CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES – CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX – QUALILFYING RECAP – CHEVY POWER ON POLE
CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX PRESENTED BY LEAR
RACEWAY ON BELLE ISLE
DETROIT, MICHIGAN
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP
JUNE 4, 2022
JOSEF NEWGARDEN PUTS CHEVROLET ON POLE AT DETROIT GP
NEWGARDEN AND PATO O’WARD EARN STARTING POSITIONS THROUGH FIRESTONE FAST SIX
DETROIT – Josef Newgarden laid down an on-the-edge lap of one minute 15.2153 seconds, 112.477 mph to grab the NTT P1 Award for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on the Raceway on Belle Isle.
It is Newgarden’s 16th career pole, his third on Belle Isle and his first of the season. He has two podium finishes in Detroit – a win in 2019, and a runner-up in 2021.
It is the fifth pole for Team Chevy in 2022.
Giving Team Chevy two drivers in the Firestone Fast Six was the 2021 Race 2 winner, Pato O’Ward, 70-lap race/164.5-mile around the 2.35-mile 14-turn track.
Takuma Sato, Simon Pagenaud, Helio Castroneves and David Malukas completed the Firestone Fast Six qualifiers.
The remaining Team Chevrolet drivers qualified as follows:
10th Scott McLaughlin
13th Conor Daly
14th Rinus VeeKay
15th Kirk Kirkwood
16th Will Power
17th Santino Ferrucci
24th Tatiana Calderon
25th Dalton Kellett
26th Felix Rosenqvist
Chevrolet and the NTT INDYCAR Series continue the 2022 season with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 5 from the Raceway at Belle Isle Park. The race will air live on USA, the Peacock streaming service and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation (Channel 160) beginning at 3 p.m. ET. Live timing and scoring will be available at racecontrol.indycar.com.
TEAM CHEVY QUOTES
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 HITACHI CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – POLE WINNER:
YOU SAID IT WAS LOOSE, HOW ON THE EDGE WAS IT?
“It was loose and I was about hitting the wall every lap. Not every lap, but every corner I should say. I think we needed two laps to get temperature and this set was a little better than the first set that I ran. Just struggling to build temp, but it was so loose and I was like, ‘I just got to stay in it’. I knew the track was grippier and that was a good pole. Sometimes the car is just so good that its just hooked up. I was loose today and we put it together. I am really proud of the team and thank you to Team Chevy and Hitachi. In their backyard with Team Penske here. It’s a good spot to start tomorrow, but I have been here before. We did this last year and fell short so we have to be really focused on the race and how we are going to get to the end and finish it off.”
WHERE DO YOU NEED TO BE TO FINISH IT OFF THE RIGHT WAY THIS YEAR?
“Its going to be really difficult. I think this field is so deep nowadays and everyone is good. You just have to be on it all the way from start to finish and understanding the strategy and not having a misstep. Hope we can get it right tomorrow, but I have got always the best of the best behind me with Team Penske.”
YOU MAKE IT LOOK SO EASY
“It was by no means easy. I was almost on the wall in three or four spots just trying to hang on. But this crew is incredible. I love driving for Team Penske and to have Hitachi and Team Chevy right in their back year. It’s good to get a pole, but the win is what we really need, so we are focused on that.”
HOW ARE TIRES GOING TO PLAY OUT TOMORROW?
“I think its going to be a similar case to last year where we learned it was difficult to understand whether you should take your medicine early or late. Seems like the red tires are more fragile. So, it makes it interesting. Do you want durability, or do you want a little speed to start the race? I think we will get that equation in a better spot than last year. We got pipped at the very end of the race, but we can do the job.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WIN HERE AT THE HOME OF CHEVROET AND A RACE THAT MEANS SO MUCH TO PENSKE?
“We’ve done it before. I definitely believe we can do it again.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 McLAREN CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN SP, QUALIFIED 2ND :
“We had a really solid day. The car was really good on one lap, but we slightly missed the window. I don’t think we made the right call on the tire choice and which red to take for Q3, so we hit a cliff and the tires never really went into the peak. Fifth is good around here, we can work a lot from there. The car is good so tomorrow will be important to see what we can do on a long stint for us to basically help ourselves during the race.
“I love this place. It’s a long race, it’s a physical race. A lot can happen because there’s usually a lot of people making mistakes, so I think the first priority is ‘don’t make a mistake’ and second priority is just ‘try to make your way forward as you can and get a good solid points day.’ “
SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 GALLAGHER INSURANCE CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE, QUALIFIED 10TH:
“It was not to be, but we will push hard tomorrow.”
WE ARE HEARING UP AND DOWN PIT LANE THAT THERE IS NOT MUCH EXPECTATION FOR THE RED TIRES TO HOLD UP LONG. IS THAT YOUR EXPERIENCE TOO?
“It is going to be an exciting Belle Isle, the final Belle Isle. But yes, the red tires don’t hold on for much and its going to be all about looking after them. And even the black tires don’t hold on that much either. So, we will see. Same for everyone, same tires and we will just get on it.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING, QUALIFIED 13TH:
HOW DO YOU PROCESS THE SPEED IN THIS SESSION?
