Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 Teams and Drivers Ready for 97th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race
DETROIT (May 23, 2013) – The 33-car field is set for the 97th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race scheduled for Sunday, May 26th, and will feature 17 driver entries powered by the Chevrolet V6 2.2 liter direct injected twin turbocharged purpose built engine fueled by renewable E85.
Ed Carpenter, in his No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, will lead the traditional field comprised of 11 rows of three to the green flag. With deep roots in Indiana, hailing him as a local hero to Indy 500 race fans, Carpenter is the first owner/driver to win the pole for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing since 1975.
Months of preparation, coupled with hours of testing and practice on the famed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway will culminate when the most famous words in auto racing, “Drivers, Start Your Engines”, are uttered to signal the start of the 200 lap/500 mile race in pursuit of one of the most coveted awards in motorsports, the Borg-Warner Trophy.
“The keystone event of the IZOD IndyCar Series, the Indianapolis 500, is nearly upon us and Team Chevy has positioned itself well for the start of the race,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager for the IZOD IndyCar Series. “Our engineers, teams and technical partners have been preparing for the event since the day after the 2012 race was over. The competition in the Series remains tight, and the fans are sure to witness another memorable Indy 500, paced by the all-new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.
“Congratulations again to Ed Carpenter and the entire Ed Carpenter Racing Team for winning the pole position for Sunday’s race. We are looking forward to competing and being “back home again in Indiana”.
Andretti Autosport will field five Chevrolet-powered cars and drivers in the Indy 500. Rookie Carlos Muñoz and Marco Andretti, who currently sits second in the Series’ point standings, will fill the front row with Carpenter, starting second and third respectively. E.J. Viso will start fourth, defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay will roll off seventh and two-time 2013 winner James Hinchcliffe will take the green flag from the ninth starting spot to place all five of the Andretti Autosport entries in the first three rows.
Team Penske’s rookie driver, A.J. Allmendinger, will make his career first Indy 500 start from fifth position on the grid. Joining Allmendinger in row two will be his teammate Will Power starting sixth. The third Team Penske Chevrolet IndyCar V6 driver, three-time Indy 500 winner, Helio Castroneves, will start eighth.
Panther Racing’s JR Hildebrand had a strong qualifying effort, securing the 10th starting spot. His teammate, eight-year IndyCar series veteran Townsend Bell, will make his sixth Indianapolis 500 start, taking the green from the 22nd starting position. Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver, Oriol Servia, a fan favorite at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will start in 13th position.
Tony Kanaan will make his 12th start in the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. He will pilot his KV Racing Technology Chevrolet from the 12th starting position. His teammate Simona De Silvestro, the fastest of the four women to qualify for this year’s race, will start 24th.
Hoping to add an Indy 500 win to his list of motorsports accolades will be Dragon Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais who will start 15th. He is followed by teammate Sebastian Saavedra who recorded the third fastest speed on ‘Bump Day’ to start 27th.
1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier will make his first start in the Indianapolis 500 since 2008. The 2000 IZOD IndyCar Series champion will start 32nd.
Chevrolet has won three of the first four races of the season, and has collected four poles which includes Carpenter’s Indy 500 pole-winning accomplishment.
Live broadcast overage of the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 begins at 11 a.m. ET Sunday, May 26 on ABC. The green flag is set to wave at 12:30 p.m. The famed race will also be broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including Sirius and XM Channels 211 and www.indycar.com.
Casey Currie Battles Through Adversity to Leave LOORS Lake Elsinore Round Second in Pro Lite Championship
Casey Currie Battles Through Adversity to Leave LOORS
Lake Elsinore Round Second in Pro Lite Championship
CORONA, Calif. (May 22, 2013) – Despite
its toughest weekend to date in the 2013 Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series
(LOORS) season, the Monster Energy/General Tire squad led by Casey Currie overcame
adversity during both days of competition from Lake Elsinore, Calif., to leave
his hometown race second in the Pro Lite championship.
The speed
was definitely there for Currie and it showed immediately with impressive lap
times during Friday practice on the 1.1-mile circuit. Currie piloted his
Monster Energy/General Tire truck to top three times in each of his two group
sessions. On Saturday morning, Currie laid down a hot lap in qualifying that
landed him inside the top five on the starting grid for the first race of the
weekend.
As the
green flag waved to get Round 5 underway on Saturday afternoon, Currie put
himself in position to battle at the front of the field until his first
encounter with bad luck occurred early on. After the pole sitter spun just
after the finish, Currie was collected in the ensuing chaos and fell to 16th
in the running order, forcing him to battle his way back through the field.
Currie’s exceptional abilities behind the wheel were on display through to the
caution flag at the halfway point, passing seven trucks in just a handful of
laps. After restarting in ninth, Currie kept the charge going through the finish.
The speed was there in the Monster Energy/General Tire machine, but Currie
simply ran out of laps and ultimately claimed eighth spot at the checkered
flag.
“That’s
not the way you want things to go, but sometimes that’s just how things work
out in this sport,” said Currie. “The Monster Energy/General Tire truck was
driving really well and it made for some easy work to get back inside the top
10. I would have liked to be further towards the front and I think we had the
truck to do it with, but we ran out of laps there at the end.”
Round 6
kicked off on Sunday morning with qualifying to set the grid for the final Main
of the weekend. Currie once again was on point and laid down a solid time that lined
him up inside the top five for the final race of the weekend.
As the
race got underway, Currie made quick moves to be a part of the lead pack, but
was again hit with misfortune when another spin from a competitor collected the
Monster Energy/General Tire truck. This time, Currie wasn’t fortunate enough to
come away unscathed and a broken front suspension dropped him to the tail end
of the field in 28th spot. Despite losing the ability to make
another charge through the field, Currie refused to give up and soldiered on
through the remainder of the race to post a 20th-place finish,
earning highly valuable championship points as a result.
“This
just wasn’t our weekend,” said Currie. “Sometimes racing is harsh like that.
All we can do is take our lumps, finish strong, and look forward to the next
round. Hopefully we got the bad luck out of the way this weekend and will get
back into this championship fight in Utah next month.”
Currie’s
mixed results and hard luck unfortunately forced him to drop out of the Pro
Lite points lead and into second place. Despite the adversity in Lake Elsinore,
Currie still sits within striking distance at such an early point in the
season, 39 points out of first.
Prior to
the on-track action for the weekend, Currie spent Thursday morning with local
KTLA 5 reporter Gayle Anderson on the KTLA Morning News. Currie gave Anderson a
taste of what the Monster Energy/General Tire Pro Lite is capable of with his
popular two-seater truck. The chance to be a co-pilot alongside Currie has
become a favorite for the media and the sport’s sponsors.
Currie
and the Monster Energy/General Tire team will set their sights on reclaiming
the Pro Lite points lead at Rounds 7 & 8 of the 2013 LOORS season from Miller
Motorsports Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, on June 21-23. Currie will debut
a sharp-looking new truck for the event that is sure to turn some heads with
its aggressive-yet-nostalgic design.
To keep up with all of Casey’s racing visit www.caseycurrie.com.
Honda Performance Development OpensTech Center in Brownsburg
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (May 22, 2013) –Featuring a state-of-the-art driving simulator rarely seen outside of Formula One, Honda Performance Development officially opened its Indiana Tech Center Wednesday, in the Indianapolis suburb of Brownsburg, Ind.
Driver-in-the-Loop [DIL] simulator technologyhas been employed successfully by HPD’s sports-car racing programsince 2007 at a facility in England. HPD’s new Tech Center brings that capability to themid-west, a location centralto the American racing community.
A DIL Simulator can save racing teams both time and money, as extensive test programs can be run through the simulator, with the team’s driver at the wheel and engineers monitoring “lap times”, prior to going to the expense and time-consuming process of actual on-track testing.
“Because [setup] changes can be done so quickly, the DIL Simulator allows you to run through many more [chassis geometry and track condition] changes than you could perform with an actual race car,” said Gil de Ferran, Indianapolis 500 winner, Indy car champion and now a consultant to HPD. “It also allows you to perform experiments that would be completely impractical – or highly expensive – on an actual race car.”
Design and construction of this latest-generation DIL Simulator began in the summer of 2012, and a site in the Indianapolis suburb of Brownsburg was selected for its central location and proximity toracing teams and drivers.
After construction and initial testing, the DIL Simulator was installed at the new HPD Tech Center in Brownsburg and began operations earlier this month. In the future, in addition to Honda-powered IndyCar and sports-car racing teams, the Simulator and HPD Tech Center facilities will be available for use by teams taking part in other series.HPD offers in-house engineering support for drivers and teams utilizing the DIL Simulator. Customized simulations can be established to meet the specific needs of the teams.
