MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA 500
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES
FEBRUARY 26, 2017
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD
“I was kind of looking at the fuel pressure gauge, the window, the mirror; and the last 10 laps, knowing that we were pretty close, I was just trying to run in that pack and run quarter throttle and trying to hold my spot the best I could. I knew everybody was close and it might come down to who did run out of fuel. But, I can’t thank everybody enough on this No. 47 team and Kroger and all of our associates that are a partner of this and all the guys back at the shop, thank you very much. We had something go wrong in the left front in the middle of the race. We had to pit like nine times to figure out what it was. My crew did a great job to figure it out and diagnose the problem and fix it. All in all, I’m just proud of the effort and proud of Kroger sponsoring the Daytona event for 10 years and be a part of it more than anything else just to have a good start to this 2017 season. The effort is there. Our equipment is there. We’ve just got to put it together. Hopefully this is a great start.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 PEAK/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 5TH
“It’s a good finish. It was exciting. We were right in the middle of half of the crashes. Got a little bit of right rear damage early, but the guys fixed it. (Matt) Borland made a really call to short pit for some fuel so we didn’t have to take as much fuel at the end. We were on pretty old tires, and I couldn’t run the bottom very well. Those guys were coming on the bottom at the end. I was kind of tentative to get down there. Ran out of fuel out of turn two. I just nursed it home. I am just really proud of my guys on my Menards Chevrolet. Looking forward to Atlanta.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 7TH
“It was tough early being in the back. It took a while to get the track position. But once we got it, we had a great Farmers Insurance Chevrolet. I just waiting on Kurt (Busch). We were just waiting and waiting and waiting. I kind of gave Kurt that last boost going into one, but then I ran out of gas and the field drove away. Disappointing. We ran out like that.”
ON NEW FORMAT:
“I like it. I like it when they decided to do it, and I like it now. It changes the complexion of the field. It changes what the crew chiefs are thinking. What the drivers are thinking. It just throws a couple different points in that race. Everyone gets their shot and it is going to give them their shot and be different. It is going to win a lot of people stages and races, and a lot of people are going to lose off of it. I think it is really cool. I thought it was really good Daytona 500. Glad to be a part of it.”
BRENDAN GAUGHAN, NO. 75 BEARD OIL DISTRIBUTING CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 11TH
“It seemed a little calmer than the Truck race or the Xfinity race. Those had a lot more carnage. But there was still a lot. It is just the nature of Daytona racing. But it was fun. I enjoy racing here. I am grateful to Beard Motorsports folks for the opportunity in this Chevy with ECR power. I had a top-10 until about 10 feet before finish line. I wish I could have got that for them. But now I go to Atlanta and focus on the day job-the championship in the Xfinity Series.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 12TH
ON SURVIVING THE RACE:
“Yeah, there was a lot of carnage at the middle point of that race. We got caught up in one of the wrecks, our door is damaged pretty bad, but we still had good speed. Then, yeah, we kind of had to try my best to stay out of trouble and did that. Yeah, I almost had a shot to win.”
SUM UP YOUR DAY. DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA YOU WERE GOING TO RUN OUT OF GAS?
“I knew we would be close on fuel. They had told me to save as much as I could on the cautions and stuff. When we went, green I was the leader and was wide-open for a handful of laps there. Once I fell back and we got single file up top I was able to run three-quarter or half throttle somewhere around there to save as much fuel as I could. Just to try and get to the end. We got to three to go or so and I knew I had to make my move soon to try and get to the win and was able to pass a couple of cars and Chase (Elliott) ran out of fuel and got a good run on the No. 78 (Martin Truex, Jr.) and got by him. I had my fingers crossed, but just came up ½ a lap short on fuel. Didn’t really think I would have a shot to win this race, at least not for a couple more years. I feel like I’m still a little inexperienced at this stuff. I’ve been studying quite a bit and it’s starting to pay off. I finally had fun for once on a superspeedway.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 19TH
“We had a good day. We put ourselves in good positions all day. We just have to get better. Do not have anything for the really fast cars, but we put ourselves in good positions and that is what happens. Ran out of fuel. Bummer. We will go to Atlanta.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA/MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined by a multi-car accident on lap 142
“Honestly, I haven’t seen the replay. I got a little bit of a run on the No. 24 (Chase Elliott), but I don’t really know without seeing a replay. A lot of times when you are involved in an accident, it looks much different on TV versus what you see in the car. So, I don’t really have a comment until I see it.
