Chevrolet teams qualify 6 cars in the top-10 at Detroit

Will Power Leads Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 Qualifying Efforts for Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Indy Grand Prix; IZOD IndyCar Series Points Leader will Start Second on Sunday

Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

DETROIT – (June 2, 2012) – Current IZOD IndyCar Series points leader, Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, led the 13 Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 drivers in qualifying for Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Indy Grand Prix. Power, who has won three of the five races held so far in 2012, will start second in the 90-lap race.

E.J. Viso, No. 5 CITGO/PDVSA KV Racing Technology Chevrolet, and Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet, both qualified for the Firestone Fast Six, and will start fifth and sixth respectively.

Giving Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 six of the top-10 fastest in today’s qualifying were: Ryan Briscoe, No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet-8th; Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Shell V- Power/Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske Chevrolet-9th and Sebastien Bourdais, No. 7 TrueCar Dragon Racing Chevrolet-10th.

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V-6 DRIVER POST QUALIFYING QUOTES:

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2ND: ON QUALIFYING: It’s just a full-on attack. The car was loose in the last segment, the Fast Six, but man, yeah it was just absolute—I don’t think there’s anywhere you push so hard because you just keep going faster the harder you push, and they kept saying ‘P2, P2!’”

ON IF HE’S TAKING A CONSERVATIVE APPROACH HERE TO PROTECT HIS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD: “It’s that balance. If you don’t take a risk, you take a risk with the guy that you’re fighting in the championship. You go out every weekend to win, so if you know you’ve got a 50-50 move on, you usually don’t go for it. You’ve just got to be smart, see how things play out. I just race the way I race, which is to win, so that means not trying to do anything stupid.

IS THERE ANY PLACE THAT IS EASY TO PASS HERE? “I can’t see a spot without taking a massive risk that you can pass. It is going to be a strategy race, passing on pit lane basically. People always seem to find a way. That’s where we will see 19th people headed for a hole, whatever. Man, I don’t know.”

E.J. VISO – NO. 5 CITGO | PDVSA – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 5TH: ON QUALIFYING: “Qualifying went pretty good. I’m pretty pleased with the fifth position, especially after some discrepancies we had yesterday in setting up the car. Apparently, things are now headed in the right direction. This category is extremely competitive and tight and just by starting in the first three rows in a race like this one, when it’s difficult to overtake, it’s a very good thing.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 28 TEAM DHL/SUN DROP CITRUS SODA CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 6TH: ON QUALIFYING: “Coming out after this morning’s practice session and being third I thought that we were going to make some changes for qualifying. I thought we’d take that next step…… we’d been kind of hovering around fourth, fifth and sixth, so that’s a little disappointing. We’d certainly like to be up there fighting for the pole with these guys, but sixth is not bad. You can start from there and get to our race. Certainly this place is busy as these guys have said and the better your car is on a long stint I think we’ll see that’s the most important bit about tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll get there. We’re just a little bit disappointed today in qualifying.”

ON HOW HARD IT IS TO PASS HERE: “It is pretty hard to pass on. It is, it is very hard to pass on. It feels like you are never straight, really. You are always turning. Even the straights are turning. So, yes, it is extremely busy and I think that is going to create some impatience as well, so we might see some INAUDIBLE passes.”

RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 8TH

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 SHELL V-POWER/PENNZOIL ULTRA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 9TH

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO 7 TRUECAR DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 10TH: ON QUALIFYING: “We had a pretty good day. It’s the first time we are where we are, so we’re pretty happy with that. We made it to the fast 12, and then it was neck and neck with a lot of guys and a lot of good cars. To make it to the Firestone Fast Six, basically you were in or you were out. I think we’ve got to be pretty happy with that. It’s a big step forward for us. There’s work to do, there is room for improvement, but everybody is pretty happy about the new package and the new relationship with Chevrolet.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 TEAM GODADDY.COM ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 14TH

ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 22 PANTHER/DREYER & REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 17TH: ON QUALIFYING: "I’m really sorry. I put the team behind the eight ball by crashing this morning on the first lap. A, it didn’t give me time to get into the rhythm of how the track was changing and we couldn’t try setup changes that we wanted to. We went out guessing on how the track was going to be and the engineers guessing how the car was going to be and it wasn’t enough. We needed a couple of more laps. That’s what happens when you make a mistake in such a competitive field. It’s hard to get back. The Mecum Auctions car was great since we started and I’m sure we will move to the front tomorrow.”

