Category: NASCAR Cup PR

NASCAR Driver Chris Buescher and JTG Daugherty Racing will host service member during Camping World 400

PITTSBURGH & CHICAGO – (June 25, 2019) – Maxwell House¸ in partnership with the USO and NASCAR driver Chris Buescher, will recognize one special service member at the Camping World 400 on June 30 at the Chicagoland Speedway.

Buescher’s No. 37 Maxwell House Camaro ZL1 fielded by JTG Daugherty Racing will sport a new paint scheme that pays tribute to the hard work of service members around the world and is part of the Maxwell House brand’s commitment to honoring the hard-working men and women in uniform throughout the year.

At the race, MSgt. Thurman of the 182 Airlift Wing, Illinois Air National Guard will take a race track ride and receive VIP access to the track on race day. He’ll also be celebrated during a Coffee Sit and Sip, where he will meet NASCAR drivers and share his inspirational story of service and dedication. Fans can see photos and video clips of the conversations on Twitter @JTGRacing.

“We’re honored to have MSgt. Thurman as a part of our team at Chicagoland Speedway thanks to the USO and Maxwell House,” Buescher said. “We’re grateful for his service and all the hard work he has done for our country to keep us safe. We wanted to do something special for him and we’ve got a little surprise in store that he’ll get to see when he checks out the Maxwell House USO Camaro ZL1 for the first time in person. We can’t wait to have some Maxwell House coffee with him and members of the media before the grind on Sunday.”

MSgt. Craig Thurman is the son of a military retiree and has served for more than 20 years, including 10 deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq and more than 4,500 hours of flight time. Since 2015, MSgt. Thurman has supported missions stateside and overseas by helping fly troops and cargo to their destination.

In May, Maxwell House announced its partnership with the USO as its Official Coffee Partner with a $650,000 donation in honor of Military Appreciation Month. Throughout the year, the coffee brand will support USO programs designed to strengthen military members and their families, including in-store promotions and coffee donations.

“We are proud to work with Maxwell House and JTG Daugherty Racing teams to create such a memorable experience for MSgt. Thurman, and to honor all of the men and women in uniform who protect our freedom,” said Chad Hartman, USO Vice President of Development and Corporate Alliances. “With the help of our partners and fellow military supporters we are able to rally America to show their appreciation for the hard work of our armed forces and help strengthen the military community.”

“Maxwell House is proud to team up with the USO and JTG Daugherty Racing to honor U.S. military members and in particular, MSgt. Craig Thurman at this weekend’s race,” said Ashley Tople, Director of Marketing, Coffee at Kraft Heinz. “For over 125 years Maxwell House has worked hard to deliver coffee that has fueled millions of Americans’ hard work, we are delighted to do our part to support and recognize our troops.”

The Maxwell House paint scheme was made possible through the brand’s partnership with the USO and Kroger’s JTG Daugherty Racing team, a NASCAR sponsor. See the car by tuning into the race Sunday, June 30th at 3 PM ET live on NBCSN or listen via MRN Radio or SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

For more information about Maxwell House, visit MaxwellHouseCoffee.com or on Twitter @Maxwell_House, Instagram @OfficialMaxwellHouse, Facebook @MaxwellHouse.

About the USO
The USO strengthens America’s military service members by keeping them connected to family, home and country, throughout their service to the nation. At hundreds of locations worldwide, we are united in our commitment to connect our service members and their families through countless acts of caring, comfort and support. The USO is a private, nonprofit organization, not a government agency. Our programs, services and entertainment tours are made possible by the American people, support of our corporate partners and the dedication of our volunteers and staff. To join us in this important mission, and to learn more about the USO, please visit USO.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About Maxwell House
Maxwell House values hard work and has fueled America’s workforce with dependable, good-tasting coffee for over 125 years. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley, it was named in honor of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, which was its first major customer. The company’s slogan is “Good to the last drop,” which is incorporated into the logo.

About The Kraft Heinz Company
For 150 years, we have produced some of the world’s most beloved products at The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC). Our Vision is To Be the Best Food Company, Growing a Better World. We are one of the largest global food and beverage companies, with 2018 net sales of approximately $26 billion. Our portfolio is a diverse mix of iconic and emerging brands. As the guardians of these brands and the creators of innovative new products, we are dedicated to the sustainable health of our people and our planet. To learn more, visit http://www.kraftheinzcompany.com/ or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About JTG Daugherty Racing
JTG Daugherty Racing is a thriving NASCAR Cup Series operation owned by husband and wife team Jodi and Tad Geschickter along with Gordon Smith and five-time NBA All-Star and TV/radio personality Brad Daugherty based in Harrisburg, N.C. Since their Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2009, the team has amassed one win, 16 top-five finishes, 55 top-10 finishes and won two pole awards in as many races. Tad and Jodi began their team in 1995 as a NASCAR XFINITY Series team. After multiple wins and over 100 top-10s in the division, it was time to make the move into the NASCAR Cup Series. In 2014, the team celebrated their first victory at the pinnacle of the sport and earned a coveted spot in the Championship Playoffs. In 2017, the team expanded to a two-car operation and today continues to compete in the premier division with both the No. 37 Maxwell House Camaro ZL1 and No. 47 Kroger Camaro ZL1.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Sonoma Raceway
Race 16 of 36 – 226.8 miles, 90 laps
June 23, 2019

