Category: NTT Indy

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE RECAP
JULY 3, 2022

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN WINS AT MID-OHIO TO GIVE CHEVROLET 2.2 LITER V6 SEVEN WINS ON THE SEASON

MCLAUGHLIN AND TEAM PENSKE TEAMMATE WILL POWER GIVE TEAM CHEVY TWO ON PODIUM FOR HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO

LEXINGTON, OHIO – Since capturing his first career NTT INDYCAR Series race victory at the season opening race on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Scott McLaughlin and his crew he nicknamed the “Thirsty Threes” have worked to find the path back to victory lane. Today on the legendary Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, all the hard work paid off as McLaughlin drove the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet into the storied Victory Lane.

“”It’s amazing,” said an elated McLaughlin from Victory Lane. “I really wanted to get a win here even more with my mom and dad here. And our first time we have had Odyssey Battery on the car and you know it was it was awesome as well to have them on board but that mom and dad is very special on America’s weekend.

“Last night I was dressed up as a bald eagle, so maybe I need to do that every year, July 4th weekend.”

Leading a race-high 46 of the 80-lap race, McLaughlin collected his second career NTT INDYCAR Series victory and moved up to seventh in the standings with eight races remaining in the 2022 season.

Chevrolet has won seven of the nine races run to date and leads the Manufacturer Championship points entering the second half of the 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series season. Chevrolet now sits at 102 INDYCAR wins for the 2.2 liter twin turbocharged direct injected V6 engine.

Will Power started at the back of the field in 21st and drove his No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske to third giving Chevrolet two drivers on the podium. With strategy, cautions falling perfectly and precision driving by the former Series; champion and Indianapolis 500 winner moved Power through the field to land on the podium. He now sits second in the standings

Team Chevy drivers captured four of the top-seven finishers. Rinus Veekay, No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team Powered By BitNile Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, finished fourth and Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, finished in seventh position and remains third in he point standings.

Alex Palou finished second and remains the points leader..

The next race on the schedule for Chevrolet in the NTT INDYCAR Serues is the Honda Indy Toronto, July 17 on the Streets of Toronto, Canada and will be streamed on Peacock Premium, 3 p.m. ET.

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN
PRESS CONFERENCE

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by the driver of the Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet, Scott McLaughlin comes home with the second win of the season, led 45 of the 80 laps, second win of the season, second of his career obviously. 288 now for Team Penske in the INDYCAR Series. This is also their record 12th win here at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. You started towards the front, stayed up front. Tell us about your day.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, amazing day. Obviously the plan was just to slot into P2 if we could. Best case was to get ahead of Pato but worse case was to slot in behind him and get into it. I felt pretty good, felt pretty strong straight away and then I think we lost the balance towards the end of the race a little bit. Just the car wasn’t as nice those last few stints even though we were leading, but thankfully had enough to hold off Alex there.

Yeah, some pretty tense restarts and defending and doing bits and pieces, but really proud of everyone. The car has been awesome. We’ve had promise of top 5s in bits and pieces but we just haven’t put it together, and to finally put together after two good races, had Road America P7 and today winning the race, it’s a really proud moment for us all.

THE MODERATOR: You had to deal with a couple of restarts. Obviously that was an ideal time for others to make a pass or try to move towards the front; how nerve-racking was that for you?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, it was nerve-racking, but at the same time I’ve been working for this. I’ve been studying this trying to get better and better on restarts. My cold tire pace is a lot better than it used to be, feel a lot more comfortable with the car and being able to maximize the car and cold out laps, cold restarts. It was difficult when Alex was on red tires behind me, but thankfully held on there, and then we were able to build a gap similar to what we did on the black tires.

I feel really, really proud. We’re learning — I’m still building, still soaking everything up like a sponge, but really proud of where we’re at right now in my development.

Q. I got to see Wayne and Diane out there. Wayne said he had to keep it calm because he noticed a camera on him, but he said they were thrilled to see you win. How does it feel to all be together?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s awesome. It’s not just to be together but just to win with them here. That’s the coolest thing. Even in Australia, I didn’t really win with them a lot in Australia. It’s been a while since they’ve been — I think the last win I had was the Bathurst 1000 in 2019 with them in town.

Really excited to have them here, and it just means so much. They’re the people that shaped me as a person, and to have them here with me and my wife and Charlotte and just hanging out, it’s been a cool couple months. We’re definitely — I’m probably giving them a few more gray hairs, but that’s part of the development of everything, and I’m really proud to win in front of them, win in front of mom, and yeah, I just wish Carly was here. Carly is not here. She said, should I not come anymore? And I said no, you come, because you were here at St. Pete, so she’ll be all right.

Q. One, were you surprised he was able to stay calm because he’s normally —

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I try and zone him out. He’s like a butterfly. He might fly, he might not. He just chills out and does his thing. That was probably the worst analogy for my old man, but look, he’s just who he is. I’m very proud of him to be my dad.

Q. He said that — I know it means a lot for all of you to win, but he said that you guys hadn’t talked about it because he didn’t want to put that pressure on you to do that.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, but every time I roll out to qualify he goes, pole is acceptable. He can say that all he wants, but there’s always a bit of pressure with mom and dad. No, they ask a lot of me, not only as an athlete but as a person. I put down a lot to how I’ve been brought up because of them and how hard they were on me, and to accept defeat, to accept adversity, to accept victory in the right ways, I’m really just — it’s just amazing just this journey doing it together.

Q. Scott, the restart there where Alex got up next to you and all of a sudden there’s a yellow, as you look back on it now, was that the moment in the race when he made his move, it didn’t work, and really never made another one?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, you know, one thing, each restart I learned something, and I knew where he was strong, where he wasn’t, where I was strong, where I wasn’t. It just sort of made me figure out a few spots. That was definitely a restart that he wasn’t ideal for me, but I would have been surprised if Alex had got past me at that corner. I was driving him pretty deep, and he was on my outside.

Yeah, but thankfully I was able to learn and continue to build, and that’s all part of it.

Q. The other thing I was talking with Tim Cindric down there on pit road afterwards and bringing you up and the way you came up and the Bathurst 1000 — you cut your teeth down there, and this is just a matter of you becoming more and more at one with your race car here. That’s his sense of it. Can you put that into words how many more comfortable you feel in that car at moments like that than you did a year ago?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Oh, it’s night and day. Even my experience in terms of what I want from the car, what I’m asking from the team, what I want from the car in a pit stop, wing changes, whatever. I’m a lot more assertive now with what I want.

I’m a lot more assertive with where I’m going to go. I’m not second-guessing what I’m doing. I’m just, this is what it’s going to be, and so be it.

Yeah, I’m super proud with where we’re going and my development, like I said, and I think we can continue to push, and I think it’s been building. At the end of the day I feel like since we had Barber and then we went to Indy and we were basically leading that race and then obviously slick tires didn’t work in the wet, and basically every race since then I’ve been there or thereabouts. Indy, crashed when I was in a good spot; not going to win the race but a good spot for points. Every race since then we’ve been in a spot to be top 5 or top 8. We’ve converted it the last two races, and that’s what we’ve got to continue to do if we want to get back into this fight.

Q. Scott, what was most difficult part of keeping Alex behind you like that?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I think when he was on red tires and I was on basically fresh black tires, had no temp in them, and that was really difficult. If anything I was thankful for the second yellow that we got when I was on the black tire because actually I was able to almost build pressure a little bit there and then get a feel for what it was going to be like, and then it was just a matter of just putting it together the next couple restarts, and like I said, learning from my mistakes.

But yeah, I was a little bit nervous probably the last restart potentially because red tires behind both me and Alex. I was hoping that they would keep him behind because it gave us a bit of a buffer, and thankfully that happened.

Q. This is also — you said before you’re your own biggest critic, but do you think you maybe need to lay off on yourself now that you’ve won again?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: No, no. I’ll just keep — I’m very competitive. I hate losing to my teammates. I hate making mistakes. But that makes me competitive. That makes me work hard and make myself better.

Yeah, so I think if I lose any competitiveness or aggression to myself, I’m not going to be as good as I want to be. I’ve got two teammates that are pushing me to no end, and if I do the right job on the day, I can certainly beat them like we’ve seen.

Q. If this wasn’t a perfect drive, what would have made it a perfect drive?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It was a pretty good day, yeah. I think I should ask for a little bit less front wing. That’s about it.

Q. What would be a perfect race?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Pole, lead every lap. But yeah, I don’t know. There’s always going to be bits and pieces — I might not be able to tell you now whether it was a perfect race or not, but I think I’ll debrief hard with Ben and we’ll figure it out. There’s going to be points during the weekend that I could have done — you know what, no. What was preventing it was my first restart behind Alex leading the race. It was a terrible restart and I went too early and I shouldn’t have done that. Looking back on it now, I shouldn’t have done that, and that’s what stops it from being a perfect day.

Q. I love how hard you are on yourself, but to think back to a year ago, things weren’t going exactly the way you’d want to in your rookie year, and your development has been something pretty special I would say.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, look, I think it’s just all about just belief, believing in what you can do, going back to the basics and just trusting your feel, trusting what got me here was what I should just go back to and just trust. That’s certainly what I’ve done the last six months, last eight months.

You know, I’m just super pumped.

