CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
XPEL GRAND PRIX AT ROAD AMERICA
ROAD AMERICA
ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN
TEAM CHEVY RACE RECAP
JUNE 9, 2024
WILL POWER TAKES CHEVY TO VICTORY LANE AT ROAD AMERICA
LEADS A TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET ONE-TWO-THREE
· Team Chevy driver Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, won today’s XPEL Grand Prix at Road America leading nine of the 55-lap race to score his 42nd career victory
· Team Penske and Chevrolet swept the podium with Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Chevrolet finishing second with teammate Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 XPEL Chevrolet finishing third
· Today’s win and podium sweep put Chevrolet back in the lead of the NTT INDYCAR Series Manufacturer Point Standings and Power atop driver standings
· A total of five Chevrolet powered drivers finished in the top-eight-in addition to Power, Newgarden and McLaughlin, Romain Grojean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet finished seventh and Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished eighth
Will Power, driving his familiar No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, led the final seven laps of today’s 55-lap XPEL Grand Prix at Road America to pickup his 42nd career victory and his second at the 4-plus mile track likened to the beauty of a national park.
The victory put Chevrolet back into the lead of the very tight battle for the NTT INDYCAR Series Manufacturer Championship, and Power into a five-point lead of the driver standings after seven of 17 races.
“What a great win today for Will Power at Road America”, said Rob Buckner, Chevrolet INDYCAR Engineering Program Manager. “He drove a great race, managing the tires perfectly! The strategy was spot-on and the No. 12 Verizon Chevy crew had excellent stops throughout the race. To score a one-two-three with our Team Penske partnerships is one of those moments we all share great pride. It was a great points day for Will, Josef and Scott as well as Chevy, but there is a lot of racing left. We will take this momentum and move on to Laguna Seca.”
After a 34-race drought since his last NTT INDYCAR Series win, Power led his two Team Penske teammates with Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden brought his No. 2 PPG Chevrolet home in second with Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 XPEL Chevrolet in third to sweep the podium. It was the first time since 2017 at Sonoma for a Penske trio to sweep the podium. The last time any team swept the podium was 2020 at Mid-Ohio.
Romain Grojean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet finished seventh and Pato O’Ward, No, 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished eighth to give Chevrolet five of the top-eight finishers.
Next on the schedule for Team Chevy in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES will be June 21-23, 2024 at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California.
TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 RACE RESULTS:
1ST Will Power
2ND Josef Newgarden
3RD Scott McLaughlin
7TH Romain Grojean
8th Pato O’Ward
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:
Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Winner:
“I’ve been digging all year. Sometimes it just works out.
Long Beach I was leading by seven seconds. If a yellow doesn’t fall there, I think we were going to have a pretty good day. A reasonable chance at Barber.
Yeah, very good strategy. Very fast cars. A lot of fun. Like, once all the yellows stopped, it was a very fast-paced race.”
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, Finished 2nd:
“It was a really good team day. Really good day. I mean, 1-2-3. I don’t think we can be dissatisfied with that. Will (Power) did a great job too. He deserved to win the race as well. He drove really well today. Both things can be true, it was a great team day but I think we let that one go, for sure. That’s what’s hard about it. Our PPG Chevy was fast. Team Chevy 1-2-3, I think we can all be super proud of that. We just put together a great day, we just probably misstepped there at the end. I feel bad that I came in a lap early. I probably should have stayed out.”
YOU STILL ALMOST GOT IT. DID YOU GO INTO THE LIMITER IN ONE THERE?
“Just had a limiter hit. You just can’t keep going like that on a lap. You’re just going to get killed on the sequence. Just the undercut is not working on a day like today. That was the real miss coming in early like that.”
ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, THIS WAS A NEW CAR TODAY AFTER YESTERDAY’S WRECK…
“It was just as good. I think all our cars were really fabulous. (Scott McLaughlin) drove a great race, Will (Power) drove a great race, like I said. I think it could’ve fallen any way. I just know that we were in position there at the end, so it’s tough not to close it. Everybody worked on this racecar, the 12, the 3, the 2, so a big thank you to the entire team. That was a team effort to get that car out there, and it was just as good as the day before. That’s what you get at Team Penske, that consistency.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, Finished 3rd:
“Huge team day. The XPEL Chevy was great. We led all the laps, obviously. It was a great team day. Will (Power) with a win, first win in a long time, and then Josef (Newgarden) second. I wish we could’ve ran a little bit longer and a couple of those stints. The overcut was really strong. But ultimately, this is a huge day for the team. Really proud of everyone. It’s been a hard slog over the last month-and-a-half. Big few days for the team, big month for the team. Really proud of everyone.”
JUST HOW BIG OF A DAY IS IT TO COME OUT 1-2-3 AS A TEAM?
“In this day and age, it’s amazing. We got the 1-2-3 on the front row for the Indy 500, a really proud moment for everyone. Obviously, a 1-2-3 on podium after a race is sick. I’m super stoked. We’ll take the points, move forward. A huge rebound for me since Detroit. I’m stoked for the team, stoked for Will (Power) and ready to push on.”
Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, Finished 7th:
“Very good day at Road America. One of the best tracks of the season, and we had one of our best races. P7 at the end, I think we could be very proud of that. Did a helluva job, and a lot learned this weekend. Excited for Laguna Seca.”
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Finished 8th:
“I think we had a strong race, going from starting 18th to finish P13. Of course, we wanted a little bit more. I was lucky to avoid the crash in Turn 1 at the start. Then, I think we pitted a little bit too early and had an issue with refueling on that pit stop, so we lost a little bit of time there. The pace of the No. 6 onsemi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was good, though; I was happy with the balance and was able to push mid-race. It’s another strong job by the team, and it’s just a matter of time before we put it all together and finish in a good position.”
Théo Pourchaire, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Finished 13th:
“I think we had a strong race, going from starting 18th to finish P13. Of course, we wanted a little bit more. I was lucky to avoid the crash in Turn 1 at the start. Then, I think we pitted a little bit too early and had an issue with refueling on that pit stop, so we lost a little bit of time there. The pace of the No. 6 onsemi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was good, though; I was happy with the balance and was able to push mid-race. It’s another strong job by the team, and it’s just a matter of time before we put it all together and finish in a good position.”
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, Finished 15th:
“Honestly really solid day, just unfortunate with the start of the race. Smokescreen…the last thing I saw was Herta was sideways and I didn’t want to go straight through and potentially hit him and kill both of our cars, so avoided through the grass. We came back, had a killer strategy with the Sexton Properties Chevrolet. On the second to last stop the car wouldn’t go into neutral for some reason, so we’re going to investigate why that is because I pressed the button and nothing happened. I think that killed our top ten run but we still managed to finish fifteenth, so happy with that.”
Sting Ray Robb, No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, Finished 17th:
“Another crazy IndyCar race. The start was exciting. We moved up a lot of spots on lap one which was really good. I got into it with Rosenquist there towards the beginning of the race and rightfully deserved a penalty so we went back behind him a few spots. I don’t want to race like that I want to race clean with these guys but we were pushing hard and just like normal racing I guess here in Indy car. I’m really proud of the team. We had good pace today. We went forward a lot and having the Goodheart crew here this weekend was really fun as well. I’m hoping that the next few races we will keep building momentum. But from here I think that we’re doing pretty good.”
Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Finished 18th:
“Today was a difficult day. We had a wiring issue on the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet that resulted in a wastegate failure. We have some work to do to get back in this in Laguna Seca.”
Christian Rasumussen, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Finished 20th:
“What a frustrating day. There was pace for so much more, but the incident early on prohibited us from doing that with the penalty that I received. A stop-and-go under green when others were able to serve their drive throughs under yellow, I thought that was very harsh and I really did not understand. Other than that, I thought the pace was pretty good. We made great improvements from warm up to the race in terms of car balance, especially on the black tires. While that was a positive, I am just very frustrated with not being able to get a good result.”
