2023 CHILDREN’S OF ALABAMA INDY GRAND PRIX
BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP
APRIL 30, 2023
SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN SCORES VICTORY AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK
McLaughlin Captures Chevrolet’s 8th Victory at Barber in 11 Events, Team Chevy’s 108th in INDYCAR Since 2012
- Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske earned his fourth career victory in the NTT INDYCAR Series and Chevrolet’s 108th victory since 2012.
- Team Penske’s Will Power joined McLaughlin on the podium finishing third.
- Five Team Chevy drivers finished in the top-10 at Barber Motorsports Park.
- All three Arrow McLaren INDYCAR Chevrolets finished in the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix top-10.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 30, 2023) – Capturing his first win of 2023, and the fourth of his NTT INDYCAR Series career, Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske crew aced the day to win Chevrolet’s 108th victory in the 2.2-liter twin turbo direct injected era. As an engine manufacturer, the Bowtie brand has now captured the eighth victory at Barber Motorsports Park in 11 races since 2012.
“I call it a happy driver strategy,” reflected McLauglin. “I was a lot happier doing that. So thankful and first weekend with Good Ranchers on the car. What an amazing thing for them to be with us this weekend. My team advanced me there to victory lane. We had great fuel, went past (Romain) Grosjean there on a little bit of strategy, advanced past him and feel really good about it. Really happy to advance to victory lane and I am really happy about it.”
Taking over the lead from Grosjean with 19 laps remaining, McLaughlin cruised to victory on a three-stop strategy after leading 24 of the 90 laps. Grosjean finished second, and McLaughlin’s teammate Will Power, in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, completed the podium in third.
Leading the pack of Team Chevy drivers at the green flag from third, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, also on a three-stop strategy in the No. 5 Chevrolet, finished in the top-five in fourth to close the gap in the championship standings from 15 points behind to three. Joining him in the top-10, teammates Alexander Rossi, in the No. 7 Chevrolet, and Felix Roseqvist, finished 8th and 9th, respectively.
Up next for Team Chevy is the prestigious month of May, shifting gears to the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the GMR Grand Prix May 12-13, 2023 followed by the Indianapolis 500 Sunday, May 28, 2023.
TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Scott McLaughlin
3rd Will Power
4th Pato O’Ward
8th Alexander Rossi
9th Felix Rosenqvist
2023 CHEVROLET BY THE NUMBERS:
186: NTT INDYCAR SERIES races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR.
108: Wins in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012.
121: Earned poles since 2012.
7: Manufacturer Championships since 2012.
7: Driver/entrant champions since 2012.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Chevrolet at Team Penske:
WAS IT THE CONTACT AT THE START OF THE RACE THAT CAUSED YOUR ISSUES TODAY?
“It sure felt like it. It’s hard to say, but right after this hit, I felt like I had a right rear going down. So, I radioed in for them to check the right rear pressure and it looked fine, but something else felt very odd. The story of the race was that when there were new tires on the car, it was drivable. It was off, definitely the right to left asymmetrically off, but it was drivable on new tires. And that was masking it. The problem was the left rear was getting destroyed, which is not the tire that was hit. But whatever was going on over here, was having some effect over there. We just couldn’t hang on at all and it went bad. I just wish we had the car that we had in warmup, and we would have been just fine. But this was just evil. Just an evil-handling car. We were literally just holding on the whole race. Every second after was just a disaster and what a shame because obviously, we had the winning strategy. It was a great day for Team Penske so I am obviously happy for the team, but we were in position and another one just gets away. This one got away pretty badly. So, very demoralizing for the whole group.”
THE RESULTS SO FAR THIS SEASON HAVE TO BE FRUSTRATING?
“Yeah, just pretty unlucky. I hate saying luck, but it’s a big part of it. Luck and timing kind of go hand in hand and it’s certainly not been on our side. If we are getting that out of the way and we are going to have great timing and great luck for the rest of the year, then I am all good with it. It would be a shame if that trend continues. We will just turn the page and go to the month of May. Incredible group here and it’s not anything to do with them, it’s just some unfortunate timing.”
THE GP IS FIRST, BUT ON THE OVAL YOUR CAR LOOKED PRETTY AMAZING. WHAT IS THE CONFIDENCE LEVEL GOING INTO THE MONTH OF MAY?
