Official Release

In the opening race of the second segment of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) Playoffs at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS), Chase Elliott captured a second-place finish in his No. 24 SunEnergy1 Chevy SS at the Bank of America 500.

Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion, overcame damage sustained from contact with the outside retaining wall and improved 11 positions during the final stage of Sunday afternoon’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) event at Charlotte Motor Speedway to record a 14th-place finish.

If you need evidence of how competitive the NASCAR Playoffs are, consider this: Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team came to Charlotte Motor Speedway ninth in the standings, finished the Bank of America 500 a strong eighth in overtime and left the track 11th in the championship chase.

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 SUNENERGY1 CHEVROLET SS- Finished 2nd - THIS IS YOUR SIXTH RUNNER-UP FINISH OF THE YEAR. WHAT WERE YOU MISSING TO BE ABLE TO CONTEND FOR THE WIN? “We needed to be a little better I think in the middle stage and not lose so much track position. That was where Martin (Truex, Jr.) came on and got his track position and we lost ours and it was just hard to get all of it back there toward the end. It was a hard-fought day and really, from where we were in those middle stages, I was proud of the way we fought back and were able to get back to the front. It’s frustrating to run like this. We’re definitely tired of running second. But, if we keep running like we are, hopefully the opportunities will be there.”

KEVIN HARVICK – No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion – “That’s about about where we were gonna run, second or third. We just kind of lost a little bit of the track there as the VHT started to wear off in the second half of the race. But they did a great job all day. For the most part, we had good stops all day – just the timing of the bad one came at the end, but, for the most part, they did a great job. Everybody in the field had a bad stop at some point today, so it was a good day for our Jimmy John’s/Busch Ford, and everybody is doing a good job with the speed of the cars.”

Charlotte Motor Speedway presented legendary crew chief Tony Eury Sr. with the speedway’s prestigious Smokey Yunick Award on Sunday prior to the Bank of America 500.

Brendan Gaughan Stages Impressive Comeback in #VegasStrong Chevrolet to Finish 11th at Charlotte Motor Speedway "At the start of the race we must have had a bad set of tires. We fell all the way back to 26th position before the end of Stage 1. I was holding on for dear life. Nothing ever comes easy for me and crew chief Shane Wilson. But to be honest, we wouldn't want it any other way. We gave it all we had. There is a reason why Ryan Reed and I were so close in points and all year on the track. It came down to two positions on the track."

Sam Hornish Jr. started 31st and finished second in the No. 12 PPG Ford Mustang in Saturday night’s NC Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Despite the deep starting position, the Defiance, OH native, wasted no time working his way forward at the drop of the green flag. In the opening 10 laps, Hornish wheeled the colorful PPG Mustang inside the top-20, reaching the 16th position before the first caution flag of the race at lap 28.

COLE CUSTER – No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang – “I was happy with it. It was a really good night for us. We got our car better. We didn’t have the track position that we wanted, so I think we were more of a third or fourth-place car, but our Haas Automation Mustang was really solid tonight. I was happy with the improvements we made through the weekend, so I’m looking forward to the next round.” WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING IN THE ROUND OF 8? “It’s gonna be a dogfight, that’s for sure. Everybody in this next round has a lot of speed. I think if we can win a race it’s gonna be huge. It’s gonna be tough, but we just have to really be on our game and have fast cars.”

Camry driver Daniel Suarez (eighth) was the top-Toyota finisher in Saturday evening’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Suarez started from the pole after qualifying was rained out earlier today and led 111 laps (of 200) en route to a top-10 finish at the North Carolina track.