TONY KANAAN – NO. 11 GEICO | MOUSER ELECTRONICS – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 18TH: ON QUALIFYING: “We made a change on my car before qualifying which didn't work. It's unfortunate because we were fast in our practice sessions. The race is normally always exciting so I will look forward to that tomorrow and hope I can bring the team a good result.”

JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 19TH: ON QUALIFYING: "The National Guard Chevy is really good actually, I just totally screwed up. You know coming to a place like this that you’ve got to be able to put the lap time down in the first couple laps before the tires start going off. I was pushing really hard on the second timed lap, because that’s when I really thought the lap time was going to come, and I got into the tire wall. It was the third corner onthat lap and we were already way up to that point, and the car definitely had the speed in it (to advance). It’s frustrating for the guys, cause they’ve done a really good job getting the car ready and putting us in a position to do well. Tomorrow’s about getting on the right strategy and being smart with where we’re starting in the race because we’ve got an opportunity to make up some spots, we’ve just got to be able to be there in the end.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO – NO. 8 BMC | EMBRASE – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 20TH: ON QUALIFYING: “We have been struggling since yesterday with the back end of the car. It's frustrating because we still don't really no the problem so we can't find a solution. It's a shame because I really like this track and have been able to learn it quite quickly. I hope tomorrow we can have a good race.”

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 23RD: “That was pretty frustrating today. In the morning session, we had a braking issue and didn’t get many laps. Then the car just wasn’t what we needed in qualifying. I was almost spinning out at several corners. We’ll have to go through everything and get a better direction with the car for the race. I thought we would be better coming here after the Brazil race, but it just hasn’t been a good weekend so far. We need to keep our heads down and keep working hard right now.”

RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 8TH: ON QUALIFYING: “Yeah just lucky there, I’d say. In qualifying session two we made some really good adjustments to the Hitachi Team Penske car, had really good speed and we just missed out by a half a tenth. The Chevy engine had us faster by about three tenths and caught something sharp on one of the tire skirts on the outside of the track where it cut the tire and that was it. Disappointing, but we are seventh and we are still in a good position to start the race.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 SHELL V-POWER/PENNZOIL ULTRA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 9TH: ON QUALIFYING: “The No.3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra was strong today, top 10, it is a good result for us. I feel that we did have good laps out there; unfortunately it was tough to put it all together. Talking with my strategist John Erickson we are trying to figure out strategy heading into tomorrow and hopefully we can go from ninth to the front, that’s what we are looking for.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 TEAM GODADDY.COM ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 14TH: ON QUALIFYING: "I was on my second lap and just getting used to the reds (Red- sidewall Firestone tires), and I barely brushed the wall in the last turn. I did the exact same thing at St. Petersburg, and the car was OK there, but this damaged the left rear. It was an easy fix, and the guys were able to fix it so we would have been ready to go back out in the next round of qualifying, but the track was building up with rubber and getting faster every lap. With 60 seconds to go, our first lap was still in the top-six, but we just got bumped at the end. We shoulda been there (in the Firestone Fast Six) with Ryan (Hunter-Reay). I feel bad for my team - the Go Daddy team really deserved to be there because we had the speed in the car."

MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 26 TEAM RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 24TH: "I really enjoy this track but we went really loose for qualifying. The set-up we chose was too aggressive, which made the car tentative and on edge. It was too loose. It's disappointing. Passing here is tough, so you'll need the guy in front of you to make a mistake. Even cars on different tires can't make passes very easily. It's a tough place to pass."