MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRICKYARD 400
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
JULY 23, 2017
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – Race Winner
WHAT IS BIGGER, A VICTORY FOR YOUR CAREER OR TO WIN THE BRICKYARD 400?
“The career is big, for sure; but the win and the history here. To win at this track is unreal. We used to always be really close. We lost to Jeff (Gordon) and we lost to Tony (Stewart); just some fast cars back then. Today’s strategy got us here. This Farmers Insurance Chevrolet was great once I got out front. I just had to get there. I’m exhausted. But, an unbelievable win. The team just kept working. We had great pit stops. Farmers Insurance, Great Clips, and Chevrolet have been huge to us. To win at Indy is unbelievable. I wish my son, Tanner, was here.”
ON THAT FINAL RESTART, IT WAS A GREAT RESTART. HOW DID YOU PULL OFF THAT PASS ON BRAD KESELOWSKI?
“Well, the one before just didn’t work. Everything went wrong. On the final one, everything went right. And once I got to Turn 1, I had good power and was able to clear him off (Turn) 1. I’m exhausted. And, it’s pretty crazy. I wish my little boy was here.”
WHAT’S THE EMOTION WITH ALL THE TALK GOING ON ABOUT YOUR CAREER? WHAT’S THE EMOTION WHEN YOU FINALLY GET BACK TO VICTORY LANE LIKE THIS?
“It feels good to win, you know? For all these people that work so hard, it feels good to get into Victory Lane and show that we can do it if things go our way.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 VELVEETA SHELLS AND CHEESE CHEVY SS – Finished 3rd
WALK US THROUGH THE CLOSING LAPS:
“Just a lot of adrenaline going through the gearbox I guess. Just guys running over each other. Good run for the Velveeta Chevrolet. I’ve got to thank them for jumping on board. We were close. We didn’t have the best race car, we had a good long run car, but we were horrible on restarts and that is what we needed there at the end.”
HOW WILD WAS IT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“Yeah, crazy at the end there. It’s just the opposite of what you expect sometimes when you see a bunch of green flag runs when we get the caution flags they just breed more caution flags. Guys are a little out of control, but good run for the Velveeta Chevrolet. Proud of the guys. Made some big improvements, but we’ve got some more work to do.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 CLOROX CHEVROLET SS – Finished 9th
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAY. IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR CAR JUST FINISHED AT MARTINSVILLE:
“Yeah, I actually said that during the last red flag, because there was more than one. It felt like a battle more than a race today. Just an excellent job by our team to stick with it today. We had damage throughout a lot of this race and this Clorox team they worked really hard to make sure we got it back to where it needed to be to be able to get some drivability out of it. We were able to miss some of that craziness there at the end and got ourselves a good finish out of it.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CHEVROLET SS – Finished 10th
“It wasn’t from lack of effort for sure. The guys, I can’t believe what we were doing under a pit stop to try to fix it. All goes to the guys for working so hard. We were just so off all weekend. In the race, we made it a little better, but it still wasn’t very competitive. You know just one of those days you’ve just got to keep fighting and get a little lucky. Fortunately missing all the wrecks, we’ve got to keep working on trying to get better and trying new things for sure. That is what we are doing, but we are a good bit off, so we’ve got to keep going to the drawing board and keep working on it. But, you know a day like this it’s all from the work of my guys. The pit crew, they did great, road crew, jumping over the wall, to do all kinds of mega changes to try to fix it. But, a day like this is on them. They put the effort in for sure.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA/MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – Finished 15th
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ACCIDENT NEAR THE END OF THE RACE FOR YOUR TEAM?
“I really don’t know what happened. I think there was a lap car, but I’m not sure. We had a really good car. We had a really good car we just struggled in the pits again this weekend and that got us behind every pit stop. It’s a hard track to pass at, you can’t make up for what you lose in the pits.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – Finished 19th
Involved in the final crash coming to the checkered flag:
“That was heartbreaking. The GEICO Chevy crew did an awesome job keeping us in the game on pit road today. We made adjustments that helped the car and we learned so much that will help us when we come back to this place. This Germain Racing team worked so hard and we were in position for a good finish. I love Indy. I don’t love leaving it with unfinished business like that. We will be back.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW MOLYKOTE SMART LUBRICATION CHEVROLET SS – Finished 21st
“Everybody got bunched up there. The No. 6 car got hooked to us and that got me a little bit frustrated because I was forced to get out of the car and I thought it was still able to at least roll. We could have finished the race. But, it’s over. I saw a lot of blocking and drivers trying to win one of the biggest races. It’s the Brickyard 400. Everybody wants it. Hopefully it’s good for the fans to see the aggression out of all of the drivers. We all want it really bad. I wanted it really bad for everyone at Dow and for Molykote.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in crash during overtime
WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR YOU, BLOWING UP, AND ALSO RUNNING THREE-WIDE AT INDY?