Q. You mentioned that you tend to be more self-critical. Did having your family here cause you to be like harder on yourself, or was that just an additional source of motivation?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, it’s probably more so just an additional source. I think I get my competitiveness, I get my — I guess your harshness on myself from my old man and mom. Mom was pretty strict with me, as well, with schoolwork and then dad was pretty strict with me just with work ethic and making sure that I was working hard on everything.

But having them here, they know when to give me space, when not to. It’s just been nice to be able to just hang out and watch a movie with mom and dad. I haven’t been able to do that for a while, so it’s been awesome.

Q. PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge continues, even though your teammate won the grand prize at Road America $10,000. I forget your charity.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Oh, Memorial Sloan Kettering. Very close to my wife’s family’s heart especially, so excited to add another 10 grand to them, and if we can restart the 1 million, that would be pretty cool.

Q. If Texas had maybe gone a little differently —

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I know, I know. Probably wouldn’t have won that today. That’s what’s making it not a perfect day. I screwed up Texas.

Q. You’re the second person to win multiple races this season. It’s just you and Josef who have won more than one race this season. I just wondered if you’ve thought about allowing yourself to sort of enjoy this experience. Have you actually settled down and thought about and had pride in what you’ve been able to achieve based on taking those two wins and your development of where you are now?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, look, absolutely. I’m privileged to be able to compete against Will and Josef as teammates and see their data and it allows me to develop better. They’re absolutely at the top of their game. They’ve been at the top of their game for a long time, and I’m able to rebound off them.

Just yesterday before qualifying Josef was really the one that said, hey, you should maybe go back to your old setup because you looked stronger on that and whatever, and we actually ended up doing that, and that’s what happened. We qualified really well, and it worked out good. We’ve got a really good relationship between the three of us. We want to beat each other more than anything, but it’s solid, it’s a partnership that I think is going to push Team Penske more and more forward in the future, and I’m proud to be a part of it.

Yeah, really proud of where I’m at, where my development has gone, and I think I’m just enjoying it more. I’m having a ball. It’s just so much fun here, living in the States and just having a lot of fun.

Q. Where does today put you in the championship do you think from your perspective? Are you thinking that the championship is still winnable from this point and that’s a target for you? Where are you at mentally with that?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I just never give up, but in INDYCAR things can change in a heartbeat. I’ve just got to keep building — every race I’ve got to keep making the most of the situation that I’ve got, and that’s something that I probably didn’t do the last sort of month.

I’m excited for what’s ahead. A win is a big thing for us, moved us forward a little bit. I don’t know where it’s put us in the standings, but if we keep building, I fell like Toronto is going to be a track that’s going to suit me. I haven’t been there but I’m excited for it, and then Iowa I felt really strong at the test and it’s two races there. If we can have a solid next three races, who knows where it puts us.

Q. You came here after some tough runs; what was that different thing you did today to reach a win compared to those tough runs?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Look, I think I just — heading into today — I don’t think I had the win at Road America; I think we did pretty well to finish top 7. It wasn’t a smooth sailing weekend for us. But qualifying P2 yesterday, we had a chance to win the race today, and it was all about capitalizing on that. I would have been frustrated if we sort of last this race because where we were position-wise, how many laps we led, it’s similar to Texas in some ways. You’ve got to maximize where you’re at. So yeah, I was feeling obviously pretty good.

The other days when things are going bad, I just probably was trying to overachieve — I was trying to win the race from a position where it was just wasn’t going to happen unless something fell our way tremendously.

Yeah, I’ve just got to settle down in some situations, take the races as they come and just let INDYCAR be INDYCAR and hopefully it falls my way.

Q. I want to ask you about that last stint against Alex. It was like he was chasing you, but then on those final two laps, you were quicker than him. Did you feel you had the race in control in that last stint?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I think I pulled away from him a little bit with sort of 10 to go, and then I sort of felt like he was going to be looking out for his tires, so I backed off a little bit more, just to look after mine. But the best thing about my race was I had some Push-to-Pass up my sleeve, so I was able to sort of use that as a defense tool, as well.

Yeah, that was certainly a help towards the end there, and yeah, it was just a bit of a cat-and-mouse game from that point. Alex would come at me a little bit, and I would heat his tires up, and then I’d pull away and he’d back off, and it would sort of go that way. Really the only thing that was going to be a little bit of drama for us was if I made a mistake or there was a restart, and thankfully the race went green until the end.

Q. It’s a double-header for the Kiwis today, Hunter McElrea taking out the Indy Lights race, you taking out this race. People say we live so far away and we’re off the radar but I’m sure you feel very proud and I know Wayne will be after speaking to him when I was at Indy. This is a big thing for Kiwi motorsport, isn’t it.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I think Scotty has flown the flag for so long here in the U.S., and to now have some support for him, I guess, and Hunter, I would be very surprised if he’s not an INDYCAR driver one day. He’s killing it. He’s a young bloke with a lot of confidence, a lot of feeling with the car, and he’s in a great team at Andretti. I think we’ll see him in the near future in an INDYCAR. Awesome for him to get a race win.

For me, I’m constantly trying to sort of shape myself. If I’m somewhere near where Scotty has been, he’s a six-time champ and someone that’s just a legend of motorsport over here that we probably don’t give enough respect to down under. I think he’s someone that you can really use as a role model, and if I can have half the success he’s had, I’m going to have a pretty good career.

Q. Looking ahead to Toronto, it’s been a long time since the series has been there. We all know the reasons why. I think it’s the first time the aeroscreen will have been raced there, as well. Alex hasn’t been there. How much of a level playing field does that make that for you being a first timer at Toronto?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, it’s going to be interesting, I guess. Yeah, absolutely we haven’t been there like with the aeroscreen and a few things, and Team Penske is always pretty good there. But yeah, I’ve really got a nice sort of street race sort of race package. I feel like our car handles really good for car 3, and I’m confident to head there and learn the track pretty quickly and just get on with it.

It’s going to be a tough weekend, probably tougher than most street tracks because I haven’t been there before, but for sure there’s going to be a level playing field in some ways within a number of people that are out in front in the championship, so yeah, we’ll see where we’re at.

Q. From afar, watching Scott Dixon do what he’s done in INDYCAR and now coming here, did that change your appreciation for how difficult it is in this series and for what Scott’s done?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I think my appreciation of what he’s done and what he’s achieved is just — he’s a legend of the sport and someone that I’m very privileged to race against in his era. Him, Helio, I think those couple of guys, even Tony Kanaan, guys like that have been around here for a long time and being able to race them is a very cool thing. I’ve got a little highlight in my timing screen of Scotty because I want to try and beat him. If I’m at the front, if I’m in front of the car 9, I know I’m going to be there or thereabouts in time.

But that’s not a — I have to beat Scott or whatever. It’s just a yardstick, and I feel like he’s one of the best to have a yardstick on along with my two teammates, Josef and Will, the peak of the powers.

Q. (No microphone.)

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, actually we did.

Q. What do you remember about it?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, Steve was a huge supporter of me in Supercars, and I actually raced him when he went back and started a team in New Zealand, in New Zealand touring cars down under. Yeah, great guy, someone that he worked with Supercars quite closely, and obviously he’s very well-known here in the INDYCAR paddock and gave the starts to careers of guys like Helio and Tony and all that sort of stuff.

Yeah, Steve is a really nice guy, really quietly spoken, but you can sort of see him, he’s tweeting me and doing bits and pieces. He’s always sort of keeping an eye on a few things, so it’s very cool to have that interaction with him.

Q. (No microphone.)

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I text Gary all the time. I actually texted him last night. He’s always texting me going, just have fun, keep working. I think he still thinks he’s my boss. But it’s a good thing.

We’ve always got along, and it’s always been a full respect thing. Even when I told him I was coming to drive for Penske, he was very — he was sad, but at the same time he knew how big an opportunity this was going to be for me in the future, and I think he really enjoys the ride that I’m on right now.

Q. You three were getting along in here because of course your days went better than some others, but do you have to try and keep track of who out there doesn’t like who so you can talk to the right people? Even for dinner plans, right now you can’t go with anybody that’s an Andretti guy with one of their teammates?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Really? I don’t know what happened and I don’t care.

Q. We had a lot of Andretti-on-Andretti violence out there.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Oh, was there? I mean, that’s been building all year.

Q. I’d avoid them.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Look, I always race all the Andretti guys very well. I think out of all the paddocks I’ve been in the world, I think this is a very — a paddock that has a lot of camaraderie and it’s a good thing, but you’re going to have disagreements, you’re going to have bits and pieces where people don’t get along. That’s part of it. That’s the theater. That’s what we need.

We get along right now, but for sure I’ve had — Will spun me out last year and he’s my teammate. Alex, he’s a pretty nice guy. There’s nothing I can say bad about him. But for the most part everyone is pretty good. You’re competitive, you race each other hard, but that’s just what it is.

Q. It is the 4th of July weekend. You’ve spent considerable time in the United States now. To win on a holiday weekend like this, any significance for you?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Well, I wore a blowup eagle outfit last night, so I think I’m going to do that every Saturday night for our race at Mid-Ohio. It’s a significant day for America. It’s a significant day for me. Eventually one day I’ll be a U.S. citizen, and I’m proud to be here.

My wife is actually having a massive party right now. I was talking to her before; she was — a couple of drinks under her belt, but she was having a good time.

But we’re very proud to be back here in America and very proud to be able to just race on a pretty awesome weekend.

