BELL SCORES ROVAL VICTORY IN MUST-WIN SCENARIO TO ADVANCE TO ROUND OF EIGHT
Two Camry TRDs Advance to Round of 8 to Battle for 2022 Cup Championship

CHARLOTTE (October 9, 2022) – Christopher Bell took the checkered flag in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Roval road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway to advance to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs. Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, brought the No. 20 Camry to pit road for fresh tires allowing him a chance to chase down the leaders in the closing laps – knowing they were in a must-win scenario to advance to the next round. Bell was able to make his way from seventh to second in a matter of a lap before a red flag came out forcing an overtime restart. Bell would pass race-leader Kevin Harvick and lead the final two laps to collect his second win of the season.

In addition to Bell, Denny Hamlin also transferred to the Round of 8 with his 13th place finish giving Toyota two Camrys advancing and still alive to battle for a championship.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Race 31 of 36 – 252.88 miles, 109 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, CHRISTOPHER BELL

2nd, Kevin Harvick *

3rd, KYLE BUSCH

4th, AJ Allmendinger*

5th, Justin Haley*

7th, BUBBA WALLACE

13th, DENNY HAMLIN

17th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.

22nd, TY GIBBS

39th, DANIIL KVYAT

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

At what point did you think you would be in position to get the victory and advance in the Playoffs?

“Oh, man, I don’t even know. Whenever I came off pit road and I was the first car with tires, I was just trying to wait and see where I stacked up. I saw there were 11 cars that stayed out on old tires, I was the first one on new tires. I said, I guess we’re going to roll the dice here and see what happens. When I got into turn one, my spotter did an amazing job. They all started wrecking. He told me to stay tight to the middle, and that kept me out of all the junk in turn one. Really proud of everyone on this DeWalt team. They deserve it, man. We’ve been trying so hard to get DeWalt in Victory Lane. We finally got this Camry here.”

What does this win say about not giving up and the determination of this race team?

“Man, you just got to be there at the end of these things. I keep watching all these races where the fastest car doesn’t always win. No secret that road courses have not been our strength year. We were just there at the right time. We obviously weren’t in position to win, we rolled the dice, gambled, it paid off for us.”

How dangerous can this team be in the Round of 8 and to contend for this championship?

“I feel really good about it, that’s for sure. I knew that the whole time going into this second round of the Playoffs this was the troublemaker, with Talladega and then the road course being in here, when we weren’t strong on the road courses. I was really nervous about this round. I felt good about Texas. When we got out of there with no points, I thought it was going to be a really tough road. It was a really tough road. But there was an end to it.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

How was your race overall today?

“It was definitely a good day for our M&M’S Camry. There at the end, before everything happened, we were just trying to keep it on the track and stay straight. We were really losing rear tire grip and losing time. But we got that late caution, made a pit stop and took advantage of new tires – came up with a third-place finish. Vegas is next week and we always look forward to it. We were fast there in the spring so hopefully we can do the same thing.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

What type of race was this for you today?

“It was the type of day where basically wherever you got placed on the track was where you were going to run, unless someone made a mistake in front of you. We preferred that kind of day even though it is what it is even though our FedEx team did a great job with strategy and making sure that we junked stage two when we saw we weren’t going to get stage points there. Those guys that were in front of us most of the day ended up behind us and nobody could pass so it worked out nicely for us.”

How do you feel about your chances moving into the next round of the Playoffs?

