CORVETTE DPs AT WATKINS GLEN: Breakthrough Win for Spirit of Daytona Racing
Westbrook, Valiante score victory; Barbosa, Fittipaldi third for Action Express Racing

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 29, 2014) – Richard Westbrook led a strong showing by Corvette Daytona Prototypes with a thrilling victory alongside Michael Valiante in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday. Westbrook, in the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP, won a last-lap dash to the finish by 0.877 seconds.

Corvette DPs took two of the three podium spots in the sixth race for prototypes in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Action Express Racing’s Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi were third in their No. 5 Corvette DP.

“Congratulations to Troy Flis, Richard Westbrook, Michael Valiante and everyone at Spirit of Daytona Racing on today’s outstanding victory,” said Mark Kent, Chevrolet Director of Racing. “This was a demanding six-hour race at Watkins Glen. This win – made possible by strategy, performance and execution – helped cap a fantastic weekend for Team Chevy.”

In all, three Corvette Daytona Prototypes led in the race as Chevrolet won overall for the fourth consecutive year at Watkins Glen International and third in a row with the Corvette DP. Four of the top five spots went to Corvette DPs. Burt Frisselle, Brian Frisselle and Jon Fogarty were fourth in Action Express’ No. 9 Corvette DP, and Prototype championship leaders Jordan and Ricky Taylor were fifth with Max Angelelli in Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 10 Corvette DP.

Chevrolet increased its lead in the Prototype engine manufacturer championship standings.

“There are several reasons to celebrate today,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet’s Corvette Daytona Prototype Program Manager. “All five of our Corvette Daytona Prototypes ran competitively and trouble-free. Our Chevrolet V8 engines are showing excellent reliability, as evidenced by strong showings at Daytona, Sebring and now Watkins Glen. We maintained leads in the engine manufacturer, driver and team championship standings thanks to Spirit of Daytona’s victory and a third-place finish for Action Express Racing. The momentum in the TUDOR Championship appears to be in our favor heading into a critical stretch of events.”

The next round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship is the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Hawk Performance from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The race – set for 2:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 13 – will mark the first visit to the historic track for the Corvette DPs.

RICHARD WESTBROOK, NO. 90 SPIRIT OF DAYTONA RACING CORVETTE DP
“That yellow made things complicated for us at the end because we were good on fuel and we just needed it to go green. But you know you can’t count on that in racing. The yellow came, it was unfortunate for Alex (Brundle) as he got caught up with the No. 9 car on the restart so I got a really good run and I made it stick.  Well done to Michael (Valiante). His stints were incredible, fast and still saving fuel. I’m just so thrilled for everyone on this Visit Florida team. It’s just a massive achievement. We just needed a podium. It has taken awhile, but we just want to make this a habit now like we did in 2012, finishing on the podium. I’m really proud to be part of this team.”

MICHAEL VALIANTE, NO. 90 SPIRIT OF DAYTONA RACING CORVETTE DP
“I knew Richard would be great on the restart. I knew if he could get a run into Turn 1 we would be OK. This whole race was just like qualifying laps. Our approach was to just keep the car safe and be in position to podium. We’ve had quick cars and the team has been doing a great job. The racing is really close in this series and we would like to keep this roll going with some more podiums.”

JOAO BARBOSA, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP
“Even if we were – I can’t say disappointed – but if we were not 100 percent happy, it’s because we know we could have done better. We had a strong car through the whole stint and the whole race. Unfortunately, the strategy in the race situation didn’t work in our favor with the last yellow flags. But it was a great points day for the Patron Endurance Cup and we probably extended our lead a little bit more. I know we were leading at the three-hour mark, which was one of our goals. We just closed the gap on the No. 10 car in the championship and overall, and that’s what we were looking for when we came here. We were looking also for the win and though we didn’t get that, overall still positive.”

(Could he have caught the No. 90 without the last caution?) “I think so. We had a very competitive car and I was pushing; I was doing really good lap times. I felt we had a chance at the end. On the yellow before the last one, I was caught behind (another car) a little bit and he slowed me down just enough so I couldn’t close the gap on the leaders. But on the last situation, I was able to go by him but there was just not enough time… one lap is not enough to get by.”

CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP
“Yeah it was a good day. Obviously, not exactly what we were looking for but I also can’t complain. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way. The drive-through penalty (for listing the incorrect starting driver) definitely didn’t help us because we fell back and then the yellow came right after. Then the gap between the leader and Joao was pretty big – 35 or 40 seconds – just because he got caught up in traffic. So that really didn’t help. But we win as a team, we lose as a team. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way. We’re gonna turn the page and go on to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. On the other side, we closed the gap on the No. 10 car (in the driver’s championship), which is good, and we opened the gap to the No. 01 and were leading at the three-hour mark. So for the Patron Endurance Championship, it went really well.”

CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Third Straight Victory For Garcia, Magnussen
Win equals GT Le Mans championship leads; Gavin and Milner fourth after penalty

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 29, 2014) – In its 15 years of existence, Sunday marked Corvette Racing’s first event at Watkins Glen International. The team made its debut one to remember with a dominating GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen for Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.

The duo led most of the day to earn their third straight class victory in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. In the process, Garcia and Magnussen moved into the lead of the GTLM driver’s championship, as did Chevrolet in the manufacturer standings and the No. 3 Corvette C7.R in team points.

“The Corvette C7.R team’s first race at Watkins Glen was exciting given the challenging track and intense competition that kept the pressure on all race,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “Antonio and Jan drove a great race and the crew executed quick pit stops. We are thankful to come out of The Glen with a GTLM class win and the class championship lead.”

Garcia and Magnussen also won the third round of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup – a four-race championship made of the TUDOR series’ four endurance events.

The Garcia/Magnussen combination led 154 of the 185 GTLM laps. Magnussen drove the opening stint and took the lead from the pole-sitting BMW on the first lap. Despite holding as much as a 30-second lead at various points, the final minutes were tense ones. A full-course caution with 25 minutes left brought the Corvette inside its fuel window for the rest of the race. A final yellow period just after the restart meant a final-lap dash that saw Garcia hold off the second-place Viper by 0.185 seconds.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner finished fourth in their No. 4 Corvette C7.R after running second to their teammates for most of the day. A stop-and-go penalty inside the last hour for what race officials judged to be avoidable contact halted their podium charge.

