In His Own Words: Jan Magnussen
Danish star talks ahead of his 10th Le Mans with Corvette Racing
 
LE MANS, France (June 14, 2013) – The 90th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours is quickly approaching with practice and qualifying starting Wednesday. Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen shares his thoughts on his 10th start for the team ahead of the prestigious June 22-23 event.
 
Question: The last time you and Antonio (Garcia) raced, the No. 3 Compuware Corvette ran a perfect race to win at Laguna Seca in the ALMS. Can that carry over to Le Mans?
Jan Magnussen: The most important part of winning at Laguna Seca for us was to make it clear what we needed to do to win. Last year we were so close in the ALMS to winning races with five second-place finishes, and little things got in the way and messed it up completely. What the Laguna win showed is that when we work together and execute perfectly, we can win races. It also was a mental thing for the crew to show that we can do it, especially right before Le Mans. There is a lot of self-confidence on our crew and belief that we can do it. You need to be fast at Le Mans but also perfect. Hopefully we can learn from Laguna. If we aren’t the fastest car on track, we will need to stick to our plan and try to be faultless, which is really, really hard over 24 hours – not to mention four.”
 
Q: Corvette Racing poses a formidable two-car lineup. Is that a huge advantage at Le Mans?
JM: We measure ourselves against the (No. 74) car. They are strong competitors for everyone. Our advantage is that we work together with them, and the two cars work off each other to get faster as a team. At Le Mans that’s much more important – both cars need to be quick. It’s definitely much more of a team effort than in the ALMS. We do push each other a lot. We have to be perfect, just like they do.”
 
Q: Can you take us back to the 2004 race at Le Mans – your first win with Corvette Racing?
JM: At midnight we were leading by a couple minutes when I got taken out by one of the Audis at the Ford Chicane. I limped back to the pits, and the car was heavily damaged. The guys fixed it but we went six laps down. For the next eight hours, we were fighting back and gaining a little on the leaders but six laps was too much. Then with three or four hours left, the leading Prodrive car came in with huge problems and lost the same amount of time in the pits we did. I was getting back in the car at this time, and we came out of the pits together but we were 20 minutes ahead. So the race was back on in a big, big way. It was such a fantastic feeling getting the last briefing by Gary Pratt. Everyone was screaming on the radio when we pulled back out saying, ‘We gotta go! We gotta go!’ Then getting the win was perfect.
 
Q: The contingent of Danish fans at Le Mans is one of the largest at the race each year. How fun is that to see?
JM: To be at Le Mans as a Danish driver is one of the most fantastic things that a Dane can experience. You have to understand that there are more Danish fans at Le Mans than at the biggest Danish race. We don’t have very big race tracks in Denmark. There are years where we have had upwards of 40,000 Danish people at Le Mans. It’s quite a drive! They go there, make a vacation and party out of it. There is no doubt their favorites are on track. You really feel that every place you go.”
 
Q: You are quite fond of Le Mans today, but that wasn’t always the case was it?
JM: “My first Le Mans I have to say was a horrible experience. Our car (a Panoz prototype in 1999) was unreliable. We weren’t that fast. It was the first real long-distance race I had completed in. I have to say after 10 hours, it did not make sense to me. I wondered why we were here. But then I got the chance to drive the car across the line at the end of the race and see all the mechanics and the happiness there. For most people, it is more than a race where you go to win; for most you go there to finish the race and it’s a huge accomplishment to be there at the end of 24 hours. That experience driving the car across the line gave me real respect for Le Mans, and that is when I understood what it was about.”
 

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 QUICKEN LOANS CHEVROLET SS, WAS THE GUEST ON THIS WEEK’S NASCAR WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE.
 
BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPT FROM TODAY’S INTERVIEW:  
 
THE MODERATOR:  Ryan, we thank you for joining us today and we wish you the best of luck at Michigan.
 
Welcome to today’s NASCAR conference.  We are joined by Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for Stewart‑Haas Racing. Newman has two wins at Michigan International Speedway, and has two Top‑5 and seven Top‑10 finishes so far in 2013.
 
Ryan, you have two wins at Michigan and three of the last four races you finished inside the Top‑10.  You’re coming off a race where you matched your best finish of 2013 which was a fifth place at Pocono.
 
How are you going to capitalize on the momentum heading into this weekend as we get closer to the Chase?
 
RYAN NEWMAN:  Well, I’m not 100 percent sure, but I know it’s important that we do.  We have ‑‑ aside from Dover, we have had some good runs in the last four races.  And you know, carrying some of that momentum, as well as obviously Tony had a good weekend in Dover, but just keeping the ball rolling.
 
I think that there’s some things that we learned at our Pocono test that we can absolutely carry over from the Pocono race into Indianapolis going back to Pocono, and as well, I think at places like Michigan that are smooth and have similar asphalt and are really fast, as well.
 
So hopefully the things that we’ve learned will help carry us for the most part through some of those things.  It’s all about having a fast race car, especially when you go into a big weekend like we have with the Quicken Loan’s 400 being the sponsor of the race, as well as my race car.
 
So pressure from the outside, but from my side, just doing my job and staying focused and hitting my marks.
Q.  With Father’s Day coming up, can you tell me what your dad has meant to you at the race track and away from the race track?
RYAN NEWMAN:  We don’t have that much time, but it’s special.  Whether it’s Father’s Day or not, it’s special to have that relationship with my dad, and at the same time, to have that relationship with my daughters, and I guess maybe be able to share it to them a little bit more especially on Father’s Day.
 
I think the most memorable, and I think there’s two memorable Father’s Days, in my mind, with respect to my father, and that was the midget race I won in Salem, Indiana, and the Cup race I won Father’s Day weekend in Michigan.  I told him, I said, you know, before I got in the race car, I said: This is the only thing I’m going to try to get you is this victory and there’s no guarantee to and, but know that I’m trying and that’s enough for my dad, because he’s a racer.
 
To have a person who is not just my father, but my friend and somebody who has taught me a large percentage of everything that I’ve known, and at the same time, given me the attitude and the personality that I have, that, whether you like it or not, it’s who I am, and we all go on.
 
So I look forward to Father’s Day weekend now for two reasons, because I still try to win each and every race for my dad, especially Father’s Day weekend, but obviously for my two girls, as well.
Q.  Curious how you think the new car will perform on a road course like Sonoma.
RYAN NEWMAN:  I think it’s safe to say it’s going to be faster.  I don’t know that that means we are going to have more passing or less passing or what the exact situation is going to be.  But faster usually leads to more braking, and more braking usually leads to more heat, and I think it’s definitely going to be a situation where you want to have track position no different than it ever has been at Sonoma.
 
We had a one‑day test, us and Danica actually went to VIR to basically knock the rust off the drivers, try a couple things for the crew chiefs and get the cars ready to make sure everything was good.
 
I feel like on our side, we’ll be competitive and we’ll see what happens.  But the Gen‑6 car has proven to be a faster race car, pretty much every racetrack we’ve been.  Sometimes the weather conditions are not conducive for it, but we are breaking a lot of track records this year.
Q.  What do you think, it’s the 25th anniversary of road course racing and Cup racing at Sonoma; what are your earliest memories of the race in Sonoma each year, watching it on TV, or what are some of your earliest memories of the place?
RYAN NEWMAN:  I guess as an avid NASCAR fan watching something that’s so totally different from a racing standpoint than the ovals.
 
I think it’s just, you know, when you’re a fan looking at it, it’s different than being a race car driver looking at it because a driver, he just drives a race car but I fan, you see the oval side of it and then you go to the road courses and you see ‑‑ like it’s a totally different kind of ‑‑ what are these cars doing, these are for road race cars, not NASCAR stock cars.  It’s just a different perspective of when I was younger than what I have now, is what I’m trying to say.
Q.  Is there a potential of a lot more drivers winning this race these days than there was maybe ten, 15 years ago?
RYAN NEWMAN:  Maybe ten, 15 years ago, yes.  Ten years ago, I think you had a few good drivers, meaning one hand, and then a couple road course ringers that came in and now I think you’ve got, maybe, ten or 15 drivers that are capable of winning.  But I think that goes without saying in all the other racing, as well, not just road courses.
Q.  You mentioned Danica earlier.  What have you seen from her as far as her progression?
RYAN NEWMAN:  As you say, progression or aggression?
Q.  Progression.
RYAN NEWMAN:  I think she’s got great feedback.  I think she understands a little bit more each and every race, each and every opportunity she has to feel the race cars and give the feedback and build that library of feels to be able to relate to how she needs to say it to her crew chief.
 
