CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
IOWA INDYCAR 250S DOUBLEHEADER
IOWA SPEEDWAY
NEWTON, IOWA
TEAM CHEVY RACE 2 NOTES & QUOTES
JULY 18, 2020
TOP CHEVROLET UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
2rd WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
4th SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
6th OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Josef Newgarden (Chevrolet)
2nd Will Power (Chevrolet)
3rd Graham Rahal (Honda)
4th Simon Pagenaud (Chevrolet)
5th Scott Dixon (Honda)
Josef Newgarden conquerors Iowa Speedway for third time leading 214 of 250 laps; first driver to win at Iowa from pole Chevrolet drivers capture four of top-six finishing positions in sweep of Iowa doubleheader
NEWTON, IOWA – Josef Newgarden shook off the disappointment of an ill-timed caution during Race One on Friday night to take advantage of starting on the pole and finish in Victory Lane in tonight’s Race Two of the Iowa INDYCAR 250s.
Between the green flag and the checkered flag, the two-time and defending NTT INDYCAR Series champion, driving his favorite No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, led 214 of 250 laps to become a three-time winner and the first to win from the pole. His other victories at the .875-mile oval came in 2016 and 2019.
Following in Newgarden’s tire tracks at the finish was teammate Will Power. Power was credited with leading once for two laps behind the wheel of his familiar No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
Last night’s winner Simon Pagenaud, No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, who again was the last car on the starting grid, came home in fourth.
Giving Team Chevy four of the top-six finishers was Rookie-of-the-Year contender Oliver Askew finished sixth in his No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.
Graham Rahal (Honda) completed the podium.
Pagenaud leaves Iowa second in the standings, 49 points behind the leader.. Newgarden is third, followed by Pato O’Ward in fourth and Power in fifth,
The NTT INDYCAR Series season continues August 9th at 1:30 p.m. ET with the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in Lexington, Ohio. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, the INDYCAR Radio Network, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR MOBILE APP powered by NTT DATA.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Race Winner
AFTER LAST NIGHT, TO COME OUT HERE AND WIN THIS ONE FROM THE POLE, HOW GOOD DOES THIS ONE FEEL?
“It feels really good. I don’t know what we’ve got to do to keep the bad luck off of us, but hopefully this is a start. Our guys did an amazing job yesterday. I was so disappointed for them because I felt like they had the winning car. They put in the work and we just weren’t able to get rewarded for it. I was so determined to come back today. I think everyone was determined to come back and have a really good race. And we just ran hard. We ran hard all day. I’m so proud to be powered by Chevrolet. I felt like we had the package to beat: fuel mileage, durability, we had the power. And then to have Hitachi back on, they’ve been a good luck charm for us. Thanks to Hitachi. Thanks to everybody at Team Penske back at the shop. I’m just thrilled we were finally able to get this monkey off our back.”
YOU ARE THE FIRST DRIVER AT IOWA TO START ON POLE AND END UP IN VICTORY LANE. YOU MADE IT LOOK EASY
“I heard that stat. I don’t think I’ve been on pole here before. So, I was sitting there thinking you know, we can do that. I don’t know why we can’t convert from pole. It’s just kind of a silly stat, I guess, that’s kind of run through to this point. I knew we had speed. I felt totally confident. When Tim’s (Cindric) is on my stand and I have my guys doing pit stops, I have complete confidence we can win any race that we go into. That stat wasn’t bugging me.”
WHAT CAN THIS DO FOR YOU IN PROPELLING THIS TEAM FORWARD AS THE SEASON PROGRESSES?
“Well, we needed to. It would have been nice if we could have had a couple of the finishes where we thought we should have been. I think at Road America, we had a winning car on Saturday. I wasn’t able to secure that. We had a podium to slip away at the GP. I knew we needed a win and we need another one to come soon enough, too. It’s not going to be just one. We’ve got to be able to put consistent finishes on the board.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 2nd
AFTER A COUPLE OF ROUGH RACES, HOW GOOD DOES IT FEEL JUST TO PUT A SOLID NIGHT TOGETHER?
“Yeah, it feels good to have a solid day. I’ve got to thank Verizon and Chevy for all the support. And, yeah man, we would have loved to have the win, of course; but it’s seeming like if you did a good job in the series, you just get screwed. So, I’m glad for once we actually get a good result out of it. So, soldier on. I’m exhausted.”
WHAT’S THE STORY ON YOUR ICE BATH LAST NIGHT?
“It made me feel good. It’s so bloody hot in these cars now. Man, I’m going to need one after this one. I look forward to trying to have a good rest of the season. I don’t know what it is I have to do to have normal races like (Scott) Dixon and (Simon) Pagenaud. Even if those guys qualify last, they end up at the front. Maybe I just try less and be a much worse driver and I think I’ll do way better.”
WHATEVER IT TAKES, RIGHT?
“Yeah, that’s what it seems like.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 4rd
YOU ARE THE HARD-CHARGER FOR THE WEEKEND, NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT. WE’VE SEEN THE DRIVERS GET OUT OF THEIR CARS JUST EXHAUSTED. HOW EXTRA TOUGH WAS YOUR JOB AS MANY CARS AS YOU HAD TO PASS?
“Yeah, it was a tough weekend, and certainly a dramatic one. But we prevailed. I want to thank Team Penske and Menards and Chevy for giving me the horsepower going forward. We weren’t quite as hooked-up today. I’m not sure why. I actually think we went the wrong way in the adjustment in the pit stop and from then, we had to do quick speed stops, so we didn’t make any changes. Maybe we didn’t have the outright pace, but overall first and fourth is pretty good when you start last in both races. So, I’m pretty pleased with the results and it seems like the championship is shaping up, so it’s pretty exciting right now.”
AFTER QUALIFYING YESTERDAY, THE OUTLOOK WAS LIKELY MORE GRIM THAN OTHER WEEKENDS. SO, IS IT A FEELING OF RELIEF OR JUST SATISFACTION OVERALL THAT YOU GUYS WERE ABLE TO DO WHAT YOU DID THIS WEEKEND?
“Well, it’s satisfaction from a preparation standpoint. We just showed everybody in the paddock that you have to count on us no matter what happens. So, that’s the mark of a champion team. And, that’s what you want to do. That’s what you want to show every weekend. You want people to fear you. I’m pretty sure they feared us today. We’ll re-group again and go to Mid-Ohio.”
OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 6th
A THIRD AND A SIXTH AT A PLACE THAT HAS BEEN DEEMED CHALLENGING, BUT YOU TOOK TO IT LIKE A DUCK TO WATER. HOW DID YOU FIGURE IT OUT?
“Yeah, you can’t complain about two top-10’s and especially our first podium after yesterday. It was hard to sleep after all the adrenalin. But we just had to focus and get back to it today. I was really proud of everyone at Arrow McLaren SP and Chevrolet and everybody involved with this team. I know Pato (O’Ward) had a really good shot there at a podium and a win, so we’re definitely on the right track. Two podiums in two race weekends for us with really quick cars. I’m just really looking forward to the next couple of races. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going and really have a good run at the rookie of the year championship.”
TONY KANAAN, NO 14 BRYANT AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 11th
“All in all, I think it was a positive weekend for us. We definitely have a much more competitive car. We’ve been running in the top 10 every single race with one of these cars, so really happy. Very emotional weekend for me yesterday giving the command. It was kinda like, I never had done that, so it was kind of mixed feelings and it was really cool to do it, but also it’s something really coming to an end. Today we had a great race. We ran in the top eight all day long. The tire strategy we played a little bit of a gamble and it worked so I was really happy. I was a lot more comfortable today in the car. You know, doing this race is like one weekend, four weekends off…it’s kinda weird to me. I’ve done 17 races in a row for 23 years so I think this is a good lead for Indy. We’re going to have a normal “Month of August” in Indy, so I’ll be in the car every day so hopefully we’ll go for the big win because that’s what my boss wants. Thanks to Bryant, Firestone, Chevy and the whole Foyt team for the opportunity. Let’s go to Indy!”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 12th
“Yesterday, I think we started off the weekend well. In the second race, the best way to sum it up is ‘what could have been.’ We had the pace, we were strong, I made up positions to be fighting at the front. In the end, it was not meant to be for us, but we’re going to continue pushing to finish strong at Mid-Ohio.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET – Finished 13th
“Tough night for us. The No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet was really strong all race and even after we came out on the wrong side of Ed’s yellow, we were still pushing up at the front running pretty consistently in the top three. We made a strategy call there at the end to stay out under the yellow and wait to take tires until about 35 to go. Unfortunately, in tonight’s race it just wasn’t the right strategy and we didn’t move forward like we thought we would. I’m gutted for the team because the car was great and had serious podium potential, but we just had some bad luck. Obviously I’m still feeling good about our pole from yesterday, but it would’ve been really nice to come away with a top-three finish this weekend.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 16th
“Another tough night here at Iowa Speedway for the No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet. The guys did a great job in pit lane – they’ve done that all year. It’s nice to rely on that coming down pit lane to pick up ties and spots, but we just struggled a little bit. I struggled with grip. I struggled with balance. Felt like I drove pretty hard, but we had a lot to learn and a lot to look at heading into the next race at Mid-Ohio and the big one at Indy.”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 17th
“Yesterday, the car felt amazing. I could pass whenever I wanted and tires would stay good for a long time, at least 80 laps. I struggled with that tonight. I just didn’t have the pace to charge through the field. Still, we were doing well, closing back in on the Top 10 after a bad start. Then, at the second pit stop, the car got down on the ground with three wheels on it. We had trouble restarting the car and lost about three laps. That was a bummer. We are very unlucky at the moment, but let’s hope it will switch around soon. Mid-Ohio is coming up soon and that’s been a good track for me. I’ve won races and had a very good test with ECR last year, so I can’t wait to try again there.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Contact with the wall; sidelined on Lap 113 – Finished 23rd
“I caught a group of guys that were stacked up two-wide in front of me. I had Charlie (Kimball) on the inside and I just went into Turn 1 a little too hard. I got more understeer than I thought, got up into the marbles and couldn’t get it back. I am so disappointed that I made that mistake. The U.S. Air Force Chevrolet was really hooked up tonight. We struggled so much last night but felt like we really showed something tonight. I’m not sure what hurts worst, the poor performance last night or messing up a good result tonight. On to the next one.”
About Chevrolet
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