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
2nd, KYLE BUSCH
3rd, Ryan Blaney*
4th, MATT DiBENEDETTO
5th, DENNY HAMLIN
8th, ERIK JONES
30th, PARKER KLIGERMAN
*non-Toyota driver

Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. earned his 23rd career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Truex Jr. led 59 laps (of 90) on the way to his fourth victory of the 2019 season.
Camry teammate Kyle Busch led three laps and finished second for his series-leading 10th top-five finish of the season.

Matt DiBenedetto scored his career-best finish with a fourth-place result. The finish tied the best result for Leavine Family Racing.

With Denny Hamlin’s fifth place result, Toyota placed four drivers in the top-five for the eighth time. It was the first occurrence since Bristol in August 2017.

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Finishing Position: 1st

How were you able to hold off Kyle Busch in the closing laps?

“Just dug down deep and tried to be smooth and hit my marks. Luckily, I was able to have a big enough gap where I could settle in and not feel so much pressure. It was definitely difficult, that was the longest run of the race there at the end for us on tires and it felt terrible the last 20 laps. The last 10, it was just on ice with no grip anywhere. Just really proud of all these guys and everybody on this Bass Pro Shops Camry, everybody at TRD and everybody back at JGR – all the fans. Auto Owners Insurance and everybody that makes this possible. What a season we’ve turned this into. I want to say, ‘thank you’ to DW (Darrell Waltrip) for all you’ve done for us buddy, it’s been an honor to watch replays with you calling the races and stuff. I’ve been a big fan a long time so I want to thank you for that and wish you the best moving forward. This group, they’re unbelievable. Hopefully, we can keep this going.”

What makes you so strong at Sonoma Raceway?

“I can’t tell you that, come on! Through the years we’ve seen guys figure things out and it lasts a while. I wasn’t sure this weekend how it was going to hold up with what we’ve been doing now that we have the carousel, the big left-hand corner. It really changed things up. Took a while to figure it out in practice, but luckily, we were able to just make the right tweaks and I had confidence when the track got hot and slick on the long runs that we’d have what we needed. Just a matter if we had enough speed to get there and we did today.”

What does it mean to win here two years in a row?

“Just excited to come back here and win again after last year. Two years ago we had a dominant car and it blew up late in the race and to come be able to kind of get a little bit of redemption for that feels good. Just really proud of everybody on this team and everybody back at the shop at JGR and TRD and everybody who makes this possible. We’ve got some friends here from Bass Pro today and I know they were excited. They were asking me how we were going to be, they wanted to come drink some wine and see some race cars go around and I was like, ‘You better get here because we’re going to have a shot at it.’ Just really thankful for everyone and all their hard work and really excited today, just a big day for us.”

How tough was the tire wear in today’s race and especially in the closing laps?

“It was so tough and he (Kyle Busch) was catching us on his new tires for a while. Luckily, we were able to build up enough gap there when we pitted earlier than him, that kind of difference, once it got made up – we were kind of reset to where we were, he just had fresher tires or so. It was a bit of a challenge, but towards the end there, we kind of evened out and settled in. Luckily, I was able to catch some lapped cars in the right spot and be able to make the moves quick and not get held up there.”

Did the new carousel portion of the track phase you this weekend?

“It definitely phased me. It took a while to figure it out and it’s a hell of a challenge. Every lap of the race, I felt like I had messed it up a little bit somehow and it’s just really tricky. It was fun, it added a unique challenge, but it’s still Sonoma. Still you need to do the same things to be really good here and we were able to do those today.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Hazelnut Spread Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

You got within a second, but just couldn’t get there. Talk about your finish today.

“I had to lean on the left rear, and I just didn’t have the drive that I needed. I was trying to hold on to it, trying to save it. I knew that was going to be the problem; it had been our problem all day long. When I got close there, you get closer and then you are like, I have to go and pounce on him fast, so he doesn’t have time to pick up the pace. It didn’t work. He was obviously saving a lot; I knew he was going to be saving a lot, and was going to have enough to most likely be able to hold us off, but I still tried with everything that I could to get there and ran real hard. But our M&M’s Hazelnut Spread Camry was fast; I am really proud of Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and the boys. We came here a little better than we have in years past, so that felt nice, but it sucks to finish second to a teammate, but it is good for the company. Overall, Martin (Truex Jr.) is really good here, so I am just pumped that I ran good.”

