Official Release

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 4th “I got through Turn Three and Turn Four better (than previous runs) but I was still too loose to commit to wide-open throttle, which hurt my overall speed. It’s a lot better than I’ve ever qualified here, so hopefully that will give us a better pit stall selection for tomorrow’s race. This is a fun place, but it’s definitely tough.”

Propelling his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 173.320 mph, Kyle Busch put his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota atop the speed charts in Friday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Darlington Raceway despite an earlier spin.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Darlington Raceway and discussed the two practice sessions today, his love for Darlington Raceway, his thoughts on the potential for a cone rule in NASCAR, his emotions heading into Homestead and many other topics.

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats 40th Anniversary Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing - What would being the regular season champion mean to you? “It would be huge for us. I mean, especially I think huge for our team, huge for me as a driver – we’ve never been close to this before, so to be able to compete at the highest level for 28 races or whatever it is and be atop the heap would be a huge accomplishment for all of us, so hopefully we can get it wrapped up this weekend and, yeah, I mean the bonus points are awesome, but just I think it’s a big deal for our team to be able to accomplish that for the first time in all of our careers.”

Success was celebrated on Friday, as students who especially excelled in the Darlington Raceway/Darlington County School District Summer Reading Program were awarded medals by seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVROLET SS met with members of the media at Darlington Raceway and discussed driving the No. 9 in 2018, his throwback paint scheme, his European vacation and many other topics.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S THROWBACK CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media Friday at Darlington Raceway to discuss the weather outlook for the weekend, a special community initiative by Darlington, the nature of the track and the end of NASCAR’s summer stretch.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Carolina Ford Dealers Ford Fusion, is commemorating Mark Martin’s paint scheme from 1988-91 in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Bowyer, who still needs a win to qualify for the upcoming Playoffs, along with Martin participated in a Q&A session with reporters today at Darlington Raceway.

Darlington Raceway is acknowledged as one of the toughest tracks in all of motorsports, but Ross Chastain likes it. Chastain scored a 10th-place finish at Darlington in 2015 and says he likes the challenge of spinning fast laps on the egg-shaped oval.

Garrett Smithley is ready for his second meeting with the Lady in Black – tough old Darlington Raceway – this weekend. Smithley will drive the JD Motorsports with Gary Keller No. 0 Chevrolet in Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington.