but we will push hard tomorrow.”
WE ARE HEARING UP AND DOWN PIT LANE THAT THERE IS NOT MUCH EXPECTATION FOR THE RED TIRES TO HOLD UP LONG. IS THAT YOUR EXPERIENCE TOO?
“It is going to be an exciting Belle Isle, the final Belle Isle. But yes, the red tires don’t hold on for much and its going to be all about looking after them. And even the black tires don’t hold on that much either. So, we will see. Same for everyone, same tires and we will just get on it.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING, QUALIFIED 13TH:
HOW DO YOU PROCESS THE SPEED IN THIS SESSION?
“Well, I even decided to go to the bathroom before this session and not eat lunch and I would have thought that would have counted for the last one-hundredth. So, clearly it didn’t but we picked up three seconds from our previous best lap in three laps. We knew this morning’s session was a crock of absolute craziness and we didn’t even get to finish one lap. Thankfully we got a few laps in now and it proves that our car really had the pace that we thought we had in it. I also think Rinus (VeeKay) will be fast here as well, which is great. Thankful for the guys for having the faith in me and just to start 13th here is great. It’s a great position to take advantage of what happens up front and we will go from there.”
TURNING LEFT AND RIGHT AT INDY, IT WAS A GREAT MONTH FOR YOU. HAS THIS TEAM FOUND CONFIDENCE OR SOMETHING?
“Well, if you look at the road course qualifying so far other than the Indy GP, its been a struggle for us. To come out here, a street course, and to get our best street course qualifying of the year, certainly for my side, is good. It definitely means we are doing the right things. Its been an interesting last 24 hours and tough start to the weekend but we know we can race well. So, I am excited for tomorrow.”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITCOIN RACING TEAM WITH BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING, QUALIFIED 14TH:
“I think there was a lot more in it that we didn’t show this morning because there were so many reds and yellows and everything. Yesterday the car felt really good, and so did this morning. But right now, I think the balance is really good on the lap that I did it. We are seven tenths off, so that is way too much.”
SO IF THAT IS THE CASE, HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THIS MORNING AND HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT YESTERDAY? DO YOU THINK THE RACE PACE IN THIS CAR IS GOOD?
“I don’t know because I haven’t done a long run yet, so we have to see about that in the warm up. I know we can do stuff. with strategy here, but really it is disappointing to qualify in fourteenth place.”
KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING QUALIFIED 15TH:
“You know, my hand is not ideal. I injured it somehow when I hit the wall and didn’t get my hands off the wheel, but it is good enough to drive. Definitely lost some strength in my right hand which hurts us through the left-handers, which there aren’t many here, there is just turn two, turn five and turns nine and ten. So I will just fight through those ones, primarily with my left hand. Its not ideal, but we are digging through it.”
ARE YOU DIGGING THROUGH ANYTHING WITH THE CAR AND ARE YOU WHERE YOU EXPECT TO BE?
“Well, that is one thing in INDYCAR. You lose track time, you usually lose position. So, I am not too wary about it because we are really good on black tires. The red Firestone alternate tires have not been good for us in the qualifying session right now. This race is notoriously a black tire race so hopefully we are strong in the race due to that. We know we can be up front, at least on those tires. Like I said, losing track time doesn’t help anything.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE. QUALIFIED 16TH:
CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 DYNAMIC EDGE CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING—NOT DRIVING DUE TO HAND INJURY FROM CRASH DURING INDIANAPOLIS 500
“I was a bit stiff from the crash, but the hand is getting less sore each day, but obviously having a broken hand is not the nicest thing because it limits you a little bit. But recovering from that and feeling good. Tuesday, I went to see the specialist because obviously Monday was a holiday for Indiana. But after speaking to the specialist, it was a close one and I think there was a little bit that they weren’t so happy about and the vibrations here wouldn’t have been good. I took their advice and a long-term career is better than a short term glory run. So, the target is to be in the car next week. I will have a review early next week and we will see.”
SANTINO FERRUCCI, SUBSTITUTING FOR ILOTT, QUALIFIED 17TH: “Day two done and in the books. Should have advanced in qualifying, it was a bit of my mistake as I lost the wheel a little bit in the last corner and clipped the wall. But overall we are 17th and I am very confident we can get the car in the top-10 in the race on Sunday and go from there.”
TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING, QUALIFIED 24TH :
DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE INSULATORS CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING QUALIFIED 25TH:
FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE McLAREN CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN RACING SP, QUALIFIED 26TH:
NOT THE QUALIFYING SESSION YOU WERE HOPING FOR, WE UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE A QUALIFYING INTERFERANCE PENALTY AS WELL. LET US KNOW HOW THAT PLAYED OUT
“It was our mistake, and we had a little communication error between me and the pit wall. I didn’t know Jimmie was there, so sorry to those guys if I ruined their lap. Obviously, we got a penalty for it. I don’t think we would have made it past 12 anyway. We were just outside, and we went for it on the first lap and maybe not the right strategy there. But anyway, we will find a way to get through the field tomorrow.”
HOW BIG OF A SETBACK HAS THE PRACTICE ONE CRASH PROVEN TO BE?
“For sure a little bit. I think I was pretty on it and felt comfortable. But if you lose the whole session, you will always kind of be on the back foot. Anyways, like last year, we will look forward and move through the field here.”
IS IT UP TO YOU AND THE CAR TO DRIVE YOUR WAY FORWARD?
“It depends on what we think about the reds to be honest. We will have to see in warm up. If you can do a good stint on them, it will change a lot for what you can do in the race. But still, its going to be hard to make it a two stop race.”
Josef Newgarden
Press Conference
THE MODERATOR: Driving the Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, his 16th career NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole position, Josef Newgarden. This is the seventh different pole winner we’ve had this season in 2022.
Congratulations, Josef Newgarden. Saving the best for last there at the end, a little drama.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: And it was not easy. This championship is incredible. These guys are on it this weekend, as you can see. They were very difficult to beat. I thought both of them did a great job, especially David there in the early parts of qualifying. It was very impressive.
I didn’t think we were going to have enough, to be honest. It’s taking us a little too long to build temperature so I really needed two laps. We went for a one to one strategy.
On the second set of tires, I was actually up in 1-2 by a 10th. I thought I’m going to go as hard as possible, I’m either wrecking or I’m putting it on pole.
Fortunately the car was very, very good. It was a little too loose. A couple corners I thought I was actually going to hit the fence. We hung on. Now we get to work toward tomorrow and hopefully have a clean day with Team Chevy and Hitachi.
THE MODERATOR: Tim was fine with that?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I said we need to conjure something today because these guys were so fast. I thought it was going to be a tall order to beat these two. We saved the best tire for last, we just had enough.
I mean, our car was very, very good. I thought the team did an incredible job. It’s just a little bit too loose. I think everybody is dealing with that this weekend. It seems the grip level is not coming up quite as quickly as you would anticipate around here. Normally this place builds, builds, builds, gets easier to drive. I find you’re pretty on the edge this weekend. Track grip is lower than I would anticipate.
You just had to hold on. We were all doing it.
Q. Josef, it’s important to get pole anywhere, but especially here in Detroit. Chevy’s backyard. Does that add any more significance to this pole?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Certainly special for us. We want to perform well here with all our partners, being Team Chevy’s backyard, to your point. Hitachi, their U.S. headquarters is out of Detroit here. Team Penske, as well, this is our home base.
Our competitor in Honda is always fantastic, very difficult to beat. So it’s never a gimme, it really isn’t. We have to work for every inch on the track.
Yeah, I’m hoping tomorrow we can repeat the performance. Pole is one thing, and it’s great, but the race is a whole different ballgame. Last year we fell just a little bit short. I think that’s where our sights are on, is that race win.
We’ll continue with questions for Josef.
Q. Josef, the last lap you looked like you were sawing away at the wheel. Really looked like you were evading the police actually. How hairy of a lap was that?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, that’s a good description, Bruce.
That was one of the most satisfying pole laps I’ve ever had because of the difficulty of it. It was on the edge. It was not easy at all.
Some laps you put together, the car is so hooked up and so good you’re kind of just steering it. Makes it sound a little bit too basic and simple. It feels that way at times.
Today was not that case. It felt like you really had to go and attack and work for it. Like I said earlier, the way I started the lap was so promising. I was up already from the Q2 lap. I said if I can just really push this thing in the middle section of the track, I’m going to try to go for it. If I hit the fence, that’s what it’s going to be today. Fortunately we had just enough to not do that, had plenty of speed to put it on pole.
