INDIANAPOLIS – Will Power is not satisfied when he was taken out of his car after his qualifying career on Saturday. It was eighth on the board at the time, but that wouldn’t stay that way. He had the worst race of the 10 qualified drivers at this level and his 229,701-mile race consistent with the hour was unsuccessful in the highest grades.
In the pit area, NBC Sports ruled him. We asked him if Chevy could compete.
“There’s no chance,” Power said in the program. There wouldn’t be a time to run. It was useless. Chevy was a little less in this year’s rankings.
This isn’t the first time Power has raised this feeling, and Chevy’s fellow pilots have echoed their tone. Simon Pagenaud, the winner of the Indianapolis 500 last year, said the speed that Honda cars led to Saturday’s qualifying consultation “surprised” her. Anchored through Andretti Autosports, Honda placed 8 of the nine drivers at Fast Nine with their races on Saturday. The only driver of the Indy 500 Rookie Rinus VeeKay Chevy from Ed Carpenter Racing. Although Chevy drivers did not explicitly fear the ability of their cars to compete on race day, the ability of Chevy cars to produce for qualification surprised many drivers.
“From my point of view, as a team, we feel like we’re down (Chevrolet) (Saturday),” said owner/driver Ed Carpenter. “We had speed and the other two cars (apart from VeeKay) that didn’t come in, we weren’t the best. I felt like we’d just represented them better.
There was no genuine explanation among Chevy’s drivers why Honda was so powerful. Times were low throughout the day, despite so many former Indy 500 winners representing the manufacturer. Tony Kanaan, who qualified for a Power position in the eighth row, made his first run and his team asked him how he felt.
“Then what’s the problem?” Asked?
“I have none, ” replied Kanaan.
Kanaan said the car feels good, actually. It went well. The speed deficit is pretty obvious, but it may have been the time of day. Some engines also respond better than others to Fast Friday because the addition procedure requires converting the engine’s force range, he said.
Josef Newgarden told the Speed of the Chevys about what he expected. The ultimate non-unusual wonder among Chevy drivers is the amount of strength of Honda engines. But Newgarden said it quite typical: the Indy 500 is quite cyclical. A sensible maximum manufacturer arises every year in rating and speeds at this level are quite irrelevant. And the car is in a clever way of running, which Newgarden prefers it to be. Pagenaud echoed that he felt much more comfortable after entering the “race mode”. Classification speed isn’t everything.
But winning the pole would have been good, Newgarden said. Many think the track’s position will be more vital than the same as always in the Indianapolis 500 and having this high-level force is helping at least one component of the 500 miles. Honda’s driving force Zach Veach said that in recent years he had entered Indy, he felt there was a “small deficit”.
“But) Honda did his job this winter and came out with everything I think made Chevy rub,” Veach said. “It’s a wonderful feeling to have.”
Recently, winner of the Indy 500, Pagenaud has the clearest symbol of an almost perfect delight in IMS. He ranked 25th, the ninth row of the season’s most important race.
But last year, his fast car. Maybe it’ll happen. And that’s why he dominated. He won the pole. Then the race.
“But you know, it probably wouldn’t be the same every year, ” said Pagenaud. He smiled, but then he got more serious. “But I have no doubt that, in the end, we will fight for victory.
Follow IndyStar reporter Michael McCleary on Twitter @mikejmccleary.
Line 1
98. Marco Andretti, Andretti / Herta / Curb-Agajanian, Honda, 231,068 mph
9. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda, 231,051 mph
30. Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Honda, 230,752 mph
Row 2
21. Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet, 230,704 mphph
28. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport, Honda, 230,648 mphph
29. James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport, Honda, 229,870 mphph
Row 3
55. Alex Palou, Coyne/Goh, Honda, 229,676 mph
15. Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Honda, 229,380 mphph
27. Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport, Honda, 229,234 mph
Row 4
88. Colton Herta, Andretti / Harding / Steinbrenner, Honda, 230,775 mph
8. Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda, 230,566 mph
45, Spencer Pigot, RLL / Lemon / Buhl, Honda, 230,539 mph
Row 5
1. Josef Newgarden, Penske Team, Chevrolet, 230,296 mph
10. Felix Rosenqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda, 230,254 mph
5. Patrick O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet, 230.213 mph
Row 6
20. Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet, 230,211 mph
26. Zach Veach, Andretti Autosport, Honda, 229,961 mph
47. Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet, 229,955 mph
Row 7
18. Santino Ferrucci, Coyne / Vasser-Sullivan, Honda, 229,924 mph
60. Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda, 229,861 mph
7. Oliver Askew, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet, 229,760 mph
Row 8
12. Will Power, Team Penske, Chevrolet, 229,701 mph
14. Tony Kanaan, A.J. Foyt Racing, Chevrolet, 229,154 mph
41. Dalton Kellett, A.J. Foyt Racing, Chevrolet, 228,880 mph
Row 9
22. Simon Pagenaud, Penske Team, Chevrolet, 228,836 mph
66. Fernando Alonso, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet, 228,768 mph
51. James Davison, Coyne / Ware / Byrd / Belardi, Honda, 228,747 mph
Row 10
3. Helio Castroneves, Team Penske, Chevrolet, 228,373 mph
4. Charlie Kimball, A.J. Foyt Racing, Chevrolet, 227,758 mph
59. Max Chilton, Carlin, Chevrolet, 227,303 mph
Row 11
24. Sage Karam, Dreyer – Reinbold, Chevrolet, 227,099 mphph
67. J.R. Hildebrand, Dreyer and Reinbold, Chevrolet, 226,341 mph
81. Ben Hanley, DragonSpeed, Chevrolet, 222,917 mph