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

Finishing Position: 4th

What does this race say about you and this team?

“I cannot explain how thankful and glad I am that we got a good run that we deserve. It has been a tough year; we just haven’t had the results that we deserve. We have had fast cars. I cannot explain how thankful I am to have this opportunity and how desperate I was to get a run like this for my team and how many people took a chance on me. I can’t explain how many people had to say yes including all of the JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) teammates, Toyota, TRD, the sponsors, Procore and Dumont Jets, team owner, everyone on the team, it took every one of those people to say yes because my path to get here is unorthodox. I didn’t have the funding to get there; we did it the old school way.”

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

Finishing Position: 5th

Describe your drive today at Sonoma.
“I just drove as hard as I could drive. We restarted 26th and drove back up to fifth with no cautions. We had a very, very fast car. It was a strategy we decided to play out there to optimize stage points and get a stage win, and take the guaranteed points. It may have cost us a shot at victory, but we still had a good day. I think at the time we decided to do that strategy the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) was better than us, but I am not so sure at the end.”

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

Finishing Position: 8th

How would you sum up your day?

“It was good. We passed a lot of cars. I am just happy we were able to come out of here with a solid day. Wish we could have gotten some more stage points, but it was nice to get a good finish. The Craftsman Camry was good; we just needed track position. I think we were probably a few spots better than that, but it’s still good. It’s nice to get back on track. Hopefully this is good momentum for next week in Chicago.”

Team Penske NASCAR Cup Series Race Report
Track: Sonoma Raceway
Race: Toyota/Save Mart 350
Date: June 23, 2019

____________________________________

No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – Brad Keselowski
Start: 22nd
Stage 1: 25th
Stage 2: 2nd
Finish: 18th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 90/90
Laps Led: 0
Driver Point Standings (behind first): 4th (-74)

Notes:

Brad Keselowski took a gamble on Sunday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway, but a lack of caution flags hindered the drive of the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang and resulted in a 18h place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the California road course.

The Discount Tire Ford Mustang started the event in the 22nd position and Keselowski used the first stage to gauge the long-run speed of his car. Unfortunately, Keselowski began experiencing a tight condition and was only able to move up to 20th before crew chief Paul Wolfe called him to pit road on lap 17, three laps before the first stage break. He would finished stage 1 in the 25th position.

Most of the front running cars then pitted during the first stage break, allowing Keselowski to restart from the eighth position on the restart. For the second stage, Keselowski and Wolfe elected to stay out instead of pit before the end of the stage, as they previously did. The gamble worked, and despite a car that was still tight and lacking forward drive, Keselowski was able to finish second as the front runners again pitted before the end of stage 2.

After pitting following stage 2, Keselowski and Wolfe made a gamble to run as long as possible while all the cars in front of the came to pit road for their final stop, hoping a caution would allow them to make their final stop under the yellow. Unfortunately, outside of the two stage breaks, the event ran caution free. Keselowski had to finally come to pit road with just 17 laps to go. Despite falling back to 22nd, he was able to race back to 18th with the benefit of fresher tires.

The 18th-place finish dropped Keselowski one spot in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings. He is now fourth, 74 points behind leader and teammate, Joey Logano.

Quotes: “It was just a frustrating day for the Discount Tire Ford Mustang. We were tight all day long and the lack of cautions really hurt our strategy. We just need to get a little better, but we will come back stronger. No time to dwell on it, we need to look ahead to Chicago next weekend.”

____________________________________

No. 12 PPG Ford Mustang – Ryan Blaney
Start: 9th
Stage 1: 21st
Stage 2: 15th
Finish: 3rd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 90/90
Laps Led: 0
Driver Point Standings (behind first): 9th (-175)

Notes:

Pit road strategy and a fast car resulted in a third-place finish for Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 PPG Ford Mustang team at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday afternoon. Blaney captured his fifth top-five and his sixth top-10 finish of the season.

Blaney started the 90-lap race from the ninth position. He maintained his running position inside the top-10 for most of the first stage and reported to crew chief Jeremy Bullins the balance of the No. 12 PPG Mustang was tighter turning to the left than right. Playing a different strategy, Bullins pitted Blaney on lap 17, three laps before the end of the first stage for four tires, fuel and minor adjustments including air pressure. Blaney would return to the track in the 21st position where he would remain at the end of stage 1.

Blaney remained on track during the stage caution and cycled to the fourth position for the beginning of the second stage. Blaney powered his way to the third position once the race resumed but fell to fourth over the long run. Bullins called the driver of the No. 12 PPG Ford down pit road under green on lap 37, once again three laps before the end of stage 2. Blaney would rejoin the field in 15th position and was credited with 15th place at the end the second stage on lap 40.

