MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
AXALTA PRESENTS THE POCONO 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
JUNE 9, 2017
TOP TEAM CHEVY QUALIFIERS:
POS. DRIVER
4TH KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVY SS
8TH JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVY SS
10TH RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 KALAHARI RESORTS & CONVENTIONS CHEVY SS
11TH MICHAEL MCDOWELL, NO. 95 FDNY FOUNDATION CHEVY SS
TOP FIVE QUALIFIERS:
POS. DRIVER
1ST Kyle Busch (Toyota0
2nd Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)
3rd Matt Kenseth (Toyota)
4th Kurt Busch (Ford)
The Axalta Presents the Pocono 400 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, June 11 at 3 pm, ET. Live coverage can be found on FoxSports1, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES & QUOTES:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 7th
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“The first round was really good for us. Our Target Chevy drove really nice. I didn’t even feel like I was driving hard. So, the second round I tried to get a little more and I just got loose into (Turn) 1 and screwed up my whole lap. And then, the third round there I backed my entry up into (Turn) 1 and still got loose in but was able to get to the bottom and then I just got really tight off of (Turn) 1 and it killed my lap. Turns 2 and 3 are pretty good, but I just killed it there in Turn 1.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, NO. 95 FDNY FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 11th
YOUR BEST START THIS SEASON IS THAT A TESTAMENT TO YOUR DRIVING SKILLS, WHAT THE TEAM BROUGHT OR MAYBE A LITTLE BIT OF BOTH?
“Definitely not my driving skills (laughs). Everybody at Leavine Family Racing works really hard. We have FDNY Foundation on the car this weekend. This is for all the firefighters out there and they do great work and first responders. You know it’s just a testament to bringing fast race cars to the race track. We had a really good car last week. We were in a good spot there and this week we are in even a better spot. Todd Parrott (crew chief), John Leonard (engineer) and all the boys at LFR are bringing fast race cars and that is what it’s all about.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 19th
WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUR LAP?
“It has been a challenging practice session and into qualifying there. Some issues we have seen the last three or four weeks carrying over to here for qualifying for us. We seem to race fine when it comes time to race, but highly frustrating to sit here in 19th, especially with the effort we put into this. We are frustrated, we are trying to get better we just need to get there for qualifying, but we can’t hang our hat on our racing ability and we will do everything we can with the Lowe’s Chevy to get it back up front once again.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 SUNENERGY1 CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 25th
YOU DIDN’T MAKE A SECOND ATTEMPT WAS THAT TO SAVE LAPS ON THE TIRES FOR SUNDAY?
“Yeah, well we were just… if we were to make it through we didn’t want to have another lap on our set for Round 2 if we were to get there. Unfortunately, didn’t make it. But, that is a gamble, I guess, you have to make. When you are close like that if you were to get in you don’t want to hurt yourself for that next round. Obviously, I hate it, but we will go to work tomorrow and try to get ready for Sunday and go to work there.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 26th
IT LOOKED LIKE YOUR CAR MISSED IT A LITTLE BIT:
“Yeah, we missed it a lot. I couldn’t stop for the corner, so, trying to drive in further to where (Kyle) Larson is, which is way further than where I even am there and I still can’t stop for the corner. So, we just missed it a little with brakes. But, once you screw the entry up and you can’t get it slowed down it doesn’t suck the car down on entry like… you don’t really have a chance throughout the rest of the corner. That is the start of it. That is probably the biggest thing really. I think after that we would have been a little bit better, but some of those guys can go so fast, it’s crazy how much faster they are than what I was.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 28th
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“If there is a race track you’ve got to start in the back and not have a very good pit selection this is the one to do that at. Since we are required to start on the tires we qualify on, we really just planned on making one lap. We went out there and we had our car set-up like we are going to try to start tomorrow in race trim. We just went out there and made one single lap to really kind of get a directional idea of where we want to go tomorrow. It allowed us to take pictures of our car and know where the travels and everything is. That way we don’t put anymore laps on our tires than we have to star on Sunday. NASCAR prefers that you make one attempt, so that is what we did. We didn’t want to make any additional laps because we have to start at the rear on those tires and we would rather have the advantage of a little bit fresher tires than everybody else. I was thrilled with the lap that we made out there in race trim.”
WHAT ABOUT THE RACE?
“Well we will figure that out tomorrow. We felt like it was a good idea to go out there and make a run and get a good idea to how our race set-up feels for tomorrow. We went out and it was almost fast enough to make the second round, that was pretty impressive for what I thought.”
ON THE FANS THANK YOU FOR DALE:
“It makes you feel great. It really makes you feel great, especially after a difficult day like today. The benefits of that is to get around the fans because they are going to be the ones that lift you up. We are trying to do everything we can all year to give them as much time as we can because I know a lot of these folks come out and bring their diecasts and want things signed thinking this might be there last opportunity. But, I’m not going anywhere though, they are going to see me around the race tracks next year, but I sure appreciate it. It makes you feel great.”
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