Nolan Siegel, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, Finished 23rd:
“Overall I’m happy with the way we handled the variables that were in our control today. The car was fast all weekend and we got the balance into a very comfortable window that allowed for some solid stints. Unfortunately we had an issue with our second set of reds that forced us to do an extra stop and took us out of contention, but I’m extremely grateful to have had the opportunity. Huge thank you to Ricardo, Brad and everyone at Juncos Hollinger for their trust.”
Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Finished 24th:
“We were running a great race. We had moved forward pretty well, stayed out of all of the trouble at the beginning. We had Top 10 pace, that’s what I knew coming into the race and that’s what it felt like during the race. I struggled a bit with vibrations at the end of tire stints which was not ideal and did lose a bit of pace there. Then near Lap 40, I had a suspension component failure on the left front and that put us several laps back. Really a bummer and I really hope our luck goes the other way sometime. Looking forward to a weekend off and hugging my dog!”
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTS
WILL POWER
THE MODERATOR: The now two-time winner at Road America, Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet.
A 34-race drought for you. The drought is over. You can move on now, right?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I wasn’t sure when it was going to happen. I’ve been digging all year. Sometimes it just works out.
Long Beach I was leading by seven seconds. If a yellow doesn’t fall there, I think we were going to have a pretty good day. A reasonable chance at Barber.
Yeah, very good strategy. Very fast cars. A lot of fun. Like, once all the yellows stopped, it was a very fast-paced race.
THE MODERATOR: You get a win and take over the points championship as well.
WILL POWER: We’re working hard. We want to win the championship. I think we have the cars and the team to do it. Keep pushing.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Will Power.
Q. Not only are you back in Victory Lane but so is Ron Ruzewski. For him to have that strategy of the overcut, how brilliant was that?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I sat back. I kind of couldn’t get Scott without using a lot of push to pass. I sat back. I knew I had a lap of fuel on him. I was making the reds last. My in-lap was super quick. They didn’t really go off for me at all. I was kind of babying them. I sat behind there. That was a big in-lap. Gave me enough of a gap on Josef to be able to get up to speed on the cold tires.
Q. First time Liz has been to Victory Lane since her health issue. How special was that?
WILL POWER: It was very special. She was in tears. So was her mother. Had Beau there. Yeah, been a rough trot. It was last year we didn’t get a win. She wasn’t at a lot of the races.
Yeah, good stuff. Good stuff. Very positive.
Q. You mentioned your in-lap being extremely quick. You turned the fastest leader lap of the race. Can you describe the feeling of doing those two laps back to back so quick, and that’s what ultimately made the difference for you pulling into Victory Lane?
WILL POWER: Yeah, the car was really good. I kind of came across something I hadn’t been running that Josef runs a certain way, how he runs the car. I started driving like that, just using setup, and it really helped. Yeah, was just easier for me.
Yeah, so the car was phenomenal. I haven’t had a car like that for a long time in a race. It was very fast.
Q. You mentioned earlier this year keep knocking on the door. The relief now that you’re through…
WILL POWER: Yeah, we’ll keep working for more. Like I said at the beginning of this year, I want multiple wins this year. I think that’s what it will take to win the championship. We have the car for it. We have the engine for it.
You know how this championship goes: very tough group, no bad driver in this field. You have to put it together very well if you want to win.
Q. You’re tied with Michael Andretti. How much does that statistic mean to you?
WILL POWER: That was the next one I wanted to get. That was the one I’d been wanting for a while. To surpass Michael, big fan of Michael’s as a kid. Watched him win a lot of races. The Andretti family, such a big deal, such legends of this sport. Anytime you’re name is around those guys, it’s a big deal. Cool to be equal with Michael.
Q. You’d been competitive last year, your first winless season in a while. Going into the off-season, was there any change in approach, mindset? How did you attack this year?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I just came in way more prepared like I normally am. I was just back to how I prepared for a year, which is constantly improving on my craft.
I have to say I’m a better driver again this year than I was in ’22 when I won the championship. Last year was sort of a stall-out here. Not much I could do. Spending a lot of time at home, looking after Liz, making sure everything was going well for her.
