CHEVY NTT INDYCAR SERIES GMR INDY GP: TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
CHEVY RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
GMR GRAND PRIX
ROAD COURSE AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JULY 3, 2020
TOP CHEVROLET UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1stWILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
5th OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET
6th JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
8TH CONOR DALY, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET
10TH MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET
FIRESTONE FAST SIX UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Will Power (Chevrolet)
2nd Jack Harvey (Honda)
3rd Colton Herta (Honda)
4th Graham Rahal (Honda)
5th Oliver Askew (Chevrolet)
6th Josef Newgarden (Chevrolet)
For the 58th time in his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, Will Power has captured the NTT P1 Pole Award behind the wheel of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. It is the fourth time the 2014 Series’ champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner will lead the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis field to the green flag.
Power’s number one starting spot is the sixth for Chevrolet on the Road Course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Power has three GMR Grand Prix wins to his credit after starting on the pole for each of the victories. He is tied with Team Penske and last year’s GP winner Simon Pagenaud who also has three wins of GMR GP.
Additional Team Chevy drivers joining Power in the Firestone Fast Six were Oliver Askew and Josef Newgarden. Askew will start his No 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet in the fifth spot alongside the two-time and defending champion Newgarden in the No. 1 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet.
Jack Harvey, Colton Herta and Graham Rahal completed the field of the first Firestone Fast Six of the 2020 season.
NBC will broadcast The NTT IndyCar Series GMR Indy GP live at 12:00 noon ET on Saturday, July 4th. Coverage can also be found on the INDYCAR Radio Network, network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – POLE WINNERFOR THE 12TH CONSECUTIVE SEASON, YOU HAVE SCORED AT LEAST ONE POLE. YOU STEP A LITTLE CLOSER TO HISTORY. YOU’RE JUST NINE AWAY FROM MARIO ANDRETTI FOR ALL-TIME LEADER IN POLES IN THE INDYCAR SERIES. WHEN YOU FINISHED THAT LAP, YOU LET OUT A BIG SIGH, LIKE I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE. DID YOU LEAVE ANYTHING ON THE TABLE IN THAT LAP?“No, nothing on the table in that lap. I knew that (Jack) Harvey had a pretty good time up there, so we put our best set on for the last run and I just gave it my all. Fortunately, it was enough. But man, the heat. I just want to jump into an ice bath right now, I’m so bloody hot!”
AFTER THE LAP YOU SAID ALL WE NEED TO DO IS CONCENTRATE ON THE THINGS WE’RE GOOD AT. WHAT’S THAT?“That’s the lesson from Texas. We don’t need to be trying to get out first. If you’re thinking of that, you’re going to make a mistake, or I don’t need to be thinking about winning. You just need to be thinking about what you’re really good at, which is for me, driving; and for the crew the stops that they’ve done thousands of. We’ve all had a chat and we all understand that. That’s how we’re going to win a championship.”
YOU ARE UNDEFEATED WHEN YOU START ON THE POLE HERE. HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT GOING INTO TURN 1 TOMORROW AFTERNOON?“Yeah, it’s a long stretch. You’ve got to get a good jump, but they’re going to be on you anyway, even if you get a good jump. So, just be smart and get through that first corner. I think being on the pole is definitely a good spot. You’re probably going to be out of a bit of harm’s way, but there are obviously a lot of hungry guys behind you trying to gain some positions.”
OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 5THYOU JUST NOTCHED-UP YOUR BEST-EVER INDYCAR QUALIFYING PERFORMANCE. WHAT A GREAT EFFORT TO MAKE THE FIRESTONE FAST SIX. THAT LAP GETTING TO THE FAST SIX, THAT LAP IN Q-2 WAS AWESOME“Yeah, my No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet was unreal today. We made some really good changes after practice and it was just flawless. I felt at-one with the car and those are some really good feelings. The goal was to lead Q-1. After that, it was all gravy. Went we went first in Q-2, I was like, okay, we’ve got a shot at the pole here. And I wish we were able to put a new set of reds on for Q-3 because that was my first time experiencing used reds. So, I think we have a little bit to learn there, but all-in-all, it was a great day for the guys.”
WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND?“Honestly, I felt pretty calm. Like I said, the goal was to just get through Q-1 and after that, I was just enjoying myself out there. This is a track that I have a lot of experience at and a lot of really good memories, too; so I’m just really happy to be here.”