THE MODERATOR: It’s funny, the Bus Bros photo you guys took —

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: How American was that?

Q. And ironically enough you two are the only multiple winners this year, so there you go.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: We both dressed up like dickheads. I’m going to send that into the U.S. customs as evidence for my U.S. citizenship. Just going to say, I’m fully American.

Q. That should do it.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Land of the free, baby.

WILL POWER

PRESS CONFERENCE

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone, both in person and joining us virtually. Welcome to the media center at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, wrapping up the 2022 the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by the all new 2023 Civic Type R. Today’s champion, Scott McLaughlin, will join us here in a matter of moments but we’re currently joined by third place finisher Will Power in the Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, plus 18 today. Started 21st — maybe even further back than that after the off early on. Will Power, spinning third. He’ll take it. Fourth podium of the season, 89th for his career, which makes him eighth place all time all alone, getting passed, Bobby Rahal and Al Jr. in that category. But fourth podium of the season, 89th for his career, now just 20 points behind Marcus Ericsson for the overall points lead.

THE MODERATOR: Will Power coming home third, 18 on-track passes for you. Just tell us about your day, maybe the spin early on and how you came back from that.

WILL POWER: Yeah, the spin, I went up the inside. Everyone was very choked up and just got someone’s back wheel, trying not to take them out. Spun, kept it running, kept going, and had passed a few cars then and then pitted again, went to the back, and then yeah, just started passing cars. Good pit stop sequence. The yellows hurt us actually for the sequences, but it helped us for restarts. We had some good restarts, definitely gained positions because of restarts.

Yeah, solid — another great day, good strategy, and yeah, keeping ourselves right in the points game.

Q. Do you play that what-if game, what if you had a better starting position? Obviously your car was outstanding all weekend.

WILL POWER: Yeah, I definitely feel like we had the fastest car because in the second practice I had left three tenths on the table. I was up three tenths and the throttle broke, and then obviously in qualifying we had our issue. We had the fastest car and it really hurts to give up a chance at a pole or potentially a win, but to get back to third, you’re not looking back on those days saying that’s why we lost a championship, definitely.

Q. Will, what would the old Will Power have done in a situation like that? Would you have been able to have kept your cool and raced your way back or would you have thought about it and obsessed about it for a while?

WILL POWER: I don’t think — it’s not that different. I’m not doing anything crazy different. I’m just not having strange things happen like spark plugs and brakes not working and just weird things happen to me. I think we had just a great year all around because we haven’t had any mechanicals or anything like this, and yes, my — I did make a slight change in the off-season after watching him (nodding toward Palou), and it’s kind of — yeah, I’ll tell you after I’m finished what it was that actually I’ve caught on to that’s helped me a lot, after I’m done, and you’ll understand — I probably could tell you because you do it anyway. But yeah, it — yeah, it’s good.

Q. A lot of times in championships, it comes in years where something like today happens and you’re able to battle back and score good points.

WILL POWER: Yeah, I think the lesson is that even if you don’t pass any cars today, you’re still making positions. If you don’t make any mistakes, just to start with, and then you have a fast car on top of that and you make smart moves, you’re going to make positions.

You can’t get too desperate — like the first lap, that little — that was just being in the wrong spot sort of where I spun. But yeah, these races are so unpredictable, as you’ve seen all year. If you just hang in there, you’re going to end up in a good spot.

Q. Will, when something happens to you like the first lap in speed and you put your head down, in some ways is that fun from then on because you’re just going charging, just put me in your head a little bit there from the standpoint of did you have a little bit of fun today, I guess?

WILL POWER: Yeah, you certainly find it fun after the race, but you’re so focused during the race, you just — I mean, that’s the enjoyment of a skill is executing it the best you possibly can. Yes, I enjoy it a lot. I enjoy qualifying, putting it all together a whole race weekend. But yeah, when you have a day like that, makes you want to keep going for a long time.

Q. Are you watching McLaughlin mature before your eyes here in the series? What are you seeing that impresses you?

WILL POWER: Yeah, he’s just a fast driver. He’s doing all the work he needs to do. No surprise to me that he’s winning this year and running up front. Obviously it’s only his second year in this series, but he’s gained a lot of experience at a very high level. He dominated down in Australia, and that isn’t an easy series, either.

I think what was good for him was he had the maturity of a professional driver. He didn’t have to learn like a rookie and make all these silly mistakes and a lot of trial and error. But doing a great job, great job. I mean, to come from sedans to open wheels and be competitive is impressive.

Q. On the points standings, you’re within –I think you’re 20 back. Is there anyplace the rest of the season where you feel like, that’s my spot to make up a bunch of points or is it something you’ve got to worry about or I’ve got to take it easy and just get through that weekend? Any opportunities you’re looking forward to?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I do actually — having been around so long, I understand the tracks that I’m good at and what I’m — Toronto is always one that I struggle in qualifying for whatever reason. Usually good in the race.

After that they’re all — you’ve got to be good at all of them, and some that you think you’ll be really good at you may have a bad day, so you’ve got to make the most of everything. But there are some tracks your car is better, you’re stronger at, some click with you very well. That’s a path that you’ve got to keep working on, so be strong everywhere.

Q. Will, as a guy who knows what it’s like to win when your family is not here and then when they are here and how that feels, his parents were able to finally able to see him win a race, what that must mean to him.

WILL POWER: Oh, man, winning a race with your family there is amazing. I’ve never won an INDYCAR race with my parents here, only my brother, Damo. When I won the championship, yeah, but not a race. They just never come. They don’t really care. (Laughter.) I’ve tried to make them come, they just don’t like it. They just go on with their lives, like you realize you’ve got — I’m not superstitious, I’d love them to come, but they just don’t care for what I do really. They watch the races at home but it’s a long trip to come and hang out here.

Q. What must that feel like for Scott?

WILL POWER: It’s great. If I was him I’d be hanging out and staying here tonight with your parents, enjoying it with all the people camping and all that. He’s going to fly back, but yeah, having your parents, family there to win a race, yeah, great feeling. I’ve had it twice, with my brother when I won the Indy 500 and when I won Detroit recently. Yeah, it’s good that they can see what you actually do.

My parents still think I’m an accountant. (Laughter.)

Q. What do your parents care for, Will?

WILL POWER: Well, my dad races. He does like it. My mom was a nun for seven years. She was in a convent, and she left because she had such anxiety because of the community work you had to do with kids and such. She’s a very gentle, arty person. My dad is nuts. Like he’s a race car driver and he’s just crazy. I don’t know how they ever ended up together, but they produced this, which is kind of weird.

Q. I don’t know if your brother is too far off that, either.

WILL POWER: Yeah, they produced a bunch of funny, weird kids.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much. Congratulations, Will Power.

ABOUT CHEVROLET:

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE DRIVER QUOTES
JULY 3, 2022

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE QUOTES:

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 ODYSSEY BATTERY CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – RACE WINNER

“It’s amazing. I really wanted to get a win here with mom and dad here. And our first time we have had Odyssey Battery on the car and you know it was it was awesome as well to have them on board but that mom and dad is very special on America’s weekend.

“Last night I was dressed up as a bald eagle, so maybe I need to do that every year, July 4 weekend.

“It was tough. You know, you’re thinking about fuel but thankfully obviously Chevy gave us the great fuel mileage and driveability off the restarts that allowed me to get a little bit of a gap from Palou and the Honda there so I’m really really proud of the guys for the car they gave me even though it was a little hard to drive towards the end. I would love to make it a little bit easier for myself but I’m super proud. Everyone did great pitstops from this car three, the thirsty threes, baby we’re going to the moon.

“Yeah, it was, it was tough, because, you know, my car sort of went away a little bit towards the end of the race, you know, it was good at the start. I think once a tire that the track changed a little bit and got a little bit dirty and bits and pieces, they got hard to sort of put the power down, which was making it hard to defend, but it is what it is we’ll learn and move on. But I think we’ve made some changes that certainly helped us today. And thankfully we did them.

“Yeah, look, it’s great momentum for us at the end of day this isINDYCAR you know, things can happen all the time. And I think we’ve had great pace to be in the top five, you know, I’ve made mistakes. There’s been certain things that haven’t gone our way strategy wise that have made us sort of fall back a little bit but we’ve always had the pace and it was all about having the belief and the belief and the guys we’ve got a great group here on the car three you know it’s we’re all mates you know, we’re just having fun with a go racing and have fun. So really proud to do it. And yeah, I’m excited.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 3RD:

“Amazing day, amazing day for the Verizon 5G Chevy. Yeah. I said in a strategy meeting, which I have a few times this year, we’ve qualified bad and a top-10 would be great. Yellow when we were 12th, I thought, OK, we can be in the top-10 here. Good restarts, good exchanges, good pit stops, good strategy. Great job by the team. Over the moon, loving it man. Starting at the back is more entertaining than leading at the front! We’ve got to get on top of the qualifying. It wasn’t a pace issue at all. I can’t thank Verizon and Chevy enough. We’re having such a great year.