“Similar to the decision to design, develop and build the new Acura NSX in Ohio, the HPD Tech Center is another example of Honda bringing R&D activities to the heart of the North American motorsports community, said Steve Eriksen, HPD vice president and chief operating officer. “This is a development tool that will bring benefits to all of our motorsports activities, through a focus on total vehicle performance encompassing both engine and chassis.”
The HPD DIL Simulator provides a cost-effective means of testing chassis setup changes, aerodynamics, engine mapping and future development paths, prior to turning a wheel on the race track. It also allows teams to replicate and experience many on-track situations, including changing track temperatures, surface grip, air temperature and wind direction/strength.
The Simulator provides an opportunity for drivers and engineers to strengthen their working relationships and understanding of one another, without the expense and time required by on-track testing. In addition, drivers can learn circuits and configurations prior to arriving at a newtrack. It can also be used as a coaching tool, and aid in driver development programs.
Honda Performance Development (HPD) is the Honda racing company within North America. Located in Santa Clarita, Calif., HPD is the technical operations center for high-performance Honda racing cars and engines. The company is marking it’s 20thanniversary in 2013.
As one of three engine suppliers to the IZOD IndyCar Series, Honda won the 2012 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dario Franchitti; and has scored 197 race victories in both CART and IZOD IndyCar Series competition since 1994.
HPD takes part in both the American Le Mans Series–where the company swept all manufacturer, engine, team and driver awards in the 2012 ALMS LMP1 and LMP2 categories–and the FIA World Endurance Championship, winning the inaugural LMP2 championship during a year where it again took anLMP2 class win at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans, the company’s second class win at Le Mans in just three consecutive attempts.
HPD offers a variety of race engines for track applications from prototype sports cars to karting; and showcases “fun-to-drive” products for professional, amateur and entry-level racers.
Wood Brothers Racing–Woods Poised To Make Milestone Start At Charlotte
Woods Poised To Make Milestone Start At Charlotte
May 22, 2013
Like nearly everyone in America this week, Eddie Wood and his fellow members of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team have had the weather on their minds, especially after the heart-breaking death and damage that massive tornados caused in Oklahoma on Tuesday.
Wood and his crew also have been keeping an eye on the forecast for Charlotte on Thursday, when qualifying is scheduled for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, and there’s a chance of rain.
Wood is hoping for clear skies and a fast Ford Fusion so his family team can reach a milestone 1,400 Sprint Cup starts, dating back to Glen Wood’s first appearance in NASCAR’s elite division, at Martinsville Speedway on May 17, 1953, driving a 1953 Lincoln. Should there be rain, enough rain for qualifying to be cancelled, the team would miss the race. By competing on a limited schedule, the team has made fewer attempts to qualify for races this season than the other teams not otherwise locked into the starting field.
In rainouts, the final starting slots go to teams based on the number of attempts to qualify.
“Considering the tragedy and loss the people of Oklahoma have suffered, our weather concerns don’t seem that important,” Wood said. “But the Wood Brothers have run 1,399 races, and we plan to run a lot more in the future. If we miss Charlotte, we’ll make our 1,400th start somewhere else.”
Charlotte would be an appropriate venue, as the team got its first superspeedway victory there in the 1960 National 400 with Speedy Thompson at the wheel.
Crew chief Donnie Wingo also is hoping the weather works out in the team’s favor, as he and driver Trevor Bayne are looking forward to getting the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion back into Sprint Cup action.
“We’re taking the same Ford Fusion we ran at Texas and Las Vegas,” Wingo said. “It was our best chassis last year, and we’ve done a lot of work on it since.”
Wingo, Bayne and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew also are hoping to keep up the momentum from two recent test sessions, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michigan International Speedway.
“We tested with a different car, but you always pick up things that can help you at other places and with other cars,” Wingo said.
The veteran crew chief will be putting his experience – recent and long-term – to work should the team make the field for NASCAR’s longest race.
“I like the challenge of 600 miles,” he said. “It requires a lot of preparation, and you have to build a lot of adjustability into the car because the race goes from daytime into night, and Charlotte is one of the most heat-sensitive tracks we race on.”
Qualifying for the Coca-Cola 600 is scheduled for Thursday at 7:10 p.m., and the race is set to get the green flag just after 6 p.m. on Sunday with TV coverage on FOX.
Pittman Captures World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car NAPA Outlaw Classic at New Egypt
Pittman Captures World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car NAPA Outlaw Classic at New Egypt
Oklahoma native races with heavy heart after storms ravage his home state
NEW EGYPT, N.J. – May 21, 2013 – World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship leader Daryn Pittman is having the best season of his career, but he outdid himself Tuesday night in the NAPA Auto Parts Outlaw Classic at New Egypt Speedway.
First he led 17 drivers in shattering the nearly 12-year-old track record in qualifying, then worked past Sammy Swindell on Lap 6 in the A-main and drove to his series-leading fifth victory of the season in the Kasey Kahne Racing Great Clips GF1, becoming the first driver in 2013 to set quick time and then go win the feature.
In addition to it being his fifth win, Pittman has also earned 16 top-five finishes and a staggering 22 top-10s this season in 25 events. He’s even tied with Paul McMahan with five quick-time awards to lead the series.
Pittman started the 30-lap A-main in third behind Sammy Swindell and Jason Sides. Pittman kept the pressure on, making his move to the front when Swindell was bottled up in traffic on Lap 6. Pittman never looked back, as Swindell, Sides, Tony Stewart and Donny Schatz rounded out the top five.
“I just had a good car all night we were fast from hot laps,” said Pittman, an Oklahoma native who was clearly racing with a heavy heart after seeing the catastrophic storm-related damage in his home state the past few days. “Honestly I just couldn’t ask for a better night it’s always fun when you feel like you’ve got the best car and it’s even better when you can put it to use all night long and come out with a win. [Swindell] just kind of opened it up in four getting tight and we were just really good running around the bottom and I kind of knew that would be the key the way the track was.
“Our prayers go out to everyone back in Oklahoma. It’s pretty close to home, friends actually lived in the neighborhood, and it’s unbelievable the devastation that those people are going through. I’m just praying that they can have the strength to try and get through it and that they’re definitely on our minds.”
Swindell, who started on the pole in the Big Game Treestands Eagle, led the opening five laps, but when he encountered traffic, Pittman made his move.
“We just did the best we could and still got the second,” said Swindell, of Germantown, Tenn. “You kind of hate to start on the front and not finish there, but the car is in one piece and we’ll work on it and go from there. Everything’s different from what we’ve ever run before and we’ve got to put it together and we’re close, we’ll just keep hammering on it.”
Sides started second and finished third in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim despite having a motor issue in the early going that forced him to fend off Stewart and Schatz in the waning laps.
“Sammy got out to a little bit of a lead, and Daryn got right past us in turn four,” said Sides, of Bartlett, Tenn. “On the second or third lap it broke a rocker arm and it started spraying fuel everywhere. If there was a caution I was just really going to pull in and go, but since it did go green we just stayed out there and got a good run. Anytime you can run top three with a broke motor that’s still pretty good.”
For the second night in a row some of the best racing on track was between Tony Stewart and his Tony Stewart Racing driver, Donny Schatz. The two eventually finished where they started, with Stewart in fourth and Schatz one position behind, but as they were forced to weave through lapped traffic, the battle grew intense.
Pittman was not the only driver to best the previous track record. In fact, the previous track record would have only been good for the 18th qualifying position.
For the second night in a row, the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series feature event ran the full distance caution free. Working his way through the field and collecting the KSE Hard Charger award was Kasey Kahne Racing’s Cody Darrah, who advanced from 22nd to 15th.
There were several drivers representing the PA Posse on Tuesday night. Greg Hodnett was the highest finishing Posse member, collecting an eighth place finish.
The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series takes a quick breather before heading to the Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C. Friday night to kick off Memorial Day weekend with the Circle K/NOS Energy Outlaw Showdown.
World of Outlaws–Kraig Kinser Earns First 2013 Win at Historic Orange County Fair Speedway
Kraig Kinser Earns First 2013 Win at Historic Orange County Fair Speedway
Third generation racer dominates World of Outlaws STP Sprint Cars in New York
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. – May 20, 2013 – Kraig Kinser stole the show at Orange County Fair Speedway en route to his first World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series feature win of the 2013 season.