“All of them are P1 for me and I like all of them. All of them are just perfect for what our strength is, especially with the Toyotas and myself. I’m excited. We had a good test at Martinsville and even though we finished bad there in the spring. We’re going to have to qualify well there and track position is going to be huge. We’re going to go to work and really excited about our prospects in this next round.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 43 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Bank of America Roval 400

Date: Oct. 9, 2022
Event: Bank of America Roval 400 (Round 32 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval (2.28-mile, 17-turn road course)
Format: 109 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/59 laps)
Note: Race extended three laps past its scheduled 109-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)

SHR Race Finish:

● Kevin Harvick (Started 22nd, Finished 2nd / Running, completed 112 of 112 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 17th, Finished 9th / Running, completed 112 of 112 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 37th, Finished 15th / Running, completed 112 of 112 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 12th, Finished 24th / Running, completed 112 of 112 laps)

SHR Points:

● Chase Briscoe (8th with 3,104 points, two points above top-eight cutoff… advances to Round of 8)
● Kevin Harvick (16th with 2,006 points)
● Aric Almirola (20th with 685 points)
● Cole Custer (25th with 550 points)

Playoff Standings to Begin Round of 8:

1. Chase Elliott (4,046 points) +31
2. Joey Logano (4,026 points) +11
3. Ross Chastain (4,021 points) +6
4. Christopher Bell (4,018 points) +3
5. William Byron (4,015 points) -3
6. Ryan Blaney (4,015 points) -3
7. Denny Hamlin (4,013 points) -5
8. Chase Briscoe (4,009 points) -9

Failed to Advance to Round of 8:

9. Kyle Larson (3,102 points) -2
10. Daniel Suárez (3,095 points) -9
11. Austin Cindric (3,091 points) -13
12. Alex Bowman (3,015 points) -89

SHR Notes:

● Harvick earned his eighth top-five and 15th top-10 of the season. It was his second top-five and third top-10 in five career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Roval.

● Harvick’s second-place result bettered his previous best finish at the Roval – third, earned in 2019.

● Harvick led once for four laps to increase his laps-led total at the Roval to 38.

● Harvick has now led 11,475 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 15,991 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career.

● Briscoe earned his seventh top-10 of the season and his first top-10 in two career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Roval.

● This was Briscoe’s third straight top-10. He finished fifth Sept. 25 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and 10th last Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

● Briscoe’s ninth-place result bettered his previous best finish at the Roval – 22nd, earned in his first start at the track last October.

● Briscoe finished seventh in Stage 1 to earn four bonus points and eighth in Stage 2 to earn three more bonus points.

● Almirola earned his 15th top-15 of the season and his second top-15 in five career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Roval.

Race Notes:

● Christopher Bell won the Bank of America Roval 400 to score his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his first at the Roval. His margin over Harvick was 1.790 seconds.

● There were four caution periods for a total of 10 laps.

● Twenty-seven of the 39 drivers in the Bank of America Roval 400 finished on the lead lap.

Sound Bites:

“This is a tough racetrack just to get a good finish because of the fact that it turns into being rough at the end. We were half a lap from getting to the white (flag) and probably winning the race, but just not quite as good on the restart compared to Christopher (Bell) and his new tires, but still a great day. I knew we were gonna have to have a perfect corner there with Christopher having such fresher tires. He was able to get through traffic and was able to roll through a little bit more speed in turn one, turn two, turn three and turn four and just got in front of me, but we were able to hold off Kyle (Busch), so it’s still a good day. Our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang guys did a great job of putting us in position and having a chance.” – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang

“What a wild day. I told my guys before we took the initial green in the race, there’s a difference between thinking we could move on and knowing we could move on. This team never gives up. I told them I was never going to give up. It took every bit of it there at the end. To be easily in, then that debris caution comes out, still I thought we had a really good shot of making it in. Get wrecked on the backstretch. Crazy at the end of these races, especially the road-course race, how much can change so quickly. I had no idea we were even going to have a shot. Truthfully, I knew we were probably out. I saw the 2 (Austin Cindric) wreck, I thought maybe there’s still a chance. We had so much fresher tires than anybody. Johnny (Klausmeier, crew chief) pumped them way up to qualifying pressures, let me go attack, have the ball in my hands. Super proud of this race team. Pretty cool day for Ford Performance Racing. Looking forward to the Round of 8. A lot of really, really good racetracks for me. If we can get to Phoenix, we know we’ve got a good car there, too. It’s weird (in these slick conditions). Seems like dirt guys, especially sprint car guys, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, (Christopher) Bell, you’re slipping and sliding so much. You have more power than you can typically put down. It’s similar to a sprint car. The sprint car background definitely helps when you come to a place like this. Cool to see a sprint car guy win and another one move on in the playoffs.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the South Point 400 on Sunday, Oct. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is the seventh race of the 10-race NASCAR Playoffs and the first race in the Round of 8. The South Point 400 starts at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY R.C.
BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
OCTOBER 9, 2022