The day wasn’t a complete loss. Gavin and Milner moved into the lead of the Patrón Endurance Challenge with just the 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans remaining at the end of the season.

The next round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship is the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Hawk Performance from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The race, which Gavin and Milner won last year as part of the American Le Mans Series, is set for 2:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 13.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“The car was really good. I was running perfect. Jan (Magnussen) made perfect start and pulled a gap. Then we got a caution but we made the gap back up from zero to almost 20 seconds. Whenever I was able to go full-on we went up to almost a 30-second lead. Strategy-wise we were like two or three laps short (on fuel) I believe. We decided because the Viper … maybe they gambled a little bit more at the beginning so they were out of sequence to stretch their fuel to start with; they were good to go to the end. We decided to go too, and it was hard. To go through traffic, it was really difficult to save fuel. At the end we would have been OK to the end (without the last caution). That yellow obviously helped us a little bit more just in case. We weren’t really on it, but I believe Corvette Racing again did a perfect race. I think we led everything but qualifying.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“I have to say I am so pleased for how things have gone for the team this year, with the No. 3 car especially, but how we have developed a new car and we keep finding better things to do with it. We are finding better race speed over one lap over the whole distance and making the Michelin tires last for the whole stint. We have a fantastic race car. It’s a very competitive category and you have to be on your game with everything you do. There is no room for any mistakes otherwise you lose it.”

(First race in the Corvette C7.R at The Glen) “I have been here before in other categories, the GRAND-AM GT and also the GRAND-AM DPs earlier. Driving the Corvette C7.R around here is just a fantastic feeling. It’s such a fast race track. It’s almost like there is a part missing of the corner – normally you would have a big braking zone downshifts and everything getting the car ready to rotate and then shoot out the corner. Here that little bit is gone so basically for every corner you barely touch the brake, downshift, back to full throttle. It’s all about the momentum here to build the speed, and that is where dealing with all the traffic was very important; you didn’t get bogged down too much because it would kind of ruin your rhythm. I think both of us did that really well today.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“Certainly we made a step forward with the car after yesterday morning. We went back to basics with stuff, we changed a lot chassis-wise with the car. So was it the perfect setup? No because it was just really a bit of a stab at it, but it was good enough to race and be in the hunt. I genuinely think we should have had a second-place. Tommy (Milner) did a great job at the start and really got us in a fantastic position. It looked like we were going to be able to race cleanly for second.

(Race impressions) “On the double stint that I did, the first on the medium tire was good and I hung with Jan (Magnussen) pretty much. And then on the harder tire it was trickier. It made it a lot more difficult. But we were still there still in second-place looking like we were going to be able to fight for that and then Tommy (Milner) just got a crazy decision with the penalty. We went back and forth for a long time and it’s a great shame that it ruined our race. We went from second to fourth and I think we should have really had a second. That would have been a great result for the team and the guys. They worked so hard over the whole weekend.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“First and foremost, I’m very proud of our guys. After Oliver (Gavin) and I were not very happy with the car in practice they put a lot of work into trying to fix the car and it seems like that we have done that. The car was certainly quite a bit better in the race. We were just kind of behind the eight ball – just needed some more practice time to kind of fine tune it, but I think we are back in the ballpark again. That is obviously really encouraging for going forward.
(Race impressions) The race was pretty good. I had a really fun start there. It was just a shame that I got a penalty for something that I don’t believe should have been a penalty. Obviously the race control saw it differently. We can only just move on and kind of put that behind us and be proud of what we achieved. Obviously a great job by the No. 3 car guys; they executed very well. Our guys did as well. We had great pit stops, great strategy calls… they did everything right.  We deserved a podium today, but we had it taken away.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“Today was emblematic of one of my key racing axioms – 25 percent great car, 25 percent great team and 50 percent good fortune. We had all those in our corner today, backed up by flawless pit stops and a great strategy by our engineers. With plenty of power from GM Powertrain, you add all that up and it’s a victory in our first visit to Watkins Glen International in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. I couldn’t be more proud of our guys for standing on that top step. Everyone worked very hard to earn this one.”

CHEVROLET RACING
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
SHELL PENNZOIL GRAND PRIX OF HOUSTON
MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 29, 2014

CHARLIE KIMBALL LEADS CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6 CONTINGENT IN RACE NO. 2 AT GRAND PRIX OF HOUSTON

HOUSTON, Texas – June 29, 2014 – Under blistering hot conditions at the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston, Charlie Kimball carried the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 banner by fighting his way to his third top-five finish of the Verizon IndyCar season in his No. Levemir Flex Touch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

His fourth-place finish in enabled him to move up one position in the overall standings to 15th.

Sebastien Bourdais, No. 11 Team Mistic KVSH Racing Chevrolet, also notched his third 2014 top-five finish in Sunday’s race coming home fifth. His performance elevated Bourdais up two spots in the standings from 10th to eighth.

Team Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya was looking to put his No. 2 Verizon Chevrolet into victory lane after coming close in Saturday’s race #1.   Montoya battled from 14th to the top-five but was shuffled out in heavy traffic late in the race. He finished 7th in the event, and remains fifth in points.

His Team Penske teammate and series point leader Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, suffered a suspension failure with just a few laps remaining and came away with a disappointing 11th place finish after making a valiant run to third place.  Power still holds the overall point standings by 39 markers over Helio Castroneves.

Castroneves, who placed No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Premium Team Penske Chevrolet on the pole, led twice for race-high 47 laps. His dominating run ended on lap 48 when on-track contract damaged his car beyond repair.

The next race on the Verizon IndyCar Series will be on Sunday, July 6th at Pocono Raceway.  Live television coverage will start at Noon on NBC Sports and can be heard live on IMS Radio Network XM 209/Sirius 213 as well as IndyCar.com

DRIVER QUOTES:

CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 LEVEMIR FLEX TOUCH CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: “The No. 83 Levemir® FlexTouch® Chevrolet was quick – I kind of like it in the Levemir® FlexTouch® green.  The Novo Nordisk guys did an awesome job in pit lane and the Chevy guys have been working really hard all weekend to give us an engine that’s drivable and gets good mileage.  Overall I’m really happy with a top-five finish and we just drove the wheels off of it when we could.”

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 TEAM MISTIC KVSH CHEVROLETE, FINISHED 5TH: HOW HOT WAS IT OUT THERE; YOU LOOK PRETTY SPENT? “That is the way I react to heat; I dehydrate pretty easily. I hung in there, but I just take my time on the way down.”

