NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
BASS PRO SHOPS NRA NIGHT RACE
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 21, 2016
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUSCH BEER CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
YOU STARTED 24TH AND CAME BACK TO WIN. TALK TO US ABOUT THAT MOMENT WHEN YOUR FRIEND, BOSS, AND TEAMMATE, TONY STEWART, DID THAT VICTORY BURNOUT WITH YOU
“I wanted him to go on a victory lap with me and say goodbye to all the fans one last time here at Bristol. But that was pretty cool, doing burnouts with him. I’ve got to thank Busch Beer, Jimmy John’s, Chevrolet, and Mobil 1 and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing on this Chevrolet. We should have won a lot of races this year but we just had things not go our way. We made mistakes, or whatever the case may be. But, to get back into Victory Lane here at Bristol feels really good. We’ve had some good cars here over the last few years. And to have Busch Beer on the car; we’ve had crummy luck with these guys on the car and so I’m just really happy for Busch and Jimmy John’s and really proud of these guys on the No. 4 team.”
YOU MENTIONED YOU SHOULD HAVE WON MORE RACES IN THIS TIME. YOUR LAST WIN WAS AT PHOENIX BACK IN THE SPRING. DOES THIS GIVE YOU THE MOMENTUM YOU NEED GOING INTO THE CHASE?
“Well, we knew we had the performance that we needed to have in the cars pretty much every week. And it’s been one of those deals where things have just not gone exactly right. But to have the win now and just try to get that momentum before we get into the Chase and get things rolling is really what we needed.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW/GREAT STUFF CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 4TH
DESCRIBE YOUR AFTERNOON FOR US
“Well, it was challenging for our Dow Chevy. We really didn’t have a car capable of winning the race, I don’t think. We just struggled. My arms are worn out; I know that. But, I’m proud of the adjustments the guys made. One heck of a pit stop. My guys really helped us out with that and gained us some spots there to have that outside restart. And, it was fun there, you could tell I was a little tighter than (Kevin) Harvick there on the bottom, so I got to him there. Early in the run he jumped to the top and pulled me. It was fun here at Bristol, today. I’m glad that Bristol tried to get that bottom working. I think we can do a little bit more for it because that top is going to be dominant as it runs. It was a fun race.”
HOW WAS IT JUS SEARCHING HIGH AND LOW, WHEREVER THE GRIP WAS?
“We had to adjust the car to get it free from the top and then back to tight on the bottom. So, a lot of chasing grip. It was fun racing, man. It reminded me of the dirt days just trying to chase that grip, what we call brown, now it’s black. It was a lot of fun. I’ve got to thank the good Lord for keeping us out of all those wrecks. We dodged some big ones today. It was a solid points day. I’m just really happy.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 KOBALT CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 7TH
ON HIS RACE:
“We were up to third before the red (flag) came. Our car just wasn’t good on a green race track. It didn’t matter if it was the start of the weekend, the start of the race after the red flag for the rain and when the jet dryers came out and blew all the rubber off we just couldn’t go. Our car was super-fast about 30, 40 laps into a run. Unfortunately, we lost some track position on that final restart and just kind of sailed home for seventh there at the end. Certainly, overcame a lot this weekend so that does feel good just wished we would have finished a little better.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 BUSH’S GRILLIN’ BEANS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 9TH
“It was a hard fought day. We were just trying to get on either end of being a little bit too tight, a little bit too loose. I thought we had kind of got in the happy medium. We made the car as good as it could be with what we had right there. Just tricky race track today. At one point you would get the bottom rolling and think that is pretty good and then it goes away and try to find out how to run the top. We weren’t as good on the top and then I kind of figured something out late, but just a tricky race track, hard fought. A little bit fortunate to miss a couple of those crashes. I wish we would have had about 15 more laps at the end because I thought I had figured something out, but it is what it is, a top 10. We’ve had some days where we feel like we should have gotten more and gotten stolen from us. We will take a day like this.”