“I’m not sure I was blowing up. I was definitely smoking and it was definitely engine oil smoke, I could smell that. I didn’t know where it was coming from and I had decent grip through (Turns) 1 and 2, and so I went into Turn 3. I had a shot to win the Brickyard 400 for the fifth time; and I was hoping one, the engine would live, and two, we would make it through Turns 3 and 4. And, I got really loose going into the corner, so I don’t know if I spun out in my own oil or if it was an aero situation, but I was so close to my fifth win here at the Brickyard.”
THERE WAS A LOT OF BLOCKING. WHAT WAS THE RACE LIKE FOR YOU?
“Yeah, the blocking has been there for a long time and it’s so tough to pass. With stage racing, every position matters and it’s just ramped-up the blocking and the intensity. So, that’s just normal stuff out there right now. If Mark Martin would have a heart attack if he were racing in this era! (laughs). So, the game has changed, for sure.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in crash on lap 154
YOU WENT ALL THE WAY DOWN INTO THAT INSIDE WALL. WHAT HAPPENED?
“He (Ty Dillon) was inside all the way off Turn 4. He just kept running me down and running me down. We’re to the end and I’m not going to lift. He just ran me down far enough where I had nowhere to go and I clipped his left rear and it got me loose probably down the speedy dry and I just came across the track. A ton of blocking today. It was pretty aggressive. I got blocked a few times and I saw people blocking pretty aggressively. It was pretty annoying. But, I was there the whole time on that one, so it was pretty bad. But it was just Indy.”
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined due to incident on Lap 76
THIS WAS YOUR FINAL START AT THE BRICKYARD AND IS NOT THE WAY YOU WANT TO GO OUT. WHAT HAPPENED?
“I don’t know. There were just a bunch of cars slowing down and stopping and it was a chain reaction and we got into the back of the No. 6 (Trevor Bayne) and I guess they were all kind of running into each other and it just knocked the radiator out of it. We hit the No. 2 car (Brad Keselowski) earlier in the race kind of doing the same thing and it damaged the front end and I think it knocked the bumper bar out of it then, so we really had no protection after that. But, we had a great car and I was having a lot of fun. The car was fast. We had a top 10 car for sure. It’s kind of frustrating because I was really enjoying being out there. Hopefully our luck’s going to turnaround. It’s been pretty tough and this is a difficult one to put up with.”
HOW TOUGH ARE THESE RESTARTS? IT ALMOST SEEMS LIKE A STREET FIGHT OUT THERE
“Well, they always are. And, it’s fun. Sometimes you’re in the wrong end of it and sometimes you can make something happen. It was great. We were leaving it in third going down into (Turn) 1 and running third gear through the short chute and everybody’s grabbing gears and trying to do everything they can to get an advantage. And you’ve got to push hard and that got us in a little bit of trouble there when they all started checking up on the outside. I was just trying real hard to get as much as we could on restart, and we got bit.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined on Lap 43 with engine failure
YOU ARE BACK IN THE GARAGE NOW, WHAT MORE DO YOU KNOW?
“We don’t know but it was some type of motor issue. We went down a cylinder and then started blowing smoke out the pipes. I don’t know what it was. We’ll dig into it and see. But, I’ve been racing Hendrick engines since 2013 and this is the first engine problem I’ve ever had. So, I’ll take those odds all day long. We still have the best engine shop in the business and stuff’s going to happen. We’re pushing it as everyone is. So, we’ll move on to next week and see what we’ve got there.”
WHEN DID YOU KNOW THINGS WERE NOT GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION?
“Whenever I pulled out of line to let everybody pass me. I don’t know what happened or what broke, but I’ve been running Hendrick Engines since 2013 and this is the first one I’ve had ever give me a problem so I will take those odds all day long. Still proud of our engine shop. They do incredible work over there and still think they are the best in the business, but stuff is going to happen. We are all pushing it pretty hard with engines and tape and temperatures and it’s not cool out here today. A lot of variables obviously that we don’t really know what broke, but we will move on to next week and try to go get ‘em there.”
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