Category: NASCAR Cup Series

Austin Dillon and RCR’s No. 3 Realtree Chevrolet Team Lead Laps, Show Speed at Texas Motor Speedway

Finish: 14th
Start: 5th
Points: 17th

“We had a strong Realtree Chevrolet this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. After qualifying in the top-five and showing speed in practice on Friday and Saturday, we were able to run in the top-five through much of Stage 1. The biggest issue throughout the race was keeping up with the balance of the car. We could hold our own in clean air, but we were too loose on our last run. We led laps in the final stage before pitting for fuel with 12 laps to go. These RCR and ECR Chevrolets have had speed all year, and we put up a good fight today.” -Austin Dillon

Late-Race Incident Hurts Daniel Hemric’s Day at Texas Motor Speedway

Finish: 33rd
Start: 7th
Points: 29th

“After our strong qualifying effort with the No. 8 Bulwark FR/Wayne Workwear Chevrolet, clearly this was not the result we had hoped for . The car was strong all weekend long and felt good in the pack. We were too free in traffic but Luke Lambert (crew chief) and the guys worked on the handling each time we came to pit road. I made slight contact with the wall off Turn 2 late in the final stage and that eventually caused the right rear tire to go down. The guys did all they could to clear the tire, but the rubber wrapped around everything under the car and we lost a lot of laps getting it fixed. We will keep our heads high and look to rebound next week at Bristol Motor Speedway. -Daniel Hemric

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 500
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MARCH 31, 2019

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
5th Jimmie Johnson, No. 4 Ally Camaro ZL1
6th William Byron, No. 24 AXALTA/Primeline Camaro ZL1
9th Kurt Busch, No. 1 GearWrench Camaro ZL1
13th Chase Elliott, No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Camaro ZL1
14th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Realtree Camaro ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
2nd Clint Bowyer (Ford)
3rd Daniel Suarez (Ford)
4th Erik Jones (Toyota)
5th Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway with the Food City 500 on Sunday, April 7th at 2 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th
GREAT FINISH! “Yes, we are definitely moving in the right direction! Car was good in clean air and had a lot of speed in it, so I think we have found kind of center for our cars and what has to happen. It was a little evil in traffic, and I had a heck of a time on green flag restarts, but really worked hard to get it up underneath me and tightening the car up a little bit for us to race. Ended up having great pace and decent drivability, so are working in the right direction. I am just so proud of everybody on this Ally team. We’ve had a lot of pressure on us, and everyone has stepped up and getting it done.”

JIMMIE – DO YOU FEEL YOU MADE SIGNIFICANT GROUND? “For me, I was just trying to get a consistent weekend. It is one thing to have one-lap paced, we needed that and we did that on Friday. Then, Saturday went really well. So, in the back of my mind I was thinking we just needed to have a rock-solid day, and if we did that, then I could confirm to myself and to everyone else that we are moving in the right direction.

“For the No. 48, No. 24 and the No. 9 were all good. Not sure what happened with the No. 88 but the majority of our cars all ran really strong today, so I feel much better about things.”

DOES IT INSPIRE YOU? “Absolutely. This is what we’ve been looking for.”

WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU MADE GAINS FOR THIS TRACK TO BE AS STRONG AS THE THREE CARS WERE TODAY? “It is really wide-open throttle time. If you can be flat in 3 and 4, as well as 1 and 2, if you can be 5% more on the throttle through the corner, and carry a mile-an-hour through there more than the next guy, it makes all the difference in the world. With this low horsepower package, I think it puts more in the car’s hands than the driver’s. We don’t have that extra horsepower to get us out of trouble or the throttle control I grew up developing on dirt tracks as a kid. So I think the emphasis is much more on the car with this package and my guys did a great job and brought me a great car.”

DO YOU THINK THE FANS SAW A BETTER RACE TODAY? “There was a lot of excitement. I was thoroughly mad a couple of times, and I made others thoroughly mad a couple of times. So I don’t know how that translates to TV, but it was heated in there for sure. For 500 miles to race like that hard every single lap I hope it translates to good TV for sure.”

WHAT WAS DIFFERENCE IN THE CAR YOU HAD AT VEGAS VERSUS THIS CAR TODAY? “It is completely different to have a fast car in clean air and then one in traffic. That delta between the two environments, we’ve closed that up. So clearly had a fast car, we got the pole. But driving WAY better in traffic when you take the air off of it.”

IT’S NOT EASY TO DO THAT IS IT? “No it’s not. But I think we’ve found some really good direction and this is a great learning point for us. Vegas went so bad. we just scrapped it all and started over. Fontana was okay, but still not what we needed. Now that not only the No. 48 running well, but all the cars had speed in them we have great information to go forward with.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA/PRIMELINE CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 6th
HOW DO YOU ASSESS THE DAY?
“Yeah, it was good. We had a gun break on the first pit stop. I felt like we were running in the top 5 at that point. And then we got back to the top 5 later in the race and I ran about fifth or sixth. It just felt like we were right there all day. It was a little bit free after that last green flag pit stop and that hurt us a slight bit. But, overall it’s good and it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

IS THERE A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL DO YOU BELIEVE HERE? YOU SAW JIMMIE JOHNSON HAVE A FIFTH PLACE FINISH AND YOU WOULD HAVE HAD ONE HAD YOU NOT HAD CHALLENGES
“Yeah, we finished sixth and that’s good. We would have loved to have a top 5 for sure, but I felt like we were in the mix with the fast guys. We could see them pretty much the whole race, which was nice, and it was good.

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 9th
ON THE RACE
“It was tough today. We had a right front (tire) go bad. So, somehow we’re not getting enough heat into the tires to get a good qualifying run and not lose spots on restarts, but then the car comes alive once it has heat and then that was burning up right fronts going too far through them. So, it was kind of a weird day; really confused about a lot of different things with the dirty air and the grip level. But, all-in-all to be another top 10, I’m really happy for the GEARWRENCH Team and everybody that’s working on the car. We really need to get into some big detail and debrief and figure out what we can do to be better.”