Kinser and his Messila Valley started alongside Chad Kemenah on the front row with both drivers seeking a breakthrough victory. Kinser jumped ahead on the outside and powered to the lead while Kemenah was forced to hold off third-place finishing Tony Stewart along with Paul McMahan and Donny Schatz.
The victory gives Kinser, the son of legendary King of the Outlaws Steve Kinser, four top-five runs and 10 top-10 finishes this season. It also was the first time he’s won at Orange County Fair Speedway.
“Hopefully we got out of the slump we’ve been having,” said Kinser, of Bloomington, Ind. “I started getting loose around the top and just started searching. I saw some lapped cars on the bottom when I got into traffic down there. I made a couple of turns through there and I knew that’s probably where I had to be, try to make them pass me around the top. It would be harder than leaving the bottom wide open.”
Kinser weaved through traffic in the Casey’s General Story/Messilla Valley Transportation Maxim as the event ran its full 25 laps caution free. While Kinser maintained his solid lead up front, there was a heated battle for the second through sixth positions. Kemenah started on the pole in his Hampshire Engines Maxim and finished second, but he first had to fight off Donny Schatz and his STP/Armor All J&J then later Schatz’s boss, Tony Stewart and his Chevrolet Performance/Mobil 1 J&J. Kemenah was able to maintain his track position in the lead pack of cars as points leader Daryn Pittman charged to a sixth-place run, finishing just 2.075 seconds behind Kemenah. Pittman’s sixth-place finish netted him his 21st top-10 finish of the year in the Kasey Kahne Racing Great Clips GF1.
“The season we’ve had so far with the wrecking and whatever else we’ve been doing, we’re happy,” said runner-up Kemenah, from Elvada, Ohio. “You know we’ve just got to keep running in the top five and we’ll starting winning. I killed the right rear tire so bad I was having a hard time hanging on there in the last few laps.”
Leading qualifier, Stewart, made a very hard run at Kemenah exiting turn four in the waning laps, but Stewart came up short and finished in the third spot. McMahan finished fourth after starting fifth. Mid-race he battled with Schatz and Stewart and attempted to work his way up to a podium finish. Towards the end, McMahan got around Schatz to earn a hard fought fourth-place finish. Schatz crossed the line in fifth, less than a second-and-a-half behind Kemanah.
“Nobody in the top four could run the top except for Donny, then it got to where it finally cleaned off enough on the bottom to where it got a little more grip,” said Stewart, a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion. “That’s kind of the advantage of being behind two guys one on top and bottom, you can gauge which line is getting quicker.”
Kraig would not be the only Kinser to find success, his father and car owner, Steve Kinser would earn the KSE Hard Charger award.
Tony Stewart made the most of the dash, after a six was drawn, that was where he would start the dash. In the six-lap event, Stewart picked through the field to finish third.
Race Winners Week Ending 5/19/13
NASCAR
Sprint All Star- Jimmie Johnson
Camping World Truck Series- North Carolina Education Lottery- Kyle Busch
Top Fuel — Shawn Langdon
Funny Car — Johnny Gray
Pro Stock — Jeg Coughlin
Top Alcohol Dragster — Alan Bradshaw
Top Alcohol Funny Car — Jirka Kaplan
Super Stock — Tim Nicholson,
Stock Eliminator — Austin Williams
Super Comp — Tommy Phillips
Super Gas — Steve Williams
Super Street — John Dasher
Top Dragster — Larry Piper
Honda Racing–Honda’s Newgarden Leads Final Indy 500 Qualifiers
Second-year IZOD IndyCar Series driver Josef Newgarden led the field Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the final day of qualifying for next weekend’s Indianapolis 500. Newgarden’s four-lap average of 225.731 mph, posted shortly after the historic 2.5-mile oval opened for qualifying at 12 p.m. EDT, put his Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda at the top of the final nine qualifiers who successfully joined the 33-car starting field today.
Graham Rahal also posted a four-lap qualifying average of just over 225 mph for the second-fastest run of the day and will start from 26th, while reigning Indy Lights champion Tristan Vautier qualified for his first Indianapolis 500 with a run of 224.873 mph and will start from the inside of the 10th row, 28th.
Other Honda-powered qualifiers in final “Bump Day” qualifying included Ana Beatriz, 29th, and her Dale Coyne Racing teammate, Pippa Mann on the outside of the 10th row, in 30th. Another Indy 500 rookie, Conor Daly, bounced back from a heavy crash on Thursday to qualify 31st for A.J. Foyt Racing; while Katherine Legge ran only her first practice laps for this year’s race this morning, but still claimed the 33rdand final starting spot in a Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda.
IZOD IndyCar Series activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway resume on Friday with the traditional final practice session, known as “Carb Day”. The 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 starts at 11 a.m. EDT Sunday, May 26, with live television coverage on ABC.
Josef Newgarden (#21 Century 21 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda) qualified 25th, fastest in the final day of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500: “We’re in the show, so it’s good! We had a little bit of a bobble yesterday [in first-day qualifying] and we weren’t able to show our representative speed. But we did a little bit better today and I think we have even more to come for the race. We’ve got a lot of confidence going into our second ‘500’”.
Roger Griffiths (Technical Director, Honda Performance Development): “Congratulations to the second-day qualifiers, and to the Sam Schmidt team for getting its third car prepared and in the show for Katherine [Legge]. A number of Honda-powered cars put in considerable mileage today, which demonstrated good reliability. The hard work for HPD will continue throughout this week, as we prepare to give our teams the best possible shot at winning next Sunday’s race.”
Honda Racing–Tagliani Leads Honda Indy Qualifying
Veteran Canadian Indy car driver Alex Tagliani led the Honda effort in “Pole Day” qualifying Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and will start 11th in next weekend’s 97th running of the Indianapolis 500. Tagliani’s four-lap average of 227.386 mph was almost a full mile per hour faster than the 2012 pole speed of 226.484 mph, set by Ryan Briscoe, yet still missed the making the final “Top Nine Shootout” by just one-tenth of a mile per hour.
Nine Honda-powered drivers made successful qualifying runs today around the historic 2.5-mile oval, with Justin Wilson qualifying 14th to lead the three-car Dale Coyne Racing effort. Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti will start 16th and 17th, respectively. In 2012, Franchitti went on to win his third “500” after starting 16th.
IZOD IndyCar Series points leader Takuma Sato will start 18th for Honda and A.J. Foyt Racing, followed by Charlie Kimball in the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 19th. After being knocked out of the field – the first 24 positions of the 33-driver grid were set in today’s qualifying runs – James Jakes dramatically “bumped” his way back into the field in the final minutes of qualifying, and will start 20th in his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.
Simon Pagenaud, making his second “500” start for Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports, qualified 21st, while 2012 pole qualifier Briscoe rounded out the first-day qualifiers for Honda, and will start 23rd in his NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway continues tomorrow with a morning practice session, followed by final “Bump Day” qualifying to set the final nine starting positions for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500. Television coverage, beginning at 11 a.m. EDT, will be provided by the NBC Sports Network.
Roger Griffiths (Technical Director, Honda Performance Development): “Obviously, we came here shooting for the pole, but came up short. We’re all racers at Honda, and today’s results are very disappointing. But we’ve got a pretty good record of winning here [at Indianapolis, with nine consecutive race victories], and hopefully we’ll be drinking milk again next weekend. We have to knuckle down and keep fighting. That’s what we did in 2012, and that’s what we plan to do again this year.”
Alex Tagliani (#98 Barracuda Racing/BHA Honda) qualified 11th for the second consecutive year at the Indianapolis 500: “I’m very pleased with the team. The boys had somewhat of a rough week, but worked really hard to make sure that we had a strong car.I’m super confident with the car that we have for the race. I’m also very pleased with how Honda improved during the week of practice. They responded really well to what I was asking from the engine for my qualifying run. Honda worked with us to make sure we had a fair chance to fight the competition, and I’m pleased with the way they responded.”
Mopar Racing–Two Title Wins for Mopar with Coughlin and Gray at NHRA Kansas Nationals
Two Title Wins for Mopar with Coughlin and Gray at NHRA Kansas Nationals
· Coughlin and Gray earn title wins for Mopar and special-edition silver Wally trophies in honor of the 25th anniversary of NHRA Kansas Nationals
· Coughlin reaches milestone 500th career Pro Stock round win on his way to his first win of the season and 53rd of his career
· After a win at the previous event in Atlanta, Gray wins third title of the season, and first consecutive victories of his career to take Funny Car championship lead
· Three Mopars reach semifinals in both Pro Stock and Funny Car classes
Topeka, Kansas (Sunday, May 19, 2013) – For a second time this season, two Dodge entries doubled up to take title wins in both the Pro Stock and Funny Car classes at the NHRA Kansas Nationals with drivers Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Johnny Gray taking home special-edition silver Wally trophies in honor of the event’s 25th anniversary. Each driver’s trip to the winner’s circle was notable for number of reasons.
