MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
POCONO RACEWAY
POCONO 400
TEAM CHEVY Post Race Notes & Quotes
JUNE 2, 2019
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
4th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
9th William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Autoguard Camaro ZL1
11th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1
13th Daniel Hemric, No. 8 Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Camaro ZL1
14th Chris Buescher, No. 37 Kroger Thrill of the Grill Camaro ZL1
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Busch (Toyota)
2nd Brad Keselowski (Ford)
3rd Erik Jones (Toyota)
4th Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
5th Clint Bowyer (Ford)
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Michigan International Speedway with the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, June 9 at 2 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 4th
THOUGHTS ON HIS RUN:
“Playing the strategy game was really important. Pitting before the stages was giving up stage points doing that, but ultimately having track position in the back half was where it was worth it. Luckily, Alan (Gustafson) and our group saw that earlier in the race and we kind of jumped on board with that strategy. It worked out for a top five. I’m proud of the effort. We’ve had some good NAPA Chevrolet’s the last couple of weeks. We’ve been good, just not great and you have to be great to win these things. I’ll go to work and try to do a better job, and we’ll see what we can do next week.”
“We had a solid day. Things kind of went our way there at the end to get that Top 5. It was nice to be running in the Top 5 and be close, just not close enough.”
HOW HARD WAS IT TO PASS?
“It was really tough.”
CAN YOU TAKE ANYTHING AWAY FROM THIS RACE?
“Yeah, a Top 5. We didn’t get a lot of points. We were playing the strategy game there on the stage deal, but we’ll take a Top 5 anytime. We’d like to be just a little better. I feel like we’re really close. We’re just not there. It’s nice to be disappointed with running in the Top 5 these past few weeks.”
DO YOU NEED MORE SPEED IN THE CAR?
I don’t know if it’s that or me or both or whatever. We’ve got some work to do.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HENDRICK AUTOGUARD CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 9th
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR RACE? YOU WERE REALLY STRONG. FOR A MINUTE WE THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO GET THIS ONE. YOU PROBABLY DID, TOO.
“Yeah, it was really good. We had some really good parts of the race. We kind of went for the points, which with the way the strategy was, it was hard to get back there. But we got a lot of points today, which was great. I know it doesn’t sound super good, but we had really good stages and really good runs there. So, we were able to go from 12th to 9th on that last restart and that was nice and we finished with a Top 10, so hopefully we can go to Michigan and be able to improve on that even more.”
DID YOU THINK YOU HAD SPEED IN THE CAR LIKE YOU HAD ENOUGH FOR KYLE BUSCH OR YOU JUST COULDN’T GET TO HIM? THERE WAS OBVIOUSLY A LOT TO FOCUS ON
“Yeah, we were definitely as fast as him at the start of the race. I don’t know how the race would have progressed. But, it took us a long time to get by guys and that was just something that kind of was a hindrance. But overall the guys did a great job on the car and this was a solid day. We’ve had two in a row now. That’s great for us.”
ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10, HOW WOULD YOU RATE THE RACING TODAY? WAS IT DIFFICULT TO PASS?
“I wish it was a little easier, but it felt like any time I got within striking distance to somebody, I just couldn’t quite get there and I’d lose as much as I gained and then I’d have to work that all back for 10 laps and then lose it again. It was just really hard. I don’t know if that was just me or what, but it was hard to complete it. The only times I could really make a move was when I just went in there and almost crashed the guy trying to do it and just got so close that it got loose. There were very few times I could get that close, but if I could, that was how I passed guys.”
ALL IN ALL, IT WAS A GREAT WEEKEND FOR YOU GUYS. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT YOUR RACE TEAM?
“That’s great. Another pole is obviously awesome. I have to work on some things and just clean it all up and I think we’ll be really close.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 15th
“That was not what we needed today. We had a good car, and we just fought some handling issues off and on. Greg (Ives) and the Axalta team made good adjustments on each stop. There at the end, it just came out of fourth gear and wouldn’t stay in. I had to hold it in place for the end of the race.
“We learned some things today about how this package will run at Pocono, sio we have a little idea for next time. We will leave here and move on to Michigan.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – Won Stages 1 and 2, Finished 26th
“It felt like our team did a really good job of calling pit strategy the first half of the race for those two Stage wins. I felt like our car was really good, especially in that final Stage. I just didn’t have the track position, but I could pass people when I felt like other people couldn’t pass. So, I was happy about that. And then, just that restart, I tried to be really aggressive and fit in that hole. I haven’t seen a replay, but am assuming I just wasn’t clear and I turned myself in the wall. I hate that I did that, but I felt like that was a good opportunity to fit in that hole and just get the run and maybe get by whoever was in front of me because I feel like I had a really good car at the time. So, I’ve just got to be smarter.”
WAS THIS A SHOT IN THE ARM FOR YOU GUYS WITH THE 2 STAGE WINS AND THE ALL-STAR WIN?
“Yeah, it was good. I thought our team did a really good job. I thought our pit stops for the most part were really good and our restarts were really good, except for the last one; which is was a good restart, I just got overly aggressive there. Yeah, it was a good day. We had a really fast car. I felt like my speed down the straightaways was really good. I felt like I had good power thanks to Hendrick Engines. I just wish I would have finished out the day good.”
DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE JUST SETTLED-OUT IN THE TOP 5 IF IT WASN’T FOR THAT ACCIDENT WHEN IT CAME TO 8 LAPS TO GO?
“I think if I would have not tried to fit in that hole; I think Clint (Bowyer) finished 5th so I probably would have been around 5th or 6th.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR RESULT TODAY?
“I feel like we had a good car. It was a Top 3 speed, and probably third or fourth-best car. I just got really aggressive there and got myself in the wall.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined on Lap 30 due to accident. Finished 37th
WHAT HAPPENED?
“Paul Menard has been doing this for a long time. I was a teammate with him at some point. I don’t know. He still hasn’t figured it out, I guess. I don’t know where I was supposed to go or what I was supposed to do. He just ran into the back of me and missed the corner. He overshot it.”
ARE YOU FRUSTRATED WITH HIM AND WILL YOU TALK TO HIM ABOUT IT?
“No, I’m not going to talk to him about it. There’s no need to talk to him about it. He know what he did.”
HE DID TAKE THE BLAME ON THE RADIO
“Well, it takes me out of the race and kills us in the points. I know he’s close in points, too. It’s all where it’s at. I don’t know. It’s disappointing. That’s all I’ve got to say about it. There’s nothing nice I have to say about him right now.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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