HOW WAS THE RACE CAR? “The car was pretty good. We had a different strategy. We started on primes (tires), and we lost a position or two but, at the end of the day, it was working out pretty nicely for us because we went all the way to the end of the window, and we ended up P4, so I was very happy. Then on reds (tires) we were slowly catching the leaders a little bit, and there was that first safety car that bunched everybody up, and I knew the first lap on the restart I was going to have an advantage on options. And I did, and I passed a couple of cars. Then when I got to Helio (Castroneves) Simon (Pagenaud) both went to the inside, I got to them, I moved to the right, and when I got a wheel a little bit over, then he decided to take that line as well. That is a real shame because that destroyed a chance for us to win, and destroyed a chance for him to put up strong points. It is what it is, but we’ll keep at it, and see when we can score a win with that Mistic machine.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: “That was a fun day. The No. 2 Verizon Chevy was really good. It was good on both the ‘red’ tires and ‘black’ tires. We were in position there at the end. The racing was really hard right there. That was a good learning experience for me and I’ll know how hard I can race the next time I’m in that situation. Very good points day for us. Now we go to Pocono where I have a lot of experience.”

RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 8 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH: “It feels good to come out of this doubleheader in Houston with a top 10 finish.  This series is just so competitive and it’s a fight to the finish at every race.  This one wasn’t any different and we were able to come from 15th and get an eighth-place finish.  It’s still not exactly where NTT DATA Racing wants to be but we’re getting closer.”

TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH: “Not a bad day I guess, but we need to be more competitive and run toward the front with the Target cars. It was hot again today and you really had to be in shape for two straight days of racing in these conditions. There was some really exciting racing out there and hope the fans here in Houston enjoyed it today.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11TH: “I had a great car today; passed a lot of cars. We had a great first pit sequence with the Verizon Chevy. We were in position for a good day, considering where we qualified. We were going to maximize our points and we had a parts malfunction with two laps to go. It’s the same part that malfunctioned on two other cars at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. I feel bad for all the sponsors. We fought really hard all day with nothing to show for it. We have a nice lead in the points but we need to get back on track a little bit at Pocono.”

MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET, FINISHED 13TH:
“Going into the chicane on the first lap, Marco (Andretti) made a move in front of me and I couldn’t stop quick enough.  It clipped the front wing and I think it cut the tire too. So I had to pit immediately and that really killed the race for us.  I thought I could get away with it but it cut the tire.  My (left) thumb was okay during the race after spraining it Saturday.  It felt a little numb at times because I think the tape might have be a little too tight.  But it was okay.  I just tried to fight back and stay on the lead lap as long as I could.  It was hot in the car but I felt pretty good.  I was able to get some air coming into my visor during the yellows.  I had a close call with a piece of carbon that flew up from (Luca) Filippi’s car.  It hit the right mirror and almost me.  It was close to hitting me in the head.  That would have hurt.”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 17 KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17TH: “To be honest it’s been a pretty rough weekend. It hurts more when you have an amazing car and just not able to use it. Yesterday was Ryan Briscoe and today was a mechanical issue on my out lap. We had to pit a few times to try and fix it and once we were back out there the Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc. – KV AFS Racing car was one of the quickest. Unfortunately we were six laps down and could only advance through the field by other driver’s mistakes, which is not where you want to be. I’m very proud of all my boys, they keep doing an awesome job. Days like this happen and we just have to regroup and look forward to Pocono next week.”

SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH:  “Well that was obviously not the day we wanted to have with the Target car. Race 1 in Houston for us was unkind and today Race 2 was the same way with spec master cylinder issues. It just wasn’t our weekend and we hope we’ll have the same turn around to our season in Pocono next weekend like we did last season.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PENNZOIL ULTRA PLATINUM INSURANCE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – SIDELINED IN ACCIDENT ON LAP 49 – FINISHED 21ST:
YOU HAD JUST LOST THE LEAD TO SIMON PAGENAUD ON LAP 49. YOU HAD CONTACT WITH SEBASTIAN BOURDAIS. WHAT HAPPENED?
“I don’t know. When I lost the lead with Pagenaud, I was actually trying to attack him. And actually, I was attacking him and trying to pass him. So, right now I’m just trying to pass and see if I’m going to run out of room so I come back to try to do the apex and I had no idea he was there. Obviously when I’m attacking, I can’t have my eyes in the back. So, it’s absolutely ridiculous when the guy has to put the car over there. But anyway; it’s the rules of traffic. The guy that hits the guy in the back it’s always wrong. You’ve got to take care of it.

“Anyway, the car was awesome. Sorry but I’m frustrated a little bit. I am upset, yes, because we had a great car. It’s still like 30 laps to go. I wasn’t even panicking or anything like that. But it is what it is and I’ll move on and see what happens. But the Shell Pennzoil car was awesome. Chevy has great power and it’s just a shame that unfortunately we have drivers like that that does not use common sense. And that’s what we need to have. It is what it is. It’s always going to have ups and downs.”

YOU HAVE HAD A SORE FINGER SINCE LONG BEACH. IS IT BOTHERING YOU? HOW SIGNIFICANT IS THAT?
“Well, it is. I can see that it’s going to be swollen tomorrow; it’s going to be swollen in the next week, but there is nothing we can do in terms of that because it was so sudden what happened. I don’t even have enough time to take my hand off the steering wheel. But anyway, he finished my race and look what happened.”

CHEVROLET SS DRIVERS COLLECT EIGHT OF TOP 12 FINISHING POSITIONS AT KENTUCKY
Ryan Newman Leads the Charge for Team Chevy Finishing Third

SPARTA, KY. – June 28, 2014 – Chevrolet’s Ryan Newman continued to build on a solid and consistent season at Kentucky Speedway by finally breaking through in the Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race to earn his first top-five finish of the season to come home third. The driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS led a contingent of Chevrolet power in the top-10, six teams strong.  Newman’s third-place run marks his best career finish at the 1.5-mile Sparta, Kentucky track, and his third top-10. The strong run kept Newman in eighth position on the chart, making him the second highest driver in the current standings without a win this season.

“It’s a big gain for us and our Caterpillar Chevrolet,” said Newman following the race.  “All the guys at RCR and ECR got us that first top five of the season. I’ve got to thank everybody from Caterpillar and Quicken Loans for the opportunity they’ve given us this year. It was a good run. The No. 2 (Brad Keselowski, race winner) was obviously the fastest car all night. The No. 18 (Kyle Busch) got a little bit better there at the end. We were pretty solid. We never really changed the car. It felt like we were pretty neutral and didn’t want to screw it up. So, we ended up where we did.”