Before the final elimination round came down to a Mopar versus Mopar face-off between Coughlin and his teammate Allen Johnson, his second round victory gave him a milestone 500 career round wins. He becomes the fifth Pro Stock driver to reach that plateau along with Greg Anderson, Bob Glidden, Kurt Johnson, and Warren Johnson.
Coughlin advanced to his 88th career final round appearance to earn a 53rd career win with a 6.680-second pass at 206.20 mph over Johnson’s elapsed time of 6.698 sec (206.57 mph) after both drivers recorded .013 second reaction times. It was the third time this season that Coughlin was involved in an all-Mopar final elimination. Previously, the driver of the Jegs.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger was defeated by Vincent Nobile for the win in the season opening event at Pomona, then finished runner-up to Johnson at the Gatornationals.
“Any day you are hoisting a Wally at the end of the day is a good thing and it’s what you work for and that final round ranks up there with some of the best races I’ve ever won,” said Coughlin who maintains his second place spot in the points battle but is closing the gap on the leader Mike Edwards. “Today was extra-special for several reasons. We hadn’t won in a couple of years. To finally get a Wally on Sunday is exactly what the doctor ordered. We have been working hard and trying to work smart, and today was our day and it felt fantastic.”
“All of us at Mopar are excited to see Jeg (Coughlin Jr.) back in the winner’s circle after a strong start to the season and be part of his 500th round win milestone,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “We began a great partnership with Jeg last year and it’s great to see him back on top with this win at the Kansas Nationals. We look forward to seeing him contending for many more wins this year with the powerful Mopar HEMI engine under the hood of his Dodge. “
“We do take trips down memory lane occasionally and this is one of those times,” added Coughlin in speaking about the 500 round wins that have helped him earn 52 class wins and four championships. “We’ve been fortunate to win a lot of great races and win a lot of great championships. It’s a testament to everyone who has been behind us all those years. It’s been a product of 15 years of dedication from a lot of great teams I have worked with. It’s a testament to them from our family teams in the beginning to the Cagnazzi group, Schumacher and now with Allen Johnson.”
The defending winner at Heartland Park, Johnson won his match ups against Deric Kramer, Greg Anderson, and Roger Brogdon in the Mopar Express Lane Dodge to make his 39th final round appearance and finish runner-up to Coughlin. Johnson remains third in the Pro Stock standings.
Nobile beat fellow HEMI-powered Dodge of V. Gaines before upsetting no.1 qualifier and points leader Edwards in round two. That put Nobile among the three Mopars to make the semifinals where he was defeated by Coughlin, but earned enough points to move up a spot into sixth place in the championship.
While three Mopars made the semifinals in Pro Stock, the same transpired in Funny Car with Dodge Charger R/T contingent of Johnny Gray, Jack Beckman and Ron Capps all advancing. Matt Hagan’s ‘Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar’ wasn’t quite as lucky falling in the first round to Bob Tasca.
In the semifinals, Beckman, who was the defending event winner, fell to Gray who would meet up for a final round elimination against Robert Hight after he defeated Capps. Gray earned his first victory at the Heartland Park Topeka track in the Pitch Energy Dodge Charger with a final run of 4.067 seconds (314.90 mph) after Hight lost traction early in the run.
Gray is having a banner year for Mopar and his Don Schumacher Racing team. With a victory at the previous event in Atlanta, not only does he have wins in back-to-back races for the first time in his career, bringing his career total to six, but he now also has sole possession of the points lead in the Funny Car championship for another career first. Highlights for Gray this season also include wins in all three of his final round appearances with his Dodge Charger R/T, a no.1 qualifier position at Phoenix and a semifinal appearance in the season opener at Pomona.
“My crew chief Rob (Wendland) gave me a great race car that ran real hard all day,” said Gray. “Sometimes you can win races on an intimidation factor and Rob had her tuned up to where she was a little intimidating today. My guys are giving me a car I can’t screw up in right now.”
“It was great to see Don Schumacher Racing’s Johnny Gray add a third win today to the strong start to the year he’s had in the Dodge Charger R/T,” Gorlier said. “Earning wins in both Pro Stock and Funny Car classes for the second time this year after first doing it at the Gatornationals, is a great way to reinforce all the hard work that Mopar HEMI-powered teams and drivers are putting in early in the season to defend both World titles.”
Mopar teams and drivers will return to competition in two weeks for the 44th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park near Englishtown, New Jersey, for the ninth event on the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
Summit Racing–Anderson Prepared to Zero in on Trouble Spot after NHRA Kansas Nationals
Anderson Prepared to Zero in on Trouble Spot after NHRA Kansas Nationals
TOPEKA, Kan. (May 19, 2013) – The 25th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka saw some of the smoothest runs that the Summit Racing Pro Stock duo of Greg Anderson and Jason Line have seen all year, but the Minnesota-bred, Mooresville, N.C.-transplanted pair didn’t achieve the results that they were aiming for at the eighth of 24 events on NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour.
Anderson, the No. 6 qualifier, halted veteran racer Larry Morgan in the first round, 6.707 to 6.723, and then clocked a very efficient .017-second reaction time before excessive clutch slippage resulted in a 6.723 that simply couldn’t better Allen Johnson’s 6.674 in round two.
“This weekend, the Summit Racing Camaros weren’t running as fast as we believe they truly can,” said Anderson. “And really, we cannot expect to win races at this pace. We’ve got to pick it up. The cars are not responding in a favorable direction to the changes that we’re making, and so we’re glad we have a week off before it’s time to go racing again. That will give us a chance to really figure it out so that we can go to Englishtown with a better product and really show our potential.”
After struggling with tire spin in recent events, Anderson was pleased that he and Line’s Summit Racing Camaros were able to make a series of clean journeys down the quarter-mile dragstrip over the course of the weekend.
“The cars are going down the track every time, the cars are very safe, and they feel very good – they’re just not running fast yet,” said Anderson. “We’ve definitely gotten better and sorted out the problems we were having earlier, but you have to have both a repeatable car and run fast. You can’t have one without the other and expect to win. We know it’s there, we just have to zero in on what, exactly, we’re doing wrong.”
Anderson is holding in the No. 8 spot in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock standings, and he has much on the agenda as he is chasing his first win of the season. The Summit Racing team so far has one win on their scorecard this year; Line was victorious in Houston.
“This one was definitely a bust for us, we didn’t perform as well as we should have, but that has the Summit Racing guys fired up to get home and get back to work,” said Anderson. “We’ve been faced with challenges before, and we have a very capable team. It’s time we show what we’re capable of.”