Back to Liz helping me, like she is a big part of my preparation. She does a lot for me. We’re back as a team again.
Q. Liz’s issues affected you mentally. I assume the not getting back to Victory Lane was a drain on you. How down were you? Were you thinking about maybe this is it? How were you thinking about life?
WILL POWER: You start thinking. When that was going on, you start thinking should I be racing at all. If something happens to Liz and something happens to me, is she going to get better, what’s going to happen. The doctor said this can come back at any time. Should I be racing. That was the thing that was planted in my mind last year.
You certainly don’t perform at your highest level because you don’t want your son to have no parents. That is sort of the thing you’re thinking. Yeah, tough wrestling with that. Ultimately, yeah, if she wasn’t getting better, I would stop. I would have to stop for my son. Simple as that.
Q. To go 1-2-3, front row at Indy, the team camaraderie has continued to build. Talk about the importance of that.
WILL POWER: Yeah, man, a great day. Obviously Indy was a great result for Josef to win it, but then also lock out the front row. I predicted that. I know how hard the guys are working back at the shop.
The whole push to pass thing was just an unfortunate incident. There was nothing malicious in it. There was no intent. No one intended to do that. Just habitually I think people press that at times. I think the whole field would have pressed that button at some point subconsciously in a restart. It just looked bad for us.
Yeah, to come back like that at Indy, then 1-2-3 today. Really, I feel like we’re performing at our highest level right now. That includes Chevy. Chevy’s done a great job with the engine. I think we struggled a little bit last year compared to Honda. They went away, did their homework. So did we. Together we have a very strong combination.
Yeah, like Roger said, I feel bad for Roger, that whole thing that happened. Just one of those things. If you’re a team like Penske, people like to pound you if something like that happens. Ha, ha, we knew that’s how you guys are fast.
I know how much work goes into it. I know they don’t even venture into the gray. It frustrates me at time because I know other teams do. But they will not do that just because of that brand. Roger won’t allow that brand to be tarnished with cheating allegations.
We don’t do that. There’s a lot of talk around the paddock. I know we don’t do that. I know other teams do because people push the rules. If I was a small team, I’d be doing it. That’s how you get a slight advantage.
Q. You’ve been with Penske since ’09. Where is the team at now compared to other periods?
WILL POWER: Like, if you take in sports car, NASCAR, INDYCAR, they’re really firing. They’re at their highest level now. The competition has changed, as well. You have no choice but to be at your highest level now or you simply won’t win.
Just the car preparation, quality control. It’s so detail orientated now to win in this series in particular, but the same in NASCAR, sports car. It’s a very tough business. If you’re not winning, you won’t last long.
Q. Have Josef and Scott pushed you?
WILL POWER: I’ve never stopped improving. I’ve certainly learned off those guys. I’ve learned off all my teammates. The moment you think you’re the best, you’re going to get beaten. You’re not learning anything. I’m constantly evolving as a driver.
I think the biggest step I ever took was ’22, mentality, the mental approach. A big step. Something that I found and still use now.
But it’s a fast pace, man. When I think about that race, it was fast paced. Man, this is seriously like no joke. Qualifying every lap basically. Yeah, good, tough group. Tough group.
Q. You talked about having to think about whether you should continue doing this last year. How close were you at thinking about hanging up your helmet?
WILL POWER: Yeah, in the off-season when my wife is sitting in hospital, we’re just wondering what’s going to happen here. She almost died. You start thinking, Yeah, I’m going to have to stop now, take care of my son.
Then after that also, like, it’s a long process. Once they put the metal plates and all that, you have that infection in the blood, it can stick to the metal, come back. It’s like what’s going to happen.
Continual blood tests. You just got to be on top of it. If it comes, you have to be very quick to have the antibiotics reduce it, I guess. It seems like… The doc said it can come back anytime. You got to be quick to catch it.
Q. This was a tough weekend for you a year ago here. Was this one of the lowest points in the season a year ago?
WILL POWER: Yeah, it was a very stressful weekend because I left thinking that Liz was sick again. I left. She was looking in a glass. Actually getting in the car, had booked a private plane, because that’s the only way she could travel. Get in the car, she looks down and says, Look at all the worms in that cup.