But I know in our debrief, the one thing that when we talked about this past weekend, is that she just has not really had good track position. Whether it’s a less‑than‑average qualifying run or being stuck in the points, having to start in the back with rain, she’s just ‑‑ she’s kind of fighting a battle of track position right now.  I think if she could get up front and feel her race car in cleaner air, it would make a world of difference to her confidence right now.
Q.  You talked about pressure on the outside with Quicken Loans being the title sponsor of the race, curious if you feel this race is any more important for you in terms of trying to keep them as a sponsor of yours and the future, no matter where you end up racing?
RYAN NEWMAN:  Every race is important with respect to that.  For me, I look at it from this perspective:  If I go out there and do my job as a driver, then I’m protecting my relationship with my sponsor and with my team and everybody else, and the second part of that is, you would think that it would be self‑centered but it’s really not.  If you take care of the one, it takes care of everything else.
 
There’s no pressure from the outside, I think people view it as pressure, but from my perspective it’s an opportunity to do something even greater, to win your own race as a title sponsor and a car sponsor.  I’ve had the opportunity to do it before and haven’t, so I look forward to another opportunity.
Q.  Does it matter, I assume that there’s going to be several executives from Quicken Loans at that race.  Does it matter to perform well at a race that they are physically at, rather than watching maybe on television?
RYAN NEWMAN:  I think it makes a difference to them personally.  You know, results

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PARTY IN THE POCONOS 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 9, 2013
 
CHEVROLET SS DRIVER JIMMIE JOHNSON DOMINATES AT POCONO
Team Chevy Grabs Four of Top-Five Positions
 
LONG POND, PA. (June 9, 2013) – Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet SS, scored his third win of the season and third win at Pocono Raceway in dominating fashion today.   Johnson closed the deal by leading 128 of the 160 laps in the race, and was untouchable while cruising to his 63rd career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) victory.   He extended his overall lead in the series to 51 points over second place with his ninth top-10 finish of the season.
 
Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet SS, finished third in today’s event and moved up two spots in the standings to fourth.   This was Earnhardt’s fourth top-five finish of the season and his 10th career top-10 finish at Pocono.  
 
Last week’s race winner, Tony Stewart, posted a solid fourth-place finish in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS and moved up another three spots in the standings to 13th.  His Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Ryan Newman, also had a good run in today’s event and came away with his second top-five finish in fifth in the No. 39 HAAS Automation Chevrolet SS. 
 
Kurt Busch started 20th, but drove to the front and stayed in the hunt all day long before finishing seventh in his No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet SS.  Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet, scored his sixth top-10 finish of the season with a ninth-place finish, putting six Team Chevy drivers in the Top-10.  Busch moved up two positions to 15th in the standings while Harvick maintained his fifth-place point position.
 
Greg Biffle (Ford) was second to round out the top-five finishing order.
 
Next stop on the circuit will be Round 15 at Michigan International Speedway Sunday, June 17th at 1:00 pm ET on TNT, Sirius/XM Channel 90, MRN Radio and

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PARTY IN THE POCONOS 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JUNE 9, 2013
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CHEVROLET SS – Finished 19 laps down in 36th following a mechanical issue on the opening lap.
WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE CAR?
“We have no idea yet. They (the crew and engineers) have been looking at things but they’re still unsure. I know that when I took off, in second gear, I had no power and it was just vibrating like crazy; and then in third (gear) and fourth.  The faster I went, the worse the vibration was. I came in and they changed a bunch of stuff and went out and was perfectly fine and had a lot of speed.  They changed a lot of things, but nothing was wrong. In looking at everything, it all looked fine. But still, you can’t make up 20 laps at Pocono.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR, NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD
WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED TO GET UP TO BATTLE FOR THE WIN?
“It looked like to me we got beat through turn three pretty bad.  Jimmie (Johnson) was just real fast through there.  We had a great car. Just thank all our sponsors, National Guard and Diet Mountain Dew. The guys did a good job on pit road, and the car had good speed. We held on and had a good run. Want to congratulate Chase Elliott on his (ARCA) win yesterday. That was pretty awesome. That guys has a good future, and just happy to get one in the bank, you know. We’ve been struggling a little bit, and this is a good run for us. We’ll have a good week.”
 
WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM A DAY LIKE THIS CONSIDERING THE PAST FEW WEEKS?
“We have been running good all year just have had some troubles.  It’s good to be able to run good again.  All the fans listening to Dirty Mo Radio tomorrow will be excited and get to talk about something positive.  It’s been a good weekend.  Chase Elliott won yesterday; he has a bright future, excited about that.  Excited to be able to run well we had a good car all weekend, glad we could get a good finish.
 
“Jimmie (Johnson) was much faster in turn three, much faster.  That is where you have to be good.  That is where he was good.  We got to gain a little bit there we know some things we can try to get better before we come back.  We will be back here seems like in a month.  Good race track, good day for the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet team did a good job.”
 
CARRYING A LOT OF MOMENTUM INTO THE TRACK WHERE YOU LAST WON MICHIGAN:
“Yeah, we have been carrying momentum for a good solid year now.  We had better finishes last year; we started the year off this year off really good.  We just had a lot of problems since then and just struggled to get good finishes.  We are all right.  We know what we need to do. Confidence is there all the fans can rest assured we feel like we are on the right track.  We want to get a win man, I could see it right there in front of me today.  Jimmie (Johnson) has been so fast all weekend, but really thought we got close.  If we keep getting close we are going to get one.”
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 5TH
OUTSTANDING TRACK POSITION AND A FIGHT FOR POSITION THOSE LAST LAPS. TALK ABOUT THAT:
“I thought I was going to be in the middle of a Busch (brothers Kurt and Kyle) sandwich there at the end going into Turn 2. But, I have to thank them for giving me a little bit of room. We had an awesome Haas Automation Chevrolet. Thanks to all the fans for coming out today. It is good for the Quicken Loans group with their “Bring it Home Mortgage”. Go to QLRacing.com, and there are five people that get their mortgage paid for a month. And obviously a Bloomin’ Monday for everybody from Outback Steakhouse.”
 
REALLY THE ONLY DRIVER THAT WAS ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH JIMMIE JOHNSON MOST OF THE DAY.  HAVE YOU GUYS FINALLY GOT SOME SPEED IN THE STEWART-HAAS CARS?
“Well we did today there is no doubt about that.  Tony (Stewart) won last week and for him to finish fourth is not so big of a deal, but for us to come off of a DNF (did not finish) and finish fifth I’m proud of the guys.  Strategy worked out to our benefit with the yellows there at the end.  It was a great day for Haas Automation obviously for being in the top-five, but for Quicken Loans and their Bring it Home sweepstakes.  Go to QLRacing.com to find out more about that.  You can get your mortgage paid for a month for free, which is paid for a month.  Good day for Outback as well too, go to Outback tomorrow and get your Bloomin’ Onion.  Just a good rebound day for us.  That is something we definitely needed as a team.  Matt (Borland, crew chief) and the guys did a great job on the strategy.”
 
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/BASS PRO SHOPS – FINISHED 4TH
TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY:
“Really happy with it. We got kind of pinched down there in the tunnel; or not pinched down – we were the one doing the pinching, and got hit in the left rear there and moved up the track, and fell back to 12th and fought back to fourth there with all those restarts there, so pretty happy with that.”
 
ON PROGRESS OF SHR:
“Definitely progress fro sure. It’s one thing if one car runs good, but to have two or all three of us running good shows that we are gaining momentum. It’s not just one team, the whole organization is gaining momentum. Really proud of our group at SHR. The Hendrick engines today were awesome. There’s not doubt of having four of the top-five cars with Hendrick horsepower shows the strength there. Just happy and proud of that effort too.”
 
IMPRESSIVE DAY AND YOU JUST ABOUT SAW EVERYTHING. IN FACT, IT SHOWS ON YOUR LEFT-REAR QUARTER PANEL:
“Yeah, it’s part of racing here at Pocono.  The restarts get tight in spots.  Fell back to 12th there and then battled back to fourth so I’m pretty proud of that.  Proud our group had a good run.  I mean fourth and fifth today is something for our whole organization to be proud of.”
 