Chevy Racing–Indianapolis 500 Bump Day
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES Ed Carpenter with Chevrolet V6 Power Wins the Pole for the 97th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Line Qualified 7th, Geared to Go Rounds in Topeka Johnson and Gray Top Mopar Qualifiers at Kansas Nationals Topeka, Kansas (Saturday, May 18, 2013) – Under grey skies and humid conditions at Heartland Park near Topeka, Mopar drivers wrapped up two days of qualifying in preparation for Sunday’s 25th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals. Defending Pro Stock winner of the event, Allen Johnson was the top Mopar entry with a third place qualifying spot, while Johnny Gray was fourth quickest to lead the Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car contingency. Johnson quickest run was made in Friday’s second qualifying session when both he and teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. not only posted the exact same elapsed time of 6.633 seconds, but matched incremental times as well at 60 ft (0.997 sec), 330 ft (2.784), 660 ft (4.272) and 1,000 ft (5.553) marks. Only a 0.16 mph difference put the Johnson’s Mopar Express Lane Dodge in third spot ahead of the Jegs.com Mopar with the quicker speed of 208.62 mph. Johnson wrapped up qualifying on a high note by setting the quickest elapsed time of the final Pro Stock session to add three more bonus points to his total, but remained third to no.1 qualifier Mike Edwards who posted his seventh pole position in eight events. “We’re making gains and that’s the goal,” said Johnson who has two wins in the last three years at the higher altitude track. “We were third in two sessions and then quickest in that last one and that gives us a bit of a confidence boost heading into eliminations. We knew Jeg (Coughlin Jr.) and I were pretty close but to see the numbers match up like that on Friday was pretty neat and shows just how consistent we can be. Conditions should be just about the same on Sunday and hopefully the rain will hold off so we can do our best to get through as many rounds as we can.” Johnson will match up with Deric Kramer in the first round of eliminations while Coughlin, who qualified fourth, will face Greg Stanfield. “I’m happy with the way we’ve started here at Heartland Park,” said Coughlin who could reach a milestone 500 round victories in his Pro Stock career by reaching the semifinals on Sunday. “We were second in the first session and fourth the other three runs. I’m real confident the car is going to continue to perform well, and I feel great behind the wheel. I like the total package we’ve brought to the track this weekend.” The HEMI-powered entries of V. Gaines and Vincent Nobile qualified eighth and ninth respectively and will face each other in the first round of eliminations. In Funny Car qualifying, the top eleven cars were all in the 4.0-second range with John Force lowering the e.t. track record to 4.043 (313.22mph) to earn the pole position. Don Schumacher Racing’s Johnny Gray put his Mopar fourth on the scoring sheets with a 4.053-second (313.37 mph) final run and will meet Alexis DeJoria in the first round of eliminations. Matt Hagan’s “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Charger R/T was sixth with his e.t. of 4.069 seconds and he’ll face Bob Tasca in first round action. Don Schumacher Racing teammate and defending winner at Topeka, Jack Beckman made his quickest pass of the weekend on his final run (4.081 sec /312.42 mph) to keep him ninth on the timing charts. He will face Cruz Pedregon as his first match up while Mopar teammate Ron Capps was tenth (4.087 / 309.77) and has Tim Wilkerson for his first round competitor. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will provide coverage of this weekend’s 25th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals, the eighth of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, with a three hour broadcast of the elimination rounds on Sunday, May 19, starting at 8 p.m. (ET) from Heartland Park near Topeka. NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES AUTO CLUB’S HIGHT RUNNER-UP AT KANSAS NATIONALS TOPEKA, KS —- For the third time in four years Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang team were running for the money on Sunday afternoon at the NHRA Kansas Nationals. Facing veteran Johnny Gray and his Pitch Energy Dodge Charger in the final round Hight had lane choice but for the first time in four final round meetings Gray took the win. Gray posted a solid 4.067 second pass as Hight’s Mustang smoked the tires for the first time this weekend. “I really believed we were going to get this one today. Not to take anything away from Johnny Gray. If this thing would have made a run like it had been all day we would have given Johnny a better race,” said Hight, the 2010 and 2011 Kansas Nationals winner. “It is hard to explain why we do well here. I don’t really know why. We have had some team members through the years that have been from this part of the country. This is just a great race track. (Crew chief) Jimmy Prock has won here in Top Fuel and Funny Car.” Hight took out Jeff Arend in the first round and then outran BobTasca III’s Ford Mustang Funny Car in the second round. Hight’s semi-final race was a monster John Force Racing versus Don Schumacher Racing match-up. Hight was giving away lane choice to Capps but Prock had the Auto Club Mustang ready. It blasted down the track in 4.044 second nearly equaling John Force’s track record ET set yesterday. “I just kept expecting good runs. I look at the data with Jimmy and I see what he is trying to do. You can see the potential if we just get the back half right. It wasn’t surprising. I honestly thought if we got it right in the final it was going to run better than that,” said Hight. “It was cool at driver introductions this morning Capps came up to me and said it was good to have us back. That just shows the class of the guys we race. I am sure if we start really doing well he is going to take that back,” joked Hight. “It is cool that he noticed we had improved and said something. Right before the semi-finals he came up and said he just saw a smile on Jimmy’s face. It is noticeable that the Auto Club team is back.” Hight moved up on the Mello Yello point standings from 8th to 7th and now has a firm position in the Top Ten heading into a critical stretch of the season. For his entire Auto Club team the qualifying success and then race day success really had an impact. “Without a doubt having a weekend like this is great. Now it is just a matter of time. We are going to win some races. To come in here and just hit it that first run was big. If we wouldn’t have had a good run who knows how this weekend would have gone. If we would have missed it and then had to start working on it,” said Hight. “That first run is just huge. The biggest thing is how this weekend affected by team. We had a big team meeting in Indy. When you are struggling team morale is down and you are just working harder. Things just aren’t right. We decided to come in here with a new combination and a new attitude. It is pretty cool to see some smiles on all these guys’ faces. I believe we will see smiles for a long time to come.” John Force led the team in qualifying grabbing the top spot in qualifying with a track record 4.043 on Saturday. Force opened Sunday with a win over former teammate Tony Pedregon. In the second round Force was outrun by Jack Beckman due to a wiring malfunction in his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. At the end of the day the 15-time champion was pleased with the overall improvement in all his cars. “Any time you can get a race car to the final that is part of the game plan. Winning is the icing on the cake. It is important to get the exposure for the sponsors like Auto Club, Ford, Castrol and Traxxas. We made some changes to our chassis and with our tune-up. We had a lot of meetings and got a game plan,” said Force, the nine-time Kansas Nationals winner. “To come out and be 1-2-3 in qualifying shows that we are moving in the right direction. We are starting to go rounds and get those extra runs down the race track without smoking the tires. All four of our race cars are testing tomorrow. That takes budget but we have to do it to get the runs and get where we want to be at the end of the season.” The winningest driver in NHRA history was pleased that the entire event was able to be completed. It was the first time in a month that all qualifying sessions were run and there were no interruptions on race day for weather. “It was not only important for the teams and the crew chiefs to be able to make good decisions. It is just getting seat time. That is a big deal especially for a driver like Brittany who is a rookie,” said Force. “Courtney has some experience from last year but getting runs is critical. Mostly getting a full event in is good for the sport. If the fans can’t have a show and what they buy the ticket for then they won’t come back. They put on a good show here at Heartland Park Topeka.” Courtney Force qualified in the No. 2 spot coming into race day and took on Dale Creasy Jr. in the first round for the first time ever. Force took the win with a 4.136 ET at 311.63 mph and moved on to the next round. “We came out strong in eliminations. Our cars qualified 1, 2 and 3 and all of our Funny Cars got past first round. It was a great start to the day. Our Traxxas Ford Mustang machine was running strong. We had a problem with a dropped cylinder on the first pass, which slowed us down a little, but we were still able to get the win over Creasy,” said Force. “It was tough racing him because my brother-in-law Danny, his dad works on that team. It’s like second family over there and it makes it that much tougher when you have to race family,” said Force. Force had Ron Capps in the next round of eliminations. Force lost lane choice and ran a 4.233 ET at 300.73 mph after dropping a cylinder and getting close to the wall. “We went up second round and did the best we could. Capps and I both struggled getting it down the track. My Traxxas car dropped a cylinder and pulled me over to the wall so I just tried to drive it back to the center of the groove, but it just wasn’t enough to get that win light. “We’re coming out here tomorrow to test. We’re excited for that. I know we’ve got a great hot rod, we just have to have a little bit more next time. I’m ready to get these problems squared away and move on to Englishtown,” said Force. In Top Fuel Brittany Force and the Castrol EDGE Top Fueler ran into a tough first round opponent, Khalid alBalooshi racing for Al-Anabi Racing. Both Top Fuel dragsters launched together but unfortunately for the rookie driver the maroon and gold alBalooshi dragster pulled away. For Force just getting four qualifying runs was a win. “We have been losing runs in qualifying because of weather. It was great to get four runs in qualifying and we made good runs. We are in the low 4.80s and I am getting experience which is important,” said Force. CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6 DRIVER QUOTES – FAST NINE SHOOTOUT FOR THE POLE Anderson Ready to Battle from the No. 6 Position in Topeka
Seventeen Chevrolet IndyCar V6 Drivers Set to Start 97th Running of the Indianapolis 500
INDIANAPOLIS (May 19, 2013) – Bump Day, the traditional name for the second day of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, came to an end with the 33-car field set for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 26, 2013.
With today’s addition of Sebastian Saavedra, No. 6 TrueCar Dragon Racing Chevrolet, and 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier, No. 91 Lazier Partners Inc. Chevrolet, who both posted successful qualifying attempts, a total of 17 Chevrolet IndyCar V6 powered cars are set to start the 200-lap/500-mile race on the famed 2.5-mile oval.
Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, will start of the pole with fellow Chevrolet V6 drivers Carlos Muñoz, No. 26 Unistraw Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, and Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet completing the front row.
After the remainder of the cars had taken their qualifying laps today, there was an ample supply of track time available for open practice that gave Team Chevy cars and drivers a valuable opportunity to continue preparations for the historic race.
