NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
COKE ZERO 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JULY 6, 2014
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS/DUCKS UNLIMITED CHEVROLET SS – Involved in multi-car crash on lap 20:
WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“The No. 17 car (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) got sideways on the lap that we’re all getting a competition caution. I don’t know. I guess Ricky thought it paid something to get to lap 20. I don’t know. It didn’t make much sense to me, but I’m not that smart either; so I don’t know. I don’t know that I’m the right person to ask.
“I guess is was just Stenhouse being an idiot. It didn’t make much sense when we’re coming to the caution, we’re like a quarter of a lap from getting to the caution and he does something stupid. It tore up a lot of people’s cars and a lot of people’s days. To get here on Wednesday night and sit here all day and run 19 and three-quarter laps and get wrecked by somebody who’s doing something stupid.”
WAS IT THE WEATHER COMING THAT HAD EVERYBODY UP?
“I don’t know. You’d have to ask him and what he’s doing. Every week it’s something kind of with him. I love him like a little brother, but it makes me nervous to be around him on the race track.
“We’re a quarter lap away from getting a competition caution and Stenhouse is going to be a hero. I don’t know what happened to him there, but he took out a bunch of good cars. I don’t know what it is. No matter what I say right now, somebody is going to be mad and somebody is going to disagree with it. But, I think it’s a pretty dumb excuse to have the caution come out 500 yards too early.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS – Involved in multi-car crash on lap 20
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I don’t know. There were just cars spinning. I just feel so bad for my crew. They worked so hard to get a car ready to come down here and have a fast car. And then we make 15 laps four days later, or something like that? I’m certainly disappointed in that. But we’ll go get it fixed and go out and try to collect some points.
“I was kind of busy with my environment of three-wide and I just saw cars moving around and smoke in front of us. So I don’t know what triggered it or what happened. But I’m just thoroughly disappointed for everybody on the Lowe’s team. Those guys have been down here for four days in this heat, working on the car; not to mention all the time and effort put into this, to go 15 or 20 laps is just a really big bummer.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER FOLDS OF HONOR CHEVROLET SS – Involved in multi-car crash on lap 20
WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR VIEWPOINT?
“It’ looked like the No. 17 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) got squirrelly up there and then they all started wrecking. I had the wreck cleared but unfortunately with the splitters and everything out in front, the grass is what tears all the cars up. It was unfortunate for our Budweiser Chevy; but maybe one day they’ll make grass that’s not eight inches tall.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – Involved in multi-car crash on lap 98
AT TIMES TODAY, YOU HAD THE BEST CAR. WHAT CAUSED ALL THAT?
“I don’t know. I knew I was going to walk out here and you guys were going to ask me what happened, but from my seat I didn’t see anything. Kasey (Kahne) came over and said that maybe Greg (Biffle) bumped him a couple times and got him squirrelly and he said he couldn’t catch it. When you have a car spin out at the front of the field, there is just nowhere to go. I ran into the guy who was directly in front of me and the guy behind me clobbered me.
“I will tell you I have never had a car that’s off the ground and it’s a crazy feeling, and it’s a helpless feeling to have the car do that. I was really lucky that it set back down. You see these big wrecks and those are probably the easiest hits you take all year long because everyone is going the same speed and for the most part, those don’t hurt near as bad as if you have a tire issue or something.”
YOU SAID YOU WERE SURPRISED AT THE SWING OF THE HANDLING OF THE CAR FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE RUN TO THE END
“It wasn’t necessarily run to run, but at the beginning of the race I could tell our car drove better and I could tell a lot of guys were having to lift. And I wasn’t. Our car was really stable and right at the end of the green flag pit stop run I got a little bit tight and I just assumed that when we put tires on that it would feel fine. But from the very first lap it was tight. I don’t know if it was a tight set of tires or if the track was just changing that much.”
FROM YOUR SEAT WHAT HAPPENED? “I didn’t see anything. I really didn’t even get to see a replay in the infield care center. They had a wreck in front of us and you are kind of along for the ride after that. I was more concerned when I got out about Kyle (Busch). I wasn’t sure why he wasn’t getting out with his car being upside down on the track.
