NASCAR CUP SERIES
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
GO BOWLING AT THE GLEN
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 8, 2021

KYLE LARSON TAKES THE WIN AT WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
Team Chevy Scores 12th NCS Victory of 2021

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (August 8, 2021) – Kyle Larson’s title of the winningest NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) driver of the 2021 season continues on by driving his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 1LE to victory lane in the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) return to Watkins Glen International in the Go Bowling at The Glen. Rolling off in the fourth starting position, Larson drove his Hendrick Motorsports’ Chevrolet to top-five finishes in both stages, leading 27 of the 90-lap, 220.5-mile race to capture the driver’s 11th NCS career-victory and fifth of the 2021 season.

The 29-year-old California native’s victory marks Chevrolet’s 12th win on the 2021 NCS season and its 807th all-time victory in NASCAR’s premier division. With just three races left in the regular season, Chevrolet continues to lead in the Manufacturer Points Standings in its quest for its 40th NASCAR Cup Series title. Larson’s victory brought the Chevrolet driver to the top of the Driver Standings, tying Denny Hamlin for the lead, in the battle for the Regular Season Championship.
The victory at the New York road course circuit is Hendrick Motorsports’ 24th road course win, extending its record as the NASCAR Cup Series all-time road course win leader. In 23 points-paying races in the NCS 2021 season, Hendrick Motorsports has made its way to victory lane 11 times, the most ever at this point of the year.

Larson lead a Hendrick Motorsports 1-2 finish after teammate, Chase Elliott, charged through the field after starting from the rear to give the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro a runner-up finish and its 14th top-10 finish this season. William Byron took the checkered flag in sixth in his No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE. Tyler Reddick rounded out the Team Chevy top-10 in tenth in his No. 8 Chevrolet Accessories Camaro ZL1 1LE, giving the Camaro ZL1 1LE four of the top-10 finishers of the race.

Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota) finished third, Kyle Busch (Toyota) was fourth and Denny Hamlin (Toyota) rounded out the top-five.

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
Q. Kyle, what a great victory, but there in those closing laps, I have to ask, as you caught all those lap cars were you worried about losing the time there?
KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I was. Chase was already catching me pretty quick, even with me being in open track, so when I caught those, I think, four cars and got into the 38 right here, I thought I would look at my mirror and the 9 would be right on me, but thankfully had a comfortable enough gap to where I could make a mistake like that.
I want to say a big apology to Christopher Bell. I was inside but I wasn’t inside enough, and I didn’t — I needed to have the nose a few feet further ahead, and the angles just caught there in the middle and I ended up turning him. I hate that. I race with him a lot. He’s probably the one guy that I race with the most in all my racing, so hate to turn him like that. We’ve had incredible races together.
Anyways, hats off to Hendrickcars.com. Thanks for everything you guys do for me, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, Cliff Daniels, this whole 5 bunch. Another amazing car. I could tell from about lap 3 after I stopped making a bunch of mistakes that we were going to have a car that could win today.

Q. This is your fifth win on the season, one of the most successful seasons of all time. What does it mean to come to Hendrick Motorsports and have this successful of a season?
KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it’s awesome. I mean, it really just shows how good the organization is, all the people that they’ve assembled at their race shop, all the men and women. All four of us could not be getting these wins like we have been without them. Thanks to them, and thanks to everybody else I get to race for. Get to go to Iowa this week and chase another big win, so looking forward to that, and hopefully can just keep racking these wins up.

Q. What do you want to say to another massive crowd here at Watkins Glen?
KYLE LARSON: Yeah, thanks all you guys for coming out. It’s been a while since we’ve been here, so hopefully we put on a good show for you. It was definitely a good show from my seat when the three of us were going at it for the lead in the first stage, then there in the second and third stage. Just a lot of fun today and hope you guys enjoyed it.

CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
Q. Cliff, that pit stop really won the race when you guys jumped Truex. How good were they the entire day?
CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, they were great. Honestly our first pit stop we just felt a little bit off to our standards, and the guys were hard on themselves, but credit to them, all the coaches back at Hendrick Motorsports; they knew how to be clutch when it was needed. That was the money stop of the race, and they did it.

