Montoya wins fastest 500-mile race in Indy car history at Pocono

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 Levemir FlexTouch Chevrolet): “It was a pretty disappointing day for the No. 83 Levemir FlexTouch Chevrolet and I feel really bad for the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew. The car was really good all weekend and then we developed a mechanical problem early in the race and then we just fought that all day. We’re looking forward to heading to Iowa and doing some short-track racing on Saturday night.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Chevrolet): “It wasn’t a great day for us maybe overall speed-wise, but we had made our way to the top five there at the end of the race and to get a top-five finish after where we started isn’t that bad. The Target team worked hard today and you know anything can happen in these long 500-mile races. We kept the car in one piece and I was happy to bring it home for the guys. Hopefully this builds us some momentum for the next few races.”

TONY KANAAN (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Chevrolet): “There’s two ways to look at today really. First, we had a very strong Target car and I think that shows a lot about what this team and I are capable of when we get the setup right. Secondly, it’s obviously frustrating to dominate a race like that and not win. We just missed going the full 500-mile distance by a few laps and it’s heartbreaking when those things happen, but that is racing, as they say, and we will focus on Iowa now and put it behind us.”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 17 Automatic Fire Sprinklers KV AFS Chevrolet): “It was a really long day out there and a pretty scary start when we thought we had the same mechanical issue as last weekend. I brought the Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc. – KV AFS Racing car back into the pits, recycled everything and managed to get back out before the green flag and without losing a lap, which was a great job by the whole crew. From then on we just battled. Everyone is extremely strong, it’s not like there are big differences between the cars anymore, but by starting the race so far back hampered us big time. We had a strong car, and managed to get some good points for the championship, but still have a long way to go.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda):”It’s two-fold. We certainly weren’t the quickest car out there, but we certainly had a top 10 in it. On that second stop, my dash was configured wrong and I had no speed – I had no idea how fast I was coming into pit lane and we got nailed for being over (the pit lane speed limit). That obviously put us on the back foot and we fought hard without any yellows to be on the lead lap, to eventually go a lap-down three quarters of the way through the race and a few laps later the yellow came. I guess everything that could have worked against us sort of did. The guys did a good job in the pits, and with that late yellow and some guys taking a risk, we made up a few spots. We never give up, that’s a common theme on this team and it ended up gaining us a few spots. But with double points, it was a bad day to have a bad day.”

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 25 Snapple Honda): “The race for us was blown from the beginning and the pit lane penalty (for speeding). I’m not sure where they got me speeding, I’m sure I was on the limiter way before the cones so I’m not sure what happened there. We never really rebounded after the penalty making for a really frustrating 500 miles.”

CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 34 Cinsay AndrettiTV.com HVM Honda): “I’m happy with today’s race. The car was good when I was on my own. This track, it’s really hard to pass, to be behind the cars. I think third place is a great result for the championship, especially with the double points. I’m really happy with a podium. It was a long race, and I think that this time, I raced like a veteran. My Cinsay crew guys did such a great job, great pit stops, and I’m happy with another podium.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Hartman Oil/Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): “It was a solid day considering how the weekend unfolded to begin with, especially after the misfortunes of yesterday and keeping the crew here late last night. It’s nice to bounce back and get a top-10. It was a big strategy race. Considering nobody did much passing today and because it was more of a track position, fuel mileage and strategy race, I thought we did a really good job of keeping up and making the moves when we needed to. That helped get us into the top 10. Solid points, especially on a 500-miler. We’re not completely satisfied because we come to these races to win, but still being in the front half of the field is very good and particularly because it’s a double points race.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda):”Not really the day we were looking for. With that broken suspension early on, you think to yourself ‘why does this have to happen in a double-points race?’ The DHL guys did a great job getting the car fixed, but unfortunately we lost too many laps to hope for a win today. We salvaged all the points we could, which is what you have to do in a situation like this. There are still a lot of points on the line this season and we’re still in contention for the championship, so we really have to look at making every lap count and getting all the points possible in any given situation.”

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): “This was a long race for me. We struggled for pace all day and weren’t even able to make good enough fuel mileage to go for that kind of strategy. I tried my best to stay on the lead lap and get back with the pack on a caution but since it went green for so long, it was just a matter of time before the leaders caught me. I guess we just have to put this one behind us and look forward to the next two weekends in Iowa and Toronto.”

ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): “It was a long race and I kind of knew it would be that way when we didn’t qualify well. We had some issues with the car all weekend. But we ran with Scott (Dixon) most of the day and the car was better later in the race. Unfortunately, it was a tire sensor that came apart immediately when they put the car down off the jacks on the next to last stop (lap 155). The car was vibrating so badly that the steering wheel almost flew out of my hands. So I had to pit again on the next lap and we got down a lap. I’m not pleased how our team’s weekend went here. We have been so good this year and today just wasn’t our day.  Now we’ll move onto Iowa and I like that track a lot. Plus I love night racing. It should be a great show. The action is always exciting at Iowa and the fans there love short track racing too. I ran the Silver Crown Series at Knoxville and Hawkeye Downs earlier in my career.”

TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): “It’s a disappointing finish. We had the speed but we had a failure in the very early stages of the race. We couldn’t figure it out [in time to rejoin the race without losing many laps], so that’s why we didn’t go back out. It was a perfect day for racing with lots of sunshine and cooler conditions. Everything looked good and the car was working well. In traffic, I was struggling a little, perhaps lacking some downforce because I was sliding a bit. Once I had clear air I could maintain my speed which was as fast as the leader. It was a long race so we went conservative but we were looking good.”

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