The High Point, N.C. native remained on track during the second stage caution and again cycled to the fourth position when the race resumed on lap 44. Blaney muscled his way to the second position on the restart before settling into fourth on lap 47. Blaney communicated his No. 12 PPG Mustang was still tight on the long run. Once the fuel window opened with 34-laps remaining in the 90-lap race, teams began to make their last scheduled green-flag stop. Bullins elected Blaney to run long and pit on lap 64 for four fresh tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.

Blaney would return to the race in the sixth position. Once the field cycled through stops, Blaney was running in the third position, pulling away from fourth-place Kevin Harvick. The remaining 20 laps were caution free, Blaney holding firm to position. He would remain in the third position at the checkered flag. He and the No. 12 PPG team remain ninth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, 175 points behind leader Joey Logano.

Quote: “You come into every weekend expecting to run well, no matter if it is your best track or worst track. I don’t really go into any weekend expecting to run a certain way. You just try to do your best. You just do the best you can during practice to get your car where it needs to be in the race. I thought we had pretty good speed all weekend. We head top-five speed all weekend. Not winning speed. We kind of hung around all day. We were able to hang in there and stay out of trouble and able to come home with a decent day and a race car that was intact, which is good.”

____________________________________

No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang – Joey Logano
Start: 3rd
Stage 1: 3rd
Stage 2: 4th
Finish: 23rd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 90/90
Laps Led: 0
Point Standings (ahead of second): 1st (+1)

Notes:

· Joey Logano started Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series from the third position in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang, running inside the top-five for a majority of the event before pitting late due to alternator issues, dropping the team to the 23rd position at the checkered flag. Logano maintained the points lead by way of scoring stage points in both the first two stages.

· After starting from the third position, Logano continued to run in the top-four through the opening 10 laps, reporting the Shell-Pennzoil Ford was building slightly tight in both the front and rear tires as the run advanced. On lap 14, Logano reported he was losing more front grip than rear, ultimately forcing him to relinquish the fourth position with six laps remaining in the first stage.

· Prior to the end of the stage end, Logano reported an alternator issue with the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford. Crew chief Todd Gordon instructed the driver to shut off the air conditioning unit and the brake fans prior to the end of the stage. Under the caution the team made a minor air pressure adjustment, changing four tires. A slight jacking issue, coupled with other cars pitting under the green flag before the stage end dropped Logano to the 24th position.

· Through the first 10 laps of the second stage, Logano moved forward from 24th to 13th, remaining quiet on the radio. Logano continued his rally with a slightly tight Shell-Pennzoil Ford, moving back to the fourth position before the end of the second stage. Logano reported under caution that the tight condition was hurting him the most in the carousel.

· Logano would again restart deep in the field as the field came to the green flag to begin the final stage, rolling from the 25th position after many of the lead lap cars elected to pit before the end of the second stage. From the restart on, the Shell-Pennzoil Ford continued to advance through the field, moving to the 16th position with 34 laps remaining.

· With 29 laps remaining, Logano made what could be his final pit stop of the race, taking four tires and fuel after maintaining competitive lap times throughout the first run of stage three. Unfortunately, with 15 laps remaining, Logano was forced to bring the Shell-Pennzoil Ford back to pit road to replace a battery after running the majority of the event with a malfunctioning alternator.

· The stop would foil an otherwise solid day for Logano, who’d run inside the top-five throughout the afternoon and had competitive lap times all day. Logano would ultimately end up 23rd after running in the top-five much of the afternoon.

Quote: “On the surface it would be easy to get discouraged. We didn’t get the finish we were capable of due to a mechanical failure, but overall we had good speed in our Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang. I’m proud of all my guys and everyone at Team Penske for the gains they made from last year to this year.”

Austin Dillon and the Dow Coatings Team Show Grit All Weekend At Sonoma Raceway

Finish: 24th
Start: 26th
Points: 22nd

“It’s been a long weekend in the Dow Coatings Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, but the good news is we learned a lot that we can take back to Welcome and use in preparation for future trips to Sonoma Raceway. We fell behind in practice and just never recovered. During the race, I was just hanging on the best I could but it was difficult because the Dow Coatings Chevrolet was plowing tight. Who knows, maybe if we would have utilized a different strategy we could have gained a few positions at the finish, but the main issue is definitely working on our cars and on my skills as a road course racer. This race is over and we’re focused on Chicagoland Speedway now.”-Austin Dillon

Daniel Hemric and RCR’s Poppy Bank Chevrolet Team Gain 10 Positions to Earn Top-15 Finish in First Sonoma Raceway Start

