NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AUTO CLUB 400
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MARCH 20, 2016
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/SUPERMAN CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
WALK US THROUGH THAT INCREDIBLE RESTART AND HOW YOU SET-UP KEVIN HARVICK:
“Man, this is cool. First off all I ‘hi’ to my family at home, I can’t wait to see you guys. I knew we had great car and that caution fell at a bad time the run before. I just didn’t have the tires on the car to race with those guys. To go there at the end and have good tires on the car, Harvick and I got by I guess Joey there at the start. I got a great run off of Turn 2 and I thought ‘man I’ve got a shot at this thing’. Which I didn’t expect to have, Harvick has been so fast. I cleared him and kind of got away. We saved our best for last for sure. I told everybody Superman kicked Batman’s butt and it happened. I’m very thankful for Lowe’s and the amazing relationship we have had over the years, Chevrolet, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, this is going to be a good time.”
WHAT KIND OF STATEMENT DOES THIS SEND TO THE OTHER COMPETITORS KNOW THE PACKAGE WE ARE COMPETING WITH NOW AND HOW WELL YOU HAVE STARTED THE YEAR?
“I mean it might send a statement. It’s a long year. We need to keep doing this all year long, especially late in the season. Right now this Lowe’s Chevrolet is awfully fast and a lot of fun to drive.”
ON THE LAST RESTART:
“The caution kind of fell at a bad time when we hit pit road two stops from the end. I just didn’t have anything for those guys on a lap or two fresher tires. We got a little disappointed in that, but still worked our way towards the top five. An amazing pit stop on pit road got me right there in contention. An awesome start with the No. 4 and myself getting going. I got a great run off of Turn 2 down the back and at that point I thought I had a good shot at it. I cleared him in (Turns) 3 and 4 and just had to bring it back at that point. We had our best at the last there and really strong on the short run which wasn’t necessarily our strong suit earlier in the day. Chad (Knaus, crew chief) made some great adjustments there to get me tuned up for that dash at the end.”
YOU ARE NOW SEVENTH ON THE ALL-TIME NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES WIN LIST PASSING DALE EARNHARDT WHAT ALL DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?
“Man, it’s hard to believe. I grew up out in the desert as a desert rat having fun and going to the river a little bit and having some fun over there too. To have those early childhood memories kind of shape me into the racer I am today and to be here in Victory Lane is pretty awesome.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2ND
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE FINAL RESTART?
“That was the worst it has taken off on restarts, but we weren’t very good on restarts for four or five laps unless we were all by ourselves. The No. 48 was able to hang with us and we just weren’t able to drive it in like I needed to, just didn’t’ have the front tires turning and the back wouldn’t grip. Still a good day for us, just have to thank everybody from Jimmy John’s and Busch. We will keep at it.”
DESCRIBE THE AFTERNOON FOR YOU ESPECIALLY THE END:
“They just had us beat for a couple of laps. That was even worse than it was the previous restarts. I don’t know. We just had a really good car today with our Jimmy John’s Chevrolet. It would just take us five or six laps to get going. That was worst case scenario for us.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET SS- FINISHED 6TH
“We were able to get up to third. I thought we had a really good car. Just need to get going a little bit better on those restarts and try to maximize that opportunity. Jimmie (Johnson, race winner) did a great job. Congrats to him. It’s good to see Hendrick in Victory Lane. We’ll try again at Martinsville.”
WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST ISSUE OR CHALLENGE TODAY?
“Oh, just being late back to the gas. It seemed like the guys who could do that the best ran the best. I thought if we made some adjustments to help our car there; and we’ll take what we learned today and go to work and try to be better at Martinsville.”
WITH FOUR WEEKS INTO THE NEW AERO PACKAGE, HOW DO YOU LIKE IT SO FAR?
“I thought the racing was good today, myself. This race track already produces good racing and I think with this package, if they optimize that a little bit more, I feel like there were a lot of different lanes you could run and that’s the kind of race track that you want to watch. And I feel like it was a good show for the fans.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 FOOD4LESS/SCOTT PRODUCTS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 8TH
ON HIS DAY:
“It was really good for about 20 laps on each run. The take-off speed was awesome and I don’t know I just couldn’t get the thing to last for a whole run. We just kind of struggled there at the end on each run, that kind of hurt us, but short-run speed that was a lot of fun. I thought we were as competitive as anybody on short-run speed. We just needed something there for the last 10 to 15 laps. We will work on it. The pit crew was awesome. They bounced back with great stops all day.”
ON STARTING IN THE REAR:
“It was a good catch by our crew to see the burnt gear, from the sound of it; it wasn’t something you really notice, the detail they put into building these race cars and going over them was big. They caught it and saved our day. It was tough starting back there, but I didn’t realize I had driven through half the field so quick. The car was fast. We just need to work on trying to figure out these tires with this package, what makes the car last a little longer.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR YOU GUYS TO GET A TOP 10 FINISH GOING INTO THE OFF WEEKEND?
“It’s just important this whole West Coast swing, after an okay run at Daytona, a fast car at Atlanta, but didn’t get anything out of it and then got the penalty on top of it. To come out to the West Coast go 14th, 17th and then an 8th, that might put us inside the top 16 to go into Easter break. Big momentum for everybody here at the shop. Just keep digging.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 10TH
“We got a really good finish. We ran, I think, around 13th or 15th most of the day. We got caught in the pits on a green flag stop and had to go to the back. And I still made my way up a little bit, but man; right before the caution came out, we were fading fast. The tires were just gone and I was sliding around and we were going backwards quick. That caution was a big turnaround for us. I think we restarted 17th and finished 10th. So it was good to have a really good restart.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS OF THE NEW PACKAGE SO FAR THIS SEASON?