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-20 RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER

4th AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1
5th Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1
8th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1
10th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Get Bioethanol Camaro ZL1
11th Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Camaro ZL1
12th Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Raze Energy Camaro ZL1
16th William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1
19th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Harris Teeter / Scott Camaro ZL1
20th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Christopher Bell (Toyota)
2nd Kevin Harvick (Ford)
3rd Kyle Busch (Toyota)
4th AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet)
5th Justin Haley (Chevrolet)

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 will get underway next Sunday, October 16, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the South Point 400 at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 37th

What are you thinking when you have to go to the garage to make some repairs?

“Really nothing going through my head.. just a testament to the No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevy team to get my car back out there that quick. They got the suspension fixed and got us back out there to finish.”

You go onto the next round. How are you feeling?

“I’m human, so it hurts to make the mistakes that I made today and yesterday. I’ll take some time here with my guys and when I drive out of this parking lot, I’m going to make a big effort to leave the ROVAL here. Normally, it’s Monday morning when I’m done with it and look through everything, but we’re onto another round.

It’s a testament to our season and our finish in points today. The strategy by Phil Surgen (Crew Chief) and our strategy with Trackhouse and Team Chevy to get the stage win in Stage Two is ultimately the difference that gave me the buffer when I needed it the most. I will drive off the property here in Concord and leave this here. It’s number one priority.”

Take me through the incident that caused the damage?

“Lack of awareness of car placement in turn two and hit the wall.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 35th

At what point in the race were you worried?

“As soon as I hit the wall. Yeah, you just give up that many spots; you know it’s going to be close and then the caution there. So, yeah, I just made way too many mistakes all year long. Made another one today and it ultimately cost us a chance to go chase another championship. Just extremely mad at myself because I let the team down a number of times this year and let them down in a big way today. We will keep fighting and we will come back stronger. I will definitely come back stronger, smarter and make better moves out there. Just mad at myself. Bummer.”

Seems like you take a lot of the blame for this. How do you make it up to the team?

“Go race hard. There is no other person to blame than myself for today. I feel like our team put ourselves in a position as well as we could on points today. We got as many stage points as we could and I think we were plus 27 or 28 at the time when I screwed up. Just for no reason either. I wasn’t even pushing all that hard at that moment. It got loose and caught me off guard.

So yeah, just keep working on my craft, get better and make a lot less mistakes. Like I said, I made way too many mistakes this whole year and you can’t win a championship like that.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 20th

You led the most laps today, but chaos there at the end of the race. How do you describe it from your perspective?

“I’m not 100 percent sure.. I haven’t seen a replay yet.

I thought I had a pretty good launch and thought I got through (turns) one and two good. I thought I gave AJ (Allmendinger) enough room through one and two to not run into the fence. I don’t know if he just got loose, overdrove turn three or whatever, but I ended up on the outside. Whatever the reason, he ran wide and I ended up the track in a super compromised situation.

Bummer. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) called a great race. Our No. 9 NAPA Chevy wasn’t great, but it was plenty good enough to win. Our team called a perfect race to get us the lead, and our pit stops were really good to not to have any mistakes and get us a really nice cushion. We had a lot of laps on our tires, but I could maintain my pace out there with having a nice gap. We’ll try again next week.”

We restack things next week with Las Vegas, Homestead and Martinsville. How is your confidence level in the Round of 8?

