TEAM CHEVY CARB DAY FINAL PRACTICE RECAP

CHEVROLET RACING NTT INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEEDWAY
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

AUGUST 21, 2020

AND, NOW WE RACE

INDIANAPOLIS – Practice, then qualifying and the final practice are over, and…now we race. The field is set for unday’s running the 1104th running of the Indianapolis 500 with the field evenly split between manufacturers,

The 17 Chevy powered entries have emerged reasonably unscathed over the several days of on-track action that started on Wednesday., August 12. Although qualifying did not quite meet expectations, today’s final practice allowed the teams and drivers to make final adjustments to their cars for the 200-lap/500-mile race on the famed 2.5-mile iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Leading the field for final practice was Pato O’Ward piloting the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet with a speed of 225.355 mph.

The 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 will broadcast live on Sunday, August 23 starting at 1:00 p.m. with green flag at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Indycar radio network will also provide live coverage.

DRIVER QUOTES:

NO. 1 JOSEF NEWGARDEN, SHELL V-POWER TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
“I think it is pretty good to be honest with you. You don’t want to be over confident but I feel cautiously optimistic. It’s been fast in traffic and felt really fast today. I think Team Chevy has a really good package for us for the race. So feeling very confident wiith what they are bringing. Carb day is one of those days if you need it, you use it all. If you don’t, you take it easy and not use the car up. I’m optimistic. I think we have a shot.
“It would be amazing to win this race. It is so special you just grow to love it more. I’ve been so fortunate, this is my ninth 500. I would love to win this race. But you can’t force her. If it is going to happen, it is going to happen. But to win one for the Captain in these trying times. We are going to do our best to put on a Magical 500. We are going to do our best to make it a great race. We obviously miss the fans. But to be able to win it for Roger in this place, this year would be really special.”

NO. 3 HELLIO CASTRONEVES, PENNZOIL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
“Good strong finish for the number 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet for Team Penske. We definitely have great pit stops. Everybody seemed to be in sync and right now we just have to play the game, stay clean and go to the front!”

NO. 4 CHARLIE KIMBALL, TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:
“Well firstly, I just want to say we miss the best fans in racing. It’s not the same. It’s a very different energy here on Carb Day. It was nice to get a good two hours of running. The No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet came out pretty good this morning. We kept making it better, making it better. I’m pretty happy with the race car. I think we’re going to clean it and let her sleep until Sunday because we’ve got a lot of work to do on Sunday starting 29th, but there are 500 miles. The guys did some practice pit stops and the guys have been great in pit lane all year and they were good today. I’m looking forward to Sunday’s race. There’s something special about being in those 11 rows of three starting The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, being a part of the 104th Running. It’s just an incredible feeling even if the energy is very different.”

NO. 5 PATO O’WARD, ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:
“I think we are ready for the challenge ahead. It was a very positive day in terms of how we were feeling in traffic, passing cars, and playing around in five, 10, and 15 car trains. I think it is going to be very interesting to see how the cars will behave on Sunday in 10-15 degree hotter temps. I think we are ready, and we ended the day very happy with how everything fell and felt. So we are looking forward to race day and going forward.”

NO. 7 OLIVER ASKEW, ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:
“It was good. Probably the best I have felt in traffic. I think we are really going in the right direction and made the right changes over the mid-week break. The No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet felt good throughout the stint and I passed a few different people. Race day is going to be a different animal but I’m sure we are ready to react to the challenges and have a good day.”

NO. 12 WILL POWER, VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
“We were quite far off at the beginning of today. I was worried that we weren’t going to find anything, then we found some stuff late in the session and hopefully we have the Verizon5GH Chevrolet in the window where it needs to be. Obviously starting back in the pack, so I tried to run around cars where I will start and see how it is going to be. We have really good pit stops, great guys on the car. I think that is going to be our game wit strategy and our pit stops is where we are going to make time up.
But it’s every man for himself, it is the Indy 500, but if we can be mistake free, we can get ourself to the top-five.”

NO. 14 TONY KANAAN, ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:
Pretty good day, I mean beautiful day out here. Typical Carb Day. We ran through some tires, pit stops with the guys, checked if everything in the car was okay. The ABC Supply Chevy feels as good as it did last Sunday, so showtime in 48 hours.”

