MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JULY 7, 2018
TOP TEAM CHEVY FINISHERS:
POS. DRIVER
3rd AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1
4th KASEY KAHNE, NO. 95 THORNE WELLNESS CAMARO ZL1
5th CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 KLEENEX WET WIPES CAMARO ZL1
6th TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1
8th RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 BASS PRO SHOPS/CABELA’S CAMARO ZL1
TOP FIVE FINISHERS:
POS. DRIVER
1ST Erik Jones (Toyota)
2nd Martin Truex, Jr., (Toyota)
3rd AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet)
4th Kasey Kahne (Chevrolet)
5th Chris Buescher (Chevrolet)
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Kentucky Speedway with the Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart on Saturday, July 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 3rd
DESCRIBE YOUR RUN HERE TONIGHT:
“I think it was a destruction derby out there instead of a Cup race, but first of all congrats to Erik (Jones) and that whole team. I know what it’s like to get that first win, so he well deserves it, congrats to him. Yeah, see it from the left side of the car here it’s like sometimes you try to figure out what the plan is. We tried to run in the back and still got wrecked running in the back. So, you know it was just about survival and I thought the Kroger Clicklist Chevy was pretty good. Just had a lot of drag on it so I thought our chance to win was going to be tough, but I tried to make the right decision there. I missed about seven wrecks it felt like. Anytime you can walk out of here with a decent finish and to have a top five especially both cars in the top five, so great for our whole organization. It’s one of those things you would like to go get the win, it was close, but top three it was a good day.”
ON HIS RACE:
“I tried hanging back and I still got wrecked. Sometimes it’s just Daytona, but first of all congrats to Erik Jones and that whole team. I know what it’s like to get a first win, he well deserves it and that whole team. So, cool for him. Yeah, we were just trying to ride in the back early, still got hit and damaged the left-rear a lot. My guys did a great job. I thought our Kroger Clicklist Chevy was pretty fast. Once it had that damage it had a lot of drag on it. Then I think I missed about another 20 wrecks and at the end still had a shot to win the race and tried to make the move at the end there. To get a top three at Daytona, both cars in the top five so I think that is both races we have had both cars in the top 10. Solid night, when you are that close you would like to get a little bit more, but it could have been a lot worse. A little bit of momentum after my mess up at Sonoma. So, hopefully this kicks us off into the second half of the season. Go to Kentucky, Kroger’s home race and have a good showing there.”
HOW ABOUT THE RACING TONIGHT?
“Is it a full moon? I don’t know. Yeah, I mean the first stage went just like I thought it would. Everybody just kind of got in a single-file line. They tried to race at the end to get stage points and all of a sudden it was like all hell broke loose and from there it was just craziness. Then once you start getting to the end track position is so critical here. People start doing everything that they can. It was a crazy race. Hopefully, all the fans and everybody at home enjoyed it. I think my heart stopped beating a couple of times might have to change my underwear as well. It was insane out there.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 95 THORNE WELLNESS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 4th
JUST HOW GOOD WAS YOUR RACE CAR?
“Our Thorne Chevrolet was awesome. It was great. I figured it out in the second stage I knew that we had a car capable of winning if I did the right things with it. I had opportunities to get to the lead. We stayed there at a time but just didn’t figure it all out at the end there. Erik Jones congrats to him. (Martin) Truex was super-fast. I was just trying to hang with those guys and I thought we had a really good shot at it.”
WHAT WERE THE RIGHT THINGS THAT NEEDED TO BE DONE?
“Well, get back to the lead from the time I lost the lead I needed to get back to the lead and I never got there. I just about cleared Martin (Truex, Jr.) off of (Turn) 2. But he just barely hung on my left-rear and pulled me back a bunch. From that point I needed to block the No. 20. I tried to slow him up, but he was coming fast. The gap was pretty big and he was coming fast and I didn’t do a good enough job of stopping him.”
WALK US THROUGH THOSE FINAL FEW RESTARTS:
“I was just kind of put in positions and I thought I could clear and get to the bottom when I was the leader. That was my plan and the spotter said they were broken up on the bottom and the No. 88 was still fairly close, so I stayed there and then they went by on the bottom. So, a little miscommunication there. Later on, I got a run around the No. 78 off the corner and he just got me. Just pulled me back enough and the No. 20 was coming and I just had to try to kind of block him the best I could but he got to my outside. But we had a great Thorne Chevrolet. The guys did an awesome job. Pit stops were strong, everything was good tonight. Once we got up there we stayed there the rest of the race, the car was good.”
WERE THERE TIMES TONIGHT THAT YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO WIN THIS THING?
“I knew I had a shot. I knew I had a car capable. Once we got going in the second stage I knew my car was capable of winning it was just a matter of where I put it and the places I put it in and we ended up fourth, so not good enough.”