Finish: 15th
Start: 25th
Points: 24th

“I thought we did a great job of making the most of our day here at Sonoma Raceway. We didn’t have track position to start the race, but Luke Lambert did a great job of not worrying about points and trying to get us track position instead. Every time we did it we gained four or five spots. I’m proud of everyone on this No. 8 team and this Poppy Bank Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for sticking with me all weekend. We got better every lap and that’s what our first road race as a group is all about. We’ll regroup and go to Chicagoland Speedway and try to continue to get better.”-Daniel Hemric

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
SONOMA RACEWAY
TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JUNE 23, 2019

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
10th Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1
12th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
13th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1
14th Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Camaro ZL1
15th Daniel Hemric, No. 8 Poppy Bank Camaro ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)
2nd Kyle Busch (Toyota)
3rd Ryan Blaney (Ford)
4th Matt DiBenedetto (Toyota)
5th Denny Hamlin (Toyota)

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway with the Camping World 400 on Sunday, June 30th at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 10th
“It was better than normal for us. I fell back early but I was just taking care of my stuff. I seem to be a lot better on long runs than normal, so I’m happy about that. And we came away with a Top 10. So it was good.

“I finished better than I ever have here, so it was an improvement.”

HOW DO YOU THINK YOU DID BETTER THIS TIME AROUND?
“We were just better on the long runs. So, I was able to pass a lot of people there throughout that last stint. I was happy about it. We got stage points, which was good; so it was a good point day.”

HOW WERE THE CONDITIONS OUT THERE TODAY?
“it was just really hot. And I run like a chest tube, and it popped out; so that didn’t help. But, it was just tough for everybody.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 14th
THOUGHTS ON HIS RUN:
“We lost some front turn from where we were at in practice. Track position was really key. Obviously, we didn’t qualify very well, so that hurt us. We had great pit stops. We were sitting pretty good there towards the end and then we lost power steering. I hate losing spots like that at the end, but I’m glad we still brought home a top-15 finish. I’m glad I’ve been working on being more fit because I’m worn out and that would have been way worse. We’ll move on to Chicago next week. We should be phenomenal there. My guys did a really good job. My car was really fast, we just missed it a little bit there for the race.”

TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO MILITARY CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 27th
“Sonoma is a tough racetrack. Only coming here once a year definitely makes it more challenging to learn how to get around the course, and this was only my third time racing here. The addition of the carousel added an extra layer of difficulty. Our GEICO Military Camaro ZL1 started out pretty tight going both right and left, but my team made great changes to get our balance back to where we needed it. My rear grip just started to fade at the end. But, I have a lot of notes from this weekend to study for next year. We will keep building and getting better each time we come to Sonoma.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined on Lap 60 with mechanical issue. Finished 37th:
“We lost oil pressure so we think a belt broke. We’re not exactly sure why. Our NAPA Chevy was good. I hated I gave Martin (Truex Jr.) the lead there. It was just a mistake on my part. I needed to keep control of the reins. That was an important point. It’s going to be hard to go up and pass a guy for the lead. So, that was big. I hated that happened. But yeah, we lost oil pressure but there is no oil leaking, so it must have been a belt, I guess. And obviously when that happens, you’re not getting oil so things are going to not work when they’re not being loosened up and have oil to work with. So, I’ve been with Hendrick Motorsports for a number of years now running their engines and I think this is the second time we ever broke one. So, I’ll take those odds all day long.”
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, June 23, 2019
EVENT: Toyota Save Mart 350 MENCS Post Race

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd — Ryan Blaney
6th — Kevin Harvick
7th — Ryan Newman
9th — Aric Almirola
11th — Clint Bowyer
17th — Daniel Suarez
18th — Brad Keselowski
20th — David Ragan
21st — Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
22nd — Paul Menard
23rd — Joey Logano
25th — Michael McDowell
28th — Matt Tifft
32nd — Corey LaJoie

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 PPG Ford Mustang — Finished 3rd

“You come into every weekend expecting to run well, no matter if it is your best track or worst track. I don’t really go into any weekend expecting to run a certain way. You just try to do your best. You just do the best you can during practice to get your car where it needs to be in the race. I thought we had pretty good speed all weekend. We head top-five speed all weekend. Not winning speed. We kind of hung around all day. We were able to hang in there and stay out of trouble and able to come home with a decent day and a race car that was intact, which is good.”

DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING FOR THEM IF THERE WAS A LATE CAUTION? “Well, it would have given us a shot. I had no shot if there wasn’t a yellow. They were really good on long runs. You just give yourself a hope of restarting close to them and trying to make a move. We almost got the lead one time on a restart. I was hoping to get that shot again but it never came.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang — Finished 9th

“I made a mistake there at the top of Turn 3A and spun out and basically we fell to the rear. We went back all the way to last. After that, I just had to work my butt off to recover. We passed a lot of cars today. My Mustang was good. I just put us behind.”

