Dixon leads Ganassi front-row qualifying sweep at Iowa

IndyCar, IndyCar News/Releases, INDYCAR PR — By on July 11, 2014 9:51 pm

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda): “We just missed it (in qualifying) today and it’s a shame because the United Fiber & Data car was pretty quick in practice. The good news is our race trim is strong so there is an opportunity to move up, but I’m just gutted for the guys because we do have a good car. I think traffic management is what wins this race. It’s a very short track trait – you’re always going to be racing someone whether it’s for positions or with guys a lap down or maybe guys a lap ahead of you, but you’re always going to be in dirty air. Having a car that versatile out front, high line, low line is definitely going to be key.”

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 25 Snapple Honda): “We were dealing with an early draw and a green track after the rain, so not exactly desired conditions for our run. We were definitely loose in Turns 3 and 4 and gave up some track distance on the exit of Turn 4. I’m a little disappointed, but as a team we’ve always had strong race set ups so we’ll work tomorrow to move the Snapple car to the front.”

CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 34 Cinsay AndrettiTV.com HVM Honda): “Today the teammates’ help was totally different than the help I had at Pocono because I was almost the last to qualify, and we were almost back-to-back to qualify today in Iowa. For sure it’s always helpful (to have teammates) because you have an idea of what the track will be like. It was an OK qualifying; I think everyone gets better as the session goes on. The most important is the race tomorrow – it is 300 laps, a long race… we’ll see what happens.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Hartman Oil/Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): “It turned into a tough day for us. I thought we had a really good day going. We were looking strong on race trim. In all honesty I’m really happy with where the car is right now I think we have a really good race car to work with tomorrow night. We just got caught out in qualifying. We made some decisions and stuck to them and we ended up struggling with the rear end.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet): “We made some changes to the No. 2 Verizon Chevy from practice because we thought we could be just a little better. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way. I wasn’t sure the car was going to come back when it stepped out on me. We have a lot of laps to make something happen so I’m not worried.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): “Today I was kind of on top of the track – moving all around, loose here, understeer there, so didn’t really know what to do with it. Luckily with Iowa being a short track, qualifying is less important – it’ll be a crazy race tomorrow night, that’s for sure.”

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): “That performance was kind of what I expected. I had a bit of a difficult practice session because of the weather. We didn’t get as far along as we wanted to. That being said, the car feels reasonable. I just got a little bit loose there in both ends of the track in qualifying. They key now is to get it so you can change lines and race well. We will try to hit it tomorrow, it is going to be a long, tough race. It isn’t easy around here anyway and at 300 laps, it is going to be tough.”

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 8 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): “That was a really good run for the No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet. We really struggled today in practice to find the balance, but the guys worked really hard to make sure I had a good car for qualifying. Track position is going to be really important around here tomorrow night, so we will definitely take a fourth and see what we can do with it tomorrow night.”

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 Levemir FlexTouch Chevrolet): “The No. 83 Levemir FlexTouch Chevrolet had a great run today in qualifying. We were able to take some data from our teammates, who were already up front, and use that to our advantage for our run. I think the test here a couple of weeks ago really helped us all come to this track with more data and experience. I can’t wait to get out here under the lights tomorrow night and see what Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing can do.”

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “I had a big moment, which ruined that (first) lap, and was worried if the car was going to stick. I made some adjustments on the second lap and it was not as bad. Top 10 would be really good.”

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