Q. Kyle was talking about all the information that you were feeding to him. Is that conversation that you had with him pre-race in terms of how much information he wants, how much information you want to give him, or were you just kind of feeding whatever you wanted to?
CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, we’ve kind of adjusted that over the course of the season. He is so intellectual about what he does. So we all know Kyle Larson, right, as the amazing talent and he hits the “go” button and goes really fast. But he’s also really aware of the race around him. Over the course of the season we’ve just kind of developed our communication, and I know that he is in a more comfortable spot behind the wheel the more information that he has.
The timing worked out where I could talk to him right down the front straightaway, kind of fill him in on what was going on around him, and then coach him not to over-drive it and certainly pace himself.
I think that’s just kind of developed throughout the year, honestly.

Q. The regular season points battle is tied right now with three races left. Kyle and Denny both said that they’re kind of enjoying it because it feels like a playoff race almost every weekend. How important is that to you as a crew chief and do you feel that way on the pit box, as well?
CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, I would say so, and honestly I think if I was in your position I would ask the same question, but in my position you’ll understand that we’ve kind of had a thing that we’ve done all year on how we call races and how we prepare for a race, so I don’t plan to change that.
There’s a level of competitiveness that we strive for every week, and there’s things that our team tries to accomplish every week. That hasn’t changed. So the way we call the race really hasn’t changed. Our strategy from the start of the day is the strategy that we held to.
I will say that Denny and Chris Gabehart definitely are pros, and it’s going to be fun to race those guys. They’re tough, they’re going to be tough every week. Yeah, it’s going to be fun to race them, but I certainly don’t want to get distracted by that at the expense of calling a good race, if that makes sense.

Q. I don’t think a lot of us expected Kyle to be so good at road courses this year. He’s been decent at them in the past but really has excelled this year, now getting two wins here. What have you seen from him on these road courses that has allowed this kind of success?
CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, he’s naturally good anywhere. One of the things that he challenges himself with during the summer months, and we’ve seen him do it years in a row, especially last year and then again this year, when he gets in a different type of dirt car at a different track, they don’t give much track time, right, so the driver has to adapt really quick, got to give the right feedback to make the right changes to a car.
That format that we have now in the Cup Series where we don’t have practice and qualifying, you don’t have three practice sessions before the race to dial yourself in or out; it’s just load and go. That suits him really well.
The timing of that, A; and B, I’ll give credit where credit is due. We’re kind of spoiled that we have the best road course team in-house, and that’s the 9 team. I think all things being equal today, it was going to be a really tough race to beat those guys if they didn’t have their issue middle of the race, and that’s no bigger compliment that I could give to the 9 team. Chase and Alan are pros.
To have their notes, to have the conversations and just the teamwork that we have with those guys, as cliche as it sounds, is so valuable.
I think a lot of things factor into what you’re seeing this year, and I know I’m getting a little long-winded here, but having good cars at the shop, good teammates, plus this format and Kyle’s all-in-the-gas nature kind of works out.

Q. I asked Kyle this question, and he said it was difficult to judge off one race whether he would have any kind of momentum. When you look at the last five races where you guys had not led very many laps, do you look at today as sort of a turnaround or at least looking back more like the team that we saw when you were winning three in a row?
CLIFF DANIELS: I think that’s a really fair question to ask, and our view out the windshield really hasn’t changed a lot. We’re trying to see everything out the windshield and make sure even looking in the rear view mirror that we evaluate ourselves every week, and if we — I mean, look, let’s be honest, at Loudon we were probably a ninth-place car. We were a seventh-place car; by the time the 18 and 19 wrecked, when you take them out of the field, we were a seventh-place car. I’m well aware of that. We weren’t at the level that we needed to be.
Looking at everything out front and what’s coming ahead, we’re going to prepare the same way using the same methodology that we’ve had all year. We’re going to have the same communication that we’ve had all year and just keep building.
To judge momentum at this point off of one race is hard to do, but certainly we’ll take it.

Q. As the playoffs approach, how do you feel about the 5 team now compared to maybe a month to month and a half ago?
KYLE LARSON: Honestly very much the same. When I look at Darlington, knowing that the pit road speed penalty put us back a little bit at Darlington and then we had to take a couple rounds of pit stops to get back up there and contend for the win. I know Darlington is going to be a good track for us.
Richmond we had a horrible race in the spring but our teammates, the 48, ran really well, so kind of confident that thankfully the 48 had a good race and a good datapoint that we can go look at.
Bristol, that has always been a special place for me and a special place for Larson. I think the dirt race kind of stung, the way it went for us this year, so Bristol is going to be a good race for us.
Going to the next round and go through those tracks and the next round and so on and so forth, I think there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for us, and we’re certainly eager to get there, but we’ve got to be really smart with the decisions that we make and how we execute.
The way we built our team to go into the summer months was to treat every race like it was kind of a do-or-die race, so we’ve had some training in that. Now the 11 is pushing us to stay on that path, right, and there’s no reason to let off the gas, so hopefully we’re keeping the arrow straight and true and headed for the target.