“I think it’s going to be a really tough round. Vegas was a struggle for us in the spring. Homestead, we’ve just been really hit-or-miss there. We did have a test there a couple weeks ago, so hopefully we’ve learned from that. Martinsville, it’s just going to be about how you qualify because I don’t see anybody passing there. We’ll see how it goes. Try to bring our A-game. It would have been nice to have some more points from today, but we didn’t and we’ll try again out in Las Vegas.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 ACTION INDUSTRIES CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 4th

How are you feeling with the crazy way that race finished?

“When you are that close to winning, it’s for sure disappointing. But I’m happy with the way this No. 16 Action Industries Chevy was. It was really fast. We just need to work a little bit on pit road. We lost that little bit of track position, and it was a track position game. Once I got around the 8 (Tyler Reddick), I was burning my stuff up trying to catch the 9 (Chase Elliott). With those restarts, I knew I was kind of used up already. I got a good restart there and when Chase and I touched kind of through (turn) two, I went to set up for three and it turned me sideways and I slid a little more. That was unfortunate because that allowed the 4 (Kevin Harvick) to get to my bumper and we know Kevin is going to do that if he gets any chance. That’s a part of racing and going for the win. That second restart there, it was just a couple of guys with better tires, and you are just a sitting duck.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 16th

“Give enough room, try to not barrel it into the chicane and get hooked in the left- or right-rear. Certainly, just not how you want to race there at the end, but it was just crazy racing with the green-white-checkered and the way that guys are able to get into each other, make contact, guys spin out and the track gets blocked. It just gets wild there at the end.

But we did what we needed to do, which was to get some stage points and finish the race. We’ll move on and get ready for Las Vegas.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 36th

How hard was today for you?

“Very tough. The second-half of the race was probably the most difficult race I’ve driven in my life, but it is what it is. Unfortunately, me as a driver, that’s something that’s out of my control.”

As you look back on this year, certainly there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a very encouraging year, isn’t it?

“It’s been good. Certainly we have to continue to work and continue to get better.”

It was hard to pass out there. What did it look like from inside the race car?

“The first-half of the race was good; and then we had a mechanical failure with the steering and after that, it was game over. It’s very disappointing to lose a race like that. Our No. 99 CommScope Chevy was good; it was fast. I felt like it was going to be an easy transition based on the speed that we had, but once we lost the steering, I was just trying to survive. My arms are destroyed right now. My hands are destroyed. It’s just unfortunate.”

TEAM CHEVY RACE QUICK NOTES

Stage One:

· William Byron led Chevrolet to the green in the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 playoffs elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, taking a front row starting spot in his No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1.

· Chevrolet playoff contender, Ross Chastain, moved to the rear of the field in the starting lineup after damage sustained in an accident in yesterday’s qualifying session forced the team to make repairs to his No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1.

· The 25-lap Stage One went caution free, with five Chevrolet drivers taking spots in the top-10 of the stage. Leading the Bowtie brigade was William Byron, driving his No. 24 Camaro ZL1 to a second-place finish in the stage.

· Stage One Team Chevy Top-10:

2nd William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1

3rd Daniel Suarez, No. 99 CommScope Camaro ZL1

6th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

9th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1

10th AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1

Stage Two:

· Crew chief Randall Burnett called the No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1 to pit road with two laps remaining in Stage One, allowing Tyler Reddick to stay out during the stage break to give the No. 8 Camaro ZL1 a front row restart position for the start of stage two.

· Stage Two also went caution-free, with pit strategy atop the No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1 pit box putting Chastain into position to be at the top of the leaderboard and take the stage win. This marks Chastain’s sixth stage win of 2022.

· Stage Two Team Chevy Top-10:

1st Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1

3rd Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

4th AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1

5th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1

6th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 CommScope Camaro ZL1

10th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1

Final Stage / Post-Race Notes:

· Chevrolet drivers took four of the top-10 finishing positions, led by AJ Allmendinger and the No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1 team in fourth. Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing teammate, Justin Haley, rounded out the top-five in his No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1.

