CHEVY RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
GMR GRAND PRIX
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JULY 4, 2020
TOP CHEVROLET UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS.
3rd SIMON PAGENAUD, NO.22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
5th RINIS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTRER RACING CHEVROLET
7th JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET
8th PATO O’WARD, NO, 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET
TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Scott Dixon (Honda)
2nd Graham Rahal (Honda)
3rd Simon Pagenaud (Chevrolet)
4th Colton Herta (Honda)
5th Rinius Veekay (Chevrolet)
Simon Pagenaud moved to second in the point standings with a third-place podium finish in GMR Grand Prix on the Road Course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Pagenaud powered to third in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet, from the 20th starting position.
Chevrolet claimed four of the top-eight finishers in today’s 80-lap race on the 2.439-mile/14-turn road course inside of the famed 2.5 mile oval.
Rookie Rinis Veekay, No. 21 Sonax Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, finished fifth after starting 18th. Defending Series’ champion Josef Newgarden brought his No. 1 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet finished seventh and Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, finished in the eighth position.
Up next for Team Chevy in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is a double header weekend at famed Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin July 11 and 12, 2020 with fans in attendance.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 3RD:
“Yesterday was not what we wanted with qualifying. We unloaded well but went the wrong direction with this basically new car. But it was a negative that became a positive. I think it sets us up for the season really early on knowing what we need for the car. We weren’t totally happy when we started the race and adjusted the Menards Chevy and got better and better. We were also able to keep the tires underneath us really well. We made a lot of ground under pit sequences by really, really pushing really hard when everybody pitted and we gained a lot of ground that way. The yellow helped us a bit because we pitted about five laps before so that did help us. In the end we had good pace. It was really hard to move the car so thanks to all the extra training I put in since it was a really physical race. I also want to say a big thanks to Chevy because that was a lot of horsepower in the straightaway and helped me pass all of those people. Just a big thanks to them.”
RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 SONAX ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 5TH:
“I drove the best race of my whole career! The team just gave me a great car, great strategy to go from P18 to P5. I drove my butt off! I have never been this tired after a race, but that’s what you get when you give 110%. Thank you to my guys and everyone at SONAX and Autogeek. I’m the happiest guy on earth right now!”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 XPEL TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 7TH:
“It was a tough day – really disappointing. We got hosed today by the caution, both Will [Power] and myself. I felt like we had a pretty strong chance of being able to finish 1-2 and it’s a shame to miss it by just a little bit. We almost pitted right before it came out but went one lap longer. I guess it was a good day in reality. We got up to the front there with Will running 1-2 and then wound up in the back with the yellow. From there we just tried to claw back our way as much as we could from 15th or 16th. It was just a tough pill to swallow in the middle there. Our XPEL Team Chevy car was good. I felt really proud of us this weekend and thought we made nice little baby steps every session and we seemed to be getting better. I thought we were relatively decent compared to Will who seemed to be the best this weekend. It was awesome to have XPEL on the car this weekend and at the end of the day it was just a shame we weren’t able to convert and finish the race 1-2.”
PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – FINISHED 8TH:
“I think every day where you can improve positions from your qualifying, is a good day. We got some solid points but we are not quite where we want to be or where I want to be. If you are in this championship to be finishing eighth, you are here for the wrong reasons. We want to win, we want to be on the podium. The Arrow McLaren SP cars had the pace, we just didn’t quite get everything out of our third stint which cost us a lot of track position and we had to make that up in the end. I think overall, we finished, we improved, we were on pace, and we have some good information to improve for Road America.”
CONOR DALY, NO. 20 U.S. AIR FORCE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – FINISH 12TH:
“We had a really good start; really, a good first half of the race. I was happy with the car at the beginning, but fuel saving was tough for us. We had a bit of a difficult strategy call to make from there. But you know what, we put some points on the board, we hung with it, we’re still in the fight. Happy to get Race 1 with the U.S. Air Force Chevrolet under our belts!”
MAX CHILTON, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET – FINISHED 16TH:
“We showed so much promise this weekend, at least up until about halfway through the race when that yellow came out and we were running eighth. I think if you can keep up in eighth for half of the race, you’ve obviously got the pace to stay there. Annoyingly we got shafted by that yellow. We were one of the last to pit in that cycle, so we came out near the back and we had to use the black tires at some point so we went even further back. We were quick toward the end with the fresh red tires. Rosenqvist, Hunter-Reay and I all picked off a few and gained a few positions. Then we picked up a rear shim problem with 10 laps to go. We lost our rear shims, so my steering went out and I couldn’t really attack. I think we should’ve easily had a top-10 finish, but it just didn’t work out in our favor today. The good thing is that the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet has been quick the last few races, so we know the car is strong heading into Road America this weekend.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL, NO. 4 TRESIBA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 18TH:
“While I think that 18th is not the result that the No. 4 Tresiba team wanted out of this weekend, I’m really proud of the guys. They fought hard all day. All three pit stops were money. The car had decent pace at times but I think there was room to improve. I know the engineers and I already have some ideas heading into the doubleheader next weekend at Road America. It was a hot, physical race and I know the guys were hot because they don’t get the same breeze I do in the cockpit. So overall a good weekend, a learning weekend. We’ll move on from here and be better next time.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 20TH:
“We had a great Verizon Chevy and definitely had the speed that we showed in qualifying. Just got caught out by a unfortunate caution that really didn’t help. After that, we had a problem in the pits that cost us a lot of time and then there was no chance to recover. Chevrolet did a really great job with the power and we had awesome car, but we just had a tough day. This Verizon team is fast, we just need to put a full race together.”
DALTON KELLETT, NO 14 K-LINE USA AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 21ST:
“Alright, that’s a wrap for my first NTT INDYCAR Series race. First of all, I have to thank AJ Foyt Racing and K Line Insulators USA, they gave me a great car. We’ve been working on it all weekend. It’s been a tough condensed weekend for me being a rookie with minimal testing coming in. Had a lot of work cut out for us and we didn’t really put a foot wrong, finished all our laps, got lots of experience and I think that was the goal for this weekend so I’m happy that we can walk away having checked that box. We’re going to debrief with the 4 car and the engineers and see what we can learn. And now that my appetite’s been whetted for this kind of racing, I can’t wait to come back next weekend at Road America.”
SAGE KARAM. NO. 24 WIX FILTERS DRYER & REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 23RD:
“We had a fast car today after a strong warm-up when we were sixth quickest. We moved up well early in the race and our strategy looked very good. But we caught the yellow flag just at the wrong time and it cost us big time. I truly believe we had a shot at a top ten finish today. Considering the DRR guys had not run a road race in seven years and never at the IMS road course, our pit stops were excellent, and the car improved every session we ran including the race. My only IMS road race was in 2014 and an IMSA sports car race. So, with experience now after today, I’d love to come back here for the October road race. It was very impressive how the whole team came together with their first road race in so many years. Sure, it was hot in the cockpit, but I feel very good after the 80 laps. It was a successful weekend for us. We are all excited to come back next month for the Indy 500 now.”
OLIVER ASKEW, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET – FINISHED 26TH:
“It was really unfortunate and unacceptable, to be honest, to have a result like that. I will have to check with the guys to see exactly what happened but after watching the replay, I just lost the rear of the car. It was toward the end of a stint so the rears were starting to go which caught me off guard. I’m really sorry to the entire Arrow McLaren SP team but we will move on and push for a good result in Road America next weekend.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
