NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
BASS PRO SHOPS NRA NIGHT RACE
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 19, 2016
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING RESULTS FOR BASS PRO SHOPS NRA NIGHT RACE:
6TH – CHASE ELLIOTT
8TH – AJ ALLMENDINGER
11TH – JEFF GORDON
13TH – AUSTIN DILLON
14TH – KURT BUSCH
15TH – RYAN NEWMAN
16TH – JIMMIE JOHNSON
19TH – KASEY KAHNE
20TH – PAUL MENARD
21ST – CASEY MEARS
23RD – KYLE LARSON
24TH – KEVIN HARVICK
26TH – MICHAEL MCDOWELL
27TH – TONY STEWART
28TH – JAMIE MCMURRAY
29TH – DANICA PATRICK
31ST – CLINT BOWYER
33RD – REGAN SMITH
Carl Edwards (Toyota) won the pole, Denny Hamlin (Toyota) was second, Kyle Busch (Toyota) was third, Ryan Blaney (Ford) was fourth and Matt Kenseth (Toyota) will start fifth to round out the Top five qualifiers.
The 500-lap/266.5-mile Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race is scheduled to begin Saturday night, August 20th at 8 p.m., ET. Live coverage will be available on NBCSN, PRN, Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and NASCAR.com.
POST QUALIFYING QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 6th
ON QUALIFYING AND THOUGHTS ON STARTING SIXTH:
“I thought we made some positive improvements. I felt like as we went it wasn’t perfect, obviously, but it was better than where we started our qualifying session. Anytime you can make gains throughout a session is good. We did that so that was a positive. It wasn’t perfect, but we will think about it tonight and try to get ready for tomorrow.”
YOU ARE THE TOP QUALIFYING CHEVROLET. THE JOE GIBBS RACING CARS WERE STOUT, BUT YOU GUYS LOOKED PRETTY GOOD, TOO. HOW DID QUALIFYING GO?
“I thought it was decent for us. Obviously it wasn’t perfect. But, our whole NAPA group worked really hard all day. We went through some ups and downs. Any time you can start a qualifying session and get better; there’s only so many things you can do to the car throughout a session to help it. They did a good job making the right adjustments. We didn’t make it perfect, but we helped it. That’s an improvement. So, we’ll take it and we’ve got 500 laps tomorrow night. That’s a long time.”
THE RACE TRACK SEEMS A LOT DIFFERENT THAN IT WAS IN APRIL. WHAT’S IT LIKE FOR YOU, COMING HERE FOR THE SECOND TIME HAVING THE GROOVE IN A DIFFERENT PLACE?
“Obviously the bottom has a lot of grip right now. We’ll see where that goes tomorrow night. It could be hit or miss. It could go back to the top. I think we’re all kind of anxious to see. Hopefully it lends opportunity to move around. That’s what we all hope for, as drivers, is an opportunity to change and having an option is good. Hopefully those options work for us and we can make it happen tomorrow night.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 BUSH’S GRILLIN BEANS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 8th
HOW GOOD DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CAR FOR TOMORROW NIGHT
“We’re making progress. This lower line, I felt like finally just got Bristol figured out the last time we were here and then we changed it again. So, we definitely have got some stuff we’ve got to go over. We’ve got to watch the Xfinity race tonight, that’s really going to show what we really need to work on and what line is really going to work. But overall, the Bush’s Beans Chevy has got good speed in the car obviously, by qualifying in the top 10. We’ve had speed in race trim; we’ve just got to get that balance to where it’s somewhat comfortable to go 500 laps around here.’
WITH ALL THE GRIP THAT’S ON THE BOTTOM, HOW IS THAT GOING TO CHANGE THE GAME TOMORROW NIGHT?
“Well, if it stays on the bottom, I think it’s going to be the place to be. But, just in practice, I could move up to the top as the tires wore down and almost kind of match the lap time. So, we’re going to watch the race tonight and see what happens and see if some of that grip on the bottom goes away. We’ll see. We’ll make some adjustments going into tomorrow night and try to have 500 laps of fun.”
JEFF GORDON, INTERIM DRIVER, NO. 88 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 11th
DO YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TOMORROW NIGHT?
“I mean I have an idea of what I think it’s going to do. All I can evaluate off of is practice. This is I think new for everybody. I can evaluate the other races and I think we are all very curious to watch this Xfinity race tonight. The Trucks they can only give you so much because they have a lot less power and a lot of drag. Our cars just with more power and less downforce it is a little bit of an unknown. I mean I feel like the bottom, from what I saw in practice, the bottom is going to be good for 15 laps for some less, for they seem to stay down there a little bit longer. Then I think the top is going to prevail still, but the nice thing is there are options. There are two grooves. I like it. I think it’s cool what they did here and I applaud them for being kind of bold enough to go try something like this. I’m also proud of them for talking to drivers and teams about this idea and I think that collaboration has come together something pretty nice.”
FIRST TIME IN THE TOP 12 SINCE BEING THE INTERIM DRIVER FOR DALE EARNHARDT, JR. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT THE DIFFERENCE WAS THIS WEEK?
“We have been working hard every week. Some of it has just been me making mistakes, some of it is we just haven’t had the car dialed in quite the way we needed to, but I thought today we got to make three qualifying runs. That is something we’ve not been able to do since I’ve been in the car. I felt like that helped us dial it in a little bit better. When we started qualifying the car was really good. I was a little disappointed we weren’t better than 11th there on that final round, but we are very proud to make the third round. It’s a big deal. Qualifying has not been the strong suit for me since I’ve been in this car or this team this year. So, that means a lot to these guys and I love this track. I love to challenge the car and the tires and myself and the team. So, I think that whole group effort made a big difference today.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW/GREAT STUFF CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 13th
YOU MISSED THE TOP 12 BY SIX ONE-THOUSANDTH OF A SECOND. DOES THAT MAKE IT BETTER, OR WORSE?
“It makes it a little bit better. The good part is I’ll start on the bottom. We’ve done a good job trying to get our speed close, but we’ve just got to take it a little bit further. Our 1.5-mile and big track programs are good, we still are missing a little bit in our short track program. But AJ (Allmendinger) is up there in the top 12, so that’s good to see and hopefully we can learn something off that.”
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