CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES

INDIANAPOLIS 500

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

TEAM CHEVY RACE REPORT

MAY 26, 2024

JOSEF NEWGARDEN AND TEAM PENSKE CAPTURE BACK-TO-BACK INDIANAPOLIS 500 VICTORIES WITH CHEVROLET POWER

• Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske Chevrolet, captured back-to-back victories in a stunning weather-delayed Indianapolis 500.
• Newgarden’s win at Indianapolis is Team Chevy’s 13th at Indianapolis, and sixth in the 2.2-liter twin turbo direct injected V6 era since 2012.
• Leading 26 laps in total, Newgarden captured his second career Indianapolis 500 win while also claiming Chevrolet’s 114th win in the V6 era overall since 2012.  
• Chevrolet led 177 of 200 laps in today’s 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
• Newgarden’s repeat win is the first in 22 years after Helio Castroneves last captured back-to-back wins in 2001 and 2002 at Indianapolis.  

INDIANAPOLIS (May 26, 2024) – In what proved to be both stunning and chaotic, Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske Chevrolet, took the checkered flag for his second Indianapolis 500 victory back-to-back, as well as Chevrolet’s 13th in race history.

After a four-hour rain-delayed start that saw the green flag drop late afternoon, the 200-lap event started chaotically, adding drama to the culmination of the month of May with many on-track incidents. Battling it out to the end, Newgarden, Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, and Alexander Rossi, driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, put on a show for the fans, with Newgarden ultimately coming out on top to take the thriller of a victory.

“Congratulations to Josef and the No. 2 Penske team on winning back-to-back at the Indianapolis 500,” said Mark Reuss, President, General Motors. “What an incredible accomplishment. I’m so happy to see Roger get his 20th win here. Chevrolet engineering, our partners at Ilmor and race teams worked hard in the off-season to prepare for the 2024 Indy 500. They delivered power, speed and performance all month long.”

Newgarden’s repeat victory at Indianapolis is the first in 22 years, with Helio Castroneves racing to back-to-back victories last in 2001 and 2002.

“We just had an incredible car,” said Newgarden. “I got just a little out of position at lap 150; we were restarting eighth. I don’t think I got that sequencing correct. I really thought I went too soon, and then tried to back up and then put us in a hole. JD came over the radio and said you’re going to have to win this the old fashion way, I can’t help you. There’s not going to be stops, not going to fuel. So, I just went for it. I said alright, the car was good enough. You guys have done your job, let me drive to the front. They backed me the entire way. You can’t win this race without a great car. This is the best car in the field, I think, today. Hat’s off to the team.”

With Newgarden’s victory at Indianapolis, Chevrolet now has 114 in the V6 era since 2012, as well as 314 podium finishes.

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES next heads to General Motors’ hometown, racing on the Streets of Detroit in the Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit May 31-June 2 in the shadows of the Renaissance Center. Motoring around the 1.645-mile Motor City circuit, action airs live Sunday on USA Network at 12 p.m. ET. Additional coverage can be found on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM Channel 160.

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 RACE RESULT:

Pos.  Driver

1st     Josef Newgarden

2nd    Pato O’Ward

4th     Alexander Rossi

6th     Scott McLaughlin

8th     Santino Ferrucci

9th     Rinus VeeKay

10th   Conor Daly

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WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:

“Real proud of the team today, solid effort all around. It’s been a far from perfect month of May. This was definitely one of the most difficult months of May I’ve had in my six years at this place with the least amount of track time. But we made history today with six top 10s in a row from my rookie start, we raised hopefully over $4 million for our charity Homes For Our Troops which is impressive and that means more than anything else. I think we look back on this month as a whole to understand how we could have been better, try and learn and come back next year to compete to win again. Our teammate Sting Ray did an incredible job leading the race, no easy feat especially in his second year. He looked good and did a helluva job to come up from where he did and nearly get in the top 15. It’s great momentum for the 41 car and all of the boys. They really needed that because they had a rocky start this year.”

Sting Ray Robb, No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:

“I don’t know what to say about the day. I think that was the most fun I’ve had in a race car today on an oval. The team did such a good job on the stops. I went long on one but they kept it together. Great stops all day, great strategy. That last yellow, if it wasn’t for that I think we would have been fighting for the win. I’m so proud of these guys, I thought we were the car to beat out there. It feels so good. I’m so happy. Goodheart has been with us for five years – the first dog (referring to the No. 41 livery) to cross the start/finish line in the lead in the Indy 500 so huge thank you to them for sticking with us and getting the rewards for it. Pray.com was a new partner this year and we wouldn’t be here without them so I’m grateful that they’re a part of this I love our brands, our partners and I want more to join the ride so they can experience this with us. “

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

“I am proud of the work we did today. We recovered. We went back, we went forward, we went back. Some people were just driving like maniacs. We had so many near race-enders. Just so close again, so close. I put that car through things I never thought it was going to be able to do. Sometimes I said ‘Ah, that’s it.’ Somehow, I came out the other side of the corner. It is just so painful when you put so much into it and then you are two corners short. This place, it owes me nothing. I would have much rather finished the race rather than compared last year, but it’s always a heartbreak when you are so close, especially when it’s not the first time. You just don’t know how many opportunities you like that you have. You just have to do the same thing again, keep on getting better and see if we fall on the right side next time.”

Callum Ilott, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“What a tough afternoon. We suffered an early issue with the weight jacker, which set us back at the start. I then had to change the steering wheel in the pitstop before the race and do a reset of the car. We got going and worked our way into a good position, but unfortunately in the next yellow, I had to do an on-and-off reset, which lost me all the places I gained.

