NASCAR Cup PR

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops/ Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Qualifying Position: 4th - How was qualifying for you today? “It was okay. Qualified fourth and we’ve been third or fourth here every year."

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Pole Winner - ON BEING COMFORTABLE WINNING POLE AT THE GLEN - IT IS YOUR SECOND CONSECUTIVE: “The goal is to be comfortable everywhere .Hopefully we can do more of it. But here, today here is important to have good pit selection and track position is important. Just try to have a mistake free day tomorrow, and keep our NAPA Chevy up front and try to have a good day!

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Autotrader Ford Mustang – “It was an OK qualifying effort. It wasn’t great, but we haven’t qualified very well here in the last few years, so it’s nice to be a little better.”

CARSTAR,North America’s premier network of independently owned collision repair facilities, is ready to race at the NASCAR Cup Series event at Watkins Glen International. This opportunity is thanks to a joint promotion with paint partner Axalta Coating Systems, which sponsors Alex Bowman and the No. 88 team at Hendrick Motorsports.

DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT SUNDAY’S RACE AT THE GLEN? “Yeah, I do. I like road racing in general. Ryan Preece does, as well. So, it’s kind of nice. I’ve always been able to come to road races and just have a good outlook on it. It’s definitely not my background. But, it’s fun. I don’t want to do it any more than we do. Three or four races per year is plenty for me. It breaks up our oval races. They are nice. This is a fast road course.

YOU’VE HAD THE SPEED AND YOU’VE QUALIFIED WELL, BUT THE FINISHES JUST AREN’T THERE YET. IS THAT FRUSTRATING? “its twofold. You look at it like man, it’s so frustrating to unload and have fast race cars and not have the balance in the race to use the speed. But the only thing worse than that is not having speed at all and not having a balance."

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang – WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO WELL HERE? “A little bit of everything. You’ve got to have a well-balanced car. You have to have a car that’s durable, more than anything, something that you can beat up on and has the capabilities of staying in one piece. You’ve got to have a good braking system here, that’s probably one of the most important things. You have some braking zones that you’re going very fast and you’re slowing down quite a bit, so that’s tough on them. Having a braking system that lasts is probably key. We’re definitely carrying speed around this place with the higher downforce and all. Your marks from where you were last year, you just drive in the corners harder and you can just do more, so hustling it pays a bigger reward right now.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HENDRICK AUTOGUARD CAMARO ZL1 Media Breakout Session Highlights: EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE A BIT OF A CUSHION WITH 5 RACES REMAINING, IS THERE STILL A LOT OF PRESSURE IN KNOWING THAT OTHER GUYS HAVE FIVE SHOTS TO WIN THAT COULD PUSH YOU FURTHER DOWN THE GRID IN THE PLAYOFFS? “Yes and now."

“I would say not as much here as I did at Sonoma. Watkins Glen has always been a better place for me as far as road courses go. We ran pretty good here in 2017 and ran real well here last year. I’ve always felt pretty comfortable here. I don’t think track time ever hurts and I didn’t have an opportunity to run the Xfinity race last year and this year as well. Just being out there and getting the fundamentals of the track down was big for me. The K&N cars are really a long stretch from what the Cup cars drive like, but you still get an idea of what the track looks like and be able to see it and get a feel for it. It’s definitely a help.”

“Part of FedEx Cares initiative, we talked about four or five years ago – you’ve seen FedEx Cares on my car for at least the last three or four years at least and that was about donating 200 million to 200 different communities by 2020. As you know, we’re getting towards that and already completed that goal six months early. They’re 50th anniversary is coming up in 2023 and they’re next initiative is amongst writing a big check like they always do to different charities and worthy causes, is trying to affect 50 million people by 2023. That’s the biggest thing is that they’re trying to get to where they can affect people and amongst other great things that they’ve done in years past.”