“You just have to keep your head in these races. As you see every week, so much happens. If you don’t make any mistakes, you’ll make up positions. This is IndyCar; you can never predict what’ll happen. I’m loving it. I hope the fans are too.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITCOIN WITH BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING –FINISHED 4TH:

“We had a great race. Did not expect a top-four really before the race. Really before the race, I said top-eight I’d be happy with. Racing with Will… was nice, but he didn’t leave me enough space on entry in Turn 4. He put me in the grass.I think you have to leave enough space. But he didn’t get a penalty. But he did a great race. I didn’t expect to see him in my mirrors at the restart! The team, the 21 BitNile car did a great job at the pit stops. I’m happy to be back in the top-four, top-five. That’s needed at the moment. It was the perfect race.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – FINISHED 7TH:

“It’s not a great day not a not a bad day either. We ended up seven we had a good start I think we got up to 11 at the start first pit pit exchanges really good we I think worked up to seven or six and then you know marching forward and then a couple of cautions came out.

“Then the final pit exchange where we were looking to make something happen again on new reds a yellow came out right after we picked it basically and give it there normally sometimes helps you because it closes the pits but they waited for everybody else to pit. So we we lost out to the blend line and so I ended up losing three spots in that exchange, which which put us back to P seven and then just kind of finished out the race from there so not not a great day. You know, just kind of bad luck all day with the way the yellows are working out. They weren’t really favoring our strategy. But it’s good day for scot free after that and you know, we’ll go to the next one.”

CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING – FINISHED 13TH:

I think we had a really incredible first stent. The car was super racy. I mean, we were passing people left and right. And just a real shame to see the yellow not get called. When there was a car off and a driver standing up and we’re still under green. I’m in a pretty dangerous corner. And now that was a real shame because it kind of worked against us. And some of the guys that we passed early on in the race ended up in front of us and tough to pass towards the end, but we were going forward really the whole time. So you know, to move up from 22nd hurts today. Getting to 13 is a good day for us. You know, I messed up in qualifying, so you know, gotta be perfect on these weekends and another solid race for us. We just got to get back into the top 10 When we go out next time

SIMONA de SILVESTRO, NO. 16 CHEVROLET, PARETTA AUTOSPORT – FINISHED 18TH:

“I felt like I was strong again, doing things I used to do and moving forward. We were passing cars, we were moving forward and that encourages us a lot. There’s always things to iron out and get better but I think the results will come. I look forward to Nashville because I feel like we are getting to where we need to be.”

DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – FINISHED 22ND:

“It’s been an eventful race for the team I guess. Overall it was not the best day for the AJ Foyt Racing crew. On my end, I felt like we had a pretty hooked up car in the first stent. In warm up we tried something close to Kyle’s setup from qualifying and it wasn’t quite working for me which kind of goes to show you got to sort of figure out your own thing for your own driving style. So, we went back to our qualifying car and on the new reds, the car felt pretty good. It felt like it was really connected through the corner, and I was able to push through the sections from four to nine. We were running decently well and then got turned around by the 45 car which was unfortunate. On a restart everyone’s battling but not great when you get turned from behind but you’re not really in the mix for a pass for their battle right? So, a mistake on their part and that put us two laps down because it took them a while to get me going again. Losing two laps — that’s the hard part. On an oval you can make that back but on a short road course like this, you have to get supremely lucky and that didn’t happen. On the blacks and the scrubbed red set we were lacking a bit of mechanical grip through the rhythm section. But overall a tough day, hoping for something better at the home race in Toronto.”

CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 DYNAMIC EDGE CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING –FINISHED 23RD:

“Had a bit of a disappointing end to that one and unfortunately ended with a bit of flames of behind us. Just coming to the final restart, I think it was p 11 and it just went on me, unfortunately. But you know, we’ll come back stronger to fight another day is a shame because we had great pace, especially on the blacks as well as reds. We struggled with a bit I had to get the balance back in the window at the first stop. But yeah, hopefully the guys can be happy with the performance up to that point. Next one’s Toronto street circuit. Yeah. That’s why I’m so excited.”

PATO O’WARD, 5 ARROW McLAREN CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN SP – FINISHED 24TH: “Today was a bummer. Apparently, the issue was something fuel delivery-wise, and it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. Then it just failed. It is a bummer and frustrating as we have thrown away, I think, an easy podium for us here. We had a lot of pace, and we’ve had a lot of pace throughout the weekend. The No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet was really well put together for qualifying and I tried to do my job the best I could.”

TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKiT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – FINISHED 25TH:

We had a good base for the race with the strategy as well we decided to go with the red tires for the start and then for the first stop, so I was feeling like we were in the group fighting with good pace. Suddenly I started to lose a little bit on the downshifts and then got stuck in here. Unfortunately, I think they guys did a fantastic job all weekend. So sad way to end this this race but hopefully, with all your help, we’ll be back in a couple of races more this year. Thanks for this opportunity.”

KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKiT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – FINISHED 26TH: “I’m not really sure. I’m gonna go back through the data, but wasn’t the same as Detroit, and figured the pressures were good felt like it was there and just couldn’t turn and bottomed out right in the middle of the corner and set the car sailing and the nature of the track is kind of increasing radius to that section. So, unfortunately for the 14 AJ Foyt crew, we didn’t get to get the finish that that we thought we deserved. We were doing solid this weekend. So we’re right there in the top 10 Fighting for seven eight nines really. Just unfortunate. Felt good this morning.”

FELIX ROSEQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN SP – FINISHED 27TH’:

It’s just unfortunate. I had a really, really, really good run. I feel for the No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP guys who worked so hard this weekend. I think we had a mega weekend going as were off strategy with the black tires and holding our position. We actually managed to move up from fourth to third, so yeah, it’s a big loss for the team.

“I just felt like we were sailing out there. I think we showed again we are up there and fighting for podium positions. We just have to come back and do better in Toronto.”

ABOUT CHEVROLET:

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sunday, July 3, 2022) – Simply put, nobody was better in Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires this weekend than Hunter McElrea.

The rookie Andretti Autosport driver delivered a dominant performance Sunday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, leading all 35 laps from the pole in the Indy Lights at Mid-Ohio to score his first series win in the No. 27 car.

The victory capped one of the most dominant Indy Lights weekend performances of the season, as McElrea was never not the fastest driver in a session. McElrea led both practices, was the fastest qualifier and led Sunday’s race flag-to-flag.

“I’m just relieved,” McElrea said. “I knew I could do this. This weekend, I just wanted to go back to having fun and letting everything handle itself. I can’t thank everyone who has supported me. It means a lot, and I’m just really relieved and really happy with this.”

McElrea beat Andretti Autosport teammate Matthew Brabham to the finish by 2.6826 seconds. Championship leader Linus Lundqvist rounded out the podium by finishing third for HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing.

Andretti Autosport drivers followed suit to put all four team cars in the top five. Rookie Christian Rasmussen finished fourth in the No. 28 Road to Indy/Stellrecht, while Sting Ray Robb finished fifth in the No. 2 Sekady.

Robb catapulted to fifth with an electrifying pass in the final corner on Benjamin Pedersen of Global Racing Group with HMD. Robb had been hounding Pedersen over the final laps, and Pedersen locked up his tires entering Turn 12. That allowed Robb to jump alongside Pedersen and take the position.

The move cost rookie Jacob Abel a seventh-place finish, as the slight contact between the two cars in front of him caused him to lock his brakes and spin into the grass in Turn 13. He finished 11th in the No. 51 Abel Speedwagon.

McElrea was challenged a few times on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile permanent road course. The first came in Turn 4 on the first lap after taking the green flag, when Lundqvist, who started second, tried to stay side-by-side with McElrea and the two made slight contact.

From there, it was McElrea’s race to lose. By Lap 20, he had a nearly six-second lead on Brabham and more than 15 seconds on Lundqvist. But a Lap 23 caution bunched the 13-car field on his gearbox for one last shot at the dominant driver.

Entering Turn 1, James Roe spun the No. 12 TJ Speed Motorsports entry. The Irishman got stuck in the gravel trap and needed to be pulled out, forcing a full-course yellow. It was the only caution of the day.

As the race resumed on Lap 25 for a 10-lap dash to the finish, McElrea quickly pulled away.

McElrea, a New Zealand native who was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Australia, is the fifth different winner in eight Indy Lights races this season. He is the third driver this season to score his first career win, following Danial Frost on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Rasmussen at Road America.

The other two race winners this season are Brabham, at St. Petersburg, and Lundqvist, who has four wins on the season.

McElrea was relieved finally to add his name to the list of Indy Lights winners in 2022, a feat he likely should have accomplished in the season-opening race on the Streets of St. Petersburg.

The second runner-up in last year’s Indy Pro 2000 championship was nearly as strong at that race in February, scoring the pole and leading the first 11 laps. But a mistake from the lead put McElrea in the wall and ended his day early.

“Ever since St. Pete when I threw that one away, it was really mentally tough,” he said. “I’ve probably been letting that affect me too much, still just trying to force it a bit much.

“I hope this sets the precedent for the second half of the season. I think for sure this weekend is as perfect as they get. It’s very good for the rest of the year.”

Lundqvist extended his stronghold on the championship with his sixth podium finish of the season. He leads Robb by 87 points. Brabham rose two positions to third, 96 points back. McElrea climbed three spots to fourth, 98 points back.

Indy Lights is back in action Saturday, July 23 for the first oval race of the season at Iowa Speedway. Indy Lights at Iowa Speedway begins at 12:15 p.m. (ET), live on Peacock Premium and INDYCAR Radio Network.

About Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires

Celebrating 35 years, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires develops drivers and teams to compete in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Past champions include INDYCAR SERIES champions Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Paul Tracy and Cristiano da Matta. In 2021, 20 drivers in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES were Indy Lights graduates, including rising stars and race winners Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward and Rinus VeeKay. The 2022 season consists of 14 races in the United States. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Indy Lights, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IMS Productions are owned by Penske Corporation, a global transportation, automotive and motorsports leader. For more information on Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, please visit www.indylights.com. For more information on INDYCAR and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, please visit www.indycar.com.

About Cooper Tire

Cooper Tire, a subsidiary of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT), specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sale of passenger car, light truck, medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires. Cooper is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, with manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design operations located in more than one dozen countries around the world. For more information on Cooper, visit www.coopertire.com, www.facebook.com/coopertire or www.twitter.com/coopertire.

About Goodyear

Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. It employs about 72,000 people and manufactures its products in 55 facilities in 23 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RECAP
JULY 2, 2022

O’WARD AND MCLAUGHLIN CAPTURE ALL CHEVY-POWERED FRONT ROW FOR INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO

IT IS FIFTH NTT P-1 AWARD FOR O’WARD, DRIVER FOR ARROW MCLAREN SP AND THE THIRD FRONT ROW START FOR TEAM PENSKE’S MCLAUGHLIN

LEXINGTON, OHIO (July 2, 2022) – Pato O’Ward transferred the speed his Arrow McLaren SP team found in his No, 5 Chevrolet in the two practices leading up to qualifying at Mid-Ohio into his fifth career NTT P1 Award with a lap of one minute, 06.7054 seconds/121.861 mph around the 2.258-mile/13-turn natural terrain road course.

O’Ward was one of three Chevrolet powered drivers to make the Firestone Fast Six for Sunday’s Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Lining up along O’Ward will be Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, behind the wheel of the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Chevrolet. McLaughlin turned a lap of one minute, 06.8382 seconds/121.619 mph to give Chevrolet the front row at Mid-Ohio, round nine of the 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series season.

Securing the fourth starting position for tomorrow’s 80-lap race is O’Ward’s teammate Felix Rosenqvist in the No 7 VUSE Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.

Colton Herta, Scott Dixon and Simon Pagenaud completed the Firestone Fast Six field.

Chevrolet and the NTT INDYCAR Series in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, will start at 12:45 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 3 from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The race will air live on NBC, the Peacock streaming service and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation (Channel 160) beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET. Live timing and scoring will be available at racecontrol.indycar.com.

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Pato O’Ward

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP, first pole of 2022, fifth of his career. We were talking a lot about this is the ninth different pole winner to start the season. You’ve got to go back 61 years; 1961 was the last time something like this happened. Congratulations, saving the best for last. Tell us about the pole run for you.

PATO O’WARD: Thanks, man. It was a really messy qualifying from my side. Q1 and Q2, I kept leaving three, four, even half a second on the table just because I couldn’t get it right. If it wasn’t Turns blah-blah it was another turns the next qualifying. So it was really tough to get it right.

I’m super, super happy that I got it together for the team and for myself in Q3. It was a really solid lap, and I was very happy with the car. So every time I was coming in, like oh, what do we change. Oh, man, me, I guess.

But yeah, it was a good qualifying for us. The best I’ve started here, if my mind is not wrong, I think it’s like 19th, so it’s a way better view than what I’ve had here in the past.

Q. You said on pit lane this is a track position race so it’s very important to start on the pole here. I guess your 19th starting position is kind of evidenced by that. How much do you plan to go out and really dictate the pace of the race?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I think it’s going to be all about is the race going to have a fuel number, are you going to be hitting those to be able to get the strategy, but I think from years past it’s not too bad on fuel save, so yeah, obviously — but the plan is always to stay there whenever you’re starting in first, but there’s so many variables that can happen and that can throw your race upside down or help it.

Tomorrow I think it’s just going to be all about running our race. It’s a long race. It’s a lot of laps. But I think we can do a really good — it can be a very good solid points day for us.

Q. We talked in the bullpen on Friday about the importance of being able to capitalize on chances that you have over these last nine races in order to have a chance in this championship. I don’t know if you’re aware, but the three guys ahead of you in points right now are all starting outside the top 12. Does that make this race in terms of capitalizing, whether it’s a win or at least a podium, make that much more important for tomorrow?

PATO O’WARD: I mean, it for sure makes your life a lot easier when you think of it in terms of where you’re starting. Logically you don’t have to pass anybody when you start first place, right. But there’s so many variables. I could have been leading Road America, but then had an electrical failure, and that throws away your race. There’s so many different things that are out of your control that you can’t really dictate what’s going to happen. But you can try and make the best race for you, try and kind of get the best race car into the best window as you can in terms of for tire deg and all that stuff.

I think we’re in a really good spot. I’m very happy with my car. Yesterday was a bit of a rough day, and I think today we’ve made strides every single session with both car and myself, and I think qualifying shows to that.

Yeah, I think it’s a great starting position, and yeah.

Q. Record book here shows you started 21st in 2020.

PATO O’WARD: Okay, and then last year —

Q. Sorry, 20th, and then 15th in 2020 Race One.

PATO O’WARD: So 15th, yeah. I think it’s a significant difference to what my view has been here in INDYCAR at least. I’ve had very successful weekends here in junior formulas but haven’t really capitalized in a week in an INDYCAR, so this is the first step.

I’m excited for tomorrow. I think we will have as strong a race car as we’ve had in the past. The problem is we just haven’t really had that chance to make our life a little bit easier during the race and not have to pass so many cars.

Q. So when Ericsson doesn’t advance and Power doesn’t advance and Newgarden doesn’t advance, are you aware of that and say, hey, I’ve got a real great opportunity here?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I guess you look at it and it’s a great opportunity to capitalize, right. But there’s so many rules in INDYCAR. There’s certain rules that can really throw your race upside down if something happens that you really can’t control. Sometimes it is a lot better to actually start in the back as we saw in like Portland last year than being in the front.

Yeah, I think we’ve definitely executed when qualifying came, and I think tomorrow we just need to take the race as it comes and just be sure that we can react to certain things to keep our position.

Q. In each of Felix’s groups he really came on pretty strong. What do you make of his last five, six races? What’s clicked for him?

PATO O’WARD: I’m so happy that he’s there. The guy is there, and hopefully we’ll be sharing a podium. I think that would be fantastic for the team. It was never a doubt of like can he do it. We all knew that he could do it. But for some reason it just wasn’t clicking.

But I think now we’ve worked really hard with the team to bring up and better our package into something that is just a little bit better in terms of operation window to be able to get those laps that you need, because it’s such a tight championship where if you don’t get it right and you don’t have the car to help you with that, it just makes qualifying so much harder, which has happened to us in the past here specifically.

So I think it’s great that both cars are up there. I mean, I expect him to be the same for the rest of the year as I expect for myself. I think we’ve put it into the Fast Six since Barber, guess. I’m really happy with how I’ve been performing. Sadly just some things haven’t really gone our way. Our races have really turned upside down in a lot of cases where it should have been a solid podium or even a win.

Yeah, I think I’ve really learned that in INDYCAR you can never take things for granted and things can get thrown away in an instant, so I think it’s great that we’re starting on pole, and we just need to make the best race that we can for tomorrow.

Q. The in-car camera in that last session, I swear the first time you went through Turn 9 at speed your right hand came off the wheel. Maybe I’m wrong, but it looked like on your pole lap —

PATO O’WARD: It sounds like me.

Q. In your pole lap you squeezed everything out of that one turn, basically the last turn to the right coming up toward the timing stand. What was that like? What was that lap like from the standpoint of just I want to nail this? Give us your insight. Then when you get through that Turn 9 clear, did you feel like you were on to something?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I mean, the issue up to that point was that I kept making very — not visible but mistakes that I would finish the corner and be like, that’s terrible. This last lap, I had a few wiggles, but it was — I hit all the marks. I did everything I had to do in order to extract a lap time.

The other ones I was like cruising in the woods somewhere else.

But it was a lap that I think showed how much you need to hustle in INDYCAR to get the lap time out of it. But it was honestly my cleanest of laps just because I actually hit my marks rather than going somewhere else.

Q. Whether it had been pole or not, you felt pretty good about that lap?

PATO O’WARD: Oh, for sure. As soon as I was done with the lap and I saw the time — it was my quickest time in all of qualifying with used reds, and used reds are usually — they are at least four or five tenths worse than when they’re at peak. So as soon as I saw that lap, I knew it was going to be good, and I just think it shows to how much pace the car had. I just kept struggling with actually nailing the lap the sessions before.

I think it just speaks to how good it has been and how good the changes we did overnight were helping us, and yeah, I’m pumped.

Q. You started on pole before, obviously. You guys, it seems like almost everybody in this paddock now studies videos of former races and stuff in a way guys do. Do you go into that knowing that maybe I want to be a little bit different than I was the last time —

PATO O’WARD: No, you can’t plan a start. You kind of just have to take it as it comes. Something logical is that you try and get the jump, the best jump you can, but yeah, there’s only so many you can do to get that — like a decent jump on everyone else. They’re just going to suck up to you whenever the speed starts going up. You can’t really plan, you just kind of have to watch your mirrors and make sure you protect your area.

Q. David Malukas after the second group was a little bit frustrated. He was the car right behind you at the end of round 2. What happened from your perspective because he felt like he was delayed a little bit at the end of the second round of qualifying.

