CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES AT GATEWAY: POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES

BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY, MADISON, ILL
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES
AUGUST 24, 2019
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET (finished 2nd):
CONSIDERING WHERE YOU GUYS STARTED THIS WEEKEND, HOW SATISFYING IS IT TO BE HERE ON THE PODIUM?
“Yesterday was brutal. It was one of the hardest days I’ve had in a car. It was just confusing. Both teams, the No. 20 and the No. 21 (Simon Pigot), neither of us were very good yesterday. We just kept our heads down. We really didn’t have to change much to get in the window. And we were pretty good on the long runs tonight and that’s really what’s good for us. We just needed a little more time to get to Takuma Sato (race winner).”
ONE MORE LAP AND WHAT COULD YOU HAVE DONE?
“Even if the Finish Line was a little further down the straightaway, I think we would have been good. It’s a good way for me to finish my driving season and get this Sonax Chevrolet back up front. I just want to thank everyone involved with that.”
TONY KANAAN, NO. 14 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET (finished 3rd): “It was a great job for us. We are having a tough year and I’ve heard it all by now. And, I think we prove it. Obviously we played a strategy and the strategy didn’t play out, but once we were in the front, I tried to hang in there. I was trying to go for that win. We had a couple of good restarts. I’m really happy. I’m happy for the team. And I’m happy to shut up some of the people that are criticizing us. It is what it is. I think when I go through tough times, I perform better. So, it that’s what’s going to happen, bring it on. Keep it coming.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET (finished 5th): “Wow, what a night. That is a race that I am going to be excited to re-watch. Honestly, I really don’t know much about what happened because as a driver you are kind of like a horse. You just have to keep going. We had a really good car and after five laps the car was really, really strong. It had a lot of pace and we could really keep it up through the stint. Really, really struggled on restarts. Just no grip. Some of it is me and some of it, I don’t know what it is. Certainly some work we need to do. Wow, it was an eventful race. Lots of passing and lots of elbows out, out there and with the strategies, it seemed like it was fun. The fans had a great show tonight.
I saw Josef spun on the last corner and I couldn’t believe it. Obviously I don’t want this for my teammate, the last thing I would want for the team. But personally, we had a good race and that is all that matters. Those are the days that are championship days, and are the days that you have to be strong.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET (finished 6th): “I’m super happy with our result tonight. The No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet was so strong and consistent the entire night. We just kept finetuning it and making it even better every time we came into pit lane. Anytime we got in clean air we made progress and we were able to run people down. I really thought we were going to be on the podium tonight and that’s really hard to take. The strategy game of INDYCAR is just crazy and we just got a little bit unlucky, but to be unlucky and finish sixth is pretty awesome. I’m thankful to close out this oval run with Carlin on such a high note and thankful to Gallagher for giving me a chance to show what I could do for their program with Carlin.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET (finished 7th):
YOU FINISHED UP FRONT AS FAR AS THE CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS ARE CONCERNED BUT UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, YOU LOST A FEW SPOTS AND YOU WERE NOT HAPPY WITH SANTINO FERRUCCI. YOU TWO HAVE ALREADY TALKED. WHAT HAPPENED AND WHAT WAS SAID?
“Look, it’s important to know that he’s a rookie. What he did was, in my opinion, dangerous. He came over to talk to me and said he was loose and that’s why he was down there. But I’ve been in the exact same position tonight. I know what it’s like to get up in the marbles. He got there a couple of times. He came directly back down to the racing line to try and block me, which there was no reason to. I gave him the position twice because I was suffering with vibrations all night and my car was getting difficult to drive at the end of that stint. So, I let him go two times during the night. But, he’s got to learn that this is big time auto racing. If you do a move like that on an oval, particularly on a high-speed oval, you will cause a very serious wreck. And, he’s just got to know that. I really drilled it to him that you cannot come directly to the racing line. That was his instinct, was to come right back to the racing line. He’s a racer. You’re going to have instincts like that, but you cannot do that in oval racing. It’s absolutely not okay. It’s a lesson. I hope he learns that and I hope he gets that in his head.
“But, for us tonight, our guys did a great job. Our PPG car was fast. We were better in clean air, which was unfortunate because we got stuck in in dirty air more often than not. I think if we were a little bit better in traffic we could have made something happen. But, they did a great job. Great stops. Good calls from everybody. I’m really proud of the team. Now we’ve just got to try and have a couple of better rounds here to finish the season off.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 23 RIPKURRENT CARLIN CHEVROLET (finished 15): “Firstly a huge congratulations to the entire Carlin team and the 59 team especially – Conor drove an awesome race. Every time I saw him during the race he was going by guys on starts and restarts. I can’t give the 23 crew enough credit for the work they did on the No. 23 ripKurrent Carlin Chevrolet last night to get it ready to race tonight. We fought really hard all night and we were able to finally get our lead lap back. We had a little bit of a miscommunication in pit lane that put us a lap down mid-pack, but overall a really fighting night for the ripKurrent car for Carlin.”
MATHEUS LEIST, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET (finished 17th): “Tough race for us, we got all the yellows at the wrong time. Nothing worked out today for us but the good thing is that Tony did an awesome job. He’s probably one of the best oval drivers ever and I’m very proud of him today finishing third. That’s a huge accomplishment for the team after such a difficult year. That was the good side of our race and we’ll celebrate it and then focus on next week at Portland.”
SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 21 AUTOGEEK ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET (finished 21st): “Obviously, a tough end to the day. I had a really good run on Charlie. He blocked pretty aggressively going into (Turn) 3 and I thought I was far enough alongside to at least warrant a little bit of room, a little bit of respect. But, I guess not, He just kind of turned in and I think he was even a lap down, as well. It was late, but he saw me coming. So, I guess it was kind of a racing deal, but definitely thought I deserved a bit more space.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET (finished 22nd): “Yeah, the car was great. The car was really good. I came out on cold tires and just got a little bit out of the groove. And man, it’s like ice. There are so many marbles because they brought the new tire that really sheds the rubber. And, that was going to happen in the race, no matter what. But, I guess it’s my bad for getting up there. You just can’t put an inch on that stuff. Man, you just go straight. It’s just ridiculous. It sucks for the guys. We had such a good car. They had to hang out all day. We had a good chance.”