IZOD IndyCar Series activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway resume on Friday with the traditional final practice session, known as “Carb Day”. The 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 starts at 11 a.m.EDT Sunday, May 26, with live television coverage on ABC.In addition, the famed race will be broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 211 and
Chevy Racing–Sprint All Star Race Post Race
SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MAY 18, 2013
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
THEY SAY GREAT ATHLETES RISE TO THE OCCASION TO WIN THE BIG EVENTS. SO HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO DO WHAT NO OTHER DRIVERS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO IN HISTORY?
“That’s crazy. Gosh, to beat Jeff (Gordon) and (Dale) Earnhardt (Sr.), two guys that I’ve looked up to my whole life and two massive icons of our sport, this means the world to me. I really didn’t think we had a shot at winning tonight, starting 20th. But we had a great race car and worked our way through there and got the job done. Over time, honestly, it’s just dedication and drive from every member of Hendrick Motorsports, and every member on this No. 48 team. We’re very proud of what we’ve done and what we’ve accomplished, but we know we’ve got to keep pushing harder and keep pushing one another and we did it again here tonight. I don’t know how we keep doing it. I’m very proud of this race team.”
RICK HENDRICK LEANED INTO THE CAR TO SAY SOMETHING TO YOU. WHAT DID HE SAY TO YOU? DID YOU MAKE THE MOTION TO GET HIM ON THE CAR AGAIN, AND DID HE SAY, ‘NO WAY’?
“I didn’t really hear him because the engine was running. But when I was talking to DW (Darrell Waltrip) on my way in, we talked about Rick not being on the door. And so I thought this was the perfect opportunity for him to ride a very short distance, a safe distance, but he turned it down. It would have been fun to do it. But, it is just a huge night for my entire fan base. I want to thank Sprint for their great support of our entire industry and our sport and this event tonight. I want to thank our great sponsor, Lowe’s, and Kolbalt Tools, Chevrolet and my family.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FOURTH
YOU GUYS HAD LANE CHOICE ON THE FRONT ROW, WHAT HAPPENED THE FINAL TEN LAPS?
“Well, I would say my pit crew did a great job of getting us out first. I was a little tight the run before and we didn’t have time to fix it because we wanted to get out first and knew if we could get clean air we thought we would be alright with our Farmers Chevy. Jimmie just stayed right there and I couldn’t get rid of him and then he beat me off the corner and into three and kind of on exit and it was over after that. I was tight and fell back to fourth but the pit crew did great, it was a great run for us, we tried hard and just a little too much bouncing off cars to have a car capable of running with him at the end.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SEALY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FIFTH
I KNOW YOU DIDN’T GET THE WIN, BUT WHAT DO THEY SAY THEY KNEW YOU WERE HERE:
“Yeah, that is definitely the case. Winning a couple of segments in the All-Star Race is nothing to be disappointed about. You always want more and when you lose to a guy like Jimmie Johnson, a five-time champion, Chad Knaus (Jimmie Johnson, crew chief) those guys they were just perfect again. We were just one click slow on pit stop and one click off on the final adjustment. We came out fifth and got stuck in a little bit of that traffic. I thought we could race our way into that. We weren’t perfect tonight, but overall happy Armed Forces day. With them on board it always gives us inspiration to run strong and just if you see a military member thank them for their service.”
YOU GUYS HAD A FANTASTIC CAR BUT JUST GOT BEAT ON PIT ROAD ON THAT FINAL STOP:
“You know, to win some segments and to be in position with the All-Star race and the way it is, it shows the full strength of this team. Even though we were running 20 laps at a time, it still makes you proud to race for these guys. They put me in position with the best average finish through the first four segments but we were just a shade slow on pit road and maybe a shade off on that last adjustment because I couldn’t race back through traffic. Even if we came out first, it would have been tough to hold those guys off.”
I HEARD YOU SAY THAT THE CAR WAS STARTING TO PLOW:
“Yeah, a little bit tight and therefore, you are just trying to translate to them what that last change did and you just roll with it because it’s a million bucks going out the window but we are building our notebook up for Charlotte and the 600 next week.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/NATIONAL WILD TURKEY FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED EIGHTH
YOU WON THE SHOWDOWN AND HAD A SOLID FINISH IN THE ALL-STAR RACE TELL US ABOUT YOUR NIGHT:
“Really happy with our car. I think if we ever could have gotten to the front, probably like most people, our car was extremely fast. It’s just really tough in traffic, but overall we had a good car.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CARES CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 20TH
ON HER RACE:
“First and very foremost, thank you to all the fans who voted for me or maybe voted so many times for me. I’m very fortunate to have the fan base that I do, and I never forget that. It really just makes me feel bad to win the Sprint Fan Vote and run in the back of the race. We just couldn’t get the GoDaddy Cares Chevrolet right. We were just too tight. The guys did a great job on pit road. That goes without saying. It was just a tough night, but hopefully we are able to figure out what was wrong and we can come back here next weekend and have a better run.”Chevy Racing–Indy Pole
INDIANAPOLIS (May 18, 2013) – Ed Carpenter fulfilled a life-long dream today by winning the pole for the Indianapolis 500. In his own Ed Carpenter Racing No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet V6, Carpenter put up a blistering four-lap average speed of 228.762 mph to earn the right to lead the 33-car field to the green flag of the 97th running of the Great American Race.
With deep roots in Indiana making him a local hero at famed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Carpenter became the first owner/driver to win the pole since 1975.
“This is a good start,” said Carpenter. “I want to make sure we keep the team focused. I hope this is part one of a really magical month, and we’re here for race day. This is awesome and it’s bigger than our wins and it’s huge for the team. It’s definitely a landmark day, but I don’t want to get overly focused on this because we have a lot of work to do yet.”
Andretti Autosport teammates, rookie Carlos Muñoz, No. 26 Unistraw Chevrolet, and Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Chevrolet qualified second and third respectively to give Chevrolet the front row for the 200-lap/500-mile race on May 26, 2013.
“Congratulations to Ed Carpenter and the entire team at Ed Carpenter Racing for putting the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet on the pole for the 97th running of the Indy 500,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager for the IZOD IndyCar Series. “It was an impressive collection of laps Ed put up in the final qualifying session. Also, congratulations to Andretti Autosport teammates Carlos Muñoz and Marco Andretti on qualifying for the front row. The focus for Chevrolet, our V6 powered teams and drivers, and our technical partners remains on the ultimate goal – winning the Indianapolis 500-mile race on May 26th.”
Fifteen of the 17 drivers in Chevrolet V6 powered cars have secured starting positions for next weekend’s Indianapolis 500.
E.J Viso, A.J. Allmendinger and Will Power qualified fourth, fifth and sixth to secure second row starting positions on the grid. Defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and James Hinchcliffe will make up the third row of the starting field.
Other Team Chevy drivers also locked into the top-24 starting positions from the first day of qualifying are JR Hildebrand, Tony Kanaan, Oriol Servia, Sebastien Bourdais, Townsend Bell and Simona De Silvestro.
Summit Racing–Kansas Nationals
Event: 25th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals
Location: Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, Kansas
Day/Date: Saturday, May 18, 2013
Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line made four runs down the racetrack in his Chevrolet Camaro at Heartland Park Topeka and is eagerly preparing to make the most of Sunday, when he will start from the No. 7 position and square off with Matt Hartford in the first round of eliminations at the 25th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals.
Line made two smooth and steady passes in his Summit Racing Chevy on opening day in Topeka, clearing the finish line with a 6.684 at 207.40 mph followed by an improved 6.657, 208.20. Although the second set of runs at the Kansas facility weren’t quite as productive, Line continued to exhibit top-half efforts and clocked a 6.696, 206.86 in the third qualifier followed by a 6.720, 206.10 in the hot and sticky midday conditions.
The runs were respectable, however, the Houston winner was in no way satisfied.
“So far we haven’t made the quick passes that we’ve been hoping to make here, and we’re not very happy about that,” said Line. “It’s great to qualify in the top half with our Summit Racing Chevy Camaros, but really, my teammate Greg Anderson is sixth and I’m seventh – and that’s just not where we want to be. We want to be one and two, right there at the top.
“The good news is that tomorrow we’ll have a chance to get it right on raceday with our Team Summit Camaros. We aren’t where we want to be, but tomorrow is a new day.”
Line will meet Hartford in the first round of eliminations for the second time this season. The last time the two sparred in the opening act was just a few weeks ago in Houston, when Line bested his opponent en route to the final round and, ultimately, the win.
