NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 19, 2014
THREE TEAM CHEVY DRIVERS ADVANCE TO ‘ELIMINATOR’ ROUND OF SPRINT CUP CHASE
Chevrolet SS Driver Landon Cassill Scores Career-Best Finish at Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala. (Oct. 19, 2014) – The final race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ “Contender” round at Talladega Superspeedway lived up to its billing with a thrilling finish in determining the final eight drivers who will advance to the next portion of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Three Team Chevy drivers move to the ‘Eliminator’ round following the 46th Annual GEICO 500.
Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS; Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet SS; and Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS remain in the hunt with four events left in the season.
Of the three, Newman finished the highest at Talladega with a fifth-place showing in a race that saw two attempts at a two green-white-checker finish. Newman led the race heading into the final lap, but Landon Cassill in the No. 40 Carsforsale.com Chevrolet SS emerged to lead the Team Chevy contingent with a career-best, fourth-place finish.
Travis Kvapil also notched his best finish of the year in his No. 33 Little Joe’s Auto Chevrolet SS with an impressive sixth-place result. Stewart Haas Racing driver Kurt Busch brought his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS home in seventh position – his 10th top-10 of the year.
Chevrolet drivers Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., did not advance in the championship playoff. Johnson, in the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, led a race-high 84 laps and finished 24th. Earnhardt, Jr., who led the second-most laps with 31, was involved in a crash on the first green-white-checker attempt. He finished 31st.
Kasey Kahne in the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet SS led twice in the race for 12 laps, but his 12th-place finish wasn’t enough to advance. Gordon, who ran in the back most of the day strategically, led two times for three laps to finish 26th.
Brad Keselowski (Ford) was the race winner. Matt Kenseth (Toyota) finished second, and Clint Bowyer (Toyota) was third.
The next event for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the first race of the ‘Eliminator’ round of the Chase, which takes place on Sunday, Oct. 26 at Martinsville Speedway.
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