RYAN NEWMAN, No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang — Finished 7th

“I just got really light headed when I got out. Other than that I feel alright. We had good strategy and good pit road, good everything. We just didn’t quite have the speed today to be able to get up there and pass those guys that were in the front today.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang — Finished 6th

“I am really proud of everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford. We did grind one out. We didn’t have a great car this weekend. We aborted everything that we were doing and put the 14 stuff in and we still weren’t very good. We wound up grinding the right front tire off at the end and was just hanging on for dear life. That is a gritty performance. That is what we have done all year. We need to figure out how to be closer at the beginning of the weekend. We will. We have been scrapping pretty hard for 16 weeks.”

WHERE DO YOU NEED TO IMPROVE? “We just have to get closer. We have been way off to start practices at a number of places. We have made some mistakes when we had chances to win races. We keep making decent days out of it and just haven’t been to victory lane yet but we will get it.”

Toyota Racing Post-Qualifying Report
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Sonoma Raceway – June 22, 2019

TOYOTA STARTING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, William Bryon*
3rd, Joey Logano*
4th, Chase Elliott*
5th, Daniel Suarez*
6th, DENNY HAMLIN
7th, KYLE BUSCH
8th, MARTIN TRUEX JR
19th, MATT DIBENEDETTO
29th, PARKER KLIGERMAN
32nd, ERIK JONES
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Qualifying Position: 6th

How did the new curb in turn five affect you?

“It didn’t affect me any. I wasn’t one of the guys that was getting off the track. I thought it was good, because obviously, when it gets down in the race, if you didn’t have that, you would just run in the dirt. It is unique for sure. We are going to use every bit of the racetrack. I didn’t really use it to begin with but I think it’s good that they can keep the track clean.”

MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 95 Procore Thanks DW Throwback Toyota Camry, Leavine Family Racing

Qualifying Position: 19th

Decent qualifying position inside the top 20 to start Sunday.

“We ended up 19th. I missed it a little bit in turn seven and 11. Just missed my mark a hair. I think the best we could have been would have been on the bubble of the top 12. Our car is much better in race trim. It is really good in race pace yesterday, so it should be good come race time.”

Top five in practice yesterday; looks like you guys had great race pace.

“Yeah, because that was our race speed. We were good on average – 10 lap average, 15 lap average. So I think it will race really good, and I have learned in the past that forward drive here is so important. Even with the higher downforce, it is same old Sonoma. You are going to need to focus on that forward drive, and not going off course with the new track layout. That is going to be important.”

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

Qualifying Position: 32nd

Your tire went flat in qualifying. When did you know?

“I didn’t know it was a flat majority of the lap, and it finally blew coming down the frontstretch. It is pretty unfortunate; we had a top 15 car for qualifying and now we are starting 32nd. It is the story of the whole year. Nothing has really gone our way to this point, and I guess it’s not really changing this weekend yet. We will get it together for tomorrow and try to come through the field.

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
SONOMA RACEWAY
TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING PRESS CONF TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 22, 2019

KYLE LARSON PUTS CHEVROLET ON POLE AT SONOMA
Six Camaro ZL1 Drivers in Top 12

SONOMA, Calif. (June 22, 2019) – Kyle Larson drove his No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1 to the top spot in qualifying for the Toyota/SaveMart 350 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Sonoma Raceway, with a fast lap of 94.784 seconds, 95.712 mph. It was the third consecutive pole (2017-2019) in six races at Sonoma for Larson, and his eighth career pole in the MENCS.

Larson’s feat also marks the ninth pole of the 2019 season for the Camaro ZL1, the 16th pole for Chevrolet at the famed Sonoma road course, and 708th pole for Team Chevy in NASCAR’s premier series.

Hendrick Motorsports had a strong showing in both rounds of qualifying at the 15-turn, 2.52-mile road course, with all four teammates qualifying in the Top 12. William Byron was second quick in his No. 24 Hertz Camaro ZL1 and will start the 90-lap race on the front row next to Larson. Chase Elliott was fourth in his No. 9 Napa Auto Parts Camaro ZL1.

Chris Buescher qualified 10th in his No. 37 Hellmann’s Camaro ZL1.

Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman were 11th and 12th in the No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 and No. 88 Axalta Camaro ZL1, respectively, to give Chevrolet six drivers in the Top 12 starting order.

Rounding out the top five were Joey Logano (Ford) in third and Daniel Suarez (Ford) in fifth place.

