MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
TOYOTA/SAVEMART 350
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 23, 2018
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 DC SOLAR CAMARO ZL1 – POLE WINNER
YOU GAINED SIX TENTHS FROM ROUND 1 TO ROUND 2. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU MADE UP THE MOST TIME?
“I think the first round, I just wanted to get a fairly smooth lap in and not make any mistakes to try to get into the Top 12. I felt like I ran a clean lap, but I felt there were areas I could make up some time. A lot in the breaking zones. And I feel like I made up most of my speed in the final round, there. So, it’s cool to get a pole at my own home track here in Sonoma; and DC Solar’s home track as well. Qualifying here is one of my favorite things of the year. So, I’m glad we could pick up a lot of time there and get the pole.”
YOU USED TO COME TO THIS RACE TRACK AS A KID, WEARING JEFF GORDON GEAR. WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO FINALLY GET THAT VICTORY HERE?
“Well, I have a long ways to go to get better at racing here. I can always qualify good here for some reason, but racing seems to be a struggle, for whatever reason. I smoke the tires off it. I’ve been working hard to get better each and every year. I spent some time in the simulator and feel like I learned some things there. I thought we had a good practice yesterday and the last run was pretty decent. So, it would be nice to get a win here. It would be cool. These guys have worked so hard all year long on these new Camaros. Thanks to Hendrick for all the power they give. It’s really smooth here at Sonoma, and that’s really key. Thanks to all of our partners. This is really sweet.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 3rd
ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THAT QUALIFYING EFFORT?
“Yeah, I’m happy with that. I really thought… it’s so frustrating because I thought our car was good enough to run a little bit better. I have a hard-enough time putting two corners together at the oval. So, putting 11 of them together in one lap is tough. I definitely left some out there through kind of the early section of the track. I didn’t feel like I got off (Turn) 2, 3 and 3A were pretty bad. Had a good back half but was just playing catch up too much. But a plenty good enough starting spot for sure to have a chance tomorrow.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 5th
ANOTHER REALLY GOOD STARTING SPOT FOR YOU HERE ON THE ROAD COURSE IN SONOMA:
“Being in the first three rows is important here. We got that. After that first run I thought maybe we had a chance at pole, but Kyle (Larson) put in a hell of a lap. So, a little disappointed with that, but I think the car is driving really well. I think we are more competitive than we were last year here, so I think we are in for a decent day tomorrow and just try to hit everything and make sure that we put a solid day in for sure.”
HOW DO YOU THINK THE COOLER TEMPERATURES PREDICTED FOR TOMORROW ARE GOING TO AFFECT THE CARS?
“It will definitely give it a little more grip. The tires are still going to go away a lot here once they go away. Maybe last a little bit longer. If the sun is out though and even though it’s cooler if the sun is out it still brings all the oil out on the race track. It’s going to be slick no matter what and we just have to kind of adjust to it.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWES FOR PROS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 7th
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“The car since we unloaded has been very competitive and good. I got two clean laps. I can’t say that I really gave away any time out there, which is tough to do on a tight little road course like this. A top 10 starting spot – we will take it.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 8th
SOLID STARTING SPOT FOR YOU FOR YOUR FIRST TIME AT SONOMA:
“Yeah, it was awesome. It was really fun. I felt like we made some improvements overnight with the car. Yesterday, I really started getting my rhythm of what I needed to do better and kind of put that all together today to try to get where we need to be. It was a lot of fun I really enjoyed it. It was cool.”
YOU AND YOUR TEAMMATES SPENT SOME TIME AT SPRING MOUNTAIN THIS WEEK DO YOU THINK THAT HELPED?
“Yeah, I think so, really that, working with Ron (Fellows) a little bit and then working with Max Papis has helped me a ton in my career. We work every week on a karting track trying to figure things out, so it’s been fun to get better.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 GRAINGER/RED CROSS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 14th
TOP 15 START FOR YOU HERE AT SONOMA. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SESSION?
“It was an improvement on our car from what we were yesterday. We didn’t do a qualifying run in our second practice session, so I thought it was an improvement. I didn’t quite get all of it that I needed to, but I think we’ve got a good competitive car, definitely a better car than we had last year.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 17th
DOES THE TIME IN THE K&N WEST CAR HELP YOU?
“I hope so. I would like to say it has. They are vastly different shift points and the tire is way different, the power level is way different. I think laps are laps and it all helps. Pretty poor lap for me in qualifying there. Just really thought I was solid until the esses and just kind of got sloppy. Unfortunate, I hate it for my guys, obviously our three teammates were really fast. Had a good race car, I just didn’t get the job done too well for them, but I know we will race well and learn from my teammates and go from there.”
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