CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

HONDA INDY TORONTO

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA

TEAM CHEVY RACE RECAP

JULY 16, 2023

CHEVROLET PLACES FOUR IN TOP-10 AT HONDA INDY TORONTO

• Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Snap-On Team Penske Chevrolet, led the Team Chevy teams and finished fifth in Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto.  
• The Bowtie brand finished with four cars in the top-10: two from Team Penske (Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin) and from two Arrow McLaren INDYCAR teammates (Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist) in the top-10.
• NTT INDYCAR Series Rookie Agustin Canapino, driver of the No. 78 Chevrolet for Juncos Hollinger Racing, finished 12th to match his best career results at St. Petersburg and Texas Motor Speedway.
• The morning warm up saw Newgarden finish third and Callum Ilott finishing ninth to represent Chevrolet in the top-10 on the leaderboard. Rookie Agustin Canapino continued to show his growth, finishing the morning session 11th.

TORONTO (July 16, 2023) – In what proved to be a chaotic Honda Indy Toronto on the streets of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Chevrolet claimed four of the top-10 finishing positions, with Josef Newgarden, driver of the Snap-On Team Penske Chevrolet, finishing fifth. Following Newgarden was his teammate Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet, in sixth with Arrow McLaren INDYCAR teammates Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Chevrolet, finishing eighth, and Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 Chevrolet, taking the checkered flag 10th.

Eventful from the start, the Bowtie brand faced challenging, tight conditions on the 11-turn, 1.786-mile course through the streets of Toronto. After 85 laps, Newgarden reflected, saying “It was pretty big (the fuel save) at the end. Thank goodness I was trying to do a little more than we needed to in the final stint just to prepare for the end. None of us knew what was happening there or what was going to happen with two laps to go. We must have had some fuel error issue because they’re going off our calculations and normally they are always spot on. So something must have been messed up today, which we were unaware of. (…) I’m proud of my team. They did a great job. We tried to recover as best as possible. We’ll have to take our top-five but unfortunately it was a day that maybe could have been better but we just didn’t realize it.”

“(It was an) up and down for us today in the Gallagher Chevy,” said McLaughlin. “We had a really fast car and probably a winning car. But things didn’t go our way on the strategy. I’ll back my guys to the tilt. I think we chose the right strategy. It was just an awkward time and we couldn’t make up for what we lost. It is what it is. We win together and those together. We’ll push on. Another top-six finish so we’ll keep knocking them out. But it is a frustrating day when you think we sort of easily could have won that race.”

Rookie NTT INDYCAR Series racer Agustin Canapino, driver of the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, drove a strong weekend for his first event on the streets of Toronto. After qualifying 11th in highest starting position of his young IndyCar career, he matched his career-best finish from St. Petersburg and Texas in 12th.

“I’m really, really happy,” said Canapino. “It’s my first time here with the team. We did a really good race and were really strong. We maximized everything. We battled with the top teams all the time. (…) For our performance, I’m really happy and really grateful for the whole team.”

Chevrolet shifts gears back to oval competition, traveling to Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa for the 11th and 12th rounds of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR Series Season. The doubleheader weekend first kicks off with the Hy-Vee Homefront 250, which takes the green flag live on NBC at 3 p.m. ET Saturday for Race 1 of the weekend. The Hy-Vee One Step 250 also airs live on NBC at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday. Additional radio coverage is available from INDYCAR Radio and SiriusXM Channel 160.

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 RACE RESULTS:

Pos.  Driver

5th     Josef Newgarden

6th     Scott McLaughlin

8th     Pato O’Ward

10th   Felix Rosenqvist

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“It was pretty big (the fuel save) at the end. Thank goodness I was trying to do a little more than we needed to in the final stint just to prepare for the end. None of us knew what was happening there or what was going to happen with two laps to go. We must have had some fuel error issue because they’re going off our calculations and normally they are always spot on. So something must have been messed up today, which we were unaware of. I feel terrible more than anything. I gave away a ton of positions and it was completely my fault. I just slid through the pit box. I’m more disappointed in myself for just giving away an opportunity today. I thought for sure we could have raced toward the podium with those other guys if we could have made it happen. Obviously, that would have meant more fuel save but we would have known what to do. I’m proud of my team. They did a great job. We tried to recover as best as possible. We’ll have to take our top-five but unfortunately it was a day that maybe could have been better but we just didn’t realize it.”