“We always hope for the best, but really, we know what the Summit Racing team is capable of,” said Line. “We just need to make sure we live up to our own expectations tomorrow.”Mopar Racing–Johnson and Gray Top Mopar Qualifiers at Kansas Nationals
· Mopar qualifies third in Pro Stock and fourth in Funny Car at the 25th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals
· Johnson is top Mopar Pro Stock entry with a third place qualifying position
· Gray qualifies fourth as top Mopar entry in Funny Car class
· Johnson and Coughlin had exact same e.t. and incremental times on their second qualifying runs with just .16 mph difference
· Coughlin aiming for his 500th round win at Topeka
Chevy Racing–All Star Race
SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
MAY 18, 2013
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/WILD TURKEY FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS was the winner of the 40-lap Sprint Showdown; and earned a transfer spot to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Additionally, DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS won the 2013 Sprint Fan Vote, giving her a starting spot in the Sprint All-Star race.
Of 22 total entries, Team Chevy has 10 Chevrolet SS race cars in the field.
PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTS:
JAMIE McMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/NATIONAL WILD TURKEY FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – SPRINT SHOWDOWN WINNER
KERRY THARP: Our winner of the Sprint Showdown and now he’ll transfer into the 2013 NASCAR Sprint All‑Star Race is Jamie McMurray. Congratulations had a strong car. You drove the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops National Wild Turkey Foundation Chevrolet, and talk about your run out here tonight. Congratulations on the win.
JAMIE McMURRAY: Yeah, I mean, obviously being out front is massive. When I got by Martin at the start of the race, I was only running ‑‑ I was trying to take it easy because I didn’t know with the track being green how quickly the tires would fall off, and even running at like 80 percent it was amazing what a difference just being in clean air was. I had a really good car in practice yesterday. I thought honestly the 56 and I had the two best cars looking at times yesterday, and then the two‑tire stop was the right call for us, it got us up front. When the 13 chose the inside on the restart I felt really good about being able to get around him on no tires and the fact that I had the outside. That was good.
Q. Jamie, you’ve won here before. You’ve got 40 laps on the field of knowledge. Do you think you can do it?
JAMIE McMURRAY: Well, starting in the back is going to be completely different. I haven’t run one lap behind a car yet. In practice yesterday I pulled out on new tires behind a car that was a fair bit off the pace and it took me four or five laps to pass him and then as soon as you’d pass, you’d be half a second, three quarters of a second faster. It’s going to be really hard to pass cars. I think there will be a lot of strategy in the pits.
So I don’t know. I will tell you that I’ve raced my way in before, but I have a much better car tonight than what I’ve ever had here. I feel really good about it. I think if we have track position certainly we could be a contender tonight. Our car is really quick.
Q. Jamie, are you saying that we may be looking at a race where the guy who gets out front is just going to say goodbye to the rest of the field?
JAMIE McMURRAY: Well, it’s only 20 laps and these cars have so much grip that it’s going to be hard to pass the guy up front, absolutely. It’s that way every week. It’s just that here only being 20 laps you don’t have to conserve anything. You can drive it as hard as you want, and it’s very aero sensitive. The thing that I noticed in practice is normally the top groove in 3 and 4 will come in and if you get tight on the bottom you can make a lot of ground up on the top. I always run up there and I couldn’t make it work yesterday.
I’d be curious to see if we can make that work with a lot more cars on the track and how it’s going to come in. It’s no different than any other week. I’m just telling you that my car up front was quite a bit better.
Q. What does it mean to get in, even if you’re not able to win the money and everything, just to get in, the attention. What does that mean?
JAMIE McMURRAY: Well, if you’re a full‑time Sprint Cup guy and you don’t win a race and you’re not in that race, last night for me, it’s really hard. You want to feel like you’re a part of that A team and that you’re a part of these guys, and it’s even harder when you’ve been a part of it before, when you’ve won races and you get to do all the pit crew stuff, you get to come in on pit road at 10,000 miles an hour last night, I wanted to get to be a part of all of that. When you go home early tonight, the guys that are leaving right now, it’s hard. They’ll all tell you that. It’s really hard to get in your car and drive out of here and listen to this race on the radio or get home, take a shower and then watch it on TV. Yeah, I feel it’s an honor to get to do this tonight.
Q. Jamie, you mentioned a vibration on the radio. Is that anything to worry about?
JAMIE McMURRAY: Yeah, I’m a little worried about it. I didn’t know what it was. We’ve had some issues with tires spinning on the rims and getting out of balance, and it doesn’t feel like that. We all bring engines here that are on kill. Our engine tonight is running much hotter than normal, got more tape on the grille, just experimenting, so I get nervous about that just because I worry about everything in general so when something small happens I tend to worry more. I wasn’t going to say anything on the radio but I said something ‑‑ I didn’t know if they let them plug the tap lap in to check whatever changes we can make. There’s nothing we can do about it, but I really don’t know what it is.
KERRY THARP: Thank you, guys. Good luck in the all‑star race.
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – SPRINT FAN VOTE WINNER
Also transferring into the 2013 NASCAR Sprint All‑Star Race is Danica Patrick as she wins the 2013 Sprint Fan Vote. She drives the No. 10 Go Daddy Chevrolet for Stewart‑Haas Racing. You had a nice run out there tonight. Talk about getting to race under the lights for $1 million, possibly $2 million in the Sprint All‑Star Race.
DANICA PATRICK: Well, obviously first and very foremost, thank you to all the fans who voted for me or maybe voted so many times for me. I’m very fortunate to have the fan base that I do, and I never forget that. Thanks to the Sprint Fan Vote.
Obviously being able to vote on your app and have that vote twice, that’s probably helpful. It’s a big honor. This is for the fans. God, I’m going to sound really cheesy right now. I’m going to race for the fans tonight because I really, really ‑‑ I got done with that race and honestly I feel really fired up. I wanted to make passes and make my way up and do what I could to get into those first two positions and didn’t do that, and I feel like I owe it to them to put on a good show or a better show in the All‑Star Race.
My good team here made something ‑‑ I didn’t know they made it, so I don’t want this to sound like I’m coming up with this all on my own, but they knew how good my fans were and I knew how hard they worked, so we made a thanks, fans, sign to put on the car just in case I won, so thank you, Team Danica and Stewart‑Haas. So that’ll be on the car. Anyway, glad to be in the race.
Q. I don’t know if you thought you had the fan vote in your pocket or anything, but I’m wondering ‑‑
DANICA PATRICK: Shoot, this looks like it was in my pocket, doesn’t it? (Laughter)
Q. It’s because you kind of thought that you would get in that way that you were able to conserve or keep the car clean or anything?
DANICA PATRICK: I mean, I think that it enters your mind that you don’t do things that are going to put you in a position to crash, but I didn’t think about that at the beginning of those 20‑lap runs, but when it gets to end of them, like at the end there where I was running where I was running, I clearly wasn’t going to be first or second, so if I was in a fortunate enough position to be where I am now and be the fan vote, I can’t move on with a cr
ashed car and there’s nothing to be gained by trying something desperate in the last five laps. I suppose at that point in time you say finish the race and there’s nothing to be gained to do something that’s not calculated at all.
Q. Why do you think your fan base is so rabid and supportive of you?
DANICA PATRICK: I feel like that would be a good piece. I don’t know. I feel like some fans need to be interviewed and find out what it is. I’ve said many times that I’m not sure exactly what it is that people like or see or cheer for in me. I would imagine I’m a driver and I race cars, and to some degree obviously being different being a girl there’s things there, but what is it? There are lots of unique different drivers out there.
I don’t know. All I have said and that I know is that I do my best to be myself all the time, to let the fans see different sides of my personality, to be honest with the fans, and at the end of the day, even if they don’t necessarily agree with everything I say or do, at least they can respect my honesty. I’ve just been really lucky and I’ve been very fortunate to have you guys on my side many, many times, and that makes a difference.
KERRY THARP: Danica, congratulations. Look forward to watching your race.