“Yeah, sky high. I felt really good that day in practice. I felt so good this morning and I was ready for today and ready for what we were doing. So, that is what makes it so demoralizing. We literally had the car three hours ago and for something to happen and to go so disastrously it’s just odd. You can’t even get mad about it. It’s just a strange situation. My confidence level is still sky high with this group.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Chevrolet at Team Penske:
AS FAR AS THE BATTLE WITH GROSJEAN, WAS ST. PETE IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND?
“No, we racers just get on with it. You are only as good as your last race and you get on with it. We talked man to man and as far as I am concerned and he is concerned is that we race hard and press on. There’s no hard feelings between the two of us, but I am glad to get a win here for the Thirsty Threes. It’s been coming, we have been close, we just couldn’t get it the last few rounds, but we got it now.”
THE MONTH OF MAY STARTS TOMORROW, HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT?
“May is going to be an awesome time for us and I can’t wait. Best race in the world is coming up here soon. We ended April on a good note. Just happy for my team, for Chevy for the fuel mileage. We had a hell of a strategy here today and I am super pumped.”
Will Power, No. 12 Chevrolet at Team Penske:
“Yeah, it was an extremely good day. When I saw everyone saving fuel there, we talked about doing a three-stop and I felt like it was better to do that, but the guys made the call. It was just super-fast when we got clear air. That was the key to getting up to third. I had a real fast car and it’s a pity we didn’t start further up. Chevy did a great job with the engine and obviously got to thank Verizon for all the support because we are on another championship run. We are just chipping away here, and we are going to get a win soon. We just have to keep at it, improve in qualifying, and just having fun. Enjoying it a lot.”
WHAT DID YOU NEED TO GET UP TO SECOND AND POSSIBLY CHALLENGE MCLAUGHLIN?
“The tires had gone too much. Like I could do a faster lap time, but as soon as I got to his dirty air, I just couldn’t get close enough. I tried everything I could and even made a couple of big mistakes just trying and I just couldn’t get to him. I tried to save the push to pass until I got to him, but there’s nothing….you just get to that air pocket and you just can’t. The tires were gone too much. It wasn’t worth throwing a third place away trying something stupid, so I just took the points.”
HOW ARE YOU FEELING AFTERWARDS FROM A SORT OF HOT DAY?
“Pretty good. It’s always tough the first 10-15 laps, then your muscles settle in and you are good to go. But yeah, I was able to push the whole way. Still fit for an old bloke.”
Conor Daly, No. 20 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:
“We definitely had pace when we decided to switch to the three-stop strategy. Unfortunately, we got caught behind the 14 car and he decided to put me off the track. Not soon after, we got ran off by the 15 car and that one definitely sent us to the back. It was just too hard to recover from there.”
Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:
“This was a tough race! It started off pretty well even though I was saving tires and fuel pretty hard. It turned out not to be enough and at the end of my first stint, I was just too far off. We were committed to the two-stop strategy and we had to stay out. The next two stints on black tires were pretty good, but I think that yellow helped out some guys on the three-stopper. I did everything I could, but it’s really hard to get the tire deg right and save fuel at the same time.”
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:
“We had to get a massive number, and I really don’t know how we kept up the pace like that at the end. It was a great car, and I’m very happy with how we did this weekend. Obviously, when you look back now with how everything played out, I think we were on the wrong strategy. No one made a mistake, that’s just a roll of the dice you have to take at the beginning of the race. Scott McLaughlin and Will Power were on the good end of it, a couple others too. Nevertheless, it was a really strong result for us. I’m happy with P4.”
THAT CAN’T BE SUPER COMFORTABLE SITTING IN THE CAR LIKE THAT AFTER A LONG RACE?
“I was lifting so much, and we had to get a massive number and I really don’t know how we kept up the pace like that. Great car, and if we look back at this weekend and look back at how we played that, I think we were on the wrong strategy. But no one made a mistake, that is just a roll of the dice you have to take. That’s racing. Scotty (McLaughlin) was on the good end of it, (Will) Power was on the good end of it and a couple of other guys. Nevertheless, it was a really strong result for us. Happy with fourth, but the month of May is coming up, the busiest month of the year. The big cookie is also coming up, so pumped for that.”
HAD YOU BEEN ABLE TO GET UP FRONT, MIGHT THAT HAVE CHANGED THE STRATEGY?
“It might have changed the strategy a little bit. I mean Scott was behind us and he finished first. It was all about that we didn’t make the call to come in for the three-stopper. When you look at it back now, we might have done it a little bit differently if you see exactly how the yellows played out and all that stuff. But that was a chance in one in a hundred. They really got lucky with that one. All the three-stoppers. It is what it is and we made the best of what we had, and we maximized it. We were against arguably four Hondas that were extremely strong and it definitely had us on the edge of our seat to keep them behind us.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE BACK IN A RHYTHM NOW? AND ARE THESE THE DAYS THAT CAN LEAD TO A CHAMPIONSHIP?
