NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
GEICO 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
APRIL 30, 2016
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
HOW MUCH DOES GETTING THE POLE HERE MEAN TO YOU?
“It’s obviously really special. They were just telling me that on this day 30 years ago I think Dad set the record here. That is pretty special. This has always been a special place to him and certainly great to be here and have the opportunity in Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports, Napa Auto Parts to come be a part of this weekend. Like I said in Daytona, this is all team guys. This had nothing to do with me and they have brought a fast car back. This is our same car that we ran at Daytona. Unfortunately I didn’t bring it home in one piece, they had to fix it, but they did a great job doing that and hopefully we can just try to be smart, try to cut down on some of the dumb mistakes I made in February and try to give ourselves a shot and be there at the end.”
WHAT IS IS GOING TO TAKE TO STAY AT THE FRONT OF THE PACK?
“I do think racing and trying to stay up front is important. It’s obviously much easier said than done, but I think for us having a good pit road selection is very important. I think that becomes a big factor at the end of the day when you come on to pit road with a big group of cars and being able to run down pit road and have that first box is big. Hopefully, that helps, but you’ve got to get to the end of the day for that to matter. Unfortunately, I didn’t do that in February so hopefully we can do that tomorrow and see how it goes.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW-ENERGY & WATER/INTELLIFRESH CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 2nd
YOU SAY YOU KNOW WHERE YOU LEFT IT OUT THERE:
“Well we just think we do. The No. 24 car has won all the poles the last two years at speedways it seems like. To be that close to him and we know we can get a little better here and there, but that is just the big pick up. I think we qualified 24th here the last race. Huge pick up for us and we are excited for the race.”
COULD YOU PUT YOUR FINGER ON A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ROUND 1 AND ROUND 2, AND WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE FROM BEING ON THE POLE AND BEING 2ND?
“Yeah, not really. Chase (Elliott, pole winner) was later so maybe he had more heat in the car, I don’t know. I’m just proud of these guys, RCR and ECR, to come here and qualify second. We barely got into the top 12 at Daytona and then last year here, I think we were 24th. So. ECR did a good job and RCR; everybody on the Dow/Intellifresh Chevy. So, I’m proud of that. We get a good pit stall and we can go race on Sunday.”
SO MUCH GOES INTO A RACE AT TALLADEGA. FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, WHAT IS YOUR MINDSET AS YOU LOOK AHEAD AT THAT DAY TOMORROW?
“I think the biggest thing is staying focused for the entire race. You’ve got to be really smart with the moves that you make so you can keep track position. And it’s fun out here. We really do a good job drafting, as a group, in the Cup series. And we’ll see how the race comes.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 3rd
ON QUALIFYING:
“We picked up a little bit. I was just talking with Kasey (Kahne) about our lines and what we did different. We think we saw a little bit out there that makes a difference. We were able to pick up a little bit. It’s hard to move forward in the second round at speedways. Usually what you’ve got in the first round is what you’ve got in the second round, but we jumped a couple of guys and got a better starting spot.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 5th
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THIS RACE CAR AND HOW IT’S GOING TO PERFORM TOMORROW?
“The car is really good. The race environment is so much different than what we have in practice. We didn’t want to go out in the second (practice session) and risk the race car. We made a few single car runs in the first just to see where our speed was and to get our tape and our heights right. It’s rare that you come to the race track and find some more speed during the practice session. It’s really done at the shop. We are just trying to minimize our risk and our time on the track.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 MOEN/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 10th
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“We had a nice pick up from yesterday. That is always a good thing. The cars are cooler in qualifying than they are in race practice. When you can pick up from practice to qualifying that is always a good thing. I’m proud of my guys. A good top 10 starting spot and good pit selection.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 11th
ON HIS STARTING POSITION AND OUTLOOK FOR SUNDAY’S RACE:
“Really fast cars and all of us (Hendrick Motorsports) had good speed. We slowed down a little bit in the final round, which is surprising, but other than that we were really good.”
TY DILLON, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 14th
HOW COMFORTABLE ARE YOU IN THE CAR? HOW DID PRACTICING THE SWAP WITH YOU AND TONY STEWART GO YESTERDAY?
“I’m really comfortable in the car. The interior of the race car is based off of my preferences. Tony, I think he is kind of dealing with it for the time he is in the car. Our swap went really well. I think we were a little bit better than what we thought we would be on our time. Excited for tomorrow, it’s going to be a different deal for us. The car is really fast. That makes it even more fun.”
HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS YOUR SHOT AT GETTING THE WIN?
“I think we have a great shot. If all goes well with the switch and we stay on the lead lap and stay out of trouble it’s Talladega, anything can happen and maybe we can get that win.”
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