DANICA PATRICK: Thank you. I’m fired up. Let’s do this.John Force Racing–Kansas Results
Chevy Racing–Indy Qualifying– Fast Nine
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET: POLE WINNER:
ABOUT LETTING THE POLE SINK IN: “A little bit, but you know, I love the race a whole lot more than qualifying. And I really want to send a message and make sure I lead by example and to the team so we don’t forget why we are really here. This is fun and it’s huge for our team, I don’t want them thinking that it’s not but the pole won’t mean much if we don’t go out and perform on race day. You know, I love it here, I love racing here, I love going fast here, it’s cool to seee the speeds climbing again but this track the race means a lot to the other 32 guys that are going to start the race too so I don’t think it’s just special to me. I’ve been in positions to qualifying in the top 10 but this is my first year where we had a chance at pole and I thought, and really believed that we had a chance at pole so we were agressive all day long, and a little too aggressive in the first round . I told the guys before the first segment today and before the shootout that I would be much more mad if we went conservative and didn’t take a shot at it then if we took a big shot at it and missed so they made the right calls, I’m really proud of them.”
ABOUT FIRST MEMORY OF QUALIFYING “I remember watching Rick Meers qualify here in ’91 in the Turn 2 Suites and that’s my first memory of qualifications here.”
WALK US THROUGH THE FOUR BIGGEST LAPS YOU ARE GOING TO RUN HERE AT INDIANAPOLIS:
“I felt like my first run earlier I took too fast of a warm up lap. I really took it easy on that warm up and still went a 226 (m.p.h.). I thought we were going to have a shot at a 229 (m.p.h.) to do two laps over 229 (m.p.h.) the fastest I have ever been around here in qualifying. It’s a lot of fun. I was really happy with the first two and third. The fourth lap I was getting really loose and keep my foot in it, but still scrubbed a lot of speed. Hopefully, it’s going to be enough to hang on.”
WAS IT SMOOTH OR A WHITE KNUCKLE RUN?
“The first three were really good the last one I put on a show out of turn two. I know some of these cars have less downforce than us. I felt like we were right on the limit. Hopefully, these Penske guys that are more trimmed out will fall off more.”
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN WHAT YOU HAVE DONE HERE TODAY?
“A lot of great people on our team. We have a great sponsor in Fuzzy’s Vodka that gives us the tools to do what we need to do. Poles are won by the team. They put a lot of work into this car. We’ve got a great leadership team and a great group of people.”
CAROLOS MUNOZ, NO. 26 UNISTRAW ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND :
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“Yeah, to be honest there are no words to describe how you feel to be in the front row. We knew from the beginning we had a really good car, a really fast car alone and in the race behind so many guys, you know? I’m really happy. To be just 21, just a little kid and sit in the front row as [Juan Pablo] Montoya did, he was second when he ran the Indy 500. So right now I have to focus on the race and I have to finish this month off just the way I started.”
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD:
TELL US ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING: “Yeah, definitely pleased. Extremely proud of my team. Five out of the top nine is just an incredible achievement. That has to be some kind of a record. I don’t think there’s been five cars on one team let alone in the top nine. Chevrolet, what a statement. I’m definitely proud of them. But as for the RC car, after my first run this afternoon, I wouldn’t say my pole hopes were totally dashed but they diminished a little bit, and I knew if we just went the conservative route that we’d be on the first two rows anyway.”
E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT/HVM CHEVROLET, QUALIED 4TH:
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“Starting my sixth Indy 500 in the second row is a great accomplishment. I’m very proud to be in the team I’m racing with this year – with a group of incredible professionals that I’m surrounded by. I believe my crew did a great job; we’ve been working very hard here every single day we’ve been at the track. It’s not only a job that has been done this week – it took all the winter for the team to figure out many of things that we were able to put on the car. To put five cars in the top nine, it means a lot. I’m starting next to my teammates, and at this point I’m just looking forward to having a great race.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH:
NOT A POLE RUN, BUT A FANTASTIC DAY FOR YOU AND THIS TEAM:
“Yeah, it definitely was. Everybody on the Team Penske IZOD Chevy worked really hard this week. Getting in the Fast Nine it’s one of those things that was our goal, then you get into it and you try to raise your expectation you maybe had of having something really cool happen. The car was better, we made it better it was kind of a downforce level I hadn’t run yet. Didn’t know what to expect it was a decent balance too much understeer and just kept scrubbing too much speed each lap. Kind of wore the front tires out so overall not bad. We will see where we end up and we will have a good starting spot for the big race.”
WHAT IS ONE THING YOU TAKE AWAY FROM THIS EXPERIENCE TODAY?
“Just living it. Indy pole day, enjoying it, seeing what it’s all about, the excitement level of the crowed and everything. It’s really cool.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 6TH:
ON HIS QUALIFYING: “I was going to go with more downforce level than I did this morning.
But yeah, it was good. We took everything off and went for it, definitely starting the last lap I really did not want to do it, it was so bloody ‑‑ yeah. Even the last two corners, you’re like, man, I don’t know whether this thing is going to stick. But good fun, and it’s good to be starting on the second row, and we’ll see what we can do.”
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 7TH: ON HIS QUALIFYING: “I had a big moment. I got really loose in three. I had to catch it and there was a lift accompanied with it, which killed the lap. We were kind of rolling the dice. I was telling these guys, the sweat On an oval especially, the sweat on a race suit, there’s a direct correlation…the looser you are, the more you sweat.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 SHELL V-POWER/PENNZOIL ULTRA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 8TH: YOU HAD A FIRST GOOD LAP THEN YOU HAD A HANDFUL AFTER THAT TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN:
“Yeah, it’s Indianapolis ask my boys ‘you guys want to take a chance or you guys want to be conservative?’ To least we might have a shot as well. Democracy back there said ‘no, let’s take a chance.’ Unfortunately, I was sliding too much losing a lot of speed unfortunately I was sideways, but not on the straightaways. But we took a chance. At least we are going to sleep that we tried. Again, we have a good car at least hopefully Will (Power) now will be able to, Ed (Carpenter) did a great job. But hopefully Will will be able to do it.”
YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO WIN FOUR A LITTLE OVER A WEEK AWAY:
“Absolutely, today is just for stretching to try, but it didn’t do it. For sure the race we know what we need to do.”
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 9TH:
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“That was a kick in the pants we were pulling a gear coming to the line to take the green there and we got kicked into the hard limiter. It just killed the lap. We tried to take a bit of a swing at it.&nb
sp; We were ninth anyway coming in so we didn’t lose anything. We had nothing to lose so we kind of swung at it a little bit. Ultimately the speed wasn’t there, but for as hard as I worked and as loose as that car was man it sucks to have one lap like that on the board.”
NINTH ISN’T ALL THAT BAD:
“Well exactly right if ninth is a bad day for us that means certainly this team is doing something right. To have all five Andretti Autosport cars in the top nine it’s incredible when you look at how competitive this field is right now. Huge credit to the guys, Chevy, Firestone, GoDaddy, everybody, it’s not a bad place to start for next Sunday.” Summit Racing–Anderson Ready to Battle from the No. 6 Position in Topeka
Event: 25th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals
Location: Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, Kansas
Day/Date: Saturday, May 18, 2013
Day two of the NHRA Kansas Nationals concluded with Summit Racing driver Greg Anderson qualifying sixth and preparing for a first-round match with Larry Morgan. Anderson, who has qualified in the top half of the field at all but one of the events during the 2013 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season, had the opportunity to make four passes down the racetrack for the first time since the Las Vegas race earlier this spring.
Unforgiving weather has plagued qualifying, and sometimes raceday, at the most recent three events leading up to this weekend’s NHRA Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka, and qualifying has regularly been shortened to just two or three sessions as opposed to the usual four.
“It was good to be able to get all four runs in finally,” said Anderson. “There isn’t much you can do about the weather, and it just seems like we’ve fought that a lot lately. You have to take whatever Mother Nature deals you, and you do the best you can. We were thankful that we were able to make four passes so far this weekend, and we’d like to make four more tomorrow, that’s for sure.”
On the first day of qualifying, Anderson’s Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro made smooth runs on a hot racing surface that was surprisingly responsive. Equally as surprising was the fact that the runs were not as quick as Team Summit believed they had the potential to be. Anderson clocked a 6.662 at 207.88 mph in the first session and crossed the finish line with a 6.655 at 207.85 mph in the early evening session.
The team regrouped and came to the table with high hopes on Saturday morning for the first of two remaining sessions, but a 6.717 at 204.82 mph wasn’t what they were looking for.
“We went in the wrong direction there,” said Anderson. “We lost two miles an hour that we shouldn’t have, and that was an eye-opener. So for the next round, we spun around, did a 180, and picked that 2 1/2 mph back up tonight [with a 6.705 at 206.80 mph]. That was the right direction, and now we definitely know the direction we need to go in for tomorrow. We’ll pray for more good weather and to have sharp minds so that we can make good decisions, and we’ll see what we can do with our Summit Racing Camaros.”