Q. Earlier in here Kyle talked about in terms of the points race and saying, hey, I want to try to get, build up a little bit of advantage the next couple weeks because Denny does so well at Daytona and he’s a little bit better. For what your driver has done this year, do you even want your driver to even think that somebody is better than him, even though maybe the numbers show it at that type of particular track? How do you, as you build up your driver, what you have to do, that he’s even thinking along those lines, you don’t care or do you want to get in his ear and say, let’s not be thinking that way?

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, I think it’s a fair question. We think a lot alike, and we both knowing if somebody beats us that we have that to shoot for and that we get to go study that much harder. If I think I’m good, I’m not very comfortable, and if he thinks he’s good, he’s not very comfortable. So he’s comfortable knowing that he needs to improve today to be better tomorrow. And I’m kind of the same personality.
I think that’s pretty healthy that he thinks that, and I think that of myself and our team, too. We’re going to look at today and be critical. I know my pit crew guys really well; they’re going to be critical of our first stop. You guys are all going to write about our second stop, but my guys at the shop on Monday are going to be beating themselves up over the first stop. Me and my engineer were already talking about things we could have done to make our car better to the 9 because the 9 was the best car at the end of the race. Like that’s a real thing.
Even leaving here as the winner, we already know two key areas that we can be better, and I think Kyle doing that, looking ahead at some of those races, is probably not a bad thing.

Q. He also talked kind of leading into that, that going into this race one of the things he took a close look at was how Chase got through the Bus Stop. He said he felt like that was a really key point and that’s something he really wanted to focus on going into this event. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to look at the data or if you’re looking as the race goes on; was Kyle any better in that area? Did he close the gap on Chase in that portion of the course?
CLIFF DANIELS: He did, absolutely. Two things, big credit to Kyle because to himself, I think he had a huge improvement today just in some of the data that we studied the weeks leading up to this to prepare. I did try to look at it as much as I could during the race.
And then the second thing is Chase Elliott is still really, really good here, so he was still phenomenal through the Bus Stop.

Q. Next week at Indianapolis, inaugural race on that road course, obviously Xfinity raced there last year. Is there anything from this season, different courses, different portions of tracks that help with that, or is it so different because it’s flat there’s no elevation, it’s a different type of course? How do you prepare for that?
CLIFF DANIELS: It’s kind of a blend. This will sound weird, but we’ve studied it a good bit. It’s kind of a blend of Sonoma, Road America and maybe even a little bit of COTA. That’s pulling a lot of different areas. Trust me, I understand.
But different areas of the track can kind of resemble other different areas of those other tracks that I just mentioned. We’re trying to be smart and thoughtful in how we prepare the car for that race. I’ve said we’ve got to be smart in practice, execute in qualifying. Who knows for strategy during the race. I think tires are going to matter more than they mattered today, so you may see some guys, if there’s a weird caution, they pit and get tires on the car and could shake things up.
We’ll study up hard.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Kyle Busch, No. 18 SNICKERS Toyota Camry
Race Recap for the Go Bowling at the Glen

Date: Aug. 8, 2021
Event: Go Bowling at The Glen (Round 23 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International (2.45-mile, 7-turn road course)
Format: 90 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/20 laps/50 laps)
Start/Finish: 20th / 4th (Running, completed 90 of 90 laps)
Point Standing: 4th with 779 points, 138 behind leader
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-20):

● Kyle Busch started 20th and finished sixth, earning five bonus points.
● The No. 18 SNICKERS Toyota had raced from 20th to 11th place by the time the competition caution was displayed on lap 10. Busch reported that the car was handling extremely loose at most points on the track.
● Green-flag racing resumed, and Busch quickly made a move to grab the eighth position.
● As Stage 1 drew to a close, a number of teams elected to make trips to pit road for service as part of their overall race strategy. The SNICKERS team remained on the track, finishing the stage in sixth place.
● During the caution the team made a big chassis adjustment, changed four tires and added fuel. Because a number of teams stopped prior to the end of the first stage, Busch lined up 20th to start Stage 2.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 21-40):