The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, June 23 at 3 pm, ET. Live coverage can be found on FoxSports1, PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

POST-QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – POLE WINNER

TELL ME ABOUT WHAT YOU SAW OUT THERE AND HOW IT FELT.
“It was obviously good. We were quickest in the first one and then again in the next session. In the first one, I saw Ryan (Blaney) run a similar lap time to what I did in practice. You never really know what you’re tracking while you’re out there, so I was just going really hard the first session. I felt like I over-drove some and slipped my tires maybe a little too much, but ran a really fast lap. I was a little worried for the next session that maybe I used up the good in the tires. The next session, I probably under-drove a little bit a couple of corners. I felt like I over-drove the Carousel the first time and under-drove it the second time. I slightly over-drove Turn 7 the first session and slightly under-drove it the next, but I felt like I got through the last corner a little better. I went a little bit slower the next round, but I was able to get the Pole. It was pretty close. I don’t know what William (Byron) ran, but I think the gap between me and Joey (Logano) was pretty close, so for William (Byron) to sneak in there, it had to be pretty tight. It’s just cool to get another Pole here at my home track, but really we just need to focus on the race and hopefully we do good tomorrow.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ACCOUNTS FOR YOUR ABILITY TO QUALIFY SO WELL HERE?
“I don’t know. I think our cars have always qualified really well here. Kurt (Busch) seemed to struggle today, but Jamie (McMurray) and I have been in the Top 5 every year since I’ve been in the Cup Series and when he was around racing. I think our cars are just quick for short run stuff. It just fits my driving style a little bit; you can be really aggressive for a lap in qualifying, but you still have to hit your marks. I feel like each year I’ve qualified here, I went really well, but made a lot of mistakes and knew there were a lot of opportunities for me to clean up my mistakes and get Poles. Now, I feel like the last three years, my mistakes have been smaller and I think that’s why I’ve been able to get the Pole here the last three years.”

THE POLESITTER HAS ONLY WON HERE FIVE OR SIX TIMES, THAT I RECALL, AND YOU WERE 14TH AND 26TH HERE THE LAST TWO YEARS. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT FOR YOU THIS TIME AROUND?

“I don’t know. The trend was similar yesterday where in race trim, I was not very good on long runs. We’ll see, I hope it’s different, but we don’t know until we start tomorrow’s race.”

HOW ARE YOU GUYS LOOKING AT THIS AS FAR AS WHAT IT’S GOING TO TAKE TO WIN THIS TIME?
“I don’t know. I think we all know what it takes to be really good here. I think Clint (Bowyer) has kind of proven that, where you don’t have to be fast in qualifying to win. You need to have a good long run car and that has been an area where I’ve struggled. Maybe I don’t have the best long run car, but I probably also don’t do the best job behind the wheel and abuse the tires. That’s somewhere that I’ve tried to get better at with tracks like this and Martinsville. Tomorrow, I’ll just work hard to be smooth on everything and try some things out during the race in different runs to see if I can make myself go better on long runs.”

THERE ARE SHORT AND LONG STAGES IN THIS RACE. DO YOU DRIVE DIFFERENTLY AT DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE RACE?
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a road course or an oval, every run is a little different in where you restart and what’s going on in the race. As the leader, I usually just try to run the first lap pretty hard and then try to take care of my tires. It will be similar tomorrow I think; just trying to get out front and take care of my stuff. Hopefully the strategy works out where we can be up front and not have to race super hard and risk damage. We’ll see, it could be a different race with the new corners.”

WITH THE NEW LAYOUT, DOES IT FAVOR AGGRESSION OR WILL AGGRESSION BITE YOU?
“I don’t think it really favors anything different than the other circuit, at least as far as how practice felt. If anything, I feel like there are a few extra corners, but I feel like it made it a little easier on me just because Turn 4 was the tricky corner and it was really aggressive on your car and body. Turn 7 was always a tough corner to hit right, getting the car on the curb. It’s a little bit different, but I think it will still be the same race. The same guys are going to be up front. I don’t know, maybe you’ll see more accidents, I’m not sure. So far, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to race much differently.”

SOME OF THE DRIVERS WERE SAYING YESTERDAY THAT THEY THOUGHT THERE WAS SOME DIRT ON THE TRACK. WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE TODAY WITH THE CONDITION OF THE TRACK?
“The only area where you could see that it was dirty was Turn 5 and they seemed to have fixed that with adding the curb. That was nice they did that because that would have been bad during the race if someone clips the dirt in front of you and the guy behind you gets in it and you lose all grip. I thought that was nice that they added that curb in there. It’s a pretty big curb, so you’re not going to really get on it. It’s going to eliminate us getting off into the dirt and dragging dirt onto the track.”