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. earned his ninth top-five finish at Kentucky Speedway by piloting the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS to a fifth-place finish.  Jeff Gordon maintained his spot atop the standings with a sixth-place effort at Kentucky in the No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS.

Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS ended the night with a seventh place run, followed by Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet in eighth.  Jimmie Johnson rounded out the Chevrolet power in the top-10 by earning a 10th-place finish in his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS.  The six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion overcame a 25th place qualifying effort to give Team Chevy six of the top 10 finishers.

Notably, Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch finished 11th and 12th respectively.  Stewart overcame having to start at the rear of the field after changing a transmission in his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Chevrolet SS, and earned his fifth top 10 finish overall.  Busch battled an ill-handling No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS to finish 12th.

Brad Keselowski (Ford) was the race winner, Kyle Busch (Toyota) was second and Matt Kenseth (Toyota) was fourth to round out the top five finishers.

Next weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series will once again compete under the lights; but this time on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway.  The Coke Zero 400 will commence Saturday July 5th.

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD

KERRY THARP:  We’re going to start with our post‑race media with Ryan Newman.  Ryan had a third‑place finish tonight in the No. 31 car for us, and Ryan, just talk about driving that No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, had a nice run out there tonight, running up front the entire evening, and that has to make you feel confident now as we’re kind of at the midpoint of the Chase and certainly next week at a track you’ve won at before.  Talk about your run.

RYAN NEWMAN:  Really just a good, solid run.  We had some really good pit stops, gained some track positions there.  Caught a little bit of a break when the caution came out when we were on pit road.  I think we went from fourth to second on that deal.  Just a good, solid night for the Caterpillar Chevrolet.  All the guys did a really good job strategy wise.  Kept our track position all night.  Really I think we had about a third‑place car.  We could have run with 18 at times, we could run with the 22 at times, but nobody really ran with the 2 car.  Good job for everybody at RCR and ECR, and we’ll keep digging.
Q.  Ryan, RCR has been really doing a lot to get their program back on the right track.  Is this the start of a turnaround?
RYAN NEWMAN:  Well, it was a good run for us.  I think Paul ran up front for a lot of the race.  Last I saw, he finished 15th.  But from when I saw he had run farther up for most of the race and he’s been our flagship for a top 5 so far this year.  It’s nice for us on the 31 side to get a top 5, and it’s something to build on for sure.  It doesn’t mean we’re going to go out and win the next race, but it gives us some confidence, and confidence is very powerful in our sport.
Q.  Were you comfortable all the way from the very start because a lot of the drivers came in here and all they wanted to talk about was bump, bump, bump, bump, and you did seem to have a really solid run all night long where you stayed where you were at.
RYAN NEWMAN:  All we talked about was bumps because that’s the only questions we got was about bumps.  Everybody who talked to me asked me what’s the track like being so bumpy and everything else and that’s the questions we answer.  We answer the questions you all give us.  It’s the character of this racetrack that it’s bumpy.  It doesn’t mean that we can’t race on it.  I think it was a pretty good race tonight.  Brad came up from whatever he was, sixth or eighth or whatever he was in that restart to win the race.  But it was more just a product of the questions you guys were asking us than it was what we wanted to talk about.
Q.  What’s been the biggest difference in your cars with the work that you guys have been doing?  What have you focused on?
RYAN NEWMAN:  Tonight it was everything.  I’d say the biggest gain we had tonight was our pit stops.  The guys gained spots, we did a good job.  Everything was nice and clean.  Strategy wise, Luke did a great job calling two tires when we needed to and not losing track position with four when other guys were taking two, and all that adds up.  Having that clean air and that track position is probably more powerful than anything we do with the race car at times, so that’s probably the biggest difference.  We’ve made some gains on the race part, don’t get me wrong, and the guys on the engine side are always working and there’s no doubt that the Hendrick guys have been the strongest this season.  Far above, at some trace tracks, but we proved tonight that we’ve made some gains.
Q.  You talked about Pocono and Indy.  Those are horsepower tracks.  Is that where you expect to see even more gains?

RYAN NEWMAN:  Pocono, Indy, Michigan, even places like Charlotte now are so much wide open because the cars have still got too much downforce on them that it’s very important to have good horsepower, and good horsepower will win you races.  We’re working on that part of it for Indy and for Pocono and for Michigan.  I think we’re not where we need to be, but that’s why we’re working on it, and we’ll see if we can make those gains before those races come.
Q.  If NASCAR was to say to you, what’s the one thing you would like us to do to these cars, you would tell them reduce the downforce?
RYAN NEWMAN:  The same thing I’ve said for the last four years, yeah, just take downforce down and put softer tires on them.  It’s got to be a combination of the downforce and the tires.  You can’t just leave the hard tires on it and take downforce off.  I took my crew chief to Kokomo Speedway Sunday night after Michigan, watched guys run midgets on dirt sideways turning to the right and saw one of the best races I’ve seen all year long, and they had no downforce and they had a huge power‑to‑weight ratio, 375 horsepower with 900‑pound race cars.  To me that’s the direction we should always go.  They put on a great race, not to say that we don’t, I just think that’s the direction we need to go to if we want to make it better.

KERRY THARP:  Ryan, congratulations, and continued best wishes, and see you at Daytona.

RYAN NEWMAN:  Thank you, guys.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUAKER STATE 400
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 28, 2014

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD
THIS IS YOUR BEST RUN OF THE YEAR. KNOW YOU WANTED TO WIN THIS THING, BUT DOES 3RD PLACE PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE AT THE END OF THE NIGHT?
“It’s a big gain for us and our Caterpillar Chevrolet. All the guys at RCR and ECR got us that first top five of the season. I’ve got to thank everybody from Caterpillar and Quicken Loans for the opportunity they’ve given us this year. It was a good run. The No. 2 (Brad Keselowski, race winner) was obviously the fastest car all night. The No. 18 (Kyle Busch) got a little bit better there at the end. We were pretty solid. We never really changed the car. It felt like we were pretty neutral and didn’t want to screw it up. So, we ended up where we did.”

