Today’s IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Mazda Road to Indy headlines:
1. If You Missed It: INDYCAR Conference Call with Gabby Chaves, Brandon Igdalsky and James Hinchcliffe
2. Foyt recovering from hip replacement surgery
1. If You Missed It: INDYCAR Conference Call with Gabby Chaves, Brandon Igdalsky And James Hinchcliffe: Earlier today, Firestone Indy Lights driver Gabby Chaves, Pocono Raceway president and CEO Brandon Igdalsky and IZOD IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe participated in an INDYCAR Conference Call to discuss the Pocono INDYCAR 400 Fueled by Sunoco and the Firestone Indy Lights Pocono 100 at Pocono Raceway this weekend. Selected quotes from the call are below.
An interview with Pocono Raceway president and CEO Brandon Igdalsky:
Q: How excited is Pennsylvania to host that second leg of the Fuzzy’s Triple Crown.
BRANDON IGDALSKY: The fans are really excited. A lot of people around here remember Pocono before INDYCAR and we are seeing that with a lot of fans that are buying tickets and what they are telling us when they call. They are saying my dad took me and now I’m bringing my dad and my kids.
There’s definitely excitement and a lot of people that grew up here in the Poconos and Northeast Pennsylvania; that’s what they remember about Pocono Raceway starting off when they were kids. The staff here, some have been here for over 24 years so they remember what it’s like and we have a lot of new people that have no idea. It’s going to be an exciting weekend for the fans and the staff and everybody in between.
Q. In regards to how things got going, what did it take to get IndyCars coming back to Pocono.
BRANDON IGDALSKY: It literally took me being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was in South Florida about a year ago for the St. Petersburg event, and I had not been to an IndyCar race in a long time and I was nearby and I gave the IndyCar folks a call and said, Hey, I’m going to be in town, can you help me out with some tickets. And that was it.
I came over, some media members introduced me to (former CEO) Randy (Bernard). We started chatting, and you know, it was kind of very informal at the time, but eight months later we were going to contract and two months later after that we were making the announcement.
It wasn’t too hard once we committed to doing it. We put some time and energy last summer into doing a big fan study here locally. We hired a company that went out and talked to IndyCar fans and NASCAR fans and just motorsports fans in general, as well as non��otorsports fans and we were pretty surprised by the overwhelming support that it looked like on paper we would have for the event.
And as we are getting closer to the event, we are seeing the fruits of those labors come to fruition and we are excited by the crowd we are going to have here and obviously Fourth of July weekend and a big weekend here in the Pocono Mountains. It’s a big vacation destination, and we have a lot of people that come into the area this week, so it’s just one more thing for them to do on their vacation to the Poconos.
An interview with IZOD IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe:
Q: What are your impressions of “The Tricky Triangle” and what kind of race do you expect.
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: We are excited to go back there after the (June 25) test. I can understand why they call it The Tricky Triangle. I really had no appreciation for what this place was like, even after watching it on TV.
The track is so different and it makes it very difficult to set up an IndyCar there. But from the testing, I can assure you that we are going to have a great race. It’s very fast. I think it’s going to be a similar kind of show to Indianapolis, and another long race, 400 miles. I think that all the teams and drivers are very anxious and excited to get back there.
Q. Can you talk just a little bit about getting that first career win, and were you surprised that you’ve been able to have two and three come as quickly as they have.
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Coming into the season, there was a lot of talk about that first win. For us, as a team, to sort of knock that out of the way in the first race was a huge relief more than anything. It allowed us to focus on doing the best job we could week��n and week��ut and not worry about swinging for the fence and trying to go for wins.
From there, the two subsequent wins have all been very different. In St. Pete, we took the lead on the last stint and sort controlled the race from there; we had a lot of pressure. Brazil, obviously, we only led in the last half of the frontstraight. Then Iowa, we led pretty much the whole thing start to finish.
So they have all been very different. And I think getting that first one out of the way, I know they say once you get the first one, they are easier after that. Well, I want them to try it and tell me just how easy it is, because it really isn’t.
So to have three wins in a series this competitive and a year as tight as we have seen it it’s incredible, and it just speaks volumes for what the team is doing. To have three wins in the Go Daddy car at this stage is nuts and we might not get another one for a year or two years, who knows.
But we are certainly keeping our heads down and trying to keep doing what we are doing week��n and week��ut, because clearly some things are working.
An interview with Firestone Indy Lights driver Gabby Chaves:
Q: You’ve had six straight finishes in the top four but are looking for the first win. Are you happy with the way things have gone.
GABBY CHAVES: We had a great start to the season and almost had the first win in St. Pete. We led about a quarter of the race and had an incident that took us out of the race. But I think we’ve had a strong comeback and had four podiums in the last six races, so we are pretty happy. But we won’t be completely satisfied until we get that first win, which we are hoping for will be in Pocono.
Q. As we are entering the second half of the season, what races do you think will be your strongest.
GABBY CHAVES: I think we’ve had a very consistent championship, and I think we need to step it up a little bit … try to get some wins, because I think at the end of the championship the winner will be the guy who has the most wins. If you look at how the points are being awarded, there’s a big gap from first to second in racing.
I think we will be very strong in Pocono like we were in Indianapolis, and we just need to take it one race at a time. For now we’ll focus on Pocono and after that on Toronto.
2. Foyt recovering from hip replacement surgery: IZOD IndyCar Series team owner A.J. Foyt, who has not been to a race since the Ft. Worth event on June 8, underwent successful hip replacement surgery on his left hip July 1 in a Houston hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Foyt had been battling pain in his left leg for most of the year. In April, he underwent a laminectomy in the lumbar region of his spine to relieve sciatic nerve pain. He had missed two races (Alabama and Long Beach, Calif.) prior to that surgery as well as the one in Sao Paulo, Brazil immediately after it.
The chronic leg pain increased dramatically after he fell while working on his ranch before the Texas race. He had consulted with several doctors before agreeing to the most recent surgery.
“I was a little nervous about this surgery but they had me up and walking the same day. I’m sore but nothing like I was before the surgery. I guess I waited too long to have it done though because my hip was in really bad shape. They couldn’t believe I was walking at all,” said Foyt, who was in good spirits. “The doctors tell me it will be six to eight weeks before I can travel.”
Foyt will be in the hospital for several days. He plans to watch Takuma Sato and his ABC Supply Racing team compete at Pocono Raceway this Sunday.
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The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Pocono INDYCAR 400 Fueled by Sunoco on July 7 at Pocono Raceway. The race will be televised live at noon (ET) by ABC and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 211, www.indycar.com and the INDYCAR 13 App for most smartphones and tablets. The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Pocono 100 at 4 p.m. on July 6 at Pocono Raceway. NBC Sports Network’s coverage of the race will be telecast at 7 p.m. (ET) on July 12.
