NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
CROWN ROYAL PRESENTS THE JEFF KYLE 400 AT THE BRICKYARD
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
JULY 25, 2015
TONY STEWART LEADS TEAM CHEVY IN QUALIFYING AT INDY
Seven Chevy SS Drivers in top 12
SPEEDWAY, Ind. – (July 25, 2015) – Two-time Brickyard 400 winner and Indiana native, Tony Stewart, turned a lap of 49.228 seconds/182.82 mph in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS to earn a fourth-place starting spot in Sunday’s Crown Royal presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
Stewart had the fastest lap in the first round, but the car became too free for the three-time series champion to make a charge for his second Brickyard 400 pole in the second qualifying round.
“Yeah, unfortunately that wasn’t the one that paid, but that got us in the second round which was the important part,” said Stewart after qualifying. “The second round we were a little bit freer than we were the first round. I was a little busy inside the car. We got that track bar adjuster and I was moving it around quite a bit during the lap.”
Kyle Larson qualified fifth in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS and his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Jamie McMurray qualified 10th in his No. 1 McDonald’s/Cessna Chevy SS.
Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick drove his No. 4 Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet SS to a sixth-place qualifying spot. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS will start eighth in his 16th Brickyard 400 start. Paul Menard, No. 27 Duracell/Menards Chevrolet SS earned his sixth top 11 starting spot of the season and will roll off the starting grid in the 11th position. Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson; No. 48 KOBALT Tools Chevrolet SS will start 12th.
Carl Edwards (Toyota) was the pole winner, Joey Logano (Ford) qualified second, David Ragan (Toyota) was third.
The 160-lap/400-mile Crown Royal presents Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday July 26. Live coverage will be available on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), IMS Radio Network, Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and NASCAR.com.
QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES:
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 DURACELL/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 11th
There are a lot of good cars. We’ve come a long ways. In the three practice sessions yesterday, we really struggled to figure out the balance of the car and just probably more speed than anything. We hit on a couple of things late, that helped it and has carried over to today. It’s a lot better than we were yesterday, for sure. As good as the car drove I thought it was going to run a little bit quicker than that. We will probably wind up 12th here. It’s a lot better than what we were looking at yesterday. The guys made some good adjustments and we will get ready to race.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 15TH
“I felt much better than I did in practice yesterday. I think that’s something that happens here at Indy like having a lot of experience here when you get out there by yourself all of a sudden you’re like, wow, that still air sure makes a lot of grip. So, it was really well-stuck; more than I expected it to be for sure even hearing that cars that were the quickest had gone over a second faster than practice. So, maybe I could have gotten a little bit out of (Turns) 2 and 4 as far as speed goes, but in (Turns) 1 and 3 I definitely had a little bit of a chatter in the front end across the center, so I don’t think I could have gone too much faster. All in all, I think the fact that the car was better is a great thing. And It’s a good sign, hopefully, for tomorrow.”
WHAT’S BEEN THE TRICKIEST PART OF FIGURING OUT THE NEW AERO PACKAGE?
“I would say the trickiest thing is that it’s really different in and out of traffic. So, it makes you have a lot of second thoughts about how aggressive to be to get the car to turn when you know that in traffic it’s so much worse. It is extremely loose in traffic. And I don’t even feel like I can get a draft. So, I’m nervous about race day. I’m nervous about qualifying because track position is going to be very important. And of course, I want to have a great day at Indy. I love coming here and I’ve been blessed with many great days in IndyCars and I always felt like I’d win the Indy 500 at some point in time, but maybe I have the wrong race. Any race to win at Indy is amazing. So, hopefully the car is good in traffic. That’s my hope for tomorrow.”
DO YOU STILL FEEL THE LOVE FROM THE FANS HERE?
“I love coming here and the fans remind me how great it is here. They remind me of my good days here. I’m grateful for that. I’ve had so many good days here at Indy and it just makes this place that much sweeter and I’m hoping to make some good memories in a stock car, too. But no matter how it goes, I always love coming here.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MACDONALD’S/CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 10TH
“Our car has had really good speed all weekend. The falloff is incredible in race trim. Qualifying is really going to be important. It is every week, but I think probably more so this weekend. With this track and this package, passing is going to be really tough. But our car has been good all weekend and they did a nice job putting it in Q-trim here, and I’m excited.”
“We just got too tight. We actually freed the car up a bunch and just didn’t go far enough. I just couldn’t get turned.”
WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY NOW THAT YOU ADVANCED TO THE TOP 12 IN QUALIFYING?
‘We tried to make a Q-run yesterday but I had a car pull out in front of me. So, we didn’t ever get a chance to actually make a scuff run. So, we don’t have a strategy. We’re going to free our car up a little bit because I was too tight there, and we’re going to cross our fingers and hope for the best.”