I’m like, Oh, shit.
Mother-in-law, I said, You have to stay here. We already booked this plane. Taking off now. I’ll go, call you on the plane.
All weekend she’s going back and forth to the doctors. Turns out she mixed some medications. Hallucinations. That’s how it all started, hallucinations.
Stressful, yeah, this predicament. Should I race or not? Then you crash bad. That’s why I was so I guess angry or just stressed. Anything set me off. Grappling with that.
Yeah, that’s life. People have it way worse. I’m not complaining. People have it way worse. I’m lucky, very lucky.
Q. Does this season feel a little like the championship season in ’22?
WILL POWER: Yeah, back to that flow again. Except we have to win more this year. It’s a tough field. That’s one thing I was a little cautious in ’22 at times where I felt like I needed to push the envelope a little more. It’s that fine line. I think Palou is the one that nails that perfectly of aggression versus risks and so on.
Yeah, I feel like as a package we are very strong, very strong. You see Colton has incredible speed at times, but things seem to happen, which you go through when you’re young. You know that guy’s going to be pretty strong in the future.
I feel like as a package we’re pretty good. Pretty good.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations.
WILL POWER: Thank you.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN AND SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the second- and third-place finishing drivers. Finishing second, Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. Finishing second, driver of the No. 13 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, Scott McLaughlin.
Josef, can tell the mind is thinking, thinking about what just happened. Your thoughts on the race.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was a great day. Great team day. I think we’re all going to be really pleased with the 1-2-3, especially with the 2 car and the disaster yesterday. It was a real team effort to put a new car together. Everybody pitched in, the 12, the 2 and the 3.
Really rewarding I think for the entire crew when you have to go through something like that, put it all together, we finish 1-2-3, it’s as good as it can get.
At the same time we sort of gave that one away. I mean, I will say this, too. I felt like we gave it away, but all three of our cars were pretty stellar pace-wise. Whether it was the 3, the 12 or me, I think we all had similar pace.
With that capability for any of us to win that race was there. You saw the 1-2-3 because of that, I think.
THE MODERATOR: First Penske podium sweep since Sonoma in 2017. Scott, you’re part of that. A good team day today.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, ultimately when the cycle finished, last stop, it was all sort of bringing it home for the team in some ways, yeah, as Josef said. I thought we were really quick in parts. Had a great start, led a lot of laps. I think the strategy didn’t fall our way in terms of the overcut was strong. We knew it was going to be strong, but it was really strong today.
I kind of wish we ran reds in the second stint just to get that over and done with earlier, then I could have attacked a bit more on the black tire.
Ultimately, yeah, it’s a huge day. Really proud. It’s been tough, man. Tough from May to here. The boys have been on the road for a long, long time. Huge props to them and the hard work that’s gone on behind the scenes. It’s not stopping now. They have to work till midnight tonight getting ready for the hybrid test we have got on Tuesday.
A good reward for the team, but ultimately still work to do. We’ll keep pushing on. Just proud to get a podium at the XPEL Grand Prix in the XPEL car.
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Josef, you did all this with a backup car, one that was built up overnight. What was the confidence that you had going into the race? Do you feel with the previous car you might have pulled that one off?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It wasn’t a car issue, I can tell you that. I think at Team Penske, certainly me, I’m not ever concerned if we have to build up a new car. We have great consistency across the board. This team I think is the best as far as putting another car on track, and it’s going to be the exact same thing.
We switch cars quite a bit. It’s the same product every time we put it on the track. That speaks volumes to the level of the team, the savvy-ness, the execution of the people. It’s just really solid.
There was no concern about that. I don’t think that would have made a difference today. I think we just all had a really good day. We got a 1-2-3 for the team.
Q. What was your view of the first corner incident with Colton? He was upset.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I haven’t seen it. From what I remember, I remember just everyone checking up on the exit of the corner. I sort of center punched Colton. I hate that most likely affected his race. I’m sure he went spinning because of it.