WITH THOSE DIFFICULTIES, WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT THIS GROUP TO COME AWAY WITH ANOTHER TOP 10 FINISH?
“Yeah, it’s nice. I thought we were on the same strategy sequence as the No. 14 (Clint Bowyer) car and he finished second. We brought it home in 9th with that flat tire. So, we’ll just chiseling away. We’re right in front and we’re learning but we’ve got to like pinpoint what it is. We’ll see how it plays out. We’ve got a couple of short tracks coming up now.”

TY DILLON, NO. 13 TWISTED TEA CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 21st
“My team built a fast Twisted Tea Camaro ZL1. We had strong practice sessions and had a great qualifying effort. I was really proud of these guys for all of their hard work in earning the ninth-place starting spot. We were pretty good at the start of the race. I was just a little tight with being on the splitter. Our Stage 1 strategy ended up not working out the way we thought it would, and that put us behind a bit. We made up as much ground as we could, but unfortunately the cautions just didn’t fall in our favor. We didn’t get the finish that I know we deserved, but we’ll take the positives of having seen major improvements in our intermediate track program with this new package. We’re making gains and seeing results every week.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Sunday, March 31, 2019
EVENT: O’Reilly Auto Parts 500

Ford Finishing Results:
2nd – Clint Bowyer
3rd – Daniel Suarez
7th – Aric Almirola
8th – Kevin Harvick
11th – Ryan Newman
15th – Michael McDowell
16th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17th – Joey Logano
19th – Paul Menard
24th – Matt Tifft
25th – David Ragan
28th – Corey LaJoie
36th – Brad Keselowski
37th – Ryan Blaney

DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 41 Ruckus Ford Mustang – “I’m happy. The entire weekend was strong for us. We had the speed all weekend long. I feel like we had for sure a top five car and at times probably the best car out there on the long run. We were just trying to find the right balance back and forth, but I’m just very proud of everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford Performance, and especially from the 41 guys. They worked extremely hard to bring a good piece for Texas and we did it, so I’m grateful.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang – HOW DO YOU FEEL AFTER TODAY? “Unclogged. We definitely unclogged ourselves from qualifying (laughing). All in all, our car handled good. It wasn’t lightning fast all day long, but as they started slip sliding around and struggling we’d kind of prevail on those long runs. That was our M.O. Denny, he was relatively fast all weekend long – top of the sheet – so we just weren’t really. All in all, I’m really happy to finish where we were. What a wild race. Just about the time you think you’re gonna have some stage points the caution would come out and then you thought you were back in and it happened again. Then you’re like, ‘Well, damn. What kind of haymakers are gonna be thrown at the end,’ and it just didn’t. Anytime you finish second it’s like, ‘What could I have done?’ When he came out of the pits that far ahead of us I was like, ‘We’re in big trouble,’ but second is not bad for the way our weekend started.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT A TIRE CALL WINNING THE RACE? “You have to go back and look. When you’re in the car it’s kind of hard to figure it out of where you’re at track position-wise. There are so many weird things that happened today, but I knew when you look in the mirror and there is nobody really behind you on that straightaway, you know you’re putting — and that’s the next car behind you and on and on and on where they’re at – so when you’re that far ahead you start to wonder ‘can we get in and just do a splash-and-go and prevail?’ It’s a different kind of racing, there’s no question about that.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Prime Fresh Ford Mustang – “I’m tired. It was a long night last night. I didn’t sleep at all, throwing up with a stomach bug, so I’m really, really depleted. I haven’t been able to keep anything down, so I’m just really hungry and I’m really tired.” HOW MUCH DID YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THROUGH IT TODAY? “We don’t get to call in sick. That’s the challenging part of our job occasionally. The flu or a cold or a stomach bug pops up and you’ve got to fight through it. I’m really proud of everybody on our Smithfield Prime Fresh Ford Mustang. We had a good car and track position there and strategy and pit stops and stuff and we still got out of here with a top 10, so that’s six in a row. I’m proud of that.”

RYAN NEWMAN, No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang – “It was a good run for our Wyndham Rewards Ford. We just didn’t have everything we needed. I fought track position there for a while, but the guys did a good job. We gained some spots in the pits, so it was a good day in general and our best finish of the year, but we still have some work to do. We’ll keep working on it. We’re just off a little bit on speed. When you’re only lifting once it’s hard to make up much.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUR HOOD? “That’s a good question. Something came apart in the bracing underneath the hood, I believe, and then the hood started flaring all over the place. The hood was gonna blow off the car if we didn’t get a caution, so we were able to fix it but went down a lap and there weren’t enough cautions to ever get the lucky dog. We rode around in the lucky dog spot for a while, but never got that. That really altered the handling once we had all the bearer bond on the front. The car got really draggy and got real tight, but we won a stage. I was proud of the speed that was in the car. Our car was capable of winning the race, but didn’t have the opportunity to take advantage of it.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1/O’Reilly Auto Parts Ford Mustang – “Our day was a disaster. Our car drove terrible and that pretty much sums it up.” LAST WEEK YOU SAID YOU NEEDED TO GO BACK TO THE WINDTUNNEL. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE NOW? “We’re further off than we were last week.” DID YOU EXPECT TIRES TO LAST AS LONG AS THEY DID TODAY? “I don’t build tires. The tires suck every week.” HOW FAR OFF DO YOU THINK YOU GUYS ARE? “We haven’t been close to a race-winning car in a race yet.” IS IT ORGANIZATIONAL? WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE IT TO? “I just drive.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Mustang – WHAT DID YOU FEEL WHILE SCRUBBING TIRES GETTING READY FOR THE RESTART? “Something broke out of nowhere. We weren’t going very fast or anything and something in the back of the car broke and it won’t go. It’s one of those really important parts as Kenny Schrader would say.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang – YOU LOST WATER ON PIT ROAD. ANY IDEA? “A part broke off and leaked all the water out, so that’s the way it goes. It just seems that’s the way this season is going. We’ve had a shot to win pretty much every race and something happens. That’s getting old, but the car is fast. That’s the bright side, but I’m kind of tired of looking at the bright side. I want to actually start finishing where we should. It’s just one of those days.”

