Hunter-Reay takes Verizon P1 Award in Long Beach

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 8 TNT Energy Drink Chevrolet): “Today didn’t go as we had planned and we definitely didn’t get the result that we wanted to see in qualifications. We’ll just have to work hard tomorrow to make up the spots we lost today in qualifying. We obviously have a little more work we need to do on the car tonight to get it ready for tomorrow, but this is still one of my favorite tracks and I have confidence that tomorrow will be better for the No. 8 TNT Chevrolet and NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing.”

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 Novo Nordisk Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): “It wasn’t the result that Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing would like and we have some more work to do on the cars. I have a lot of confidence in my engineers and the crew that they’ll give me a really good car for the 85 laps tomorrow. The Chevrolets seem to be really good on the standing starts so I have a lot of confidence in that aspect of the race tomorrow. We’ll come up with a great race package tonight and be ready to race from where we start tomorrow.”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 17 AFS KVAFS Racing Chevrolet): “It has been a rough weekend so far. The setups we had previously been trying hadn’t been working, so we made a drastic change before qualifying. Looking at how Bourdais’ car was running, it was a no brainer to switch to his setup, but unfortunately just didn’t have enough time to fully understand how the car now reacts. I do feel comfortable with the KV AFS car and believe we have good race car and will focus on learning from it and having a positive day tomorrow.”

CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 34 Cinsay AndrettiTV.com HVM Honda): “I think we had more to give during Group Two qualifying, but we just weren’t able to show it. The yellow flag in Turn 9 didn’t help me especially because I was having a great lap, and after that we made some changes that unfortunately didn’t end up working out. I think the Cinsay crew and I will have to go back and work a few things out for tomorrow. I think we had a great car during the first part of qualifying – I was the fastest that session. Anyways, we gave what we had and I’m really happy for the team for being on front row.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda): “The United Fiber & Data car has been quick all weekend in practice. You never know what’s going to happen when you put on those Firestone Reds, though, especially when you only drive them for the first time here in qualifying. The guys did a great job – the car was awesome. I haven’t been in a ton of these Firestone Fast Sixes, and I’m learning what to do on the second stint on the Firestone Reds so that’s a good trade. For us to be front row, I’m happy about, but I’m looking for that first pole. I’ve been so close so many times, but if you’re going to lose it, I’m glad it’s to a teammate, so congrats to Ryan (Hunter-Reay).”

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 25 Snapple Honda): “We tried a new set up, so I was sort of still learning it in qualifying – which has been a trend for us, we need to run the car that I’m going to qualifying during practice three so I know what I’m jumping in to qualify with. Today we could have run less fuel and made it in (the Firestone Fast Six). But it’s still 100% doable from eighth for the Snapple team.”

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “Obviously, the No. 12 Verizon Chevy team is starting a lot further back then we had hoped. We just have to try to make that work from where we are and do the best we can tomorrow.”

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Charter Communications/SPHM Honda): “Well, the car has been good all weekend. It was very good in St. Pete as well. It’s just a testament to the work the team has put in over the winter. Honda has been awesome. I mean, there are five Hondas in the Top Six. So it helps to have the right horse behind you. The car was very good. It was just time. At some point it’s how are you going to use those red tires, and it works better for some cars than others, and I think our car was pretty good on it. ”

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Mistic KVSH Racing Chevrolet): “It was fun. First of all, I really need to thank all the people at E Cigarettes with Mistic. It’s been a great partnership so far. That white car is good karma. So it’s good to be here and Jimmy, Kevin and Sully for putting that program together, and all the guys that did the work in the background silently keeping their heads down and making it happen for me. So all the guys at KVSH it’s really been a team effort. We all thought we were going to have a shot at this after a very loaded of work winter. I really believe that it’s paying off. We had a fast car in St. Pete, and we really have a fast car here. Came just a bit short, but there’s always tomorrow, so we’re going to keep digging, and hopefully we can make it happen tomorrow.”

JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 98 Charter/Castrol Edge Honda): “We had a pretty solid session. I think that was good about the session was we continued to make it better throughout every run. So had a couple of really clean, clean laps in session 1 and session 2. Then session 3 the car was really good again, which is good. I probably didn’t get quite as much out of it as I did coming off of turn 1 on the final lap, but I mean, the car was really good. I was really proud of all the guys at Bryan Herta. They really pushed hard in the last few weeks, and they’ve given me such a fantastic opportunity. So thank you to them and to Castrol, and everybody involved, Charter, and just fantastic day really for everybody.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): “Oh, man, it was so close. It was just so close between everyone. You know what was weird was that there wasn’t a big jump from Blacks to Reds today. I don’t know why that was. I don’t know if it’s because the Indy Lights cars are now running on Coopers so we don’t get as much Firestone rubber during race weekend. We saw a similar thing in St. Pete. Just wasn’t a big jump. We ran a 78.1 this morning, and feeling really good about it. I think we’ve had an incredibly fast car from the git go here. We just didn’t go quicker in qualifying, and no one really did. More people jumped further than us, but we didn’t go that much faster. I was surprised not to see Will make it either. He was very good this morning, so it’s kind of weird in the way. But car felt really good in qualifying for us, we just didn’t have enough. So thankful that we got the Top Six. I mean, that’s obviously a big goal in its own right. So we’re going to be starting tomorrow with good company, hopefully, and we’ve just got to stay there. That is the goal for us to stay up front.”

For the full qualifying results, visit our Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Event Summary.