● Busch started 20th and finished 10th, earning one bonus point.
● The Las Vegas native was in 18th place when NASCAR displayed a full-field caution for a single-car incident. Busch reported during the break that the balance on the car was better but still lacked what he needed to be aggressive.
● Green-flag racing resumed, and Busch quietly went to work. He was back in the top-10 on lap 36, and he reported that the SNICKERS Toyota lacked rear grip.
● The stage ended with Busch in 10th place. The team elected to stay out as part of their overall race strategy. This placed Busch in ninth place to start the final stage.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 41-90):

● Busch started ninth and finished fourth.
● When racing resumed, the two-time NASCAR Cup champion quickly advanced, picking up two positions on the restart to move to seventh place.
● The final round of green-flag pit stops started taking place on lap 55 with Busch scored in third place.
● The No. 18 SNICKERS Toyota Camry team made their final trip to pit road on lap 57 for a round of air pressure adjustments, four tires and fuel. Once pit stops cycled through, Busch was scored in third place.
● Busch was passed for third with less than 10 laps to go in the race. He maintained fourth place to the end to pick up the top-five finish.

Notes:

● Busch’s fourth-place finish is his 11th top-five and 15th top-10 finish of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
● The fourth-place finish improves Busch’s record at Watkins Glen to two wins, seven top-fives and 13 top-10 finishes in 16 career starts at the 2.45-mile road course.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 SNICKERS Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

“We didn’t quite have the car we needed with our SNICKERS Camry today. It was just all on top of the racetrack. We haven’t been here in a few years, and the track fell off, the grip fell off, and the tire being too hard – we just kind of missed all of that for the package that we needed. You know I’m pretty good here, and the cars are good here. We kind of overcame the downfall of what we had for car setup, but can’t blame anybody. Got to go to work, figure it out and make it better for what’s going to be here next year.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard on Sunday, Aug. 15, on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Harvick Snares Another Top-10 at The Glen
Driver of No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang Scores 16th Top-10 of Season and 11th at Watkins Glen with Eighth-Place Finish in Go Bowling at The Glen

Date: Aug. 8, 2021
Event: Go Bowling at The Glen (Round 23 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International (seven-turn, 2.45-mile road course)
Format: 90 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/20 laps/50 laps)
Start/Finish: 5th / 8th (Running, completed 90 of 90 laps)
Point Standing: 9th (710 points, 207 out of first)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)Stage 2 Winner: Martin Truex Jr., of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-20):

● Kevin Harvick started fifth and finished 26th
● Dropped to ninth by the third tour around the seven-turn, 2.45-mile road course, but held steady in that spot through competition caution on lap 10.
● Crew chief Rodney Childers opted to keep Harvick out on the racetrack and maintain track position instead of pitting.
● Harvick lined up eighth for lap-13 restart and was back in ninth when the field came back around for lap 14.
● Made scheduled, green flag pit stop for four tires and fuel on lap 17, allowing Harvick to stay out after the stage ended.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 21-40):

● Harvick started fourth and finished third, earning eight bonus points.
● Maintained fourth place through caution on lap 25 and remained in that spot for lap-28 restart.
● Harvick drove the No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang into second place going into turn one of the restart.
● Christopher Bell got by Harvick in the Bus Stop section of the track to take second.
● Harvick stayed comfortably in third through the end of the stage.
● Stayed out at the end of the stage to maintain track position.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 41-90):

● Harvick started third and finished eighth.
● Kyle Larson passed Harvick on the final corner of lap 44 to take third, and then Ross Chastain got by Harvick in turn one on lap 45 to take fourth. The No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang settled into fifth with Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Chase Briscoe behind him in sixth.
● Made scheduled, green flag pit stop for four tires and fuel on lap 55.
● “My car’s just become pretty loose,” said Harvick while running sixth on lap 70.
● Bell passed Harvick on lap 74 to take seventh and Harvick settled into eighth.
● Chastain got by on lap 88 to take eighth, but as Chastain’s fuel cell ran dry in the final lap, Harvick retook the position to finish eighth.