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 30, 2019

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1, who was the fastest Chevrolet driver in the final practice session, met with media for a brief chat. Full Transcript:

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT WILL BE DIFFERENT IN TOMORROW’S RACE WHEN THE WEATHER WILL BE SUNNIER AND COOLER?
“Yeah, it will continue to heat up and then it provides more grip. I think the groove in (Turns) 1 and 2 will just get wider and wider and that’s where the race, I think, will be won and lost. We’re juggling a new package. We’ve got both ends of the race track that are completely different. And you have the draft. And there’s a lot going on out there. It’s like the more they can throw. And I say ‘they’, NASCAR, that they can throw at us, they feel like they’ve accomplished their job.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’VE MADE PROGRESS BECAUSE YOU’RE THE FASTEST OF THE CHEVYS. “We just had a really good draft (laughs). We can’t quite find that speed in qualifying. And we’ve got to just make sure our car is stable and can work the draft and work the traffic. I think we’re going to be very deep in dirty air all day.”

ON THE PRACTICE SESSION WITH EVERYBODY SO CLOSE TOGETHER, THIS CERTAINLY LOOKED EXCITING. IS THIS JUST A CASE OF OPTIMAL CONDITIONS AND NOT TO READ TOO MUCH ABOUT WHAT IT COULD LOOK LIKE TOMORROW? OR, WAS THAT A HINT OF WHAT TOMORROW COULD BE LIKE?
“With the way they redesigned the track to have less banking in (Turns) 1 and 2, and then they throw the PJ1 back on it to create grip. The tires actually cool off, I think. I don’t have actual data. But they cool off running through (Turns) 3 and 4 because we’re not even at the extreme load through that portion of the corner. It’s more or less that’s a straightaway. So, it’s like we’ve got a 1.5-mile here, but we’re only racing through 100 yards of it with the apex of (Turns) 1 and 2.”

SOME DATA SAYS YOU HAVE THE BEST RAW SPEED ON THE BIG TRACKS OF ANY CAR OUT THERE. DOES THAT GIVE YOU THE CONFIDENCE THAT YOU’LL BE ABLE TO DRIVE UP AND OVERCOME WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY?
“No speed is usually arrived at with the set-up in the car. And you do it all by yourself. Now, with this draft, it changes the way you have to go and find the speed. And so it’s not as organic on how you set-up a car and actually just use the driver and the team to build the car and go out there and beat people with lap times, you have to find the right draft and use that to your advantage to make up time, whether it’s a bad pit stop or bad qualifying. But, we still just need to get our car a bit more stable when it’s making passes. Guys that have pit road penalties like the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) at Fontana. That is the fastest car I’ve ever seen. I don’t know where my data shows it, but the No. 18 was the fastest thing I’ve ever seen on four tires at Fontana.”

YOU SAY NASCAR IS THROWING A LOT AT YOU. OF THE DRIVERS IN THE FIELD, I WOULD SAY THAT OF THE DRIVERS IN THE FIELD YOU COULD THROW A LOT AT, TECHNICAL STUFF OR WHATEVER, THAT YOU WOULD BE THE MOST EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH IT
“I just don’t want to overthink it. There are so many things that are new and different that you just have to, sometimes, take a step back and just all-right, it’s a little bit tight here and a little bit loose there. Let ‘er rip.”

CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY DANIEL SUAREZ WAS ABLE TO GO OUT AND GET A SOLID QUALIFYING LAP DESPITE ALL THE SPEED YOU HAD?
“Don’t ask me about Fridays right now. Fridays are an absolute mess for the sport, for the way the structure is set-up, and for our set-up.”

WITH YOU BEING CLOSER TOGETHER IN THE PACK TODAY AND MAYBE TOMORROW, WHAT DOES THAT DO WHEN YOU’RE TRAILING? YOU ALWAYS HEAR ABOUT THE DIRTY AIR. IS THAT STILL A SIGNIFICANT THING OR IS IT BECAUSE KIND OF LIKE YOU SAY YOU’RE A ONE-MILE STRAIGHTAWAY AFFECT. DOES THAT CHANGE IT, OR NOT?
“Yeah, it’s pretty dirty with you’re right behind somebody. And then as soon as you check-up, because there’s only the one little spot where we have to check-up, it seems like it invites everybody in like a logjam right behind you. So, it’ll be pretty intense, I think, the way it’s all shaping up. I think what we saw in practice is what we’ll see in the race. We do have issues in practice that we don’t have in the race and that is some guys come out on colder tires and some guys have been out there for 15 laps, and everybody is trying to learn at the same time but some guys can just drive right around you because they’ve got better tires.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Saturday, March 30, 2019
EVENT: O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Final Practice

Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang, had the fastest time among Ford drivers in today’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session. Blaney was third overall on the single-lap speed chart and will start 13th in tomorrow’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang – DID YOU GO UP TO THE VHT AT ALL? “A little bit. I saw a couple guys go up there and I don’t think it will be as effective today with it being so cold and cloudy. I think tomorrow is supposed to be like 55 but sunny, and just the ambient temperature on the track is gonna help that. The Truck race it looked like it was an option last night. It looked like you wouldn’t struggle really bad up there. You could pretty much hang, but I hope tomorrow it’s sunnier and we’ll be able to go up there. In three and four you could run two to two-and-a-half lanes up pretty easy. One and two, I feel like that will be better tomorrow.”

HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT VHT WILL WORK? DO YOU GO AND SEE IF IT STICKS OR SEE IF SOMEONE ELSE DOES IT FIRST? “I like to try and see someone else do it first, but you’re committed up there. You’re taking the longer way around, so you’ve got to have more throttle. You’re driving harder up there and you’re just like, ‘I hope it’s activated or sticky enough to hold my car.’ So you don’t really know, you just kind of – spotters are good or if drivers can see if anyone else is trying it or doing it with any success you might be able to try it. It’s kind of just an in-the-moment thing.”