“I think it’s significantly better than what we had last year. And I can’t find anybody that thinks differently. You can race a little bit closer. The car in front of you doesn’t mess up your car as much. So, I have nothing but really positive things to say about it.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE/BATMAN CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 11TH
ON HIS DAY:
“I thought we had a good car yesterday in practice and I was kind of looking forward to the race and then when we started we were real tight. The No. 41 came in front of me off of (Turn) 4 and I just couldn’t do anything. He was clear, but I couldn’t stop. I had so much momentum and that hurt the left-front real bad and bent the splitter. So, we fought that all day long. We changed a shock and helped the balance a little bit. We changed and changed and changed and worked on the car all day. We got it to where we could race a little bit. Then we were up in the top 10 pretty good and short pitted a little bit for that last run and that damn caution came out for a piece of debris in the middle of the cycle. That killed us.”
WHAT WAS THE RACING LIKE OUT THERE?
“I had a blast. I love racing here regardless of what aero package we have. This is a fun track. I like the low downforce. What can I say? I’m having fun and had a good time today. Usually, you would be real frustrated driving the cars we drove the last two years finishing 11th, but I had fun running anywhere on the race track. No matter where we were we were racing somebody and driving the thing.”
CAN YOU ASSESS THE NEW PACKAGE?
“It’s great. Every week has been fun, fun, fun. The cars are fun to drive, slipping and sliding. It’s a good challenge and I’m enjoying it.”
ON THE TIRES:
“Tire management is great. We don’t need tires that just can qualify every lap. We need a little fall off. Drivers like the fall off because the fall off means a slippery old slick car. You’ve got comers and goers in the field and passing. It provides more passing. If everybody can just hammer down and run qualifying laps all day for 50 laps before you pit that is not a whole lot of fun. You’re not going to catch anybody because nobody is running any different speeds the whole run. The tire issues more than likely air pressure. A lot of guys getting aggressive on air pressure. I don’t know about the right sides. If you blew a right front or something like that some guys might have got into the fence or rode the wall a little hard. But if you were cutting left sides it’s typically a little too low on air pressure. You just can’t get aggressive.”
WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO JIMMIE JOHNSON PASSING YOUR DAD IN WINS?
“It’s something inevitable I guess. I remember when Jeff (Gordon) passed Daddy and now he got all the way up to 93 wins. Jimmie is going to have quite a few more. He may be surpass Jeff. That will be a great story as well since Jeff sort of brought him onto the team. Jimmie is… I’m not going to be surprised if he matches Daddy and Richard (Petty) in that championship deal if we can’t get it.”
JIMMIE WAS A REAL CLASS ACT IN ATLANTA HE ALMOST DIDN’T WANT TO SAY ANYTHING:
“I told him he better do something. Don’t just do nothing or I would be insulted (laughs). He is a class act, a great guy. You are going to break a lot of guys records in this sport if you are Jimmie Johnson winning races like he is. You are going to break a lot of records. I appreciate the nod to Dad. I appreciate anytime anybody acknowledges that.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – Finished 28th:
ON THE INCIDENT WITH DANICA PATRICK
“I passed her in (Turns) 3 and 4 and then she had the momentum off the top and went back under me going down the front stretch, so I went just to kind of catch a side draft to make sure I was in position getting into Turn 1 and it didn’t hold me up when I got there because I was the one coming and I just got too close and the car was moving around and we hit and she had a bad wreck. I felt really bad because it was far from anything than just trying to hold my position. I’ve never had an issue with Danica at all. It was an avoidable accident in the middle of the straightaway that was far from anything but just trying to hold my position that I had just gained.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 TAXACT CHEVROLET SS – Involved in an on-track incident on lap 120
WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“We were on a restart and I had a run on him so I went down low. If you get too close to them then it will drag you both back. I was going low. I saw him chase me down the track and then the next thing I know I was getting spun up the track. I am I was passing him. He was behind me in the right rear. I don’t know what kind of day he was having. I just heard he was a lap down actually. I feel bad if he felt like he was put in a position to have to be that desperate a lap down. It’s just unfortunate; he must be having a very tough time. I was having a pretty good recovery day, kind of like last weekend. I was just running good race laps and on the lead lap at the end of the race back up into the top 20 from a bad starting position. And I was looking forward to a good finish and a good off week. Unfortunately now there is more work to be done at the shop, which is not I’m sure what they want, but we had a good TaxAct car and Billy (Scott, crew chief) did a good job to set-up for today and we were moving forward.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Involved in a single car accident on lap 48
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I was going down the back stretch and I think it was my left-rear tire got cut. It must have ripped the brake line because I went to push the pedal and it went straight to the floor board. I couldn’t slow down. It was definitely a hard hit there, probably one of the harder ones of my career. Even before that we were pretty sub-average there, we were pretty bad. Disappointed in our run today, but glad I’m alright.”
ON THE INCIDENT:
“We were struggling all day. We were really bad. And just on that backstretch, my left rear tire got cut and spun me to the outside wall and then spun me back into the inside wall. By the time I could hit the brakes it must have ripped the brake line and I had no brakes. They just went to the floorboard. I couldn’t slow down and had a hard hit there; head-on. I’m okay. I’m thankful for Safer barriers and thankful that I’m all right. That was definitely probably the hardest hit I’ve ever had in my career. I’m glad to be on my feet right here.”
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