· Rounding the Team Chevy top-10 was Richard Childress Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon, who placed eighth and tenth, respectively.

· Three Chevrolet drivers advanced to the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8, including Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and William Byron; and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain.

 
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Ty Dillon, No. 42 QuickChek Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

START: 28th
FINISH: 25th
POINTS: 28th

Ty Dillon Post-Race Thoughts: “Really disappointed in the way that our race ended today in Charlotte. We ran clean all race and had a chance at stealing a really good finish, but I ran off track and put us in a bad position. Frustrated, but with the end of the race being so hectic, I feel like it was bound to happen. I’m thankful to QuickChek for the support and to my guys for sticking with it. We’ll head to Las Vegas and hope to rebound next weekend!”

Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

START: 26th
FINISH: 11th
POINTS: 18th

Erik Jones Post-Race Thoughts: “We had a good FOCUSfactor Chevy today and we were on track to get another top 10 finish, but just barely missed it after contact on the closing laps. Dave (Elenz, crew chief) and the team made the right changes all race to get our handling better and put us in position for a strong run and finish. We’ll keep building and head to Las Vegas next week to a track I enjoy, and try to get us another win.”

ABOUT PETTY GMS:

Petty GMS competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, operating the No. 42 Chevrolet for Ty Dillon and the No. 43 Chevrolet for Erik Jones. Founded in December 2021, Maury Gallagher, championship team owner of GMS Racing, purchased a majority interest of Richard Petty Motorsports. Inaugural NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty, known as “The King,” remains a key stakeholder of the organization. For more information, please visit www.pettygms.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow Petty GMS on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet Team Earn Strong Top-10 Finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL

Finish: 10th
Start: 15th
Points: 14th

“We had a strong Get Bioethanol Chevrolet today at the ROVAL. It was probably one of the best road course cars we’ve had, so props to everyone at RCR and ECR. I made a mistake early and had to serve a pass-through penalty for missing the front stretch chicane on lap 1. Luckily, we were able to rebound and raced our way into the top-10 fairly early in the race. Our pit crew was fast all day and gained us spots on pit road, and Justin Alexander made the right adjustments to keep the No. 3 Chevy in the hunt. It was challenging to make the call to pit or stay out during the last few restarts. It was wild at the end of the race. Everyone was shoving and racing hard. I’m happy to leave with a top-10 finish and look forward to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick, 3CHI Team Grab 14th Top-10 of the Season At The ROVAL

Finish: 8th
Start: 4th
Points: 13th

“Overall, it was a solid day for our 3CHI team. We brought a really fast race car to the ROVAL and we followed our strategy. We did a lot of things right, but we’re naturally disappointed because we wanted to win today since we’ve had a lot of speed on road courses this year. Unfortunately, we had a little hiccup on our Stage 2 pit stop that forced us to take long when we refueled and we lost track position in the third stage. We fell a little bit behind, but we were in a position where if a caution had come out we could have been okay. I pushed really, really hard to try to close the gap to the No. 9 car and burned my tires up. When those cautions came at the end of the race, I didn’t have much left to lean on.” -Tyler Reddick

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Bank of America Roval 400 | Sunday, October 9, 2022

FORD FINISHING RESULTS

2nd – Kevin Harvick
6th – Chris Buescher
9th – Chase Briscoe
14th – Brad Keselowski
15th – Aric Almirola
18th – Joey Logano
21st – Austin Cindric
24th – Cole Custer
26th – Ryan Blaney
27th – Michael McDowell
28th – Harrison Burton
30th – Todd Gilliland
31st – Josh Williams
32nd – JJ Yeley
33rd – Loris Hezemans
38th – Joey Hand

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – “I knew we were gonna have to have a perfect corner there with Christopher having such fresher tires. He was able to get through traffic and was able to roll through a little bit more speed in turn one, turn two, turn three and turn four and just got in front of me, but we were able to hold Kyle off so it’s still a good day. Our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang guys did a great job of putting us in position and having a chance. We were half a lap there from being in the right spot. It didn’t all work out, but still a good day.”

WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE FINAL RESTART? “I knew we were in a bit of a pickle there with Christopher on new tires and I just didn’t want to blow the first corner, I wanted to give us a chance he was just able to roll more speed than we were and from there it was just kind of like damage control and make sure you bring the thing home and that’s what we did. They did a good job. They got us in position and that caution coming out killed us there. We were half a lap from coming to the white and caution, so they did a good job.”

HOW CLOSE WAS IT FOR YOU ON FUEL? “I never lost fuel pressure, so not as close – maybe they were counting on a couple green-white-checkers, I don’t know. I never know what their strategy is until about Tuesday, so they’ll tell me why Tuesday and how close we were. I just do what I’m told like a well-trained dog.”

REWARDING TO COME OUT WITH A DECENT FINISH? “It is. This is a tough racetrack just to get a good finish because of the fact that it turns into being rough at the end. We were half a lap from getting to the white and probably winning the race, but just not quite as good on the restart compared to Christopher and his new tires, but still a great day.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – “It was nice to come in here with decent points and do a good job in the stages. It’s a shame because I thought our car was super fast, but when you’re stage points racing you just bury yourself and you’re just trying to stay out of everyone else’s junk there at the end. We still ended up getting in other people’s junk because people are running you over and spinning you out, but luckily we had a good points cushion. It seemed to be exciting on the cut line. We’ll go on to next week and it’ll be good.”

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAST RESTART? “Get run over by people just like Indy. I don’t know who ran me over, but put them on the list I guess.”

YOU HAD A CUSHION. HOW WAS IT TO HAVE THAT? “It was a help. It never hurts, but you come in and we did the stage game in the first stage and got our points, but then you just bury yourself the rest of the day and it was so hard to pass today. You kind of bury yourself right at the beginning and it doesn’t matter how fast your car is, you can’t come from 25th and drive up through there. We did a good job. We had a plan coming into this weekend with where we were on points and stuck with that plan. It’s a shame it has to be that way, but on the other side you just try to be as smart as you can.”

WHAT ABOUT THE NEXT ROUND? “I’m looking forward to getting to Vegas. I think we’ve come a long way on our mile-and-a-half program. Between Vegas and Homestead and obviously Martinsville is a strong place for us in the spring, so I’m looking forward to it. We’ve just got to put together good races with no mistakes and keep doing what we’ve been doing. I’d really like to win and not have to worry about the next two weeks, but I think this team has been doing a great job. They’re really focused right now.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang – “My guys did a great job all weekend. We had a long shot, but had a shot at it and kept ourselves in the game. Obviously, I had a great shot at the end. That last caution really stung because we would have been in without that last caution. Old tires against new tires. I wish we would have had probably some better track position and probably do a few things right here and there, but, overall, great to have a shot, great to be in the playoff picture. I learned a lot in my rookie season racing against a lot of the best. I was a bit of a bonehead on the last couple restarts just trying to make something happen with 30-lap worse tires than everybody around me, but, overall, great experience but just a little bit short.”

THOUGHTS ON THE LAST LAPS. “Very, very crazy. I would not recommend doing restarts with 30-lap older tires compared to everybody else that have less grip. It was just crazy and being only a couple spots ahead I was fighting for everything I had. My driving standards were probably a little bit lower than I usually like keeping them, but just desperate at that point. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We were in a really great position before that first green-white-checkered. We had a few spot margin and had a decent gap behind. The caution came out and I felt like that sealed our fate in some ways. Even then, I was one point out and needed the spot and tried to get it. I didn’t get myself clear and it was just a mess on the back chicane, so, overall, definitely some things I feel like we could have done better to execute today, but I definitely feel like we could have some more progress with the car, but, otherwise, great to be part of it and have a shot. We’re still coming to the final race, it’s just unfortunate we didn’t finish.”

