Chevy Indycar at Fontana: Team Chevy Driver Post Race Quotes

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: BEING A TEAM OWNER/DRIVER: "This feels great for a brand new team that just started in November."

Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet takes the checkered flag

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

ON OVALS: "I probably should have won Indy (Indianapolis 500) but I kind of messed up a little bit. We have been trying to win ovals all year and finally got it done tonight. Good way to end the year."

PASSING DARIO FRANCHITTI FOR WIN: "I got a good start, I thought that maybe that was going to be my last chance to get by him and then he just kept protecting the bottom and I started working the top where I would run all night through one and two and kept building momentum, and building momentum and finally got close enough to get a draft and get a run around him on the front stretch."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 28 TEAM DHL/SUN DROP CITRUS SODA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 3RD: 2012 IZOD INDYCAR SERIES CHAMPION: HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU GET THAT DONE? “I have no idea, that was a team effort right there. We were struggling all weekend and I didn’t want to let anyone know about it.

We were really in the woods and this hasn’t sunk in yet. I just drove 500 miles like it was for my life. I cannot believe we are IndyCar champions, but to IndyCar, Sundrop, Chevrolet, DHL, and everyone, you have mad my dreams come true.”

SO THIS RESTART ON THE FINAL RUN, THIS ISNT WHAT YOU WANTED TO SEE, RIGHT? “Yeah, absolutely, I just wanted to get set back into a rhythm as it was a little bit better but I knew after that red flag I was just sitting there and thinking the tires would take another heat cycle and that we would slide around a bit more.

Everybody raced tough, but they raced clean and my God…….I don’t know about the race but we just kept making it better and better and they did a great job with the radio and the guys did a great job in the pits. This hasn’t sunk in yet as I am just full of adrenaline. “

HOW ABOUT THE WRECK WITH WILL, HOW CLOSE WAS IT? “You know, I don’t know, he (Will Power) was right next to me and I saw him lose it. I feel like it was pretty close but I have no idea, you tell me.”

IT WAS CLOSE RIGHT? “Yes, it was close and he was joking around that he would take me out if it was too close so……..”

TWO YEARS AGO YOU WERE OUT THERE DRIVING A SHOW CAR SO I GUESS YOU DIDN’T THINK THIS MOMENT WAS POSSIBLE? “Not really, and now we have put the hard work in and have the right group of people in surrounding us and Will Power has done a great job of supporting us so I don’t want to overshadow that.”

MICHAEL ANDRETTI, CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM OWNER OF NO. 28 TEAM DHL/SUN DROP CITRUS SODA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: “This is an incredible day. It wasn’t going so good right at the start there – we were struggling a little bit – and then we saw Will (Power) have his unfortunate accident and we knew it was open from there.

We needed to get the job done and it was a lot of hard work. Ryan did a helluva job, and the whole team did - getting the car better and better throughout the race. We had enough there at the end to get it done.

I’m just so proud of everybody here with the DHL/Sun Drop team…. There’s a lot more to come. This team is still getting better and better and I think we’re going to be even stronger next year.”

Will Power, Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet after retiring from the race

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

HOW DO YOU FEEL? “It’s a season, and you can’t make mistakes like this. The whole season, this is just another race. It’s depressing to lose the championship again that way. It’s the season; you can’t make mistakes like that. I had understeer all night, I was having to lift, half a lane lower than I was before and caught a seam, and yeah.

Man, I don’t know what to say, it’s depressing. I was surprised, I had been pushing all day and just went a little bit different than what I had, and nothing I can say. It’s just depressing. My team was pushing me to get around him (Ryan Hunter-Reay), and it was just a mistake. Just a mistake.”

HOW DO YOU LOOK AHEAD TO THIS? “There is a very slim chance. I don’t even want to watch the rest of race; it’s just going to be so… I don’t know what say. I don’t know what emotion to feel right now, I’m so disappointed. I just thought (when it happened), another championship gone.

That is basically what I said to myself. I am so disappointed for Verizon and all the guys, just to make a mistake like that is just…just bad. It never comes easy, man. It never comes easy.”

WILL POWER - POST RACE QUOTES – FINISHED 24TH: HOW HELPLESS DID YOU FEEL WATCHING THE RACE UNFOLD? “There were definitely times where it looked hopeful, but full credit to my guys for getting the car out to do those 12 laps. It gave us a couple of points. At the end of the day (Ryan) Hunter-Reay is definitely a deserving champion.

A real fighter. Probably as far as all-around drivers go, one of the best in the Series because he wins at each discipline. As I look back on the season again, once again the ovals…three crashes on three of the ovals this year, that is massive hits in the points. Three years winning the Road Course Championship quite convincingly, it’s very obvious where I lack.”

TALK ABOUT THE EFFORT BY YOUR TEAM TO GET YOUR CAR BACK IN THE RACE: “You see how hard those boys worked. That was a great effort considering how hard we hit the wall, and to be back out probably 45 minutes later.

Full credit to them. To lose another championship, three years in a row, man, I feel because all the guys have been with my car for the last three years. They put in a tremendous effort. I feel bad for Penske Racing.”

DID YOU THINK AT SOME POINTS IN THE RACE IT MIGHT COME TOGETHER? “I did. I was. You never give up hope. I was thinking anything is possible in IndyCar. Anything can happen.”

WILL THE OVALS BE THE FOCUS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THE 12 CAR PROGRAM NEXT YEAR? “It is interesting because we are not slow. I just can’t put my finger on why. It’s not like we’re slow. Or the same thing happens every time.

