Carpenter claims victory in Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway
IndyCar, IndyCar News/Releases, INDYCAR PR — By More Front Wing Staff on June 8, 2014 9:33 amFIRESTONE 600 POST-RACE QUOTES:
ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): “We had a good test here back a couple of weeks ago or a couple of months ago whenever it was. I just felt like we left some on the table in qualifying, but it made me extra motivated for tonight. The first two stints weren’t great. Had one bad stint, but the guys just made great adjustments all night. The Fuzzy’s car was hooked up by the end. I think we were for sure the car to beat at the end. I was a little worried about that last yellow. I knew guys were going to come in. We talked about what we would do in that situation and we were kind of undecided. But Tim and the boys made the right call. Awesome night. I have loved this race track for a long time and had a lot of bad luck here. I have really always wanted to win here, so super excited.”
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): “(The car) just lost power all of a sudden, then we had an oil pressure alarm, I tried to get down to the apron because I thought we were maybe spilling oil everywhere… We had made a change on that last stop that I thought would bring us into the game. We were running seventh and still had a shot at it. It was a long night and we needed the points most of all, so really disappointed for the DHL team.”
JUSTIN WILSON (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): “I saw [Bourdais] got checked up at the previous corner and I knew my only way was on the inside, I got a good run, a lot of steam on Sebastien and as I was approaching he started to block but my run was so big, it was too much of a block too late. I popped inside but he kept coming until I was out of road and I ended up with two wheels on the apron on turn in and that is never going to work. It is a disappointing end to the day because we had a half decent car, maybe not quick enough for Will [Power] but definitely good enough to be up there fighting inside the top 10 and get a decent result. We were just getting stronger as the night went on and the team did a great job so it is disappointing.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Hydroxycut KVSH Racing Chevrolet): “All of a sudden I was looking inside just in Turn 3 and Justin [Wilson] ended up in the turn and hit the banking and just spun out. Got me on the way. Honestly I don’t know if it was a racing incident. I haven’t seen anything so I don’t know if it’s a racing incident, my fault or his fault, but if it’s my fault, I apologize.”
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): (Lap traffic late in the race) “Yeah, I don’t know what they were doing. What an awesome call by my team to get tires. I thought I just screwed it up for them again and got another drive through. That is four drive throughs in five races it is not good enough. Anyone who says I don’t get drive throughs or penalties are crazy man. I get them every race.” (Black Flag penalty’s effect on race outcome) “I don’t know. It’s hard to say Ed [Carpenter] was awful strong. He is an awesome driver and it would have been a good battle there at the end. My car was good at the end of stints. But real happy for the Verizon car to come in second and just a lot of fun.”
MIKHAIL ALESHIN (No. 7 SMP Racing Honda): “I learned so much tonight at Texas Motor Speedway. The team did a great job giving me a fast car, and our pit stops were strong. It helped that I didn’t make too many mistakes, and we were able to get a strong result. I hear many experienced drivers say that as soon as you think you’re used to an oval, it will bite you. With that in mind, I know I’m not used to this type of racing. But I’m starting to get it. There is just so much for me to learn on every corner of every lap in every race. There are a lot of unknowns for me. But when you have a good car like I did tonight, it felt great to be out there fighting for positions.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “Well the right call was they said ‘pit’ and then they said ‘do whatever the leader does’. So I did what the leader did. It was one of those cautions. The thing that is disappointing is they have some cones for the restart and he went probably two or three hundred yards before. How does it work? I mean what is the rule? If you are going to let them restart anywhere then don’t put the cones. But if you put the cones it’s like NASCAR you have the two lines and you have to respect them. Hopefully they really look at it because I think it was a bit of a joke.”
TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): “Tough night for the ABC Supply 14 car. We started just after sunset when it was still warm but as the temperature dropped the car’s balance was shifting. We were able to adjust and we gained positions on the track. Although we had more downforce this year, the (tire) degradation was huge. By the end of stint you were hanging on. The ABC crew did a good job with quick stops but unfortunately we had a failure in the end (which caught car on fire) and had to stop the car. I think we learned some things tonight that will help. I’m looking forward to racing in the team’s hometown in three weeks.”
CARLOS HUERTAS (No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): “Racing here tonight was OK for me. I found it to be really difficult and sometimes I started to feel a bit dizzy after a while. The pace was good at the end of the stints but at the beginning we were not as fast as some other cars. I think my driving style might have helped me save the tires a bit for the end of the stints. I have always been pretty good at looking after my tires and it helped me here.”
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Tags: Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, Texas Motor Speedway
REPORT CARD FOR THE FIRESTONE (METRIC, NOT MILES OR LAPS) 600
Racing: B+ the tire degradation at least forced the drivers to actually drive the cars. I don’t know why Firestone is trying to emulate Pirelli in F1 unless IndyCar is insisting on inconsistent tires to stir up the pot.
Drivers:B. with the exception of Power, Newgarden and Bourdais everyone did a pretty good job. Power needs a nickname and I nominate “Tin Man” (“If I only had a brain”). Newgarden once again underachieved. I couldn’t from the broadcast whether the pit crew let him down but finishing a lap down with a front row car is a definite disappointment. Apparently Bourdais needs to have his prescription ground into his mirrors.
Officiating: incomplete – at least they stayed out of it during the race. They could hardly ignore Power’s brain fade 100mph pit entry. As usual there was post race enforcement of the “IndyCar Big Book Magic Spells”.
Broadcast: D- (because I never give an F): Technical glitches, numerous missed hand-offs and the usual pit lane inanities and interviews when things are actually happening on the track. Next year guys leave the guns at home!
The Cars: F (as always, and because there is always an exception to the rules): When will the racing gods free us from these ugly ass spec racers.
The Crowd: C- looked a little slim for Texas, probably smaller than the Truck race – haven’t seen TV rating but I’d bet they were not good.
While estimating crowd sizes is the most inexact of all of the sciences (whether on television or in person, as I was), I thought the crowd was comparable to last two years, and significantly larger than the one at Friday night’s Truck series race.
I have decided to give myself a F in accuracy. While editing my post for “Through the Catch Fence” and consulting the “Complete Works of Frank Baum” I came to the realization that Power should actually be known as “Scarecrow”. Alas, it is me who needs a brain.