NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500
TEAM CHEVY RACE CRASH QUOTE
FEBRUARY 17, 2020
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA ‘COLOR OF THE YEAR’ CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Sidelined in crash on lap 59
UNFORTUNATELY OUT OF THIS RACE EARLY. IT LOOKED LIKE THERE WAS CONTACT. WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED THERE ON THE BACKSTRETCH?
“Just from looking at it further, I think he slid left to cross my bumper and if he would have hit me square, it would have been fine. But when he was sliding left and hitting me, it moved my car a little left too and, ultimately, it kind of caused him to turn me in the left rear. I’m not really sure how that happens, but it is what it is. I don’t really know what to do differently; just kind of go back, look at it, go onto Vegas and try to do well there.”
WHAT ARE YOUR EMOTIONS TO HAVE THIS HAPPEN THIS EARLY? YOU NEVER WANT TO HAVE IT HAPPEN, BUT TO HAVE IT HAPPEN THIS EARLY.
“Yeah, you always know it can happen at these racetracks. But we had a great race car, we prepared well and that’s really all we can do. So, just learn from what I can there and go onto Las Vegas.”
INAUDIBLE
“He had given me a couple of bumps earlier before that and the car handled it fine. I think the fact that he was pushing me and sliding left across the bumper is what really got me slightly left. He moved to go out of line and misjudged that move it seemed like. Ultimately, he hit me in the left rear quarter panel and turned me straight into the inside wall. I understand making moves and stuff. I think we were all in line to that point. It wasn’t like I was trying to block him or anything; I just don’t really know where that came from.”
YOU ARE SO GOOD HERE AT DAYTONA; YOU WERE SO FAST. HOW ARE YOU FEELING?
“It’s the ups and downs of racing. It goes up and down, and luckily, we got something points-wise out of this race or less we’d have one point. I guess we have 10 or 11 points going into Las Vegas. We’re going to have to rebound and rally there. I don’t know, I’m not really sure what I could have done differently.”
IT SEEMED LIKE THE HENDRICK CARS AND THE NEW CHEVY’S COULD PRETTY MUCH DO WHATEVER THEY WANTED BY THEMSELVES. WAS THAT THE CASE?
“Yeah, I think it was just a good organizational effort there with the other Hendrick guys to work our way through the field. Everyone was single file on the top and we decided to go to the bottom and pick that lane up. I thought everything was going well there. We were just kind of riding around and wait to try to get to the end of this race, but it didn’t happen.”
SO MUCH PREPARATION AND DRAFT PRACTICE, ALL TO END LIKE THAT. WHAT HAPPENED?
“Yeah, I don’t know. Obviously, I got hit in the back bumper. I saw a brief replay of it. He (Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.) was kind of moving when he hit me first and so he pushed me left with him. And then he hit me in the center of the left rear and just turned me around. I think it was just enough. The first hit, when he was sliding left on my bumper, is what really moved my car left with him. So, I don’t know. It’s unfortunate. I feel like I don’t know. I feel like there’s really no reason to be that aggressive moving across my bumper, but it is what it is. We’ll go on to Vegas and go try to win that one.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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