Excited Chaves Wants To Fulfill Promise of First Two Starts By Making History at Indy
May 24, 2017 | By Phillip B. Wilson, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
He’s shown the patience required to keep his car in the hunt for most of the Indianapolis 500 in each of the past two years.
Now Gabby Chaves wants to show Sunday he can finish strong in the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. He’ll start 25th in the No. 88 Harding Racing Chevrolet.
Chaves, a 23-year-old Colombian, earned Indy 500 and Verizon IndyCar Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors while driving for Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian in 2015. He started 26th and finished 16th in his “500” debut but still laments what could have been.
“I’ve learned that you can do well with a not-so great car, and you can mess up your race with a great car,” Chaves said of the Indy 500. “It can go both ways. I had a great car, 20 laps to go and your race can be ruined. That’s what happened my first year.
“We were running eighth with 20 laps to go, and we knocked our front wing off passing a car that was a lap down, which then threw a yellow. Twenty laps to go, good on fuel to the end from eighth place. But good luck fighting these guys without a front wing.”
Chaves was trying to get around Takuma Sato on the backstretch. Two years later, he goes over the moment again, how it all happened so quickly.
“I don’t know, to me it seemed like he stomped on the brakes and it caught me off guard,” Chaves said. “You’re drafting people at 230 mph. The slightest of speed change catches you out when you’re going that fast.”
After thinking about it some more, he adds, “The first year, it was maybe a little bit of a misjudgment from a rookie overtaking a car a lap down.”
What resonated wasn’t the Rookie of the Year award. He wanted that top-10 result.
“Being inside the top eight in your first time around would have been awesome,” he said, “and then it’s not there.”
Chaves finished 15th in the series points as a rookie. His best result was ninth in the first Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix race.
He didn’t have a full-time ride in 2016, which consisted of seven starts for Dale Coyne Racing. Once again, he raced at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he finished 17th in the INDYCAR Grand Prix and then ended up 20th after starting 21st in the Indy 500.
“Last year I had a really fast car, but we ran into some confusion in qualifying, and we ended up chasing our tail for the race,” he said. “I felt like I didn’t have such a strong car for the race, but again, I found myself in 10th place on the last restart, and we just got a little bit of bad luck. It just so happened when we came in for our last stop of the race, a yellow came out right before we entered the pit-commit line. We had a drive-through penalty under green and lost a lap to the leaders, and your race is over, right?
“Hopefully I can turn it around this time. I’m sure we’ll have the car to do it, and we’ve got the group of guys to take care of it in the pit stops. Just a little bit of luck, a little more situational luck, and we can be right there in position to steal a win.”
A 2014 champion in Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires while driving for Belardi Racing, Chaves has always targeted the Indy 500 as the annual opportunity to make a name for himself in the sport.
From the moment he climbs back into the car and is speeding around the 2.5-mile IMS oval, Chaves is inspired all over again.
“Every time I come here, the first day of practice, it’s still the same excitement, the same nerves and the same anticipation,” Chaves said. “I enjoy it just as much, if not more.
“Really, what I want to do this this third time around is get the finish that I think I could have done the first two times, which is definitely very much inside the top 10, if not the top five. Heck, anyone can win this race, so why not win? Someone’s got to win it, so it might as well be us.”
Although Gabriel is his given name, the nickname Gabby stuck since childhood. He smiles at the thought of having that unique name on the Borg-Warner Trophy.
He acknowledges the challenge ahead for a one-car team trying to take down the powerhouse multi-car entries from Team Penske, Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport. But he’s still determined and confident.
“This is IndyCar, this is the Indy 500: Anyone has got a shot to win it,” he said. “For me, it’s all about this place and the tradition and the history. I just want to have my place in that history. I don’t know if it sounds selfish or ambitious or whatever it is, but I want my name to live forever, far beyond the years that I do. The way to do that is to become an Indy 500 winner.”
If that doesn’t occur on Sunday, he promises to return in 2018.
“I’ve got a shot this year, and I know I’ll be coming back here again next year, and I hope to be coming back for many, many years,” Chaves said. “I hope I can keep racing until I’m very old.”
Visit IMS.com to purchase tickets for the 101st Indianapolis 500 Presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on Sunday, May 28, and for more information on the complete Month or May schedule at IMS.