“It’s kind of scary I think my car got airborne. I have never had that happen before it’s a helpless feeling when you are getting hit as you are in the air. It was kind of scary, but glad it looks like everyone is okay.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE/GI CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR CRASH ON LAP 98
WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE: “Just got hit from behind and started spinning. I don’t know how it all… I’m not exactly sure what went on there or how it all happened other than I was hit and started spinning. Then everybody else was wrecking with me.”
WHAT STARTED IT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“Yeah, I felt like I was about sixth or so and I was getting hit from behind and I just started spinning. It’s kind of a tough spot to be in there because everybody is trying to get going and I just got hit, started going left to right and spun around. I knew it was going to be big as far up as I was.”
WAS IT A MATTER OF THESE GUYS BEING TOO AGGRESSIVE OR THESE CARS BEING HARD TO HANDLE LATE IN A RUN?
“No, the cars are hard to handle when they get pushed and are close together like that. If you are getting hit in the corners of your bumper. And that is what I felt like was that the corners got hit a couple times and it went left and right and started spinning. I am not sure exactly how it all happened. We avoided the first wreck, and we didn’t avoid the second one so, it’s too bad.
JUSTIN ALLGAIER, NO. 51 ACCUDOC SOLUTIONS CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR CRASH ON LAP 98
WHAT HAPPENED? “Unfortunately I’m probably the same as most of the guys that were back there with me. I didn’t really see a whole lot as to what started it. I saw a white car I think get turned up in the front and it’s just so hard here. You are running so fast and you are trying to stop right now. I thought we had it missed. I was following along with Denny Hamlin there. I thought we had it missed and whoever was behind me started to spin and got into the back of us.
“I don’t know; then it was a pile on from there. Hit the grass, tore the splitter up, not going to be the finish we wanted for our Accudoc Solutions Chevy for sure. We had a strong car and I think we can get it fixed. We have to put a radiator in it and do a couple of other things, but hopefully go out there and gain some of those valuable points.”
REED SORENSON, NO. 36 GOLDEN CORRAL CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR CRASH ON LAP 98
ON WHAT HAPPENED:
“I saw absolutely nothing. I just saw a car maybe two or three rows in front of me start spinning and then I think I got hit from behind. It was on from there. I couldn’t see anything. It just tore the car up. It looks like there are a lot (of cars) in here in the garage so it looks like it tore a bunch of. I will just have to look at the replay, but that is part of racing here. It is bound to happen.”
LANDON CASSILL, NO. 40 NEWTON BUILDING SUPPLIES CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR CRASH ON LAP 98
WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“I’m really proud of my team they built a really nice car, ECR engines, we go all out for these races and we have had the results to prove it. I’m really proud that we led some laps today, but there was nothing I could do at that point.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD
“We led a lot of laps in the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet. It’s a tough pill to swallow. We want to go back out there and race. There is still plenty of daylight left. There are lights at this track. I’m disappointed because we want to go for the win. But at the same time, this team has turned a good corner. It’s been about five weeks in a row now we’ve been in the top 15 and we cashed in on a top 5 finish today. So that’s the good news. The bad news is that the No. 43 (Aric Almirola) won. That makes him Chase eligible. That might bump us back a spot. That’s the big picture; but also the big picture is us. We’re running better with the No. 41 car. So, I’m happy to drive a patriotic paint scheme to a top 5 finish and give a shout out to the men and women who serve.”
