Grand Prix of Balitmore post race quotes

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet): "It's massive. I'm just trying to catch my breathe. Those restarts were crazy, crazy, crazy." (About restart w/ Briscoe) "Everyone had been going late. The green flag was actually coming out before the leaders were accelerating and I caught wind of that so I just started to focus on the green flag instead of focusing on the guy next to me and Briscoe got jumped on that one but the green flag was flying when he was still sitting there in first gear. I mean I feel sorry for him, well I don't really feel sorry, but you know what I mean." (About the tires) "Wild day. That's what we needed. We needed a wild day. We needed a bit of rain. I was hoping it was going to rain more than it did. They rolled the dice, and left me out there on Firestone slicks and it was treacherous for a bit but started drying up coming our way and paid off."RYAN BRISCOE (No. 2 PPG Automotive Refinishes Team Penske Chevrolet): "It was a tough race today. Really mixed conditions with the rain and everything. Strong finish, the car was fast, even saving fuel that whole final stint, the car was really fast. I'm really proud of the whole team, my engineer, everybody, for giving me the whole car to race today. Bit of frustrating end there on that final restart, they waved the green and we weren't even lined up yet, it was a little bit unfair. But Hunter-Reay did a great job today, and I'm just really proud of my whole team. And Roger pulled off one of those strategies today and it worked for us."SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): "It was a tough day. We missed a little bit on picking the wets and the slicks and that kind of cross over. It seemed about three or four of the guys worked that out. I guess it's luck really, whether it's going to rain or not. Then we went off strategy big-time at the end there. We pitted really early and had to save a lot of fuel on black tires. It's probably one of the hardest stints all year, to try and get speed and try to save fuel. It was a crazy finish there."MIKE CONWAY (No. 14 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): "I thought we were going to come away with some good points. on that last restart, I got a couple cars when they bottled up on the hairpin but then I tried to go in too quick on the next corner and I was into the tires. It's a shame because my ABC crew did a great job putting the car back together after yesterday. Tough way to end."DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 Lexar Media Honda): "Very disappointing race for us. We ran out of fuel at the end. INDYCAR officials need to take a look at what is and what isn't acceptable. This is becoming a full contact sport."GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 38 Service Central Honda): "Obviously, we're pretty bummed out about the result. Really, 11th isn't bad but we were in a position to win this race and the engine shut off under yellow, we lost a junction box and we lost overtake and our pit lane speed limiter. We lost a lot. I'm pretty upset that we worked that hard and didn't get a better result."TAKUMA SATO (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda): "The start of the race was a tough one due to the chicane. Where I started, which was basically at the back of the grid, it was already green for me before the chicane, around Turn 12. After a few laps I settled into a rhythm as it was difficult to overtake at that point. But then the weather really helped me a lot. It started raining and I was grinning a little bit of course. It was strange weather. On the main straight it was quite wet, more than damp, and on the back straight it was dry. We just stayed on our program. It was difficult conditions and a lot of people came in to change to wet tires but we decided to stay on dry tires and I made a huge jump and was in fifth. We overtook on the restarts and led the race, and we led comfortably. But then unfortunately the problem started - I think a fuel pressure problem. The engine started coughing and I started to lose power; especially on the restart, there was just no power and a bunch of the drivers overtook me. Every restart was difficult and in the end it was difficult to select the gears due to some engine response I think. In the end we had to stop which is a big shame. The boys did a tremendous job and some really hard work over the course of the weekend with changing the engine twice. We worked through it and had a really competitive race and I am really proud of that so it's just a shame that we couldn't bring home a good result today."BRUNO JUNQUEIRA (No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): "It was a crazy race with conditions that were dry, wet and then dry again. I was hit from behind early and lost a lap. But when the track dried I was able to get a good pace and got good laps in. Unfortunately near the end of the race I brushed the wall after going through the chicane. My left rear suspension was broken and we couldn't continue on in the race. I was very sorry and frustrated because I had been making up distance all afternoon. I have to thank the entire Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team for giving me a great opportunity this weekend in a great race car."CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Honda): "It was a really great run for the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen car all day. The car was quick and the guys in the pit lane did an awesome job. The team not only made the right strategy calls to keep me on slicks when it was damp but also the second stop they did a really good job. It's a shame to have something behind me go wrong around lap 65 but we proved we have the speed all weekend. We'll carry that on to Fontana, finish the year out with a really good result and head to 2013 looking to come back stronger than ever."SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda): "It was a shame we got passed by Hunter-Reay on the stop there, but anyway, on the last restart we got too much pickup from the tires and I couldn't get rid of it. I'm happy to take third, we're knocking on the door and sometimes it's that way, it's the first year. Next year we'll be tough with those guys." (About his pass for the lead): " It was a little bit of a sports car trick there. I saw where they were starting, and it was consistently at the same point, so I used the push to pass at the right time, and I had really good traction. It's perfect with my gears, so I had a big jump and man, I got to Turn 1 and I thought 'OK, I'm P1, I think," so, it was great for braking and everyone followed me."SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy Lotus HMV Racing Lotus): "Well, I'm disappointed because I made a mistake. I hit the curb in the chicane and it ended our day. Until then it was kind of a crazy race. We made some positions; we don't know where we would have finished. This time it's kind of my fault. It's a shame because we were doing really well. Now you just go to the next one I guess."JR HILDEBRAND (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet): ""It was kind of a bummer of a day, things just didn't go our way towards the end of the race. We stayed out on slicks when it started to rain and that was definitely the right call. We got ourselves up into the top five legitimately, but we kind of got hosed on a restart; the pole sitter was kind of just sleeping on the restart and I got stuck behind him and couldn't find a way around which put us into sixth or seventh. We were looking to have a really good day and with five laps before we were going to pit, I clipped off the right side of the front wing and that just hosed our day at that point. I lost a few spots right there because of that, and then having to make the nose change in pit lane cost us an extra fifteen seconds, which at that stage put us behind all the cars we should have been ahead of. I was a little overly aggressive at a couple points during the race and that ended up costing us. But the guys did an awesome just today, and that's what makes it so disappointing. We picked the perfect strategy today and because I made a couple mistakes things just didn't pan out."E.J. VISO (No. 5 CITGO/PDVSA KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): "We could always do better, but finishing ninth was not a bad way to end the weekend after the way we started. . It was a very difficult and long race to drive. There were a lot of decision that needed to be made at different parts of the race. Some of them based on the weather and some of them based on how the car was handling. I believe we made the best decision we could under the circumstances. Looking toward the final race of the season in Fontana, we have been fast on all the ovals this year and hopefully we can continue to be fast and have a good result to end the season."RUBENS BARRICHELLO (No. 8 BMC/Embrase KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): ""We had another top-five finish which makes me very proud. I didn't want to get involved in that melee right at the end of the race. I am sorry if people thought I was a little bit aggressive towards the end with Dario and Will. In the case of Dario, I had run out of lock which is why I went in wide, I had no intention to push him wide. Regarding Will, I took avoiding action, everything stopped ahead of me and then I ended up on the inside. I was happy with the race and the car from the moment I arrived here I fell in love with this track and am pleased I was able to bring another top-five finish home."TONY KANAAN (No. 11 GEICO/Mouser KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): ""It was too bad for the GEICO | MOUSER ELECTRONICS guys the way the race ended. We had a pretty good car. I was just pushing hard on the last lap before a pit stop and I made a mistake. The crew told me it was OK. Now I just have to focus on Fontana and the battle for the A. J. Foyt oval championship."JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet): "Today was a clinic in what not to do. Pretty ashamed of the whole deal, it's just not what the Go Daddy team is capable of. We will bounce back in Fontana. I'm super happy for Ryan (Hunter-Reay). He drove a blinder and after all the bad luck he has been through this season, he deserves this title. We will go to Fontana and do everything we can to help him win."MARCO ANDRETTI (Team Dr Pepper TEN Chevrolet): "It was a war zone out there today and I messed up and put the car in the wall which started my fate for the afternoon. We ended up driving an ill car for the rest of the day. I had a piece of carbon fiber fly up and hit my helmet which took a big gash out of it and we broke two front wings. I would like to thank all of my sponsors and crew guys for all their hard work this weekend."

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