CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX
STEETS OF BELLE ISLE
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE ONE RECAP
JUNE 12,2021

Chevrolet picks up two spots on podium in Detroit Dual 1
Rinus VeeKay places second, pole winner Pato O’Ward finishes third

DETROIT (June 12, 2021) – Rinus VeeKay, who earned his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory in May on a road course, and Pato O’Ward, who claimed his initial win in May on an oval, led the Chevrolet contingent with podium finishes on a temporary street circuit in Dual 1 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.

VeeKay, driving the No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, finished 1.7 seconds behind race winner Marcus Ericsson in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. O’Ward, who earlier in the day recorded his second NTT P1 Award of the season, placed third in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet to move into second in the driver standings.

“It’s an awesome result. I have to thank the team and Chevy power,” said VeeKay, 20, who followed his victory May 15 in the GMR Grand Prix by becoming the youngest front-row starter in Indianapolis 500 history. “Very excited for tomorrow because we were fast.”

VeeKay, O’Ward and nine other drivers powered by Chevrolet’s 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 engine return Sunday, June 13, to the 2.35-mile, 13-turn temporary street circuit on Belle Isle for Dual 2. Two rounds of knockout qualifying will precede another physically demanding and technically challenging 70-lap race. O’Ward delivered the 101st pole in 156 races for Chevrolet since it returned to NTT INDYCAR SERIES manufacturer competition in 2012.

Will Power, who led a field-high 37 laps in the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet, appeared to be in the driver’s seat with five laps left to register his 40th career victory. But the second caution of the race brought out the red flag and brought the cars in running order to pit lane. After the incident was cleared, Power’s car failed to restart and INDYCAR officials waived the field around the two-time Detroit winner. The team eventually restarted the car and Power rejoined the race from the rear of the field.

Josef Newgarden added a 10th-place finish in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, while two-time Belle Isle winner Sebastien Bourdais finished 11th in the No. 14 ROKiT Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing, Simon Pagenaud placed 12th in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, and Conor Daly was 13th in the No. 20 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing.

The first caution involved the No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren Chevrolet driven by Felix Rosenqvist that made heavy contact with the Turn 6 tire barrier on Lap 25. He was awake and alert and transported by ground to a local hospital for evaluation.

Marcus Ericsson (Honda) was the race winner.

Dual 2 qualifications will be telecast live on NBCSN and stream on Peacock Premium at 9 a.m. ET Sunday, June 13, followed by NBC’s telecast of the 70-lap race at noon. The race will also be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, Indycar.com, and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA.

TEAM CHEVY FINISHERS with starting position in parentheses:

2. Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Sonax/Autogeek Ed Carpenter Racing (12)
3. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP (1)
4. Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske (5)
5. Sebastien Bourdais, No. 14 ROKiT/AJ Foyt Racing (10)
6. Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske (9)
7. Conor Daly, No. 20 U.S. Air Force Ed Carpenter Racing (17)
8. Dalton Kellett, No. 4 K-Line Insulators/AJ Foyt Racing (24)
9. Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 PPG Team Penske (23)
10. Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske (7)
11. Max Chilton, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet (20)
12. Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP (14)

DRIVER QUOTES:
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX/AUTOGEEK CHEVROLET – Finished 2nd:
YOU STARTED 12TH AND WORKED YOUR WAY ALL THE WAY UP TO SECOND. YOU ARE DRENCHED IN SWEAT. THIS WAS A PHYSICAL TEST EVEN GREATER THAN YOU EXPECTED.
“Yeah, it’s an awesome result. I’m very happy. I have to thank the team, of course, and Chevy power, the best Chevy. So, I’m very happy with that. It’s an awesome track. I enjoy it here. And I like the street courses being a little crazy. That was definitely very awesome and yeah, heat-wise, it was pretty warm. Actually, like physically, it was fine. But I’ve just got a lot of sweat dripping on my face. That was the only thing bothering me. But very good results and good for the points. I’m very excited for tomorrow because we were fast.”

IT TURNED OUT TO BE A STRANGE RACE WITH A COUPLE OF RED FLAGS. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT TOMORROW? DO YOU THINK YOU CAN PUT THE CAR UP FRONT LIKE THIS AGAIN, EVEN IF IT GOES GREEN TO THE END?
“I think we can do better on qualifying. We took a little bit of a risky strategy, so 12th was all we could do. But anyway, we were very fast, and qualifying isn’t that important because it’s a crazy track. We’ve seen what happens. So, definitely good qualifying will help but that’ll come tomorrow.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 3rd:
“We started on the pole and went backward which I guess is a disappointment. We really had to fight for this podium. I think we really salvaged a lot of points from where we could have finished, just considering how hard it was to pass. The guys did a great job in the pits and I did my job on the track, passed seven on the track and two or three in the pits so that was fantastic.

“I feel for Will. I think he would have walked away with it if we didn’t go red.”

WILL POWER, NO.12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, Finished 20th:
“I’m mad at INDYCAR. Because, I’m the first car in and they wait until the last car to come to get a fan on that car and it roasted the ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

“Just going red flag for starters. The guys up there in race control never listen to any drivers. They never listen; they don’t care. We’ve given them so many suggestions and they don’t care.

“I drove my butt off today, to have this to happen!

“I was screaming on the radio, ‘get a fan, get a fan.” (from Lee, it wasn’t for you, it was for the car?). Yeah, because the ECU always overheats. They wait for everyone. These guys (behind me) still had air coming in the car.

“You work your butt off in this sport. So much money goes into it and doesn’t and it has dumb things like that.

“If it’s not a yellow they throw, it’s some stupid idea like this – a red flag. Gah.”