CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
MEDIA DAY – TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS GROUP TWO
MAY 27, 2021
SELECTED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FROM THE SEVEN TEAM CHEVY INDYCAR DRIVERS IN GROUP THREE OF MEDIA DAY ROTATION:
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 16 ROCKET PRO/PARETTA AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET:
HOW HAS THE MONTH OF MAY GONE FOR YOU AND PARETTA AUTOSPORT?
“It’s good to be back. We’ve had a lot of interesting scenarios and definitely a bit of interesting qualifying, and that just show what IMS can do to you. Super happy to be back in the show and be racing this weekend.”
HOW STRESSFUL WAS SUNDAY FOR YOU?
“It was stressful in the sense because you knew you had just that one shot; you had to get it done. If you crash or you lift, you’re not going to make the race, so that was a bit stressful. The team put so much work into it and me as well coming back after six years I really wanted to be in the field. That was definitely a bit of pressure, but happy the run went OK, and we made the show.”
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS SUNDAY STARTING FROM THE 33RD STARTING POSITION?
“We don’t have pressure from behind, so moving forward is what we need to do. I think we have a really strong race car and I’m excited about it. I think the team is amazing, they are really on top of it with the pit stops as well. It’s a long race and we just need to execute all the things we can control and hopefully and luck is on our side and we can finish strong.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY EXPECTATIONS?
“I think the first thing is we need to finish. I think we have the potential to be in the top 10 and that’s what we’re aiming for. You want to win this race and maybe things fall our way. We have our work cut out for us, but we’ll try to execute the best we can and be there at the end. I’m confident with the race car I have and I’m looking forward to Sunday.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:
HOW HAS THE MONTH GONE FOR YOU?
“I thought we had a car to get into the Fast Nine, but we didn’t get a second turn to go. We’re starting on the outside of Row 4. Not a bad place to start. I feel like my race car has been solid. My Chevy has been good to me so far. I think we’ve been doing a good job with what we have. I just want to start the race already.”
HOW SIMILAR ARE THE THREE CARS AT ARROW MCLAREN SP?
“Felix (Rosenqvist) and I are similar, and Juan Pablo (Montoya) is completely different, and he went his own way. I feel strong in the race car. We’ll be in a good place.”
HYPOTEHTICALLY, YOU WIN THE 500. WHERE DOES THE FIRST MILLION DOLLARS GO?
“I’d probably buy myself something as a present. Not quite sure. Whenever I get to having that problem, I will choose.”
FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:
HOW HAVE THINGS PROGRESSES THIS MONTH FOR YOU AND THE NO. 7 TEAM?
“It’s been a lot calmer than my previous ones, I think. I’ve learned how to handle the month a little bit to my benefit, take it one day at a time and not get too stressed about it. It doesn’t help you to think that it’s the biggest race in the world. You do what you can.”
WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE HAVING JUAN PABLO (MONTOYA) WORKING WITH YOU THIS MONTH?
“It’s been fun. He cracks me up. Having him and Pato (O’Ward) as my teammates, it’s definitely not a quiet time at any point. It makes the days pass faster. Technically, Juan Pablo is very experienced. He knows what he wants from the car and will say it. It’s a good learning experience for me and Pato as well. You can always make the car better and that’s Juan’s mentality for the whole month. And he’s been looking good out there, and that pushes us as well. We obviously want to beat him on track, but we’re working very good together.”
HOW HAS JUAN BEING WITH THE TEAM HELP YOU FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON?
“He did the GP with us, which was helpful because our performance on the road courses as a team has been up and down, a bit hit and miss. There’s just no testing for us and when we try something it’s a big risk. To have Juan Pablo there and give his feedback with his experience that really lined us up in a good direction. I’m not the one to decide, but he’d be welcome to join us for the whole season.”
HOW DO YOU PREPARE YOUR MIND FOR SUNDAY?
“I certainly haven’t been topping any practice times, but I think where you place is practice is kind of overrated. I think all three of us have been good in traffic and have bene working hard on our car in traffic. I think as a team we’re up there with others. We’re focusing on ourselves. If I’ve been in the shadows on the time sheet, I think that’s a good thing because we can surprise a few people on Sunday. That’s when it all counts.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 47 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR FIGHTER JET FOR SUNDAY?
“I feel great and the car is incredible. This is probably the most confident I’ve been before the race. I’ve had a great time. The car has been enjoyable to drive. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s been kind of the moto we’ve been going with, but we’ve always made a couple of changes that we think can help.”
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR SUNDAY?
