NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
PURE MICHIGAN 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 14, 2015
AUSTIN DILLON IS TOP CHEVY SS QUALIFIER AT MICHIGAN
Six Team Chevy Drivers in Top 12
BROOKLYN, Mich. – (August 14, 2015) – Austin Dillon led the way for Team Chevy by qualifying fourth for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race. He ran a fast lap around the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway (MIS) of 195.918 mph in 36.750 seconds aboard his No. 3 Dow Chevrolet SS.
In a two-round qualifying format of single-car runs sporting a new aerodynamics package for the race itself, Dillon’s approach was to go all-out around the super-fast track.
“No lift”, said Dillon, who has won poles in both the Truck and Xfinity Series’ at MIS. “You’ve just got to tell yourself, no security. Just go get it. I did that through (Turns) 1 and 2. In (Turns) 3 and 4 I had to just give up a little bit. We got a little tight off of (Turn) 4, but man, I’m just proud of these Dow guys. And to be the top qualifying Chevy is really nice. So, I just want to thank all our guys, they’ve been working hard, and I thank ECR for the power. We’ll go get ‘em on Sunday.”
Tony Stewart, a former winner at MIS, qualified fifth in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS, to give Team Chevy two spots in the top-five starting positions.
Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, Kevin Harvick, who is also a former winner at Michigan, qualified 7th in his No. 4 Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevy SS.
Six-time champion, Jimmie Johnson, will start his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS in the 8th position. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who drives the No. 88 Microsoft Chevy SS and Kasey Kahne, pilot of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS, qualified 9th and 11th, respectively. Both are former winners at MIS.
Team Chevy drivers with three wins to their credit on the D-shaped oval, Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Pepsi Chevy SS, and Kurt Busch, who drives the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, qualified 21st and 16th, respectively.
Matt Kenseth (Toyota) won the pole, Denny Hamlin (Toyota) was 2nd, and Carl Edwards (Toyota) qualified 3rd, to round out the top-five.
The 200-lap/400-mile Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday August 16. Live coverage will be available on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), MRN, Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and NASCAR.com.
QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES:
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 4TH
WHAT’S BEEN THE DIFFERENCE WITH THIS TEAM AS OF LATE?
“We’ve just been really working hard. Slugger (crew chief) has done a good job since he’s come in. And we’re just looking forward to what’s to come. We want to start finishing races; we’ve had speed during the race and we’ve had good qualifying speed, but now we’ve just got to go ahead and get these finishes that we need to be having. I’m just proud of the Dow team. We have another good car. I think we were the only one on stickers right there, so hopefully that shows up right here (Round 2) on our scuff run in our second lap.”
YOU’VE HAD POLES HERE IN BOTH THE TRUCK AND XFINITY SERIES. WHAT MORE CAN YOU DO IN THIS ROUND TO DO IT IN CUP?
“No lift. You’ve just got to tell yourself, no security. Just go get it.”
ON HIS SECOND RUN: YOU SAID BEFORE THE LAST RUN THAT YOU COULDN’T LIFT. DID YOU GET IT DONE?
“I did through (Turns) 1 and 2. In (Turns) 3 and 4 I had to just give up a little bit. We got a little tight off of (Turn) 4, but man, I’m just proud of these Dow guys. The Gibbs cars have been really good this year. To break up one of them, at least, in the top four, was nice, and to be the top qualifying Chevy. So, I just want to thank all our guys, they’ve been working hard, and ECR for the power; and we’ll go get ‘em on Sunday.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 5TH
WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS FOUND AT THE SHOP IN SPEED IN TERMS OF QUALIFYING?
“I don’t know that is the thing. These guys have just done an awesome job. Its four weeks in a row now that we have qualified in the top five. I’m really proud of that. I’m really proud of the Mobil 1/Bass Pro team here. We just have to figure out how to finish it off for the rest of the weekend like we have.”
WHAT IS ON THE AGENDA FOR YOUR TEAM TOMORROW?
