MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
TALE OF THE TURTLES 400
CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 15, 2017
TOP TEAM CHEVY QUALIFIERS:
POS. DRIVER
6TH KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVY SS
8TH CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA BRAKES CHEVY SS
9TH AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW UNIVAR CHEVY SS
TOP FIVE QUALIFIERS:
POS. DRIVER
1ST Kyle Busch (Toyota)
2nd Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
3rd Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota)
4th Kevin Harvick (Ford)
5TH Brad Keselowski (Ford)
The Tale of the Turtles 400 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, September 17 at 3 pm, ET. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 6th
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUNS:
“I was hoping to be a little bit better, but we got kind of caught on the track there when the No. 77 (Erik Jones) spun out. That was a wasted run for us, a wasted run on tires. So, it actually ended up being better than what I thought we might end up. So, we will go with it. Our Target Chevy has been good so far this weekend and I think we learned some things today that will help our race trim tomorrow.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA BRAKES CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 8th
ON HIS QUALIFYING SESSION:
“It was okay. I feel like to get to the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) obviously needed a lot of time. I don’t know really where that would have been on track. I mean maybe could have hit it a little better. I thought for me, I hit it alright. I was pretty happy with my lap coming off of (Turn) 4 coming to the checkers. Obviously, not happy with the right things I guess. So, we will see what we’ve got Sunday.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW UNIVAR CHEVROLET – Qualified 9th
“I overdrove it. But, I’m proud of my Dow guys. We’re here to fight in this Playoff deal and bring a little speed for RCR. It’s good to see. It’s entertaining down here on pit road right now. I just heard Kyle Busch call Brad (Keselowski) an idiot. So, I’m hoping they get into it at least a couple of times the next couple of races and put that No. 3 car a further forward on the Playoff board.”
DO YOU KIND OF LIKE BEING AN UNDERDOG SOMEWHAT IN THESE PLAYOFFS?
“Always. Underdog is a good place to be fighting from. You’ve got nothing to lose and that’s how we’re going to play this whole playoff system, just like that. Have fun and try to make fewer mistakes than everybody else.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 14th
CONSIDERING WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN STARTING THE LAST FEW WEEKS, I GUESS 14TH ISN’T 14TH ISN’T SO BAD
“No, it’s not. Of course, we want to be better. But it’s a step in the right direction. Starting on the seventh row is a lot better than as you pointed out where we’ve started recently. If we can move forward like we typically do in the race and get up in the top 10 or top 5, it can completely change the outcome of the race and get momentum going the right way for us. We’re digging deep. I think we’ve improved some. And it’s Playoff time and the weather is cooling down and Fall is here, so it’s time for the No. 48 to get hot.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CAT D10 CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 16th
WHAT WAS MISSING OUT THERE TO GET YOU TO THE FINAL ROUND?
“Just got a little too loose that second run. Once you get the tires hot it’s hard to get them cooled back off and make another run. But, the Caterpillar Chevrolet, I think will be good for Sunday. We just lacked a little bit of speed there and balance. It’s better to lack that and know now than to know later.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE THIS TEAM HAS DONE A GOOD JOB TODAY STARTING THE PLAYOFFS?
“Well, we made the top 16, right? So, we are good.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S/CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 19th
WHAT WERE YOU MISSING IN THAT QUALIFYING SESSION?
“I don’t know. We never could get our car to turn in qualifying trim today. I thought we were… we seemed to be really good in race trim and then we put it in qualifying trim and struggled really bad with getting enough front grip in the car. We thought we freed it up enough for qualifying and we just didn’t. It just wouldn’t turn.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 GREAT CLIPS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 25th
“So, we’re going to start 25th on Sunday. We were terrible in practice. We were terrible in qualifying. Tomorrow is a new day and we’ll do everything we can to be much better. But yeah, today was awful.”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PAINT SCHEME FOR THIS WEEKEND
“Yeah, Wyatt, who actually drew the car and painted it, will be here Sunday for the race, from Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Strong Against Cancer initiative. And Great Clips has been a great partner for year doing these types of things to give these kids opportunities and things. So, a bunch of kids drew painted out cars for us and that was the one we chose and Wyatt and his family are coming. So, it should be a great Sunday.
Connect with Team Chevy on social media. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TeamChevy, follow us on Twitter @TeamChevy, add +TeamChevy into your Google+ circles and follow us on Instagram TeamChevy.
Team Chevy racing photos are available at:
About Chevrolet:
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