It was on the edge. Four, five and six, I thought those three corners I was going to hit the wall, and we stayed off.
Q. If I remember correctly, this is your third pole here at Detroit. Obviously the last year we’re at Belle Isle. Is there something about this track that makes you so quick? Is there a reason you love it? What is one thing you’re always going to remember about this track?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, I like everywhere we go. There’s not really a track… Whether I’ve had more poles or not at a certain place, I don’t prefer one place necessarily over the other.
I do like this track on the calendar. I’m going to miss it. I think it was a fantastic track to drive. It’s very challenging. It’s predominantly concrete.
With that it takes a lot of rubber to build grip. Before that point happens, it’s very slippery. It’s hard to keep it off the fence here. You’ve seen a lot of wrecks here this weekend because of that.
That challenge is something I think all of us enjoy. You’re able as a driver to get more out of it maybe than your competitor. It gives you an area to separate yourself. So I’m going to miss that aspect of going to downtown.
I’m also just equally as excited to see what the downtown track is going to bring. I think from an event standpoint it will be a big plus and I think the track itself will race really well. That’s looking forward.
Yeah, here, we’ve always had good cars here. But I wouldn’t put it above anywhere else. I feel like we can do this performance anywhere we go. It’s not like it’s one place or another that seems to shine for us, at least in my opinion.
Q. Are the bumps in the same place they’ve always been here or is there always a new bump that pops up?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, over the years more bumps have developed from the wintertime here, the cycles of the weather, the heating and thawing. You definitely get movement within the concrete, which is more stable than, say, an asphalt track.
It’s not dramatically different than last year. I would say the track is pretty similar. You get little movement here or there, but it’s always been bumpy. It’s still bumpy today.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Wow, I mean, if you can’t distinguish them, then you probably need to find a new line of work. You typically know what’s going on. There’s times where a bump offsets a loose moment, and there’s times where it’s the balance of the car, there’s times where it’s a combined effort, where the bump is interacting with a loose balance, just tipping it over.
It’s all encompassing, in my opinion. You’re constantly analyzing is it heave stiffness that we need to change to improve the bump quality, just a balance problem. We were talking about that yesterday and today. It’s not necessarily, The bumps are upsetting the car. Why are the bumps upsetting the car?
Physical aspect of the car, physically bottoming, the mechanical stiffness. There’s a lot of reasons it can be. Sometimes the car is just loose. Sometimes you hit a bump and it gets loose. But it’s both of them.
Q. Is this one of the toughest places that you guys deal with in terms of tire deg, really having to work to get into windows to get to the number of stops you need?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think last year this was the outlier as far as the disparity between reds and blacks. I mean, it was a cliff that you’d hit at times on red tires. I think you saw everybody trying to get off of them as quickly as possible.
We obviously took the opposite route. We tried to take our medicine last. It almost worked, you know. I want to point that out. It did almost work. It didn’t, but it almost did.
I was obviously disappointed that we weren’t able to close the deal, but it was a heck of a challenge to try to hold onto that thing at the end of the race. We were going 24, 25 laps on a set of red tires, and they were used reds.
In hindsight maybe we would have done that differently. Also if the race was green all the way throughout, we didn’t have the potential yellow where we stopped early on the first stint, all those things could have maybe changed the outcome. The race happened the way it did, we took maybe a riskier approach.
I think you’ll see a similar race this weekend. It’s hard to say, no one has run the reds for a long stint yet. It certainly seems like the characteristics last year are pretty similar this year.
Q. I think we’ve got 110 days left in the season. It seems like we have a new points leader after every race. How wide open do you see these last 110 days, the fact that you have the experience to be able to close in a points championship?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: INDYCAR is an interesting championship at the moment because it seems like every weekend there’s a new superstar in the. It’s comical at this point to me.
The reason I think that’s happening is because it’s so competitive. You don’t have one team clearly dominating all sessions. You’re always getting new winners.
So what I mean by that is you get new winners, all of a sudden they are going to be the championship winner, they’re the greatest new thing to come to INDYCAR. It’s just unpredictable. It’s all over the place.
