Category: NASCAR Cup PR

Strong Stage Points Day for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Coca-Cola Chevrolet Team in Season’s Longest Race

Finish: 14th
Start: 6th
Points: 18th

“The Coca-Cola 600 is one of my favorite races of the year because Charlotte Motor Speedway is my home track, and there is nothing that compares to racing on Memorial Day weekend and honoring our military. I feel so honored to be able to race this weekend for Chief Special Warfare Operator Eric F. Shellenberger with a very patriotic Coca-Cola paint scheme. I feel really good overall, physically, which is a good thing after a 600-mile race. We ran in the top 10 all night, and earned Stage points at the conclusion of Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3. We had a really solid No. 3 Coca-Cola Chevrolet. We ran up front in the top five, and we ran some of the fastest times of the race. I’m bummed that we ran that strong all night long and then gave it away at the end. When the caution flag came out at the end of the race, we decided that if a couple of cars pitted we were going to stay out. I actually said that if all of the cars stayed out, I was going to pit. Not all of the cars stayed out, though. I thought more would stay out. In hindsight, we probably should have came in and got two tires. The No. 18 car was running one position in front of us, came and got two and ended up fifth. You just never know. If you get the outside it makes a difference. My teammate, Tyler Reddick, got the outside and ended up being able to maintain. I should have known. We were too tight at the end of the race. I drove the wheels off of it, and when the caution came out we were just a little overconfident. We wanted another good finish. It worked for us at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. All in all, we had a top 10 car. We ran eighth to ninth on average all night long. It was still a good effort, and I’m excited about having the chance to come back here for a mid-week race on Wednesday. We have good cars at RCR. We have proven that we can run up front. We just have to get those finishes.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick Earns Top-10 Finish in First Coca-Cola 600 with Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet Team

Finish: 8th
Start: 5th
Points: 16th

“Well, the longest night of racing is in the books. I’m proud of the effort our No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet team gave tonight. We fought hard all night to make our car better, and we took a gamble at the end, which almost paid off for us. The track just didn’t do quite what I hoped it would do tonight, but we still found a way to get a top 10 out of the race. We fired off really strong tonight and had a shot at the pole in qualifying. After the brief rain storm, it was tough to get the balance nailed down to where we needed it to be. I was too loose in Turns 1 and 2 but then too tight in Turns 3 and 4. We tried a lot of different adjustments and strategy calls to try to adjust the handling, and hit on something during that second to last caution of the night. Randall Burnett and my team were able to get our car loosened up just enough for me to run up through the field from 15th to 10th. From there, we decided to stay out and go for it on that green-white-checkered, and almost got a top-five finish out of it. I learned a lot tonight that I think we can take into account when we return to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday to help with our long run handling and speed. This is definitely a finish we can build on. 400 laps and 600 miles are done, and we’ll be ready to come back on Wednesday night. It was an honor to have SGT. Norman L. Tollett’s name above my windshield tonight, and I hope we made his friends and family proud.” -Tyler Reddick

NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
COCA-COLA 600
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 25, 2020

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
2nd JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE
3rd CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
8th KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE
9th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
15th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 COCA-COLA CAMARO ZL1 1LE

