Catchfence

Day one of practice for the 96^th running of the Indianapolis 500 has come to a close with JR Hildebrand, No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet, leading the way for Chevrolet. Hildebrand posted the second quickest time of the day, 40.9662 seconds – 219.693 mph, in the six-hour session that saw 26 cars on-track throughout the afternoon.

During these early practice sessions in preparation for the May 26^th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, teams are utilizing their track time to shake down their cars and test adjustments. In addition, some teams opted to save their tire allocation for later in the week as they approach Pole Day on Saturday, May 19, 2012.

Other Chevrolet drivers posting times and speeds today were:

Tony Kanaan, No. 11 ITAIPAVA | GEICO | MOUSER ELECTRONICS K V Racing Technology Chevrolet – 41.3335 seconds – 217.741 mph

Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Shell V Power/Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske Chevrolet – 41.3571 seconds – 217.617 mph

Oriol Servia, No. 22 Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet – 41.4266 seconds – 217.199 mph

Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – 41.5341 seconds – 216.689 mph

E.J. Viso, No. 5 CITGO – PDVSA KV Racing Technology Chevrolet – 41.5723 seconds – 216.490 mph

Ryan Briscoe, No. 2 IZOD Team Penske Chevrolet – 41.5759 seconds – 216.472 mph

Sebastian Saavedra, No. 17 Team AFS Andretti Autosport Chevrolet – 41.6463 seconds – 216.106 mph

Rubens Barrichello, No. 8 BMC – Embrase KV Racing Technology Chevrolet – 41.7943 seconds – 215.340 mph

Marco Andretti, No. 26 Team RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet – 41.9118 seconds – 214.737 mph

Ed Carpenter, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Premium Ultra Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet – 42.0636 seconds – 213.962 mph

Practice will resume Sunday at noon.

DRIVER QUOTES:

JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET: “It was a good tow lap. The guys have worked long and hard to figure out what our plan of attack was going to be and I think that’s what’s going to be what it takes to be successful this year. There’s a lot of new things for us with the chassis and the motors. I think having a methodical approach in how to make the car quicker and the sensitivity to adjustments this year is going to be more important than in years past.” (Do you feel rushed with the amount of track time?): “I think it’s hard not to feel kind of rushed. But I think one of the things we learned last year was taking your time and feeling out your troubles and let things come to you. I think think that’s what made our month easy. Easy in a relative sense. But we saw the advantage in taking things slowly and with the way the weather is going to look, we may be able to take advantage of that this week as well.”

IS THE TOP SPEED THAT IMPORTANT TO THE DRIVERS? “I am going to have to go back to what I said before, to be honest with you. I don’t really think that it makes a huge difference when race day rolls around. You’re not looking a lap speeds and how fast guys are going, and all that kind of stuff. I just know for me, the first time I stood down in turn one and watched a car go through there at 228 (mph) or something like that, that was a big deal to me. That was a shock and awe kind of moment. I think that, just as a driver, that’s what it has been about for a long time. That’s not to say that it needs to be that way. That’s not to say that is the way to do it, or whatever. But, I think that growing up watching Arie Luyendyke go 230 (mph), 236 (mph), 237 (mph), I think that is something I would be sort of bummed if I never got the chance to experience that speed now it being 15 years later. Whether that is the adrenaline speaking, or whatever, I think that is my personal feeling about it. I’m not sure it makes a big difference for the show. I’m not even sure if on qualifying day that it is a huge deal that we are going faster than last year’s car right away. I think eventually that will come. You’ve seen that with the different iterations of the cars in the past. They don’t start out as quick and then once they get a few years to develop on them and work on them, and the engines get more developed, they end up going quicker. So, who’s to say that if this car rolled out at 230 (mph), that it’s not going to be going 240 (mph) two years from now and then that’s a problem. My hope and feeling about it is that speed starts to come back up sooner than later.”

TALK ABOUT NOW HAVING ORIOL SERVIA AND THE DREYER AND REINBOLD GUYS AS A PART OF YOUR TEAM: “That is a really good point and I’m glad you brought that up. That’s already been really cool for us. I think it is probably one of the easiest groups of people to get along with. There are a lot of good guys on the team. A lot of the mechanics and engineers between the two teams have worked with one another before, so that’s been fairly seamless. Dennis (Reinbold) and our boss, John Barnes, have known each other for a long time and Oriol has been super easy to work with. He is a guy that really understands the value of being teammates and being transparent. That’s been great for me to be able to already bounce ideas off of him and move forward. I think any time you have a guy who was on the front row here last year as a teammate is not a bad deal.”

TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 ITAIPAVA | GEICO | MOUSER ELECTRONICS – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET: “It was a good day. We were just trying to get everybody into the Indy 500 mood. We ran the T-car (backup car) today to make sure everything was alright and we have no concerns there. It was a smooth day.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 SHELL V-POWER/PENNZOIL ULTRA TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: “The Shell Pennzoil car was really good today, it was a great start. The three of us will continue to work together so we can get the best result both in qualifying and the race.”

ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 22 PANTHER/DREYER & REINBOLD RACING CHEVROLET: “I’m very, very happy about everything. I couldn’t be happier on the first day of practice. The way the team operated and the transition into a partnership with Panther Racing and Chevy, I think couldn’t have happened more smoothly. It was the right way to start the month of May, just step by step making sure that each step is done the right way and that’s what we did today.”

ON WORKING WITH JR HILDEBRAND AND THE CAR ON AN OVAL: “We had never worked together before, but I think that we both knew that we were going to have a good relationship. You can tell with some guys more than others. He has a lot of common sense and is a very smart young man. I feel that it’s going to work great. We are both trying to improve the car. In general, this car on the oval feels a little funny. It’s not stuck to the ground as much as last year’s car and we’re running a little slower. We have to get used to that, but from our effort, I’m very happy.”

WILL POWER NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: “This was a good start for Verizon Team Penske. We did what we normally do to start the month of May and will head in the right direction with the car set up. Just a good first day.”

E .J. VISO – NO. 5 CITGO | PDVSA – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET: “The Indianapolis 500 mile race is the most famous and respected race in the world, so you always look forward to first day of practice and running laps on this track. We had a good, productive day and I am very happy and excited that our first day went exactly as we planned. We achieved everything we needed to today. The setup on the car was pretty stable, so I am looking forward to trying some new things tomorrow.

RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET: “Good first day in the IZOD car. It was the first time on the track in the new car and with the Chevy engine and things felt good. We will start working through the changes and hopefully the car will keep responding well.”

SEBASTIN SAAVEDRA, NO. 17 TEAM AFS ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: “Today was a very good day on the track. It is so much easier when you have a good car right out of the box. I felt very confident when Marco went out to do a shake down on the car. He basically went flat out on the first lap, so he was able to give me great feedback. That gave me a good starting position. From that point on, we just tried to make ourselves comfortable. I worked to understand the new car and also the new people that I’ll be working with. Overall, I am very excited to be in an Indy car again.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO – NO. 8 BMC | EMBRASE – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET: “My day was very straight forward. We didn’t have the speed for some reason as I had the same setup as my teammates. However, it is very good we have had this at the beginning of the week, so we can analyze and see what’s wrong. I felt comfortable in the car and improved my speed from ROP on Thursday, but it is not as fast as what we had expected. We have a lot of work to do for tomorrow and the rest of the week.”

MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 26 TEAM RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: NOTE: Marco drove four shakedown laps in the No. 17 Team AFS Chevrolet before handing off to Sebastian Saavedra. Andretti also did a single installation lap in the No. 25 Ipiranga Chevy that Ana Beatriz will drive: “I’m anxious to get out there tomorrow in the 26 car (Team RC Cola Chevy). I thought the (No. 17 car) was pretty good and had good pace for what the wing settings were, so that’s very encouraging to me. I think we’re going to be fast, and I can’t wait.”

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S PREMIUM ULTRA VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET: “We ran more than we planned today. We aren’t where we want to be. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really disappointed about where we were today. We have been working really hard coming into this weekend. But I feel we weren’t ready for today. I think it showed on the time charts and how the car felt. Our guys and myself are going to be working hard tonight to rebound strong for Sunday’s runs. It is too important to us to have another day like today. We didn’t get the time in here at the test that we wanted due to some issues that day. And it would have been a nice baseline from the test to start this weekend with your practice runs.”

ANA BEATRIZ, NO. 25 TEAM IPIRANGA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT / CONQUEST RACING CHEVROLET: NOTE: Ana didn’t turn a lap today: “We were looking forward to running today but some fixes on the car took longer than expected and we ran out of time. At least Marco (Andretti) was able to do a shake down and it looks like everything will be good for tomorrow. Can’t wait to run around IMS with my Ipiranga Andretti Autosport Car.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 28 TEAM DHL/SUN DROP CITRUS SODA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: NOTE: Ryan didn’t turn a lap in the No. 28 DHL/Sun Drop Chevy, but spent several hours on pit lane, watching his teammates and learning about the DW12 chassis: “It’s hard to stand by and watch. We’re saving some tires by waiting until tomorrow, and I’m eager to see what kind of speed we’ll have based on what we learn today with my teammates Marco (Andretti) and Seb (Sebastian Saavedra). It’s great to be back here at Indy, and to just be here to see the crowds and feel the energy. It’s pretty special.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 TEAM GODADDY.COM ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET: NOTE: Hinchcliffe and the No. 27 Chevy did not turn any laps today after opting to save tires for later in the month: “It was definitely a bummer to not run the Go Daddy car on opening day, but it’s all part of the bigger plan and the bigger picture. With the number of tires we have for the month we decided to save them for when the track is a little more rubbered in. One of the benefits of having a five car team is that we had teammates on track today to get a little data for us. So we have some data from the cars and engines and have something to start getting to work on and can build on that right off the bat before we even turn a wheel. It will hopefully put us in a better position tomorrow when we do finally get on track. I’m looking forward to getting out there and getting some laps in on this beautiful racetrack.”

About Chevrolet:

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Source: Chevrolet Racing, Press Release