CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH
STREETS OF LONG BEACH
TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
APRIL 7, 2020

Team Chevy Hoping for Street Dreams at Long Beach

Chevrolet IndyCar teams aim to continue strong start to 2022 season

DETROIT (April 6, 2022) – Chevrolet’s collection of teams in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES head west this weekend as the Bowtie brand looks for its third straight race victory and pole position NTT P1 award to start 2022.

The Acura Long Beach Grand Prix is the second street course of the INDYCAR season in three events. Eleven entries powered by Chevrolet’s 2.2-liter, twin-turbo V6 engine will around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile circuit in southern California. It’s a track where Chevrolet has competed since 2012 and seeks its fifth victory there.

Fortunately, momentum is on the Chevrolet side. Team Chevy swept the first two races of the season for the first time since 2016 – the last time a Chevy-powered entry won at Long Beach.

Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske won at St. Petersburg and claimed pole position there to open 2022. Three weeks later, Penske’s Josef Newgarden won at Texas Motor Speedway after Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist claimed the P1 Award for pole.

“It’s hard to think of a better start to our season,” said Rob Buckner, Chevrolet Program Manager for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. “It’s encouraging to see the performance of our Chevrolet teams on both a street circuit and oval. That’s down to the work between our teams and our engineers to get the most of these packages at two tough venues.

“As we go to Long Beach, there are a number of challenges compared to our last street race at St. Petersburg. The flow and track layout seem to promote a higher level of interaction between cars at Long Beach and some pretty high speeds. The tarmac goes from mostly concrete to a few asphalt sections, so that’s a consideration for car setup and engine calibration. Above all, there is the measure of risk versus reward at Long Beach. If we can put all those together, it will be another great weekend for Team Chevy.”

Four different drivers claimed previous Long Beach victories with Chevrolet power including Will Power of Team Penske, which has taken pole position four times at Long Beach since 2012.

Chevrolet also swept the podium in 2016 and 2015, when Team Chevy captured the top seven places in the race.

While at the Long Beach GP event, Team Chevy fans can enjoy all that the Chevrolet display, located inside the convention center, has to offer. Included in the display activities will be two Q & A sessions with some of the star Chevrolet drivers. On Friday at 11:00 am local time, AJ Foyt Racing drivers Dalton Kellett, Tatiana Calderon and Kyle Kirkwood with chat with fans in the display.
Saturday at 2:45 pm local time, Team Penske drivers Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power will make an appearance to talk with fans.

The Chevrolet Motorsports Display opens at 8 a.m. Friday through Sunday and is located in the Long Beach Convention Center. Numerous Chevrolet vehicles and other highlights include:

• The 2023 Corvette convertible 3LT
• Additional Chevrolet products such as Blazer RS, Trailblazer RS, Camaro 2SS 1LE, Silverado Trail Boss and
• A Corvette Racing C8.R showcar and LT6.R engine
• An opportunity to receive a 2022 Chevrolet t-shirt

Chevrolet and the NTT INDYCAR Series continue the 2022 season at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 10 from the Long Beach (Calif.) street circuit. The race will air live on NBC, the Peacock streaming service and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation (Channel 160). Live timing and scoring will be available at racecontrol.indycar.com.

TEAM CHEVY QUOTES
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE: Long Beach has been good to us .Two seconds (place finishes) the last two years hurts a bit. I would like to get a win there. We’ve been close before so, we’ve just got to figure out how to close the deal. That’s as simple as that. If we have a weak place, we’re going to make it a strong place, and I feel like Long Beach has been getting there slowly for us. It’s definitely become a strength, and we just need a little bit more to close the deal and feel like we can do that this weekend.

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 PPG CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE: The first two races is what INDYCAR is all about. This is why everyone loves it, why it’s becoming the world’s most competitive motorsport series. Proud to be a part of it, but it’s all about now. It was a great win at St. Pete and a strong run at Texas but had to get right back on the horse and get ready for what’s ahead at Long Beach and a few other things. I have had a lot of sim time, and more to come. It’s going to be hard, but I’m there.

DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE INSULATORS CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING: “I’m excited to be back at a street circuit this weekend. Long Beach is one of the classic events in the IndyCar calendar. It’s a great track to drive and the event as a whole, both on TV and at the track, is really exciting for the fans. The layout has a good mix of tight and open corners and there are some opportunities to pass. From a technical perspective, I think we have a couple good setup directions from St. Pete that we will be looking at here. Continuing with the goal of focusing on qualifying, we’ll be working up to that throughout the first two practices, so we can put ourselves in the best position for a good start to the race.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 McLAREN VUSE CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN RACING SP:
“I always have enjoyed coming to Long Beach. I haven’t quite had the preferred weekend there in the past so I hope that the third time’s the charm! We have a lot to look forward to this weekend, especially getting back to work with the team and turning our championship around as we look to challenge at the front.”