JEFF GORDON, INTERIM DRIVER, NO. 88 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 11TH
ON HIS SLIP UP EARLY IN THE RACE AND THE RACE OVERALL:
“I went up top too early on that restart. I felt the pressure from Kyle (Busch) and those guys behind me they were a little bit better than me on that short run there. I was trying to make something happen and I moved up and just didn’t work. I got too high and got loose and lost a bunch of positions. We fought back a little bit, but I don’t know after that I don’t know if it was track position or just the way the track went we just never quite had a handle on it.”
THOUGHTS ON THE TWO GROOVES OF RACING:
“It was interesting it made it pretty challenging on the restarts. It helped a little bit with lap traffic. You could at least go down there and hook the bottom for one lap, but if they truly want to have a bottom groove call me, I will tell them how to do it.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 30TH
HOW DOES IT FEEL WALKING OUT OF THIS PLACE AS A DRIVER FOR THE LAST TIME?
“I would have liked to have done it last night, but I’m glad we got this in. I’m appreciative to the fans that stayed last night. I know it’s taxing on a lot of them, but we appreciate the fact that they stayed to watch.”
WHAT DID THAT MEAN TO YOU HAVING KEVIN (HARVICK) ASK YOU TO DO THAT VICTORY BURNOUT WITH HIM?
“That is cool. The funny part is he got out of his car, got the flag and then he goes ‘get in my car and go to Victory Lane with me.’ I went what? He goes ‘yeah, just leave yours here.’ I’m like I just can’t just leave my car there, but that was cool. I’m happy for these guys. This is a hard place to win at. There are so many things that can go wrong. All it takes is one thing. I mean we had a wheel that was loose and that messed our whole day up. That was cool sharing that moment with him though.”
TALK ABOUT THE VICTORY FOR THE STEWART-HAAS ORGANIZATION:
“Yeah, like I said, I’m proud of these guys. I don’t know how far the last guy is that came from 24th to win a race, but Kevin did it today. I’m really proud of those guys, that whole Busch (Beer) team. Our Haas Automation Chevy was fun today too. Unfortunately the part of the race where we were running really hard wasn’t the part of the race that counted for us. We just had a good time and enjoyed it.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SAY FAREWELL TO THIS TRACK?
“Well, I will see it in the spring. I will be back here. I just won’t wear a helmet when I come back here. It is cool. This place is so much fun. I told myself the last 10 laps we weren’t racing anybody, there wasn’t anybody around us, I said, just enjoy these last 10 and just savor the moment and think about it. So, that is what I did, I really thought about what I was doing those last 10 laps and kind of soaked it all in.”
JUSTIN ALLGAIER, INTERIM DRIVER, NO. 46 PILOT FLYING J/BATTLE AT BRISTOL CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR INCIDENT ON LAP 357
ON WHAT HAPPENED:
“Well from my point of view we got done in the corner. I was trying to let the leaders go as best I could. We were a couple laps down right there and let them go. The No. 22 (Joey Logano) ducked in front of me getting into (Turn) 1 and I had to jam on the brakes pretty hard. I got really loose and I was just trying to catch it. That is when the spotter was telling me that the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) was spinning and he kept rolling down the hill so at first I committed to go below him because I was already on the bottom and then he was still coming down the hill so I tried to go out around the outside of him and unfortunately I just didn’t make it. The No. 22 was right there and just really a shame. I hate it for these guys. This Pilot Flying J No. 46 team they did a good job all day. We weren’t up there battling for the lead, but we had a good solid day going. I just cost us a decent finish. Thanks to them for letting me drive the car today. Sorry to Kyle (Busch) that is the worst possibly scenario when the leader spins out and you hit them. Just really frustrating.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 MONSTER ENERGY/HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – INVOLVED IN A MULTI-CAR ACCIDENT ON LAP 373
WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“I think I just missed the bottom groove by a few inches, got loose and the wreck was on. The way that our car was restarting it felt comfortable, it felt good. That inside with the rosin and the VHT if you don’t hit it exactly right you lose a lot of time. I tried to make up for it and got loose. I feel really bad for the Monster Energy guys. We had a win in our sights and I just drove the car at 101 percent instead of that 99.”
ON THE TWO GROOVES:
“It was neat to run the high groove. It was its normal self. The low groove helped on restarts. I just over pushed the groove by a few inches. When you miss your line on a VHT/rosin grip level you go for a ride.”
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