I just don’t know why on the ovals I am jinxed. We get involved in someone’s accident. I don’t know what you do. Where do you look to be better at that? You become massively conservative, or you become really aggressive. It’s hard.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 6th: “Man, I thought we had a winner tonight in the No. 3 Auto Club machine. We had a great car and just needed some help here and there to finish up front.

The Auto Club guys really did a great job in making adjustments and we thought we could get by some people on the final restart with the new tires. I am disappointed we did not get the championship for Team Penske, but in the end it is a top-five finish and that is a good place to be.”

MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 26 TEAM RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8th: “It’s a good thing we were prepared for war tonight. That’s what we had. It was just fight, fight, fight. We were fast, but we had some clutch issues that caused us to stall a couple of times in the pits, so we would drop back and then have to claw our way back up there. I wish we could have had a better result after starting on the pole, but we tried our hardest.

“Congratulations to Ryan (Hunter-Reay) on the championship, they deserve it, and the whole Andretti Autosport team worked really well together this year, and winning the championship is a great reward for everyone in the company.”

KATHERINE LEGGE, NO. 6 TRUECAR DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: ON HER RACE: “The team did an awesome job, I had one of the fastest cars out there. It was my lack of experience, and my mistakes in the pits that cost us a top-six, top-eight. It really could have been very good, but I made three big mistakes.

But to get ninth, we’ll take that to move on to next year. 500 miles doesn’t seem that much longer. You get in the zone, and get focused. When the red flag and you come in and start to heat up, that is when it is like ‘oh, I still have eight laps to go’. It kind of sinks in. It was fun.”

JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD/PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 11th: “Obviously we got off to a killer start and the National Guard Chevy was really good those first couple stints. On the restart I was running high and had to pedal it while Ed (Carpenter) stayed flat and drove straight through.

I felt like I had the pace to get back by him, but just by the nature of the two lines we were running I was getting a lot of dirty air on the exit of the corners. I knewthat if I could keep the pressure on him I could get back by, I could see that he was struggling a little but, but I was the one that ended up getting caught out.

Massively frustrating deal. I felt we had a car that was going to finish in the Top Five and I felt like we had a shot at winning this deal. I’m super frustrated for the team, cause we definitely rolled the dice with a couple things for this race and we had a chance to run up front all day.

Once I got stuck a little further back, the car was still good in traffic, but then everybody else moved up on that top line. We got a couple of our laps back, but obviously not enough to get back on the lead lap there by the end.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 TEAM GODADDY.COM ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 13th: “This is one of those times when we’re all hoping that we get back to the shop and find that something was broken on the car. We had such a strong first stint, we moved up to seventh, and the guys were great in the pits and then it just fell off the wagon.

As soon as the sun went down, I’m not sure if it was just the set-up or a problem, but either way a very tough day for the Go Daddy guys. They deserve better than that. I really wanted the season to end on a high note, so for us it’s a bittersweet day. With Ryan taking the championship, it’s huge for the team, and big congrats to him and everybody on the team for working so hard all year. We’re thrilled for him.”

RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, FINISHED 17th: “It was a disappointing result, the No.2 IZOD car was running really well at the start of the race. But at the end of the second stint there with Will’s crash in turn two we ran over his wing and I think it might have damaged our diffuser and we just struggled from then on throughout the night. I’m just proud of the guys, they did what they needed to do and it just didn’t go our way tonight.”

TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 GEICO/MOUSER ELECTRONICS KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18th: “I was trying to go for it. I had nothing to lose. I was trying to win the Oval championship. I got caught in the middle of traffic and just lost it. It’s a shame. We had a strong car when I was in front. It is what it is. Let’s move on and get ready for next year.”

ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 22 PANTHER/DREYER AND REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 19TH: ON HIS RACE: “At the end…we struggled a little bit with the car at the beginning of the weekend. But in the race, I really liked my car. But we had something strange happen, we were having all this debris getting the radiator.

We didn’t want to blow our beautiful engine, so we had to keep stopping because it was getting over heated. Our race was over then. We had to stop every 10-15 laps to clean the radiator. Strange. We had a couple of strange things this year. Filter, fuel and things that usually don’t happen. A few more DNFs than we want.

We had a great season, especially since we got the Chevy power behind us, definitely. Good season. We want much more, but we had some strong runs. Hopefully we can come back next year stronger.”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 17 AFS RACING ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 21st: "I had a blast, to be honest, and I think we need to focus on the positive side of this race. It was an unfortunate situation where the tire temperatures just took us out. We were doing an amazing race.

We had a top-five car, but you know at the end I'm very happy to race with my teammates up-front there. And for (Ryan) Hunter-Reay, to be a part of team that wins the championship, to be a part of that process, and just so proud of them and big congrats to Hunter-Reay. This is the beginning of something big. We'll keep focused for next year and bring that No. 17 car back."

RUBENS BARRICHELLO, NO. 8 BMC/EMBRASE KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 22nd: “I enjoyed myself a lot out there. I had a good car at the beginning and it was all going really well, but unfortunately it ended literally in fumes. I enjoyed being back on ovals and at Fontana. I need to thank my crew for their hard work this year a look forward to next year.”

EJ VISO, NO. 5 CITGO/PDVSA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 25TH: “This was one of the most frustrating weekends of my career. Starting with testing on Wednesday I had a car that was extremely difficult to drive because it lacked grip. I believed at the time it was because the track was very slick especially with the downforce levels we were running.

Today I had the same feeling in the car, but I was really looking forward to the last race of the season. I was focused and I thought we had a chance to make it into the top-six. However, in the race I had to stop because I was lacking both front and rear grip. We aren’t sure what caused it, but we definitely need to investigate that.”

Source: Team Chevy