“Yeah, I mean obviously Long Beach was not the ideal (race). This is what we want, and this is what we know we can do. We will go into the Indy GP with the same approach just like we will the rest of the season. We want to win races. We have yet to win in 2023, but we have been there every single race. Obviously, not all of them have worked out the same. This is really solid. For four races, we have had three top-fives.”
Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:
“I’ve bummed for my McClaren team. In the first lap, I just didn’t anticipate how early everyone would brake, and I touched Josef (Newgarden). So, luckily he didn’t get caught into it but I basically spun myself doing it. Got out into the gravel and got back. Yeah, we were last at a point, but the guys just did such a good job on the stand getting us back in the game. It was really fun. I thought for most of the race we were just rolling. Hell of a recovery for basically starting last.”
Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:
“There were a lot of positives from today. I think we underperformed in qualifying. You can look at everything in hindsight and look at it differently, but, ultimately, the car was fast all weekend. We are continuing to gel and learn together as a team, so overall, I’m happy. It’s just when you have pace, and only walk away with eighth, it’s disappointing. It’s a good problem to have.”
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:
“It was a solid Sunday for us considering we didn’t qualify. Just tough with strategy, we struggled with the car. I think we were a little bit too free on entry and a little too tight in the middle but all in all a top 20 for us is something to walk away with. We completed all the race laps and you know what, can’t complain. So, looking forward to the month of May now and we’ll go from there.”
Benjamin Pedersen, No. 55 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:
“Great race here at Barber, finished P22 after starting pretty close to the back [P25]. Crazy race, lots of really cool passes, always something going on, very busy race. Pretty proud of what we were able to do today. I think there was potential to maybe be in the top 15, but we had a couple mistakes happen, but overall very positive and very happy with the race.”
Callum Ilott, No. 77 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing:
“It was a bit of an interesting race for a while. We were struggling quite a bit. Took a gamble in the middle to try and overcut some people with better fuel and make the tires last. It wasn’t working; we were P24 for a while, and then into that final restart I was P24 and we managed to pull it back to P13. So we just came alive, the car came alive. It was a good effort. Really happy with that. Gets us positively moving on to the rest of the year. It will be exciting to get to the Indy road course. It’s another track that’s quite good for us. A few things to improve. I think it was an enlightening weekend for that, but yeah, definitely a lot of positives going on for the next one.”
Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Chevrolet at Juncos Hollinger Racing:
“We finished here P26. It’s a shame that the position we lost, we did a pit stop on the strategy. But anyway, it is what it is. But on the racing, we’re still learning. I’m really happy with finishing the race. I’ll continue my improvement.”
SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 GOOD RANCHERS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET — Win Press Conference Transcript:
A LOT OF STORYLINES FOR YOU IN THIS RACE. TO GET A WIN HERE, IT’S GOT TO FEEL GOOD.
“Feels awesome. I think we have had the pace. Obviously, St. Pete we were strong, contending for wins, maybe not Texas, but Long Beach we were right there. I’m really proud to sort of execute today. Probably the most complete race I’ve ever driven in an INDYCAR, to be honest, from a strategy perspective, picking people off. It was getting pretty tough in the middle when we were making passes, lap traffic, whatnot. Ultimately when Grosjean got me out of the pits, didn’t catch me by surprise. Well, he caught me napping. It was a great move by him. To reset, go again, then pass him back with the pace that we had, that’s a proud drive for me personally, but from a team perspective, really proud. Good Ranchers first time on the car. They’re going to be big supporters in INDYCAR. Their enthusiasm they have got for the series I think is just great. They have people like that willing to spend money in our series, that are so passionate. They didn’t have customers here this weekend, they had staff and the CEO. It’s a good vibe. Really proud for them. Yeah, perfect way to kick off what is going to be a massive month.”
THE BATTLE BETWEEN YOU AND ROMAIN, IMMEDIATELY EVERYONE WAS THINKING ST. PETE.
“I knew it.”
WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND AS YOU’RE TRYING TO HOLD HIM OFF?
