CHEVY INDY CAR AT WATKINS GLEN: Team Chevy Qualifying Recap with Quotes and Press Conf Transcript

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDYCAR GRAND PRIX AT THE GLEN
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST QUALIFYING QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 2, 2017

Josef Newgarden Leads Team Chevy Qualifying Effort at The Glen

WATKINS GLEN, NY – (September 2, 2017) – Verizon IndyCar Series points leader Josef Newgarden led the Team Chevy effort in qualifying for the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Glen securing the third starting position in tomorrow’s race.

In a highly competitive Firestone Fast Six final round of knock-out qualifying, the driver of the No. 2 DeVillBiss Team Penske Chevrolet turned in a lap of one minute, 22.5169 seconds, just under the old track record, but had to settle for inside row two.

Teammate Helio Castroneves was sixth quickest and will start on the outside of the third row in Sunday’s 60-lap/202.20-mile race on the 3.37-mile/11-turn permanent road course.

Other Chevrolet qualifiers were:
Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet — 8th
Carlos Munoz, No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet — 11th
Simon Pageanaud, No. 1 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet — 12th
Spencer Pigot, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet — 13th
Conor Daly, No. 4 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet — 14th
JR Hildebrand, No., No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet — 21st

Alexander Rossi (Honda-Verizon P1 Pole Winner), Scott Dixon, Takuma Sato and Charlie Kimball completed Firestone Fast Six.

The 15th race of the season will start at 1:30 p.m. ET with live television coverage on NBCSN. Additional coverage will be provided by INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com, the INDYCAR Mobile app, Sirius 212, and XM209.
DRIVER QUOTES:
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 DEVILLBISS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD: “I’m not sure that any of us on the DeVilbiss Chevy team thought we’d be in that fight for the pole, but we certainly were. I think we had the pole car. Unfortunately, I messed it up in Turn 9. I feel awful about that and I’ll beat myself up over it for a bit. I think we’re in a good spot for the race tomorrow, though. If we get the weather everyone is calling for, then I’m not sure that anyone knows the best place to be. You would think it’s at the front, so I hope that’s right.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 6TH: “Overall, we’re proud of qualifying in the top six in the Hitachi Chevy. We thought we were looking pretty good making our way through qualifying and once we got into the Firestone Fast 6 we just didn’t have it, especially on the black tires. We know we have a fast car and we are definitely still in the fight there with the other championship contenders. We just need to be smart in the race tomorrow and handle whatever comes our way so we can be there fighting for the win in the end.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 8TH: “I got a little loose out there in some spots and I think it affected my confidence in some others on if it would stick or not. The Verizon Chevrolet really wasn’t as comfortable for me today as yesterday. I don’t know if it’s the wind. I don’t feel like the track changed at all. I can’t really pinpoint it right now. I do know that we’ll all go to work and take a look at everything to get us in a good place for the race tomorrow. The weather looks to be in question and we won’t know the answers to that until we get there. We’ll plan for everything and go from there.”

CARLOS MUNOZ, NO. 14 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 11TH: “I pushed the car 100%, maybe lost one tenth because I got some bad shifting on my quickest lap and I think it cost me a position. When everything is so close, everything has to be perfect. I think it’s still a good day. We made some changes for qualifying and it helped a lot. I think tomorrow with all the rain, starting toward the front is better because of all the spray. We’ll see how it goes with the weather. When it’s raining, it’s a lottery race.”

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 1 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 12TH: “It’s a little disappointing for sure not to advance to the Firestone Fast 6. We’ve been quick here in the Menards Chevrolet all weekend and I’m not sure exactly why but we just couldn’t find that same speed in second round qualifying. Starting 12th, I think we’ll have the opportunity to move up quickly tomorrow and with weather as a factor, you never know what can happen. We’ll be working hard to get the best result we can, for sure.”

SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 13TH: “We definitely made a lot of progress in qualifying. We’ve kind of been hovering around an eighth of a second or a second off the pace so we closed the gap a lot! That was nice, but once again, we came up just a bit shy from advancing. Usually, if you’re within a tenth of Will (Power), you’re right up there at the front! A big thanks to all the guys, Fuzzy’s Vodka, and Chevrolet for letting me do this. It is another midfield starting spot, but we’ll see what we can do tomorrow!”

CONOR DALY, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 14TH: “It was very close with Carlos which is nice because we’re fighting to be in the top 12 which is good. We just missed it a little bit. I might have just not recognized that we needed the car we had this morning but we did three laps that were the same; it might have just been a tire pressure thing. Either way when you fight over a small gap like that, I probably could have done something different about it. It’s a shame but Carlos is very good at qualifying so it’s good to have him as part of our team because it really pushes me to improve my performance in qualifying. We’ve always been better in the race so we’ll see what happens.”

JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 21ST: “It’s been kind of a weird weekend. We’ve tried a lot of different things and just can’t get the speed out of the car we’re looking for. It’s frustrating because I really like Watkins Glen and the team finished on the podium here last year, so we were hoping for a bit more. We just can’t manage to get much better lap times out of it. It’s disappointing, but we’ll continue plugging away at it for the rest of the weekend. There should be some fuel saving going on tomorrow so hopefully that is something that works in our favor!”