Max Chilton has returned to IndyCar for his sophomore campaign, telling FanSided how he’s building upon year one for greater results in the 2017 season.
Max Chilton quietly arrived on the Verizon IndyCar Series scene last year and brought stability to the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing entry. He also brought an understanding that success in the highly competitive world of IndyCar comes with experience, so he’s returned for another season with the aim of continuing to learn and to make his way toward Victory Lane.
FanSided spoke to Max ahead of this weekend’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama to discuss what he’s taken away from the 2017 season so far, and where he thinks he has the best chance to get his first race win.
“It’s always better to have continuity in everything you do in life, especially in racing,” he explained. “There’s a lot to learn in the first year of IndyCar, especially for someone who hasn’t done any of this before.
“This year I felt a lot more confident in my speed and I think that showed. We were very quick at Barber, quick in Sonoma,” he added. “I’m looking forward to Barber now because we were very quick there a few weeks ago in testing and that’s one of my favorite tracks. It suits my driving style.”
Even though he hasn’t posted the results that he would like in the first two races at St. Petersburg and Long Beach, Max still sees them as days that he can take something away from to improve his performance in the remainder of the year.
“I think in St. Pete we should have been P4 in qualifying,” he reflected. “We ended up P7 but we were there on pace. We just got screwed by the yellow like a few of the others in the top 10. So that weekend we had the pace, just didn’t get the result.
“This [past] weekend [in Long Beach], I don’t really understand what went wrong, but I’m not too worried about it … We’re working even harder for the next event, which is my birthday weekend, and go from there.”
Something else that has helped Chilton the second time around is Chip Ganassi Racing’s decision to switch from Chevrolet to Honda in the offseason.
“I was a little bit skeptical, but they definitely made the right decision,” he told us. “It has more power and and fuel economy. It’s definitely a more raceable engine. I think that we made big gains over the winter.
“Last year we had trouble getting cars into the top 10 for qualifying. This year, yes we haven’t had a pole position, but we got five cars in the top six in both qualifying sessions for Honda. It’s always good to be with a manufacturer that’s making good progress.”
Given his previous experience at Barber Motorsports Park and the way he’s improving in qualifying does Max believe that this weekend’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is his best chance to get his first IndyCar win?
“I think it’s so close in IndyCar you never know,” he conceded, “and even if you qualify on pole, half the time people come from the middle of the grid and win the race, so you don’t know till the race is over.
“But Barber is definitely one of my preferred tracks. Where my racing sort of originated from is on fast, flowing smooth-surfaced tracks. Those kind of circuits suit my style. They’re the ones where I’ll be trying extra hard to get the result.”
“I’m passionate about getting my first result and I think everyone will know when I got first podium, because I’ll go pretty mental,” he laughed. “Some people have been doing it so many years that they dial it down, but I’ll have a celebration if I get on the podium.”
As his own career continues to mature, Max is also excited about how IndyCar as a whole is being transformed, including by the various driver changes that happened over the winter.
“Some people have done sort of very well with their switches, some have yet to shine, but honestly we’re only two races in and I think it’s too early to say,” he said. “But it’s good to see those movements … Especially the [Indianapolis] 500 this year, there’s a lot of different drivers coming in, and I think it’s going to be exciting.”
“I think IndyCar is definitely making strides forward,” Max concluded. “I think IndyCar needs global fans. They’ve been very much America-based for many years but I think that it’s slowly getting out there.
“It’s got a live TV package in the UK for every race on Sky Sports, so everyone in the UK can watch my races. That helps, because Great Britain is a huge part of world sports, so that’s good news.”
It’s certainly good news to have Max Chilton back in IndyCar. He’s quietly gone about his business and become a solid representative for the series both on and off track. As he continues to race, he continues to grow and it would not be surprising at all to see him on the podium before the end of the 2017 season.
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Fans can watch Chilton in action when the Verizon IndyCar Series starts its engines for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama this Sunday, April 23. To keep up with everything from IndyCar, follow the Motor Sports category at FanSided here.