WHAT WAS DONE IT MEAN MAKING IT THIS FAR IN YOUR ROOKIE SEASON? “I would have like to make it further. That’s the way I look at it. I don’t look at this as an opportunity that everyone is gonna have every year. If you’re in a good car with a good team it’s still not guaranteed. We had one guy make it in on points this year and that’s it. There’s past champions that missed out on the playoffs. I’ve got a guy standing next to me right here (Larson) that I think is one of the best drivers, if not the best driver in the field, and he’s not advancing on. This is not an easy format. It’s not a forgiving format and there are guys who have had worse luck than I have. If we have Texas go how it should have and not have to pull off a miracle and miss the 47 spinning, we finish in the top three and we probably pit and put on tires and have a simple end to our race today, but, either way, that’s not how this sport works. It’s not that easy and it’s not an opportunity that’s guaranteed every year and I want to make the most of it.”

WHEN IT’S HARD TO PASS, RESTARTS BECOME EVEN MORE IMPORTANT? “Yeah, restarts were definitely everything. Like stage two, I got hosed. We just had a slow car get caught in the middle of me and the 11 and I went from maybe gaining one or two spots on the restart to losing six and you spend the entire stint trying to pick that six back up.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang – HOW MUCH WERE THEY UPDATING YOU AT THE END? “That was a rollercoaster of emotions. To be easily in and then that caution came out and the 3 just dumped me. Thinking we were out again. I knew at the end there it was gonna be chaos. I feel like all respect goes out the window every time we have a caution at the end of one of these things. Johnny just did a really good job of giving me the ball there at the end and letting me have tires and just trying to go for it. I’m sure I made a couple people mad there at the end, but I had no idea – they just kept telling me every point is gonna matter here, so I just kept trying to pass everybody I could and got lucky that a couple of those holes opening up, but I’m just proud of my team. Nobody believed we were gonna get past the Round of 16 and here we are in the Round of 8 and three really, really good racetracks for me coming up, so I’m looking forward to them.”

DID YOU KNOW YOU HAD TO MAKE THAT LAST MOVE TO GAIN POINTS? “Yeah, I was making good ground. I knew the 3 had literally wrecked me two laps before and I was wanting to give it back to him because I was so mad and then I just knew I had to go. It’s a tough spot for the non-playoff guys. The 43, I kind of put him in a really bad spot and put myself in a bad spot too, but I was just shoving him because I had to get going knowing that every spot was gonna make the difference. My team came over the radio and told me I was one point out and that was the 43 car that I needed to pass, so I kind of shoved him out of the way and then the 3 got by both of us and then I had the back straightaway to do a Hail Mary and luckily somebody caught it and I was able to move on.”

EMOTIONS COMING OUT OF THE CAR? “I feel happier than I ever have when I’ve won a race before, truthfully. I know what this team is capable of, especially in this next round. Homestead, I feel like, is by far my best racetrack. Vegas, I’ve been able to have a lot of success there and Martinsville we were really fast. If we can get to Phoenix, we know we have a good car there, too. To have a one in eight chance to win a NASCAR championship is an unbelievable feeling and I think that’s why it feels even bigger than a win.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – WHEN IT’S HARD TO PASS IS THAT WHY WE SEE WHAT WE DO AT THE END? “You’ve got guys that were onesies, twosies that were gonna barely make it and when you have desperate situations like that, people just send it and it ends up to be a mess. I’m sure there are a lot of scorecards that everybody kept today and I didn’t dump anybody, so that was great. No one’s mad at me (laughing).”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NEXT ROUND? “I feel good. I like Vegas. We had a pretty good test at Miami and Martinsville has been one of Penske’s best racetracks as of late, so I feel pretty good about it.”