NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
BASS PRO SHOPS NIGHT RACE
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 17, 2022
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
2nd CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CAMARO ZL1
3rd WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 ACRONIS CAMARO ZL1
5th KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1
6th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1
7th AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 ACTION INDUSTRIES CAMARO ZL1
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Chris Buescher (Ford)
2nd Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
3rd William Byron (Chevrolet)
4th Christopher Bell (Toyota)
5th Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
Race one of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12 will get underway next Sunday, September 25, at Texas Motor Speedway with the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:
ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 6th
What was your big takeaway from this race?
“I’m proud of the effort from Trackhouse Racing, the No. 1 Worldwide Express team and Chevrolet to minimize things that take you out of the race. The minimal amount of flat tires.. none for Trackhouse. I don’t know about the other Chevy’s, but just a minimal amount for the bowties. That’s what we need; we needed extra air in the tires and extra clearance off the ground.
We struggled just being tight all night. We put a couple rounds in the right-rear there at the end and drove up to sixth. We were up there where we needed to be all night.
Looking at the next round, what do you guys need to work on and what do you feel like your strengths were in this first round?
“To be honest, I’ve only had Homestead on my mind next for the test this week. We have a lot of questions to answer there. Good, bad or in different – Wednesday night, we’re going to know a whole lot more and that’s what tests are for. We’re taking a lot of spare parts. I need to work on running up top more, running the wall. That’s a big thing we’re going to focus on.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS / TRACKER OFF ROAD CAMARO ZL1, sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 278.
Finished: 31st
DILLON ON THE ACCIDENT HE WAS INVOLVED IN THAT ENDED HIS RACE:
“I was just told the No. 99 (Daniel Suarez) wrecked in front of the field there and got in the No. 47 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.). I hate it for the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevy team. We got left-front suspension damage and if we don’t get that, we’re out there running and probably in a good points position to make it.
It’s unfortunate, but we put ourselves in a little bit of a bind, points-wise, in the first two races. We were doing our job today though. We had a great race car and got stage points. It’s just unfortunate we were caught up in it.”
HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE REST OF THE SEASON?
“Just go and try to win races and get better. I think today was a positive overall. We can use that going into next year.”
TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 25th
Reddick on the accident he was involved in and what his team tried to do after that:
“I saw the crash happen. I checked up, but I just got run over. We had two bad races with bad finishes. We had two really good race cars, but we just didn’t capitalize on it and that was enough to miss it.”
What was it like to limp around and just hope that other drivers had trouble?
“It was terrible. It’s out of your control; you can’t really fight to do anything about it. Hoping for others’ misfortunes is no way to race.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 2nd
You weren’t really comfortable with your car and then you were locked-in and you got very comfortable, very fast. How would you sum up the night?
“It was long. Obviously, hate to run second and get that close. The top just got so dominant there at the end. I couldn’t really run the bottom and keep pace. Unfortunately for me, we never really caught much of lap traffic and that was really what I needed. I hate to be so close. This is my favorite race of the year and it would have been nice to check that box.
Proud of our No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet team for fighting through it. We had a poor starting spot and unfortunate pit selection that kind of handcuffed us all night. We put ourselves in a hole yesterday and was able to get a top-two out of it. We’ll try again next week.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 ACTION INDUSTRIES CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 7th
“I’m happy to run 500 laps at Bristol anytime I can do that. That’s a good night. I was pretty happy with our No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1. We just needed a little bit more I think to get to the next level, but really happy when we can run anywhere from about seventh to 10th all night. We had good strategy, and our pitstops were really good. So overall, I’m just really, really happy with the night.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 ACRONIS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 3rd
“Honestly, with this Next Gen car, the pace is so fast around here and I didn’t really have a chance to see what was going on around me. I would see guys up in the wall, having flat tire issues or blowing up, so I just tried to avoid it.
Our No. 24 Acronis Chevrolet team did a great job tonight. We were a little bit timid early and didn’t really quite have the car in stage one. We wanted to get those points so we could advance. And then they told me after stage one that we were locked-in. We were a little bit freer after that. We really didn’t change much, but we got the car better and had a good second and final stage.
I’m really proud of this team. This whole round, we’ve been getting better each race. Just really proud of the effort. After a rough summer, this is really good to see how we brought ourselves to the playoffs. Thank you to all of our partners and supporters back home. We’re really excited.”
JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 12th
“That’s a really strong night for our No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet. We fought hard all night, played some excellent strategy and just had an overall good car. That was a good, good run for the company. We are definitely building something. We will take this and keep improving.”
TY DILLON, NO. 42 EG3 TECHNOLOGIES CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 26th
“Such a bummer way to end an otherwise pretty solid night out at Bristol. Our No. 42 team was able to make some pretty good changes to our EG3 car to help us throughout the race, and that put us in a position for a top-15 finish. Unfortunately, a mechanical issue of some sort took us out early. It’s a shame because we had made some good gains up until that point, but that just how it goes sometimes. Looking forward to heading to Texas next weekend and put this one behind us.”
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 U.S. AIR FORCE CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 21st
“We knew this week may be a test with the new car at Bristol and it proved to have its challenges tonight. We struggled with the handling early in the race and were making the right changes, but spun missing a wreck and that put us a few laps down and then had a couple of tire issues late in the race. A disappointing night for sure. We have seven more races to build for next year and I know we are capable of running up front and winning races, just need to turn things around. We’ll had to Texas next week, one of my favorite tracks, and see what we can do.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1, sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 278.
Finished: 32nd
What did you see from your perspective?
“Cars stopping in a hurry and no way for me to get stopped. We lost power steering and tried to work our way through it. We stayed out to get stage points, which thankfully we had a great racecar and we were able to get stage points even without power steering and lock ourselves in. But the flip side of that was restarting in the back there and just getting collected.
It’s a bummer, but at least we’re onto the next round and we can focus on Texas (Motor Speedway) next weekend.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 TOOTSIES ORCHID LOUNGE CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 19th
You advanced to the Round of 12. I know this was a hard day for you guys; the car wasn’t what you wanted it to be. How rewarding is it to run all of the laps tonight and live to fight another day?
“It was a long day. It wasn’t pretty, but we did what we needed to do. We thought we were going to be able to make our car better from yesterday to today, but it was not. We have to regroup. Hopefully we can fight some monsters and come back stronger. I think the next round is pretty good for us. Texas (Motor Speedway), we’re going to be strong. A road course is in our wheelhouse. A superspeedway, anything can happen.
I’m very thankful for our No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevy team. They never give up. The car wasn’t what we needed, but we’re still on the good side of it.”
How tough is the mental reset after a night like tonight?
“You have no idea how easy it’s going to be for me to reset because that car was not fun. For me, to be able to make it to the next round with the way the car was driving, is a huge plus. Thank you to everyone on our team. They did a very good job. We had the speed, but there were a lot of mistakes; on pit road, myself, overall. We’ll come back stronger for the next round.”
TEAM CHEVY RACE QUICK NOTES
Stage One:
· Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman led Chevrolet to the green in the 500-lap NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race, starting second and third, respectively, in their Camaro ZL1’s.
· The 125-lap Stage One saw four Chevrolet drivers take top-10 positions at the end of the Stage, led by Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 in fifth.
· Stage One: Team Chevy Top-10
5th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
6th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
8th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1
9th William Byron, No. 24 Acronis Camaro ZL1
Stage Two:
· William Byron – who entered the Round of 16 elimination race in the second position in the playoff standings – clinched his spot by points into the Round of 12 during the early laps of Stage Two.
· A caution flying at the end of Stage Two; crew chief Cliff Daniels chose pit strategy while running in the top-10, bringing Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 down pit road for a four-tire and fuel stop with 15 laps left in the Stage.
· At the conclusion of Stage Two, Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 team punched their ticket to the Round of 12 by virtue of points.
· Stage Two: Team Chevy Top-10
2nd Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1
4th Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hooter Camaro ZL1
6th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
7th William Byron, No. 24 Acronis Camaro ZL1
8th Austin Dillon, No. Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Camaro ZL1
9th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
Final Stage / Post-Race Notes:
· On lap 278, Chevrolet playoff drivers Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon were involved in an accident, sustaining damage that forced both teams to retire early from the race.
· In the duration of the Final Stage, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain were able to lock-in their spots into the Round of 12.
· In 29 points paying races, Chevrolet has now recorded 69 top-fives and 127 top-10s, continuing to lead all manufacturers.
· Six Chevrolet drivers have advanced to the Round of 12, with the bowtie brand continuing to occupy 50 percent of the playoff field.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and 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.