CASEY MEARS, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 4TH
“The GEICO Chevrolet is fast. It’s nice to be inside the top-five right now. I sure hope the rain goes away because I would like to have an opportunity to get in the Chase. The car is fast. Anything can happen, but with an opportunity to win and then possible get in the Chase we are sitting in a good spot. Hopefully it will blow through I don’t know what is going to happen, but either way if it does come we will have a good day.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 5TH
YOU RAN NINTH AT THE DAYTONA 500 SO YOU ARE REALLY BACKING UP A GOOD FINISH THERE: “We just got lucky and got through a bunch of it and the guys have been smart and we don’t have too much damage or anything. A little hole in the grille, but that was from the really big wreck. Somehow we skidded right through the middle. I’m proud of this Bass Pro Shops Chevy team. I’ve got to thank all of our partners with Dow. We’ve had a solid run today. I would like to get it back going though. I think we have a shot here. Obviously there is a lot of attrition that has taken place, but it would be fun to see if we could work with our ECR teammate Casey Mears and see if we could have a shot at it.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 FLORIDA LOTTERY/GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 8th
ON HER DAY: “The car is fast. It has just been a matter of attrition and getting a little lucky and making it through things. We have been in two crashes and the car has been okay to keep going which is hard to do here at Daytona because the splitter height is so critical because if it’s a little too low you can’t go the speed you need to because it will just hit the track. We have been really fortunate from that perspective getting a yellow in the middle when I made the mistake on pit road of missing my pit box. Here we are with less than 50 laps to go and there are only now 13 or 14 cars on the lead lap. There is a lot less to lose than normal. On a normal speedway weekend you would say eighth is pretty good lets just go home with a car that is not too badly banged up, but there is a lot less to lose than normal so it would be fun to go back at it.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 14TH
YOU’VE HAD AN EVENTFUL DAY: “We are just trying to get out there and see if we can get a good finish. Anybody can still win this race. My car is pretty tore up. The left-front splitter looks a little high and I think the balance of the car is real tight. When I get into the pack and get behind guys real close I’ve got to use up a lot of race track on the exit of the corner. We’ve got to figure out what we can do to get better there. Hopefully the rain goes away and we get going.”
EVEN WITH THE DAMAGE YOU THINK YOU HAVE A CAR GOOD ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO WIN? “It’s going to be… anybody can still win it. Anything can happen there can still be another big wreck, but I just don’t know. I don’t know how it’s going to stack up. Our car is at a pretty rough spot as far as speed and handling. If it thins out even more it’s going to handle better.”
YOU DID A GOOD JOB OF AVOIDING THAT LAST WRECK: “It’s easy to just come to a stop as long as nobody runs into you. We were going to be fine on that first wreck, but we got run over. I can’t believe all of the cars we have wrecked today. It’s kind of uncharacteristic, but it’s just how it works sometimes.”
WHY HAS IT BEEN THAT WAY? “Daytime race, it’s a little bit slicker. The cars are moving around a little bit more and guys are being a bit more aggressive here. You don’t see us all lined up on the top running around there trying not to go to the back. Guys are running side-by-side the way the cars are drafting. The package is really keeping the pack pretty tight and guys are running side-by-side from the lead on back. If you are going to run tight like that you are going to have mistakes or cars just get moved around by the air. Heck a guy could just be holding the wheel and the car will move three foot depending on what is happening around him without him moving the steering wheel. Sometimes you just get yourself in a bad spot.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 WIX FILTERS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 24TH
YOU HAVE HAD A ROUGH DAY TELL US ABOUT IT: “Really spent a lot of time just kind of managing and avoiding and staying in the back. Keeping a good idea where the leaders were going to be staying out an extra lap to pit by ourselves so we could have clean fenders, clean race car with our WIX Filters Chevrolet. Just got caught up there in that I guess it was two or three crashes ago now. Just unfortunate that fans have been sitting around here for an extra day now and we are fighting Mother Nature. I hate seeing these race cars get torn up like this. Especially flying through the air everybody knows how I feel about that.”
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY WAS THE REASON FOR ALL THIS? “It’s the product of being here an extra day, kind of racing the rain. A lot of guys are racing for a win pulling out crazy stuff. Just the product of the way the cars race together. It is what it is. It’s really not much fun.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR. NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/DENVER MATTRESS CHEVROLET SS – Finished 15th:
“It was a roller coaster day. We never could get going. I didn’t like what I was seeing early in the race and I hung back. That turned out to be a good move as we missed being collected in the first wreck. Then we had a vibration in the car, and later we needed to make a battery change. As I was exiting pit road after the battery change, the second big wreck happened. We most likely would have been in that wreck had we not been on pit road changing the battery. We eventually got back on the lead lap and we were ready to move forward. But we never got that opportunity because of the race being declared official following more rain. It’s been one of those weekends you want to forget about and move on.”
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