NASCAR CUP SERIES
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
AUGUST 19, 2024
Byron, Busch Leads Chevrolet to Overtime Finish at Michigan International Speedway
- The NASCAR Cup Series returned to Michigan International Speedway this afternoon after inclement weather forced the postponement of the Firekeepers Casino 400 with just 51 laps complete.
- Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 team lined up at the front of the field to take the green-flag for the remainder of the 200-lap event. The Team Chevy driver showed early speed in his Hendrick Motorsports-prepared Camaro ZL1, with Elliott being the only driver of those in the regular season title battle to earn points in Stage One.
- With a caution flying nearing the end of Stage Two, Hendrick Motorsports’ Crew Chief Cliff Daniels called the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 to pit road to implement a four tire strategy. Larson was the fifth car off pit road, but the first with a fresh set of Goodyear tires – lining up 11th for the restart. Shortly thereafter, Larson was caught up in an accident that forced the team’s early departure from the race.
- Following what ultimately ended up being the final green-flag cycle of the race, William Byron and the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1 team cycled back up into the runner up spot when a late-race caution forced the event under an overtime finish. Byron elected to take the inside lane of the front-row for the first attempt. With a masterful start, Byron was able to surge his Chevrolet-powered machine to the front to edge out Tyler Reddick before another caution flew.
- Teetering on fuel to make it to the end, Crew Chief Rudy Fugle immediately told Byron to save fuel – ultimately choosing to forgo pit road to remain in contention for the win. At the choose cone, Byron took the top lane as the control car for the green-flag of the second overtime attempt. Lacking a push from behind, Byron fell into the second position – maintaining the spot to the checkered flag to recorded the team’s eighth top-five finish of the season.
- The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Daytona International Speedway with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, August 18, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10:
POS. DRIVER
2nd William Byron
4th Kyle Busch7th Zane Smith
8th Daniel Suarez
10th Carson Hocevar
WITH 24 NASCAR CUP SERIES RACES COMPLETE:
Wins: 11
Poles: 7
Top-Five Finishes: 41
Top-10 Finishes: 88
Stage Wins: 13
UP NEXT: The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Daytona International Speedway with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, August 24, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1
Finished: 2nd
WE HAD TWO OVERTIME RESTARTS. YOU WERE ON THE BOTTOM FOR THE FIRST AND CHOSE THE TOP ON THE SECOND. DID YOU MAYBE WISH YOU WOULD HAVE RETHOUGHT THAT AT THE END?
“Yeah, I mean ultimately, that was the difference. But he (Tyler Reddick) was really fast, and his car was really good. He did a good job on the long runs, so he had us beat. The restarts gave us a chance, but we weren’t able to make the right choice and have the right push and all that. So, I’ll always look back at that, but proud of the effort today. It was good.”
WITH THIS RESULT AFTER A SUMMER SLUMP, DO YOU THINK THIS COULD PROPEL YOU IN THE PLAYOFFS?
“Yeah, we have just been up and down. I feel like since we have come back from the break, we have had a good mindset and have been executing well. Pit crew has been doing a good job and we have been making good decisions. We’ve just been communicating well. We had a few things during the break that we could go to work on and it has just really come together. Just proud of the fact that we have stayed together through this, and I feel like we are in a good spot going into the playoffs.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lucas Oil Camaro ZL1
Finished: 4th
“It was a good day overall for our No. 8 team. Maybe needed a tick more speed, but it was a good top-eight car, so we got a little bit more out of that with the Lucas Oil Chevrolet. It was a good pit strategy by Randall (Burnett) and the guys to keep our track position and keep us upfront there. We took two tires there at the end and it wasn’t going to be ideal on those short restarts. We hung on OK and got a top-five out of it.
