PATO O’WARD SCORES PODIUM FINISH
TEAM CHEVY RACE ONE RECAP
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 DOUBLEHEADER
PRESENTED BY AXALTA & VALVOLINE
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY
MADISON, ILLINOIS
AUGUST 29, 2020
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
3rd PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET
6th RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET
9th TONY KANAAN, NO 14 BIG MACHINE VODKA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET
10th CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET
12th JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
13th CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET
14th OLIVER ASKEW NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET
17th WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
19th SIMON PEGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
20th ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1ST Scott Dixon (Honda)
2nd Takuma Sato (Honda)
3rd Pato O’Ward (Chevrolet
4th Colton Herta (Honda)
5th Marcus Ericsson (Honda)
PATO O’WARD TURNS FRONT ROW START INTO PODIUM FINISH
As the 21 year old Pato O’Ward continues his inaugural season behind the wheel of his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, he also continues to move closer and closer to his first win. Starting on the outside of the front row, O’Ward led a race-high 94 laps to finish third in Race One of the Doubleheader weekend. O’Ward will start Race Two from the second row with another opportunity to get that first trip to NTT INDYCAR Series Victory Lane.
After a multi-car crash that eliminated several contenders including Team Chevy’s Ed Carpenter and Simon Pagenaud, and a short delay for light rain, the 200 lap race was caution-free as the battle for the Championship ratcheted up to incredible competition.
Rookie Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Sonax Ed Carpenter Racing C hevrolet, was the highest finishing rookie in the race. Tony Kanaan, No. 14 Big Machine Vodka and Conor Daly,, No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet finished ninth and 10th respectively to give Chevy four of the top-10.
The NTT IndyCar Series season continues on Sunday, August 30th, with Race #2 of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Doubleheader at World Wide Technology Raceway. NBCSN will telecast the event at 3:00 p.m.ET. Live coverage can also be found on Pennzoil INDYCAR Radio Network affiliates, Sirius 211, XM 205, IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. Live coverage of NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying is available on XM 205, IndyCar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 3rd
“I thought we had very strong pace all race. We rolled out of the gates with this Arrow McLaren No. 5 Chevrolet very strong. The guys gave me a very, very strong car right off the bat. It was very consistent throughout the run. But, in the end, I don’t know what these guys do; but (Scott) Dixon obviously got in front of us in the pits and then he left us. And then when I saw Taku (Sato) coming by, I didn’t think he had so much more pace than us. But as soon as he passed us, left us. I was kind of in a race on my own then towards the end trying to defend from (Colton) Herta and Marcus (Ericsson) that was behind him. But we got some very solid points for the championship. We’ll be working for that win tomorrow. Hopefully we can be fighting for it closer to the end of the race.”
WHERE ARE YOU AT NOW COMPARED TO THIS TIME LAST YEAR?
“I think we’re in a fantastic place. I really owe a lot to this Arrow McLaren SP group. They are the ones that gave me the chance. They are the ones that believed in me and ultimately gave me a chance to showcase and to push forward with what we can do. And I truly think we can achieve great things. We’re working on it. But Dixie and Sato, they’ve been in the series so long and they are guys that are not easy to beat. So, we’re just going to keep working at it and I’m sure our win will come, and we just have to keep adding on points. In the end, every point is gold.”
WHAT DID YOU LEARN TODAY THAT MIGHT HELP YOU GET THAT FIRST WIN TOMORROW?
“I think just fine-tune the car a little bit and try to get it a bit more into a window where it can be a little bit easier to drive, especially in the end when you’re really pushing. But you know, I was pretty happy out there. I think we ran a very solid race. Just toward the end is where we kind of just have to look back and really see what happened because I truly thought we had a great pit stop. We had a good in-and-out lap. But apparently, it wasn’t good enough.”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET- Finished 6th:
“Stellar race! We were on our way to the podium I think, but that yellow kind of screwed me. I kept my chin up and had a great car to make passes with! The No. 21 SONAX Chevrolet was great in the second lane when there were no marbles. I’ve learned luck really isn’t our thing, but we did the best we could with the circumstances. It did get a little sketchy on the last run, I almost lost it a few times! It was 200 laps of experience today and some good points. I’m very happy and I am looking forward to tomorrow!”