WHEN YOU LOOK ON THE PROGRAM ITSELF AND GOING ON TO MICHIGAN ANOTHER INTERMEDIATE RACE TRACK, WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN TREND WISE STARTING BACK TO CHARLOTTE?
“Well, I think that is more of a question for Steve Addington (crew chief) and the engineers.  The good thing is we have confidence of the last three weeks in a row.  Today Hendrick horsepower was huge obviously having four of the top-five cars, proves that the Hendrick engine department really was a factor today for us.  For Ryan (Newman) and I to finish in the top-five that is great for SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing).  Danica (Patrick) got going better too so its improvement all the way through.  For her first time here at Pocono I thought she did pretty well.  We are just gaining on it.  The good thing is all three of us are getting better at the same time.  Really shows the works that SHR is doing.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
ON HIS DOMINANCE TODAY:
“That is the top of my list. I’m sure we’ve had some other really strong races like that, but not in recent memory. What a race car. Not only the car and the handling and the grip that it had, but also the engine and what was under the hood. When I would lean on the throttle, this baby would yard anybody and everybody. Hats off to everybody in every department at Hendrick Motorsports. Big thank you to all the fans for coming out. Big thank you to Sprint for sponsoring our awesome sport here. I can’t go without thanking Lowe’s and Kobalt Tools for their continued dedication to this race team. Then there’s my boys…my guys. They did an awesome job on pit road. Chad (Knaus, crew chief) called a great race. I had a great race car.”
 
ABOUT SAVING FUEL:
“Well, I could tell by his voice that it was needed. There was an urgency
in it. There was a lot of cautions there at the end, which allowed us to do it. I was working on what I could inside the car trying to save fuel.  Once I could get a little gap on those guys and save some fuel. It is never fun stressing about fuel, but today everything worked out, and there was enough to get us to the end.”
 
TAKE US THROUGH THOSE RESTARTS AND HEADING INTO TURN 1:
“I learned a lot racing with Ryan (Newman) on those restarts, and I was able to get the lead each time. So I used that going into the final few times, but there are only so many things you can do down there in the zone. I knew that third place would lag back and try to get a good run on second. I was just hopeful we weren’t three wide getting down into the center of the corner in turn one because I was in a losing situation with that point. Luckily I was able to stay in the throttle and get around those guys on the outside each time.”
 
IS THAT THE BEST CAR YOU HAVE HAD ALL YEAR LONG?
“That is the best car I have had in a long time.  What a race car.  Not only a great race car, but an engine, had fuel mileage and plenty of power.  It was awesome on the straightaways today to be able to do what I wanted around other cars.  Hats off to chassis, aero and the engine shop for this awesome race car.  I’m very happy for Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools to get this car into Victory Lane.  It’s been a long time since I’ve won here and very excited to do it.”
 
SINCE DOVER DOES THIS MAYBE MAKE UP FOR LAST WEEK HAVING THE DOMINANT CAR THERE AND NOT WINNING?
“No, but it’s okay.  It doesn’t make up for much, but we know we are a great race team.  Things won’t keep us down.  We had a great race car today.  Just had a lot of fun that was a lot of fun out there.”
 
TWO THINGS THAT MAY HAVE WORRIED YOU, NUMBER ONE ALL THOSE RESTARTS THAT YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH AND NUMBER TWO THE VIBRATION THAT KEPT COMING BACK THROUGHOUT THE DAY HOW MUCH OF A CONCERN WAS THAT?
“Yeah, it was a concern.  I think we were spinning the left-rear tire on the wheel itself.  It would start vibrating.  I thought it might have been a loose wheel the way it shook in the corners and not on the straights, but it never got any worse.  They were able to diagnosis what that problem was.  Then those restarts there are only so many tricks you have if you play by the rules.  They were figuring out everything I could do in that zone.  Fortunately I was able to get the lead and have clean air again at the end.”
 
CHAD KNAUS, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – WINNING CREW CHIEF
YOU GUYS HAVE HAD SO MUCH SPEED.  WHAT HAVE YOU REALLY FOUND WITH THIS CAR?
“Well it’s been a long process.  I think that we have worked really hard, everybody back at Hendrick Motorsports to try to get these cars running a little bit better.  Just getting accustom to the Gen-6 car has been a bit of a challenge I think for everybody. Track position is so important, but we had a really fast KOBALT Tools Chevrolet today.  I just have to say thanks to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports the chassis shop, the engine shop, gear and transmission.  This track is awesome it puts all the elements of racing together and you really have to be spot on here and the guys did a great job.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET – FINISHED 7TH
ON THE RACE:
“We had a fast car again, ran up front but a mistake on my part on pit road stalled our momentum (overshot pit box Lap 126).  But we battled back with a solid finish.  To win you have to be perfect out there and we weren’t today. But the good news is that we know how to overcome adversity and the more we perform the way we have been the better we’ll get. We’ve made great strides in the past month and need to continue the progression. I don’t see any reason why we can’t.”

Corvette Racing Off to Solid Start in Le Mans
Magnussen fifth, Milner seventh in testing for highly competitive GTE Pro field
 
LE MANS, France (June 9, 2013) – Corvette Racing successfully worked through its testing program Sunday for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The pair of velocity yellow Compuware Corvette C6.Rs completed eight hours of running with no major issues ahead of the world’s most famous endurance race on June 22-23.
 
Jan Magnussen set the team’s best time of 3:59.491 (127.3 mph) in the No. 73 Corvette C6.R to finish fifth in the GTE Pro order. Magnussen, driving with Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor, opened and closed the test in differing conditions. The session began cool and damp, but the track eventually dried in the afternoon when the fastest times were set. The No. 73 Corvette turned a class-high 42 laps in the second session.
 
Meanwhile, Tommy Milner posted the best time in the No. 74 Corvette he shares with Oliver Gavin and Richard Westbrook. Milner’s best effort was a 4:00.319 (126.9 mph). The top six cars in class were separated by less than a second.
 
“Our guys followed the three golden rules today – don’t hit anything, don’t break anything and stay on the race track,” said Doug Fehan, Program Manager for Corvette Racing. “Considering the weather and track conditions, we feel comfortable with where we are in the program. Recording the fastest lap is never our ultimate objective during this test. Our experience at Le Mans has taught us that speed isn’t the single deciding factor. Our goal is simply to be capable of running a competitive pace and keep our time in pit lane to a minimum with great execution on every stop. You meet those objectives and good results will follow.”
 
The next time Corvette Racing takes to the circuit at Le Mans is 4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 19 for free practice and qualifying. Corvette Racing will go for its eighth class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001 at 3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 22 with coverage on SPEED. Corvette Racing’s last victory at Le Mans came in 2011.
 
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
You were out early in the wet conditions. It had to be less than ideal.
“It wasn’t so nice out there. The track was right in between were the tires work best. Some parts of the track were dry-ish – not quite dry, but at least there was no spray. But it’s good to see the track again and get into the rhythm. But in those conditions you don’t really learn anything. You just get through the motions. I think that laptime-wise we were quite OK considering the conditions when we were out.”
 
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
How much did the track conditions improve in the afternoon?
“Finally we got to put the slick tires on the car, which was good for us because every single lap you can do in the dry here may be very important toward the race. I know It’s only two hours in dry conditions but we just need to focus on making the most of every single lap we can do. I was the first out on slicks in tricky conditions, which wasn’t maybe the best moment for the track (conditions).  But at least I got to run a bit in the dry. The car felt quite good, as it has been doing during the season. We still need to double-check how it really goes, but so far it’s heading in the right direction.”
 
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 73 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R:
Did you enjoy your return to the Corvette and Le Mans?
“It was good to be back in the car for the first time since Sebring, and first time back at this track since last year’s Le Mans. So it was good. This was the first time I did a run in the rain in this car so I learned a few things, but overall we’re learning as much as we can on a day like this. So far so good.”
 
