CHASE FOR THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP
ROUND 6 OF 10
HELLMANN’S 500
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
OCTOBER 22, 2016
CHASE ELLIOTT LEADS TEAM CHEVY EFFORT IN TALLADEGA QUALIFYING
Four Chevrolet SS Drivers to Start in Top 10 for Hellmann’s 500
TALLADEGA, Ala. (Oct. 22, 2016) – All but needing a victory to advance to the next phase of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Chase Elliott qualified on the second row for the Hellmann’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway as four Team Chevy drivers will start in the top-10 of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
Elliott, driving the No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet SS, was fourth-fastest Saturday with a best speed of 193.166 mph. Elliott is 12th in Sprint Cup points heading into the season’s second race at Talladega and essentially needs a victory to advance to the Round of 8 starting next weekend at Martinsville Speedway.
Kurt Busch piloting the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevrolet SS will start seventh Sunday. He is fifth in the Sprint Cup standings, 17 points above the cut line.
Austin Dillon behind the wheel of the No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet SS, was ninth-fastest in Saturday’s second qualifying session. He is tied for the eighth and final advancement spot to move on to the next bracket of races in the Chase heading into Sunday.
Two Chevrolet SS drivers in the Chase missed out on advancing to the second round of single-car qualifying. Six-time Sprint Cup champion and current points leader Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet SS qualified 17th, followed by 2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick in 22nd driving the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS. Both Johnson and Harvick are locked into advancement to the Round of 8 by virtue of wins at Charlotte and Kansas respectively.
Paul Menard was the fourth Team Chevy driver to make Saturday’s second qualifying round. He will start 10th Sunday in the No. 27 SYLVANIA/Menards Chevrolet SS.
The sixth race of the 10-race Chase playoff from Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled to begin Sunday, October 23 at 2 p.m. Live coverage of the 188-lap/500-mile contest will be available on NBCSN, MRN, Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and NASCAR.com.
POST QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 4th
HOW MUCH DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO QUALIFY IN THE TOP 12 KNOWING WHAT YOU HAVE ON THE LINE TOMORROW?
“I would say probably more than anything the pit road selection hopefully will help. As we all know qualifying here is all about the guys back in the shop preparing these cars. The Hendrick Engine shop gave me great speed and the guys gave me an excellent car for tomorrow. Qualifying here at Talladega isn’t a make or break you deal. I think it’s good. I think our car has decent speed and hopefully that will show up on Sunday.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION/MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 7th
“We keep working our way up the speed chart a little bit at these single car restrictor plate qualifying sessions. We used to not quite make that final round of 12 and now we are happily and comfortably in it. Then it’s like, man what else do we need to try to find that last little bit to go for the pole.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 AMERICAN ETHANOL CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 9th
ON QUALIFYING:
“I think it was a good run. I mean the car is good enough to be in the top 10 there. We will probably be ninth or 10th. We can do it from there. We had good speed and hopefully it showstomorrow in the race.”
HOW DID DRAFTING PRACTICE GO YESTERDAY?
“I really didn’t draft much. It’s kind of going to be one of those things where we get out there and just feel it and see how it goes.”
QUALIFYING DOESN’T MEAN A LOT TO THE DRIVERS AT TALLADEGA WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? WHAT IS THE PAYOFF FOR QUALIFYING TODAY?
“I think it does mean something because pit selection is big and also, starting up front so if there is a wreck early you are kind of in front of it. I like being up front.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 SYLVANIA/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 10th
BOTH YOU AND YOUR TEAMMATE AUSTIN DILLON HAD GOOD QUALIFYING EFFORTS TODAY. IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU GUYS, KNOWING THE POSITION AUSTIN IS IN THE CHASE TO QUALIFY TOGETHER AND MAYBE BE ABLE TO WORK TOGETHER AT THE START OF THE RACE?
“I mean I’m going to help him if I can, when I can, but how the draft is here you are three-wide all day long. It’s really hard to fit two cars in one hole. We all had good speed from the RCR cars though. I feel good about it and we will have a good draft tomorrow.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PRO SERVICES CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 17th
WHAT KIND OF CHALLENGE DOES QUALIFYING AT TALLADEGA PRESENT?
“For the driver, the crews clearly have a much bigger challenge. From the driver’s standpoint, it’s pretty easy. I wish I had another chance to go back out for Round Two, but we’ll race good and have a good time.”
HOW WAS YOUR CAR IN THE DRAFT YESTERDAY?
“Everything is smooth. We didn’t really get a big enough to know exactly what we have. For us, we don’t really do drafting practice. To get some practice is nice. Hopefully we’ve made a few small improvements for the car. We’ll find out tomorrow afternoon.”
ALEX BOWMAN, INTERIM DRIVER, NO. 88 MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 19th
YOU’RE DRIVING A VERY FAMOUS CAR HERE. HOW WAS YOUR QUALIFYING SESSION?
“We definitely didn’t have the speed we thought we were going to have. But it’s a new car. We’re trying to get it worked out. We were dragging the ground pretty bad yesterday and some other things. I definitely think we’ll race pretty well. It means a lot to get to drive the No. 88 car here. It’s been a lot of fun so far. All these fans are great. I’m really enjoying it and having fun.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 UNIFIRST CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 27th
TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING EFFORT AND HOW YOU THINK YOUR CHEVY SS WILL DO ON SUNDAY.
“Qualifying wasn’t very good at all. We were much slower than usual. I was surprised at that. It felt like the car drove really good yesterday, and that’s really all that matters – how it drafts. We’re looking forward to tomorrow.”
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