NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA SAVE MART 350
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JUNE 25, 2016
CHEVROLET’S AJ ALLMENDINGER EARNS OUTSIDE POLE AT SONOMA
Six Chevy SS Drivers to start in the Top 12
SONOMA, Calif. (June 25, 2016) – California native, AJ Allmendinger, will try to earn his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory from the second starting position for Sunday’s Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. The driver of the No. 47 Ralph’s/Kingsford Chevrolet SS laid down a lap of 95.676 mph/74.878 seconds, just shy of the pole winning time. This is the best start of the season for the man who hails from Los Gatos, California. Allmendinger has one prior NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory on the road course in Watkins Glen, NY, but would love nothing more than to take his Chevy to Winner’s Circle in front of his hometown crowd.
“Being a home race, there’s obviously a lot of pressure when you show up,” said Allmendinger after the qualifying session. “But, yesterday was a struggle. We definitely just missed everything we were trying to get right and never really found a happy medium. So, we went to work last night. The guys did a good job and I think we’ve still got some work to do in race trim, but it’s definitely a starting spot to run to the front and this race just plays out in so many different ways. We’ll just go out there and try to be smart all day.”
Two-time Sonoma winner, Kurt Busch, will pilot the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS from the fourth starting spot. 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year and California native, Kyle Larson, follows him. The 23 year-old Larson, will take the green flag from the fifth positon as he tries to earn his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win.
Paul Menard earned his second Top 10 starting slot of the season by placing the No. 27 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet SS in ninth. The driver of the No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, Tony Stewart, will make his last career start at Sonoma Raceway as he steps away from full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition in 2017. Stewart will try to become the only three-time winner at the 1.99-mile track when he starts from the 10th spot.
Fellow Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Danica Patrick, earned her best starting position of the season by placing the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS in the 11th starting position to give Team Chevy six of the top 10 starters overall.
Carl Edwards (Toyota) won the pole. Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota) will start third to round out the top five.
The Toyota Save Mart 350 from Sonoma Raceway is scheduled to begin at 3 pm ET Sunday June 26th. Live coverage will be available on FoxSports 1, PRN Radio, Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and NASCAR.com.
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 RALPH’S/KINGSFORD CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 2ND:
CONGRATULATIONS. YOUR CAR LOOKS LIKE IT’S REALLY COME ALIVE TODAY IN QUALIFYING. THE TEAM HAS WORKED EXTREMELY HARD AND YOU’LL BE STARTING ON THE FRONT ROW TOMORROW AT SONOMA. HOW DOES THAT FEEL?
“It’s a big weekend, for sure. We have Ralphs and Kingsford and Clorox on the car. Being a home race there’s obviously a lot of pressure when you show up. But, yesterday was a struggle. We definitely just missed everything we were trying to get right and never really found a happy medium. So, we went to work last night. The guys did a good job and I think we’ve still got some work to do in race trim, but it’s definitely a starting spot to run to the front and this race just plays out in so many different ways. We’ll just go out there and try to be smart all day.”
WHEN YOU SAY YESTERDAY WAS A STRUGGLE, WHAT WERE YOU FEELING IN THE CAR?
“I was feeling really slow (laughter). It was slow. We never found a good balance. I thought at times we would kind of hit on something small, and then we’d try a different direction and we’d struggle again. So, just the last couple of years I feel like we’ve been able to come here and kind of put the car on the race track and had good speed and were able to just work off that. Yesterday we didn’t. So, it wasn’t any part of the race track. It wasn’t any specific thing. We just didn’t have a lot of speed. The car didn’t have a lot of grip. We kind of fell off pretty quick on tires. We sat down last night and went over some stuff and I think the direction that we figured out was definitely better in qualifying trim because yesterday we were only 15th in qualifying trim as well. It’s better. To go run with the Gibbs cars; I think (Martin) Truex was really strong yesterday. Guys like Kurt (Busch) and Kevin (Harvick) were going to be really fast. There are a bunch of fast guys that we’ve got to work with but I think we at least have a good direction for tomorrow.”
THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF PRESSURE ON THE HOME COURSE TRYING TO GET INTO THE CHASE. DOES THAT ADD TO ANY ADDITIONAL PRESSURE THAN JUST TRYING TO DO THE BEST YOU CAN?
“No. I put all the pressure on myself. My best finish here is seventh. It’s not like I’ve dominated here. So, there’s not a lot of pressure when it comes to that. I know it’s a lot different than it’s been the last couple of years here, knowing that’s it’s basically all or nothing because we’d be so far back in points, we’d have to win the race just to make the Chase. We’re not in that position. We’ve been kind of right on or in the cutoff. We had a tough weekend in Michigan two weeks ago, so we’ve got to rebound from that. So, yeah it would be awesome to go win this race for so many different reasons, but if we can have a solid day tomorrow and finish inside the Top 5, it’s a good day. If we get ourselves a chance to win, that’s all we can ask for.”
BECAUSE OF YOUR STRENGTH ON A ROAD COURSE, IS IT ANY EASIER OR DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE CONFIDENCE OF BEING ABLE TO GO FROM 15TH IN FINAL PRACTICE TO A FRONT ROW QUALIFYING RESULT?
“I think on road course racing, a driver can make more of a difference. You’ve still got to have the set-up in the car right, but I think especially on a one-lap, you can go out there and try to get a little bit more and make things happen than at a place like Michigan or Texas or those types of race tracks. So, that makes it a little bit more fun, but we’ve still got to go out there and make sure we’ve got the car as best as possible. We work hard together. It’s been an up-and-down weekend, but I feel like we’ve got the right way to go. We can work off of what we did in qualifying and try to make it better for the race. And then, this race just plays out whether it’s yellows, fuel mileage, or tires; there are just so many strategy plays that come into this race. We’ve just got to be smart about it and get what we can and just try to minimize the mistakes.”
GIVEN THAT YOU GREW UP IN THIS AREA, DOES THIS GIVE YOU HOME COURT ADVANTAGE, SO TO SPEAK?
“No, they’re really good here. They’re all good. And it’s not like we live in the garage right here and we can come test every day and work on set-ups. There’s no such thing as home court advantage. The Sprint Cup field is just so tight no matter what race track you go to. They’re the best drivers in the world (regardless) of what their background is and everything they’ve done. I enjoy road course racing. It’s what I grew up doing. It’s stuff that I’ve always enjoyed. So, it makes it a little bit more fun to come here, but it definitely isn’t an advantage.”
DOES HAVING FAMILY HERE CHEERING YOU ON GIVE YOU A LITTLE ADDED SUPPORT TO MAKE YOU GET OVER THE HUMP?
“No, I mean it’s always fun to come back just because of family and friends. It’s a tough mixture because you want to make sure you give them time and you are able to hang out. Except for my parents, they come to a lot of races, other family and friends I don’t get to see as often as I would like. It’s a tough weekend because you got to kind of go back and forth. You are still here to do a job. You still have to focus on that, but you want to be able to hang out a little bit. We’ve got a big group from Kingsford and Clorox because they are based in Oakland. Ralph’s is on the car we’ve got a big group from Kroger here. It’s a big weekend, but once you get in the car that is all that matters.”
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO RACE BACK HOME? IS THIS MORE SPECIAL THAN THE OTHER COURSES YOU RACE ON AN ANNUAL BASIS?
“Daytona is obviously the biggest race in our sport, but for me this ranks up there right with it just because it is close to my hometown. I was brought here with my parents, my Dad we would be here at the races all the time when I was a little kid. I raced at the go-kart track up there. It’s a special race and I love road course racing. It means a lot to me. A win anywhere… beggars can’t be choosers right, so a win anywhere is good, but it would be a little bit more special here.”
WOULD YOU SAY TOMORROW’S RACE WOULD BE YOUR BEST CHANCE TO PUNCH YOUR TICKET TO THE CHASE POTENTIALLY?
“No, I think every race is our best opportunity no matter how we get the set-up and stuff like that. It’s just as challenging at a place like Martinsville or Bristol. I mean anything can happen. We haven’t had the best luck here. We have kind of created some of our own bad luck at times too. Every weekend you show up you’ve got to look at it as your best opportunity to go out there and win.”
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