IS THIS SOMETHING THAT YOU THINK YOU CAN REPLICATE AT FUTURE 1.5-MILE TRACKS?
“Well, we sure don’t come back here (laughs). So I hope it translates. And I think it will. I think we’ve got some stuff coming. Pocono and Indy are a couple of races that I really look forward to.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 5TH
YOU WORKED YOUR WAY TO GET YOUR THIRD TOP-5 IN THE LAST 1.5-MILE TRACKS. THAT’S PRETTY IMPRESSIVE
“Yeah, I didn’t have any answers for why we were struggling yesterday. Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and the engineers got in the hauler and talked all night long, and all day today and put a great car underneath us. And the pit crew did an amazing job tonight. Those guys were gaining spots for me every stop. Even when we were taking four tires, we were beating a lot of guys off pit road. They’re just a great group and deserve a lot of credit, too. The National Guard Chevy was way better today; a lot more fun to drive. This place is a bit of a handful for me. I don’t think I’ve got it figured out just yet. And I don’t exactly know what I’m looking for and how I need the car to drive. So Steve and the guys did a good job in having to deal with me and trying to put a good car under me this weekend. It was a lot of fun in the race. The strategy was good on pit road. Steve’s fuel strategy gained us a lot of track position.”

KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 GREAT CLIPS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 8TH
ON HIS NIGHT:
“We battled hard.  I had to fight we had some damage when the No. 1 (Jamie McMurray) stopped when another car was spinning.  I couldn’t get stopped I hit him, the No. 43 (Aric Almirola) hit him, just too many cars in one spot on the road.  We had a bad pit stop at the end that put us 18th and got back to eighth so I was really happy with the speed of our Great Clips Chevy just too many errors if you want to run up front.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 10TH
WAS THE PENSKE DOMINATION TONIGHT DEMORALIZING AT ALL? OR WERE YOU ABLE TO RUN YOUR RACE DESPITE WHAT THEY WERE DOING?
“We had issues that started on Friday.  We didn’t qualify well that had us in a terrible spot with track position.  I would work my way to the front and get in the top 10, top five and then come down pit road and because of our poor qualifying position we just didn’t have a good pit stall.  I was between the No. 10 (Danica Patrick) and the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and they were both fast all night long.  I would lose five or six spots on pit road each time.  According to lap times what I heard in my ear I think we were a competitive car and we could have been up there and maybe had a look at those guys in some clean air.  But we just messed up on Friday and got behind the eight ball.”

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 RUSH TRUCK CENTERS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 11TH
STARTED BACK IN THE BACK BUT BATTLED FOR A GOOD FINISH:
“Yeah I mean I would have liked to have been a little better than what we were there at the end, but I think we definitely had to fight our way up there through the day.  We never did anything trick to get track position.  We pitted every time the pits were open.  We didn’t do any less than anybody else did on any stop.  All in all I thought we had a pretty honest day there can’t complain about that.”

WAS IT ANY HARDER TO GET THROUGH TRAFFIC HERE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE?
“No, the race track was wide enough and guys were moving around enough that if your car was working you could get through there.  It’s just we just weren’t working good enough.  I was kind of stuck in one or two spots on the track and not in a wide enough spot to really do anything.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GUYS ARE MAKING PROGRESS?
“Yeah, I think so across the board.  Kurt (Busch) and I talked about our cars right after the race and we both were fighting the same thing with our cars.  I think the No. 10 (Danica Patrick) and the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) were fighting a different set of problems.  I think as an organization as a whole we were pretty good.  Danica (Patrick) was pretty good all night just got kind of off on the tire sequence there and I think that bit them.  I think all four of the cars were pretty good.”

MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 19TH
“We had a lack of grip and no rhythm tonight. We fought for every inch to finish 19th.  At the beginning of the race we didn’t have any rear grip. Once that got better we started to have trouble with our front-end grip.  Leaving our pit stall was also a problem tonight. We took a good hit from behind on one pit stop that caused damage to our Chevrolet and later in the race we were blocked in after taking two tires and hoping to gain on track position. We obviously wanted a better finish for World Vision but hopefully we’ll get another opportunity with them down the road.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – EXPERIENCED A TIRE ISSUE ON LAP 77 WHICH RESULTED IN CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WALL

ARE YOU OKAY?
‘Yeah, I’m okay. Blew a right front (tire). This is the first time that’s ever happened to me in stock car racing. So, big hits. But is sucks. We were hoping for a good points day to pad our points were we are before we go to Daytona where it’s a real crapshoot. It’s disappointing to have two weekends that didn’t end up very well the last couple of races. Oh, well. That’s how it goes. We’ll try and go to Daytona and rebound and gain some more points.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THAT WAS COMING?
“No, not really. I saw Denny (Hamlin) blew his right front and I’d been pretty tight. But I didn’t think we had any tire issues all weekend, so I was kind of shocked when he blew his right front. And then we were pretty tight on our run. I felt like I was using up my right sides; and run up in the grey a lot trying to get the top working. I told myself to get back down just in case there would be tire problems and I guess I just used up my tires too much.”

IT APPEARED THE SAME THING THAT HAPPENED WITH DENNY HAMLIN EARLIER HAPPENED TO YOU IS THAT ACCURATE?
“Yeah the same thing that happened to Denny (Hamlin) I think.  It looked like he blew a right-front (tire) and so did I.  I heard a big ‘pop’ and then it just went straight.  It sucks it happened, but I didn’t know we had any tire issues at all throughout the weekend.  I don’t know if the rain had an effect and washed the rubber off the track or what.  It sucks it happened but we will go to Daytona next week and try to get the Target Chevy into Victory Lane.”

ANY INDICATION IT WAS GOING DOWN?
“No I didn’t have any warning just was a little bit tight the whole race so far.  I didn’t really feel like I was abusing my right-front tire that bad, but apparently I was.  It just went.”

IT SEEMS REALLY ODD THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TWO ISSUES SO CLOSE TOGETHER ALMOST WITH THE SAME AMOUNT OF LAPS ON THE TIRES:
“Yeah, I was surprised to see Denny (Hamlin) blow a right-front because I didn’t think that many teams had tire issues at all.  I hadn’t heard anything.  Then it happened to us.  Hopefully, it doesn’t happen to anybody else out there tonight because those hits definitely hurt.  Oh well, we will go to Daytona and try and do better.”

