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VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: THE SHELL AND PENNZOIL GRAND PRIX OF HOUSTON RACE 2June 29, 2014Jack HawksworthHOUSTON, TEXAS THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with today's Verizon IndyCar Series post‑race press conference. We are pleased to be joined by third‑place finisher Jack Hawksworth. This is Jack's career best IndyCar finish. His previous best was sixth yesterday, also his first career podium finish and third top‑10 finish of the season. Jack, your team qualified last earlier today. How were you and the Bryan Herta Autosport team able to come back to a podium finish today? JACK HAWKSWORTH: Yeah, like you said, we didn't have the best in qualifying. This weekend was tough as a whole because we've not had, I guess, a usual qualifying pace. The thing is this year we qualified very well usually and it's not quite worked out on race day, and this weekend we have to do it from the back of the grid. Fortunately yesterday we were very quick in the race, and today we were quick at race time. The guys did a great strategy, and when we needed to be fast we were fast and that's what enabled us to get to the front and finish on the podium and get a great result. I'm just very happy for Bryan Herta Autosport as a whole because they've worked so hard this year and we've come so close so many times and it has just not quite happened yet. The guys really deserve that, very proud of them, and a fantastic day. Q. Jack, after your weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, you described how much you had to prepare for this race and how you had a couple weeks off to get everything back going. Describe how you were able to pull together a sixth and a third this weekend. JACK HAWKSWORTH: Well, I mean, every race requires a lot of preparation. I think the thing between Texas and Houston, it was the only gap we've had in the season, so it gave us a little bit of time just to prep the car, spend a little bit of money on it, and the team, all of us to kind of go back to base and kind of reset because obviously it's a long season and it's been kind of hectic since the beginning. A lot of prep from the guys who did a fantastic job, and from my side just continued to work with the team and get ready in the best way possible. It was tricky because we expected to come in and be faster in qualifying, we expected to start further up the grid and it didn't happen, and we just keep sticking on it and the team did a great job on pit wall and I did the best I could out there, so I think that's a good result for what we put in for sure. Q. The hard racing there with Juan and Charlie at the end of the race. Kimball suggested you were a little over aggressive. What was the racing like from your cockpit? JACK HAWKSWORTH: Yeah, it was good. They were clearly a little bit quicker at the start but I was still aggressive. I put my car on the inside of the track, never reacted to what the guy behind did, just placed my car on the defensive line, and he couldn't get it done. So we ended up on the podium, and yeah, I enjoyed the race. I hope everybody who was watching enjoyed it because I'm sure it was quite good to watch, and yeah, I like racing like that. It was clean, and I had a lot of fun out there. Q. How does the Verizon IndyCar Series racing compare to other series that Jack Hawksworth racing has competed in? JACK HAWKSWORTH: I think IndyCar, the racing is so close. It's not official. We don't have DRS. We haven't get these really easy overtakes. The overtaking is a bit like, you know, there's a bit of contact, a bit of rubbing. Yeah, I'd say it's a little bit rougher. Q. The last couple of race stops, you were on the black tires, the guys around you were on the reds, how much of a handful was that the last couple laps under green? JACK HAWKSWORTH: Yeah, that was difficult, because the two guys behind were on reds and they were very quick and it was a little bit easier to keep the reds off. I think it was probably more the issue rather than being on the blacks was I didn't seem to be able to keep my tires clean under caution because once I cleaned the tires we were okay, but for some reason couldn't seem to clean the tires enough under caution, and I always had a few miles on it at the beginning of the stint and that seemed to hurt, as well. The red tires seemed to come in a little bit quicker and that helped the guys behind possibly. So it was definitely tricky, they were quick and it was just a matter of trying to hold them off until my tires cleaned. I knew they would, but it was a difficult two or three laps trying to place my car in the correct place. THE MODERATOR: Jack, congratulations. We will see you in Pocono. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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