“I thought if I hit him this time, it would be bad (smiling). Racing him like we normally do, very clean. I knew it was going to be hard passing him. It was a matter of me biding my time. I asked the guys, Where are we at on fuel? Had a bit more than him. Allowed me to pressure him a bit more, use a bit more to overtake, whatever. I had a lot more overtake up my sleeve. Ultimately that’s what helped me pass him. I think the way I got the run up into turn eight was purely by push to pass. I was able to save that. Once we got out in front, it was just a matter of managing it till the end.”
WHEN THAT BATTLE IS HAPPENING, YOU KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE THE FRESHER TIRES AT THE END OF THE DAY, WOULD HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A MOVE, TRY TO REPASS HIM.
“Yeah, but it was hard. I thought I’d be on the safe side when I had the reds on. Thought I might have been able to get him back. But he had great pace. I knew I couldn’t sit behind him too long. I had to pressure him. Yeah, that’s what we did, managed to get the pass.”
RACING AT ALABAMA, BARBER, YOUR TAKE ON WHAT IT’S LIKE RACING OUT THERE?
“Personally, I think this is our best road course that we go to. Especially now it’s my favorite (smiling). Honestly, it’s a great place. The state of Alabama do a fantastic job with how they look after things. Obviously (indiscernible) before that. A beautiful place. I remember coming here the first time going, Whoa, this is amazing. But to drive an INDYCAR around here at high speeds, high commitment, is some of the best driving you’ll ever do. I’m telling all my friends back in Australia like Shane van Gisbergen. People are asking, like, the track looks awesome. Yeah, this is next-level commitment. They’ve got a gym here. I’m very excited they extended the contract multi-year for more races here, especially now I know I’ve got a good car. Very cool, cool place.”
THE INDY 500, YOU DOUSE YOURSELF IN MILK. THE NESTLE DRUM STICKS, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT?
“John has been there for 40 years. He always as ice creams after, especially after we win. I had an ice cream after qualifying yesterday and I sucked. Maybe I just needed more ice cream.”
OBVIOUSLY, WITH THE NEW SPONSOR, THE STAKES ARE HIGH. WHEN GROSJEAN GETS PAST YOU, WHAT’S YOUR LEVEL OF FRUSTRATION? ARE YOU THINKING WITH EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN ST. PETE, YOU KNOW THERE’S GOING TO BE MAJOR CONTACT, IT’S NOT GOING TO GO AS NICELY THIS TIME AROUND?
“Never thought that. I ultimately was just like, Okay, got past me, caught me napping. That was a great move by him. I had car pace and fuel on hand. I think ultimately, I would have got past him anyway with how much he had to save fuel. I wasn’t stressed. I was annoyed I cost myself maybe cruising in some ways, saving fuel, driving to my number. Ultimately it made the race win a lot more satisfying passing for the lead after being passed at the end of the exchange.”
POWER WAS ON REDS TILL THE END. DID HIS PACE CONCERN YOU AT ALL?
“No, no, no. I was full, like, in control. Honestly, I felt like the car was so good, I was just hitting my number, did what I needed to do. I knew if Power got to me, I had pace and fuel on hand to push till the end.”
THERE WAS CONCERN ON THE RADIO ABOUT FUEL. DID THEY TELL YOU WHY?
“No. Ultimately I think we were looking after our engine. Whenever you get that call halfway through the last lap, you poop your pants a little bit. Yeah, I was pretty nervous.”
WHEN YOU’RE RUNNING ON A DIFFERENT STRATEGY TO THE TWO-STOPPERS WERE, THE RACE STARTS TO PLAY ITSELF OUT, HOW MUCH IN YOUR MIND ARE YOU THINKING YOU HOPE YOU MADE THE RIGHT MOVE OR WE SHOULD HAVE GONE THE OTHER WAY?
“Yeah, I just trust my team. The only concern I had was why we stopped a couple laps after Josef and we lost track position on him. We eventually sort of caught up and passed him. I wasn’t too stressed about that. It was just a matter of just maximizing what I had, what my cards were. That was getting through traffic and using that car pace. We talked about that in the strategy meeting this morning. Sort of knew what I had to do. At the end of the day I see a 10th of what everyone else sees on the stand. I know I’ve got the best guys in pit lane calling my strategy. I just trust them. It’s a boring answer, but legitimately for me I was ticking laps off in my head, driving the best I could, doing what I needed to do.”
HOW CLOSE DID YOU COME TO TOUCHING ROMAIN? DID YOU TOUCH IN EITHER OF THOSE?
“I think we touched when he passed me a little bit. But it was fair game. It was awesome racing, man. It was exactly what INDYCAR was. Yeah, ain’t no procession here, that’s for sure. It was a lot of fun.”