Will Power, No. 12 Chevrolet at Team Penske:

“I was (surprised). Giving me a number… I could quite easily have just gotten the number and made it. We have to review all that. I’m not sure what happened there. It was good. The car was really good. The strategy was right. I just needed a much bigger number earlier. I had no idea we were going to run out (of fuel). If I didn’t get the numbers and attacked too hard too soon, it’s my fault. I was trying to put pressure on the two guys in front to run them out of fuel and probably not watching mine close enough.”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“It was a tough day for us. We just keep making the same mistakes that don’t help our races go forward. We need to look into what the issues have been and fix those because they’re obviously valuable points that we’re just throwing away. But Iowa is coming next, and we’re usually pretty strong there.”

Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

”It was a bit of a tough day for us. We were fighting tire degradation quite a bit. We kind of ended up on a strategy to save a bunch of fuel, and even with the fuel-save we were degging pretty hard. We lacked a bit of straight-line speed, which we’d done all weekend, but it seemed even worse in the race. We have to take a look at that and analyze it. The car didn’t have much pace, and I feel a top 10 was still pretty decent, but I’m not super stoked with the result.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

”We got a good start, and then there was a track blockage in Turn 1. I kept the engine running, but by the time the safety car got there and got everyone cleared out of the way, we went a lap down. Then we were a lap down the whole day, trying to get our lap back, but it never came. You’re always subject to that kind of thing when you start in the back. From there, it was just a day of attrition, and we couldn’t really do anything. It’s unfortunate, and it feels like a lost weekend, for sure.”

Gavin Ward, Race Director, Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“Overall a pretty disappointing day. It could have been a lot worse. The fueling issue on Pato’s car that we need to dig into to understand compromised his race. In the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, you need to be bulletproof, but you can’t change the past. All you can do is go from here. We are where we are, and we know we’ve got to be better. That’s what we’re going to focus on.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 20. Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“Unfortunately, too short of a day. I had a good start and was up alongside (Jack) Harvey. I am not really sure what happened as I haven’t yet reviewed the video, but I believe there was a penalty issued for avoidable contact. There were just a lot of cars in a very little amount of space and now we are leaving Toronto with nothing to show for our efforts. On to the doubleheader at Iowa.”

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“It’s been a tough year and to be in contention for somewhere around 8th, that would have been a really good result for us. Unfortunately, we just had that long pit stop. The guys do their best and we have really good stops, but we had some bad luck we couldn’t anticipate. We lost around 10 seconds and that was a bummer. I went all out afterward and gave it my all, we didn’t have much tire left at the end. Just a huge shoutout to my BITNILE.COM crew. We had a good car and the strategy was good. It was a tough one, but we definitely have some positives to take to the next race.”

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“We got caught up in that first-lap incident with just nowhere to go. A car in the wall spun in front of us and our teammate piled in behind us. It’s not his fault because he was in the same boat as I. Unfortunately when he got hit, he broke his gearbox so I couldn’t back up. That trapped us a lap down. We also had a completely crushed floor. We just really kind of maintained and survived today. To come home 17th today was the best we could have done.”

Benjamin Pedersen, No. 55 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“We had a really good start. Made good progress on the cars in front of us headed into Turn 1. There was unfortunately a crash on the exit of Turn 1 and just had nowhere to go. I came to a stop to avoid it and then got hit from behind. That damaged our gearbox and we weren’t able to get out of the gear we were in. Unfortunate ending. It was completely out of our control. I know a lot of cars were involved in that. Bittersweet. We had very good moments throughout the weekend where when we were able to get the car in the window, we were actually very quick. Sometimes within top-six pace. But we just struggled to get the car in the window the majority of the weekend. The speed is there when the car is in the window, but the big thing for us is just trying to have it like the other teams have. Onwards to Iowa. We know we’re consistently delivering when the car is there. We’re just trying to do our best to keep the car in the good window.”

Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing:

“I’m really, really happy. It’s my first time here with the team. We did a really good race and were really strong. We maximized everything. We battled with the top teams all the time. Honestly, a lot of teams having fuel (problems) was really, really crazy. But I’m really happy with P12 and really close to the top-10. For our performance, I’m really happy and really grateful for the whole team.”