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
Were you satisfied with the test day?
“It was a kind of boring first half of the day. It was good to get some wet weather running since we don’t do that a whole lot on those cars. We got a good feeling for the car in the wet. It was good to get some dry running at the end there and prove some of the bits and pieces we’ve developed over the year. We got some new tires from Michelin to try and see how those worked. It’s nice to have sort of a baseline going into race week. For me it was good. I think I could have gone quite a bit quicker; my in-lap would have been quicker and probably have put us right at the front (note: Milner’s sector 1 and sector 2 times were the fastest of the day for the No. 74 car before he pitted). So the pace is good, and the car is comfortable to drive.”
 
OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
The changing weather didn’t do anyone a favor, did it?
“The track was drying out, which was good as it gave us some good data. It looks like we’re there in the ballpark with everybody else so that’s encouraging. But it’s been a frustrating day for everybody; it’s been wet and then it’s been dry again and then wet again. You have one day a year here to test and it was beautiful the week before and it looks like it’s going to be nice next week. It’s frustrating for all but it just so happens that the wet day was today. But the car felt pretty well and things look good for next week.”
 
RICHARD WESTBROOK, NO. 74 COMPUWARE CORVETTE C6.R
Do you feel confident for the race after today?
“It’s always good to be back at Le Mans. It was a good test for us but it’s clear the competition has stepped up as it always does in GTE Pro. Just when you think it can’t get any tougher it seems to be getting more competitive. We’ve definitely got our hands full this year, and therefore it’s important we focus on our own job and that’s what we did today. The main thing is the car feels good and drivable for 24 hours. We’ve definitely got a good starting point for race week.”
 

Helio Castroneves Captures Fourth Career Win at Texas Motor Speedway to Lead All-Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Top-Five in Firestone 550
 
FT. WORTH (June 8, 2013) – Helio Castroneves made a statement tonight at Texas Motor Speedway.  The No. 3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet IndyCar V6 driver took the lead on lap 97, and never looked back as he held the point for 132 laps on the way to capturing his first victory of the 2013 season and the 28th of his career.
 
Tonight’s win was the fourth trip to Texas Motor Speedway Victory Lane for Castroneves making him the all-time IndyCar winner at the 1.5-mile track. Starting from the sixth position on the 24-car grid for the 228-lap/324-mile race, Castroneves masterfully worked through traffic, and drove a flawless race called by his team owner, Roger Penske.
 
Defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay finished second behind the wheel of the No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, after leading for 35 laps on the way to his fourth podium finish of the season, including one win at Barber Motorsports Park. Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan brought the No. 11 Sunoco “Turbo” KV Racing Technology-SH Racing Chevrolet, to the checkered flag in third to make it an all-Chevrolet podium.
 
In total, Team Chevy drivers of the 2.2 liter V6 twin turbo charged engine swept the top-five finishing positions with Ed Carpenter and Marco Andretti completing the top-five. And, eight of the top-10 finishers were powered by Chevrolet with Will Power, James Hinchcliffe and E.J. Viso finishing seventh, ninth and 10th respectively in the eighth race of the season.
 
“Team Chevy collectively bounced back from last weekend with  a powerful win at the Texas Motor Speedway,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series.  “Helio Castroneves and Team Penske executed a dominant strategy to take the win, followed by four other Team Chevy drivers; Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Ed Carpenter and Marco Andretti.  Congratulations to Helio, the new points leader, for managing his tires and his focus to lead the posse of Chevy Indy V6-powered Dallaras to the checkered flag.  We are proud of our Chevrolet teams and technical partners, and shift our focus now to the race at Milwaukee next weekend.”
 
With the victory, Castroneves extended his points lead to 22 points over fellow Team Chevy driver Andretti.  Hunter-Reay is third in the standings, and Kanaan jumped to fourth.  Chevrolet continues to lead the IZOD IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship Standings.
 
Next on the schedule is the Milwaukee IndyFest at the famed Milwaukee Mile on Saturday, June 15th.  The 250-lap race will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network at 4:00 p.m. ET.
 
 
An Interview with Helio Castroneves, Roger Penske, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan
 
The MODERATOR:  We are joined by the winning team owner, Roger Penske. This is Mr. Penske’s eighth win at Texas Motor Speedway in the IndyCar Series.
 
Roger, if you can talk about your evening and how proud you are of Helio getting his fourth career victory at Texas Motor Speedway.
 
Q. Just talk about tonight’s race, are you surprised ‑‑
 
ROGER PENSKE:  I think it was ‑‑ we knew there was fall‑off going into the races ‑‑   certainly, delivered it today and he’s a great race driver, you don’t win the Indy 500 three times ‑‑
 
Q. Inaudible.
 
ROGER PENSKE:  Well, I think all of us were on edge because we knew we were better ‑‑ we have got great competition with the cars and the engines as close as they are and we have great drivers out there and to me that’s the great thing about the series that we have to make sure everybody understands.
 
It’s a matter of us putting it all together. The key thing here was to have that car be able to run over 200 miles an hour with over 45 or 50 laps on the tires, and Helio was able to do that. I think it was the car setup and obviously his driving ability made the difference.
 
Q. How much fun is it to win at Texas, be in the victory lane?
 
ROGER PENSKE:  I always like ‑‑ Eddie’s (Gossage) funny, I told him, it’s a great place, Bruton (Smith) is one of the greatest promoters. I’ve known Eddie for a long time when he worked with us at Miller and it’s great to see whatever he does here, whatever racing is going on. To me it’s a great place and it’s.
 
Q. Inaudible.
 
ROGER PENSKE:  Obviously take care of the tools in your car to keep the tires underneath ‑‑ quite positive and Helio did a grit job. To me, he should get the credit for it. He drove all night long and coming up on cars that are ten or 15 miles an hour slower and is able to maintain his speed and the distance between the cars behind him. So overall, it was positive.
 
Q. There was a point about the midpoint of the race where Helio ‑‑
 
ROGER PENSKE:  We wanted to get a yellow or something and be able to have a lap or two on most of the field. He was running 200, 201, 202, and then if you looked at the difference between 212 miles an hour, and 200 miles an hour, it’s only 1.2 seconds on the track. So it would take 20 or 30 laps for someone to lap him.
 
So we looked at all that strategy, and, in fact, Helio and I went over it this afternoon before the race. We knew we wanted to run as long as we could and the tires were so good when we took them off the first time, we didn’t have to worry about any cording of tires. The tires were strong all day, so tires were good.
 
We wanted to get to our field ‑‑ a lot of guys came in and made that last stop. Kanaan had to come in, Marco came in, and I think even the car had to come in early one time because the handling had gone away. We just stayed steady the whole time. By running a consistent race, it give him the advantage to be strong at the end.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We are now joined by tonight’s winner, Helio Castroneves, driver of the No. 3 AAA Insurance Chevy, his fourth win at Texas Motor Speedway, first of the season and he’s now the winningest Indy Car driver at Texas Motor Speedway surpassing Sam Hornish, Junior, ninth career.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Don’t bring him back, don’t bring him back, Roger, please.
 
THE MODERATOR:  You’re the points leader and you moved, this is your 28th career
victory, and you are now in sole possession of 12th place on the all‑time win list, breaking the tie with Johnny Rutherford.
 
Talk about your evening tonight. You showed a lot of emotion in victory lane.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Yeah, the AAA boys did a hell of a job. The car was absolutely on rails, and picking up on what Roger said at the end, we discussed ‑‑ Jonathan, my engineer this year, he did a hell of a job putting everything what I was looking for. We started the race, the car was already ‑‑ and then we just try to understand what the track was doing.
 
Most of the managing of the tires during the race ‑‑ any time Roger was telling me, save fuel, go fast; honestly we were running lights‑out. Everything was smooth.
 
And in the end of the day for us, a little bit of an issue with the lights that we had on the pits when we come in, some of the lights wasn’t on because it was daylight. And I wouldn’t see my pit very well, so I had to put my hand up coming in, and on my end coming in was a little bit slow ‑‑ but we were able to have a flawless everything. It was great.
           
And towards the end, to be honest, we had a long ‑‑ Roger telling around 10, 11 seconds and I’m like, okay, I’m just going to manage the tires now, 40 laps to go. So ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ I didn’t know, I saw Tony, I could keep going, but I was thinking more about the long term and not in the shor
t term.
 
So it was saving, it was about five seconds that I understand Hunter‑Reay was behind me and I got a good chance to go and I did it and we opened up a gap and it was just great.
 
