Helio Castroneves Puts Chevy on Pole at Long Beach
CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH
STREETS LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
POST QUALIFYING RECAP
APRIL 8, 2017
Helio Castroneves Puts Chevrolet on Pole with Track Record at Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Calif – (April 8, 2017) – Something about the Streets of Long Beach fits Helio Castroneves to a “T”. For the third consecutive year and the fourth time in his career, the driver of the No. 3 Auto Club of Southern California Team Penske Chevrolet will start on pole for the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
With a track record time of one minute, 06.2254 seconds at 106.980 mph, the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner topped the Firestone Fast Six qualifying to capture the 48th Verizon P1 Award of his IndyCar Series career.
“The AAA Chevy is pretty good and my crew is working really hard and so is Chevy,” said Castroneves. “With the changes from the crew, my car just came alive from this morning’s practice. We know our competitors came on strong, but we were able to get a good lap. Now we will concentrate on tomorrow.”
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, qualified eighth followed by teammate Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet in the ninth starting position.
The remaining Team Chevy drivers qualified as follows:
Carlos Munoz, No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet – 14th
JF Hildebrand, No. 21 Preferred Freezer Service Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet – 15th
Conor Daly, No. 4 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet – 17th
Spencer Pigot, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet – 19th
Simon Pagenaud, No. 1 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet – 21st
NBCSN will telecast the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach live, starting at 1 p.m. PT. The race also will be broadcast on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com, the INDYCAR Mobile app, Sirius 212, and XM209.