Story By: ASHLEY KELLER / CHEVROLET – SPEEDWAY, IN – Saturday sees the Sonsio Grand Prix race day from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, starting with a morning warm-up at 11:15 a.m. ET. The green flag flies on the 85-lap, 207.32-mile main event live on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 QUALIFYING RESULTS:
- 3rd Will Power (1:09.1636)
- 4th Josef Newgarden (1:09.2528)
- 5th Pato O’Ward (1:09.3320)
- 7th Alexander Rossi (1:09.0801)
TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 SECOND PRACTICE RESULTS:
- 2nd Will Power (1:09.6899)
- 4th Scott McLaughlin (1:09.8648)
- 6th Pato O’Ward (1:09.9090)
- 8th Agustin Canapino (1:09.9473)
- 10th Josef Newgarden (1:10.0615)
TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 FIRST PRACTICE RESULTS:
- 2nd Agustin Canapino (1:09.3713)
- 3rd Will Power (1:09.3930)
- 4th Rinus VeeKay (1:09.4194)
- 7th Scott McLaughlin (1:09.5070)
- 9th Alexander Rossi (1:09.6616)
- 10th Santino Ferrucci (1:09.6643)
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:
“With how we were going so slow on those first laps, I just don’t think I got the fronts in in time. Probably could’ve taken another turn of front wing, but we were a little unsure from Free Practice 2. We actually ended up putting in almost 2% more COP from Free Practice 2 to here, so we kind of took a guess at it. Our guys did a great job. It’s a tight field. What can you say? One-tenth, two-tenths, puts you from P-8 to P-2 here. It’s okay. We’ll have a set of sticker reds for tomorrow. We think it’s going to be a red race, so honestly not the end of the world. We’ll move forward. I think we’ve got a really good long-run car this year, especially working with Penske. You’ll see the Sexton Properties Chevrolet come forward.”
Sting Ray Robb, No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:
“We made a good step forward from practice to qualifying, so happy with that. We’ve got room to go, obviously. Looking forward to the race tomorrow. Seems like we have a pretty good Pray.com Chevy from what I understand. I think that we have good strategists in the box there for us. Looking forward to the race and seeing what we can do.”
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“Considering where we started the day, I’m pretty pleased with getting the car in the Firestone Fast 6. We’re starting inside row three, which is not a bad place to start here. We’ll see what Turn 1 brings, and then we just really want to have a clean race. I don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves by saying that we’re expecting to win or get on the podium tomorrow, I just want to have a clean race and take advantage of the opportunity presented to us.”
Théo Pourchaire, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“I’m a bit disappointed after qualifying. I was P5 before the run on the alternates and then I was blocked on my best chance to push. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is one of the best motorsport series in the world with the best racing drivers in the world. It’s super tight. As soon as you have those kind of things happening, you cannot aim for Q2. It’s part of the game, but I really think we have the potential to move up through the field and deliver a strong result tomorrow.”
Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“I don’t know how excited to be with P7, but I guess where we’ve been this season, we have to be. In this sport, you’ve got to take the small victories. The whole Arrow McLaren organization has done a great job this weekend. The car is kind of back into a window we expected after the last two events that were quite a challenge. We’ve just got to keep chipping away at it. It sucks to miss it by that much, for sure. When it’s that close, there’s so many places over the lap where you feel like you could have found it. You almost would rather miss it by several tenths. But that’s the way it goes. We know that we’re strong on race day. This gives us our best opportunity, by far.”
Christian Rasmussen, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:
“A little bit of traffic on the second to last lap. If it would have helped us, I don’t know with that one lap. I was starting my last lap even better than that lap before. Just didn’t quite have it. We keep trending in the right direction and we’ve had some good practices here today, but still got to be able to get it in qualifying, which we seem to still lack a little bit. The car is way different (than junior series experience here), obviously. Having laps round here is great, but it’s really laps around here in an Indy car that really count. I’ll draw on my past experience in terms of race craft. That’s going to benefit us. We’ll see. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:
“We started out strong with Group 1 qualifying. It felt really good. Really happy with the balance. Basically, made no changes with going to the Fast 12. Felt like a completely different car going to the red tires. Really, really confusing. We don’t really know what caused it and why the balance changed so much. Definitely something we need to find out before we go into the race tomorrow.”
Romain Grosjean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:
“It hasn’t been our best of a day. We struggled a bit all day long, and qualified 23rd. A lot of work to do for tomorrow, but we’re going to try our best. It’s INDYCAR and anything can happen, and I think we’re going to have a good race car.”
Agustin Canapino, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet:
“Earlier today we were really good. In our first run, we were 13th but now we are 15th. We’re really close to the fast 12 so we’re growing. I think we have a good car for tomorrow, so thankful. I want to thank Team Chevy. I think we need to grow our quality base for the future. We’re in a good situation. One good thing is this place if you’ve watched races in the past, where you can start where you’re at and still win the race certainly, and finish up front. It is a long race, and you have to have a good pace. We are going to save one set of tires, so it’s a good news, too. I am I am trusting we have a good car for tomorrow.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:
“I thought my laps were pretty decent. The Sonsio Chevy felt good, it just wasn’t good enough. It is what it is. It’s INDYCAR, so close. You’ve just got to deal with it. We’ve got two new sets for the race tomorrow and we’ll try to make some hay from there.”
Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet:
“It was good. It was very good on new tires. We just didn’t have quite have it there at the end on used. Tires didn’t quite come in. We’re there. We’re tickling it. Once again, right at the front, though. That’s a good starting spot. The track temp definitely changed the air, and it’s kind of… I think that’s what cooled those tires. We didn’t get a temp we needed, but it was a fun session. Good stuff in this qualifying.”
“We were super quick through all the rounds. Those tires, they just never came in. The first run that we were on, maybe I should have run a bit harder on my first lap. I looked after them, but they just never came up. Was sliding around a little bit. P3 is pretty good. Top-six in this series is very, very good. We’ll see if we can get that Verizon Chevy car in Victory Lane. We’re knocking on the door. I love being up there, love battling for pole. You don’t win a race crashing. If you play it smart, like I race every time, I’m going to try and it together properly. I’m going to do everything to the best of my ability and hopefully, that brings a win.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 SNAP-ON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Friday End of Day Press Conference Transcript:
Q. Josef, it seems like throughout the day, steady improvement. How proud are you to get in the Firestone Fast Six here today?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, it was great. I really thought — no discredit to Christian (Lundgaard), I thought Will (Power) was going to have the pole today.
He was looking really good. I think he’s been sort of the benchmark this weekend. Watching him, he’s been just on it. Looked really good in practice 2.
I think for us, we’ve struggled from the first outing. Actually one of my best runs — best laps was my third lap out, and then we just went backwards from there, and then we clawed our way back into qualifying. I felt like we had a really good car. Team did a great job.
So pretty happy to be in the Fast Six. Happy to start in that second row. I think we have something to fight with, which is great for the whole team. We’ve got a couple cars up there.
Q. Josef, how great was it just to get back in the race car and be able to go out there and lay down those laps, and also, how well is it going working with Myron?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s great. We’ve got an amazing team, as everybody knows. We’ve got a lot of depth. For us, we pride ourselves in it’s never one person. It’s great to plug in some of these other guys that I’ve known for a long time, ever since joining the team, and it’s also been great to work with Raul. He’s on the Porsche side right now, but just a great engineer. I’ve worked with him a lot in the past. Really enjoy him. Myron did a great job calling today.
It was a little different, just a new voice in my head that I haven’t had in a little while, but they did a great job, and it’s awesome to be here at the speedway. Just so excited to be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I love this place. Puts a smile on my face every time I drive through the gates. It’s going to be a good month for us hopefully.
Q. Myron may not have a lot of success in this race, but he’s had a tremendous amount of success calling races in the Indianapolis 500 with some winning teams. That’s got to give you a big boost of confidence starting next Tuesday.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Oh, definitely. I asked him — I didn’t realize Myron has been here 38 years. He didn’t even look like he’d been here 38 years. I was like, you’ve got to be top of the list as far as current tenure, and he’s not somehow. He’s up there. He’s top 5. But yeah, he knows what he’s doing, and he’s great to have on the box this weekend. So excited about it.
Q. Obviously you’ve had a lot of recent success here with the finish last year at the 500, another good day today. What is it about this track that you really like, both emotionally and the car?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, what’s there not to like? We were rolling down pit lane today and I was telling my crew chief Chad, I was like, there’s just no place like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. No place compares. The history of this facility and the feeling that it gives you, it’s very emotional. It’s just a great place to be.
Certainly this weekend is different than a couple weeks from now. The road course is one challenge. I would say it’s not been our best challenge. We’ve actually gotten a race win in the 2 car on the road course but only one, and certainly on the oval it’s a totally different ballgame when you show up for the 500. It’s great to be here. This is a good warm-up, everybody enjoys this show, and we’re really thrilled for what’s going to come in two weeks.
Q. You talked about the difference in the voice in your head. What advantages and disadvantages might that bring with a new voice?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s not crazy different for us. It was funny having different cadence today than I’ve had in the last seven years, but I felt like business as usual. We got pretty much our whole team here, and we’ve got a pretty deep group. Everyone is really close together.
I know everybody — I’ve told this to people before, but I wouldn’t mind plugging into any one of these cars that we have at Team Penske. They’re great teams. Everybody is solid. It didn’t feel that different. It was just a different voice.
Q. Josef, following up on that, what processes have you gone through or will you continue to go through just to try to make sure that you and John are on the same page going into a race? I know this is a bit of a condensed race weekend than what we might typically have?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Thankfully he’s really up to speed, just as we touched on. He’s been here 38 years. He knows the program. I’ve known John a long time. We talked about some of the likes, dislikes of each individual, what I’m used to hearing, what I like to hear and don’t like to hear, but he didn’t really have to change his MO from the beginning. It was like, just be John. We don’t have to be identical to what I’ve had in the past, but here’s our operating procedure. We already had a plan laid out for the most part. We’ve been working on it for a couple weeks now.
It was really just business as usual in a lot of ways, and we’re not doing a lot outside of the norm of what we would be doing on a race weekend.