Notes:

● Harvick earned his 16th top-10 of the season and his 11th top-10 in 20 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen.
● This was Harvick’s third straight top-10 at Watkins Glen.
● This was Harvick’s second straight top-10. He finished sixth in the series’ prior race July 18 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
● Harvick’s 11 top-10s at Watkins Glen are the second most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers.
● Kyle Larson won the Go Bowling at The Glen to score his 11th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-leading fifth of the season and his first at Watkins Glen. His margin over second-place Chase Elliott was 2.430 seconds.
● There were four caution periods for a total of six laps.
● Twenty-four of the 37 drivers in the Go Bowling at The Glen finished on the lead lap.
● Larson and Denny Hamlin are tied for the championship lead after Watkins Glen with each having 917 points. Their margin over nearest pursuer William Byron is 131 points.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Our Busch Light Apple Ford was decent today. We just had to go into fuel mileage savings as soon as we came in the pits that last run, and just kind of ran our pace and finished where we finished because we couldn’t afford to run out of gas. So, they did a good job and had a good strategy. We scored a few stage points and had a solid finish, so we’ll go to the next one.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard on Sunday, Aug. 15 on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
GO BOWLING AT THE GLEN
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 8, 2021

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
2nd CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
6th WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE
10th TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEVROLET ACCESSORIES CAMARO ZL1 1LE
12th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 MYMCDONALD’S REWARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
13th KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
15th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 COWBOY CHANNEL CAMARO ZL1 1LE

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
2nd Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
3rd Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)
4th Kyle Busch (Toyota)
5th Denny Hamlin (Toyota)

The NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course with the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard on Sunday, August 15, at 1 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race Winner
KYLE, WHAT A GREAT VICTORY, BUT THERE IN THOSE CLOSING LAPS, I HAVE TO ASK – AS YOU CAUGHT ALL THOSE LAP CARS, WERE YOU WORRIED ABOUT LOSING THE TIME THERE?
“Yeah, I was. Chase was already catching me pretty quick, even with me being in open track, so when I caught those, I think, four cars and got into the 38 right here, I thought I would look at my mirror and the 9 would be right on me, but thankfully had a comfortable enough gap to where I could make a mistake like that.”

“I want to say a big apology to Christopher Bell. I was inside but I wasn’t inside enough, and I didn’t — I needed to have the nose a few feet further ahead, and the angles just caught there in the middle and I ended up turning him. I hate that. I race with him a lot. He’s probably the one guy that I race with the most in all my racing, so hate to turn him like that. We’ve had incredible races together.”

“Anyways, hats off to Hendrickcars.com. Thanks for everything you guys do for me, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, Cliff Daniels, this whole 5 bunch. Another amazing car. I could tell from about lap 3 after I stopped making a bunch of mistakes that we were going to have a car that could win today.”

THIS IS YOUR FIFTH WIN ON THE SEASON, ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SEASON OF ALL TIME. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO COME TO HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AND HAVE THIS SUCCESSFUL OF A SEASON?
“Yeah, it’s awesome. I mean, it really just shows how good the organization is, all the people that they’ve assembled at their race shop, all the men and women. All four of us could not be getting these wins like we have been without them. Thanks to them, and thanks to everybody else I get to race for. Get to go to Iowa this week and chase another big win, so looking forward to that, and hopefully can just keep racking these wins up.”

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY TO ANOTHER MASSIVE CROWD HERE AT WATKINS GLEN?
“Yeah, thanks all you guys for coming out. It’s been a while since we’ve been here, so hopefully we put on a good show for you. It was definitely a good show from my seat when the three of us were going at it for the lead in the first stage, then there in the second and third stage. Just a lot of fun today, and hope you guys enjoyed it.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 2nd
EXHAUSTING DAY, BUT WHAT A HEROIC EFFORT IT WAS TO GET BACK THERE TO SECOND AT THE END. HOW DO YOU SUM UP THIS DAY? YOU PASSED MORE CARS THAN I THINK ANYBODY OUT THERE BUT STILL COME UP ONE SPOT SHORT.
“Yeah, I made too many mistakes to get the win, unfortunately, and made it too late in the race. Super proud of our team. Been kind of an uphill battle all day, but everybody was just super prepared coming into the day, and our NAPA team just did a really good job of fighting it.”

“If I hadn’t have let them down there, I think we would have had a shot at it, but congrats to Kyle (Larson, race winner), Cliff (Daniels, Crew Chief), all the guys on the 5. Happy for everybody at HMS. Hendrick Motorsports has been working extremely hard, and not only do the people deserve to win, but Mr. Hendrick deserves to win. Really happy for him, and I’ll try to clean some things up and make less mistakes next time. Maybe it’ll work out.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 6th
“We had a solid run and ended up sixth in the No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 1LE. Lost the fifth spot on the last lap, unfortunately. We had a good car and it was a good run for us. We started mid-pack and worked our way forward, so I’m happy with that. Definitely a solid road course finish for us and we’ll keep moving forward.”

