Official Release

CONCORD, N.C. – Kevin Harvick’s answer to NASCAR’s new competition package was the same old song—another victory in a season that already has produced a surfeit of success.

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Winner of Stage 1 of the Monster Energy Open and will transfer to compete in tonight’s Monster Energy All-Star Race - IT TOOK YOU A LITTLE WHILE TO GET TO THE FRONT, BUT IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE ABLE TO USE THE HIGH GROOVE TO YOUR ADVANTAGE: “Yeah, it looked like the 10 car there was pretty tight. He was either loose and getting it up off the bottom and then getting tight or just tight and couldn’t hold the bottom. I felt like we were just able to carry some momentum around the outside of them, but really cool for Axalta. William Sturgill that pretty much does the day-to-day stuff on this Axalta account for us got a promotion and this is kind of his last weekend with us. So, cool to get something neat for him with Axalta on the car, but just thankful to be here. It’s really cool to be in the All-Star race.”

Fifteen-year-old rookie Chandler Smith put his name in big and bold print in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards record books, becoming the first driver to win General Tire Poles in his first three starts.

Aric Almirola met with media at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon after Cup Series practice for the Monster Energy All-Star Race. Almirola will try to race his way into the main event tonight by participating in the Monster Energy Open.

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion, met with media members Saturday afternoon following an added practice session due to weather yesterday. Logano spoke about how the cars are reacting with the new aero package and more.

Johnny Sauter claimed Friday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway; Sauter, the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, claimed his third victory of the season with Kyle Busch finishing second and Brandon Jones third

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 9th - ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT: “Well, I had a blast. That is so much fun. I wish I would have had a little more practice on it, but I don’t know if I would have practiced if I would have done better than that. I thought I got in the box about as good as I could. We just had a little slip up on the pit stop and kind of hurt us a little bit. Hats off to these guys for not having any practice to get the car… I mean the car is driving good, so we will just go after it tomorrow night.”

MATT KENSETH, No. 6 #DoYouKnowJack Ford Fusion - Qualified 1st “The car drove good. It seemed fine. It was our first laps on the track today with all the rain and Ricky was a huge help to me going out early and helping me with my braking in pit road and his spotter up there helping me. That was a big help to get us up there like that.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed returning to the Coca-Cola 600 as the defending winner, the new rules package for the All-Star race, Instagram Live and much more. Full Transcript:

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M's Red Nose Day Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Tell us about Red Nose Day. “It’s a pretty cool initiative that M&M’s is involved in with NBC. Just trying to raise money and they do a really good job of that. It’s been going on for the last three or four years. M&M’s has been a huge part of it."