“We kept working hard and added front wing to the car to get the balance back. I came into the pits with a good strategy and got hit from behind, but I luckily managed to avoid other cars in pit lane. It got challenging at the end and there wasn’t much stacking up, but it’s not a bad effort for the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet considering all the things we had to deal with today. I want to say thank you for all the support from the fans, partners and team this May. It’s been a pleasure to drive for Arrow McLaren.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“It was a great effort by the whole team at Arrow McLaren throughout this month. It’s just really hard when you come away from this event thinking you wouldn’t have changed anything, and the result still isn’t there. Looking back, there’s nothing in this month that I would have done differently. The No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet car was great, and when you can’t win with that, it’s tough.”

Kyle Larson, No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“I would definitely love to be back next year. I feel like I learned a lot throughout the race. I made a couple mistakes early there with the restart. Not sure what I wrong did there but somehow got myself into third. I felt like I did a really good job on the restarts and learned a lot. Definitely feel good about knowing what I would need different for the balance when I come back to help runs and stuff. Then obviously I smoked the left front or something on a green flag stop and killed our opportunity. Proud to finish but pretty upset at myself. Just could have executed a better race. You never know what could happen. Bummed at myself, but huge thank you to Arrow McLaren, Hendrick Motorsports, Hendrick Automotive Group, Rick Hendrick, Chevrolet, Valvoline, everybody that’s a part of this. We’ll go hop on the jet and see if I can get into the 600 somehow.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet:

“It was unfortunate to get taken out there in a pretty unnecessary move. What I think was a pretty dirty move. Ultimately, Dixon, who we were running with ran up front at the end so potentially we could have been there for the fight at the end. We had a hard time at the beginning of the race with a big imbalance. From there, we just continued to add on the stops, front wing, make the balance better. But all in all, it was a tough day. We were up against it, unfortunately got taken out. This team has done a fantastic job, a top-12. I honestly know what I need in this car coming back next year and hope we have the chance to do that.”

Conor Daly, No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet:

“Honestly, I’m super pumped. Biggest mover, love to see that. Thankful for Polkadot and Chevrolet for working with us. We had some trials and tribulations over the last week and a half. We knew we were faster than where we started and we proved it. We got up front thanks to great strategy from Dennis and the boys. I love running at the front of this race. I love running with the true professionals up there. The McLaughlins of the world, the Josefs of the world, if we just make one move in the pit lane right at the end, we’re in a better spot. We were lacking maybe just a little bit of speed but that was the first time we ran with that group all month. We weren’t really sure what to expect. I think for what we had, for the amount of time together in this car, we have to be super proud of that. Another top-10 finish and for me here, that’s super cool.”

Dennis Reinbold, Team Owner of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing:

“We were in the mix all day long. It felt good to be up front for most of the running. Conor (Daly) did a great job. All the crew. Our pit stops were really, really strong all day, and that allowed us to go from where we started up to 10th. We were positioned to be even better than that at about three-fourths of this race. I thought we had a really good shot at winning. It just got tough at the end, and we shook out in a restart and got pushed back a little bit on track. It was tight racing. That’s what happens. It was difficult to get spots back at the end. Everyone was running kind of identical laps except for the lead two cars, it looked like. We have finished three of the four races here in the top-10 with the exception being 11th, so we do feel we come here to be able to win. We were definitely in the mix for that today. It was truly a team effort all day long. With the No. 24 car, we’re disappointed with what happened with Ryan (Hunter-Reay). He fell back a little bit, and then they were going to work on the car and be able to get him in the same spot, I think. He would have been right there vying for a top-10 at the end, so anything can happen at the end of this. The top-10 cars were very equal, and anything can happen. If we would have found ourselves cycling through on pit stops, to be in the top-two cars, we would have duked it out with whoever would’ve been up there with us in that group.”

Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:

“It was one of those days that at times I was happy with the car and sometimes wasn’t. We just weren’t good enough and behind on speed with all of our cars in comparison to what we have done in the past. The team did a great job all month. I am disappointed in our result. There are things that we could have done better today across the board. It just wasn’t our day and sometimes that just happens. After 21 years, I would much prefer a different outcome. Christian (Rasmussen) did a really nice job.

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:

“Today was tough and a long race. Compared to year’s past, I struggled to stack up and make passes like other guys were doing. I was trying hard to. We did receive a penalty that doesn’t fully make sense, but we drove back through the field and were leading at one point. We maximized everything today and it was sketchy out there. We could have finished a few positions higher, but if that means washing out towards the wall and losing momentum, I wouldn’t be mad at that. I tried everything I could and was as aggressive as I could. My mindset before the race was try everything I could and I really think we did that. I am happy and it is a solid result. The No. 21 team had great pitstops today and I am really proud of their effort this month.”

Christian Rasmussen, No. 33 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:

“Today was amazing. The car was on rails. I felt so comfortable right away running in traffic and doing everything I needed to do. Moving up to 12th from starting 24th was pretty good. I hung back when I needed to and made moves when I needed to. We had a damn strong finish today.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:

“I just gave it my all, all month. It’s just emotionally draining. Unfortunately, that’s my best run and I’m upset about it obviously. You’re a competitor. But Team Penske won and that’s the main thing. Congrats to Josef (Newgarden) and his No. 2 team. Great for Shell, great for Pennzoil. This place just kicks your butt and you’ve got to come back stronger next year.”