“We’re going forward. We have an incredible race car. If it’s cold, I’ll feel even better. I said at the beginning of practice week that if it’s cold for the race we’re going to have a pretty serious machine. Who knows what will happen on Sunday, but we just have to get through there with no mistakes and be there for the last 20 laps.”
YOU SEEM VERY RELAXED.
“I just try to be me, and I’ve had a really great time these last two weeks and enjoy being at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and having a great car. I think when you feel like you have a really good car underneath you, everything in life seems to be much happier. It’s amazing how car performance leads to happier life. It’s been fun.”
LAST LAP, DO YOU WANT TO BE FIRST OR SECOND OR THIRD?
“I’d say second for us. Our car tows up really well. If there’s anyone in front of me, I think we have the ability to get that magic run out of Turn Four that you want, that we’ve seen happen before. I think that we have an incredibly efficient car when it’s in the draft. Second place out of Turn Four and let’s have a drag race to the line.”
DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE INSULATORS/AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET:
DO YOU HAVE ANY PERSONAL EXPECTATIONS FOR SUNDAY?
“The main thing for me Sunday is focusing corner by corner, lap by lap; focusing on driving. We all want to win but it doesn’t help me to focus on that. You have to drive the race.”
IT’S YOUR SECOND 500, HOW IS IT DIFFERENT?
“It’s so great to be here at IMS and have the fans back. I’ve been focusing on the race car and we had quite the drama in qualifying sitting on that bump spot in 30th but we got through. I’m looking forward to being on track on Sunday.”
WORKING WITH SEBASTIEN (BOURDAIS) AND JR (HILDEBRAND) THIS MONTH, WHAT HAS THAT BEEN LIKE?
“It’s been great. They both have been extremely helpful to me as kind of the more green member of the team. They take the time to sit down and go over stuff – more the race running. That’s been really helpful and talking about position in the car.”
LARRY FOYT SAID HE’S BEEN IMPRESSED WITH HOW YOU ARE GETTING ON IN YOUR SECOND SEASON. WHAT DO YOU PUT THAT DOWN TO?
“I think part of that is experience, not having to do everything for the first time on the race weekend. The other part is I’ve learned from the lessons of last year and the stuff that we worked on in the offseason and trying to keep working on technique and try to keep developing the car. It’s been a fun process.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 86 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET:
HOW HAS IT BEEN JOINING THE TEAM THIS MONTH?
“It’s been good; busy preparing for the race. I think we’ve got a pretty good race car, so we’ll see what it brings.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT SUNDAY FOR THE 86 CAR?
“I have no idea. I really don’t know. I do have a pretty good car; pretty happy and comfortable. We’ve been making strides all week, making it better every time we’ve been out. We’ve done everything we need to do, and now it’s a matter of how good we are in the race, how good Chevy is, and we’ll see where we stand.”
WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD RESULT FOR YOU SUNDAY?
“You come here and try to do the best possible. The strategy might not go your way and you’ll have a horrible result, or things go your way, and you have an amazing day. It’s really tough to know this is the way we need to do it.”
WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE WORKING WITH PATO (O’WARD) AND FELIX (ROSENQVIST) THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS?
“It’s been good, we have a good relationship. We’ve had a lot of fun.”
HOW WILL THE AERO PACKAGE FOR MORE PASSING BE OFFSET BY HOW TIGHT THE FIELD IS?
“From my point of view, the thing that’s going to help the most is the cooler temperatures on Sunday. At the end of the car, the driver who does the best job of handling the car will look a lot better. That’s been my experience here.”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITCOIN ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
HOW DOES GOING OFF THE FRONT ROW GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE?
“I’ve very excited to go out on Sunday and go flying. Very good confidence racing from the front row, and we have a potential race-winning car. Ed (Carpenter), too, and Conor (Daly). I think we can work as a team and hopefully get that first 500 win for the team. You just never know how the 500 is going to be anyway.”
YOU SAID AFTER QUALIFYING IN THE FAST NINE THAT THE CAR WAS ON THE LIMIT. CAN YOU TAME IT FOR THE RACE?
“Our car was very sketchy in qualifying, but sketchy is fast around here. We have a very good race car and it’s going to be different this weekend with the colder temperatures. Our car is very good and the same for Ed and Conor.”
HOW WILL THE AERO PACKAGE FOR MORE PASSING BE OFFSET BY HOW TIGHT THE FIELD IS?
“I think the cars are a lot better following with the new aerodynamic package and the new features. The field is very tight and it’s hard to judge. It’s going to be a good race and I expect much passing. The cooler temperatures will be way easier to follow, too.”
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