I don’t know why everyone checked up on the exit. I didn’t see that. I saw people going on the outside. I’m sure something was going on in front of him. It must have been. That’s the only thing I can remember without seeing the actual replay.
THE MODERATOR: The 11 got into the 8.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I had a great start (smiling).
Q. For those of us who aren’t good at predictive math, why does the overcut have the advantage in that situation?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Just depends on the track. Today the warm-up was really tough on the tires. It was literally nearly three seconds of an advantage on an overcut. Two-and-a-half, three-second advantage.
You can’t get overcut on a day like today. You got to work that problem out. We pretty much had it worked out. We got to sort of a confusing place at the very end with the 78. Was it the 78?
It’s all part of INDYCAR racing. You got to sort of manage the situation. I felt like I didn’t make the right call there. We could have kept going, and we should have. So when you go for the undercut, that’s what happens. You just get burned. We got burned at the end.
Q. Scott, when you were managing the alternates, did they start to become a handful?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Not as much as I thought. I was pretty careful with them. That’s half the reason why I didn’t fight Josef. Ultimately they held on pretty good. Not bad. I definitely probably would have not been able to hold Josef off, regardless. Then a couple P-to-P dramas. I was saving my push to pass for the end of the race or the last exchange.
Yeah, chose to sort of just bring them up and look after them. Obviously thought from a points perspective, after Detroit, just nice to bring home a pretty strong result. I just had to bring that home.
Q. Probably we make a bigger deal about teammates. What Will has been through with his wife over the last couple years, to see the old guy get back in Victory Lane even though you would rather be there…
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: We would. Ultimately we’re race drivers, we want to be the guy. Will is a phenomenal teammate. Josef would concur. Still bloody dead fast. It is awesome to see.
I think most importantly, to have a team 1-2-3 in this day and age, it’s hard. Like, that’s great that Will won. I think the most important story is 1-2-3 for the team. It’s crazy to do that. It hasn’t been done for a long time. I’m really proud of everyone.
Q. Josef?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: 100%. We love Will. I think another point to hammer home is Will drove just as good of a race as anybody today. He was very deserving to win the race. I would say I felt like we misstepped at the end, but Will very much was a deserving winner. His pace was just as good as anybody. He did a great job today. He just kept clean, was there at the end, got it right. That crew, they deserve to win a race. They’ve been close here for a while.
From that standpoint it’s nice. It’s tough. I think we let it go, but at the same time you feel really good for the 12 crew because they deserved it, too. They did a good job today.
Q. What was the mood in the team after a tough Detroit weekend? How tough was the Detroit comeback?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think you get a great reset in this group. There’s nothing that ever really lingers. Personally there’s nothing that lingers. From a team side, you don’t see anything linger.
We rocked up here to normal business. Even after yesterday with my mis-step, it’s like, Okay, we’re going to build a new car.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Almost get excited for it. They’re like, Let’s do it.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: That’s so true. We don’t get a chance to do what they did last night. They hammered out a new car in, like, two hours. It’s crazy. I could have wrote that thing off in warm-up and I would have made the race. It would have made the race with time to spare. It’s so cool to see them work at a high level.
But, yeah, there’s nothing that lingers with this group. They were ready to rock. 1-2-3, like Scott said, that’s the story.
Q. Regarding the team success, like at Indy and Birmingham, everything you were facing in late April, what does it say about the team? How were you able to overcome that?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Look, I think we said it from the start: eyes forward. We were just focused forward. Ultimately felt like all three cars, all three teams, were like that.
No denying there’s definitely some motivation there. Our jobs didn’t change. Ultimately we’ve always had fast cars from the start of the year. Didn’t matter what happened. It’s a matter of just putting it together.
Yeah, we just executed today. We executed better than everyone. Ultimately that’s why we were 1-2-3.
THE MODERATOR: Scott, seven years now since your team, Team Penske, has pulled off a sweep like this. Sonoma 2017.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Were you part of that?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Would have been. Sure.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on the podium. Rest up tomorrow. We’ll see you at Milwaukee Mile.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Or Siebkens (laughter).
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