Official Release

Paul Menard and the No. 21 Menards/Knauf Insulation Mustang are set to start Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway from the 17th starting position.

Behind the wheel of his No. 24 Liberty Patriot Camaro ZL1 at 21 years of age, William Byron became the youngest driver ever to capture the pole for the 60TH Annual Coca-Cola 600 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Charlotte native turned a lap of 182.424 mph/29.440 seconds to lead the field to the green on Sunday in NASCAR’s longest race.

Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M’s Red, White and Blue Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Talk about your hopes of repeating and becoming a back-to-back Coca-Cola 600 champion.

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 COCA-COLA ZERO SUGAR CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 4th “I think there’s always an advantage to running a lot of laps. I’ve definitely got to do a good job of keeping myself cool and keeping myself hydrated. So, I’ve got a lot on my plate as far as that goes. But, I’m always happy to learn more and get out on the track and see what I can learn as far as experience goes."

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang – “We got off a little bit and just kind of aborted on all the changes we made and went back to how we started practice, where we felt the most confident about what we had for qualifying. I’m proud of all the guys on this Stars and Stripes Smithfield paint scheme on our Ford Mustang.

MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker / USO Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Qualifying Position: 14th - We were talking about the fine balance between the grip of the race track going early and what it’s going to get when it gets later and how much speed cars will pick up because of that."

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THIS WEEKEND AND SALUTING THE MILITARY? “Honestly, this is some of my favorite times of the year to be able to do that, especially when you come here for the Coca-Cola 600 and what this weekend really means. It’s a good reminder for us because I think a lot of times we think of Memorial Day Weekend and if you’re in this industry sometimes you think of three really big races that are happening this weekend, but, for me, I think it’s a good reminder and Charlotte does a great job, the speedway here does a great job, at reminding all of us how we get to do that safely."

MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker / USO Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Do you feel like other teams are catching the JGR and Penske cars in performance? “I think it’s a little bit hit and miss for everybody I feel like from what I can see. It certainly has been for us. For the 19 team, we’ve been really good at places and off at places."

HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CHAOS THIS NEW PACKAGE BRINGS WHEN EVERYBODY IS SO CLOSE TOGETHER AND PEOPLE ARE MAKING BOLD MOVES AND YOU’RE SIDE-DRAFTING AND GETTING INTO EACH OTHER. HOW DO YOU MANAGE RISK VS. REWARD? “It’s kind of trial and error. You can find out things and moves you can make and feel confident in it and make it work. It’s all pretty relative."

HOW DISAPPOINTED ARE YOU BEING BETWEEN WIN NUMBER ONE AND EVENTUALLY GETTING WIN NUMBER TWO? “It’s hard. You never think it’s going to be easy going to the next level, but you always want it to be. You want to be able to go out and have success."