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Brad Keselowski (Ford)
2nd Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)
3rd Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
4th Ryan Blaney (Ford)
5th Kyle Busch (Toyota)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues with a return visit to Charlotte Motor Speedway with the Alsco Uniforms 500 on Wednesday, May 27, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2nd
YOU’RE BRINGING HOME SECOND. WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU SAW YOUR TEAMMATE DUCK DOWN AND GO TO PIT ROAD?
“When that pit stop happened at the end, it’s so hard to know what the right thing to do is. We were talking about it too maybe for ourselves, but Cliff (Daniels) had a great sense of the right call to make. I feel for Chase (Elliott). He had such a great car on Wednesday, and to be leading here and have the caution come out with a couple to go, I feel bad for him. But I’m very proud of my team, very proud of everybody on this Ally Chevrolet. Second is OK – I’m very proud of the effort we’re putting in. But second, stinks. It’s tough being this close to victory lane, but we’re knocking on the door and we’ll get there.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 3rd
“Just trying to make the best decision you can and those guys are going to do the opposite of whatever we do. That’s just part of it. You make decisions and live with them. It wasn’t the pit call – I think being on offense is fine. Like I said, those guys are going to do whatever the opposite of what you do. It’s part of it.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 8th
“We got the pole with the GEARWRENCH Chevy and lead some laps; it was great to be up front and had good pace early. After the rain delay we just got buried in some dirty-air back in traffic. We just got to get our car a little better to maneuver in traffic. We just need the front tires front aero to be a little better in dirty-air. I know Matt McCall my guys are going to work on it; I’m gonna work on it, but a top-10 after all that, I will take it. Thanks again everybody at Ganassi, GEARWRENCH, Chevy and Monster Energy. Top-10 we will take it!”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th
“Well, the longest night of racing is in the books. I’m proud of the effort our No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet team gave tonight. We fought hard all night to make our car better, and we took a gamble there at the end, which almost paid off for us. The track just didn’t do quite what I hoped it would do tonight, but we still found a way to get a top 10 out of the race. We fired off really strong tonight and had a shot at the pole in qualifying. After the brief rain storm, it was tough to get the balance nailed down to where we needed it to be. I would be too loose in Turns 1 and 2 but then too tight in Turns 3 and 4. We tried a lot of different adjustments and strategy calls to try to adjust the handling, and hit on something during that second to last caution of the night. Randall (Burnett, crew chief) and my team were able to get our car loosened up just enough for me to run up through the field from 15th to 10th. From there, we decided to stay out and go for it on that green-white-checkered, and almost got a top-five finish out of it. I learned a lot tonight that I think we can take into account when we return to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday to help with our long run handling, but this is definitely a finish we can build on. 400 laps and 600 miles are done, and we’ll be ready to come back on Wednesday night. It was an honor to have SGT. Norman L. Tollett’s name above my windshield tonight, and I hope we made his friends and family proud.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 COCA-COLA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th
“I feel really good, overall, physically, so that’s a good thing. We ran in the top-10 all night. We had a really solid car. We showed sometimes when we were up front in the top-five, we ran some of the fastest laps of the race at times. Bummed when you go all night long running like that and give it away at the end. Our call was if a couple pitted, we were going to stay out. I actually said if all of them stay out, I’m pitting. Not all of them stayed out; I thought more would stay out. Probably should have came and got two tires. The 18 (Kyle Busch) was running one position in front of us, came and got two, and ended up fifth. You never know – my teammate Reddick had the outside and ended up being able to maintain and run ninth. We were too tight at the end and I kind of drove the wheels off of it, and the caution came out. Just a little over-confident, I wanted to get another good finish. It worked for us at Vegas. But all-in-all, we had a top-10 car. I want to say we were eighth or ninth all night on average. I’ve got to thank Coca-Cola, all of our partners at RCR, Dow, Bass Pro Shops – 600 miles in remembrance today was really cool. Wednesday should be a good one for us. We’ll turn it around. We have good cars. We can prove that we run up front, we just need to get those finishes.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/NOCO PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 20th
“That finish does not show how great of a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE we had today in Charlotte. We won two stages, led over 160 laps and really had a solid car. We would get loose or tight in certain areas, but Greg (Ives) and the guys made some good adjustments on pit road. At the end there, it just went straight. Not much I could do with that and unfortunately don’t have a finish to show how strong we were today. We learned a lot and hopefully can come back strong on Wednesday.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 21st
“We just shredded a left rear tire there. We had a bit of a tire rub when we went green with almost 50 to go, so I don’t know why it gave out with only a couple laps left after making it that long. I feel really bad though that it cost Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team. We had a fast Liberty Chevy up until that point.”

TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO MILITARY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 26th
“First and foremost, the Coca-Cola 600 is about so much more than ourselves and it was an honor to have SPC Richard C. Emmons III on our car. While we missed having his family at the track with us, hopefully we were able to honor them the best we could. Tonight wasn’t what we were looking for. The balance of our GEICO Military Camaro ZL1 1LE was pretty good, but unfortunately, we had to make an unscheduled pit stop under green in Stage 1 and never were able to recover. We usually don’t see a lot of cautions at Charlotte and that trend proved to be the same again. Just couldn’t dig ourselves out of the hole. It’s a shame, because I thought we were going to have a good night after a solid qualifying effort. The positive is we do have a good baseline setup for Wednesday night and we will try to have a better result then.”

BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 U.S. AIR FORCE CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined by mechanical issue; Finished 39th
“Well, what a bummer. Tonight wasn’t our night. We burned-up a hub, and it put us way behind. I don’t know if we had other issues going on with the car or what, but it wasn’t worth the risk. I thought we had a really good car, especially before all this stuff happened. We were running some really good lap times, so I was excited to try and get some track position and go race with our Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 U.S. Air Force Camaro ZL1 1LE. But sometimes you’re the bat and sometimes you’re the ball; tonight we were the ball. I think we have a good baseline of what we need for Wednesday when we come back. I know it’s going to be a little different circumstances and conditions during the day, but all-in-all, I’m proud of the effort. It’s just one of those things that are out of our control and freak stuff happens. We’ll come right back here Wednesday – a little bit different setup to get this thing underneath us and get all the bad juju out of the way. We’ll rebound from this and go get them!”

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.

KYLE BUSCH SCORES TOP-FIVE FINISH IN NASCAR’S LONGEST RACE
Four Camry drivers earn top-12 finishes

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (May 24, 2020) – Kyle Busch (fifth) was the highest-finishing Camry in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday evening.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race 7 of 36 – 600 miles, 400 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Brad Keselowski*
2nd, Jimmie Johnson*
3rd, Chase Elliott*
4th, Ryan Blaney*
5th, KYLE BUSCH
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
10th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
12th, ERIK JONES
29th, DANIEL SUÁREZ
30th, DENNY HAMLIN
33rd, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Red, White & Blue Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

How did the handling of your car change throughout the 600-mile race?

“During the middle stages of the race, I thought we were really fast. I feel like we had a great M&M’S Red, White, and Blue Camry and ran up front and got back up front from having to go to the back. But we put tires on it and it was never the same after that from about lap 280 or 290 when we put tires on it and it wasn’t the same as it was before that. We were lucky to steal a fifth place finish out of it today and we’ll have to go back to work and figure out some things to make our stuff better for when we come back on Wednesday and get back after it. I certainly want to give a huge shout out and a huge thanks to all the men and women who have served for our country her on Memorial Day weekend, we appreciate you. Everyone be safe tomorrow and have fun.”

Was there a consideration to stay out and not come to pit road during the final caution?

“No, no there was never a discussion to stay out. It was always going to be two or four and if we did two, which two to do. We had already made our mind up to pit.”

What do you attribute the drastic changes to grip and handling of the car throughout the race?

“The only thing I can really attribute it to is tires, that’s the only thing that makes sense. When you go and you have two runs that are really, really good and you have tires on and you don’t make any changes and then you make one slight air pressure adjustment with the next set of tires and it goes haywire. You have to think it’s the tires. You didn’t put a wedge wrench in the thing, you didn’t change anything too crazy. Also, track position sometimes too is a factor. When you’re further up towards the front, the cars drive way, way better. When you get back in the seventh to ninth to 11th range, you are just out of control and have no grip.”

With track position being so important, how will you approach Wednesday night with the inversion?

“It’s definitely going to be more of a sprint race. Thankfully, my guys are really, really, really good on pit road and they probably passed the most cars today – more than I did. It’s definitely beneficial when you can come down pit road 15th, 10th, eighth, seventh, whatever it is and those guys are going to get you five or six spots. I’m not too upset about where we have to start.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats & ATVs/USO Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 7th

Can you talk through the ups and downs of your 600 miles?

“It was a long and typical 600. You battle the car all night long and you just keep making adjustments and trying to stay up with the race track. The Bass Pro Toyota was really strong when we started off and I was able to pick off a few spots and work our way towards the front. I really rode there behind the 88 (Alex Bowman) for the first two stages. I felt like at times we were stronger than he was and just couldn’t make the move. Track position was crazy important tonight with the cooler temperatures and everybody having a year under their belts now with this car. Everybody is getting so close and they changed the tire and it was way different. It just felt really hard and had really low grip and it was really bouncy. We tried to keep up with the track, and at times, I felt like we were the best car. When we could get the lead, we could pull away. We had the lead late there in the last stage – early in the last part of the last stage and just had some trouble in the pits. It seems like every week we’re having a little bit of hiccups here and there and it set us back. The guys are working hard trying to get better. We win and lose as a team. That was a little bit frustrating, but good job by everyone. We had a strong car and a solid day.”

