CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
INDYCAR GRAND PRIX AT THE GLEN
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE NOTES, QUOTES & RECAP
SEPTEMBER 3, 2017
WATKINS GLEN, NY (SEPTEMBER 3, 2017) – As has been the case in the Verizon Verizon IndyCar Series since Chevrolet rejoined the Series in 2012 the Driver/Team as well as Manufacturer championships will come down to the season-ending race at Sonoma Raceway. Josef Newgarden came into the Grand Prix at the Glen with a 31-point lead in the standings in his quest for his first Series’ championship.
But exiting the pits after final pit stop on lap 46 of the 60-lap race, the driver of the No. 2 DeVillbiss Team Penske Chevrolet made contact with the pitlane barrier sustaining damage that required several trips down pit lane to repair the damage. He was scored with an 18th place finish and heads to the GOPRO Grand Prix of Sonoma with a three-point lead.
With a fourth-place finish, Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, remains third in the standings as he battles for his first title. Sunday’s result allowed him to cut the deficient to Newgarden down to 22 points.
The two remaining Team Penske drivers remain in the hunt for the title with one race remaining. Defending Series’ champion Simon Pagenaud, No. 1 Menards Chevrolet, is fourth in the points order with his ninth place finish. Will Power, 2014 champion piloting the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet, remained fifth in points with a sixth-place finish in today’s race around the 3.37-mile/11-turn permanent road course.
Carlos Munoz brought the No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet to the checkered flag in 10th position to give the Chevrolet 2.2 liter V6 four of the top-10 finishers in Chevrolet’s 100th race in the Series.
Chevrolet continues to lead the 2017 Manufacturer Championship battle as the season winds to a close in two weeks.
Other Team Chevy drivers finished as follows:
Conor Daly, No. 4 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet — 11th
Spencer Pigot, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet — 12th
JR Hildebrand, No., No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet — 15th
Alexander Rossi (race winner), Scott Dixon and Ryan Hunter-Reay were the podium finishers.
The final race of the 2017 season-GOPRO Grand Prix of Sonoma-will be Sunday, September 17, 2017 at Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma California.
DRIVER QUOTES:
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED FOURTH: “The Hitachi Chevy was so awesome today and it was a great job by the No. 3 car guys. We were really fast out there – it’s been a long time since I was able to go flat out through the carousel in the race but we were doing that today. We had some issues on the black Firestone tires but we were able to recover and really pushed hard there to finish fourth. I feel really bad for Josef with his incident – it’s unfortunate for the team but it’s mixed feelings for me because it tightens up the championship. We definitely have a good chance heading into Sonoma and I feel really good about our setup there. We’ll be ready to go for it and finish strong.”
RADIO AND TV: “It was a very good day at the office. It was definitely good fun and a good battle. The Hitachi Chevy was really strong. It has been quite a long time since I haven’t gone flat-out in the Carousel, so that was a lot of fun. I don’t know if we had a little more drag or if the Hondas were too strong but it was really difficult to keep up with those guys. We were pushing really hard. It’s a shame what happened to Josef. Obviously it’s mixed feelings because I’m in the battle for the championships, but at the same way I wouldn’t want that to happen. The good news is that Sonoma is a good place for Team Penske so we’ll do whatever we can to bring this home.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED SIXTH: “It was just an up and down day for the Verizon Chevrolet group. There were times the car was really fast, but that first set of tires didn’t agree with the car at all. I thought the car was broken. It wouldn’t do anything I wanted it to. After that, it was good. I can’t be unhappy about sixth. I don’t know what kind of legitimate chance at the championship I have, but stranger things have happened, I guess. We’ll go to Sonoma and give it everything we have.”
RADIO AND TV: “The Verizon crew were really quick on pitlane. Having putout also helped. It was very messy stuff. It’s like there was something wrong with the tires I had compared to the warmup but lost a lot of positions. So we fought all day. Sixth is a reasonable day.”
DID YOU HAVE THE FULL WET/HIGH-DOWNFORCE SETUP? “Yes, it was pretty much a wet setup… a little less drag than Simon. I think everyone was pretty heavy. I didn’t see anyone motoring by people. It was a real gamble. It looked like weather was coming.”
WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET GOING INTO SONOMA? “We need the team to win the championship, and if winning the race helps then I’ll absolutely do that! We’ll focus and see what we get. It’s a very tough championship and any win you get these days is pretty special.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 1 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED NINTH: “We fought for the best finish we could today in the Menards Chevrolet. We were really prepared for a wet race and if it would have been run in the rain I think we would have been tough to beat. But we just had too much downforce to run in the dry and make up the ground we needed to. Still, everyone on the team did a good job to finish ninth and we come out of Watkins Glen still in the hunt for the championship. We know what it takes to win at Sonoma and that’s what we’ll be fighting for next week.”
RADIO AND TV: “The rain didn’t come so we were a little slow on the straightaway. At every restart, I was losing a lot of positions. But we had a lot of pace in the car despite that and salvaged a ninth out of it. We are in the hunt for the championship going into Sonoma. It’s a good track for us. We had a great weekend last year. Anything is possible!”
CARLOS MUNOZ, NO. 14 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 10TH: “The race was good. We did have a little problem and we lost some positions on one stop. The first stint was really good on the reds. We had intermediate setup so it was a compromise in case it rained but we never had rain in the race which we were expecting. There was more downforce so it was slower on the straights. We have another top 10 – I think that’s three in a row so we have to continue to do that.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 4 ABC SUPPLY AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11TH: “I was really happy with our car today—it was a really good race car. We found ourselves slightly short in 6th gear so I couldn’t make the moves I’d like to. I feel like we should have finished higher but we did the best we could with what we had and made good adjustments during the race. It was a decent result
SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET,FINISHED 12TH: “It was an up and down race for us! We were near the back, other times we were near the front and at one point we were leading. It just flip-flopped throughout the race. I made a mistake at the beginning and spun, dropping us to the back. Then, on the pit stop sequence, we were able to leapfrog the field. It was nice to lead a few laps! I had to top off on fuel and get a new set of tires towards the end, which put us near the back for the final start. We got a few positions back, but overall I thought we would be able to finish a bit higher up. Thanks to the Fuzzy’s guys in the pit lane for doing a great job!”
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 21 FUZZY’S VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 15TH: “We had set the car up really banking on rain coming at some point and it just never did! We didn’t have the straight-line speed to hang with as many restarts as there were, so we almost needed some rain. Frankly, I’m actually happy we were able to hang as tough as we did on those restarts. If the weather conditions had been like what was forecasted, it would have been the right call. It’s nobody’s fault! We tried to make some strategy work and it just didn’t end up panning out. I’m proud of my Fuzzy’s Vodka guys for pushing through what’s been a tough weekend. We’ll look back on it and learn some things and now we look forward to the final race of the year in Sonoma.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 DEVILLBISS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH: “It was kind of an eventful day for the DeVilbiss Chevrolet team. I felt like we were in a good position until that final pit stop. No excuse for it. It was my fault. I saw Will (Power) leave right in front of us and I just locked it up and slid over into the wall. Then (Bourdais) got into the back of me. It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing I can do about it. We’ll go to Sonoma in a couple of weeks and race for it.”
RADIO AND TV: “Obviously it didn’t go very well. I messed it up there at the beginning of the (last regular) stop sliding too far into the box for my guys, so I didn’t give them an easy time. We didn’t have a good stop because of it. A lot of that is on me. Exiting the pits, I thought we had gotten by Will. He clicked the button earlier and I made a mistake leaving and just locked up. I touched the guardrail and then got slammed into. It was a couple of mistakes back-to-back, which isn’t where we didn’t want to be. This team is resilient; they gave me what I needed today. We just have to go to Sonoma and see what we can do.”
DO YOU LEAVE HERE WONDERING ‘WHAT IF?’: “This day could have gone many ways. We thought it was going to do something different with the weather and took a gamble; I don’t know if it was a gamble. We just chose one direction, and it wasn’t the direction we needed. It’s tough to make those calls. We did the best we could to choose one way or the other. Today it didn’t work out.”
YOU LEAVE HERE WITH A THREE-POINT ADVANTAGE: “We can make our own destiny. Going to Sonoma, you want to do that. I wish we could have had a bigger cushion, but I think we all knew it was going to come down to this final race.”
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