2013 INDYCAR SERIES
Chevrolet had waited 13 years; Tony Kanaan had
waited 12. together they entered Indy’s Victory Lane.
BRICK
BY
BRICK
97th Indianapolis 500
5/26/2013
TONY KANAAN
In Chevrolet’s first season back in the
IndyCar Series in 2012, the Indianapolis
500 had been the “one that got away.” But
one year on, Chevy and its partners were
determined not to let it happen again.
Chris Berube, Chevrolet’s IndyCar Series
program manager was as disappointed as
anybody at missing out on a “500” win in
2012, but thrilled when Chevy went on to
clinch the Manufacturers’ Championship.
Now, after both accolades headed the
marque’s way in 2013, he’s come to see
that first-year glitch in a different light.
“It was all about experience,” he says,
“because we have to remember we were
just five races into our IndyCar comeback
at that time. I think what raised our
expectations and then really stung us on
raceday at Indy in 2012 was that we’d won
the qualifying battle comprehensively.”
True enough, Chevrolet had grabbed
eight of the nine places on the 3 x 3 grid,
and thus had strong cause for optimism.
“When you put things in perspective,
we’re competing against an experienced
and strong rival, which makes beating
them even sweeter. Now I look back and
think, ‘That’s good: we won the Indy 500
in only our second year back!’”
One thing that each member of
Chevrolet’s IndyCar lineup mentions
about working with the auto maker and
its partner, Ilmor, is that they feel listened
to when they’re talking about engine
maps, power delivery, torque curves, and
the like. Berube, in turn, confirms that
feedback from the competitors was an
essential part of Chevy improving its
overall game for the 2013 Indy 500.
“After 2012, we acquired so much
knowledge from all our teams and drivers
in the ‘500’ on how to make things better
in every regard, specifically for racing at
the Speedway. I’m not going to go into
too much detail for obvious reasons, but
let’s say it was interesting, because there
was no single fault that anyone highlighted,
nothing where we thought, ‘OK, we must
alter that.’ We just noticed there were
certain inconsistencies that needed fixing.
“In a couple of ways, that’s good. For one
thing, it means we had a fundamentally
strong engine and we just needed to learn
how to fine-tune it for Indy and cater for a
variety of different conditions. Secondly, all
this feedback meant we weren’t having to
focus on just one area, but instead we
were picking everything apart. And I mean
everything We definitely went into the
race knowing that we had a lot more of
our ducks in a row this year.”
Again, Chevrolet dominated qualifying
in 2013, grabbing the first 10 slots on the
grid, with local hero Ed Carpenter taking a
popular pole position. But this time there
was hardly any way through for the
Honda-powered cars, not even those run
by Ganassi. In fact, Chevy led 482 of the
(ABOVE) It was a
long time coming for
Tony Kanaan. (TOP
RIGHT) Chevrolet-
powered cars
dominated at the
Indy 500 in 2013.
(ABOVE RIGHT) The
marque was thrilled
to be part of TK’s
victory story.
IM
S
No. 4