MARIN TRUEX JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/VISSER PRECISION CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 13TH
“It definitely not what we were hoping for right there. We’ve really been pretty good all weekend. I felt like we needed to gain a little bit in Q-trim for today and I felt like we did, but it seems like other guys picked-up more. So, I don’t know. It’s going to be tight right here.”
“I don’t know where I lost it. I came in here and said that I wish I knew where I screwed up so I could at least say what was going on. The car felt good. I feel like we’ve had pretty good speed all weekend. I don’t know if I did get it all there or what; I felt good about the lap. It’s just so close from fifth on back. I hate it for the guys. We felt good about what we had today but will race them hard tomorrow.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 4th
HOW GOOD DOES THAT FEEL TO BE FASTEST IN FIRST ROUND QUALIFYING?
“It’s a moral victory if nothing else, for us and the team. It’s been a rough season so far, so this is a great way to come to your home track and I wish this was the second round, not the first round. But at least we’re locked into the second round and that’s the main thing right now.”
YOU LOOKED GOOD OUT THERE EARLY:
“Yeah, unfortunately that wasn’t the one that paid, but that got us in the second round which was the important part. The second round we were a little bit freer than we were the first round. I was a little busy inside the car. We got that track bar adjuster and I was moving it around quite a bit during the lap.”
HOW KEY IS IT FOR YOU TO START UP FRONT?
“Yeah, I’m excited about being in the top two rows right now. Definitely happier about that than being mid-pack right now.”
IS THERE MORE THAT YOU CAN FIND OUT OF THIS CAR BETWEEN NOW AND THE RACE?
“Only if they can find anything on the computers right now because we don’t have any more practice or anything. It’s taking the data that they saw yesterday and going off of our comments and seeing if they can find anything. It’s out of my hands until tomorrow. It’s in the engineers hands now.”
DO YOU THINK THIS IS A RACECAR THAT WILL MAKE FOR SOME EXCITING RACING?
“I don’t know. We will have to wait and see tomorrow.”
HOW BIG OF A CONFIDENCE BOOST IS THIS FOR YOU?
“Well, I mean it could go and be a natural disaster tomorrow. It could all be for nothing. It’s the way you want to start the weekend for sure is to have two good runs in qualifying and have a decent starting spot. That is definitely what we were looking for today.”
HAS THE SPEED IN THE CAR SURPRISED YOU AT ALL THIS WEEKEND?
“I have said all year that it could change in a week and it doesn’t even mean that after this weekend it’s not going to go back to where it has been. But, for here we have a balance. We will just see if we can keep it that way all day tomorrow.”
THIS CROWD ERUPTED HOW MUCH OF A PICK-ME-UP WAS THAT FOR YOU?
“That is huge. Like I say when you come home that is what you want. They play as big of a part in this as anything when it comes to keeping your moral up.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 5TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUNS:
“It was a good qualifying effort for the Target team. I’m a little bit disappointed because I thought my second round lap actually felt good. I’m surprised I lost that much time off my first round, but a top five starting spot here at the Brickyard is still a good day.”
YOU SAID LAST WEEK YOU HAVE TO ‘GOOGLE’ THE WORD’ CONFIDENCE’. DO YOU HAVE A LITTLE BIT NOW AFTER THAT RUN?
“I think I’m starting to feel what it feels like again. So, yeah, that’s exactly what I needed.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 3M CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 19th
“I really think our 3M Chevrolet is really good. It’s been good all weekend. I feel like I underestimated the grip. I had a little wiggle out of three coming to the green and that concerned me slightly. The grip was there in Turn 4, and I was aggressive into Turn 1, but not aggressive enough. That’s what disappointing; it wasn’t a balance issue or a speed issue. I didn’t get enough speed through (Turn) 1. It adds up with this new package. Yeah, I’m pretty disappointed to start back there. We all know you can pass down the straightaways with this package, but at the same time you’re going to have your hands full in the corners, especially starting 19th. We have a lot of work to do, and be patient and aggressive, and see how we make our way through traffic. It’s going to be a heck of a show. Keep your eyes on these restarts. You’ll see more three-wide racing than we’ve ever seen here, at least down the straightaways before you get into the corners.”
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT
“I’m really disappointed. The car was good. The car was plenty good enough to get a top 12. It’s just on me. I didn’t get the lap. It’s really hard to gauge just how much more speed is in the track and in the cars right now, even with the sun out. I felt like the car did what I needed it to do. I just didn’t go fast enough.”
IS THE TRICKINESS STILL IN THE AERO PACKAGE AND TRYING TO FIGURE THAT OUT AS THE WEEKEND GOES ON?
