Early Vibration Hinders Austin Dillon and the No. 3 AAA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Team at Kentucky Speedway
“I hate that we had problems early. We had a vibration as soon as we started the race and we had no option but to pit for four tires on the AAA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. I actually started feeling it during the pace laps at the start of the race, but I thought it was just a cold set of tires. It must have been a bad set of tires. As soon as we pitted the vibration was gone and we were one of the fastest cars on the track. From there, it was a battle to earn the Lucky Dog, and then to keep up with changing track conditions with chassis adjustments during scheduled pit stops. Every position was hard-fought tonight. We have a lot of work to do.”
-Austin Dillon
Ryan Newman Generates 21st-Place Finish in the No. 31 Caterpillar Camaro ZL1 at Kentucky Speedway
“Track position was the name of the game tonight. We started off with a really bad vibration. Fortunately, it worked itself out after we bolted on new Goodyear tires. From there, we focused on improving our handling. My biggest issue all night was Turns 1 and 2. Everyone talks about Turn 3, but it was neutral for us. Overall, we definitely improved our Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from when we tested here earlier this year, by leaps and bounds. We definitely improved our qualifying effort, but ultimately it comes down to where we finished and we still have some work to do. Our car wasn’t that bad, but getting track position after that first run and a pit road penalty were too tough to overcome. Thanks to Caterpillar for all their activation plans this weekend. I think some race fans are going home happy after our Cat INV2000 Portable Inverter Generator giveaways.”
-Ryan Newman