CHEVROLET RACING
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
SHELL PENNZOIL GRAND PRIX OF HOUSTON
MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 28, 2014

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA LEADS CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6 CONTINGENT AT GRAND PRIX OF HOUSTON

HOUSTON (June 28, 2014) – Team Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 2 Verizon Chevrolet, saw a fantastic chance at his first win since returning to the Verizon IndyCar Series slip through his fingers on the final restart of Race One of the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston double header.

Lined up in second place, Montoya was ready to make his move in his Chevrolet IndyCar V6 twin turbo powered car with time running short in the event. But before he could make a challenge for the lead in the first corner, the caution flew for the final time because of a spin behind him.  The race ended under caution as time expired.

With his fourth top-five finish of the year, Montoya moves up two positions in the point standings to fifth.

The event was scheduled to run a total of 90 laps but due to heavy rains that delayed the start, IndyCar officials elected to make this a timed race that would last one hour and fifty minutes.

Montoya’s Team Penske teammates Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet, and Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet maintained their 1-2 lead in the series standings despite a challenging day for both on track.  Power started in 18th position and was looking to overcome the deficit and treacherous conditions.  However, he was involved in an incident late in the race that he could not overcome and finished 14th.

Castroneves started on the outside front row and raced inside the top-five for most of the event.  The team decided to pit for tires on the final stop and he could not overcome the lost track position as many others decided to stay out and the team would finish ninth.

Other Chevrolet IndyCar V6 finishers were:
Sebastien Bourdais, No. 11 Mistic KVSH Racing Chevrolet, finished 4th
Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Team Penske Chevrolet, finished 9th
Ryan Briscoe, No. 8 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, finished 12th
Tony Kanaan, No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, finished 13th
Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, finished 14th
Sebastian Saavedra, No. 17 Automatic Fire Sprinklers KV AFS Chevrolet, finished 15th
Mike Conway, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, finished 17th
Charlie Kimball, No. 83 Levemir Flex Touch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, finished 18th
Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, finished 19th

Qualifying for Race No. 2 of the second doubleheader of the season is set for 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, June 29, 2014.

The 90-lap/153-mile race on the 10-turn/1.683-mile temporary circuit is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. ET with live coverage on NBCSN. The action will be carried live on IMS Radio Network XM 209/Sirius 213 as well as IndyCar.com

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 2ND:
COULD YOU HAVE WON THAT RACE? “Yes, I had a good jump (on the restart) there. It is one of those deals; it’s racing. That’s what happens.  I had a shot once at passing. It was really close. I thought he wasn’t going to make it on gas, but congratulations to Carlos (Huertas). I think my Verizon Chevy was unbelievable today. This race, especially when it rains, is all about keeping it off the wall and running smart all day, and we did that. I liked passing Tony (Kanaan), I really enjoyed that. I’m starting to get there, and I’m pretty happy.”

AGAIN, IT CAME DOWN TO STRATEGY AND MAKING THE CALLS ON PIT ROAD
“Yeah, we were running pretty good, like seventh or something; and then we came in and put on black tires and that really hurt us. We suffered there a little bit, but in a way it forced us to do something different and it paid off. I was amazed with this timed race. There were like 35 minutes to go and I am counting 30 laps, you can’t make it. At this pace, you can’t make it. Why are they not stopping? I was kind of surprised nobody pitted. And I’m like oh, thank you.”

YOU GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND WENT IMMEDIATELY OVER TO CARLOS (HUERTAS, RACE WINNER) AND GAVE HIM SOME ADVICE. WHAT WAS THAT?
“No, I just told him congratulations. He’s a good kid; you know what I mean? And he did a good job today. He did what he had to do to win.”

YOU WERE TEASING HIM TELLING HIM TO ZIP-UP HIS DRIVING SUIT
“I’ll be honest with you. Our Verizon Chevy was really good today and I thought we had a chance to win, but at the end the tires went off. But I do tease him a lot. He had the suit all open and I’m like, you’ve got to look good (laughs).”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS:  NO. 11 TEAM MISTIC E-CIGS – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4TH: ON HIS RACE:  “A very solid day for the KVSH Racing Mistic machine and the whole group. We did everything right and everything we had to do. We just got hurt by the yellows. The first yellow, when we switch to slick tires, a lot of things didn’t quite work out, but we seemed to come out of it strong, P2 behind Hinchcliffe. Unfortunately, another yellow came out and that really did it because we were good to go on fuel with one more stop and some of the other guys behind us stopped on an earlier yellow. But since it was a timed race, every time there was a yellow the race got shorter and shorter and they were not using as much fuel. So, a few of them stayed in front of us, but we salvaged a fourth which was a very solid result. Of course I am disappointed in a way because I think we could have finished higher, but I am pretty happy for the Mistic crew.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PENNZOIL ULTRA PREMIUM TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: “Obviously we were looking for a better day today after qualifying on the front row with the Pennzoil Chevrolet. With Brazil winning their World Cup match on penalty kicks I was really feeling good about the day. The rain, I think, through all of us for a bit of a loop. It was very wet to start and there were some corners that never dried. We just weren’t prepared for that. But we know we have a fast car in dry conditions. Hopefully we will qualify well again tomorrow and have a better ending.
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET –FINISHED 13TH:  YOU HAD AT LEAST A PODIUM FINISH, MAYBE MORE, BUT YOU WERE TURNED BY GRAHAM RAHAL GOING INTO THE LAST RESTART. YOU ARE NOT SHOWING ANY EMOTION. I KNOW YOU ARE STEAMING (ANGRY). HOW ARE YOU DEALING WITH THIS? WHAT HAPPENED?
“Well, you’ve got to be professional. I have a team to defend and a lot of good sponsors. So, I can’t do what I really want to do. What a shame. It was a great run by the Target Chip Ganassi boys. We fought all the way; all day long. And to be taken out like that I think it’s stupid. But he was having a good day, too and then ruined his day. I guess I wanted to believe the best. I wanted to believe he didn’t do it on purpose. Of course he came and apologized. But that still doesn’t take the frustration out of me.”

