Matt Tifft and the No. 2 Nexteer Automotive Team Earn Top-20 Finish After Surviving Daytona Carnage
“The No. 2 Nexteer Automotive Chevrolet Camaro had some good speed this weekend on its own, but we were just too loose the whole day. Part of the problem was we were set up too much for qualifying compared to a race trim setup. We’ll look back at our notes from this weekend and work on getting our race balance right for the restrictor plate races. We got a little bit beat on driveability since it was hard to be aggressive with what we had. We finally got it balanced really well after we adjusted the radiator pan and started to make some headway through the pack. Unfortunately, that’s when the ‘Big One’ hit. We made it through the wreck but then got slammed into from behind by a car with no brakes. Not much we can do about that, but the No. 2 team didn’t give up. We made multiple stops to fix what we could and hung in there through multiple wrecks to get a top-20 finish.”
-Matt Tifft
Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s Team Eliminated from Daytona Season-Opener Early Following Late-Race Wreck
“I knew we were sitting in a bad position there. You never want to be past fourth or fifth in the pack on the last restart because you know the top two are going to block, and they did. The No. 42 car kept coming. The No. 98 car had a little gap maybe and they just collided. From there on, if I would have cut left I would have probably wrecked more people so I opted to stay straight. I tore up our Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s Chevrolet. I still had fun today. I started at the back but I was able to race right up to the front. I made a couple of mistakes that prevented me from getting a little bit of track position. It’s a bummer that we weren’t able to finish the race but we’ll have a few more opportunities to get a win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season.”
-Austin Dillon
Penalty Hinders Daniel Hemric’s Debut in South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet After Starting From the Pole
“We had a really strong South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, and that showed when we were able to win the pole early in the day. These guys on the No. 21 team worked hard on Friday to get the car fixed after we got some damage in opening practice. The car was really good in the draft; we had a strong first two stages and were able to earn points. They started wrecking up ahead of me and I thought I had it clear but got clipped and got a little bit of damage to the nose. We had too many crew guys working on the car to make repairs and were hit with a penalty. After that we just rode around trying not to tear up the car anymore. We’ll take today as a learning lesson for the rest of the year and move on. Our Atlanta car is fast and ready to go. I can’t wait to get there and show everyone what this South Point Hotel & Casino team is made of.”
-Daniel Hemric
