NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
BLUEGREEN VACATIONS DUELS AT DAYTONA
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
FEBRUARY 16, 2023
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL DUEL 1 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
10th William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1
11th Ross Chastain, No. 1 AdventHealth Camaro ZL1
12th Erik Jones, No. 43 Guns N’ Roses Camaro ZL1
13th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Camaro ZL1
14th Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Carvana Camaro ZL1
15th AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Camaro ZL1
16th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Cottonelle Camaro ZL1
17th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
18th Chandler Smith, No. 13 Quick Tie Inc. Camaro ZL1
21st Ty Dillon, No. 77 Ferris Camaro ZL1
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL DUEL 2 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
3rd Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
5th Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL1
6th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1
8th Austin Hill, No. 62 Bennett Transportation/Beard Camaro ZL1
9th Kyle Busch, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1
11th Noah Gragson, No. 42 Wendy’s Camaro ZL1
12th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1
14th Justin Haley, No. 31 Cirkul Camaro ZL1
16th BJ McLeod, No. 78 Power Slap Rumble Camaro ZL1
17th Conor Daly, No. 50 BitNile.com Camaro ZL1
The NASCAR Cup Series will take the green flag for the 65th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 19, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:
Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Carvana Camaro ZL1 – Finished 14th in Duel 1; Qualified on speed for the Daytona 500
“My first race in the Next Gen car is done and we finished 14th in the Duel. Wish that we finished a little bit better, but we got a ton of great reps for the No. 84 Carvana Chevy team. I have new over-the-wall guys, a new spotter, new crew chief, a new team – to have this behind us is really good and I think it was a really successful day. I wish that our strategy was a bit better for the cars we were running with, but we have 500 miles on Sunday to figure that out.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 – Finished 3rd
“I had a pretty good run going; Austin (Hill) blocked that and then that kind of stalled the top. Then from there, we got really lucky because whoever got loose made a great save up there because I thought we were all wrecked. It was good to get back to third there and get a good start for Sunday. We will try and make our No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy drive a little better; keep the same pace and I think we will be alright.”
Noah Gragson, No. 42 Wendy’s Camaro ZL1 – Finished 11th
“I feel really good about our No. 42 Wendy’s Chevy Camaro. We just tried to stay out of trouble; didn’t want to go to a backup car. Just really tried learning about different positioning I could have behind the wheel in the draft and in different scenarios. We got in a couple pit stops, which was good to learn how these guys do their pit stops and what I could do better.
Overall, it was just a solid race, solid preparation for the Daytona 500.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1 – Finished 12th
Suarez on the contact with Kyle Busch:
“It was unfortunate. You never want that to happen. I felt like a few laps before that, they told me on the radio that we needed to start making time. The No. 5 (Kyle Larson) was being more aggressive to me, pushing me. I thought the No. 8 (Kyle Busch) was actually dragging his brakes because I could push him so easily. I guess he wasn’t, but I was getting so much energy from the No. 5 that I was just pushing too hard. I felt like the No. 5 was pushing pretty hard to me, and I was just pushing the No. 8 too hard. When they gave me the message to take it easy on the corners, I was going to do that. But I spun him out on the straightaway, so I was not expecting that.
It’s unfortunate. It’s definitely not the way we had that planned.”
Conor Daly, No. 50 BitNile.com Camaro ZL1 – Finished 17th; Locked-in a spot for the Daytona 500
Conor Daly, you said it was a one in a million shot that you would make the Daytona 500. You’re in. I saw you sit there, look out. What were you thinking at that moment when you got out of the car just now?
“Well, we were inherently unlucky for the last 36 hours, but we got lucky. I wish I could have said that I drove it in on pure pace, but it was just crazy.
When we went out there, the car was bouncing around. I had no idea what was going on. I thought the drivetrain was broken, and Tony just made it better every time. We got lucky with the yellows to try to get some experience, but it is pretty crazy.
This race, I’ve watched it for so many years and so much crazy stuff can happen, and thankfully we were on the right side of the craziness. It’s pretty amazing.”
Austin Hill, No. 62 Bennett Transportation/Beard Camaro ZL1 – Finished 18th
“I was on the top and saw someone about lost it, can’t remember who, but I knew it was getting dicey. Going down the backstretch I actually rolled out of the throttle a little bit, but I had guys behind me and it wasn’t like I could jump out of the throttle. I saw the wreck started happening and dirt started coming across the race track. When the dirt was going across the track I kind of lost sight of where the cars were that were wrecked and the next thing I knew was I was trying to get on the brakes pretty hard and I don’t know if I got in the dirt and it got me loose or the 15 tagged me, I have no idea. Either way I started going toward the outside wall and I got a lot of damage. I think the right front blower was broke and there was no way to fix it and it just ended our night. It’s a bummer because we knew where the 50 was and we knew that he was multiple laps down and all we had to do was beat him. When we were single file, we were like, ‘hey, we are just going to run here’. We were going to try and get some experience and learn the draft and see what the Cup cars do differently from the Xfinity cars. As soon as they got two wide through the tri-oval, I should have just bailed completely and lost the draft and not worried about it. I didn’t react fast enough and then the wreck started and we ended up in it. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be in the 500 from where the 50 was running and really it was just being dumb on my part and there is just no reason for that. I was the one holding the steering wheel and I should have just seen what was happening and just let those guys do their thing and we just fall back. Even if we fall laps down, it doesn’t matter as long as we stay in front of the 50. It stings, but we get to race on Saturday in the Xfinity car and I am really excited about that with RCR and hope we can go win that race.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1 – Finished 19th
What did you feel inside the race car?
“Just a lot of pushing and shoving for a few laps straight. Doing everything you can to try and hang on, and do the best you can to make sure that you keep it straight. Just finally overloaded the left-rear and hooked it to the right.
Hate it for all my guys. They built a fast N.8 3CHI Chevy Camaro. It was really fun to drive. It drove great the whole time. Everything was super easy, super simple. But we have a long ways to go. I don’t understand, but it is what it is.
Thanks to 3CHI, BetMGM, Lenovo, Chevy. The guys have a lot of work to do, unfortunately. I hate it for them, but we’ll be back on Sunday.”
Do you feel like you have to have a conversation with any other drivers?
“No.. I just don’t understand why, but it is what it is. There’s no changing it.”
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.
