CHASE FOR THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP
ROUND 8 OF 10
AAA TEXAS 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
NOVEMBER 4, 2016
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 REALTREE/BAD BOY CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
GREAT JOB TO WIN THE POLE:
“Man, that’s huge! Great job by everybody on our Bad Boy Realtreee Chevy and everybody at Dow for supporting us and getting us this far, it is our second pole of the year, and I can’t be happier for RCR and everybody back at the shop. A lot of hard work and effort goes on. We missed the Chase by just two feet. We want to prove that we can win a race by the end of this year. This is big for us. I thought I messed up the lap truthfully. I got a lot of good speed off of two, but turn three I turned in and missed my corner, but it worked out. Proud of these guys and everybody back home. Have a Coke tonight.
HOW MUCH DID JUST BEING IN THE CHASE HELP THIS RACE TEAM?
“It’s big. Truthfully I felt like together as a team, our team is very strong. We’ve just been missing here and there. It is going to be good to have another year with this group of guys to see what we can do next year.”
WHERE DID THAT LAST LITTLE BIT COME FROM?
“I don’t know. I looked at dartfish as much as I could there and tried to define my line. I thought I screwed myself actually because I turned in and I got tight. I wish I would have done my regular line in (Turns) 1 and 2, but the new line worked.”
WHAT IS IT ABOUT TEXAS THAT AGREES WITH AUSTIN DILLON?
“I have enjoyed racing here, I think we get a new cowboy hat is what the big deal is. I like those cowboy hats I wear them quite often. I’m glad I’m going to go get one right now.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUSCH BEER CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 3rd
WERE YOU THINKING THERE WERE A COUPLE OF SPOTS WHERE THE CAR COULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE BIT BETTER TO GET YOU TO THE POLE?
“I think the car was better than the decisions that the driver made. I went into Turn 1 and I didn’t get it all the way to the bottom and pointed in the right direction before the bump. I got greedy and tried to leave the throttle down and then it hit the bump and then it got further out of the groove, so I had to wait longer. I got through (Turns) 3 and 4 okay and to the green (flag) fine, but everybody on the Busch Beer Chevy did a good job. That is a lot better than the spring. We have worked hard on this particular race. We started in race trim today and were able to have a lot of things to think about tonight so we can get that cycle started for tomorrow’s practice. I feel like we are in a good spot. The car’s got good speed. If I could go back and do it again I would do a lot better.”
NOT BAD FOR A GUY WHO SAID I FEEL OLDER EVERY LAP QUALIFYING. THIS PLACE WILL MAKE YOU FEEL OLD WON’T IT? HOW TOUGH IS QUALIFYING HERE?
“Well, it’s hard because it’s really really fast. You’ve got to be committed to the throttle in order to run a fast lap and then you’ve got to bounce over all the bumps and be pointed in the right direction over all the bumps in order to make speed. But in order to go fast here you have to have a lot of throttle. When you make it and you get a good lap you are happy about it, but it definitely takes your nerves away from you as you are done and you realize that you made it again. There are a lot of places to screw up. As I get older I feel like I screw up more.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 KLEENEX CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 5th
“It was good we were barely able to make the final round there and then to improve on that to get a top five starting spot for Sunday’s race is a good effort for us. I’m happy with the Target Chevy during qualifying, but we have a lot of work to do on it, I feel like, in race trim. I didn’t feel like we were good at all. We will work on that for tomorrow and hopefully get it driving better.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 BUSH’S CHILI BEANS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 14th
ANYWHERE YOU COULD HAVE FOUND SEVEN ONE-THOUSANDTHS OF A SECOND OUT THERE?
“I can usually figure out a tenth, or a tenth and a half. But it kind of hurts the chest a little bit when you see seven one-thousandths. I think our average the last three or four races here has been like 31st spot in qualifying so this is good. This Bush Beans Chevy got a lot of speed in it. We just got too tight there. It changed a lot from this morning where there is a lot of grip on the race track. We were loose in practice so we over reacted and got way too tight in that qualifying session there. But, watching the replay of the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) I was glad I was tight and not loose. Overall, solid day. Yes, we would have liked to have been in the final round, but this car has a lot of speed in it. Everybody at the shop has put a lot of work in it. I am looking forward to going racing at Texas for once.”
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