NASCAR CUP SERIES
IOWA SPEEDWAY IOWA CORN 350
POWERED BY ETHANOL
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
JUNE 16, 2024
Byron Leads Chevrolet with Runner-Up Result at Iowa Speedway
- Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron led Chevrolet to the checkered flag in the NASCAR Cup Series’ inaugural visit to Iowa Speedway – posting a runner-up result in his No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1. The finish marks Byron’s sixth top-five finish of the 2024 season.
- With a caution on lap 259, William Byron was running in the third position when Crew Chief Rudy Fugle called the driver of the No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. With the lead cars opting for a two-tire stop, Byron showed the quick advantage of a fresh set of four Goodyear tires – taking the second position on lap 65 and progressively closing the gap to leader Ryan Blaney until the lead pack approached lap traffic.
- Polesitter Kyle Larson was deemed a favorite in the early portions of the race – leading 45 laps in Stage One before hitting pit road during a caution on lap 80 with a potential issue with the left-rear tire. Lining up in the 32nd position for the restart, the former series champion quickly climbed through the field – entering the top-10 in just 25 laps. Larson went on to claim the Stage Two win before contact at the beginning of the final stage took the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 out of contention.
- Byron led Chevrolet to three top-five finishes at the Iowa short-track, with Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott, in the third position; and JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounding out the top-five.
- The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the USA Today 301 on Sunday, June 23, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Zone Camaro ZL1
Finished: 35th
What started things there? I was hearing suspension issues and then maybe another issue..
“Yeah, I don’t know what happened, but Next Gen parts and pieces broke. Something in the left-rear suspension – I don’t know if it was a toe link or what it was, but it changed the skew of the back of the car and it was just undrivable doing that. We came in and fixed it. Rolling back out, we broke the belt. I have no idea, but frustrating, for sure. Not what we wanted for all of our No. 8 Zone Chevy guys; everybody from Kwik Star. We were having a pretty decent day. I thought we had a top-10 run going. We had an opportunity there to score some points, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
Finished: 3rd
WHAT ELSE DID YOU NEED THERE TO GET THE WIN?
“Our balance was just right, and I thought all day we had really good long run pace. I just really struggled to get going on restarts, and just was really loose and couldn’t. Just felt like I couldn’t attack like I needed to and just lost a lot of ground. Could make good pace there at the end of a run with our NAPA Chevy, just needed to be a little closer I think to keep the pressure on and keep things rolling. Anyway, I was proud of the effort and felt like we had a really good car and were right there in the fight.”
SO CONSISTENT THIS SEASON, BEST AVERAGE FINISH OF ANYBODY. WHAT IS IT RIGHT NOW THAT IS CLICKING AND HOW CLOSE ARE YOU TO KNOCKING OFF A FEW MORE WINS HERE?
“Yeah, I mean I definitely think we have been closer than we have been. That is good and nice to have some consistency across some different styles of racetracks, so happy with all that. We need just a little bit to be where we need to be to lead laps and kind of set the pace. We will keep working at it.”
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1
Sidelined by damage sustained after a tire issue in the first stage.
Finished: 36th
Did it feel the same as yesterday, as far as the car, or is it any different?
“No, the warning signs were there. I told my team the lap prior, two laps prior, that I thought we were going to blow a right-front. The angle was a lot better, so I got it slowed down enough that I didn’t feel anything inside the car.”
So it was almost like a different issue, as far as the tire issue?
“I think these tires give you at least a warning sign. I could feel it getting really tight. Yesterday, there was no warning sign to it, so it was a shock. Today, I kind of felt it coming when it blew. It kind of turned off into the corner, so I could definitely check up enough. The angle was just way better.”
William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1
Finished: 2nd
ARE YOU SURPRISED WILLIAM? YOU HAD FOUR FRESH TIRES BUT TWO TIRES WON THIS RACE.
“No, he had a really good car, so he was up front and contending a lot, and him and the5 were really good. So, we were just a step off of that, you know? I feel like I just needed to turn the center just a hair better and still kind of maintain the long run. Proud of the effort. It was a really good night, and I feel like we can learn from this and build from it to be a little bit better.”
HOW MUCH DID THE TRACK CHANGE GOING TO NIGHTTIME?
“Yeah, I don’t know. I will have to look back at our adjustments. I wasn’t sure if it was our adjustments or what, but it definitely gained a little bit of grip and it just seemed like you were running hard for longer. Not that at the beginning you weren’t, but I think the cars just got closer together at night. I wasn’t really sure what happened.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/NOS Energy Drink Camaro ZL1
Finished: 5th
DESCRIBE HOW THE RACE UNFOLDED FOR YOU AND THE SATISFACTION OF A TOP-FIVE FINISH AT THIS TRACK FOR YOU
“Yeah, that first run and starting at the back, we were really strong late in that run. So, I felt confident in what our NOS Energy Drink Camaro could do throughout this whole race. We had a little mishap on pit road that set us back again, to kind of that back row. So, we had to battle back from that. Those guys cleaned it up on pit road, and we had great strategy with those two tires to get us back to clean air at the front of the field. Really wanted to go battle (Ryan) Blaney there. We got to second, just got a little too loose, and couldn’t hold those guys off. Really cool to do a Cup race here in Iowa after all our success and to do it in front of a great crowd.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Kubota Camaro ZL1
Finished: 9th
Suarez on the contact with Kyle Larson:
“Honestly, during the race, I was so confused. I didn’t know exactly what happened. I didn’t know if I went up, or if he came down. I just saw the replay for the very first time and I noticed that the No. 6 (Brad Keselowski) was the one on the outside. He had like a quarter of a car from the wall. He was trying to pinch down the No. 5 (Kyle Larson), and the No. 5 had another quarter of a car to the No. 6. Tried to pinch me down and I just expecting those two guys to be closer to the wall like everyone else. I’m definitely the one that made contact with the No. 5 and I take responsibility for that.”
What did you think of the track tonight?
“It raced well. Honestly, it raced exactly how I thought it was going to. I thought it was good. It was a three-lane racetrack. People were able to pass, which is a good. I thought it was good, honestly. I’m pretty happy with the product that NASCAR brought.”
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