WERE YOU MADE AWARE OF THE CURB BEFOREHAND?
“I saw Kyle (Busch) on camera walking with track crew yesterday. I knew kind of what he was trying to convince them to do, but I didn’t know that they actually did it until probably ten minutes before I got in the car for qualifying. I was happy that they did it. My first time out on the track on the warm-up lap, I kind of drove my car up on it just to see how big it felt and if we were going to be able to use it. It felt pretty big, so I knew I needed to stay off of it or at least try to not use much of it. The first round, I clipped it and it kind of got me loose. The next round, I made sure to stay off of it. I’m happy that they did that.”

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.

ONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
SONOMA RACEWAY
TOYOTA / SAVE MART 350
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 22, 2019

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Camaro ZL1
2nd William Byron, No. 24 Hertz Camaro ZL1
4th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
10th Chris Buescher, No. 37 Hellmann’s Camaro ZL1
11th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
2nd William Byron (Chevrolet)
3rd Joey Logano (Ford)
4th Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
5th Daniel Suarez (Ford)

FS1 will telecast the Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway live at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, June 23. Live coverage can also be found on PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – Pole Winner
WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT THE TRENDS YOU’RE SEEING FOR THE RACE TOMORROW?
“I guess the trend of getting the pole and then struggling in the race (laughs).. I hope it’s not the same for tomorrow. I felt good. I had a mock run yesterday in practice. We ran a good lap and both of these two runs we ran good too. I felt like I over-drove the first session. In the next session, I said ‘Alright, I’m just going to calm down and not make any mistakes’ and I probably under-drove just a little. I felt like through the Carousel and Turn 7, I probably under-drove some and gave up a little bit of speed. But I felt like I made up some time in some other areas too.”

“It’s cool to get a third pole in a row here at my home track. Thanks to Credit One Bank and all my guys for preparing another fast car. We’ll see if we can do a little better tomorrow than we typically do during the race.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HERTZ CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 2nd
“Road courses have been a challenge for me, especially this place. I feel like it’s the hardest place to come as a driver with inexperience knowing what your car needs to do and how you need to manage everything. I feel like this is a good weekend so far. We’ve had good speed really, throughout the weekend. And, we’re just going to have to put it in the race and be realistic with the race. It think it’s going to be a challenge, for sure, but I’m looking forward to it.

“I think we’re going to have to go for the points. We’re 14th in points, so we’ve got to continue to build the gap. So, I think we’re going to go for points, but hopefully we can manage our way through traffic and we can gain from there and try to improve that.”

“He (Kyle Larson, pole winner) is exceptional at it. I don’t know what he does. I’m going to try to figure that out but he just hits everything really good. It’s good to be second, but it would have been nice to have another pole.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 4th
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO PULL OFF A WIN HERE?
“I hope so. I think we’re a lot closer today than we were yesterday. So, our issue yesterday was a little bit of short run pace and then a lot of long run pace, so I really don’t know until we get going tomorrow.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 11th
“Coming out of the carousel is really tough to get right. So, I think you can get a run on someone a lot easier and be able to capitalize going down the straightaway and use the draft a little and then go at it in the braking zone. So, I feel like we might have a better opportunity to pass the way it’s configured now in Turn 7.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMAROZ ZL1 – Qualified 12th
“I spun the tires pretty bad the first lap. I made some mistakes early in the lap and tried to make up for it later. The second round was going to be tough, regardless; it’s a little frustrating but our race car is way better than that and we’ll drive it to the front tomorrow. I’m not a road course racer so I’m having to work really hard to make speed. I just feel like you sit there and you wait for your crew chief to say okay, go. To me, that kind of gets me, I don’t know, over-ramped up. It’s really annoying. I just wish we’d either just run single car and knew exactly when we’re supposed to go. It’s the sitting there and waiting that I just mentally spin myself out a little bit.”

RYAN PREECE, NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 20th
“I’m learning every time I go out. Every session we’ve picked-up a second. So, if we can keep on doing that hopefully by the end of the race the driver will be where he needs to be because I think we know JTD has got some really good road racing cars. So, we’re just getting laps right now.”

DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 8 POPPY BANK CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 25th
“This is a tough place to get around. I told everybody yesterday it’s one of the most challenging places I’ve ever been in my life, which is a good thing. You want to be challenged. And our team is doing a good job of staying patient with me and letting me get my bearings around me. Every time we’ve been to a race track we’ve been faster and faster. I think that was a little over a second and a half pick-up from where we were yesterday. So, we’re in the right. I thought I gave up about a half or three-quarters of a second there on my money lap. I look forward to having a good weekend with this Poppy Bank ZL1.”

BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 30th
“It’s not up to me to tell them to make adjustments to the track. I was enjoying how it was. But now, you’ve got to be kind of cautious. For me, I’m already cautious because I don’t know what the hell I’m doing out there. But all in all, we’re continuing to gain speed and that’s the biggest thing. Picking up time for me, I feel like I adapt well; but when it comes to road courses it takes a little longer. We’ll just go out tomorrow and have fun.”
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.