NASCAR CUP SERIES
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
ROUND OF EIGHT: RACE ONE
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
OCT. 20, 2024
Suarez Leads Chevrolet with Podium Finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10:
POS. DRIVER
3rd – Daniel Suarez
4th – William Byron
5th – Alex Bowman
7th – Ross Chastain
WITH 33 NASCAR CUP SERIES RACES COMPLETE:
Wins: 15
Poles: 10
Top-Five Finishes: 66
Top-10 Finishes: 133
Stage Wins: 22
UP NEXT: The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend, with the Straight Talk Wireless 400 marking the second race of the Round of Eight. Coverage of the 267-lap event can be found on Sunday, Oct. 27, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
- A late-race pit strategy paid dividends for Daniel Suarez and the No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1 team, ultimately leading Chevrolet with third-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
- Despite a tumultuous day for much of the remaining title contenders, William Byron and the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1 team escaped with a stellar points day and a fourth-place result in the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series Round of Eight at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Taking the green flag following a top-10 qualifying effort, the 26-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native drove his Hendrick Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet to top-four points in both stages en route to the team’s 12th top-five finish of the season. Byron will head into Homestead-Miami Speedway in the top-four of the playoff standings with a 27-point advantage over the playoff cutline.
- Defending Las Vegas Motor Speedway winner, Kyle Larson, took the green flag from the fifth position in his No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1. Following a top-10 finish in Stage One, a rare mishap during a scheduled stop near the midway point of the race ultimately put the team two laps down. There was no quit by the No. 5 Chevrolet team, going on to fight back to the lead lap and a top-15 position on the leaderboard with 60 laps remaining. The 31-year-old Elk Grove, California, native went on to earn a 11th-place result, with the team leaving Las Vegas still above the playoff cutline in the third position with a 35-point cushion.
- Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 team fell victim to an early Stage Two crash involving a handful of playoff competitors. With Alan Gustafson (crew chief) calling the driver to pit road multiple times for repairs, the team was able to hit minimum speed to ultimately take their Chevrolet to the garage for further repairs. Returning to the track multiple laps down, the 28-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia, native took the checkered flag in the 33rd position, with the former series champion falling to the eighth-position and 53-points below the cutline heading into the second race of the round.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BOOT BARN CAMARO ZL1
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the closing laps of Stage One.
Finished: 37th
What was your take on the contact with Daniel Hemric?
“He (Daniel Hemric) flat-out wrecked me.. no clue why. He’s got three races left, and I don’t know if was just over his head. He stays in the gas into (turn) three until he hits me. I don’t know what that was.”
Are you OK?
“Yeah, it was a hard hit, but I’m good.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 11th
It was kind of an up-and-down day. You got back on the lead lap. How do you evaluate this day?
“Yeah, it was a messy, messy day. None of the first races in the rounds have been clean, at all, for us. But this was a long, hard-fought 11th-place finish. We just had a lot of unfortunate things happen with the debris that got stuck on our nose. We were able to overcome that and I thought we were going to be fine. We had a strong finish in the second stage, and then we had the issues on the pit stop and just had to fight from there.
We got the most we could out of the rest of the day. I’m proud of this No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy team for the rebound and having a clean rest of the race.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 33rd
Elliott on the incident in Stage Two:
“The No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) was coming with a really big run on the top. I don’t think Martin (Truex Jr.) knew that, and he was kind of running as if we were two-wide. Once I recognized that there wasn’t going to be enough room, I bailed and there was just nowhere to bail.. it was too late. I need to sit down and take a look at it. I was, personally, just trying to get out of the situation and it was just a little too late at that point.
It sucks. Our No. 9 NAPA Chevy was really, really good there at the start. It was the best we’ve been out here in this new car, so it was just a bad day for that.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 4th
“Yeah, we really improved a lot as the day progressed. That was a lot to be said about this No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevy team, and our ability to get the balance close and get the speed once we had the balance close. We just started the race a little bit off, but I’m really, really happy with how we came on. I thought we were going to have a shot to compete for a win there in the final stage, but it turned into a fuel mileage race.
Just sucks. It’s going to take a win, I feel like, so we have to keep working for it and keep running up front. If we run up front, it will do two things – we’ll be able to compete for a win and score a lot of points. We just have to keep running like this.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 5th
You had a great car today. What could you have done there at the end?
“Yeah, I mean obviously they made it on fuel, so that’s what got those guys there. But hats-off to them for taking advantage of that opportunity. The second-to-last run, we were super-fast. And then on the last run, I don’t know if just coming out in some clean air or if I built the right-rear up too quick or what happened, but I was just too loose the last run. I struggled to run the wall in (turns) three and four like I could the run previously. I had some big moments behind Christopher (Bell) and kind of just melted the right-rear off the thing.
Bummed that we’re not a couple spots better at least, but it was a solid top-five effort for the No. 48 Ally Chevy team. We’ll keep on digging.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 TOOTSIES ORCHID LOUNGE CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 3rd
“It’s a little heartbreaking. We had a great No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevy. I think we could have won it. We just needed the bottom lane. A couple of cars right there, they were stuck on the bottom and I was in very dirty air. The No. 22 (Joey Logano) was a little faster than us right there at the end. I felt like if I had the bottom, Joey wasn’t going to be able to pass me, but you never know.
Our Chevy was good, but on the very last run, it was falling off. I’m very proud of my team because they won it again today with the strategy. The car was fast.. it was a top-10 car. But top-three is a solid finish. I’m very proud of my team.”
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