WHEN YOU HAVE HAD AN INCIDENT LIKE YOU HAD IN ST. PETE RACING WHEEL TO WHEEL THROUGH A CORNER, DO YOU HAVE TO APPROACH WHEN YOU’RE PASSING SOMEONE ANY DIFFERENT OR DO YOU LEARN SOMETHING FROM THAT TYPE OF INCIDENT TO BETTER PREPARE YOU TO PASS THAT SPECIFIC DRIVER COMING INTO ANOTHER SITUATION THAT WAS SIMILAR TODAY?
“No, no, no. Just play your cards as you get dealt. Take risks where you need to. You got to learn from your mistakes obviously. We both had our opinions on the incident from St. Pete. We’re over it now. For me, I think for him as well, it was just press on. Yeah, I think we showed today it’s no big thing affair. It’s just hard racing. We’ll race each other to every bit of the track, use each other up when we need to. That’s just part of it and that’s why I enjoy racing Romain.”
WHAT DID YOU SEE FROM YOUR VANTAGE POINT WHEN YOU MADE YOUR MOVE IN TURN FIVE? WAS IT A LITTLE BIT OF A WIGGLE COMING THROUGH? DID YOU FIND YOURSELF AT THAT POINT WAITING FOR HIM TO MAKE A MISTAKE OR MOVE?
“I was pressuring him. I knew he was starting to save fuel and stuff. I was biding my time. I was really surprised. I didn’t think I was going to pass him at that point. Sort of just took my chance. I had a lot more push to pass than he did. I just used push to pass all the way up to seven, managed to clear him. He was never going to sort of pass me into eight. If he did pass me into eight, he was probably going to crash me. Just sort of hoped to God that he didn’t do that, and he didn’t. We got out of there and pressed on.”
HE CAME INTO THE SPORT AT THE SAME TIME, ROOKIE SEASONS UPS AND DOWNS AT THE SAME TIME. EVEN THOUGH YOU HAD THE INCIDENT IN ST. PETE, SEEMS LIKE YOU HAVE A LOT OF RESPECT, AREN’T AFRAID TO BANG WHEELS, HAVE A LOT OF TRUST IN EACH OTHER. HOW DO YOU VIEW OR HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE ROMAIN AS A COMPETITOR ON TRACK?
“ He’s got a never-give-up attitude. I think that’s why he’s been in F1 for so long, come over here and been quite successful. At the end of the day you know you’re going to have a hard battle with him. I feel it’s give or take. If you give him nothing, he will give you nothing. It’s the whole tit for tat. I really enjoy racing him. No hard feelings. We spoke about what happened, yeah, and just get on with it. I’ve had great battles with him. I actually really enjoyed the battle today. It’s a lot of fun. Obviously, I came out on top, but it’s still a lot of fun.”
WE’VE HAD A WIDE VARIETY OF RACES. ST. PETE WAS A BRAWL. THE BIG OVAL AT TEXAS, ANOTHER INTERESTING RACE. TALK ABOUT HOW YOU APPROACH IT WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO GET WHEN YOU COME TO A RACETRACK.
“I think it’s just the product of INDYCAR. But play your cards how you’re dealt. Today could have been a two-stop, or a three-stop like we did. We thought it was a three-stop was the right way. We have the opportunity as a series to change that up. That’s why it makes it so exciting. I think the addition of push to pass, stuff going on as well, is a good thing. It’s such a good racing product. I don’t know how to explain it. I think we’re very lucky with the level of drivers, how hard we can race the cars. The cars are very strong. The difference in compounds. The tires are really good. Firestone built a really good tire that’s able to race in hard conditions all the time. Yeah, I don’t know. I just think it’s INDYCAR. It’s not a about winning every race in this racing series, it’s all about just being consistent in the championship. That’s exactly what our goal has sort of been since the start.”
YOUR STRATEGY MEETING, YOU WRITE EVERYTHING IN PENCIL, HERE IS WHAT WE THINK WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO?
“It all depends on yellows. If there was an early yellow, our thing probably wouldn’t have worked that well. Two-stoppers would have looked really good. Yeah, you just got to play your cards how you think you’re going to be right, hopefully, it comes off. You can’t beat car pace. That’s the best part, you can’t beat car pace.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET — Podium Press Conference Transcript:
TELL US ABOUT YOUR DAY. TRYING TO CLOSE THE GAP ON ROMAIN (GROSJEAN) TOWARDS THE END.