“I personally want to run around some cars tomorrow and see what we are going to have to do to be good in traffic. That is on my list fortomorrow.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S/BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 7TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“We were wide open, no brakes. Obviously, we’ve got a little bit of a speed difference in qualifying trim than some of the other cars, but was happy with our Jimmy John’s Chevy in race trim and we will go from there.”
TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP AND THIS RACE TRACK AND HOW MUCH SPEED YOU HAD WHEN YOU WENT OUT FOR YOUR RUN:
“Wide open, no brakes, I think everybody in the field is like that. It will be interesting to see how they drive in race trim and traffic. We were happy with our Jimmy John’s Chevy in traffic, just a little bit off speed wise even in practice from the fastest time.”
WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF THE PACKAGE EARLY ON HERE FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“It’s not really that challenging for me. I just hold it wide open. For the guys it’s just a challenge to understand exactly what you need and where the balance needs to be.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 8TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“The direction was great we picked up a couple of tenths. Hopefully, it will get us there in the top five for a starting spot. I am definitely learning as I go here with this package and how to drive this thing around the racetrack. We made great gains all day long. Unfortunately, won’t have the pole, but it looks like a decent starting spot.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 MICROSOFT CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 9TH
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING RUN?
“I thought it was pretty good. I had to crack the throttle just a touch in Turn 3 and that is the difference I suppose. I tried to get up to speed real good. The first time we went out in the first session I didn’t even get up on the track coming out of the pits. I left off of (Turn) 2, I wasn’t really thinking, but we ran a good lap there. We are pretty happy with it. We started off so far off today. I’m real happy that we were able to put things together and hopefully this will give us a good direction for tomorrow on our racecar.”
WHAT IS ON YOUR CHECKLIST FOR TOMORROW?
“Just hopefully Greg (Ives, crew chief) and the guys can understand how to let this qualifying set-up help them and give them some good direction. They seem to have some pretty good ideas on how to improve the car.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 11TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“Qualifying was good. I ran wide open, flat, never even thought about lifting coming to the green or either one of my laps there both rounds. The car felt good. A lot different than how it is going to feel around racecars though. We will find out more about that tomorrow. Then the race on Sunday is going to be interesting.”
COULD YOU TELL ANYTHING FROM THE PACKAGE THAT WILL GIVE US AN INDICATION OF HOW THE RACE IS GOING TO BE?
“I say to me it will be just like Indy. It’s going to be really tough behind a car in the corner with no air on the car. The guy in front of you is going to have air on his. He is going to be super-fast and then the straightaways you will be able to suck up a little. Make that ground maybe late into the back stretch into the front stretch, just like Indy would be my guess. I don’t know I guess we will wait and find out.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 16TH
“Wasn’t the run we were hoping for, but we’ve got two practice sessions tomorrow to fine tune our Haas Automation Chevrolet,” said Busch, a three-time Sprint Cup winner at Michigan (June 2003, August 2007 and June 2015). “We’ve got more insight than what we started with this morning, so we’ll head into Sunday’s race with better understanding on the car’s handling.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA/MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 18th
ON HIS FIRST ROUND QUALIFYING LAP
“I haven’t listened to anybody else’s interviews, but I assume that everybody says their car felt really good. I was flat out in (Turns) 1 and 2, and barely had a little breather in (Turns) 3 and 4. I don’t know that really cost me any time. So, I’m assuming that some of the guys that are quicker maybe just have their cars trimmed out a little more. I thought our guys did a really good job of getting our balance right. We just maybe don’t have the straightaway speed that we need.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 PEPSI CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 21st
YOU SEEMED VERY HAPPY WITH YOUR RUN DESPITE THE FACT THAT YOU ARE NOT MOVING ON TO THE FINAL ROUND:
“I’m very happy with the way the car drove, but we are lacking speed. That is very frustrating. I feel like the lap way by far the best one I ran all day, but yet the speed wasn’t there. I’m not sure where we are missing it. It’s frustrating not to move on to round two.”
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