NO. 20 ED CARPENTER, U.S. SPACE FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET: “It’s finally here! It’s time to race. We definitely have some work cut out for us with where we are starting. It’s going to take a lot of hard work with a balance of aggression and patience. Passing is possibly, but it is a lot harder in the past. We’re going to have to be opportunities. I am still confident that we’ll find out way to the front, but it’s going to be a battle out there. I am looking forward to the drop of the green, getting everyone on equal footing, on the same tires and running full stints. We’ll see where we are in the U.S. Space Force Chevrolet.”

NO. 21 RINUS VEEKAY, SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
We have a really strong car going into the race. I found out that passing is going to be tough. Track position is going to be important, but I think have the right people around to guide me through the race. With this car, we have a shot at winning! That’s a lot to say as a rookie, but it’s exciting!

NO. 22 SIMON PAGENAUD, MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
“It’s always going to be about balance. Chevy has got it tremendous in race trim. We are equal to the competition, we have plenty of speed in race trim. It’s going to be all about finding the balance in your race car the entire day The wind might change and when the wind shifts you might find yourself good in two and bad in four. The cars are very sensitive ths year, much more than last year. So balance is qoing to be evrrything. It’s also going to be about downforce, no question. We are going to have to run close to people and we need downforce. So the question is going to be how much. For me, it is going to be about balance. We are going to have to be aggressive from the start to pass people to get clean air.”

NO. 24 SAGE KARAM, WIX FILTERS DRYER REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET:
“We rolled out with a bit more understeer than we had on Sunday. We just overshot our setups this morning. We went back to the garage then and put on last Sunday’s setup and felt a lot better at the end of the practice. I was able to run up on people and stay with them. Towards the end, I got in the gray and skimmed the wall in Turn Four. It didn’t do much to the car. We ran through some fuel settings and different mixtures to prepare for Sunday. We practiced in and out laps and had some excellent pit stops from the WIX Filters crew. As usual, they will help me pick up spots in the pits. They are always able to gain two or three positions on pit stops. I felt comfortable getting into the pit box and the crew is fast and consistent. I’m sure that will be the case Sunday too.”

NO.41 DALTON KELLETT, K-LINE USA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:
That’s a wrap on Carb Day. We just finished up our two hour practice—the last practice before the big race. The car feels really good. We did some balance checks and two really long runs. On the first long run, we felt pretty competitive; we did an aero sweep on the second run and came out a bit shy on our COP (center of pressure) and we were struggling a bit so it’s important that we keep on top of that for the race and adapt as the conditions change. Even today at 11 o’clock it was quite a bit cooler than when we finished up at 1. So we’re going to have to adapt the car and make changes during the stops and that’s going to be key to being fast at the finish. I can’t thank the A.J. Foyt Racing crew enough—they gave me a great car. The No. 41 K-Line USA Chevy feels great and I’m excited for three rows of 11 going into Turn 1 in a couple days!”

NO. 47 CONOR DALY, U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
“I am definitely excited for the race. This is what we work all of these day for. The guys have done a good job putting together the U.S. Air Force Chevrolet. Hopefully, we can put all the right pieces together for a long 500 miles. We’ll see what happens in the end!”

NO. 59 MAX CHILTON, GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET:
“We just finished up our last practice of the week heading into the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday and I’d say that the Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet feels pretty good in race trim. The track has changed quite a bit since practice last Sunday, so we spent most of today’s practice finetuning some things with the car and working on our in and out laps trying to find some time there. The guys did a great job during pit stop practice getting me in and out quickly. I’m really looking forward to the green flag on Sunday and hopefully working my way up through the field quickly.”

NO. 66 FERNANDO ALONSO, RUOFF ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:
“It was the last opportunity to test the last few items we had on our list. Some of them were ok and some of them we will not be keeping for the race. Now we have a more or less clear idea of what we want. Sunday is a completely different thing and it’s supposed to be a bit hotter, so we will try to adapt to the conditions. There’s nothing more to test on the table so it’s race time!”

NO. 67 JR HILDEBRAND, SALESFORCE DRYER REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET:
“We worked hard today on in and out laps and pits stops as those will help us gain spots in the race. We are getting closer to what will work best on the car on race day. We would like to have a car that is in our window to make adjustments throughout the race. Today were great track conditions. I’m not sure that Sunday will be this cool. We have run in track temps over 120 and 125 degrees. So we know what our cars can do in that heat. If Sunday is hotter, it doesn’t concern me since we ran well in the hotter condition. I hope some guys are overly-confident with their cars today because a hotter track could affect them more than us. Overall, we learned more again today with our race car.”

NO. 81 BEN HANLEY, DRAGON SPEED USA CHEVROLET