“The trickiest part just began. You needed to qualify up front. So, starting there (19th) is not going to be fun.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW THIS THING IS GOING TO BE IN TRAFFIC, OR IS THAT STILL A WILD CARD?
“Well, I’m extremely happy with NASCAR’s ability to make some changes and really experiment and try new things. But, it’s going to be really crazy out there. So, I don’t know for sure. For the little bit of time I spent behind other cars, it was a handful through the corners. So, restarts are going to be wild and crazy; so everybody needs to stay tuned-in.”
HOW MUCH DID THE SUN PLAY INTO THIS? IS DID COME OUT AGAIN WHEN YOU WERE ON THE TRACK
“The car was fine. I just really underestimated the amount of grip that was there.”
WHAT DOES THIS CAR FEEL LIKE?
“By yourself it doesn’t feel that much different. It’s just when you’re around other cars, you lose a lot of grip behind them in the corners and you draft up quite a bit down the straightaways..”
ULTIMATELY, IS IT GOING TO MAKE FOR BETTER RACING?
“Well, only time will tell. I think we all have practiced and run around other cars, although we don’t really know until they drop the green flag. I definitely think when cars get side-by-side, it’s going to make for an opportunity for the car behind them to pass; I think the restarts are going to be pretty wild and crazy. But the think I’m so disappointed about right now is being that far back is going to be a real handful through the corners.”
IS IT GOING TO BE TOUGH TO MAKE YOUR LAST BRICKYARD 400 WHAT YOU WANT IT TO BE?
“This team is so good and our race car has proven to be good that just because we’re qualifying further back than we wanted doesn’t mean that we can’t get it done tomorrow.”
ON THE RADIO, DID YOU SAY YOU FELT LIKE IT FELT GOOD?
“Yeah. I thought the car felt good. I felt like I ran aggressive enough to make it in the top 12. So that one’s on me. It wasn’t the car. It wasn’t like the balance was off or anything. I just needed to be in the throttle harder.”
THIS CROWD LET OUT A GROAN BIGGER THAN YOU DID. DO YOU THINK EVERYBODY IS PULLING FOR YOU THIS WEEKEND?
“Yeah, and it’s amazing and I love that. When I’m out there in the car I’m just focused on doing my job, but when I’m out of the car it’s just amazing to have the support that I have here. It’s not just this weekend. It’s been over the years. It’s pretty well know this is going to be my final Brickyard 400 so it’s amazing to have that kind of support. And I feel to, that I’m not very happy with what just happened, but hopefully we can make up for that tomorrow.”
ON THE NEW PACKAGE, HOW WILL IT BE IN THE RACE TOMORROW?
“I think that is you try to get too aggressive, you’re going to wreck. You’re going to have to aggressive on the restarts. You’re going to have to take advantage of those drafts when you get them. When you get in the corner behind those cars, you’re going to be walking on eggshells to try not to end your race. So, it’s going to be a balancing act.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 25 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 28th: “It’s good to get in. I got really tight there on that run. I wasn’t expecting it. We had a really good mock-qualifying run at the end of practice yesterday and felt really good about it. I don’t know if I was trying too hard in trying to put in a good lap or not and had to get out of the gas at Turn Two, and that killed us. I hate it. I wish I had qualified better, but I’m really happy to be in the show and hopefully have a good day tomorrow.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S/BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 6TH
ON HIS TWO QUALIFYING LAPS:
“I think we will be okay. Obviously, you want the pole, but I think as you look at both laps we had the same problem just too tight in Turn 3.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS NEW PACKAGE?
“They (the cars) are going to be out of control behind each other. They are just really loose in traffic. Need to get up front; track position is going to be important.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 8TH
HOW WAS QUALIFYING FOR YOU?
“It went okay. We had some balance issues that we tried to fix for this second session and didn’t really improve the car that much. We will see where it ends up.”
A LOT OF FOLKS SAYING THE CARS ARE A LOT DIFFERENT WHEN YOU ARE OUT THERE BY YOURSELF THAN IT WILL BE WITH ALL 43 CARS:
“It always is. No car is going to drive the same in dirty air versus clean air. We will just see how it goes.”
HOW IS IT TO GO OUT THERE AND LEARN ON THE FLY WITH THIS NEW CAR AND BEING OUT HERE AND GETTING IT ALL DONE IN A COUPLE OF DAYS?
“We had a lot of practice. It wasn’t no big deal. These teams are all real equipped with a lot of information data and engineers. There weren’t any curve balls really.”
FRIDAY YOU MENTIONED SOMEONE BROUGHT ONE OF YOUR DAD’S IROC UNIFORMS TO YOU. HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?
“The guy bought it on Ebay and just walked up to me and handed it to me. He said he thought I should have it. I thought it was very nice. Very cool.”
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