MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
FIRST DATA 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
OCTOBER 29, 2017
TOP TEAM CHEVY FINISHERS:
* Current Team Chevy Playoff Contender
POS. DRIVER
11TH DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVY SS
12TH *JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS
13TH AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS
14TH RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS
27TH *CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVY SS
TOP FIVE QUALIFIERS:
POS. DRIVER
1ST Kyle Busch (Toyota)
2nd Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)
3rd Clint Bowyer (Ford)
4th Brad Keselowski (Ford)
5TH Kevin Harvick (Ford)
The next race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) will be at Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500 at 2 pm ET on Sunday November 5th. Live coverage can be found on NBCSN, PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES & QUOTES:
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – Finished 11th
IN ALL THAT CHAOS YOU CAME AWAY WITH AN 11TH PLACE FINISH:
“Yeah, we ran pretty good there toward the end of the race. I liked the car. We were sitting there on that long run saving the rear tires. If it would have went green we were going to get a bunch of cars. But, just had that caution when the No. 66 blew the tire, so we had to run hard for the rest of the race. But, man I can’t believe how everybody crossed the finish line. I ain’t seen nothing like that, I ain’t seen it… I don’t know if I ever have seen it. Trying to think back. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like that. There was a wreck one time at Richmond before they ever reconfigured it in the Xfinity race on the front straightaway in like 1982… that is the only thing I ever seen like it. But, crazy finish. Decent run. I think that is, let’s see, 12th place is our worst finish in the last six weeks, pretty decent for us this year.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – Finished 12th
ON HIS NIGHT AND THE CRASH AT THE END:
“We were just terrible all day. Oh, what a bummer. We had high hopes for this weekend. Man, it just didn’t turn out so well. So, we scored some points here and there. We will go to the next one and try to get more.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVROLET SS – Finished 27th
OBVIOUSLY, YOU’RE UNHAPPY. DENNY HAMLIN SAID HE GOT INTO THE BACK OF YOU. HOW DID YOU SEE THINGS?
“Yeah, well, he came over and talked to me on the back straightaway and he said somebody was pushing him, but it wasn’t two car lengths between him and the next guy. So, my Momma always said if you don’t have anything nice not to say anything at all. So, it’s not even worth my time. We’ll just go on to Texas.”
HOW DOES IT FEEL THAT THIS RACE CROWD IS CHEERING AS THEY SEE YOU ON THE SCREEN?
“Well, it’s just not necessary. We had a great restart and there was nobody pushing him into Turn 3. So, I wanted to see the replay. That’s what I thought happened and that’s what happened. And it’s definitely 100 percent unnecessary and uncalled for.”
YOU’VE COME SO CLOSE TO WINNING SO MANY TIMES. HOW DO YOU GET YOUR HEAD AROUND LOSING ONE THIS WAY?
“We had a great car today and we had an opportunity. We had a good restart there at the end and felt like I was doing what I needed to do. And I can’t control his decisions and whatever the hell that was. We’re on to Texas.”
WHAT HAPPENED?
“Yeah, just like I said on TV, I got punted from behind and wrecked in Turn 3 leading the race. I don’t know what his problem was. It was unnecessary I hadn’t raced him dirty all-day long. There was no reason for that and he comes over and talks to me a second ago and tells me he had somebody pushing him into Turn 3. I thought that was funny because there was nobody within two car lengths of him into Turn 3 behind myself. I don’t know what the deal was, but it is so disappointing. We had the best car I’ve ever had here at Martinsville. And had an opportunity to go straight to Homestead and because of him we don’t.”
WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HIM?
“Well, he just told me he had somebody pushing him into Turn 3 and I asked him if he knew he wrecked me and he said, yes, but I had somebody pushing me. And I said, well okay, and then why was there two car lengths between you and the guy behind you? So, that is just … the guy has been doing this long enough where that shouldn’t happen and it was unnecessary.”
I KNOW YOU ARE DISAPPOINTED, BUT YOU HELD YOUR OWN UP UNTIL THAT POINT:
“Yeah, had a great car today. Best run I’ve ever had here at Martinsville. I had a shot to go straight to Homestead and we don’t know. We will try again at Texas and Phoenix.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 30TH
“Our No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS was just a bit tight in the center of the corners tonight, but the crew made some good adjustments for that. We were able to run competitive speeds during the long green flag runs. Unfortunately, it was an uphill battle for us after we had the early problems. We knocked a hole in the left front and sustained some left rear damage when we were part of the first caution, then we ended up getting a flat left rear tire. We were never able to get all those laps back.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 FIRST DATA CHEVROLET SS – Involved in an on-track accident on lap 302
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I just got tight up off (Turn) 2 and got into a lapper’s left-rear and I just spun really quick and hit the inside wall. Another Martinsville for us. I’ve got to figure out how to get around this place. I suck here.”
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