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 McLAREN VUSE CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN RACING SP:
“It’s good to be back in Long Beach. There were a lot of emotions last year here for the team, but I think it was one of our stronger tracks in general; especially from my side. I thought we had a really good package at the end of the year. It’s good to be back and race at another street course. We’ll see if we can get the season going a little bit, as it’s been a disappointing start for all of us, but we’re ready to turn this ship around. I’m excited to go back West again.”

TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING: “It’s been a long time since St. Pete and I can’t wait to be back in the car after a long month away! It’s going to be my first time in Long Beach and I have also never been to L.A. so there’s lots of on and off track discovering to do over the week. The track looks super fun to drive and it seems most drivers love it so I can’t wait to see how it feels in reality! I have done a lot of simulator work, watched plenty of onboards in preparation for it with the team, so hopefully this will help us get up to speed quicker in Free Practice. I think I learnt a lot in the first race weekend, I had plenty of time to digest everything from St. Pete and there is plenty of work to be done. I expect another big challenge this weekend but one I definitely relish.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE: “I love where this No. 12 Verizon 5G team is to start the year. We’ve come out of the gates really strong – as has all three Team Penske cars – and there is just a good vibe going around right now. So, it’s nice to head into Long Beach with a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence. The series has done a great job in promoting all the races on the schedule, but Long Beach is still just behind the Indianapolis 500 with all of its history and prestige. I know the fans are going to come out in big numbers to see us this weekend, and they will see a good show. Both of my teammates have already won this year so Long Beach sounds like a great place to get mine.”

KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING: “I really love street courses. Long Beach will be all new to me this year with the Road to Indy never going while I was a part of the series. I have comfort up against walls and I feel that getting up to speed quick is one of my attributes, so I don’t think lack of experience will hurt us this weekend. We’ve shown great pace in the first two events this year with no justified result, hopefully third time is a charm for us this weekend in Long Beach.”

CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING: “Long Beach is one of the most fun weekends of the year. I really, really love the track. We have put in hours and hours on the simulator, working on how we can improve there and have a good rebound from last year. We made a lot of progress on the sim and we really appreciate our partners at Chevrolet allowing us to put in those hours! I can’t wait to get back to Long Beach and get the BitNile car on track. We’re ready to right the ship and turn our luck around this weekend!”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 ALZAMEND NEURO CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING: “We have some unfinished business in Long Beach! Last year, we had a tough weekend and ended the season with a mechanical issue. We know we can do a lot better! We found a lot of information over the winter that we can use, I can’t wait to see what we’ve got. I love the event; I love the track. I am very excited to go to the west coast and rock around the streets of Long Beach!”

CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 DYNAMIC EDGE CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING: “To go back to Long Beach, which is where we finished off our trio of races at the end of last year will be a good experience for me to see where we are. Obviously, we hope to have made a lot of development with the No. 77 JHR Chevrolet since then, so I am excited to see what we can achieve. I am looking forward to the sun and a great race in front of the fans.”

BY THE NUMBERS: CHEVROLET IN INDYCAR
· 1: Chevrolet’s position in the INDYCAR Engine Manufacturer standings after two races
· 2: Consecutive victories by Chevrolet to open the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin won the pole and race at St. Petersburg. Penske teammate Josef Newgarden won the race at Texas Motor Speedway after Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist claimed pole position
· 2: Long Beach podium sweeps for Team Chevy (2015, 2016)
· 4: Wins for Chevrolet IndyCar teams at Long Beach
· 6: Different Chevrolet drivers to win races dating back to the start of 2020. Scott McLaughlin was the most recent at St. Petersburg
· 6: Number of Manufacturer Championships in the NTT INDYCAR Series since 2012
· 6: Number of Team Chevy Driver/Entrant championships since 2012
· 9: Wins from pole by Will Power with Chevrolet power since 2012, most by any driver
· 13: Consecutive seasons with at least one win by Will Power, including past 10 with Chevrolet
· 25: Wins by Will Power since 2012. All have come with Chevrolet, giving him the most of any driver with same manufacturer
· 39: Pole starts by Will Power since 2012 in a Chevrolet-powered car, most of any driver
· 97: Chevrolet victories in NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012
· 109: Earned poles by Chevrolet since 2012
· 167: NTT INDYCAR SERIES races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR