CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES AT INDIANAPOLIS: TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

GALLAGHER GRAND PRIX

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP

FELIX ROSENQVIST PUTS CHEVROLET ON POLE FOR INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE RACE 

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (July 29, 2022) – It was a good day for Chevrolet powered drivers in NTT INDYCAR Series Firestone Fast Six qualifying for the Gallagher Grand Prix. Felix Rosenqvist, No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, won the NTT P1 pole award for Saturday afternoon’s race on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It is the second pole of the season for Rosenqvist and third of his NTT INDYCAR career. 

Four of the six drivers in the final round of qualifying were Team Chevy drivers. Rosenqvist’s teammate and winner of race number two at Iowa Speedway, Pato O’Ward, captured the third starting position in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. 

Will Power, No.12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet, will roll-off in fourth with teammate Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Chevrolet. 

The remainder of the Firestone Fast Six were Alexander Rossi and Christian Lundgaard. 

The 85-lap Gallagher Insurance Grand Prix is set to start 12:30 p.m. with broadcast on NBC beginning at noon, and INDYCAR Radio.

CONNOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 10TH: 

“Being fastest in the first round against (Will) Power and (Josef) Newgarden is something we can really be happy about. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, we are in a decent spot. When you start in the Top 10, you can move your way forward and hopefully end up with a podium.”

YOU HAD A GREAT RUN IN MAY, QUALIFIED WELL IN THE DRY AND RACED WELL IN THE WET.   YOUR BEST QUALIFYING OF THE SEASON, WHAT CAN YOU DO TOMORROW?

“We just need to put in a solid race.  Its been a real challenge for us this year, but a lot of those times we have had great race pace.  We will see what we can do when it comes to tomorrow.  We like the red tires and its obviously a bit of a red race, so we will see what happens.  Just thankful to be back in Indianapolis and have a great day.”

DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE INSULATORS USA CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 24TH:

“Overall tough qualifying for us.  Just didn’t feel like we’ve quite got the most out of the reds. Still struggling with the same thing since the start of the first practice: understeer in high and low speed corners. So, trying to dial some of that out. We thought we made a good decent swing at it for qualifying but still kind of missed on the balance a little bit with the reds. We opted to go to reds early and were one of the first ones on reds, so that never really helps. We’re still looking for a chunk of time so we’re gonna figure out just how we can get a little more front grip dialed into this No. 4 K-Line car and see what we’ve got for tomorrow.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3RD:

“It was a great day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the team. Felix is on pole, that was a great lap, and the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet is P3. I’m super pumped for that, because of where we were in Practice 1 and at the start of the qualifying.

Great job to everyone and tomorrow is all about keeping our nose clean in Turn 1 and in the rest of race. We have some great race cars underneath us and hopefully we end up with a great team result.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 GALLAGHER CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH:

“Disappointed we didn’t transfer to round two, so starting further back than is ideal.  I know my guys will give me a great Gallagher Chevy for the race tomorrow.  With good strategy and our usual great pit stops, we will be able to move our way forward on Saturday.”

KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 SEXTON PROPERTIES CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 21ST: 

WHAT WAS YOUR FEEDBACK TO THE TEAM ABOUT THE RACE CAR?

“Yeah, I think it was just very similar to what we had in practice where we are fighting a little bit of a balance issue.  For some reason we are not as good as we were at the test a month ago, so we are trying to figure it out.  We have a lot of time between qualifying and practice to really figure it out and nail it down.  We are working on it and now that we have some time to sit down and focus on what we have, where we are at, and what the differences are because there has been a clear difference in the data compared to the test and now.   Hopefully we can figure it out overnight and we can go into warm up with a good car.”

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT YOU HAVE RACED HERE BEFORE IN YOUR INDYCAR CAREER.  CAN YOU RACE YOUR WAY FORWARD TOMORROW?