DID HE ACCEPT ALL THE BLAME FOR THAT?
“Yeah, he has to man, come on. He’s a humble guy. It’s just a shame. What am I going to say? Am I mad at him? Yes. Can I turn back in time? No. So, we’ve got to turn the page and move on to tomorrow.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH: “Hard day today if we could have hung in there a little longer we could have been in good shape. I made a mistake there and I feel bad for the Verizon Chevy boys after I went into the wall. That’s racing. We’ll try it again tomorrow and go for better result.”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA
NO. 17 AUTOMATIC FIRE SPRINKLERS, INC. – KV AFS RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED: 15TH: ON HIS RACE: “It was a crazy race. I am very sad because the result does not show what an amazing car we had. We were very strong in the wet, making a lot of passes when the conditions were at there worst. With a great strategy and fantastic  pit stops by the Automatic Fire Sprinklers – KV AFS Racing crew we were able to get up front. Unfortunately at the end I got taken out by Ryan Briscoe while looking to have a top-five or better finish. I’m disappointed, we came from so far back in the field and worked so hard that we deserve a lot better. We have a good car and just need to re-group for tomorrow. Big congratulations on the Colombian 1, 2, 3 finish today and of course in the World Cup with Colombia winning their game, which is huge for my country…I wish I could be there!”

MIKE CONWAY, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17TH:  ON HIS RACE: “The track was drying and we decided to pit (on lap 26) and put on the red Firestones slicks.  I wanted to make some time but I locked up the tires in turn 3. It was still a little wet on the outside.  And I got the car into the tire barrier.  The right front wing was wrecked and the car stalled.  The impact bent the steering column a bit and it twisted my left thumb pretty well too.  It is hurting but nothing serious.  It will be sore tomorrow.  I just feel badly for the ECR/Fuzzy’s team because the way the race finished up.  We could have been in the mix at the end. We need to get ready for Sunday’s race now.”

POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE:
An Interview With:

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA

THE MODERATOR:  We’ll get started with today’s post‑race press conference.  We’re please to be joined by Team Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya who finished second in today’s race.  We are very pleased to have three Colombians on the podium so they will be accepting questions in both Spanish and English.  Juan, a second‑place finish here.  This is Juan’s best finish since returning to the Verizon IndyCar Series.  His previous best finish this season was third at Texas.  So, Juan, the state of Texas has been very good to you.  How excited are you to get another podium finish here?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  It’s exciting.  Our Verizon Chevy was very good.  Yesterday was a difficult practice.  We really struggled in the morning.  I had a lot of braking issues, and we fixed them.  In the afternoon I felt like we made good gains.  Qualifying was good, and I was kind of mad we put black tires on the dump truck.  I was going on the radio going what are we doing, what are we thinking?  Everybody was passing us, so that wasn’t the best.  But it is what it is.
I was kind of amazed nobody took that caution.  When it’s a timed race, you look at it, I mean, why?  Why wouldn’t you?  You know what I mean?  You could make it to the end, and I passed Tony ‑‑ I really felt I was going to be racing with Tony for the win, and I passed Tony when I needed to pass him, and with Huertas, a couple of times I could have passed him, but I just don’t risk the car.  It’s pointless, and then we’re here and he won the race.

Q.  Juan, did you think that you were in the position for the win I guess before the caution, and then under caution what was your plan going to be if you had one lap was green?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I was going for it.

Q.  How do you go for it?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I felt like I had a hell of a restart.  Like oh, I’m there, I’m there, and caution came out, and I’m like, oh.  I thought the caution came out because he jumped the start a little bit, but it seems you can jump the start here.

Q.  Did you have any ‑‑ did you not know what Huertas had?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  No, I never thought he could make it to the end.  On the radio it was like ‑‑ I mean, those two haven’t pitted, they’re not going to make it, we’re good.  You’ve only got to protect from behind, and then they said, oh, I think you might want to try to pass Huertas, and I said, I think I’m out of tires.
It’s good.  We got another good finish.  It’s something we can build on.  I thought we had a pretty good car at the beginning of the rain and I was very cautious.  Here you’ve end of losing your place and taking your time than stuffing it in the wall or spinning or anything.  When we went to black tires I was running sixth or seventh or something and they went on like an anchor.  When it was completely dry, it was okay, but whenever it was damp it was like oil on the track, and everybody else was like beautiful.  It was kind of frustrating.

Q.  Juan, you had some complaints about restarts over at Texas and possibly here with Huertas jumping the restart like you just said, but you had a pretty good start on him.  Do you feel like there’s an inconsistency there with restarts?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  The line is in the middle of the corner, and when we passed the entrance we were wide open.  He wasn’t as fast ‑‑ he jumped it by 50 yards or something like that.  I don’t mind that.  In Texas it was like 300 yards and he was already wide open, I’m like, you know ‑‑ I talked to IndyCar, you were a little bit behind.  I said, look, if you think I’m trying to tag him, then penalize me, too, but two wrongs doesn’t make one right.

Q.  This is for both of you.  Juan, the winner and the third‑place finisher all say that you were their idol when they were coming up racing.  How do you feel ‑‑
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  They should have respected me and let me win.

Q.  How do you feel to know that you’ve kind of had this type of influence on a lot of the guys that are getting to the point where they can win races here in IndyCar?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  When I grew up, I had Guerrero, he was the only guy racing.  He made Formula 1, he made it in IndyCar.  He was on the pole in the Indy 500.  He was really good.  So for me, apart from Senna, I looked up to him.  So when I went up, karting and racing in Colombia was there, a couple people tried it but nobody ever thought you could make a career out of this.  I’ve been racing for so long at a top level, you know what I mean, I’ve been lucky enough to have a great career, great teams, people start realizing, I want my kids to do ‑‑ the same thing with golf.  Here Tiger Woods, everybody thinks they’ve got to practice when they’re five years old every day, 20 hours a day to hit golf balls and one day the kid turns 14, looks at a girl and throws away the golf club.  It’s definitely that kind of deal.

Q.  Colombia won their World Cup match right before this race ended.  Are we making too much of it?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  Oh, it’s going to be a huge day.  Three Colombians, I think the first time in the history of motor racing in the world that three Colombians are on a podium top at the IndyCar level, a top motorsport level, it’s unbelievable.  It’s really exciting.  On my team, I think they’ve got a good shot at the World Cup, as well.  They’re playing really well, and yeah, next match is against Brazil, so that’s going to be fun, having Helio as a teammate and kicking his ass.
CARLOS MUÑOZ:  I think right now we’re really lucky to be here in America, not in Colombia.  I think right now Colombia should be really crazy to go out in the streets and celebrate.  It’s been a big deal for us this year.  Today was a big day for Colombia, for the first time 1‑2‑3 on the podium in IndyCar in a motorsport race, and the first time we go to quarterfinals.  So should be a really fantastic day.  We show what Colombians are made of.  I think we show the bad image people have, because they don’t know about Colombians, they only know about one thing.  You know what I mean?  Finally we showed that we have plenty of talent in Colombia, not only in motor racing but there’s a lot of Colombians in other sports.

