CHEVY NTT INDYCAR SERIES STREETS OF ST. PETE POST RACE REPORT
CHEVROLET RACING IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG
STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
JOSEF NEWGARDEN WINS
TEAM CHEVY RACE RECAP WITH DRIVER QU0TES
OCT. 25, 2020
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Oct. 25, 2020) – Joseph Newgarden did what he needed to win the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship, but so did Scott Dixon.
Newgarden, driving the No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, won the Firestone Indy Grand Prix to lead a 1-2 Chevrolet finish in the 14-race season finale. But Newgarden had to settle for the runner-up position in the final standings.
Pato O’Ward, driving the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, earned his fourth podium of the season with a second-place finish. Sebastien Bourdais finished fourth in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet. Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, finished sixth, and Charlie Kimbal, No. 4 Tresiba AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet finished eighth to give Chevrolet five of the top-eight finishers.
Dixon finished third to wrap up his sixth championship.Newgarden, who also won the 100-lap race on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn St. Petersburg temporary street circuit on the way to winning his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES title in 2019, earned four race victories this season. This was his 18th career INDYCAR victory – all behind the wheel of a race car powered by 2.2 liter, twin turbocharged, direct injected V6 Chevrolet engine.
The 2021 NTT INDYCAR Series season will return to the Streets of St. Petersburg for the season opener on March 7, 2021.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
2ND PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET
4TH SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 14 AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET
6TH SIMON PAGENAUD NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
8TH CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET
12TH MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CHEVROLET
15TH RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAC ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET
16TH OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET
17TH CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET
22ND SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 SHELLV-POWER NITRO+ CHEVROLET
24TH WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Josef Newgarden (Chevrolet)
2nd Pato O’Ward (Chevrolet)
3rd Scott Dixon (Honda)
4th Sebastien Bourdais (Chevrolet)5th Ryan Hunter-Reay (Honda)
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – RACE WINNER:
“Congrats to Scott (Dixon) and his guys on his crew. It’s big time to win six championship so I’m sure they’re thrilled. They were great competitors. It’s bittersweet. On one hand, I really don’t know what I’d do different this year and I don’t know what I’d ask my guys to do different. They were flawless – fastest in the pits all year long and they were rewarded for it earlier this weekend by Firestone. I’m extremely proud to drive for my team – not just my car but all the Team Penske cars combined, all the engineers, all the mechanics. They’re an incredible crew that puts in a lot of work. We just came up short and that’s all it is. We just weren’t able to get it done but we’ll reset and we’ll hit ‘em harder next year and I promise you we’ll be in the fight. Thank you to Hitachi and Team Chevy. You know Team Chevy was the engine to beat today and I think all year long so big credit to them. We were just a little short on points but we’ll come back harder next year.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROWMCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, FINISHED 2ND:
“I’m so proud of Arrow McLaren SP and myself for what we accomplished this year. Our win will have to wait. We came in second place in the season finale, just five points short of third place in the championship. We have lots to be proud of. I’m really grateful for the opportunity that I got. I think we showcased that we are a force to be reckoned with and we are going to be pushing next year to give these veterans a harder time. Hopefully, bring it to the last race and win this championship.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 14 SEXTON AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 4TH:
“Well, what a race. I’m super happy for the 14 team AJ Foyt Racing and Chevrolet. Those guys were on the cusp the whole time and we were fighting for a million dollars today. We had things under control and then it seemed to slip away and finishing fourth in some pretty incredible situations there at the end with a car that was legitimately fast so really happy that we could finish the season on a high like that and looking forward to 2021.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 6TH:
“That was a good finish for the Menards Chevrolet. It was survival of the fittest out there today. At one point, I said on the radio that there could be many, many more cautions and there was. We just couldn’t get in a race rhythm. But we were able take advantage of all those other people’s mistakes and put ourselves in position to have a good finish. All weekend, the car was really good – I think it was better than even sixth where we finished. But I’m pretty excited to build upon this for next year. All-in-all, good weekend. It was also good to see the fans back at the track. We finished St. Pete, just a few months after the fact.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished – 8TH:
“Well today the Grand Prix of St Petersburg was a success for A.J. Foyt Racing. For us the No 4 Tresiba Chevrolet coming from a not optimum qualifying in 20th all the way through to eighth, so much credit goes to the guys in pitlane—great pit stops. They’ve had great pit stops all year—they’re in the top 10 as far as the pit stop championship among all the teams in pitlane. So much credit to them, credit to the engineers here and at home working to make the car better and better. Just had to put the laps in at the end. Got a little tight a couple of times, banged off a few people but that’s street racing in INDYCAR. It’s nice to have a double top-10 to finish out 2020 which has been tough, strange and challenging in so many ways.”
MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER AJ FOYT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 12TH
“That felt like the longest INDYCAR race I’ve ever done apart from the 500. It was just unbelievably long and challenging. The tires were the hardest we’ve ever used and I don’t think I was the only one struggling with them. There were multiple good drivers spinning out and crashing during the race. We didn’t have the pace all day, but then we sort of lucked in to a good bit of strategy. I was fired up, but we just couldn’t get the tire temps up. Every time I exited the last corner I got eaten alive. Apart from that I held my position, so I kind of feel like we had a top-10 taken away from us. I can honestly say that I gave it 100% and did my best and the guys did a great job in the pits. It’s disappointing to not get a top 10 here this weekend, because that was our target but we were able to come from the back and make up 12 spots so we’ll take that as a massive positive into the offseason.”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 15TH:
“I am officially Rookie of the Year! I am very happy with that. Everything we didn’t want to have happen in the race happened, though. We were super quick, but the first yellow kind of screwed us. I was in the pack after that. Scott McLaughlin spun to the inside and I was there, I couldn’t go anywhere. After that, it was just about bringing the car home without and damage and getting the points. I think another podium was a possibility, we had such a fast car! We have to wait a few months until w
e come back, but we’ll give it another shot! I am looking forward to being back – not as a rookie!”
OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 16TH:
“We had a really strong weekend up until the second half of the race. We were heading for a top 10 finish until I got taken out. It’s a bummer we couldn’t get a positive result in our final race with Arrow McLaren SP but I think I showed the rest of the series what I can do. I want to thank the entire team for all the hard work they have put in this year and support they have given me.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 17th:
“I am definitely guilty of making a big mistake under yellow. Rinus came out of the pits quite quick right in front of us and everyone just stopped all of a sudden around the next corner. When the tires were cold, they were like ice. As soon as they locked up, I had nowhere to go. The U.S. Air Force Chevrolet was really fast, which was good. We made some great progress on the race set up. Even after the contact, the car was still fast so that was really encouraging.”
SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO.3 SHELL V-POWER NITRO+ TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 22nd:
“Best day of my life except for my wedding. The Shell V-Power Nitro+ INDYCAR was going really well then I just made a move trying to block Marco. Then I felt like I made a half of a rear lock, but I’m not exactly sure. Cold tires caught me out a little bit. But I had a lot of fun today,”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 24th:
“I just lost it. Just lost it. My rear bottomed, and had a moment. Earlier it didn’t downshift for some reason. It did it a couple of times. Then I started downshifting really early. I don’t know what happened. I have a feeling I made a mistake by putting that vent on the top. That loses performance and downforce. I should have run it in warm-up. It wasn’t bad out there with the vent obEn so I wouldn’t have had those issues. The downshift, I don’t know what that was. Very strange. It just didn’t go down gears on that corner to fourth or third and that is how Rossi got me, and then Herta attacked all for position. Just frustrated with me making a mistake and hitting the wall. The car got loose and very frustrating. I shouldn’t be the only one crashing. My bad for putting us out of the race. Bad situation.”