Zane Smith, No. 71 Focused Health Camaro ZL1
Finished: 7th
“It was definitely a good recovery. I’m still mad at myself after we sped on pit road once we finally had some good track position. I knew that we were making gains on our Chevy. Once we had to start at the back, I was able to get through a lot of them right away. I felt like we learned a lot there getting back through the field, and we made our car even better. That last restart, I kind of learned something from being back there earlier in the race and was able to apply that to that last restart. I was able to get a few rows and maintain. And then obviously had help from the No. 99 (Daniel Suarez) with a push to get us to seventh there at the line. That was much appreciated.
It’s been a long weekend, but all-in-all, it was a great day with our No. 71 Focused Health Chevy. We’ll take the momentum and head to Daytona.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Jockey Infinite Cool Camaro ZL1
Finished: 8th
“It was an OK day for the No. 99 Jockey Infinite Cool Chevy team. I don’t feel like I did a great job today. For some reason I feel like the car was actually very different from yesterday to today. I struggled a lot on the short runs for a while, but we got it better there at the end. I thought we had decent speed, just not quite good enough. Overall, I think the team did a good job; good calls on tires at the end and we were able to be on offense and it was a decent top-10. I feel like we deserved a top-10 today. I am happy with a top-10, but I don’t feel like I did a good job today.”
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Premier Security / Zeigler Camaro ZL1
Finished: 10th
“We were able to get a top-10 after falling to 35th on Sunday. We had a few mechanical problems that were kind of a freak deal, but we were able to really reset and get our No. 77 Premier Security / Zeigler Chevy handling good today. We put together a really strong run for the No. 77 team. Really great to finish good at home, but also to have two top-10s, back-to-back. That’s no small feat. We were able to do it at home with a lot of friends and family. We just had a super strong car and it’s great to have good momentum heading into Daytona, where anything can happen.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident at the end of Stage Two.
Finished: 34th
Take us through what happened from your vantage point.
“Yeah, I just messed up. You try to get all you can on restarts. I was just trying to funnel myself up the racetrack. I didn’t want to get stuck on the bottom three-wide. Just got myself in an awkward aero spot and lost it. It’s unfortunate. I made a mistake and cost ourselves a lot of points today.”
When you’re out there, how much are you aware of what position you’re in because of the way the air changes so much. Did you feel like there was any warning of where you were at before that went around?
“Yeah, I mean you get a little bit of warning right before you start spinning. But once these Next Gen cars step out, it’s really hard to save it. I was just doing what I thought would be right to funnel our way up and just put myself in bad spot.”
You were the first car on four tires. Was that the right call?
“Yeah, I think so. If I would have just done a better job of executing the right way on that first lap, I think we would have ended up fine. Similar to the first stage, Chase (Elliott) was the first on four (tires) and did a really good job to make it up to second. I was hopeful that I could make the right decisions and have that work out, but I just messed up.”
Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Garner Trucking Camaro ZL1
Finished: 32nd
Scary incident down the backstretch. What occurred between you and the No. 10 when you went down the backstretch?
“That’s just about how the year has gone. We have a good car and I find a way to flip it upside down. Twice this year, we’ve been upside down and I hadn’t been upside down my whole career. That’s just unfortunately how the year for the No. 7 team has been all year. We’ve had speed, just haven’t been able to put it together.
The No. 10 (Noah Gragson) chopped me a couple of times, especially off (turn) two when I’d have a run. I hadn’t seen a replay yet.. if he pulled it off the wall when I was trying to get to his left rear to slow him down. But it was a ride, buddy. There were sparks, dirt and all sorts of stuff coming in. I just hate that our Garner Trucking Camaro got a little beat and banged up. I think we had a top-10 to 12 car today, but we ended up on our roof.”
When you’re racing the No. 10 (Noah Gragson), how hard was it to get off of him? I saw that coming off turn two, it’s really hard with the aero..
“Well, you’re trying to pack air on him. You’re trying to formulate runs. He closed the door pretty late on me a couple of different times, and I was trying to get by him. Just misjudged it and wrecked.”
About Chevrolet
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