Q.  Carlos, did you ever think you’d be on a podium with Juan Pablo, and Juan, do you feel like an old guy?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I am old.  I don’t have to feel like.  Compared with them, yeah.

Q.  All these kids grew up idolizing you are now beating you.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I’m OK.  If I don’t do a good job I deserve to be beaten.  If I do a good job, I’m going to kick your ass.  It’s normal.  That’s what we’re here to do.  It’s about getting the job done, and I feel I’ve come up and proven that I can get the job done here, and every week it gets better and better.  We have really good days.  We keep building on it.  We keep getting better.  It’s just a matter of time, you know what I mean?  I think the wins are coming, and I think once it clicks, it’s going to click pretty well.  Finally starting to get the overtaking.  I felt I made a really good move on Kanaan today.  I was smiling in the car when I passed him.  Yeah, it was pretty cool.

Q.  Could both of you talk about how sloppy the race ended up being?  It seemed that obviously when you go to the slicks you’re going to have some sloppiness, but the driving today had a lot of moments that could have been avoided.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I don’t know, it’s just racing.  It’s hard because only the race line dries.  It’s very hard to make any moves because every time you get to somebody you’ve got to stay in line.  You can’t get into the damp and say, oh, here I go because you’re probably not going to make it.  I think every time somebody tried it, that’s what happened.

Q.  Juan, the last time that you raced in Houston you finished second.  Would you say that it’s a lot different now emotionally considering you’ve been away from IndyCar so long that it’s a lot better today?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I’ll tell you, the last time I finished second here, Jimmy Vasser was the guy who beat me and it really sucked and finishing second place really sucked.
Am I happy?  Yeah, I’m happy I finished second and I’ve shown that I can get the job done and everything, but it still sucks.  And I think that’s why I can get the job done.  I really want to win.  It’s all about performing, and I’ll tell you, this year right now in the IndyCar Series is really tough.  Our Verizon Chevy is really good, and even having such a good car, you’re off a little bit and you’re 15th.  You know what I mean?  It doesn’t take much to be nowhere.
It’s great racing, but you’ve got to be on your game every day.

Q.  Speaking about every day, what about coming back tomorrow?  Do you think each of you can get back on the podium, maybe you’ll get your win, and just how you feel physically going into tomorrow?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA:  I think the rain really helped everybody.  The only thing was like I have leather gloves, and they were all wet, but my hands are fine.  I’m sure tomorrow when we get in the car, you’re going to go, oh, that hurt.  Like your elbows ‑‑ like the elbows, the only thing you can feel all the time here from racing when you’re turning is your arms are bouncing, like hitting against the chassis.  Really, can we stop bouncing, please?

CAMARO Z/28.R AT WATKINS GLEN: Victory at Watkins Glen for Stevenson Motorsports
Second win for Liddell, Davis nets GS manufacturer championship lead for Chevrolet

·         Liddell holds on for 0.169-second victory

·         Davis sets fastest lap of the race

·         Camaros ran 1-2-3 for much of event

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 28, 2014) – Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis drove the new Camaro Z/28.R to victory for the second time season in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge with a dramatic victory in the Continental Tire 150 on Saturday at Watkins Glen International. The win unofficially moved Chevrolet into the lead of the Grand Sport (GS) manufacturer championship after six rounds.

It ended a dynamic two days for the Camaro Z/28.R. Eric Curran claimed pole position for CKS Autosport in the No. 01 Camaro. In addition to winning the race Saturday, Davis also set the fastest lap at 2:01.790 (x mph) in the victorious No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro Z/28.R.

“What an great event for the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R program,” said Mark Kent, Chevrolet Director of Racing. “Congratulations to Robin Liddell, Andrew Davis and everyone at Stevenson Motorsports on Saturday’s victory at Watkins Glen. The second win of the season was doubly important in terms of the GS championship standings. The progress of this first-year program is remarkable but a long season remains.”

Liddell held off a hard-charging B.J. Zacharias on the final lap to win by 0.169 seconds. The Liddell/Davis pairing scored the Camaro Z/28.R’s first victory in March at Sebring.

A trio of Camaro Z/28.Rs ran in the top three positions for most of the race. Matt Bell and Andy Lally went on to finish fourth in the No. 9 Stevenson Camaro with Curran and Aschenbach seventh. Ashley McCalmont and Bob Michaelian were 10th in the No. 00 CKS Camaro Z/28.R.

“Watkins Glen was an unqualified success for Team Chevy,” said Lisa Talarico, Chevrolet’s Program Manager for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. “The Camaro Z/28.R showed great speed and balance in practice, qualifying and the race. The work done by the team at Chevrolet Racing, Pratt & Miller and our partners at Stevenson Motorsports and CKS Autosport has been fantastic all season and our efforts continue to pay dividends.”

Saturday’s race will air on FOX Sports 1 at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 6. The next round of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge is Saturday, July 12 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park outside Toronto.

ANDREW DAVIS, NO. 6 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z/28.R
“I’m very excited and proud for this Stevenson Motorsports crew and everyone at Team Chevy and Pratt & Miller Engineering. It’s always special to win a race but to win another race at Watkins Glen is a great achievement – such a historic track. I can’t say enough about our Camaro Z/28.R. The crew guys did a great job. I was able to get a great restart after a botched start of the race. I got a great jump and was able to get in the lead before Turn 1. From that point, I had the best view in the house so I put my head down, focused on that view and tried to drive away from everybody because I wanted to give Robin the car in first. The guys did a great job and we achieved that.”

ROBIN LIDDELL, NO.  6 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO Z/28.R
“The support from Chevrolet and Pratt & Miller with this new Camaro Z/28.R has been fantastic. Two wins in the debut season is great. Today was an interesting finish to say the least. It was a massive scrap over the last three corners. The guys made some great pit stops – both the No. 6 and the No. 9. In terms of strategy, we called it perfectly. We didn’t gamble for any yellows. We did our stops as if it were going to be a green race, and we ran out of gas on the last lap essentially with a loss of fuel pressure. I’m really happy with the execution from the team. Thanks to Stevenson, Pratt & Miller and Team Chevy. The Camaro Z/28.R was a brilliant car all weekend.”