NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
BOJANGLES SOUTHERN 500
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
APRIL 11, 2014
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
ON HIS QUALIFYING, WAS THAT ALL OF IT?
“I don’t know that that was all, but I don’t know that you ever get a perfect lap here at Darlington. This is a track that’s a lot of fun to drive, but every lap is different and challenging and you could probably pick apart even your good laps and feel like you can make them better. But I’ve just got to thank everybody on our Budweiser Chevrolet. They’ve done a great job. They’ve dealt with a lot of adversity over the weeks and I think it just shows that they’ve kept their focus and done what they’ve had to do to keep putting good race cars on the track. So, you know when they qualify that good; I’m not the world’s greatest qualifier, that the car is pretty good.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 9TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“The session was good our Drive To End Hunger Chevy SS is really strong. It’s nice to make it to that third round. It was a solid effort and we were a little bit tight through each of the runs and we just kept trying to guess on how much to free it up. We were just a little bit too tight there that last run in (Turns) 3 and 4. I thought we got through (Turns) 1 and 2 really good. Just not good enough in (Turns) 3 and 4.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 12TH
“The guys did a good job in making the car faster. Going into the final round I was feeling good about the handling of our Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet. I was really hauling in Turns 1 & 2, but then I tried something different in Turn 3 & 4 and it probably cost us some valuable time. But overall, we got a good starting position and we’re ready to go out there tomorrow night and have a strong race.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 15TH
DID YOU SAY THE FRONT END FEELS A LITTLE HARSH?
“No, I can’t really tell where the grip is in the front tires, but it’s a good car and our race laps are really good. I wish we would have qualified a little better and at least made the top 12, but the car holds on really good and runs some really good laps the further into the run we get. For some reason, just to be able to really understand where the grip is in the front tires has been difficult on new tires and when I get to the middle of (turns) 1 and 2, I don’t know whether the car’s going to turn when I get to (turn) 2; and you can’t overdrive that corner. You really knock tenths out of your lap. So, a couple of times there I under drove it. But that last run is about as good as I think we could have got through there. It’s not really fast on the sticker tire, but it runs really good over the long runs, so we’re pretty happy. Just to be able to get a decent qualifying spot and get a decent choice on pit lane; we should be okay.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 20TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“Gil Martin and the guys did a good job fixing the car. It was pretty tight right there. It’s just frustrating. I’m so used to just going out there and blasting off one lap and now with the new qualifying format you have to save your car and blast off several. It makes it new and interesting for sure. I’m learning. We’ll figure it out. It’s fun out there.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 26TH
WAS THERE SOME SORT OF CONFUSION?
“Yeah, there was a little confusion there at the end. We were trying to get back out for a third run, and (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) took his radio off and thought we were done. So that’s where that confusion came from. But I’m just disappointed we didn’t get a better lap. We’ve been working hard to get speed in the car today and have just been a little short on that. But there is still an evening and most of tomorrow to sort things out there and we’ll get this Kobalt Tools Chevrolet where it needs to be.”
THE SPEED WASN’T THERE, BUT HOW WAS THE BALANCE?
“It was a comfortable balance; maybe too comfortable. If we make it uncomfortable, and probably be a little faster.”
WHAT WAS THE HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLACE ON THE RACE TRACK THAT YOU DIDN’T HAVE WHAT YOU NEEDED?
“The car was plenty comfortable. The first time out maybe I left a little on the table that would have transferred me into the second round. That second time out we got tight. The car has been comfortable, but we have just been lacking speed to go with it.”
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Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4.9 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design, and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