DO YOU EASE ON IN TO IT? “No, if you’re gonna enter up there you’ve got to full bore it. Maybe the first lap you kind of feel it out a little bit, but you don’t want to give up five or six car lengths trying it and then you’ve got to work your way back up to that guy, so you’ve got to be committed.”

THIS PRACTICE SESSION SAW THE GROUP BUNCHED TOGETHER. DOES THIS TRACK ALLOW FOR MORE PACK RACING? “Yeah, it does seem like here we’ve been running closer together than Fontana or Vegas or Atlanta. I think this track has a lot of grip. Three and four is easy, wide-open. One and two you’re on the verge of like leaning on your right-rear tire to get grip, so, yeah, I could see us a little bit more packed together. It could be frustrating for us. If you’re packed together and get the lead or something and you can’t get away from that person, but that’s the way it is. I do feel like we’ll be a little bit closer together. I mean, it’s gonna get spread out a little bit over a 40-lap run. Good cars are gonna rise to the occasion and then when the sun is out tomorrow I think that’s gonna have even more of an effect. Everyone’s cars were driving pretty good today with it being so cold, so we’ll see. But, yeah, I think this will be the place that you’ll see more of us kind of pack racing close together.”

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 500
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 29, 2019

JIMMIE JOHNSON PUTS CAMARO ZL1 ON THE POLE AT TEXAS
Seven-time Champion Claims 36th Pole of his Career

FORT WORTH, Texas (March 29, 2019) – For the 36th time in his illustrious Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) career, seven time Series’ champion Jimmie Johnson will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Johnson’s pole was the third for the Camaro ZL1 in 2019, the 14th for Chevrolet at the 1.56-mile Texas Motor Speedway, and the 702nd overall for the Bowtie Brand.

Behind the wheel of his No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1, Johnson was the fastest in the one session of practice prior to qualifying, and then topped all three qualifying rounds to capture his first pole of the season.

Giving Chevrolet ownership of the front row is Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, No. 24 Axalta/Primeline Camaro ZL1, with a lap just .072 second behind Johnson.

Chase Elliott put his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 in the third starting position, and Austin Dillon qualified fifth behind the wheel of the No. 3 Realtree Camaro ZL1 to give Team Chevy four of the top-five qualifiers for Sunday’s three stages-85/170/334 laps/501-mile race.

Daniel Hemric, Ty Dillon, and Bubba Wallace qualified their Camaro ZL1 racecars in seventh, ninth and 10th respectively to give Chevy seven of the 12 drivers who raced in the final session to battle for the pole.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, March 31st at 3 pm ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – POLE WINNER
POST-QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

KNOWING IT’S BEEN A TOUGH START FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AS A WHOLE, HOW ENCOURAGED ARE YOU ABOUT THIS PERFORMANCE AND DO YOU THINK IT WILL TRANSLATE INTO RACE DAY FOR YOU GUYS?
“We’ll see on race day. I feel like over my career good Fridays mean good Sundays. I’m thankful to have just raw speed in the car and I think it’s that. And we’ll have to see how it works in traffic. I think at Las Vegas we had a car capable of really performing well on Friday and we got in race conditions and dirty air and didn’t have exactly what we needed. But, to have all three cars up there in the top three positions, and I think Alex (Bowman) would have been right there in the mix if he didn’t have his troubles in Round 1, is saying a lot (laughs). The work that went into these cars and the work that’s gone into, honestly the last 36 months; and we’re not out of the woods yet. But this is a very good weekend for us to really build on our 1.5-mile program. And I think we’re off to a great start.”

WAS THIS A TOUGH WEEK FOR YOU AFTER MARTINSVILLE? IT WAS PROBABLY A LOW FOR YOU
“No way man, I had so much support on Social Media. There were so many nice people talking about me and how good of a driver I am and how young I am. It was a great week (laughter)”

WHAT WAS THE WEEK LIKE FOR YOU?
“Sunday and into Monday was tough. But every time I check in at the shop to see where things are at, and we’re just forced to move on. That was a short track and they were working real hard to get the cars and the truck to come here. So, we debriefed and we downloaded and we worked through it. I spent some time talking to the other crew chiefs and their opinion on what could have gone wrong for my car and three of the four cars in general. I think we’ve got some great notes. And, I think last week we were guilty of just trying to hard with the set-up of the car. We haven’t had what we wanted there in a while and maybe we were just too aggressive. We qualified decent and practiced decent. But when the rubber laid down in the race, we were just way off. With that in mind we kind of told ourselves maybe let’s not be so aggressive and then we completely changed our concept and ideas of what we were going to bring here and stayed aggressive and it paid off. We still have the race ahead of us. We’ll see where that pans out. But our struggles have been highly frustrating just because of the effort that’s gone into it. Thankfully we’re having a car shine on certain weeks and we’re able to learn from that and find our way. We’re off to a good start this weekend.”

AS THE POLE WINNER YOU’RE HAPPY WITH THE WAY THIS ENDED-UP? WAS THAT GOOD AND KEEP MAKING THINGS A LITTLE MURKY ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN DO AND WHAT YOU CAN’T DO DURING QUALIFYING?
“Yeah, I think we all knew that there would be some challenges with this rules package. We all know that for television we don’t want single car. We’re just dealing with some issues that we’re all trying to work through collectively, and I think NASCAR is trying to keep and open mind and they don’t want to over-react. We’re competitors and we’re trying to work the system the best we can. If rulings come down, I think we’re just going to have to be open-minded to it. But I think once you get in that final round, at least this is what happened in California, you’re like man, it’s either 12th or the pole. You make that final round, you’re going to risk it all. And, today that waiting game certainly was going on. I’m not sure where the No. 41 ended up, but he got out there fourth. That’s why it’s so hard. It’s so hard for NASCAR to pick a way to call this or officiate it. It seems like single-car would have worked just fine (laughs). But we don’t know that until now, right? It’s just tricky. And, I appreciate the fans being open-minded to this as it evolves and teams, NASCAR, media; it’s just a moving target. We know it’s not ideal, but we’re all trying to make the most of it.”

