Earlier today, Verizon IndyCar Series drivers Mike Conway and Sebastien Bourdais along with Verizon IndyCar Series team owner/driver Ed Carpenterparticipated in an INDYCAR Conference Call to preview the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Selected quotes from the availability are below.
Q. Mike, Coming off a win at Toronto and successful test last week at Mid-Ohio, what do you expect from the No. 20 team for the weekend?
MIKE CONWAY: It was good that we had a test day before the race, really gave us a chance to get through a good program that the engineers wanted to get through. We stuck with that all day. By the end of it, we had the car pretty dialed in. We were running in the top five all day. I was pretty happy with how the test went. I’m looking forward to getting back out on track with the car we ended up with. Looking forward to the weekend ahead.
Q. Ed, obviously not driving this weekend, but owner of Ed Carpenter Racing. The team has won three races in 2014. I’d assume the pairing with Mike Conway has worked well for you and the team. Is it something you’d like to continue doing in the future?
ED CARPENTER: Absolutely. It’s been a good year. I think to have three wins on the year, it’s hard not to be happy with that. I feel like as the year has gone on, we’re all getting used to this arrangement, getting to know Mike more, just the whole thing gets better and better all the time. As far as running this type of program where we’re splitting a car between Mike and me, it’s the best scenario.
Q. There are four races left. The No. 20 is sixth in the entrant points. Each of you has two starts left. Mike, what kind of goals do you have for Mid-Ohio and Sonoma?
MIKE CONWAY: I’m looking forward to getting some good results. I want to finish the road course program off strongly. I know we really kind of found some things at the Mid-Ohio test. I think we can look forward to hopefully a couple good weekends. I want to finish well. Looking forward to Ed kicking some butt on the two ovals as well, so it should be fun.
Q. Ed, the last two ovals of the year, Milwaukee and Fontana, you’ve had good success on in the past. Are you looking forward to getting the helmet back on?
ED CARPENTER: Always looking forward to that time. As much as anything, just looking to capitalize on the last four races, end the season on a high note. At this point hopefully four top fives. If we can do that, we’ll be in a good position to be in the top five in entrants, which I’ll be happy with.
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Q. Sebastien, coming off the win at Toronto and heading to places you’ve done well at historically, do you feel like you’re positioned to take the team back to Victory Lane before the season is over?
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Well, I sure hope so. It’s great to finally get a podium. It’s always better when you’re on top. But, you know, we went from no podiums, no poles to scoring both in one race weekend. It was pretty sweet and definitely all the guys have done a really good job. It’s starting to pay off. We’ve been knocking at the door since the beginning of the season. Hopefully we can get a couple more good results until the end of the season.
Q. Of the four tracks that are left, Fontana, Milwaukee, Mid-Ohio, Sonoma, is there one you’re looking forward to racing at more than any other?
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: No, not really. I mean, it’s four tracks that I really like. Like you said, I’ve enjoyed some success there. Mid-Ohio is a big challenge. It’s always very, very tight. A lot of the weekend is determined on how good the qualifying session goes. Then after that really it’s all about getting the car dialed in for Milwaukee where I’ve had everything, the worst car and the best car, have been terrible, have won the race. It’s a great challenge. Then Sonoma, I’ve been pretty fast in the past. We enjoyed a really interesting test in the winter over there. Obviously we qualified on the second row last year in Fontana and after a very good race. Looking forward to the end of the season, for sure.
Q. Knowing that you’re going to be back with the team for next season, not driving for I guess a job next year, does that give you more confidence in going to places like Sonoma and Milwaukee, Mid-Ohio?
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Well, it’s peace of mind, for sure. It’s also very important because we know we’re building something for next year. It’s a two-year deal. Hopefully it can last longer than that and we can be a force to be reckoned with in the future seasons. Really it’s great that right now we feel like every time we go somewhere, we try to do the best job we can, but we also try to prepare next year in a way that we always keep trying things.
Hopefully we’re building a database that will help us be more consistent next year.
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The next Verizon IndyCar Series event is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 3 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race will be televised live at 3 p.m. (ET) by the NBCSN (Verizon FiOS 90/590, DirecTV 220, DISH 159 and AT&T UVerse 640/1640) and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network (Local affiliates, XM 209 and Sirius 213), the Verizon INDYCAR 14 App and www.indycar.com.