Was there a consideration to stay out on the track for the final caution rather than come to pit road?

“Yeah, for sure. We basically felt like if we couldn’t start on the front row, we were going to pit. If one more guy had pitted, we were going to stay out. I feel like that was a good decision on James (Small, crew chief) part because the guy that started third finished 20th. Third is just a tough spot to be. You’re just kind of a sitting duck. We felt like if we couldn’t be on the front row, we were going to pit and that’s what we did. We got back to seventh. I would have liked a few more laps because we were blowing by people left and right, but that’s the way it goes. We came home in one piece with a lot of points – a lot of stage points – and obviously we want to win, but we have to fix some little mistakes if we’re going to do that.”

How do you approach Wednesday’s night’s much shorter race with the invert?

“It’s going to be tough with the invert. I think that’s going to be a big deal after everybody gets a chance to work on their cars and the track just seemed like it was really one groove and really, really difficult to pass. You give everybody two or three days to work on their cars and everybody is going to be closer yet. The invert is going to be a challenge in the shorter race for sure. We’ll see what we can do with it and do our best.”

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 95 Rheem Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing

Finishing Position: 10th

How good does it feel to see improvement over these couple of races?

“I think we are headed in the right direction. We have to obviously keep making gains – getting a little bit faster, me doing a better job. We’re gaining on it. We are creeping up on it. I think we snuck a little bit of a better finish out than what we probably deserved, but we will take it after the first couple weeks.”

What was it like running the Coke 600 for the first time and what did you learn?

“That was a long one. Whenever we had that rain break, obviously, we did not want to see that, because we were just getting into a rhythm. The first 50 went by pretty quick, but the last 50 seemed to drag on a bit. I’m glad I got to experience the full Coke 600, because now all of the rest of them are going to be shorter than that.”

Early in the race, what went into the save after the contact with Ryan Blaney?

“The 12 car (Ryan Blaney) was probably a little faster than me at that point. I guess he just ran in the back of me, and thankfully I was able to get it back under control and we didn’t go a lap down. That could have really been a day ruiner, but luckily it worked out to where we were able to stay on the lead lap.”

# # #

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold nearly 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

CONCORD, N.C. (May 24, 2020) – Chris Buescher picked up three spots during a feverish final two-lap dash to bring his No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford home 11th in Sunday night’s famed Coke 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Buescher and the No. 17 team battled to the final turn, overcoming an early penalty on pit road to secure the solid finish in one of NASCAR’s biggest events of the season.

After qualifying 19th, Buescher worked his Ford up to 13th position, where he settled in until the competition caution flag waved at Lap 20. The team pitted for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment, but received a penalty on pit road and had to restart from the rear of the field.

Buescher hit the track running top-five lap times, driving up to 23rd before the field was red flagged for heavy rain in the area. Once the weather subsided and racing resumed, the No. 17 team hit pit road for four more tires and fuel and Buescher moved his car up to 16th at the end of Stage 1.

The 2015 Xfinity Series champion pitted at the stage break for grill tape, four tires and fuel and returned to the field in 13th position. Halfway through the second stage, Buescher was toggling between 12th and 15th. As the first green-flag pit stops cycled through, the team elected to pit for four more tires and fuel. Back on track in 20th and one lap down, Buescher reported that his Ford was tight across the center and that his long run speed was off. The No. 17 team took the green-white checkered 18th, earning the free pass position to restart stage three back on the lead lap.

The longest green flag runs of the race came in Stage 3. Buescher held steady in 18th all the way up to a green flag pit stop at lap 256. The team took four tires and fuel, returning to the track one lap down and 21st. Spotter Mike Herman reported a tire rub on the No. 17 machine, but fortunately the smoke subsided as the team continued to focus on making lap times. At lap 275, a competitor car hit the wall and Buescher took the opportunity to pit for fresh tires and fuel with the caution. The driver restarted 17th, but finished the stage 15th.

Buescher’s successful stage break pitstop for four tires and fuel helped him to restart 13th. The driver lost momentum on the restart and slid back to 16th. A late race caution allowed the No. 17 team to pit one more time to fix the front turn. The adjustments and strong restart helped propel Buescher to the 12th-place result.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway Wednesday for a 310-mile (205-lap) event, scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90).

Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway, 1.5 Mile Oval
Race: 7 of 38
Event: Coca-Cola 600 (600 miles, 400 laps)

John Hunter Nemechek
No. 38 YANMAR Ford Mustang

Started: 25th
Finished: 17th

Stage One: 24th
Stage Two: 20th
Stage Three: 17th
Stage Four: 17th

Driving in memory of Staff Sergeant Nicholas Carnes, John Hunter Nemechek started Sunday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the 25th position. Nemechek reported difficulty finding a comfortable balance in his No. 38 YANMAR Ford Mustang early on and the crew made a wedge adjustment and added some grille tape during the competition caution on Lap 20. Mother Nature forced the race to come to a pause after almost 50 laps and engines refired a little over an hour later. Nemechek continued to struggle with the car’s handling for the remainder of Stage 1 and would finish P24.

Throughout the second stage, Nemechek continued to struggle with the handling of his No. 38 YANMAR machine. He reported his biggest issue being tight in traffic. Nemechek opted not to pit under the Stage 2 caution in order to regain a lap he had lost earlier in the stage. He took the green- and white-checkered flag in 20th position.

Optimistic at the start of the third stage, Nemechek said the previous run had been his best of the night thus far. Running low on fuel, Nemechek would pit on Lap 235 under green, putting him two laps behind the leader. He was able to regain a lap once green flag pit stops cycled through and made his way back inside the top 20 towards the end of the stage. The car was still tight in traffic and Nemechek finished the stage in 17th.

To start the final stage, Nemechek pitted for tires, fuel, a wedge adjustment and grille tape in hopes of loosening up his YANMAR Ford Mustang. The team called him back to pit road to correct an adjustment, and he would restart in 20th position. Despite the car continuing to be tight in traffic, Nemechek managed to stay inside the top 20 for much of the final stage. He would finish the race in 17th position.

Nemechek on Charlotte:

“It was kind of an up and down day, but overall, we had a good run in our No. 38 YANMAR Ford Mustang. We started off the night pretty free. Once we refired after the rain delay, we had a pretty tight racecar for most of the night. Seth [Barbour] and the crew kept trying different adjustments to get our handling better and we managed to run in the top 20 for most of the last stage. We never gave up and got some good notes to come back on Wednesday. Thanks to our partners at YANMAR for coming on board with us this weekend and thank you especially to all the men and women who serve our country. It’s an amazing privilege to have the freedom to race because of their sacrifices.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 24, 2020) – Ryan Newman appeared poised for a strong run in Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600, having powered his No. 6 Roman Ford inside the top 10 before a faulty battery dropped the team off the pace just over halfway through the race. With only four cautions over the final 150 laps, Newman and the team continued to battle, but were unable to gain back the valuable positions lost — settling for a 28th-place finish in the 600-mile event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

For NASCAR’s longest race of the season, Newman qualified 18th in an afternoon time-trial session, just a spot ahead of teammate Chris Buescher. With a competition caution set for lap 20, teams were able to complete early service, before rain set in by lap 50, forcing a red flag that would last just over an hour.

With a quick dry of the 1.5-mile track surface, Newman rolled off 14th for the green again at lap 51, and fought his way to 11th when the caution flew at lap 96 ending the stage. After pitting for service on his No. 6 machine, the Indiana native restarted 10th.

He worked his way to eighth just a few laps into stage two and pitted from the 10th spot when green flag stops cycled at lap 156. He would end the stage in 15th, reporting his balance was neutral aboard the Roman Ford.

Newman fired off 14th at lap 208, before a few laps later reporting a battery issue at lap 230. He went on to pit at lap 236 to replace the battery, putting his machine three laps down after stops cycled through. The yellow would wave again at lap 275, when Newman waved around to get back to two laps down in 25th.

He would maintain that spot through the remainder of the stage, ending it in 25th, but hitting pit road for fresh tires. With three additional cars on his lap, Newman worked his way to the front of his group by lap 348 in the 22nd spot. When the ensuing caution came out, he took the wave again to get back to one lap down.