KNOWING LIKE THIS IS ANOTHER RACE WITH THE NEW PACKAGE, DO YOU KIND OF VIEW THIS AS THE REAL FIRST TEST TO SEE HOW THINGS WOULD BE GAUGED AT OTHER TRACKS LIKE CHARLOTTE AND KENTUCKY? DO YOU THINK THIS WILL REUNITE THE CHEVROLET TEAMS TO WORK CLOSER TOGETHER?
“Win, lose, or draw, our relationships on the manufacturer’s side are what they are. But it’s hard to say that they could be more because they’ve been heavily aligned in working together. So, we continue to find out how to reallocate assets and to work closer together so there is an evolution that happens. But, the Chevy teams have been doing the most that they can together; especially when it comes to the shape of the car and the body and submission processes. So, our next step is to try to figure out how we make sure that the next generation car is the best that it can be. We don’t have a ton of time to get that. I think in July, that one goes in for submission. So, we’re working hard on that.

“I feel like Atlanta was the track that was kind of an outlier; but Vegas was really the first true test in my opinion. And what we had there didn’t work and we’re totally different here.”

DO YOU FEEL WITH THE GROUP QUALIFYING FORMAT THAT IT IS CLOSE AND NEEDS JUST A COUPLE MORE CHANGES TO GET RIGHT? “I think it is close. We are having a hard time running flat in one and two, and that is all the difference in the world you need. If there is a lift, I think single car qualifying really becomes a priority for the teams. Fontana is a bit different because those straightaways are so dang long; so much real estate, so I think Fontana and Michigan are the two outliers. In Vegas the RCR cars were the fastest and they did single car – the rest of us were drafting. I think we are close honestly. It might just be those two two-mile tracks that honestly that we may need a little different qualifying set of rules.”

INAUDIBLE: “It’s like a three or four edge sword because the first reaction is single-car. If we do single-car, the teams are then going to work so hard to make the cars slippery for single-car then it is four or five times the work to go from qualifying to race trim. Maybe if it is single-car impound; if you have to race what you qualify, that might be a way to control that a bit more. That would be a suggestion to consider for Michigan.”

JUST WANT TO GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON YOUR POLE TYING YOU WITH REX WHITE AND RUSTY WALLACE ON THE ALL TIME LIST: “That is cool. I am a fan of both of those names. I’m very honored to be in that category with them and tie with them. It’s crazy that I have had so many more race wins than poles. Fridays and trying to squeeze out that last half of tenth has never been my strength as a driver. It’s always been racing and other drivers…but to keep chipping away at it is really cool and this one came at an important time for our company and my racing needed a nice shot in the arm.”

IS THIS A GROUP EFFORT AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS WHERE THE FOUR CARS ARE ALL WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE CARS BETTER? “I feel like, depending on the week and the experience we had the week before, it just kind of changes around. I think at Phoenix we were all close together, and we all performed very well. Martinsville there big differences in the setups of the cars. Old ideas on some cars and new ideas on others. Some weeks we think we need to stick closer together and we can move the ball down the field that way, and other weeks we think we need to be different. Kevin is in a tough spot because he doesn’t have any notes of his own. Plus there are so many different rules packages to play with here. I don’t envy Kevin’s position. I think he has done a great job managing it and handling it. I think this week was probably one of the biggest tests he has had so far, maybe in his career after a tough race in Martinsville. Rallying through it and calming everyone down and get stuff buttoned up in a line, and then be on the top of the board here every session is pretty amazing to have that composure to hold it all together.”

ON MARATHON TRAINING: “It is probably hour most days, and maybe two days where it is an hour and a half or two hours for a run just to get the mileage in. It is a lot less than I have done in years past training for triathlons and some cycling events I have done. Running is much more efficient. You can get a lot done in a shorter period of time. I am thankful that the bulk of my mileage is behind me and I am starting a process called tapering. This week mileage cuts back, next week even more and then the following week we are at the marathon. We’ve tore the body down, now it is time to rebuild it and get ready and heal up to run my 26.2 on April 15th.

“I do feel good. I’ve had four months to train for it. I lost a month due to an injury and a cold. I know that is going affect my goal in a sense, but to go run such a major event on Patriots Day and what I hear about the experience, I’m just excited to have that chance. The Gatorade Endurance get me in to the event and have supported me…it is going to be a fun day.”

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WIN AT TEXAS: “As you say that, I look over your shoulder I see a picture of us after a win. It is cool, especially when it is cool out and the flames are on. I remember one year in victory lane, I was so exhausted and so hot, I asked them to turn the flames off it was so hot, but the hat, the six shooters, the whole experience are always a lot fo fun. The track does a great job promoting the sport and us drivers here. My wife growing up near here in Oklahoma. It isn’t a hometown feel but everyone has always paid attention to my career here. Great energy and I love to come race here.”

IS IT NERVE WRACKING TO SIT THERE WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO TELL YOU TO GO FOR A MINUTE OR SO? “It is weird. You have to be on your toes. And things continue to change. The longer I’m in the sport, the more it changes. You have to keep an open mind and study and show up at the track prepared. There are different packages for Phoenix, Martinsville there are different packages to make the cars go. It is tricky. And even how to fall in a hole to get the right draft.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, March 29, 2019
EVENT: O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Qualifying

FORD QUALIFYING RESULTS:
4th – Daniel Suarez
8th – Joey Logano
12th – Brad Keselowski
13th – Ryan Blaney
14th – Paul Menard
15th – Michael McDowell
17th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
18th – Ryan Newman
21st – Aric Almirola
23rd – Kevin Harvick
25th – Clint Bowyer
28th – David Ragan
29th – Matt Tifft
31st – Corey LaJoie

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – “You just can’t qualify these cars this way. I love group qualifying, but I just laughed all the way out to the race track.”