CAN YOU CREATE ANOTHER ONE TOMORROW?“We’ll see. We’re going to try and repeat what we did in Texas a couple of weeks ago. A top 10 would be fantastic, but we’re not holding back.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 6TH“We couldn’t really get going there on that lap. You know I came out of the pits and had a huge lockup to start the lap on the first corner. I’m not sure. It snuck up on me and hasn’t done that all day. You know I’m sure I have an influence on why that happened, but not 100-percent positive why we got such an aggressive lock up. We had one lap on the tires ready to go just like Will. I thought we were getting better all session but were a little bit behind him all day. We definitely need to work on our pace, and I felt like we were getting there. You come to this track and you don’t see the separation of people on-track. Everyone is just kind of the same speed. There’s definitely people that shine. Obviously Will [Power] and Simon [Pagenaud] have been very good here but it doesn’t separate people out, so you’re all clumped together. Team Chevy has worked with us all session and we were pulling forward they were giving us a little more each time. I think we can still have a good show with XPEL tomorrow and go for a win.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 8TH“We felt like we had a lot of grip on the red tires. For some reason, there’s a big difference in tires for us. On the blacks, the car just doesn’t quite come in the way I like it. As soon as we put on reds, I can really get on it, even on Lap 1. We have to try and bring those balances a little closer together for tomorrow, but I’m super pumped. We’ve got the U.S. Air Force Chevrolet, all of us here together for the first time at Ed Carpenter Racing, this is a great start. We’re right in the fight starting 8th. That’s all we want a chance to be up there and get good points at the end of the day.”
MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 10TH“All-in-all I’d say it was a pretty decent day for us. We were up front quite a bit in practice this morning and then we dropped down and ended up 18th toward the end of the session, but I knew we were quicker than that for qualifying. Surprisingly I came in from my final run in the first round of qualifying and was having a hard time finding myself on the time sheets and then realized I was up in P2 and moving onto the second round with the rest of the top 12. We went out in the second round and the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet was really good, but I didn’t really drive to the grip levels because I was worried about the temperature. I went out and did what I’d done before but tidied it up on the first lap on reds. Then on the second lap I went out thinking there was no way I was going to go any quicker so let’s just over drive it and see what we can do and ended up actually going quicker. Unfortunately, I think it just proved that I didn’t get the most out of the first lap, but that does prove that Gallagher Chevrolet is quicker than where we are so hopefully we’ll have a good day tomorrow and move quickly through the field to the front.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Qualified 13th“We were just outside of getting into the Fast 12 and competing for a spot in the Firestone Fast Six. The No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet is super fast and I think we showed that at times throughout the day. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race and making my way to the front. Congrats to my teammate, Oliver, for qualifying fifth and make sure to watch us both tomorrow on NBC at 12:00 p.m. ET.”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 18TH“It was a tough first qualifying in IndyCar. We had a pretty good first run on blacks, then went to reds. I anticipated having two flying laps, but at the end of my first one I caught the checkered. It’s a bummer, I think there was more time the car if we’d had a second lap. We’re starting 18th, which isn’t where we wanted to be but we’ll make the best of it.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 20THAFTER PRACTICE, YOU SEEMED QUITE CONFIDENT. WHAT HAPPENED IN QUALIFYING?“On the red tires, just having a lot of push, so I couldn’t complete the corners which then translates into lap time. It’s so tight here, you’ve got to be able to roll the speed in those corners and, unfortunately we missed out. We missed it. We missed the balance. Unfortunately, this morning we felt pretty good. And then I think the adjustment we made went in the wrong direction.”
BUT YOU KNOW HOW TO GET FROM THE BACK TO THE FRONT. YOU STARTED 8TH LAST YEAR AND ENDED-UP WINNING THE RACE. YOU’VE DONE IT FROM FURTHER BACK THAN THAT, BEFORE. “Well, you can play with downforce levels so you can really decide to run less downforce and you’re a lot quicker on the straightaway. The downforce, when you lay that rear wing down, there’s a lot of gain in speed. I think we might have to do that tomorrow. We’ll see. The degradation rate was low, so that might help us to make that decision.”
SAGE KARAM. NO. 24 WIX FILTERS DRYER & REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 23RD“It was a big IndyCar first for the DRR crew and I on the IMS road course. So we’ll take P23 in qualifying in our initial day on the track. We are chipping away at it and getting stronger each run. We had a small car issue in practice when we stalled on the track. But we got it back quickly and I was able to finish the practice session. We are going to have to work some magic in the race tomorrow (Saturday) but I’m feeling good! Thank you to all the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing WIX Filters boys for the continued hard work!”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 24TH“Honestly, pretty disappointed. It was not the result that anyone at AJ Foyt Racing wants, not anything that the No. 4 car wanted, but I still have a huge amount of faith in the team, the guys, the engineers tonight. Headed into the engineering office, we’re gonna work on it, look through all the data, talk about previous experiences here plus what tomorrow’s going to bring strategy-wise, weather-wise. It’s supposed to be another hot one tomorrow, so that changes a little bit with what we do, but I have every bit of confidence that come warmup tomorrow morning the No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet will be faster. And then in the race we’ll roll some strategy dice and hopefully end up inside the top 10.”
DALTON KELLETT, NO 14 K-LINE USA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 26TH“First INDYCAR qualifying is in the books. What better place to do it than at Indianapolis? This is the track that means a lot to me and means a lot to the team – all their history here – so I can’t think of somewhere better to have that great first experience. It’s definitely been a learning day without having a lot of testing in the offseason given the big break and all that. Just trying to go hard right off the bat on the Firestone reds — it’s pretty tough — and definitely something that I’m going to have to learn and get better at as the season progresses. But I think we’ll be reviewing the day, looking at the onboard between the 14 and the 4 cars and seeing what we can learn from that and make improvements for tomorrow’s race.”