“Yeah, in the first stint when I saw everyone saving fuel about eight to 10 laps in, I said to the guys, maybe we should switch to a three-stopper here. Do you want me to push? It was the best thing to do at that time. Yeah, it worked out well. We had a very fast car. Any time we had clear air, we were pumping out some seriously quick times. During that last sequence is where we gained a ton of track position. I was able to do 67s in the last few laps. Yeah, using the tires up. As soon as I started getting Romain’s dirty air, he was doing a really good job of sort of saving fuel and also getting big exits, not making mistakes. I did everything I could to get to him and I just couldn’t get there.”
WILL, DID WE SEE YOU GO BACK TO MAYBE LAST YEAR’S CHAMPIONSHIP STRATEGY WHERE BETTER TO GET THIRD THAN TO PUSH IT?
“I mean, I did everything to get to him and try to get him. Yeah, obviously there’s that fine line, right? You can overdo it, which I did have a big moment in turn two where I was opposite like that.”
“So, yeah, I mean, just had to weigh that up. I simply couldn’t close that gap. Yeah, he was doing a good job. My tires were sort of used up. Dirty air. Tried with push to pass. Nothing I could do. That’s the most I could get out of the day. Extremely happy with it. Extremely, extremely happy to finish third.”
TWO TEAM PENSKES IN THE TOP THREE, WITHOUT ONE OF THEM BEING JOSEF, SHOWS HOW FAST THIS MCLAUGHLIN KID IS.
“Yeah, two races where I followed him on the same bloody strategy. He ended up ahead. That all ebbs and flows in the season when you’re doing a good job. If you’re doing your job, you’ll get what you deserve, whether that’s good or bad. Depends how good you do your job.”
WILL, YOUR SEASON HASN’T BEEN BAD, BUT IT HASN’T BEEN GOOD. A QUARTER OF THE WAY THROUGH THE SEASON NOW, HEADING TO INDIANAPOLIS, HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO GET THE KIND OF FINISH YOU GOT TODAY?
“Yeah, look, if I finished fifth I would have been happy, or sixth, even eighth honestly. There are days that it’s a bad day that get you. I would say in the start of my season, it’s just been pretty good. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad start of the season at all. I’ve been happy with all the results except for one, which was Texas. You can’t win ’em all. In fact, it’s very difficult to win one or two in a season. You just have to keep racking up good finishes.”
WILL, HOW MUCH OF A BENEFIT IS FINISHING ON THE PODIUM GOING INTO THE MONTH OF MAY? DOES IT BODE WELL FOR THE MONTH OF MAY?
“Yeah, I mean, it’s good for the whole group on the car. Obviously mentally for yourself, it’s a very positive thing. Everything’s heading in the right direction. Indy is a very, very different animal in terms of the 500. Obviously, you have the Grand Prix before that. But, yeah, the 500 is a very standalone, tough, unique event. Yeah, we’re hoping to be in the game this year. We’ve been pretty disappointed with the performance the last few years. We’ll wait and see. You don’t say anything. We’ve done a lot of work.”
WILL, YOU WERE THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT COIN. WHAT DOES THAT FEEL LIKE?
“I mean, last year I did the two-stop, was doing what he had to do, went from 19th to 4th. This year we did the opposite thinking that the fuel mileage will be harder. If there’s not a yellow, the number is going to be too big and the lap time deficit is too much. Yeah, it kind of turned out like that. I think the yellow helped the three-stoppers a bit. Would have saved those guys a little bit of fuel. It was perfect timing for our pit stop. But, yeah, it’s a lot more fun when you get to just go all out, qualifying laps every lap. I really enjoy that sort of racing. I have to say what he did is extremely difficult and technical. To finish 20 seconds ahead of the next guy is pretty impressive.”
WILL, YOU HAD GREAT PACE TOWARDS THE END OF THE RACE. YOU’VE DONE WELL HERE AT BARBER. IS THERE SOMETHING ABOUT THIS TRACK THAT FITS YOUR DRIVING STYLE?
“They’re all different. These days you’ve got to be an expert at every track. It requires a lot of homework, which every single driver does now, as you can see from qualifying. I’ve just got a good group around me making the right decisions in the race. It is a real process to put a whole race weekend together without mistakes. That’s what I’ve worked very hard on over the last couple years. I struggled this weekend. I basically qualified 11th. I think our potential was just on the verge of the top six. We were pretty close to where we needed to be. Then executed in the race. Yeah, I love the track. I think it’s a phenomenal event. The appearance, presentation they do, is really good. It’s setting the example for all promoters. Yeah, I hope we continue to come here for years.”
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