NASCAR CUP SERIES
SEASON FINALE 500
PHOENIX RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES
NOVEMBER 8, 2020
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 1LE
5th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 1LE
9th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE
12th Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro ZL1 1LE
15th Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Door Dash Camaro ZL1 1LE
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1. Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
2. Brad Keselowski (Ford)
3. Joey Logano (Ford)
4. Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
5. Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)
UNOFFICIAL FINAL PLAYOFF RANK (Following Race 10 of 10)
POS. DRIVER
1. Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
2. Brad Keselowski (Ford)
3. Joey Logano (Ford)
4. Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to competition with the Daytona 500 season-opener at Daytona International speedway on February 14, 2021.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race Winner and 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion ~ Post race quick win quotes:
Q. I think it’s all finally starting to soak in for Chase Elliott, the sport’s most popular driver, now its newest champion. Just 20 days shy of his 25th birthday, the youngest champion since Jeff Gordon won his first of four titles back in 1995. Chase, you’ve been asked all week time and again what it would mean to you to win this championship; you didn’t have an answer back then. How do you answer that one now?
CHASE ELLIOTT: I’m not sure that I still even know. I just, man, I’m at a loss for words. This is unbelievable. Oh, my gosh. We did it. I mean, we did it. That’s all I’ve got to tell you. Unreal.
Championship crew chief, Alan Gustafson, is now a NASCAR Cup Series champion, and very deserving. I just can’t say enough about our group. I felt like we took some really big strides this year, and last week was a huge one. To come out of that with a win and a shot to come here and have a chance to race is unbelievable.
Heck, I don’t know. I don’t even know. This is unreal.
Q. You got back around Joey Logano and that 22 and then you just had to wait it out. I know you were anticipating a late caution. We’ve seen them in the other championship races. What was going through your mind in those closing laps?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, just waiting on the caution, as always. You know, I saw Joey was pretty loose there and felt like I needed to get to him while I could. I knew I’d been kind of tight on a longer run and he was probably going to get a little better. Just unbelievable.
I mean, I just never would have thought that this year would have gone like it has. I mean, NASCAR Cup Series champion; are you kidding me? Unreal.
Q. You come from a Hall of Fame pedigree. You’ve got your parents, Bill and Cindy, here to celebrate with you. They’re behind the car here. What does it mean to you to add to the family legacy?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Oh, it’s unbelievable. All you can dream for is an opportunity, and I’ve been very fortunate to have that over the years. You know, and that’s all thanks to some great people. You know, my parents obviously have played a huge role. The past year has been tough. I lost my best friend about a year ago tonight. Lost my grandmother last year. And all those things bring families closer, so I really can’t thank them enough.
Mr. Hendrick, for taking a chance on me and believing in me when a lot of people didn’t. I think it really says a lot about him. And then to have a championship sponsor like NAPA, all of our partners, and Chevrolet, huge thanks to Team Hendrick and everybody at our shop that peaked at the right time. That’s all we can ask for.
Q. It almost seemed like a changing of the guard. We saw a lot of people come by to congratulate you after the finish including the seven‑time champion Jimmie Johnson. What did that moment mean to you?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Oh, my gosh, to share a moment like that in Jimmie’s last race and to win and to lock the championship, those are moments you can only dream of. You know, and this is a dream. I’m just hoping I don’t ever wake up.
Q. You didn’t get to celebrate the win for Martinsville a week ago, but you can bet this 24‑year‑old will be celebrating this tonight.
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race Winner and 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion ~ Post race quick win quotes:
Q. I think it’s all finally starting to soak in for Chase Elliott, the sport’s most popular driver, now its newest champion. Just 20 days shy of his 25th birthday, the youngest champion since Jeff Gordon won his first of four titles back in 1995. Chase, you’ve been asked all week time and again what it would mean to you to win this championship; you didn’t have an answer back then. How do you answer that one now?
CHASE ELLIOTT: I’m not sure that I still even know. I just, man, I’m at a loss for words. This is unbelievable. Oh, my gosh. We did it. I mean, we did it. That’s all I’ve got to tell you. Unreal.
Championship crew chief, Alan Gustafson, is now a NASCAR Cup Series champion, and very deserving. I just can’t say enough about our group. I felt like we took some really big strides this year, and last week was a huge one. To come out of that with a win and a shot to come here and have a chance to race is unbelievable.
Heck, I don’t know. I don’t even know. This is unreal.
Q. You got back around Joey Logano and that 22 and then you just had to wait it out. I know you were anticipating a late caution. We’ve seen them in the other championship races. What was going through your mind in those closing laps?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, just waiting on the caution, as always. You know, I saw Joey was pretty loose there and felt like I needed to get to him while I could. I knew I’d been kind of tight on a longer run and he was probably going to get a little better. Just unbelievable.