“I went to get to the inside of the No. 24 and I got to his left rear and got him turned a little, and then I don’t know who was behind me, but someone got into my left rear, and then I was kind of just along for the ride whenever that happens.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined by a multi-car accident on lap 142
WHAT HAPPENED?
“We got caught up in that first crash when Kyle (Busch) cut a right-rear (tire). Really had nowhere to go and Bootie (Barker, crew chief) and the guys worked really hard. I was so proud of our guys, we got it fixed. Just got a lap back and I probably should have been more patient there because we were the only car a lap down and should have waited for that crash and dodge another one, but sometimes you just can’t here at Daytona. But, I was proud of my guys for how hard they worked. We just got caught up in it. Just a bummer because I felt like I had a fast-enough car to get back up there and have a good finish and capitalize on a day that went sour early. But, we had a fast GEICO Chevy unfortunately it didn’t work out for us. I was really proud of my guys for working hard throughout the day to get the car back to where it is and they proved their toughness and we will move on to Atlanta and go race.”
ON THE RACING:
“I don’t know what it is about this year, maybe it’s the segments, I don’t know. It’s got everybody a little more amped up, but there are not a whole lot of cars finishing. I dodged all of them yesterday and ran out of gas in the end and didn’t dodge them all today. It’s just part of racing here at Daytona. That is why it is one of the toughest races to win.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined by an accident on lap 128
ON WHAT HAPPENED?
“They started running into the back of me off of Turn 2 and didn’t stop until I crashed and took out the field. I don’t’ know what was going on with the pack behind me, but the whole back straightaway I had, I think the No. 6 (Trevor Bayne) into the back of me. I was just praying that they would let me go and let me get my rear tires back on the ground and it never happened. Just a lot of aggression, way too early in my opinion.”
WHAT DID YOU SEE AND WHAT DID YOU THINK?
“That could have been avoided and it wasn’t called for. From the minute, I got off of Turn 2 on the entire back straightaway, I kept getting hit and the rear tires are off the ground. I know there is a lot of energy behind me in the pack, but I didn’t have a chance. I fought it the whole straightaway and finally got turned going into (Turn) 3. It’s very unfortunate. I hate it for Lowe’s. I hate it for Chevrolet. We’ll go to Atlanta next week and see what we can do there.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 COTTONELLE CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in a multi-car accident on lap 128
We just got going in that stage and thought we were running pretty good. But it got three wide there, but we were running decently there in the middle. We went down the back three wide and we got to turn three and it looked like all of a sudden, we were four wide, we just ran out of real estate. Nobody really…I don’t know. It ended up looking like something we saw the last two nights of racing. That is something we didn’t expect to happen here.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined by an accident on lap 105
FAST CAR; GREAT CAR ALL WEEKEND, WHAT HAPPENED?
“I don’t know what happened there with the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) he just got turned around. I tried to get the wheel turned and get down the race track but I lifted off the gas to miss it, and got on the splitter a little bit and the car went straight. We jumped him, and got in the wall a little bit. Wasn’t too hard of a hit. We thought we could get the car fixed, and get back out there and see what we could do with the rest of the day and make up some spots maybe. But, there is just too much damage. The radiator is pushed back. The toe is all messed up. The front suspension is knocked around pretty bad so the upper A-frame is laid over on the motor. We just can’t drive it like that.”
WHAT’S YOUR TAKEAWAY FROM TODAY AND BEING BACK?
“I really enjoyed the whole week. We had a lot of fun. Everybody was looking forward to getting back to the race track. It meant a lot to me. And I’m just sorry we weren’t able to deliver a better result today for all our fans and everybody that was looking forward to today. We had a great car. At least we went out leading the race. I don’t really know what happened there with the wreck. It just looks like Kyle (Busch) had a flat tire. I turned the wheel left, but you’re also out of the gas there and it got on the splitter and just kind of goes straight. Luckily the hit wasn’t that hard and we’ll be able to get to Atlanta and compete again. It’s going to be a fun season and we’ve got pretty high spirits. This was not the result we wanted today; but like I say, it’s been a great week.”
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