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, it’s not my problem. I think he’s got to learn how to distance himself and learn that. I think he put himself in that position because the red tires were coming in in lap 3 and he was on my gearbox in lap 1. It’s like, what do you think I’m going to let you by or something? I’m in my program, too.

Yeah, I don’t think I was doing anything wrong there. I was gapping to Simon and he decided not to do so and he had a pretty big gap and usually people respect when someone gaps in front of you they keep gapping so you’re not really under threat.

But yeah, I saw that. I was also surprised. I was like, why isn’t he backing away. But yeah, he did that to himself.

Q. I believe he also went P1 on that lap when that happened, right?

PATO O’WARD: I don’t know.

Q. Pato, Gavin Ward I think has now joined the team, and I was just wondering if — maybe it’s his second day, but have you noticed any changes or improvements? Has this helped your team get both cars in the top 6?

PATO O’WARD: Great guy. I just met him yesterday. He’s molded really well into the team. Has there really been differences? Not really. We’re doing what we do as a standard every weekend, right, which is try and make the car go faster and try and find a setup that’s going to make you better, right.

Has Gavin helped? Probably. Would we have been able to do it with him taking one more race or coming in one race after? Probably. I think he’s a great addition to the team, and I’m excited to see what he can bring to the table, and I think we’ll be able to see that in the next few weeks or into next year and everything.

Q. You’re out there running your own program in qualifying, but were you aware that Josef and Will and Alex and Marcus were not advancing?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah. I mean, I wasn’t really thinking of it, but yeah. I saw that they got bumped out, and I was just running my program.

Well, I think Will should have transferred, but I think he blocked somebody? Yeah. I think he would have been a pretty big threat for pole. I think he had a lot, a lot of pace.

Q. I think six races you’ve qualified inside the top 7 now in a row, and just kind of wondered where you feel you’re at in terms of your INDYCAR progression. Do you feel like the run that you’re on at the moment is a result of you kind of having found something in qualifying or feeling that you’re performing at a particularly high level in qualifying at the moment specifically?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, thanks. I think it’s experience. I think it’s understanding the tire. I think it’s understanding what you need from the car in order to extract from it.

There’s a very fine line in getting that lap time or going over it that really makes your lap time tank, and I think that’s the hardest thing, especially on the red. They can get away with a lot of hustle, but if you overdo it, then you’re really into a pickle, and you will struggle for the rest of the lap.

It’s a hard line to find, but I think it’s just been that, and I don’t think I’ve mastered it at all. I think I’m getting better in just understanding it and kind of breaking down things rather than being like, oh, we want to make it to Q3. Well, yeah, what’s going to get you there.

But yeah, I think I’m still in the process of that and I will continue to be in that process for the rest of my career just because the tire changes all the time and the tracks change, things evolve. But I think it’s just trying to perfect that is probably the best chance you can give yourself to qualifying well.

THE MODERATOR: A fifth Firestone Fast Six for you, but I think this season the oddity is the 500 that you didn’t make —

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, top 7.

Q. We have a lot of foreign drivers in the series but we very rarely get questions every time for a driver in their native language; how important or how gratifying is it to carry the flag for México and the Spanish-speaking world in this series?

PATO O’WARD: It’s awesome, man. I think it’s growing massively, not just in INDYCAR but I think even more in Formula 1 with Checo doing well, and I think global motorsports as a whole is growing a bunch, and I think it’s taking all the categories with it.

It’s really cool to see that the country is behind me. They’re interested in seeing how I do. They’re excited when I do well. That’s how it’s supposed to be. I think that’s what everybody hopes that their country does or I guess that’s what they want to see from their fellow countrymen when they win or when they have a good race. People celebrate — maybe not together with them, but people are happy. I think that’s really good to see. I’m very proud to be carrying the Mexican flag here in INDYCAR.

I’m trying my best in order to get a race down there. I’ve already said it multiple times, it would be a sold-out event, and yeah, hopefully we can get it done in the near future.

Q. Do you have a Huski Chocolate-like sponsor? Huski Chocolate from Ericsson, you can’t actually get it here. Do you have one of those sponsors that’s a Mexican brand that we can’t actually —

PATO O’WARD: No, the guys love my personal sponsors. Obviously my main sponsor on my car is Arrow Electronics. We’ve got Mission Foods; that’s global. We’ve got Electrolit that’s global; we’ve got Topo Chico that’s global. Maybe not so much on the Europe side but it’s growing massively here in America. I’ve got Fastenal that they are also global in terms of businesses.

Yeah, I’m super proud to carry those names with me. I think it’s really cool to actually use the products that are actually sponsoring you. I think that’s one of the biggest things that I wanted to do whenever I was a young kid and I saw sponsors on a race car. I was like, man, I think it’s really cool to have a sponsor that you actually use in your daily life, and yeah, great people to have on board.

Scott McLaughlin

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to post qualifying for tomorrow’s Honda Indy at Mid-Ohio presented by the all new 2023 Civic Type R. Our pole winner in Pato O’Ward will join us momentarily, but joining us now, the driver of the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet, Scott McLaughlin. Congratulations. Your third career front row start, third this season, as well. Tell us about your afternoon.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I wish I was as fast getting here on track. Probably would have got pole compared to the other guys. But yeah, very happy. First time with Odyssey on the car, and it’s exciting to start that relationship off in such a good way.

We’ve had this coming for a while. We felt like we had reasonable pace, and we’ve been wanting to sort of build on that bit by bit, and to finally sort of nail it in qualifying and get through the Fast Six and keep going was nice. Then to compete for pole and be as close as we were to Pato was fun.

Really pumped for tomorrow. It’s all about qualifying here in some ways, so hopefully look forward to starting off good and getting on with it.

THE MODERATOR: It should be noted it’s an all-Chevrolet front row, too, obviously big for the team.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yep, massive for Chevy. They’ve been great. Obviously it’s been well-documented what they’ve done for us, and the power and drivability has been fantastic, so excited for what’s tomorrow with an all-Chevy front row.

Q. It looked like in the last couple of segments you were just a little bit ahead in the green. Were you aware of that? What sectors did you probably not have it in order to knock him off the pole?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I didn’t quite nail Turn 12, which is the first turn, and then probably Turn 2 I went really deep. Yeah, Turn 2. Probably cost myself a little bit of time there.

But look, I think Pato’s lap was pretty stout. I think that’s very strong — to be honest when I crossed the line I was like, that must be pretty close, if not pole, because we did a run early in qualifying on a used set and went out in 67.5. To do a 66.8 was good, and then Pato’s 66.7, so it shows how much the track evolved. Anyway, I deliberately told the guys, don’t tell me the time that I’m chasing; just let me drive. That sort of worked out well.

Q. You talked a lot about the ups and downs of last year, how that really helped you developmentally as a driver. I know in May in particular you didn’t have the results that you necessarily wanted. How did you feel like your experiences last year helped you get through that rough patch and get back to where you are starting on the front row for tomorrow?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, look, I think it just — I went through so much adversity last year that this was nothing. This is water off a duck’s back in some ways to what was going on. We were still — the last few races unfortunately haven’t gone great for us. We were competing potentially to be in top 5s and whatnot. It’s not like the pace wasn’t there.

Last year we lost ourselves a little bit because the pace wasn’t there. That’s sort of — that was what was the tough pill to swallow. But yeah, certainly last year shaped me to be — trust the process, trust what I’m doing is right. I’ve got two great teammates in Josef and Will who I fully believe could have been right here next to me if they had got through qualifying without any issues.

Really feeding off them and really feeding with the team and Ben, and that relationship is going well, too.

Q. I was talking to Tim Cindric in the bus earlier today and he said you’re right where he expected you to be at this point in your career. I know that when you came up, you probably wanted to win last year, but in a lot of ways is it tough when you’re a new driver like that to be able to handle realistic expectations rather than what you really want to do, which is win right out of the box?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I spoke about it a ton. I think it’s hard going from my mentality of in Australia where I was winning a lot and I think the last — last year in Australia we won 14 races or something. It’s hard to go from a mentality of just cutthroat, you have to win every weekend, if you don’t it’s a bad race, to just coping with top 10s, top 15s. Regardless of what situation you are, you’re a competitive beast, you built yourself out to be. Every person in here, every driver is a competitive individual.

It’s very hard to sort of get out of that and just go, okay, well, I’ve got to learn. I’ve got to just build with this. I’ve got to build with the team. I’ve got to build with the car. It does take some time, and it definitely took me more time than I thought. I think Tim and Roger knew exactly how long it was going to take. That’s why they’re the experts.

I just had to trust the process, trust them and trust what we had going on here, and I think, yeah, we are in the right spot. I’m competing for top 5s every week, top 8s every week. I think we’re right where we want to be, but we’ve got a long which to go before we’re where Josef is right now, and I’ve got certainly a nice person to groove myself on.

Q. I heard you being asked about how the last few races have gone and I think a lot has been made of Will’s approach to how he’s taken on the season in terms of a bit of a fresh approach and not worrying about things outside of his control. Is that something you’ve kind of rubbed off and bounced off this year and is that something that’s helped you out, as well?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I think a little bit. Like I said, I’ve got Josef and Will there. They’re just very experienced guys, and I can just really feed off them. Even Simon last year, learning off him, too.