BOWYER SAID YOU HAVE TO LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. “We did this five or six years ago. We just all keep doing the things that we have to do in the positions that we’re put in and you hope for the best. It is what it is, I guess.”

IS THERE A WAY TO DO GROUP QUALIFYING WITH THIS PACKAGE? “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask somebody that’s much smarter than me, obviously, because we’re not smart enough to make the rules.”

DID YOU THINK YOUR LAST LAP COUNTED? “I thought the rules didn’t get enforced again for all those cars stopping in the middle, but I’m not 100 percent clear on the rules.”

CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang – “I guess this a make-up-the-rules-as-we-go event in qualifying. It’s sad. Those people up there paid a lot of money to bring their families here to watch a qualifying session where people try to go out and do their best and you’re just sitting around waiting because you know your best is only good enough if the guy in front of you does a good job. That’s not qualifying. Whatever.”

IS THERE SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE TO MAKE IT BETTER? “Yeah, learn from your mistakes. That’s how you get better. Learn from your mistakes. We already had this failure and here we are doing it again. Come on.”

WHAT COULD THEY DO NOW? WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP? “What they should have done when they did it. You’ve got to figure something else out. When it doesn’t work you just can’t keep trying it. We’re lucky that these keep happening. Wait until a wreck happens on pit road. We all know it’s coming. You can’t go too fast because you’ll be caught speeding, but you can’t go too slow because it’s discretionary. Well, what the hell speed am I supposed to go? Just tell me when to go and maybe I’ll just do that.”

PAUL MENARD, No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang – “We’re gonna see this at every mile-and-a-half track or every intermediate track. I’m not gonna waste any brain power on it. They’ll tell us what the parameters are and we’ll work within them.”

WHAT WAS YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS BECAUSE YOU WERE UP FRONT ON PIT ROAD? “I want to be up front because you have way more options. If you’re in the back it’s hard to get around for two laps, so if you’re up front you can kind of force your way in the line where you want to be. Blaney went and I wasn’t sure that we were gonna make it back for two laps. We were just too loose in qualifying. We were really good in practice and just too loose in qualifying, so we’ll just go back and look at it.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 41 Ruckus Ford Mustang – “I was planning to go by myself without helping anyone, so I waited until everyone was shut off so I could go quick and they didn’t have time to re-fire and then go. That part played out well. The part that we just missed a little bit is that we were expecting them to make more mistakes or to wait a little bit longer, but they didn’t. It was a good effort. That was our gamble. We were out of trouble and the car was good, fast and we didn’t have to work as hard as they did that’s for sure.”

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR CAR? “I feel pretty good, but not for the race yet. I feel good about the speed our car showed today, but tomorrow we’re gonna focus on the race and see what we’ve got. But for today the guys did an amazing job. The car had top five, top 10 speed all day long by itself and that’s what counts.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – YOUR THOUGHTS ON QUALIFYING PROCEDURE AND HOW IT WENT? “As expected. I don’t think there was anything surprising. My question was is everyone gonna wait to try to get one lap in or is everyone gonna go to get two. I figured we were on the back side of the two and we were the first car not to make it, I think, so we missed it just by a little bit to the line for the second lap. We still got one in and I think that was kind of the safe bet for everyone is to get one in and no one’s second lap was faster anyway, so, yeah, kind of expect. The rules are new and helped, so it wasn’t a complete logjam down there at the end. It still was a little bit, but it wasn’t as bad. That was better, so there you go.”

ANY IDEAS ON MAKING IT BETTER? “I think it’s pretty entertaining. I don’t know. From my seat there’s a lot going on and you’re trying to position yourself in the best spot. Every situation is different. We’re all learning as a driver. I made a mistake getting where I was in line to make sure I got to the second spot. I got fed the right information I just didn’t execute correctly, so we’re all still learning the process on how to put up the fastest lap because there is a lot in the car to go fast and the 48 showed that all day, but there’s also a little bit of something to making sure you’re in the right situation and set yourself up in the right spot. It’s probably 50/50 right now.”

DO YOU FEEL AFTER QUALIFYING THAT EVERYBODY FORGETS ABOUT IT OR THE NEXT 1.5 MILE EVERYONE WILL BE, HERE WE GO AGAIN? “I don’t think anyone forgets about it. This is the top level, so these guys just don’t do something and forget about it. We all go out back and we’ll study everything that just happened there and try to find new ways to juke out our competition, and we’ll end up juking ourselves out again. That’s how it works. We outsmarted ourselves today.”

IS THERE ANY SOLUTION? “Who said there’s a problem? That’s my opinion. I think it’s entertaining. There’s a lot to talk about for you guys. You guys all have microphones out and there’s a lot to talk about, so I think it’s OK. There’s a lot of action and it all happens very, very quick. Maybe the biggest problem is how you show it on TV. That might be really hard to do because there is so much action happening at one time I don’t see how a camera can get it all, but outside of that I think there’s a lot going on.”

YOUR HEART IS BEATING? “Yeah, it’s intense. It’s intense while you’re sitting there at the end of pit road and the time is counting down and you’ve got to go. It’s pretty intense when you’re thinking about all that.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Mustang – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF QUALIFYING? “I probably could have timed it just a little bit better. It was real close, but that’s where I went.”

