NASCAR CUP SERIES
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FOOD CITY DIRT RACE
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
APRIL 9, 2023
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
3rd AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BREZTRI CAMARO ZL1
4th RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 KROGER / IRISH SPRING CAMARO ZL1
6th JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 TIDE CAMARO ZL1
TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Christopher Bell (Toyota)
2nd Tyler Reddick (Toyota)
3rd Austin Dillon (Chevrolet)
4th Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Chevrolet)
5th Chase Briscoe (Ford)
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Martinsville Speedway with the NOCO 400 on Sunday, April 16, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1
Finished: 3rd
A third place finish after starting on the outside pole. Austin, you had one heck of a racecar tonight, even after having to come through mid-pack and back up to the front. It seemed like your car was one of the few that was driving right at certain points of the night. Tell us about your race.
“I just have to thank SMI for all of the hard work they’ve done with this dirt racing. I don’t care what anybody says, that was an amazing show throughout the field. I felt like it was some great racing.
Have to thank the good Lord above. It’s Easter and that’s what we’re really here to celebrate. But man, that was a fun time. I really wish we could have brought home the No. 3 BREZTRI Chevy into victory lane. We were second in both stages and getting a third-place finish was big for us. Getting the momentum rolling. I had a lot of fun out there. Just wasn’t good enough against the fence when it mattered. We needed the track to kind of go back to our run. Right there at the end, we were kind of circling the middle and the car was really good. The No. 3 BREZTRI Chevy was fast, just not enough at the end.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
Finished: 35th
We saw contact earlier in the race between you and Ryan Preece. We saw it again off turn two and continue down the straightway. What caused it to continue?
“Yeah, I’m guessing he was paying me back for whatever I did earlier. He ran me straight into the fence and my car was broke and we crashed. It sucks, but I should just be mad at myself for spinning out earlier and putting myself back there. Just sucks.”
You were looking for a long run; you said you had a better car when you could go out there for a while.
“Yeah, just the tires seemed to operate better when they were hotter. Just didn’t get to run very long there at the end.”
Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Camaro ZL1
Finished: 33rd
“I felt like we had a much better No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevy from the heat races to the race. Luke Lambert (crew chief) and the rest of the Sunseeker team really did a great job of making adjustments to the car and improving it; going from dead last in the heat race and starting 36th in the race, and then getting up into the top-10. The team did a great job, a great effort in making adjustments. I caught the wall in the second stage and then with probably about 40 or 50-laps to go, just broke a toe link so that took us out of contention. But I felt like we had a really good Chevy. Just proud of everyone’s efforts from where we started the weekend to where we ended. I felt like we got way better. Just appreciate everyone’s hard work.”
Erik Jones, No. 43 Club Wyndham Camaro ZL1
Finished: 14th
“Yeah, I’d say that was pretty good. We kind of just survived the chaos and obviously had an up and down day going three laps down early on. To come back and finish in the top-15 is pretty solid. We just need to find a little more in the car and get a little bit better for next year, but I’m definitely happy to get out of here with a decent finish after a night like that. Proud of everyone’s efforts on our Club Wyndham Chevy, looking forward to Martinsville next week.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Irish Spring Camaro ZL1
Finished: 4th
I heard you on the radio today say that you felt like you were pulling a trailer behind this No. 47 Chevy. Kind of describe what you were dealing with out there.
“It honestly felt like I hadn’t run dirt cars much. We just struggled a little bit yesterday. The guys worked really hard all night coming up with something different. We changed our No. 47 Irish Spring Camaro around and we were better. We still didn’t have enough to run up front there, but we methodically kind of picked and chose lanes. We got to running the bottom really well and made up a lot of time on restarts. They all just kind of fell our way there.
Really good to get a top-five and a bounce-back after last weekend. I hope that was a good show. I thought the race track was as good as it could be. You could run kind of all over the place, so hats off to the track.”
TEAM CHEVY RACE HIGHLIGHTS:
Stage One
· With the starting lineup set by qualifying heat races, Chevrolet’s Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon accumulated the most passing and finishing points to take front-row starting spots in tonight’s NASCAR Cup Series’ (NCS) Food City Dirt Race.
· Polesitter Larson led all 75-laps in Stage One marking his second stage win of the 2023 season.
· Larson led Chevrolet to a one-two-three finish in the opening stage with Richard Childress Racing teammates Dillon and Kyle Busch finishing in the second and third-positions, respectively.
· While William Byron was caught-up in the race’s first caution on lap 10, he was able to drive his No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1 back through the field to salvage a top-10 finish in Stage One.
· Team Chevy Stage One: Top-10
1st Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
2nd Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1
3rd Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1
9th Justin Haley, No. 31 Tide Camaro ZL1
10th William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1
Stage Two
· At the conclusion of Stage One, the field came down pit road for the race’s first round of stops.
· Stage One winner Kyle Larson chose the outside lane of the front-row to lead the field to the green for Stage Two.
· The 75-lap Stage Two saw three lead changes with Kyle Busch pacing the field for six laps, ultimately ending the stage in the fifth position.
· Showcasing the speed of the No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1, Austin Dillon drove to back-to-back runner-up finishes in both stages. Dillon led Chevrolet to four top-10 finishes in Stage Two.
· Team Chevy Stage Two: Top-10
2nd Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1
3rd Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
5th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1
9th Justin Haley, No. 31 Tide Camaro ZL1
Final Stage / Post-Race Notes
· The Stage Two break saw pit strategy come into play with a handful of teams choosing to stay out for track position. Of those cars includes Team Chevy drivers William Byron, Josh Berry and Ross Chastain.
· While Kyle Larson brought his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team to pit road, the team opted to not change tires and do a fuel-only stop.
· A caution flew with 75 laps to go involving Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team. Suffering too much damage to repair, Larson was forced to retire early from the race.
· Austin Dillon led Chevrolet to the checkered flag, driving his No. 3 BREZTRI Camaro ZL1 home with a third-place finish.
· 2023 Daytona 500 Champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took a fourth-place finish to give Chevrolet two top-five finishes in the series’ only appearance on dirt this season.
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.