I’m in a really good space right now, and life off the track is a lot easier. I’ve got any green card. I’m all set in America. That’s a big weight off my shoulders. My God, that was a pain in the butt for a while there. Then you sort of have — you add that to the stress of the racing and learning new cars, new facilities, new everything, new people, it’s a lot.

So yeah, I guess you enjoy what’s happened, but there’s still a lot that I can improve and and get better, and yeah, I think my approach to the season has probably been a lot more normal to sort of how I was in Australia, a lot more comfortable, and yeah.

Q. I wanted to follow up on that green card stuff. What kind of toll was that, and what did you have to go through?

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It wasn’t too bad. It’s like — it’s a stress. You get a lot of evidence and — I’m a good bloke, and trying to prove to America, like keep me, I’ll be all right.

It is a stress, but look, there’s a lot more people going through harder stuff than I did just then. I’m very privileged to be able to call this place a home now, I’m a permanent resident and I’ll be a U.S. citizen one day, and it’s a proud thing to be here.

Q. (Inaudible.)

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It didn’t help that I met Kyle in Vegas, but anyway…

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

PATO O’WARD PUTS CHEVROLET ON POLE AT MID-OHIO

LEXINGTON, OHIO – Pato O’Ward behind the wheel of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, picked up the fifth NTT P1 Award of his career to lead the field to the green flag tomorrow for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It is the sixth pole of the 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series season for drivers powered by the Chevrolet 2.2 liter V6 engine:

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW McLAREN CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN SP – POLE-WINNER: “The car has been great. We didn’t really roll off the best, but we made some really good changes overnight. We got her in the window, and I’ve been able to extract what it has.”

“I wouldn’t change anything. It’s a great qualifying position to start tomorrow so see what we’ve got.”

HOW CRITICAL IS POLE POSITION HERE? “It’s huge, man. It’s a track-position race. The best starting position we’ve ever had here is I think 18th. First is definitely a lot better than that!”

WHAT KIND OF RACECAR DO YOU HAVE FOR TOMORROW? “It’s a long race. A lot can happen. We’re in a great starting position and we have the best view into Turn One. We’re going to be giving it hell tomorrow!”

WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK ON FOR THE NO. 5 CAR TOMORROW NOW? “This is a track-position race. You make your life a lot easier when you start up at the front. Let’s just hope we stay there. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

ABOUT CHEVROLET:

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

O’Ward Becomes Ninth Different Pole Winner, Claims NTT P1 Award at Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Saturday, July 2, 2022) — For the ninth different time in nine races to start the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, a different driver will lead the field to green on Sunday.

This time, it will be Pato O’Ward, who won the NTT P1 Award for pole Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. His best lap of 1 minute, 6.7054 seconds in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet capped an eventful qualifying session on the picturesque permanent road course.

O’Ward’s fast lap on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course marked his fifth career NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole. What’s more, by becoming the ninth different pole winner to start the season, he matched a number from 1961, when there were also nine different pole winners to start the year. The record for most different pole winners to start a season is 10 set in 1952.

O’Ward will see the green flag first for Sunday’s The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2023 Civic Type R (12:30 p.m. ET, live on NBC, Peacock Premium and INDYCAR Radio Network).

“It was a good session for us,” O’Ward said. “I couldn’t get the lap together in the first two sections, but I got it done the third time. The car’s been great. We didn’t roll off the truck the best, but we made some changes overnight, and we got her in the window.”

Lining up alongside O’Ward will be Scott McLaughlin, who qualified second in the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet at 1:06.8382 for his best starting spot of the season since starting second in the second race of the year at Texas Motor Speedway.

Colton Herta will start third at 1:07.0262 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda, with Felix Rosenqvist fourth at 1:07.2163 in the No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, Scott Dixon fifth at 1:07.4047 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and Simon Pagenaud rounding out the Firestone Fast Six at 1:07.4199 in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda.

David Malukas held serve as the fastest rookie of the day and nearly qualified for his second Firestone Fast Six, posting a best lap of 1:06.8201 in Round 2, good enough for eighth in the No. 18 HMD Honda.

Malukas led a trio of rookies qualifying in the top 10. Kyle Kirkwood qualified ninth at 1:06.9506 in the No. 14 ROKiT/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet for his career-best qualifying effort, and Callum Ilott qualified 10th at 1:06.9534 in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet.

It was a challenging day for the three drivers leading the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship.

Points leader Marcus Ericsson, who won the double-point Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, was the best of the rest in Group 1 of Round 1 of qualifying. Ericsson put down a best lap of 1:07.1475 and will start 13th Sunday in the No. 8 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda.

Will Power is second in the standings, 27 points back of Ericsson, and he’ll be worse off on the starting grid. In Group 1 of Round 1 of qualifying, Power was swerving side-to-side to warm up his tires before a quick run. In doing so, he impeded the lap of Helio Castroneves in the No. 06 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda. Power, who had the fastest lap of the group, was penalized for the incident and lost his two fastest qualifying laps from the session. Falling back on a best lap of 1:07.5559, Power will start 21st in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. It marks his third consecutive start outside the top 15 and his worst-ever start at Mid-Ohio.

Meanwhile, Josef Newgarden, who is 32 points behind Ericsson in third place and has a season-high three wins this season, qualified a frustrating 14th in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet with a best lap time of 1:07.3338.

Two-time series champion Newgarden struggled to find open track that would allow him to put down a quick lap without the impediment of slower cars, and he tied his worst qualifying effort of 2022. He also started 14th in the Indy 500.

O’Ward hopes to capitalize on a familiar trend for Mid-Ohio INDYCAR SERIES pole sitters: winning the race. Fifteen times, the INDYCAR SERIES pole winner at Mid-Ohio has gone on to win the race, including the last three Mid-Ohio pole sitters (Power, Herta and Newgarden).

O’Ward, who has one win this season at Barber Motorsports Park, feels confident he can continue that trend.

“It’s huge, man,” he said. “It’s a track position race. The best position that we’ve had here starting is like 15th, so first is definitely a lot better than that.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING QUOTES
JULY 2, 2022

TEAM CHEVY QUOTES

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW McLAREN CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN SP – POLE-WINNER: “The car has been great. We didn’t really roll off the best, but we made some really good changes overnight. We got her in the window, and I’ve been able to extract what it has.”

“I wouldn’t change anything. It’s a great qualifying position to start tomorrow so we’ll see what we’ve got.”

HOW CRITICAL IS POLE POSITION HERE? “It’s huge, man. It’s a track-position race. The best starting position we’ve ever had here is I think 18th. First is definitely a lot better than that!”

WHAT KIND OF RACECAR DO YOU HAVE FOR TOMORROW? “It’s a long race. A lot can happen. We’re in a great starting position and we have the best view into Turn One. We’re going to be giving it hell tomorrow!”

WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK ON FOR THE NO. 5 CAR TOMORROW NOW? “This is a track-position race. You make your life a lot easier when you start up at the front. Let’s just hope we stay there. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 ODYSSEY BATTERY CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – QUALIFIED SECOND:”Fantastic! I’m really pumped with this. It’s been a little bit hard. We’ve been on the edge of the Fast Six but then to break into the Fast Six and compete with those guys… Congrats to Pato. Fantastic job by them and their guys.”

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT FOR TOMORROW? “I think we’re going to be OK on both (black and red Firestone tires). We’ve tried to be a bit 50-50 on the reds and the blacks. I feel good on old tires, which is a good thing. Obviously I didn’t get pole on old tires, but at the end of the day we’re right there. If we have decent tire degradation, we’ll be OK. As always, it’s big to qualify at the front here. That’s a good first step. We just need to have a good first stint and get on with it.”

FELIX ROSEQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN SP – QUALIFIED FOURTH: “Solid day… In Q1 we had the best time and almost the best time in Q2. I don’t know, I just felt we didn’t really make anything happen in the Fast Six. It’s a good day when you are disappointed with fourth. Congrats to Pato for piecing a good one together in the Fast Six. We have to look at our approach in the Fast Six. It seems like we are really good at getting to the Fast Six, but when we are in it, we never really go further than P4. It’s a good starting position, and I think we have a very good shot tomorrow.”

KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 ROKiT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – QUALIFIED NINTH: “P9 today in qualifying… an awesome result! It’s our best qualifying of the year, so we’re super-stoked. We didn’t really have the pace in either of the practices but we did now, which is all that matters. We feel like we have a good racecar going into tomorrow.”

CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 DYNAMIC EDGE CHEVROLET, JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING – QUALIFIED 10TH: “A bit of potential for a bit more, but to be fair I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made. In FP1, we had to improve a bit car-wise and on myself. In FP2, again had to improve a bit car-wise and on myself. Coming into qualifying, we were immediately competitive. In the Fast 12, there was still a bit more time. We made a change to make it a bit more faster and a bit more on the edge. I didn’t quite put it together which is a bit annoying but P10 isn’t too bad. We beat some good names. I’m pretty happy with that. We have to think about what we want to do for the race, and we should have a good one. Thanks to the team and thanks to Chevy.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITCOIN WITH BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING – QUALIFIED 11TH: “The balance of the car was really good in both rounds of qualifying. We had something that wasn’t 100 percent right in the second round, which was unfortunate but we know we have the pace for tomorrow. There is bit of a window you can play with, but it’s not going to be that much of a strategy race. I just have to be fast and pass people! The team has given me a great racecar here in the past and as long as I can attack, I am very happy!”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 PPG CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – QUALIFIED 14TH: “We’re not searching for answers with our PPG Chevrolet. It’s just traffic. Not searching for anything. The car is just fine, so it’s just a shame. Good job by Team Penske and Team Chevy. It’s just INDYCAR qualifying. Sometimes it is fine, and sometimes it is difficult to move through traffic.”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 21ST: “That was just giving away the championship right there. It is what it is. We will just have to make the best of it starting 21st. I’m just feeling sorry that happened. It’s totally on us. I talked to the team and told them I have got to know if someone is on a (qualifying) lap. We don’t normally have these kinds of penalties. That just was giving away a top-six and maybe a pole. The car has speed, but it is going to be difficult to go forward tomorrow. In this series, anything can happen but we can’t have these kinds of penalties. It’s on us.”

CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE CHEVROLET, ED CARPENTER RACING – QUALIFIED 22ND: “Every little bit counts. Three-hundredths puts you three rows higher here. It’s kind of crazy. Our teammate was fast and I think we could have been there as well, so this is tough. We were struggling with some rear insecurity, which is a shame because you have to be perfect. We always race well, so we will work towards tomorrow.”

DALTON KELLETT, NO. 4 K-LINE CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – QUALIFIED 23RD: “Just a couple of mistakes in qualifying on my end. It was a bit of a scrappy run. It felt like our K-Line Team Chevy was relatively balanced and feeling pretty good. Just didn’t put everything together and left some time on the table. I’m looking forward to we have for the race. We have a relatively solid car, so I’m pretty optimistic for tomorrow.”

SIMONA de SILVESTRO, NO. 16 CHEVROLET, PARETTA AUTOSPORT – QUALIFIED 25TH: “I think we improved quite a lot. I did not maximize the red tire in qualifying. That’s something I really need to put my head into and figure out for Nashville. We do have a good race car. I think we can definitely have consistent pace and move forward.”

TATIANA CALDERON, NO. 11 ROKiT CHEVROLET, AJ FOYT RACING – QUALIFIED 26TH: “I’m really happy to be back in Mid-Ohio where my IndyCar story started. I think we’ve been improving every session. I’m a bit disappointed with qualifying because we had a little bit more in there. We just got a little bit of traffic and ran a little bit wide. I think we have a really good racecar. Hopefully we can tweak a few things in the warmup and go hard for raceday.”

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
LEXINGTON, OHIO
TEAM CHEVY PATO O’WARD NTT P1 AWARD QUICK QUOTE
JULY 2, 2022

PATO O’WARD PUTS CHEVROLET ON POLE AT MID-OHIO

LEXINGTON, OHIO – Pato O’Ward, behind the wheel of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, picked up the fifth NTT P1 Award of his career and will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It is the sixth pole of the 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series season for drivers powered by the Chevrolet 2.2 liter V6 engine.

In addition to his five poles, O’Ward has three INDYCAR victories–all in the cockpit of a Chevrolet-powered IndyCar from the Arrow McLaren SP stable.

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW McLAREN CHEVROLET, ARROW McLAREN SP – POLE-WINNER: “The car has been great. We didn’t really roll off the best, but we made some really good changes overnight. We got her in the window, and I’ve been able to extract what it has.”

“I wouldn’t change anything. It’s a great qualifying position to start tomorrow so we’ll see what we’ve got.”

HOW CRITICAL IS POLE POSITION HERE? “It’s huge, man. It’s a track-position race. The best starting position we’ve ever had here is I think 18th. First is definitely a lot better than that!”

WHAT KIND OF RACECAR DO YOU HAVE FOR TOMORROW? “It’s a long race. A lot can happen. We’re in a great starting position and we have the best view into Turn One. We’re going to be giving it hell tomorrow!”

WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK ON FOR THE NO. 5 CAR TOMORROW NOW? “This is a track-position race. You make your life a lot easier when you start up at the front. Let’s just hope we stay there. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

ABOUT CHEVROLET:

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in nearly 80 countries with nearly 2.7 million cars and trucks sold in 2021. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Saturday, July 2, 2022) — Hunter McElrea’s dominant Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course continued Saturday as he scored the pole for Sunday’s Indy Lights at Mid-Ohio event.

With a best lap of 1 minute, 12.1926 seconds in the No. 27 Andretti Autosport car, the rookie scored his second pole of the season. It rounds out what has been a strong weekend for McElrea, who was fastest in both practice sessions of the weekend.

McElrea put an exclamation point on his strong qualifying session by besting his own time, which was already good enough for first place as time expired in the 20-minute qualifying session around the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course.

“It was good,” he said. “We were P1 almost the entire session. I started getting a little sloppy at the end. Even on my last lap, I completely blew through Turn 2, but I didn’t think that was going to be a (1:12) lap.

“I can’t tell you how fun it is when you drive a car this good around Mid-Ohio. I love this place. We’re back where we belong.”

Joining McElrea on the front row will be Indy Lights points leader Linus Lundqvist, who put down a best lap of 1:12.4218 late in the session to secure his seventh front-row start in eight races this season in the No. 26 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing machine.

“I’m very happy and super proud of the team,” said Lundqvist, who holds an 82-point lead over Sting Ray Robb in the championship. “We knew that this place is probably one of our weakest places, so good job. Thanks to my guys for giving me a car that could fight for the front row.”

Lundqvist’s teammate Benjamin Pedersen will start third at 1:12.4459 in the No. 24 Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports car. St. Petersburg winner Matthew Brabham qualified fourth at 1:12.4911 in the No. 83 Andretti Autosport car, and the series’ most recent winner Christian Rasmussen starts fifth with a best lap of 1:12.5129 in the No. 28 Road to Indy/Stellrecht car for Andretti Autosport.

This weekend’s performance at Mid-Ohio for McElrea is mirroring the drive he had at the start of the season on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. McElrea, 22, paced practice, started on the pole and led the first 11 laps of the race before a mistake put him in the wall and ended his chances for victory.

Since then, McElrea, a New Zealand driver who was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Australia, has worked on being less aggressive on track. He is currently seventh in the championship, 117 points back of leader Lundqvist.

In his young racing career, Mid-Ohio has proven to be strong for McElrea, who has five poles and two wins at this track prior to this weekend. Therefore, McElrea is confident about finally scoring that elusive first career win in Sunday’s Indy Lights at Mid-Ohio (10:35 a.m. ET, live on Peacock Premium and INDYCAR Radio Network).

“It’s pretty obvious what I’m going to plan on,” McElrea said. “We’re pretty dominant all weekend, so I don’t see why we shouldn’t keep that pace in the race.”

Expect a tight 35-lap race as the top nine drivers in qualifying were separated by just over half a second.

About Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires

Celebrating 35 years, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires develops drivers and teams to compete in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Past champions include INDYCAR SERIES champions Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Paul Tracy and Cristiano da Matta. In 2021, 20 drivers in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES were Indy Lights graduates, including rising stars and race winners Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward and Rinus VeeKay. The 2022 season consists of 14 races in the United States. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Indy Lights, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IMS Productions are owned by Penske Corporation, a global transportation, automotive and motorsports leader. For more information on Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, please visit www.indylights.com. For more information on INDYCAR and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, please visit www.indycar.com.

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Castroneves will start 15th after interference setback in Group 1 qualifying

Lexington, Ohio (2 July 2022) – Simon Pagenaud will start sixth for Meyer Shank Racing’s (MSR) home race, Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (Sunday, 12:30pm ET, NBC).

Pagenaud, driving No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda for MSR which is based in nearby Pataskala, advanced through two rounds of qualifying to reach the Firestone Fast Six for the second time this season.

It was an impressive charge for the Frenchman, who was 18th and 16th in the event’s two practice sessions. Once in the Fast Six, he ran as high as third before his final lap of 1:07.419-seconds put him on the outside of the third row.

MSR teammate Helio Castroneves – a two-time Mid-Ohio winner – will start 15th in the No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda. Castroneves also ran in the opening group, winding up eighth with a lap of 1:07.1798-seconds. On Castroneves’ fast lap, the Brazilian racer had a close call when the No. 12 entry – on a warmup lap – swerved which forced the MSR driver into the grass to avoid him. Following the incident, Castroneves was unable to improve his time and settled with 15th.

Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio is will have live broadcast coverage on NBC starting at 12:30pm ET. SiriusXM will also have IndyCar radio coverage on XM Ch. 160.

Driver Quotes:

Simon Pagenaud:
“It was a great qualifying run and obviously we have such huge support here in Ohio. This is our home track and it’s a Honda track, so it’s very important for us to do well. We didn’t start really well yesterday and the team worked really hard last night, I was on the phone with my engineering until 10:30 last night. So I was really happy we could put it into the Fast Six and I think we have something really great for the race tomorrow.”

Helio Castroneves:
“It’s a tough situation and obviously not the position that we wanted for the race. I had pitted early for reds and I don’t think they [Will Power’s team] told him I was coming by on my green flag lap. And whoever obstructs you on your green flag lap, it’s a penalty. I was really hoping that he saw me and would let me by because obviously he was fast enough to move on. I feel bad, but the way he moved the car around I couldn’t avoid it. But now, we have to keep going and focus on the race tomorrow. It’s Mid-Ohio, anything can happen and you have to push to the limit.”