FOR A SMALLER TEAM LIKE THIS HOW IMPORTANT IS A TOP FIVE LIKE THIS?
“Really important. We ran, I think, fourth and fourth in the final two stages there, so that is great for our team. We were great in Sonoma, good here, we keep fighting and the guys do their job we just need to keep getting more consistent, but we are getting there slowly, but surely.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 KLEENEX WET WIPES CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th
DESCRIBE THE WILD GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED TO FINISH THIS THING:
“Yeah, it was a wild night overall. Just proud of everybody on our Kleenex Wet Wipes Camaro ZL1. We fought hard today and stayed out of trouble and were there at the end with our teammate AJ (Allmendinger). We got a good run on the outside, we were able to give (Erik) Jones a good shove down the back there and got him clear. We just couldn’t quite clear with him. So, congrats to him on his first win. Proud of our operation and what we were able to accomplish today. Wish we could have lined up and tried to get it, but that’s always easy to say after Daytona you go back and would love to replay it, but a good day for us.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 10th
EVEN WITH THE EARLY DAMAGE, YOU GUYS SEEMED TO STAY IN THE HUNT ALL NIGHT
“Yeah, that early damage definitely didn’t help things. It kind of made the car a parachute out front, but we tried all night. I made some bad calls and got put in the wrong spot a couple of times, but just kind of couldn’t put it together there at the end. Little bit of a bummer, wish we would have ended up a little better, but not a terrible day.”
JEFFREY EARNHARDT, NO. 7 NINE LINE FOUNDATION CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 11th
“Just proud of all these guys. Nine Line Foundation, Black Rifle Coffee, Extreme Concepts – they are the reason I am here with the cause that they are trying to push and its just an honor to get to be a part of it. It’s an incredible company and they support our country, our military and all of our veterans. I am so happy I got them a good run. Everyone kept asking me what it means to come here with the Earnhardt name at Daytona, and it does mean a lot, don’t get me wrong. But to show support to our veterans and be a part of what the foundation is doing…..that meant more to me than anything tonight. Proud of all the guys at Premium in giving me a good car tonight and keeping the car in one piece. Its my best career finish in the Cup series, so hopefully this will lead to some more sponsorship and get me back out here on the track more often.”
WHAT IS YOUR OUTLOOK THE REST OF THE SEASON?
“Right now this is all we had on paper. So, it was really important to run good tonight, for that reason as well. I am blessed to be out here and I am happy with the finish, happy with the outcome, and hopefully we can get some more races before the end of the season.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – Involved in an accident on lap 124. Finished 29th
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I think I cut a tire. It just spun out on me when I turned into (Turn) 3. A little bit unlucky there for Ricky (Stenhouse, Jr.) for me to be… he had just blended on the track and then I drive around him and just unlucky timing on both of our parts I guess there. I am not sure how much damage he has, but I hate that for him. Just kind of a frustrating race for us. I was just patient all race long and got caught up in that first wreck down the backstretch a little bit. Got some damage and was just kind of riding around again there are a ton of torn up cars, so I was going to be able to salvage a pretty decent day, I thought. Yeah, just had a random tire issue there. When we made our green flag stop I didn’t wave off to the guys behind me because I just assumed everybody was pitting and whoever was behind me got my rear bumper and I guess it sounded like we had a little bit of right-rear damage there, so it must have gotten to the tire when we came back out and ultimately cut our tire.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 – Involved in a multi-car accident on lap 66. Finished 32nd
WHAT HAPPENED?
“Yeah, just the No. 17 car (Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.) just kind of I guess hooked the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) into me. It seemed like he was being really aggressive and that is the second time we have kind of been on the wrong end of something with him. Unfortunate for us, but we had a good race going. We needed to really have a really good day because of the points position we are in, but that is just part of speedway racing I guess, but it stinks to be on that side of it. But at least we led some laps so that was good.”
WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“I think honestly the No. 17 (Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.) I think came up in third and hooked the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) which hooked me kind of facing head on into the wall. So, I was able to get it turned and back to the bottom and then I got clipped again in the left front and hooked into the wall. So, definitely not how we wanted it to end for us, but just really unfortunate. Kind of was on the wrong end of the same guys thing for a second time. Not how we wanted to end here, but we will go on to Kentucky.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CAMARO ZL1 – Involved in a multi-car accident on lap 54. Finished 34th
YOU’VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WATCH THE REPLAY, WHAT HAPPENED?
“Yeah, I don’t know. I was watching the most recent wreck, we are not going to have anybody left before it’s over with. But, yeah, I don’t know, I think the best I can remember Brad (Keselowski) had a pretty big run on William (Byron) and I don’t think William was clear, but he didn’t know he wasn’t clear and then Brad tried to get on the brakes really hard to stop for him. We were getting really close to the corner so he couldn’t enter on the apron and whoever was behind him hit him and turned him up the track. Not really a whole lot you can do about that.”
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