I mean, I just never would have thought that this year would have gone like it has. I mean, NASCAR Cup Series champion; are you kidding me? Unreal.
Q. You come from a Hall of Fame pedigree. You’ve got your parents, Bill and Cindy, here to celebrate with you. They’re behind the car here. What does it mean to you to add to the family legacy?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Oh, it’s unbelievable. All you can dream for is an opportunity, and I’ve been very fortunate to have that over the years. You know, and that’s all thanks to some great people. You know, my parents obviously have played a huge role. The past year has been tough. I lost my best friend about a year ago tonight. Lost my grandmother last year. And all those things bring families closer, so I really can’t thank them enough.
Mr. Hendrick, for taking a chance on me and believing in me when a lot of people didn’t. I think it really says a lot about him. And then to have a championship sponsor like NAPA, all of our partners, and Chevrolet, huge thanks to Team Hendrick and everybody at our shop that peaked at the right time. That’s all we can ask for.
Q. It almost seemed like a changing of the guard. We saw a lot of people come by to congratulate you after the finish including the seven‑time champion Jimmie Johnson. What did that moment mean to you?
CHASE ELLIOTT: Oh, my gosh, to share a moment like that in Jimmie’s last race and to win and to lock the championship, those are moments you can only dream of. You know, and this is a dream. I’m just hoping I don’t ever wake up.
Q. You didn’t get to celebrate the win for Martinsville a week ago, but you can bet this 24‑year‑old will be celebrating this tonight.
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 9th
“Finished 2020 with a good top 10 finish today. We struggled a bit at the beginning, but we kept working on it and made up ground throughout the race. It was good to get a top 10 for Chad’s last race with us and as a crew chief. Great job to Chase (Elliott) and the No. 9 guys on the championship as well. They did a phenomenal job the last two races. I’m looking forward to the off season and then getting after it in 2021. Hopefully we’ll be fighting alongside those boys a lot.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th
“We battled; we battled today, we battled all year and we battled through the playoffs. We had an incredible win in Vegas and some great turnarounds at tracks that we struggled at this year. I couldn’t be more proud of Matt McCall and all the guys at Chip Ganassi Racing. We were bringing better cars throughout the Playoffs. We’ve got to battle as a team, we’ve got to do good things as a team, and we have to win and lose as a team. To be top-10 overall after the year is done; I’m done with 2020! Thanks to Monster Energy, Chevrolet, GEARWRENCH and all the employees at Chip Ganassi Racing”.
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 CHEVYGOODS.COM/TRUCKHERO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 16th
“Definitely a bummer to run like that today. So happy for Chase (Elliott) to win a championship like that is really neat. For Jimmie (Johnson) to have a solid run on his last race is really cool. We just were not competitive and its pretty frustrating to run like that to close the season out. It’s really the only race we weren’t competitive in throughout the entire playoffs. Really proud of my entire team for the fight each and every week. I know we are going to have a great year next year, but first I am ready for this off season.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 18th
“We had a solid No. 3 Dow Chevrolet today at Phoenix Raceway. We started off tight in Stage 1 but the handling came to us the longer we ran. I just couldn’t get through the corners as well as I would have liked to all day long. Towards the end of the race, we knocked in both the left and right rears, which caused our Chevy’s handling to turn extremely loose. We hung on for all we had to finish 18th. Not the finish we wanted, but we’ll regroup and be ready next year. Thank you everyone at RCR , ECR, all of our fans and partners for your support this year. Congratulations to Chase Elliott and Team Chevy on winning the Championship.
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 I AM SECOND CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 19th
“Our No. 8 I Am Second Chevrolet had some good speed in it today at Phoenix Raceway. I just needed more to roll through the center of the turns, but it was tough to adjust on that since I was also fighting a loose feeling on entry and exit of the turns. We had a good top-15 run during part of the race today, but towards the end I started having some issues with my brakes and had to adjust a little bit to finish out the race. I want to thank everyone at RCR and ECR for building great cars this year and all the effort they put into this season. We also had a great group of partners supporting us this year with Caterpillar, Chevy, Alsco, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, I Am Second, Tame the Beast, Avalan Wealth Management, and so many others. I learned a lot during my rookie season and know our team will regroup over the off-season to study how to be better in 2021.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 21st
“All I can say is thank you to everyone at Germain Racing for a wonderful four years. It has been an honor to start my Cup career with this team and I can’t say thank you enough. To represent GEICO for four seasons was a privilege and I appreciate Bob Germain and GEICO for taking a chance on me as a rookie. I have so much love and appreciation for all those who have had a hand in this journey.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
