MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
APRIL 7, 2017
JAMIE MCMURRAY AND RYAN NEWMAN TOP CHEVY QUALIFIERS AT TEXAS
FT. WORTH, Texas (April 7, 2017) – It was a challenging day on a new, slick, and unfamiliar track surface at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) for many Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) drivers in preparation for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, Round 7 on the 2017 schedule.
But it was a solid day for Jamie McMurray, who was the top Team Chevy driver to successfully qualify for the 500-mile event with a sixth place effort in his No. 1 Sherwin-Williams Emerald Chevrolet SS. Also, earning a top-10 starting spot was Ryan Newman, who will start his No. 31 Caterpillar Chevy SS from ninth place in the field of 40 competitors.
Michael McDowell barely missed making the top 12 in the starting order by posting a 13th place effort in his No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet SS, which was his best effort thus far this season. Ty Dillon was 14th in his GEICO Chevy SS to give the Bowtie Brand four of the top 15 in the field.
Six-time TMS race winner, Jimmie Johnson, made a qualifying effort in his No.48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, but spun following his first timed lap. The team elected not to make a second attempt, and Johnson will roll off 24th in the order on Sunday.
Nine drivers were unable to compete in this afternoon’s knockout qualifying session because they failed to pass pre-qualifying technical inspection. Four of those were Team Chevy drivers: Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevy SS, will start 32nd, Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet SS, will start 33rd, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevy SS starts 35th, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Axalta Chevy SS, will start 37th.
Kevin Harvick (Ford) won the pole position, Ryan Blaney (Ford) was second, Clint Bowyer (Ford) qualified third, Joey Logano (Ford) was fourth, and Brad Keselowski (Ford) qualified fifth.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, April 9 at 1:30 pm, ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
POST QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES:
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 SHERWIN-WILLIAMS EMERALD CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 6th
“Well the track is pretty sketchy if you get out of the groove, but it’s come a long way since this morning when we first unloaded. I think the Xfinity race is obviously going to widen it out a little bit. I mean personally, I think everyone in the garage kind of wishes they would use that tire dragon in the second groove all night long to try to wear it in a little bit because it’s very one-lane right now.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 9th
“We made improvements on the Caterpillar Chevrolet the entire day, especially in qualifying trim when it really matters for Sunday. I feel like we have something to work with we just have to find a little bit more speed and figure out exactly how to get the grip so we can get the speed. It was a good day, but it could have been a lot better.”
ON TRACK CONDITIONS:
“I mean I can’t say there is anything wrong with the race track, but man… I think I speak for everybody when I say we miss old Texas.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, NO. 95 WRL GENERAL CONTRACTORS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 13th
“We just missed it. The track changed a little bit, obviously, with the practice sessions for Xfinity. I’m really proud of everybody at WRL and thankful for my No. 95 cars. They brought a really fast car.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 16th
“The car is not too bad. Just struggling to get a feel of the race track. I think we got the car close. We got to get it a little bit more comfortable. I need to be a lot better.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – Spun in first qualifying segment and Qualified 24th
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I think we used up all our good luck at Homestead last year. I took the stripe and it we were in position to run two and see what was going to happen. Chad (Knaus, crew chief) called me off when he saw the time. When I heard that, I dumped the throttle real hard to try and check-up and roll through the center so I could go through the corner slowly; and when I dumped out of the throttle it pitched the car sideways and I started chasing it going into the turn. I thought I had it saved and then I got into all those marbles and kept getting closer to the wall and spun. So, we have three flat-spotted tires and unfortunately won’t be able to continue on. What’s fortunate is that we’ve got a great car. I’m very happy to have Hitachi on the quarter panel taking it for a ride. And, I was screaming ‘Hitachi’ as I was getting close to that wall (laughs). We have a good Lowe’s Chevy so we’ll just go from here.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Did not pass inspection and did not qualify. Will start 32nd on Sunday
“I don’t know exactly what happened. We just didn’t make it through tech. Yeah, this is not the place you want to not make it through tech. It will be really hard to pass, I think, on Sunday. Wherever we end up starting is going to hurt us.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVROLET SS – Did not pass inspection and did not qualify. Will start 33rd on Sunday
“It was definitely not a good day. So, it’s going to make for a tough one on Sunday starting last in the back-up car that we haven’t run yet. But, hopefully It’s good tomorrow and we can go to work.”
WHAT DID YOU LEARN DURING THE MORNING PRACTICE WRECK?
“Yeah, don’t get out of the groove.”
WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM IN THE INSPECTION PROCESS?
“I’m not sure. The number generator over there didn’t generate the right ones for us.”
HOW HARD IS IT GOING TO BE STARTING FROM THE REAR OF THE FIELD ON SUNDAY?
“That’s going to be tough. I’m not exactly sure how they’ll line up the rest of us because heck, there’s probably 15 or 18 cars that haven’t had a chance to qualify. So, that being said, they’ll be a bunch. I’m not sure how they’ll do it, so we’ll see.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – Did not pass inspection and did not qualify. Will start 35th on Sunday
WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN PRACTICE TODAY AND HOW HARD IS IT GOING TO BE TO COME FROM THE REAR OF THE FIELD ON SUNDAY?
“I think it’s going to be really tough, but I think that track is only going to get better as the weekend goes. Whether that’s good enough to pass, it’s tough to say at this point. But, I highly doubt it; but it’s going to only get better, so that’s a good thing. It rubbers in and gets wider. It’s so dirty outside the groove. Anywhere you go where there aren’t cars going constantly, it’s really slippery. We’re just going to do the best we can and hopefully get a really good balance tomorrow and stay out of trouble. Five hundred miles is a long time.”
DO YOU FEEL ANY BETTER THAT TWO OF YOUR OTHER HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS TEAMMATES ARE ALSO STARTING FROM THE REAR?
“No, not really. I wish they would have qualified so they could be up front where they belong. But, there were a lot of cars that didn’t make it.”
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – Did not pass inspection and did not qualify. Will start 37nd on Sunday
HOW DISAPPOINTED ARE YOU?
“I ain’t too worried about it. The race is pretty long. Pit selection bothers you a little bit because we won’t be able to get out there and get a better pit stall. But, we’ll see where we end up on pit road. I don’t know what was wrong with our car going through tech, but if you don’t make it you don’t get out there and I like that. I like the rules being the same for everybody. So, we’ll work on our car for tomorrow in practice. I’m anxious to get more track time. Certainly the track is going to be changing so much. We didn’t really get a chance to see where it was going today. I know the Xfinity cars ran a lot this afternoon, so the track has really changed a lot. I’m anxious to get back out there and get some laps and see what we’ve got for a race car on Sunday.”
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