So, yeah, to answer your question, I think it’s pretty wide open. Probably more so this year than last year just the way the points have been jumbled. Indy really tightened everything not just for the top five, but the top 10 is very tight, probably more tight than we’ve seen it in the last couple years.
You’re always going to see that six or seven drivers that tend to bunch up towards the end, that’s your real group for the championship. Right now I think it’s within 10 or 12 drivers, so it’s very open at the moment.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Gosh, I hope so. We would love to do it again. You got to think we’ve got a little bit of an edge having done this for a while. You can’t predict these things. Every year takes its own shape. It’s hard to draw too many parallels between other seasons just because every championship seems to be a little different.
But I have full confidence that we can be there at the end and seal the deal. It’s just a matter if that’s going to come to fruition or not.
Q. How did the car go today? You’ve been in this position before. Talk about wanting a different result tomorrow.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, today was hard. It was harder than last year I would say to get the pole. Sunday last year when we put the car on pole, it was a lot simpler. The car was hooked up, was not loose, just fast. It was easier to guide it to that position.
Today was a real fight. I mean, we really had to work. We almost got knocked out of the Fast Six. In actuality we probably got saved in Q2. I think Dixon probably would have bumped us out if that red didn’t come into play. We just snuck into the Fast Six, then had to really work to get the pole today. I was very, very proud of that.
What that means for tomorrow, I don’t know yet. I think we’ve got a fast car, quick enough to win. It’s just a matter of getting the strategy right, not having any missteps. This field, it’s too difficult to keep everybody behind you nowadays even when you have a fast car. You just can’t make any mistakes. I feel confident we can do the job.
But feeling confident is not enough these days. You got to really go and really make it happen.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Not really. It doesn’t feel that different, to be honest. Obviously we’ve typically run a race today as well, like you just alluded to. This feels more like a standard INDYCAR weekend. It doesn’t feel like a big departure to us. Just feels like any other race, for the most part.
THE MODERATOR: Chevrolet has been a long time partner with the team. They’ve been sitting on win 99 since their return in 2012. Any thoughts on giving them 100 in their backyard tomorrow?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: They’ve been sitting on 99?
THE MODERATOR: Since 2012, wins, victories.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Chevrolet?
THE MODERATOR: You can give them 100.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’m confused. We’re on 99 right now?
THE MODERATOR: Yes.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: We’ve been sitting it on it for a month.
THE MODERATOR: Yes.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I thought you said we were sitting on it since 2012.
THE MODERATOR: No.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: That would be great. I’m not a big numbers guy with that stuff. I mean, 99, 100, they’re both fantastic numbers. I don’t know that we’re moving the needle. We’re talking 1% here. Obviously it is a special race for Chevrolet and we’d like to do a great job for them.
I think they’ve done tremendous for us already. If you look at the performance we’ve had across the board, it’s hard to ask for much more. We need to keep that up not just for this weekend but for the rest of the year.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations.
15th
29th
16th
Enders earned her third consecutive victory and fourth of the season, strengthening her points lead over Elite Motorsports teammate and runner-up Aaron Stanfield in the NHRA New England Nationals.
An interview with Pro Stock winner Erica Enders (No. 3 qualifier in the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS):
“A very spirited race. Congratulations to all the Cadillac teams today. It’s awesome to be back on the podium and to be taking two places including the top spot,” said Rory Harvey, Cadillac Global Vice President. A Cadillac led all 73 laps in the first caution-free race at Belle Isle. The No. 01 V-Performance Academy DPi-V.R made up 65 points in the championship race this weekend and sits fourth through six rounds. “We got it done. We’ve had some trouble this year. It is good to get it behind us so we can look forward and win some more races hopefully,” added van der Zande, who recorded his 17th IMSA race victory. Going off-strategy, Derani took the wheel from Pla on a Lap 10 service stop and proceeded to go on a tear, re-setting the race lap record four times between Laps 21 and 27. He pitted on Lap 40 with 44 minutes left and continued his march to the front, recovering 29 seconds and lowering the race lap record to 1 minute, 18.877 seconds. A spirited battle with the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R through the final 18 minutes added more drama to podium speculation. “The car was on rails,” said Derani, the reigning DPi champion. “We were pushing, pushing and the Cadillac was running really well. Thanks to the team.” The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn is up next for Cadillac teams on June 26.