DO YOU LIKE THIS FORMAT? “If I’m fast and if there’s a lot of fans in the stands and a big rating, I think it’s great. If it’s none of those things, I hate it.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang – “We talked about it before qualifying of when you have to roll off pit road to make two laps and it was like a minute, five going hard. It got to be like a minute, ten and I pulled out and I was just kind of slowly chugging along trying to bottleneck it a little bit, but you can’t do it too much, you’ll get in trouble and they’ll make you go to the back. I don’t know. We got far enough and I thought time was short enough to where I could just go and try to haul butt. Some cars didn’t make the second lap, but they were fast enough their first lap to get in. They had a huge pull, so it just didn’t work out. I wish I would have waited two seconds ore and then maybe more people wouldn’t have got in. I don’t know. I just didn’t not want to be able to make two laps, so at that point you kind of just bite the bullet. It’s a shame you don’t make the last round to give yourself a shot, but that’s the way it is.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Prime Fresh Ford Mustang – “Lap one my spotter said that the NASCAR tower said we didn’t cross the line, so I quit and did the right thing, and I guess I should have just kept going. I learned some things today. I learned that we can clog the middle and that’s OK, and they’re not going to enforce that and they won’t penalize anybody for that, which I thought was gonna be pretty strictly enforced, especially this weekend with the new rules rolled out. I’m confused. I’ve got to go up in the hauler and ask some questions because I did what I thought was “the right thing” attempting to leave pit road with two minutes to go and not even being able to leave the exit of pit lane with less than a minute left. I’m just frustrated. It’s chaotic. It’s silly.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang – “I don’t know if I had a philosophy. It was chaotic. I felt like I was positioned good on pit road around the cars I wanted to be around. I was behind the 9 and the 48 and a couple other really good cars, so I felt like if I could roll with those guys I would have a decent lap, but everybody just drug their feet so long that eventually you just had to go and unfortunately when that happens you’re two or three-wide coming to the green trying to get to the line. It was a solid effort. Qualifying top 15 with the Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang is a good starting spot and we’ll take it and go work on race trim.”

MATT TIFFT, No. 36 Surface Sunscreen/Tunity Ford Mustang – “Everybody is trying to gap the right amount after pulling off the pit road. The rules, you can’t stop or anything really, so once everybody commits to the middle and you start rolling the train doesn’t stop. Our second time out we just got in a little bit of traffic and you try to gauge that run the right way, but it’s just so tough. It’s the best qualifying handling we’ve had all year, I just wish we could have capitalized a little more on it.”

DAVID RAGAN, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford Mustang – “I think it’s filled with a lot of drama. Timing is everything. You still have to have a fast car. Our car was too loose and we just couldn’t hold it wide-open. I had to lift on both ends and didn’t go as fast as I did in practice.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang – “I felt like we timed it right, but by the time I got to the end of pit road everybody was four-wide, so I couldn’t get a lane to go and get two laps in, and then the 10 was slow in three and four, so I don’t know if we made the line to make our second lap anyway. That’s just part of it.”

IS THERE A SOLUTION? “Yeah, single car. That’s about the only solution because at this point we all want to draft, so I mean Suarez and his guys showed you could do it without drafting. They had a really fast car and I was surprised nobody went with him when he went, but once we’re into that time crunch we all get really close and some guys get good laps and some guys don’t. We didn’t get quite fast enough of a lap, but I feel really good about our Fastenal Mustang. I feel like we’ll race good. I’m looking forward to practice tomorrow and getting it dialed in a little bit more and I was really happy with it right there during qualifying.”

COREY LAJOIE, No. 32 PROSPR Ford Mustang – “Our philosophy was we were just gonna go out there and try to drag some guys with us and get a little bit of heat in our car and then try to catch on the back end of the front pack, but I don’t know I’m not a big fan of this qualifying package. I don’t think you should be at the mercy of how many cars you’re around or how big of a tow you get that it depends how fast your car is gonna be. You can hold it wide-open, but if you’re around 10 cars you go fast, if you’re around one car you go slow.”

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 500
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES

MARCH 29, 2019
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:

POS. DRIVER
1st Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
2nd William Byron, No. 24 Axalta/Primeline Camaro ZL1
3rd Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
5th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Realtree Camaro ZL1
7th Daniel Hemric, No. 8 Bulwark FR/Wayne Workwear Camaro ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1ST Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)
2nd William Byron (Chevrolet)
3rd Chase Elliott (Chevrolet
4th Daniel Suarez (Ford)
5th Austin Dillon (Chevrolet)

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, March 31st at 3 pm ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1- Pole Winner
GREAT WAY TO SHOW SOME RESULTS OF YOUR EFFORTS TO COME BACK: “It’s been a long couple of years, and we still have a ways to go. And, certainly race daquy is much more important than Friday, but we’ve been working so hard, and I think we are a bit guilty of trying too hard and maybe stepping outside of our comfort zone at times, and putting setups on the car at times that just aren’t proven yet. With all that said, we were very aggressive coming here and changing a lot of stuff on our mile-and-a-half program. Top of the chart all day long, and a great start for this Ally tean. I’m really proud of everybody for keeping the faith and working hard.”

THERE HAS ONLY BEEN ONE CAR NUMBER AT THE TOP OF THE BOARD ALL DAY THROUGHOUT PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING – THE NUMBER 48. WHAT HAS CHANGED FOR YOU GUYS? “We are working hard. I know I post it, and I say it, and I know my team does, some believe us and some don’t, but this is a tough, tough sport and we are guilty of trying too hard and being too aggressive with setups at times. But, with all of that said, very aggressive coming here to Texas and it paid off. We really put speed in the right areas of that car, and had a solid practice session and three rounds of qualifying.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA/PRIMELINE CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 2nd
“That is just a credit to the guys really, just giving us a fast car. Teamwork man! Just keeping the communication down to get that hole that we did. Just teamwork. So its all good; its awesome!”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1- Qualified 3rd
“The rules are the same for everybody and we did a good job and had a fast car and got a good tow and Chevrolet got a one-two-three. Definitely last week was a great effort for us from the car perspective. We had a contending car, which was nice; and then obviously Jimmie (Johnson) being fast here now running one lap fast, obviously Sunday is going to be different. I do think your car is going to have to drive decent to contend. Hopefully we can get all that stuff dialed in right and go from there.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 REALTREE CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 5th
“I didn’t do a good enough job of getting the gap to Denny. I had a huge run on him and it happened on the first lap. It needed to happen on the second lap. It was pretty much bumper-to-bumper the second lap. But, we just needed a bigger gap, that’s all and I think we would have had a shot at the pole. We have a really fast car. The car drove good. I’m proud of our Realtree team and hopefully we can keep progressing.”

DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 8 BULWARK FR/WAYNE WORKWEAR CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 7th
“I’m just proud of these guys and for everybody on this Bulwark Camaro ZL1 for making our race car better each round. It’s the best execution we’ve had from spotter to myself to the crew chief throughout out team going from round to round. So, I’m happy about that and we’ll go work on race trim to see what we have on Sunday.”

TY DILLON, NO. 13 TWISTED TEA CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 9th
“We were really happy with that. I think we should have ended up fifth or fourth if that second lap would have kicked-off. We’ll have to look at it closer. I think we ended up 9th. But all in all, it was a great round of qualifying for us. I’m proud of our effort.”
DARRELL ‘BUBBA’ WALLACE, JR., NO. 43 WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 10th
“We had decent speed. We have World Wide Technology on our Chevrolet and that usually ends up finding some speed. It’s fun to have them on here. Had a great meeting with them this morning. They’re new office opened up in Plano. So, it’s starting out to be a good weekend.

“Starting 10th, this place is tricky, but there’s something to do with the PJ1. I think it’s going to be a little bit better on the restarts. You’re not going to be fighting for the bottom as hard. But who knows? It will be a handful, for sure, but I’m just excited. This is a run that the team needed. I know it’s qualifying, but hell; it used to be it’s not where you start but where you finish. But now, it really matters where you start.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 LLUMAR CAMARO ZL1 – Crashed in first qualifying round. Will go to back-up car for Sunday’s race. – Qualified 24th
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I don’t know. It just freed-up more than I anticipated. There’s not much room for air when you’re running wide-open around this place and it’s so narrow when they paved it. That PJ1 hasn’t worked in yet so there was no saving it, but that’s on me. I hate it for the guys that worked really hard on this car. It was really fast earlier and I just messed-up.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 30th
WHAT HAPPENED?
“We were loose. We just missed it again.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Toyota Racing Post-Qualifying Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Texas Motor Speedway – March 29, 2019

TOYOTA UNOFFICIAL STARTING POSITIONS
1st, Jimmie Johnson*
2nd, William Byron*
3rd, Chase Elliott*
4th, Daniel Suarez*
5th, Austin Dillon*
6th, DENNY HAMLIN
11th, ERIK JONES
16th, KYLE BUSCH
20th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
26th, MATT DIBENEDETTO
33rd, PARKER KLIGERMAN
39th, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Qualifying Position: 6th

How do you feel about what’s happening in these qualifying rounds?

“It’s frustrating and that’s all you can really say about it. It’s just frustrating.”

Was your car strong in qualifying?

“Our balance was terrible all day. We are so fortunate to be sixth. I can’t even tell you. We were at the front of the pack luckily and was able to set the pace of when we wanted to leave and that’s really the only thing that got us where we’re at.”

What do you need to work on for the race?

“Just try to get our balance better. Right now, our Camry is just bouncing so bad that we have to work on that to get competitive.”

ERIK JONES, No. 20 Craftsman Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Qualifying Position: 11th

How do you think qualifying played out?

“It’s just frustrating every week. We qualified better, but we didn’t even participate in the draft. We just went out by ourselves and put a lap down. We were happy just to make it to the last round at this point. The Craftsman Camry, we had a good car. It’s just tough. You have to get the right pole and the right draft and it’s not always easy to get.”

Do you have a solution to the qualifying format?

“I mean single cars is the easy one, but I know we don’t want to go there. I don’t know. We’ll just have to keep going with it. We’re trying to learn, we’re trying to get better at it, which I feel like we have gotten better at it, but you’ve just got to keep working at it.”

What is your outlook for Sunday’s race?

“It’s a good starting spot. You want to start up front here. It’s a hard place to pass at right now with the repave. I actually think it will be a little better here with this package. We’ll see how it goes, but I like this place a lot and I’m excited to get going this weekend.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Qualifying Position: 16th

Do you feel your team can make the car better for you like they often do?

“Yeah, we have a lot of work to do. I’ve got my hands full and hopefully we can fix it. If not, it’s going to be a long day.”

Why was getting off pit road more chaotic this week than other tracks?

“The apron is so tight over there, and there’s only two lanes over there, and we’re all trying to go through there three-wide to get that spot. It is what it is.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Qualifying Position: 20th

What went wrong during qualifying tonight?

“Just in the wrong spot. Guys were racing side-by-side in front of me and it’s just one of those things. I can’t control everybody else and I felt like I was in a decent spot coming to the first lap – or to end of my first lap – so I could get a good second lap. They got side-by-side in front of me again, and they slowed up, and I caught them so fast going into one, that I had to slow up and either run through them or blow the corner. Just wrong spot and it’s just silly. This qualifying deal needs a bit of an overhaul in my opinion.”

Do you have a solution to fix qualifying?

“Take the plate off and let us qualify like men, drive them. That’s all I got.”

MATT DiBENEDETTO, No. 95 Procore Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing

Qualifying Position: 26th

Is improving this qualifying format a matter of learning from your mistakes week after week?

“It’s crazy, and the real solution that everybody knows is single car qualifying. Or send them one at a time and spread us apart, put three on the track at a time so you can still call in group qualifying…I don’t know. I’m not sure, but like I’ve heard, it’s their sandbox and we’re playing in it, so we have to learn from our mistakes and try and make the best of it like Clint (Bowyer) said.”

Were you surprised all the drivers waited as long as they did in the first round?

“No, I don’t think anything surprises me at this point after these circuses of qualifying we’ve been through and have kind of learned to adapt to. It is what it is, and I can complain about it all I want, but we just have to try and make do with it. It’s a little bit of a gamble, or luck of the draw.”