Power leads Team Chevy at Pocono with fourth place finish

LONG POND, Penn. – Will Power led the charge for Team Chevy with a fourth place finish today in the Pocono INDYCAR 400 for the IZOD IndyCar Series at Pocono Raceway. Behind the wheel of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Power led four Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers with top-10 finishes, on the way to another strong oval track finish this season.

Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet

Photo by: Chris Owens

Pole sitter Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, finished 10th, and remains third in the standings.

Defending Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, was credited with a 20th place finish after contact on pit road sent Hunter-Reay to the garage for repairs that put him 39 laps down to the winner at the finish.

Three-time race winner James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 GoDaddy Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, was the victim of a single-car accident on lap one of the 11th race of the 19-race season. He lost one spot in the standings, and now sits fifth in points.

Chevrolet maintains the lead in the Series Manufacturers’ standings with eight races remaining in the season.

Scott Dixon (Honda) was the race winner. Charlie Kimball – 2nd, Dario Franchitti – 3rd and Josef Newgarden – 4th complete the top-five finishers.

The Honda Indy Toronto, the second of the double-header weekends the season, and the first with standing starts, is next on the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule set for July 13-14, 2013.

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – FINISHED FOURTH: "It was a good day and a good finish for the Verizon team. The boys gave me some great pit stops today and it was really important for us to score some good points and continue to make up ground in the championship. I really like this track here at Pocono. It seemed like it was a good crowd and we gave it all we had out there. A very physical race, but a good result for us in the end."

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – FINISHED EIGHTH: "Well, it's definitely good to come out of this race building our lead in the championship. The Hitachi team did a fantastic job this weekend. The race was very challenging. For us, as a team, we had to make a lot of decisions during the race. Ultimately, the key was saving fuel for a good result and we'll take a top-10 finish and move on to Toronto with the good points we earned here. Thanks again to the fans here. They were awesome and it's good to be back racing at Pocono."

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S VODKA/ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED NINTH: “It was a tough race for us. We started 14th and finished ninth. I felt we had a better car than that result. We didn’t have a fast car in the beginning of the stints, but we came on strong at the end of them. We made the car a lot better for the race. We were just missing a little something. We were a little inconsistent with the tires. They felt a little different with each run. I guess we shouldn’t be down about a top-ten finish, but I felt we had a shot for a top-five.

I thought we were charging in some portions of the race. But then the car didn’t react as quickly after a pit stop. We might have run a little too much downforce, but we need to look at it back at the shop. It was fun to race at Pocono. It is hard to pass but you do it. I hope the crowd liked the Indy cars here. I loved coming to this track. The track does a goes job promoting the race too. It is great to have Pocono as part of the Fuzzy’s Triple Crown. We’ll have to defend our title at Fontana and stop Tony (Kanaan) and Scott (Dixon) from taking the $250,000 from Fuzzy’s Vodka.”

MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – FINISHED 10TH: “Oh man, I mean we knew early (about our fuel mileage), but not early enough. I think we should have responded quicker, but it’s so hard to be reserved right now. I’m so frustrated for RC Cola and everybody; we were just so dominant and I’m just absolutely gutted.”

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, NO. 78 NUCLEAR ENTERGY AREVA KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET – FINISHED 11TH: “The car was awesome! It was a really good race. This is a tricky place; you had to time your passes just right. I had a lot of fun out there and the team was great. They gave me a fantastic car and we were able to move forward and make a lot of moves toward the end of the race. I’m really happy that we were able to get a good result for the Nuclear Clean Air Energy car.”

TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 SUNOCO “TURBO” KV RACING TECHNOLOGY SH-RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 13TH: “I apologized to the crew several times. I made a mistake and it cost us big. I had a run on Dixon, but didn’t really think that I was closing that fast on him. We had a car that was capable of winning this race and putting us in a position to contend for ‘Fuzzy’s Triple Crown’ and the $1 million prize. We still have a chance to win in Fontana and collect $250,000, but I just feel bad for the crew because they worked so hard to give me a very competitive car.”

RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 14TH: "We were working a lot on our fuel mileage there late in the race and had to jump in the pits for a splash of fuel, which cost us some positions right at the end. That was a bit unfortunate because the National Guard Chevy was quite racy, especially once the fuel burnt off and we got to the end of each stint. We were working on our downforce levels during some of the early pit stops, and the Panther crew was really quick in the pits all day. I'm really thankful Panther gave me the opportunity to run today knowing we'd have to miss practice and qualifications. We continue to gel each time we go out and I'm looking forward to the next one."

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 7 MCAFEE DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 16TH: "It was a tough day, we were running up front well in the Top-10. The second run was really strong for us, just running flat out. We caught Viso and I made the call to come in a lap early, so we came in. Then the track went yellow and that killed our race. We went completely out of sequence with that yellow and never caught a break. After that we tried to save fuel and not make another stop, but we couldn't make it all the way without a yellow. At this place you cannot save fuel being flat out and wide open the whole race. The #7 McAfee car deserved better today and the crew did an amazing job today."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – FINISHED 20TH: “We had a great car today, just a little too much understeer to start with, so we were just going to add front wing as we went. I really think we had a great car to challenge for the win, was really looking forward to the rest of the race – I love this race track. Then we were just coming in to pit lane, minding our own business, and we get creamed from behind. It’s unfortunate but we’ve come from further back to win the championship and we’re determined to do it again. The DHL Chevy boys got me back out on the track; we tried to salvage some points, and I think we got one position. It’s so frustrating when you’re running top three, top two, really happy with your car and then somebody comes from out of nowhere to take you out.”

E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO CHEVROLET – FINISHED 21ST: “It was a pretty disappointing weekend from qualifying on; things never went the right way for me. In the race, since Lap 1, it was extremely difficult to drive – we still don’t know what the problem is. During the race, the car was wandering on me in the straights, in the corners, going from side-to-side. I just needed to stop to have a look at the car, to see if there was anything wrong. But obviously, at that point, it was very late in the race and we lost plenty of ground. From here on there are many street and road courses coming. I believe we have everything it takes to be in the front in those upcoming races.”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 6 TRUECAR DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET – FINISHED 23RD: "A very rough day. We ran into the exactly the same issue as in qualifying with our throttle getting stuck as soon as we turned on the car. With that we couldn't race, so we came in to change the throttle and that was the end of our day. It's been a very season for us and we cannot seem to catch a break. All we can do is stay focused with a positive attitude and see what happens next."

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – FINISHED 24TH: INVOLVED IN A SINGLE-CAR INCIDENT ON LAP ONE OF THE RACE: ON WHAT HAPPENED: "I mean it just snapped, we got loose. We've been battling understeer with a hot day. We were planning on the car being a bit more pushy than...I guess it ultimately ended up being. We went a little aggressive on setup. I don't know, maybe we went too much or what. It's just so weird. I had a moment almost like that in qualifying, and I guess I used up all my luck/talent saving it the; we didn't have enough this time.

With the downforce level we were running, and the setup that we had, there is just no way I thought that was the kind of accident that would have taken us out especially on lap one especially when the tires are fresh and everything was good. It is devastating, man, to have the GoDaddy car out; Andretti Autosport one-two-three didn't last too long. I feel bad for the team; the guys worked so hard. Hopefully Marco and Ryan can fly the flag, and try to bring it home for us. I’m not entirely sure what happened.

We’ll have to take a look at it. The car just snapped loose on me. We went a bit aggressive on setup because we had an understeering car all week, and we didn’t want that in the race. Maybe we overstepped it a bit; I’m not quite sure. We’ll have to go back and take a look. It’s really unfortunate. It’s a 400-mile race so to go out on Lap 1 is just devastating. We had high hopes for the Go Daddy car. We’ve been on a good sort of momentum streak. It’s turned into a repeat of last year – an accident while running up front right before Toronto.”

Team Chevy