CHEVROLET INDYCAR V6 FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG (FLORIDA) POST QUALIFYING QUOTES – BATCH ONE

MARCH 28,2015

WILL POWER, NO. 1 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – POLE WINNER

THAT WAS TIGHT, WASN’T IT? “It was. I thought we had an extra lap. We were trying to be the last car, so we left a little late and got the checkered flag. But full credit to the team and Verizon. I’m stoked to get pole, I really am.”

TALK ABOUT THE QUALIFYING EFFORT FOR TEAM PENSKE, A 1-2-3-4. “That just shows the work we did over the winter. It’s four good drivers who will battle it outtomorrow.”

WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO STAY OUT FRONT TOMORROW? “All the normal things. It has to be your day and it has to fall your way. We’ll talk about the race after this and see what we’ve got.”

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 PENSKE TRUCK RENTAL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED SECOND
YOUR CAR SEEMS AWFULLY FAST. “It’s very fast. I’m super happy to be honest. It’s incredible to start this way with Team Penske. We have a lot of pace. The car is fantastic. Thanks to everyone for searching and developing so much. The 22 crew is brand new and is doing a great job. It’s fantastic to be a part of the Penske family. I’m really proud. Today was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed qualifying.”

TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED SEVENTH
WHAT HAPPENED NEAR THE END OF THE SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND? “It was a blocking situation between a couple of guys. It’s tough. Everyone is out there, and you see how close this qualifying is. Nobody blocks each other on purpose. Sometimes you try to create a gap, sometimes you try to cool off your tires. It’s a great effort from us. We missed it by half-a-tenth, so it should be an exciting race for the fans tomorrow.
“Scott (Dixon) got blocked by Simon (Pagenaud), so basically it was a chain reaction. It is what it is. Sometimes it happens to you, and sometimes you do it to other people.”

DO YOU FEEL PRETTY GOOD ABOUT THINGS? “I think we are decent. We improved a lot from this morning, but I still think we have a little bit of work to do. We don’t have warmup until noon tomorrow so we have a lot of time to think about what we’re going to do. Hopefully we’ll charge to the front tomorrow and give these fans a pretty good run in the race.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 67 HARTMAN OIL CFH RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 10TH
ARE YOU PLEASED WITH THAT? “I’m relatively happy. You’re in the front end of the grid. There are 24 cars, so starting in the top-10 is strong around this place. This is generally a very difficult place on tires, so the further up you start, it’s always better. We’re going to have to look after them better tomorrow. I think we’re kind of burning off our rears a little too quick. So in the morning warmup we’ll have to maximize that and make our tires live. It’s such a long race, and you have to be able to make them live. If you don’t people keep sneaking up behind you out of the hairpin and you get dive-bombed going into Turn One. I think that’s what we’re working on to maximize fortomorrow. As far as today, we struggled in the practice earlier and I think we made a huge leap forward. Now we’re in the top-10 and we have to work our way a little bit more, try to get into the top-five and challenge the guys up front.”

SAGE KARAM, NO. 8 GE LED CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 18TH
ARE YOU SATISFIED?: “It’s pretty frustrating. That was the expectation for me – to go to the next round. It’s a good car. It’s the first time I’ve driven on red (tires). So it’s a learning experience for me. Every lap, I felt like I was getting better and better, and I was starting to brake later and later. I was starting to loose the tire a little bit. I think that’s one of the things the rookies are going to face here this weekend is that we’ve never driven red tires. We have to learn them. We’re going to go to the next race and have a better understanding for it and be able to qualify better. The GE LED car for Chip Ganassi Racing is a pretty good car now. I think we have a good race car and can race our way to the front.”

LUCA FILIPPI, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA CFH RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 19TH: The lap times were very close and I felt good in the car, especially the last few laps. I thought we were doing quite well, but actually the times were so tight I missed the first cut and did not make it to Round 2. We ran the first few laps on used tires and I didn’t have a good read on the condition. Tomorrow is a long race, we’ll think about the strategy and try to get the best out of it. I think we will be strong for the longer run

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