“Well, I even decided to go to the bathroom before this session and not eat lunch and I would have thought that would have counted for the last one-hundredth. So, clearly it didn’t but we picked up three seconds from our previous best lap in three laps. We knew this morning’s session was a crock of absolute craziness and we didn’t even get to finish one lap. Thankfully we got a few laps in now and it proves that our car really had the pace that we thought we had in it. I also think Rinus (VeeKay) will be fast here as well, which is great. Thankful for the guys for having the faith in me and just to start 13th here is great. It’s a great position to take advantage of what happens up front and we will go from there.”
TURNING LEFT AND RIGHT AT INDY, IT WAS A GREAT MONTH FOR YOU. HAS THIS TEAM FOUND CONFIDENCE OR SOMETHING?
“Well, if you look at the road course qualifying so far other than the Indy GP, its been a struggle for us. To come out here, a street course, and to get our best street course qualifying of the year, certainly for my side, is good. It definitely means we are doing the right things. Its been an interesting last 24 hours and tough start to the weekend but we know we can race well. So, I am excited for tomorrow.”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITCOIN RACING TEAM WITH BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING, QUALIFIED 14TH:
“I think there was a lot more in it that we didn’t show this morning because there were so many reds and yellows and everything. Yesterday the car felt really good, and so did this morning. But right now, I think the balance is really good on the lap that I did it. We are seven tenths off, so that is way too much.”
SO IF THAT IS THE CASE, HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THIS MORNING AND HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT YESTERDAY? DO YOU THINK THE RACE PACE IN THIS CAR IS GOOD?
“I don’t know because I haven’t done a long run yet, so we have to see about that in the warm up. I know we can do stuff. with strategy here, but really it is disappointing to qualify in fourteenth place.”
KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING QUALIFIED 15TH:
“You know, my hand is not ideal. I injured it somehow when I hit the wall and didn’t get my hands off the wheel, but it is good enough to drive. Definitely lost some strength in my right hand which hurts us through the left-handers, which there aren’t many here, there is just turn two, turn five and turns nine and ten. So I will just fight through those ones, primarily with my left hand. Its not ideal, but we are digging through it.”
ARE YOU DIGGING THROUGH ANYTHING WITH THE CAR AND ARE YOU WHERE YOU EXPECT TO BE?
“Well, that is one thing in INDYCAR. You lose track time, you usually lose position. So, I am not too wary about it because we are really good on black tires. The red Firestone alternate tires have not been good for us in the qualifying session right now. This race is notoriously a black tire race so hopefully we are strong in the race due to that. We know we can be up front, at least on those tires. Like I said, losing track time doesn’t help anything.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE. QUALIFIED 16TH:
CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 DYNAMIC EDGE CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING—NOT DRIVING DUE TO HAND INJURY FROM CRASH DURING INDIANAPOLIS 500
“I was a bit stiff from the crash, but the hand is getting less sore each day, but obviously having a broken hand is not the nicest thing because it limits you a little bit. But recovering from that and feeling good. Tuesday, I went to see the specialist because obviously Monday was a holiday for Indiana. But after speaking to the specialist, it was a close one and I think there was a little bit that they weren’t so happy about and the vibrations here wouldn’t have been good. I took their advice and a long-term career is better than a short term glory run. So, the target is to be in the car next week. I will have a review early next week and we will see.”
SANTINO FERRUCCI, SUBSTITUTING FOR ILOTT, QUALIFIED 17TH: “Day two done and in the books. Should have advanced in qualifying, it was a bit of my mistake as I lost the wheel a little bit in the last corner and clipped the wall. But overall we are 17th and I am very confident we can get the car in the top-10 in the race on Sunday and go from there.”
TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKIT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING, QUALIFIED 24TH :
DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE INSULATORS CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING QUALIFIED 25TH:
FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE McLAREN CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN RACING SP, QUALIFIED 26TH:
NOT THE QUALIFYING SESSION YOU WERE HOPING FOR, WE UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE A QUALIFYING INTERFERANCE PENALTY AS WELL. LET US KNOW HOW THAT PLAYED OUT
“It was our mistake, and we had a little communication error between me and the pit wall. I didn’t know Jimmie was there, so sorry to those guys if I ruined their lap. Obviously, we got a penalty for it. I don’t think we would have made it past 12 anyway. We were just outside, and we went for it on the first lap and maybe not the right strategy there. But anyway, we will find a way to get through the field tomorrow.”
HOW BIG OF A SETBACK HAS THE PRACTICE ONE CRASH PROVEN TO BE?
“For sure a little bit. I think I was pretty on it and felt comfortable. But if you lose the whole session, you will always kind of be on the back foot. Anyways, like last year, we will look forward and move through the field here.”
IS IT UP TO YOU AND THE CAR TO DRIVE YOUR WAY FORWARD?
“It depends on what we think about the reds to be honest. We will have to see in warm up. If you can do a good stint on them, it will change a lot for what you can do in the race. But still, its going to be hard to make it a two stop race.”