“I think so.   That all depends on what happens in the warm up tomorrow.  We have been solid here late on runs and we were really good late on the primary tires at the last race.  So, that could potentially be very good for us.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 4TH:

HOW WAS YOUR CAR AND WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK FOR TOMORROW?

“The car was really good.  I think a few more adjustments would have helped us in the Fast Six, but I am happy to be in the top four.  We will see in the warm up how it is and make some changes tonight and hopefully put us in a good position.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH:

“I am just happy to be back and I was really motivated to be here this weekend.  If we weren’t in this race, it was going to be very difficult to stay in this championship fight.  That was kind of the end for me.   I know that we had to be in the race and whatever I have to do to be fit and prepared is number one on my plate.  We are here and I have had a tremendous amount of support.  I can’t thank the INDYCAR staff enough for all their help after the event, and then obviously everybody at Team Penske has just been unwavering with their support for me.   Yeah, we are ready to go and we will be able to race tomorrow now.”

WHAT WERE YOUR SYMPTOMS AND WHAT WERE YOU DOING TO BE READY TO GET BACK?

“I don’t want to get into too much of the medical side, but I certainly hit my head pretty hard on Sunday afternoon.   Obviously the main concern at that point is a concussion and just trying to make sure there is no lingering long term effects from that. Thankfully I am in really great shape and you know, I have felt good the rest of the week.   So, I think we are in a pretty good spot for tomorrow.”

DID YOU HAVE A CONCUSSION WHEN YOU HIT YOUR HEAD?

“You know, I can’t confirm that and I don’t know that I did.  I think if you were a doctor you probably would have said I was concussed after Sunday night so it’s probably fair to say that.  Then it turns into a question of how severe was it and how long was it going to linger.”

DOES THIS PUT THE TEAM TO A TEST SINCE YOU WERE KNOCKED OFF KILTER AND THAT YOU COULDN’T REALLY DO WHAT YOU PLANNED TO?

“Yeah, its not ideal.   Coming into this weekend, I had planned on being on the simulator Monday before coming here.   That would have been nice to have that prep.  We could have been in a better position coming into this weekend, but we are not in a bad spot this weekend.  Luckily we have great cars here at Team Penske and I have great teammates to lean on.   We qualified in the top five and I think that puts us in a great spot for PPG and Team Chevy tomorrow.”

(JAMES) HINCHCLIFF SAID HE WAS TALKING TO YOU TO GIVE YOU INSIGHT ABOUT WHEN HE WENT THROUGH THIS.  DID THAT HELP AT ALL OR DID IT JUST MAKE YOU LAUGH?

“No, my lovely and amazing wife did most of the communication for me.  She was communicating with anyone that had any sort of advice.  Whether it was good or bad, we would filter it out but we had a lot of….yeah, Hinch was one of them.  People like Hinch have been through incidents like this and they are not all like for like.  His is not necessarily what I was going through, but any information on what people do in these kind of moments is helpful.  So, there were a lot of people who reached out and we definitely took use of it.”

HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING THIS WEEKEND TO POTENTIALLY TAKE THE POINT LEAD?

“I am just ready to be in the fight.  We are well in the thick of the championship and we have a great opportunity here to stay in the fight.  I think it will go all the way down to the final event and possibly win the championship, that is my focus.   I would have loved a little more today.  I felt like on new tires we had pole pace, but on used tires we lacked some of that pole pace that we needed.  We are going to try and clean that up for tomorrow.  I think looking after the tires is always critical.  If we can do that job, and have a good race here, then it should set us up nicely for the last four events of the year.”

RINUS VEEKAY, BITCOIN RACING TEAM WITH BITNILE, QUALIFIED 8TH:

“We didn’t make the Fast Six, but I think we have a solid car.   Like race day wise we are pretty consistent on both tires, which is important.  I am pretty happy with that and I think we couldn’t really nail the last bit of balance in the final part of group two qualifying.  Bummer, but I won a race here from seventh, so I will have better tires for the race.”