Q. Inaudible.
           
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  In the winner’s circle right now but I thought, we had to drive the car and it’s not about ‑‑ and you said it, sometimes it changed the track. But I think with my spotter, we were able to be ahead of the car and he was giving me some tips while I was driving to be honest and it was paying off.
 
So everything we were managing most of the times, the tire and ‑‑ the setup was fantastic. So when you have both this combination and it feels like that …
 
Q. Yesterday in final practice, you came in and hopped out of the car very, very quickly, and spent some time with a member of your crew really, really looking at the right front tire, a pockmark; could you tell us about that conversation and if that had anything to do with your setup tonight and your miraculous win?
           
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Very good observation. Yes, we finished the practice yesterday, we were having some handling problems unfortunately and everybody went back to the truck and ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ that’s why it seems big. Things doesn’t happen like a miracle. You have to work hard, you’ve got to look for details and ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑
 
Q. The last five laps, what’s going through your mind?
           
ROGER PENSKE:  Well, I’ve been around this a long time and been leading with five laps to go, so I never count our chickens. In the end Helio, I just wanted to give him the cars he’s coming up on, and said, let him go by, we just didn’t need to get trapped and get ourselves in trouble.
 
I was just waiting with ten to go and then five to go, and to me, the big move was when he went back by Franchitti, because we let Franchitti go by, there’s no reason wearing the tires out trying to stay ahead of him. I think that was good, and I think his line, he ran high; he could run high, he could run low.
           
One thing, he running ten miles an hour slower, so he came up high speed, he had to be careful. His oval skills, what you saw win at Indy three, times you saw it here tonight. I just wait until the end before I celebrate, and that’s what I did tonight.
 
Q. So much is made about past races and guys going flat out, how different for you was this win tonight?
           
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Very, very different. It was nothing like in the previous years. It was tough. Hardly going flat, only when I took the lead for the first time on the restarts was I able to go flat.
           
Other than that, the entire race was very, very different from the past. As you guys mentioned and as you could see, a lot of cars were going forwards and a lot of cars were going backwards. Because of that, it just changed and you had to be ahead of the game.
 
Setup is important and is a big part of it and very fortunate to have great guys in my crew and to be able to do what I wanted. So that’s one of the reason we were able to be in victory circle today.
 
Q. You talked earlier this week about how you would take seconds and thirds all year long if it meant winning the championship. Do you think that took some pressure off yourself?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  No. Absolutely not. We can’t stop right now, because the championship is still wide open.
 
Like I said, we’ve got to be consistent, but when you have opportunities, and good opportunities like I had in St. Pete, and unfortunately I miss it, you know, you can’t do something like that. But at this point, just got to keep moving on and today we had a phenomenal opportunity, extremely excited and to be in victory circle.
 
Right now, maybe tomorrow still going to celebrate a little bit, but Monday, got to turn the page and focus on the next race.
 
Q. One of the story lines of the whole season is that the ability ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ how much of a relief is it for you to check that box and get that win?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Well, for us, we want to win races. It doesn’t matter at this point who is who. I know the press itself ‑‑ has to write stories and it’s over now, but I don’t feel any pressure.
 
I feel pressure to go out there and perform the best, and when you have the opportunity, you have to go for it. And today, we keep pushing the same button about this, but it’s true, the car was just fantastic, and we were able to do that.
 
Q. Toward the end of the race, yellow came out and TK seemed like he had the fastest lap at that point.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  At the beginning, I saw Marco taking away a little bit when I was fourth or third I think, and I thought, well ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ and I was just taking it easy, when traffic is going to come up ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ race early and seeing Marco running up there. We had, probably we were similar at that point.
 
But I was adjusting the car and the car actually wasn’t bad. I was just waiting for a little bit of an adjustment inside the cockpit trying to make something different there. As soon as I took the lead, I thought, you know, just try to keep going.
 
So next stop, put new tires ‑‑ I didn’t know about Tony to be honest. I saw Tony as soon as I came out of the pits, and he was passing on the outside. And I was about actually to go with him but I decided, just take it easy, because the team told me ‑‑ the lead, and I’m, wow.
 
So I decided not to be involved in that traffic scenario, because there’s still 40 laps to go, so just take it ease‑and see what happens. In the end, it was very good.
 
Q. Inaudible.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Just got to trust in what your car is telling you to do.
 
Q. Do you like the bump in turn two?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  The bump, yes, it’s a little bump. If we can have Eddie to resurface that area it would be fantastic. But if not, it’s just another challenge that we have to face.
 
Q. I watched you last night in practice ‑‑
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  It was difficult, when you go ‑‑ people don’t understand. When you go high, the car changes a little bit of the setup. It change the feeling, and when you go low, you have another one.
 
And that’s where it was very difficult, even for me. But we set up the car that when I do some adjustments, I was able to go high, and then I can move back when I have a low line. It was an interesting scenario.
 
But the car was great. When you have a car like that, running high and low, man, it’s a dream. So, I love it. I just love it.
 
Q. Seemed like Marco got it right when the sun was out and you nailed it when the sun went down. Were you surprised more people didn’t nail the setup?  When you both were hooked up, you were considerably quicker than the rest of the field.
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Yeah, at the beginning, it was different, because remember, when we practice, we never practice at night. We always practice in the day, so it becomes very difficult to predict. But the car, I think because the temperature of the car cools down, you don’t have any more downforce with that, the car was just much, much better.
 
And what happens is if you don’t have that kind of dial down, it’s becoming a little push or it’s becoming loose. It’s a very difficult place, there’s no question, it’s a very difficult place. That’s why it’s exciting. Maybe it’s terrible in the beginning but it’s great in the end.
 
Q. After qualifyin
g when your teammates ‑‑ you made a comment about the setup and how ‑‑ did you go get that set up?
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES:  Yes. I was a little bit disappointed because I let my engineer decide it, and when I went back, I saw a two and a half mile, one‑and‑a‑half‑mile an hour difference, and I’m like, dude, what did you do. And I found something and I’m like ‑‑ we found something, and I’m like, come on, man, can’t miss this opportunity. But in the end, we use a lot of the information and we applied it.
 
THE MODERATOR:  We are joined by tonight’s second place finisher Ryan Hunter‑Reay, driver of the No. 1 DHL Chevy. It’s his career‑best finish at Texas Motor Speedway, fourth top five of the season and he’s now third in points, 27 points behind Helio. Ryan, talk about your evening.
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  Oh, man, that was interesting. It was a battle (phonetic) out there. It was like, at times, a race against yourself, just to save the tires and keep yourself off the wall. It was just a very challenging race.
           
But the No. 1 DHL Chevy was great all night. We made it better and better. I was searching around for grip, getting into a rhythm, but definitely has the full range of racing here at Texas Motor Speedway from 2008 to now. It’s so difficult to get the package exactly right with the downforce and the tires and the degradation of the tires, and as a series we’re working toward that.
 
I think we’ve nailed it perfectly in the past, and we’ll get it right, for sure. But I don’t know, I didn’t watch the race, but it was sure ‑‑ it was sure a struggle in there for me.
 
TONY KANAAN:  It was exciting from my perspective.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Driver of the No. 11 Sunoco Turbo, Chevy. It’s his eighth top five finish at TMS, third top five of 2013 and 4th now in the standings, 64 back of Helio.
 
TONY KANAAN:  It’s a long night. I think Ryan said it all. It was a difficult race at times. I decided to go off strategy because I was not comfortable with my car towards the end; I didn’t know what ‑‑ guys, I want more tires, give me more tires; well, you’re going to go a lap down.
 
In the end, when I saw Ryan pitting right away, earlier than me and it worked for him, I drove into the pits. But I think unfortunately, I caught more traffic than he did on my out‑laps and that kept me ‑‑ but great result for us. First race that Sunoco came aboard with the Turbo car, so it’s a great result for them; and top five, Chevy, so great result for them, too.
 
So we’ll go back and talk about. It, talk about the package for next year.
 
Like Ryan said, I don’t know what happened behind me but I can tell you that I had my hands full, so comeback and try to make a better package.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Talk about the momentum you have, two oval races, two top‑three finishes, talk about the momentum as you head into a stretch where there are a lot of ovals on the schedule.
 
