Official Release

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 4th - WORKING ON YOUR NOTEBOOK, WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON TODAY’S TOP-5 FINISH “It was a lot more fun, this trip out here, than it was the last two times. I made a lot of gains, personally, I think, for me at this track. It’s been one of my worst. To come here and have pace on Friday and qualify good on Saturday, and to have pace today, it was just a lot more fun. I appreciate everyone on my NAPA team working hard this weekend. We had a fast Chevrolet all three days. And that’s nice to show up and get rhythm. We kind of had to pick our battles today. We elected to get some stage points and that set us back a little for that last stage, but I don’t think we had the pace that the leaders had. So, it was a good finish for me, and we’re looking forward to the next road race.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion - Finished 2nd - RODNEY SAID ON THE PIT BOX THAT THE 78 TEAM SNOOKERED EVERYONE WITH THEIR STRATEGY. WHAT WAS YOUR THOUGHT WHEN YOU HEARD THAT? “I don’t really know what is going on up on the pit box and who is doing what. I just do what I am told. Those guys do a great job. You make some right ones, you make some bad ones and sometimes you guess right and sometimes you guess wrong."

Josef Newgarden put on a driving clinic for the competition today at Road America today as he captured his third victory of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) season and 10th of his career. The defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion started his No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet on the pole, and went on to lead 53 of the 55-lap race around the 4.014-mile Wisconsin natural terrain road course.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, RACE WINNER: HOW BAD DID YOU WANT THIS ONE JOSEF? “Really bad. I have wanted to win here since last year. I felt like we had a car that could win then, and it just didn’t happen. This Chevrolet has been a rocket all weekend, but it was not easy. Ryan (Hunter-Reay) was quick and I knew (Scott) Dixon was right behind him, so we were working for it the entire race."

Kyle Larson drove his No. 42 DC Solar Camaro ZL1 to the top spot in qualifying for the Toyota/SaveMart 350 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Sonoma Raceway, with a fast lap of 75.732 seconds, 94.597 mph. It was a repeat performance for Larson, who also captured the pole at the 1.99-mile road course in 2017.

MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 78 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing - Qualifying Position: 2nd - How does it feel to start on the front row? “I missed a little bit in turn two, I think. I missed my line a little bit and bumped the corner a little bit more than I would have liked to and I was a little late getting back to the gas there. I think I lost some time exiting two."

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.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion - Qualified 6th “It was a good lap. My Ford is a little better than me when it comes to this day. I was a little too conservative in a couple corners and gave up a little time but it was a solid two rounds for us. The hardest thing to do it make it out of round one. After you do that, we went faster than we did in practice in round one and faster again in round two. That is always a good thing for me”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - You’ve come close to winning at Sonoma and you’ve won at Watkins Glen. How do those experiences impact your approach for Sunday? “You have good notes. You have good information that you’ve had over the years that you’ve raced at these courses. I’d love to win at this race track. It’s such a fun course to run on. Obviously, coming real close over the last couple of years, so I’m looking forward to the challenge and hopefully if we can qualify well, I think we’ll have a really good day.”

Matt DiBenedetto, driver of the No. 32 Hartford Gold Group Ford Fusion is making his fourth career Sonoma start this weekend. DiBenedetto spoke about the experiences he has gained and other topics after the conclusion of opening practice at the road course.