Newman was eventually forced to pit road for fuel at lap 374 due to being off pit cycle, before battery issues again arose with just 10 laps remaining, again sending him down pit road for repairs. The caution flew one final time with two laps to go shaking up the lead pack as Newman crossed the line 28th.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway Wednesday for a 310-mile (205-lap) event, scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90).

Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway, 1.5 Mile Oval
Race: 7 of 38
Event: Coca-Cola 600 (600 miles, 400 laps)

Michael McDowell
No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang

Started: 27th
Finished: 19th

Stage One: 29th
Stage Two: 24th
Stage Three: 21st
Stage Four: 19th

With the name of Sergeant First Class John Jarrell printed on his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang, Michael McDowell took the green flag in Sunday’s Coca Cola 600 from the 27th position. McDowell noted early in Stage 1 that the bumps in Turns 3 and 4 were playing a factor in his race and would take the green-white checkered flag from the 29th position. Under the stage 1 caution, Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer called for 4 tires, fuel, pulled packer and a trackbar adjustment.

Taking the green flag in Stage 2, McDowell mentioned that the calls on pit road definitely helped his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang as he ran comfortably inside of the top 25 throughout the stage and would go on to finish Stage 2 in 24th. Under the Stage 2 caution, McDowell came to pit road for 4 tires, fuel and added grille tape.

Throughout Stage 3, the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops team did a good job of steadily making improvements to their Ford Mustang as McDowell knocked on the door of the top 20 all stage long, finishing Stage 3 in the 21st position. During the stage, McDowell noted that his car was on the tight side to begin, however became more free as he raced. Under the Stage 3 caution, the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang pitted for 4 tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment.

In the final stage of the Coca Cola 600, Michael McDowell and his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops team picked up right where they left off in Stage 3 by running in the 21st position for a majority of the final stage. With 2 laps remaining in the race, the caution flag flew making McDowell the Lucky Dog, which put him back on the lead lap for the overtime restart and would go on to take the checkered flag in the 19th position.

McDowell on Charlotte:

“Our No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang had a tough time getting over the bumps in Turns 3 and 4 to start today’s Coca-Cola 600, but Drew and my guys on pit road did a good job of making adjustments all race long to get us more competitive. Thankfully, we caught a lucky caution with 2 laps to go and were able to get back on the lead lap. It was great to have Love’s Travel Stops back on board with us and I’m proud to have been able to represent Sergeant First Class John Jarrell on my car. We’ll regroup at the shop tomorrow and look ahead to coming back even stronger at Charlotte on Wednesday.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
COCA-COLA 600
TEAM CHEVY POST-QUALIFYING NOTES
MAY 24, 2020

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE
2nd JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE
3rd CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
4th MATT KENSETH, NO. 42 MCDELIVERY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
5th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
6th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 COCA-COLA CAMARO ZL1 1LE
10th WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 1LE

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kurt Busch (Chevrolet)
2nd Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)
3rd Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
4th Matt Kenseth (Chevrolet)
5th Tyler Reddick (Chevrolet)

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Pole Winner
IT WAS A VERY FAST RACE CAR FOR KURT BUSCH – 28th CAREER POLE. JIMMIE JOHNSON DOWN HERE GIVING YOU A HARD TIME, YOU BUMPED HIM OFF THE POLE THERE. IS THIS CAR IN MORE RACE TRIM OR QUALIFYING TRIM WITH ALL THAT SPEED?
“I’m just so proud of Matt McCall and all our guys and the way we have to communicate right now, and get through everything as far as those last-minute details and those fine adjustments. But, wow, what a Chevrolet brigade up front. This is pretty sweet! GEARWRENCH is on our car only a few times a year and I really want to push them up front. This is an awesome pole. I was more geared up, in my mind, towards downforce and being ready for 600 miles, so this means Matt McCall has something up his sleeve and we should be good tonight. This is a great run and happy birthday, Chip.!”

BOWTIE BULLETS
· This marks Kurt Busch’s 28th career pole in the NASCAR Cup Series and his first for Chip Ganassi Racing.
· The 2020 Coca-Cola 600 pole is the third for the Camaro ZL1 1LE this season.
· This is Chevrolet’s 34th pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway and 717th all-time in NASCAR’s premier series.

FOX will telecast the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway live tonight at 6:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage of the 400-lap, 600-mile race can also be found on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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.