CHEVROLET IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES

FIRESTONE 600

TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES

JUNE 6, 2015

SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 ENERGIZER CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: “A lot of credit goes to the Team Target engineering group for the option that we went with which was on the high downforce level. Another big thanks needs to go to Team Chevy for giving us so many good options to run with and the power they’ve given us as well. Once we got the balance right and we got some front wing in the car with some tire pressure changes, the car was basically on rails. That allowed us to run up there with TK and really push him along. After that pit stop exchange, we were able to take the lead and the car was just fantastic in traffic. I think that was the key to winning this race. We found out last year that not being able to run well in traffic was a huge disadvantage, so we made sure to correct that for this year. It was just one of those nights where you get towards the end and you just hope that there wasn’t going to be any yellows. I knew we had a good car, we just had to get it dialed in. I can’t thank the crew enough. This Energizer car….I told you…we had a run with this thing where we would constantly win. I am just over the moon with it, over the moon.”

TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND: “Great finish for both the teams.  I mean, one-two for Chip Ganassi Racing. It is remarkable. Everybody looked at us in the beginning of the race thinking we were crazy because we had a bunch of downforce. That was exactly the right call. Big props to the engineering group at Target Chip Ganassi and NTT Data guys. We were flying, man, It was so much fun racing with Dixie.  I’m really happy!”

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AAA INSURANCE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3^RD:   “It was interesting.  As you might have heard, there was a lot of scenarios between the high downforce, low downforce.  Well, I think I was the only one with the middle downforce.  I don’t know about the Hondas, but at least the Chevy.
So it wasn’t bad.  AAA car is actually running very good, especially in the beginning.  The only issue for me was towards the end of the runs, I was getting a little too neutral, to be honest, for my taste.
We had good battles out there, really intense, really tough.  Any day, any time, running with guys like that that respect each other, it’s fun, it’s great.  That’s what I race for.
I feel more safe being an inch beside each other than actually when I was running 12 at Indianapolis towards the end with some really, really incredible movers that people have no respect for what they’re doing.  That for me was a fun race.  I can go any time, race like that.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 4^TH:  “Not a bad day for the Verizon Chevy team. The setup we had in the car was kind of temperamental. Small adjustments had a big effect. On our second stop we went the wrong way on a front wing adjustment and it was a handful to drive after that. But a decent finish and a decent points day. I had a lot of confidence coming into this weekend; thought we could win the race. We finished fourth so it’s not terrible.”

CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 83 LEVEMIRE FLEXTOUCH CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET,  FINISHED 7^TH: “Today was a big day for Chip Ganassi Racing with the first and second place finish – a huge congrats to Scott, Tony, Team Target, and the NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Team. We’re a little disappointed to not come home with a top-five finish, especially with those guys at the end saving fuel. We definitely had the pace and the No. 83 Levemir® FlexTouch® Chevrolet was really solid all night. We just had to make some adjustments during some stops to get in the position to go fight for a higher position out there when we could. I think the one restart took a little more out of the tires than I was expecting, but we fought through it and were able to make up some positions. Overall we had a really good, well-fought race, and we can use this momentum heading into Toronto next weekend.”

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 AVAYA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11^TH:  “An up and down night for sure for the Avaya Chevrolet team. The car was really good out front with the downforce setup we had on the car. Unfortunately we had an electrical issue with our weigh jacker, which through the balance of the car off until we got a chance to reset the system under the second caution. But when we did that the engine shut down all the way into the pit stall and we lost several spots. An unfortunate situation for sure, but the guys continued to work on the car to make it better, but with our downforce setup it was just not the best in traffic. Now we go to Toronto – which is a place that I love – to try to get this team to Victory Lane.”

SAGE KARAM, NO. 8 LEXAR CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 12^TH:  “It was a good race. I’m not thrilled with a 12^th-place finish, but I’m also not disappointed. I think the main objective for this race, especially after the last few weekends, was just to complete all the laps and finish the best we could. This is a very difficult track and it was my first time ever racing here, so I didn’t know what to expect. Every stint we were pretty loose and I was holding onto the car quite a bit, but it was a very difficult, challenging race. The Chip Ganassi Racing cars were competitive all night and I’m really happy for my teammates with the one-two finish. I made a little mistake and the car got loose which put me above the apron and I ended up getting a drive-through penalty. That put me out of contention for the top-10, but I’m just going to take it as a learning experience and move forward into this weekend in Toronto.”

WILL POWER, NO. 1 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 13^TH:  “It was tough day for the Verizon Chevy Team.  We got a bit blindsided there and chose the wrong downforce level for tonight but I think our problems were deeper than that.  We just need to take a good look at what we missed.  We’ll go back and look towards better results in Toronto.”

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 TEAM HYDROXYCUT – KVSH RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 14^TH:  “The Hydroxycut team definitely made progress since last year. The car was actually pretty good. I tried to drive it a little to free and killed the rear tires a couple of times. Then under a yellow, we decided to pit and it was too early, so we didn’t beat the pace car out and got penalized. I also made a mistake. I thought it was a drive through penalty and it was a stop and go, so I had to come back in and we went down another lap. Toward the last part of the race we showed we had a good car. The last two stints were strong, but to make up two laps… We got very little out of a pretty good race and a solid race car, but it is what it is, now it is on to the next one.”

STEFANO COLETTI, NO. 4 KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19^TH: “I am really happy to finish the race. I was struggling for the first 150 laps and then I started to understand a little more about how the car reacts on ovals and how to take the line and where to apply the throttle in the corners. In the end I started to have fun in the last 50 laps and pass cars. We were going faster and faster as the race went on and I said I wasn’t confident at the start of the race but now I feel a bit more comfortable.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 67 HARTMAN OIL CFH RACING CHEVROLET,  FINISHED 21^ST:  “We’re not sure what happened yet, we just lost drive. It was a tough weekend, we struggled all weekend with the car’s handling. We did everything we could to make it better. We did a good job keeping it in the race, we just didn’t have enough for everyone. Capping it off with loosing drive was a hard way to end the weekend. We put up a good fight, we did everything we could to be competitive. It was a tough weekend where nothing really went our way. All we can do is go to Toronto and have a solid weekend.”

 ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA CFH RACING CHEVROLET,  FINISHED 22^ND: : “We were just riding around, finishing the race when something let go in the car. We were in no way, shape, or form in contention. It’s disappointing. We’ve been strong here for the past couple of years. We have good road course cars right now, we just haven’t been able to get this package sorted out for the ovals. A big part of that weight falls on my shoulders, I feel I need to do more to help these guys.”

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