TONY KANAAN:  Well, I think the races that are coming up are extremely favored for me and this guy right beside me here. We have a pretty good chance and we need to take advantage of that. I think that we haven’t got the handle that we wanted it to have on the speed and road courses, so we need to try to maximize the races right now.
 
We do have a great momentum on the team. It’s extremely tired. I mean, we have a lot to celebrate but also we had a lot of work. So try to keep the boys on their toes and take advantage of the momentum.
 
THE MODERATOR:  Talk about eight winners in nine races, just the competitiveness in the series right now.
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  Yeah, it’s been amazing, any weekend; it could be any driver in this series. Especially the top, I would say, 15 to 20 drivers, any weekend could be theirs, which is a great thing. You go into every race thinking you can win it. There’s not a whole lot or other any series out there that’s like that. It’s great to see all the change‑ups, but I’d like to make a move.
 
Q. Last year, the races coming up on the schedule ‑‑ do you both feel that these races, Pocono, the doubleheader is where we are going to see the championship ‑‑
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  I think it’s going to come down to the end, the last race like it always does. There will probably be three drivers in it this year again for the last race and hopefully we are one of them.
 
Tony and I were on the podium for the next two races last year, and then we have some new challenges. I like Pocono being on the schedule, it’s a new challenge and it will make everybody think, take everybody out of their comfort zone a little bit.
 
But we have doubles at Houston and Toronto, and there’s a lot of curveballs coming at us, so it should be an interesting championship.
 
TONY KANAAN:  I don’t think you’ll see anybody dominating. Obvious, nine race,
eight winners, consistency is going to be the key. I think right now for us, we need to try to maximize, and obviously maximize winning; but if you didn’t, you’ve got to finish in the top five, that’s because what’s going to play down at the end.
 
We have seen a lot of inconsistency. That’s why we have it bunched up the way it is. So I think from now on, people are going to have to start being consistent.
 
Q. And tweaking the package, would it be just a little longer on the tire or just a little more downforce ‑‑
 
TONY KANAAN:  It’s both. I mean, Firestone has a great tire. But you can’t ask everything, for the tires to do everything. So I think it’s a combination of both. More downforce to make the tire less ‑‑
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  Firestone could easily make some tires that we could run around here.
 
TONY KANAAN:  But we don’t want that.
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  They are a big part of our product and the race itself. It needs to be the right combination.
 
TONY KANAAN:  Both. And once we decide the package, the aero package, then we need to go to Firestone, and stay, look, and then we’ll come back here and we do a tire ‑‑ a proper tire test and we try to make a decision. Because you can’t take ‑‑ my tires went off; yeah, well, unfortunately those aren’t only the things ‑‑ it’s not the tire’s fault.
 
This car has plenty of downforce. You need to remember:  We do not want a packed race. That is what we don’t want to have ‑‑ going overboard a little bit. This car is capable of downforce.
 
Q. Inaudible?
 
TONY KANAAN:  No, no, it was bad luck, no. We create our own luck. It was planned. I wanted to have a better tire. The way the race was playing out, I knew that I was not going to win, because of the gap that Helio had at the time.
 
So me and Ryan, we chose a different strategy and again, it worked, definitely worked better for him. He did a better job coming out of the pits. But I knew that it ‑‑ there was two things that I thought. The worst‑case scenario, we are going to finish in the top four, which is that’s what I wanted because the win was going to be very difficult.
 
But, if it had gone yellow, it was going to be a battle between me and this guy, and I probably would have had nothing ‑‑ because of the disparity of the grip of the car, didn’t happen.
 
Q. Which one of you is going to be the favorite?
 
TONY KANAAN:  Give him a hard time ‑‑ there’s plenty of other guys. I think Marco is going to be extremely strong.
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  Helio.
 
TONY KANAAN:  Hell of a battle. You know, you go to the next two tracks, we finished on the podium the last three years; so it’s hard not to think that we are going to have a shot. But, having said that, I’d be very confident at two places one ye
ar to the other and been nowhere, so there’s no guarantee.
 
Q. Tell me what it’s like running at the end of a stint ‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ and how hard is it to hold on?
 
TONY KANAAN:  How can I describe that to you more?  Those cars are not made to run at 190 miles an hour. The slower you go, the slower you go, the worse it is.
 
So I don’t think we are describe a feeling, because unless I put you in the two‑seater and give you an example, but it’s extremely uncomfortable. Because here, you’re along for the ride. Things that you know, if you lift, the car is supposed to slow down, not speed up and get closer to the wall.
 
Or, if you turn the steering wheel, the car is supposed to turn, not to go great. And then it goes straight, and all of the sudden hooks up and then it gets loose. I mean, just horrible.
 
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY:  The lack of predictability ‑‑ the car gives you a feeling and then it does something different and then ‑‑ I liken this place into dropping into a bowl and comeback out of it. When you don’t have the downforce or the tires, it does not want to get into the corner at all, because you’re going in and the rear ‑‑ so you’re coming around, and then when you’re leaving the banking. The car does not want to come up out of the bank. Once it does, the rear just snaps loose, and I had some major ones, corrections; I’m sure everybody did tonight.
 

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
FIRESTONE 550
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 8, 2013
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AAA INSURANCE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: IT HAD BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE YOU HAD CLIMBED THAT FENCE.  HOW GOOD DOES IT FEEL TO WIN?
“Oh it’s been great.  I tell you first of all I want to thank AAA, the boys did a hell of a job.  The Hitachi’s guys, SKF, Quicken Loans, Verizon, all of our sponsors, Shell-Pennzoil come on PPG, everyone if I’m forgetting I’m sorry I’ve run out of memory.”
 
HOW WERE YOU GUYS ABLE TO MANAGE THE TIRES SO EFFECTIVELY?
“Jonathan (Diuguid, engineer) did a great job, the Chevy guys did a great job because we were able not only to manage the tires, manage the fuel and it was setup.  We were just doing a lot of homework and it paid off.  Thank God it paid off.  Texas is awesome.  I love this place.”
 
FOURTH WIN HERE AT TEXAS I DON’T KNOW IF I HAVE SEEN YOU THAT EXCITED GETTING OUT OF A RACE CAR:
“I’m excited because it’s a lot of things going on.  Obviously these guys deserve it.  We certainly had a great car.  We just putting nothing wrong out there and that is what we need.  We need small details to make it happen.  We battle for the championship and that is what we need.”
 
YOU SAID IF WE COULD WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP WITHOUT WINNING A RACE THAT WOULD BE GREAT.  COME ON THIS FEELS PRETTY GOOD DOESN’T IT?
“It feels fantastic right now.  We feel great.  We have got to keep going.  Right now I’m going to enjoy this awesome moment.  This is awesome.  I want to thank the Lord as well because man that guy upstairs always keeps looking after me.  So it was great.”
 
YOU LED 132 LAPS.  YESTERDAY WHEN WE TALKED YOU WERE A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED WITH HOW FAST YOUR TEAMMATE WAS.  WHERE DID THE SPEED FROM THIS RACE CAR COME FROM?
“Well we might not of had the speed by ourselves, but we definitely had a consistent speed.  The balance was just absolutely great.  Like I said Jonathan (Diuguid, engineer) and the boys did their homework.  They look after what we need to be done and we done.”
 
ROGER PENSKE, NO. 3 AAA INSURANCE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – WINNING TEAM OWNER
THIS IS A BIG WIN FOR THIS ORGANIZATION ESPECIALLY FOR HELIO CASTRONEVES:
“Well they did a great job.  The guys had a good car for him.  There is no question that he drove the wheels off it.  Terrific, just a terrific day.”
 
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: YOU WERE BEHIND HIM (HELIO CASTRONEVES) BUT YOU JUST COULDN’T GET CLOSE ENOUGH.  HOW MUCH OF A HANDFUL WAS THIS CAR TONIGHT?
“Yeah it was just varying levels of bad just because of how loose it was.  Man, the drivers had to drive it tonight.  That No. 1 DHL Chevy was great.  We made the most of it.  We just lost it there with the yellow when it came out.  Our strategy was such that we needed that yellow not to come out and we had a good shot at winning it today though.  It’s just… man after a long day like that need to down some Sun Drops.  That was interesting.  It was hard to even get by some of the slower traffic.  You were just searching everywhere for grip.  I had so many catches out there that I thought were going into the wall.  Man, even be tough to go to sleep tonight.”
 
A CHAMPION CALIBER KIND OF RUN TONIGHT IN TEXAS:
“Yeah, I’ve got to bring it home on days like today.  I thought we had the car to win there for a bit, but great job to Helio (Castroneves), congratulations it was just light out there.  You had three or four laps to really go full out and then from there you are just pedaling it searching for grip.  I was begging the team to throw me a life jacket.  It was definitely treading water out there today.  It was interesting.  The No. 1 DHL Chevy was great.  Going to down a Sun Drop here and hopefully be able to go to bed at some point.  I’m pretty jacked on adrenaline after that.  I caught the car many times thought it should have gone in the wall.”
 
YOU LED 35 LAPS YOU ARE NOW THIRD IN POINTS JUST 27 BACK.  ARE YOU HAVING THE KIND OF SEASON THAT YOU WANT?
“Yeah, we were third in the points coming in.  Unfortunately the guys that we are fighting Helio (Castroneves) and good job to Marco (Andretti), unfortunate for him. The guys that we are fighting had a good day too.  It’s tough, but so early in the season still and now we are getting ready to get into the string of races where we were pretty strong last year.  We are certainly not expecting to go out and win three straight like we did last year.  We are just expecting to be strong and that is all we can do.”
 
IF THERE WAS ANOTHER CAUTION YOU HAD TWO SETS OF STICKER TIRES.  DO YOU THINK THAT WOULD HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE IF THE CAUTION DID COME OUT?
“I would have been begging them to come in for new Firestones that is for sure.  I mean it was a handful.  I hope it was a good show.  We had a bit less downforce today.  The racing has been awesome this season.  We are going to keep moving on and I think Milwaukee next weekend is going to be an awesome race.  We love going there.  I love that track.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 SUNOCO “TURBO” KV RACING TECHNOLOGY – SH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: “First of all it was a great job by the team and I’m very happy to give Sunoco and Turbo this podium on their first race with us. On our strategy we were actually counting on a yellow toward the end of the race which would have put us in a very, very good position for the win, but I’ll take third place here any day. The next stretch of races should be very good for us. We’re fourth in the championship and we think we can keep up the momentum from the win at Indianapolis going forward.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4th: “I thought we had a shot for a podium finish (3rd) but Tony (Kanaan) had a lot fresher tires (35 laps) at the end.  We will take fourth tonight and we scored some points for the ECR/Fuzzy’s Vodka team.  It was a great night for Chevrolet with a one through five on the scoreboard.  We had a couple of miscues in the pits, one with some debris on the front of the car, and I didn’t hear the guys call me in for the stop.  Overall, those didn’t hurt us.  It was hard out there tonight.  I was racing more car more than the other drivers at times.  I hope the race was good for the national television audience tonight.  This place is one of the toughest oval on the series now.  The cars are a handful here.  But we’ll take the fourth place and move on to Milwaukee next week.”
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 5TH: “It’s always easier to be the Monday morning quarterback. I think it worked out for Ryan (Hunter-Reay) – he had a vibration and came in early. He went out, running some quick laps and he didn’t catch a yellow. We tried to do the same thing, we caught the yellow and the RC Cola car ended up a lap down. So, it’s unfortunate and to top it all off the worst guy in the championship fight against me won, but congrats to him (laughter).”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 7TH: “It was definitely a good day for the Verizon Chevrolet. I thought we had a car that was good enough to win but unfortunately the car went loose on the last stint to cost us quite a few positions. All in all, it was a productive day with the top-10 finish and obviously a great day for the team with Helio taking the win. He was just on another planet.”
ON HOW THE RACING WAS TODAY: “You were really earning your pay out there today, you really had to driv
e the car. It was great racing.”
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: “At the end of the day, I’m pretty pleased with a top 10; it was a tough night. The whole setup with the new tire and downforce configuration made it tough to drive, the GoDaddy guys gave me a good car, but I think we were a little hampered by track position. Clean air was definitely king today, and starting back where we did, we had to fight in the thick of it a lot more. We ended up stopping it a bit early on the first two stops, and we got both those yellows – just really hurt us. We lost a lap and had to earn it back. If we had managed to have the yellows fall at a better time for us, I think maybe we would have been a bit higher. But it’s so close, it’s so tight, everybody was struggling… we’re just happy to bring it home in one piece.”
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HVM CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH: “Tough race. I think I got an unfair penalty… we had everything to finish in the top three. I’m not very impressed in how this situation was handled, and I feel they penalize certain people for certain things and not others in certain situations. The penalty happened because I hit one of Ryan (Hunter Reay)’s tires during the pit stop, but I just touched it and he came back out in his original position. For me, they made the wrong call. Decisions can affect the sport as we just saw.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO.  6 TRUECAR DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14TH:
 
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 78 NUCLEAR ENTERGY AREVA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 16TH: “The car was awesome all night and we just kind of got unlucky out there. First of all with the yellow; when it came out we were stuck behind the leader. We fought our way back and then we got a 30-second penalty; I don’t really know why. But, at the end of the day, the car was awesome and I think we could have had an awesome finish. We learned a lot. I think for me it was a really good experience. It was just a lot of fun out there racing and passing people. Big thanks to the team; they did an awesome job the whole week. They gave me a really comfortable car out there, so big thanks to them, Chevrolet and Nuclear Clean Air Energy.”
 
ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH: “Definitely not the initial race I wanted representing the National Guard and Panther Racing. I had really high hopes to go for a win, since we’re out of the championship anyway. We made a bunch of changes before the race, and I think the car was not way off, but one of the stints we put too much wing in, and at the end of the tires we probably should have come in two or three laps before that because we were already very loose. Then on one of the bumps the rear just went, which was unfortunate. Luckily we saved the car, but the truth is the race was still not lost, because sometimes you can get your laps back at a place like this, but with no more yellows we couldn’t make any miracles happen.”
 
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 7 MCAFEE DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 20TH:

Will Power Wins the Pole at Texas Motor Speedway
Marco Andretti Makes it All-Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Front Row for Firestone 550K
 
FT. WORTH (June 7, 2013) – For the 31st time in his career, Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, has won the pole for an IZOD IndyCar Series race.  With a lap of 219.182 mph, Power topped the leaderboard of 24 drivers making a qualifying attempt for Saturday night’s 228-lap/324-mile/550 kilometer Firestone 550 under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway. 
 
Power’s effort is the fifth time this season that the Chevrolet IndyCar 2.2 liter V6 has powered a Team Chevy driver to the number one starting position.
 
Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, qualified second to make it an all-Bowtie front row.
 
Defending series champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay, turned the third fastest qualifying time behind the wheel of the No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet.
 
“Will Power not only won the pole this afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway, but did so with a breathtaking 2-lap average speed of 219.182 mph which was over 3.4 mph faster than the pole last year,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager for IZOD IndyCar Series.  “Congratulations to Will and Team Penske for setting such a strong benchmark and to Andretti Autosport’s Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay for rounding out the top three fastest qualifying times.  Team Chevy is positioned well for the race tomorrow night under the lights which will require good preparation, focus and tire management to finish on the podium.”
 
E.J. Viso posted the fifth quickest time in the No. 5 Team Venezuela PSVSA CITGO Andretti Autosport Chevrolet. Dario Franchitti completed the top-five qualifiers for the eighth race of the 2013 season.
 
The Firestone 550 is scheduled to start on Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. CT (8:30 p.m. ET) with live television coverage on ABC.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
FIRESTONE 550
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 7, 2013
 
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON WIRELESS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – POLE WINNER
YOU TOOK THE SECOND MOST PRACTICE LAPS THIS MORNING SO WE FIGURE YOU ARE PROBABLY HAPPY WITH THAT RACE CAR TALK US THROUGH THAT QUICK RUN: “Yeah, the race car has been pretty good.  That was… we were wide open, trimmed out enough, the gear was right.  Last year we thought we should have been on pole and got the limiter a little bit, but we got it right this time.”
 
WITH THIS CURRENT DW-12 IS BEING WIDE OPEN GOOD?  I KNOW LAST YEAR THEY TRIED TO MIX IT UP TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU GUYS WERE LETTING OFF?
“Well in race trim we are lifting, a lot.  That is good I think it creates great racing.”
 
DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE A GOOD ENOUGH CAR TO WIN TOMORROW NIGHT?
“Yeah I do actually.  It’s going to be an interesting race.  I think the downforce level they got it about right for good racing because I think some cars will draft more than others.  If you happen to put new tires on the last restart and no one else does, you could drive to the front.  It creates an interesting situation.  Hopefully we are at the front of all that.”
 
YOU SAID LAST YEAR THAT YOU ACTUALLY LIKE THE NEW FORMAT.  WE HAD THE PACK RACING HERE FOR YEARS AND NOW WITH THE NEW DW-12 CHASSIS YOU LIKE THIS STYLE OF RACING HERE AT TEXAS:
“Well before you were just a passenger.  Now you actually have to drive the thing.  Before you were just wide open and hope for the best and hope that your car is fast.  Now you actually have to drive it.  It’s how it should be.  It should be about talent.”
 
ON CHANCES OF WIN: “These days, I don’t know. You have a one in 25 chance actually, because there are so many good teams and drivers. To get a win would be phenomenal. My wife is from here, and all the family is coming out. If I don’t win, I’m probably not coming home for dinner – so I better.”
 
WITH THE DOWNFORCE AND TIRES AS THEY ARE, IS THE CAR MORE OF A HANDFULL? “I understand that when we first went out, the track was dusty and there was Truck rubber on it, and it was definitely slippery. I remember that being the case last year. When the rubber had gone off, and the night falls. I think it will be fine because these cars are sensitive to temperatures. At the end of the session, I thought it was about right.”
 
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET- QUALIFIED 2ND:
IS THAT LAP THE TWO LAP AVERAGE GOING TO BE GOOD ENOUGH TO HOLD ONTO THE POLE?
“The second one is fine, but the first one we hit the hard limiter.  We lost a mile an hour so I think we might have gave up a pole with that first lap.  We will have to watch. I ran out of sixth gear.  It’s a good thing because the car is fast, but we were on the limiter the rev limiter. The soft limiter is nice, but when it goes into the hard you lose a chunk of speed and we might have given up a pole with that.  We are going to have to watch.”
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:  “The car was pretty good. I’m pleased with our front row (start).  Good job by the guys because our focus wasn’t even on qualifying. I’m pleased just like I was at Indy because it was the same focus at Indy.   The first lap, I think we had an overboost, so we lost a mile-per-hour, which I was hoping it wasn’t going to cost me more than it did. Will (Power) went for it, and he got benefited for it so good job to him.”
WHAT ARE YOU THOUGHTS ON THE IMPROVEMENTS TO YOU AND THE TEAM? “I think you have to start half-way through last year when Ryan (Hunter-Reay) really came on, and really challenged for the championship. I think it just upped the whole morale and the game of the whole team. It upped my game for sure because it made me really do my homework, not work harder, just knowing where to work, where I was struggling; and to be able to go up against the series champ helped me a lot. To know if I could beat him, I could win. That helped me too. I’m better consistency wise, which has paid off so far this year, even though it is early. We are right where we want to be right now.”
 
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 3rd: ON QUALIFYING:  “A Texas (Motor Speedway) qualifying doesn’t mean a whole lot, but it will help us out to start up front. The guys did a great job getting the car ready for qualifying after the cut tire — we had to end the last session about half-way through. We need to get some major work done tonight, as a team we need to really develop the race car. With as little grip as we have around this place, I think it’s going to be – it’s anybody’s race. It will be interesting to see what we have tonight (in practice), we’re really going to have to work and make the Andretti Autosport cars better. But, overall, happy with the No. 1 DHL Chevy and looking to represent well for our hometown sponsors Dr Pepper Snapple and Sun Drop this weekend.”
 
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PSVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 5TH: ON HIS QUALIFYING:
“Back in Texas! Qualifying fifth, I definitely think it’s a good position to start this race. For tomorrow we are expecting a lot of action. With the new downforce levels regulated by IndyCar, it’s definitely going to be a very interesting race. There’s very little grip…as always, the weather being very hot here makes it tough for everyone. Anyways, I believe we have a good combination of factors in our team that are going to make us fast and stay in the leader pack.”
 
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AAA INSURANCE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 6TH: ON HIS QUALIFYING:
“Pretty good day, we feel like the AAA Chevrolet is going to be a good car this weekend. Since the race starts in the day we have to make sure we stay conservative and patient as the downforce changes through the night but our plan is to be right there at the end. We are definitely excited for tomorrow.”
 
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA/ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 9TH: ON HIS QUALIFYING “It’s strange.  It seems that this track changes every year.  And since we have been with the new DW 12 chassis, the track is completely different.  I had a good car here last year but we had just one bad stint that set us back in the field.  The Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevy was good at the start since we went from 18th to second.  We were just too loose (oversteer) today in qualifying.  So we have some work to do for the race.  We’ll work on it in the night practice tonight.  Everyone seems to think this track produces pack racing.  But we haven’t had a pack race here since 2004.  This is about the hardest oval we go to now.  There is not much grip.  This track is tougher than Fontana for grip and have less downforce than Fontana.  None of us want to see pack racing anymore, but I think have gone too far in the downforce level here to produce a good show for the fans.  I hope that isn’t true for Saturday’s Firestone 550.”
 
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 78 NUCLEAR ENTERGY AREVA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 12TH
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS RACE TRACK THAT IS SO TRICKY FOR DRIVERS?
“Well it is.  I think my first year I had a pretty big crash here.  That kind of froze me a little bit maybe.  I think just taking a little bit of time and last year our situation wasn’t great with our engines.  This year is looking much better.  Especially with KV Racing I think I’m learning a lot from my teammate (Tony Kanaan) and I think it’s looking okay so far.  Hopefully, we can have a really good car in the race.  That is what is important. The team has been working really well.”
 
I think we’re pretty happy wi
th where we are. We fell off a little bit on the second lap; maybe I should have utilized the tools I have in the car a little bit more, but I think we should be fine. This is my best qualifying here, so I want to thank Chevy for that. We have a 10 grid penalty for tomorrow so we’ll end up a little bit further back, but the important thing is that we have to focus on the race car; getting to where we’re able to run on different lines out there; that’s going to be really, really important. Hopefully we’ll get everything where it needs to be and bring the Nuclear Clean Air Energy car home to a good finish.
 
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 13TH: ON QUALIFYING: “It’s (this year) obviously not gone totally the way we wanted. Our good days have been good, our bad days have been bad. I think we kind of just need to find that sort of middle ground a little bit better on days when we don’t have a car to win. A lot of it’s been out of our control, some bad luck…we’ve been competitive, just haven’t been able to get all the results we wanted with the GoDaddy car. Hopefully we can turn that around here in Texas.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 SUNOCO “TURBO” KV RACING TECHNOLOGY-SH RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH: ON QUALIFYING: “We missed a bit on the gears for qualifying and that hurt the speed on our run, putting us back in the 14th spot for tomorrow’s start. The good thing is that we run warmup at night here at TMS, which gives us a chance to get the car closer to what we need for the actual race conditions. I think we’ll be strong for the race tomorrow.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 7 MCAFEE DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 17TH:
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“We nearly didn’t get started because for some reason the battery drained itself, and we had no power. It was strange. Then we went out, and the car was pretty good on new tires this afternoon, we went (for qualifying) and it was just super loose and the rear was all over the place. I just salvaged something, but it wasn’t a good run.”
 
ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 18th:
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“Qualifying was fine. It was an easy flat. When you have new tires, it masks everything; you can be flat, no problem. When you are running in traffic, I think we need a little more downforce, everybody asks. I think the race will be too spread out, and we won’t have much racing going on. So I hope they let us put a little more downforce. I am happy to be back in the car; happy to be back with Chevy, and first time ever for the National Guard; I am very proud to be in their car. Hopefully I will give them a race tomorrow that they will be proud too.”
 
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 6 TRUE CAR DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 20TH
ON QUALIFYING:  “The run didn’t go as we expected. We were not fortunate enough to have a good car out of the box. As soon as we went out there, we understood it was going to be a tough weekend. We struggled a bit on the practice session. We managed to improve a couple of things, but in one hour, you can’t do a lot. We will just work toward a good race car and go from there.”