TONY KANAAN, NO 14 BIG MACHINE VODKA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 9th:
“Very good result for us. Best result for the team this year. Obviously this place, I had a podium here last year. We have one more tomorrow. Awesome, awesome result. The guys had good pitstops. Thanks to Big Machine Vodka for the help and nice to see some fans in the stands too. Emotional day for me — one more day, so I’ll see if I can sleep tonight. Good day for us.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET – Finished 10th:
“I think we had a great car today in the race with the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet. Qualifying was a bit confusing for us. We aren’t really sure where our pace went, but once we got to the race we were fantastic, strong, and able to pass cars. The rain was a huge factor for us – no idea where that came from. We were making all the right strategy calls and decided to pit a little early to undercut Colton. When we came out of the pits we ran the three fastest laps of the race at that point and then unfortunately there was the yellow for the rain. It just absolutely killed our race and from then on we were really just trying to recover. We were able to still finish in the top 10 which is great for us, but I really think without the rain we could’ve been on the podium or at least in the top five since we were faster than Colton who finished fourth. Thankfully we know we have a fast car and we get another chance tomorrow to do it again.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 12th:
“That was a frustrating race for the Hitachi team. That caution came out totally at the wrong time and we lost all of our track position and everything we’d worked for up to that point. The team had great stops and we gained some positions on each of our first two pit stops. I think without the caution, we would have cycled out in the right position and been up there in the top-three and got to battle it out. Instead, the caution ruined our day and we were just fighting from behind. The Hitachi car was good and Chevy brought some great power. Just nothing you can do when the caution falls. This just makes me more hungry to go out there tomorrow and win the race.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 13th:
“I feel pretty good about the race for the No. 4 Tresiba Chevrolet. Went off strategy early, it paid off with the yellow for the little bit of rain, got some track position and was able to hold that track position. On that last stop, the 14 and the 4, we kind of split strategies so it felt really good to see them come in the top 10. We didn’t quite get the top 10 that was there but had the yellow fallen right, we’d have had a really good result. Great strategy, great pitstops all day long. We’ll figure out how to make the car better overnight and do it again tomorrow.”
OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – Finished 14th:
“A really rough start today. Everyone seemed to check up in front of me in the midfield and made some contact with the front wing. Luckily the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet crew were able to replace the wing and keep me on the lead lap. Our race was compromised from the start, but we salvaged what we could. I’m looking forward to tomorrow with a better starting position.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 17th:
“That was not the race that Verizon, Chevrolet or my team deserved out there today. Our car was pretty good. It was really hard to get close to guys and hard to pass when you got around them. A lot of us were just running the same speed. So when its like that, its all about track position and we lost ours with that caution. The race was over after that. Then we had a tire go down and that was that. We just have to go back after it tomorrow at this point.”
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Finished 19th:
“Definitely not fun out there. I just feel sorry for Chevy and for Menards. I think we had a good car today and never even got a chance to really test it for tomorrow. That was a little too much excitement for the start of the race at the back. The front of the pack slowed down, I don’t know if it was the accordion affect or whatever that was. We had to pull out of line and all of a sudden someone hit us from behind. It is what it is, but it’s very unfortunate. You aren’t going to win the race in the first corner. People just need to be more patient. We’ll be back tomorrow.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – Finished 20th:
“I am pretty bummed out. Second race in a row that I’ve been representing one of the Forces, the U.S. Air Force this weekend. I was basically out of the race before it started, also for the second race in a row. Zach Veach is the current theme right now. He obviously didn’t see the yellow flag or the bright yellow car spinning on the track.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
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