NASCAR CUP SERIES
PHOENIX RACEWAY
NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
NOVEMBER 7, 2021
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
5th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA CAMARO ZL1 1LE
14th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 CLOVER CAMARO ZL1 1LE
15th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW COATINGS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
16th KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
17th WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTOR CAMARO ZL1 1LE
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
2nd Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)
3rd Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
4th Ryan Blaney (Ford)
5th Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race Winner/Champion
HERE HE IS, CLIMBING OUT OF THE CAR, CELEBRATING WITH HIS TEAM, KYLE LARSON. CONGRATULATIONS. YOU ARE A CUP SERIES CHAMPION.
“Let me get a drink here real quick. I can’t — I cannot believe it. I didn’t even think I’d be racing a Cup car a year and a half ago. To win a championship is crazy. I’ve got to say first off thank you so much to Rick Hendrick, Hendrickcars.com, Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, every single one of my supporters in the stands, watching at home, my family. I’ve got so many of my friends and family here. My parents, my sister, my wife and kids. Owen had been giving me crap a month and a half ago about how I can’t win a Cup race when he’s there, so that added a lot of pressure.
There were so many points in this race where I did not think we were going to win. Without my pit crew on that last stop, we would not be standing right here. They are the true winners of this race. They are true champions. I’m just blessed to be a part of this group. Every single man or person, man and woman at Hendrick Motorsports, this win is for all of us, and every one of you.
This is unbelievable. I’m speechless.”
WHEN YOU CROSSED THE FINISH LINE WITH THOSE TEARS IN YOUR EYES, DID YOU THINK ABOUT THAT DAY YOUR DAD BROUGHT THAT GO-KART HOME WITHOUT TELLING YOUR MOM AND THAT MOMENT LED TO THIS?
“I had a lot of thoughts, a lot of thoughts there those last — really since before intros, right before intros it all hit me. I had tears running down my face just doing the ride-around. The crowd was cheering loud, and it was just a different atmosphere than I’ve ever been a part of.
This event was crazy. This format is wild. I’m glad we were able to get it done. And yes, a big shout-out to my parents for getting me involved in racing, my dad for everything he did, building my go-karts when I was young to get me playing around, my mom for videotaping every lap I ever raced and giving me something I could look at and study and get better.
Gosh, so cool, I cannot believe it.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NASCAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 5th
YOU LED 94 LAPS TODAY, AND ONCE YOU LOST THE LEAD WHEN THAT CAUTION CAME OUT, COULDN’T GET IT BACK. WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED TO DO BATTLE AT THE END?
“Yeah, maybe just the right set of circumstances. I felt like our NAPA Chevy was really good, and I thought our team did a really good job preparing this week. I was really proud of our group. I thought we brought a really good car and did a lot of things that we were wanting it to do today, just didn’t work out, and the sequence of the way all that went certainly was unfortunate for us.
But look, proud of our team, a lot to build on, and also congrats to Kyle and Cliff. What an amazing season. Very, very deserving champions, and glad to see Kyle have success.
When you’re a good driver and a good person and you surround yourself with good people, success is warranted. It’s good to see that. But we’ll be back stronger next year and try to give them a run.”
CHASE, YOUR RACE, YOU HAD CONTACT WITH KYLE AT ONE POINT. THAT SEEMED TO MAYBE HELP HIS CAR A LITTLE BIT IN TERMS OF DOWNFORCE
“Yeah, maybe. I kind of thought I had a run a little bit and I didn’t think there was quite enough room, and I thought he was going to come to the wall, so I was like, well, I’ll try to go to the bottom really fast, and then he ended up like not moving, and then I came down. It was just a really weird set of circumstances, ended up hitting him in the right rear and it flared the thing out. That was nice.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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