TYLER REDDICK, NO. 8 CHEVROLET ACCESSORIES CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 10th
“We had some good speed in our No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE today but just needed the balance to be a little better overall. I was really tight throughout most of the day, especially on landing through the turns. It didn’t seem to matter which way I was turning, I just couldn’t get the front to rotate like I needed it to once I got through the first third of a turn. The adjustments we made during the day seemed to help during the last stage of the race and I was able to grab the tenth spot on the final lap. It’s good that we were able to leave the track with another top-10 to help us with the Playoff cutline. I wish we were able to finish a little higher up, but we will have a good shot next week to show what we can do at another road course. There’s no other group I’d rather be fighting with to make the Playoffs, and I know they’ll all continue to fight through the coming weeks.”

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 MYMCDONALD’S REWARDS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 12th
“Tough day at Watkins Glen (International) for the No. 42 MyMcDonald’s Rewards Camaro ZL1 1LE. I think Kurt (Busch) and I both struggled for turn. There was quite a bit front chatter and it was just hard to get through a lot of the rights. That’s hard on a primarily right-hand turn track. Our left and rights balance was off just a little bit.”

“The pit stops helped, but we just started too far off. We definitely played the right strategy to keep cycling up. I went for one spot there at the end, I think for eighth, and gave up four to finish 12th when I ran it out of gas. A lesson learned there. I needed to save a straightaway more and I didn’t; I went for it. Live and learn.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 COWBOY CHANNEL CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 15th
“What a day at Watkins Glen International. We started the race 16th in the No. 3 Cowboy Channel Chevrolet and finished ninth in Stage 1 to grab a couple of stage points. We struggled a little bit through the esses but overall handling was pretty good today. I think we could have finished well inside the top-10 if things would have gone just a little differently. I made a mistake that cost us maybe five spots when a car ahead of us slammed on the brakes and I just didn’t anticipate it. Good job to everyone on this RCR team all day. Everyone fought hard, just as they have all season. Thank you to The Cowboy Channel for their support. We’ll go to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course next week ready to battle.”

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 CLEAN HARBORS CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 27th
“The day started off okay. The No. 43 Clean Harbors Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was good, and we made our way forward. Then we lost track position and got too far back, spun-out and never caught a caution to get caught back up. Not a solid end, but we proved to have an okay car. We just lost the balance a bit through the middle of the race, and got too free and didn’t really have it where we needed it. We will head to another road course next week. I think we learned some good stuff and got a few things better that will carry over.”

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.

Austin Dillon’s Playoff Hopes Still Alive With Top-15 Finish in the No. 3 Cowboy Channel Chevrolet at Watkins Glen International

Finish: 15th
Start: 16th
Points: 13th

“What a day at Watkins Glen International. We started the race 16th in the No. 3 Cowboy Channel Chevrolet and finished ninth in Stage 1 to grab a couple of stage points. We struggled a little bit through the esses, but overall handling was pretty good today. I think we could have finished well inside the top-10 if things would have gone just a little differently. I made a mistake that cost us maybe five spots when a car ahead of us slammed on the brakes and I just didn’t anticipate it. Good job to everyone on this RCR team all day. Everyone fought hard, just as they have all season. Thank you to The Cowboy Channel for their support. We’ll go to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course next week ready to battle.” -Austin Dillon

Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 Chevrolet Accessories Team Fight to a Top-10 Finish at Watkins Glen International

Finish: 10th
Start: 13th
Points: 12th

“We had some good speed in our No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE today and I’m proud of everyone on this RCR team. We just needed the balance to be a little better overall. I was really tight throughout most of the day, especially on landing through the turns. It didn’t seem to matter which way I was turning, I just couldn’t get the front to rotate like I needed it to once I got through the first third of a turn. The adjustments we made during the day seemed to help during the last stage of the race and I was able to grab the tenth spot on the final lap. It’s good that we were able to leave the track with another top-10 finish to help us with the Playoff cutline. I wish we were able to finish a little higher up, but we will have a good shot next week to show what we can do at another road course. There’s no other group I’d rather be fighting with to make the Playoffs, and I know they’ll all continue to fight through the coming weeks.” -Tyler Reddick

STRONG RUN FOR THE JOE GIBBS RACING CAMRYS AT WATKINS GLEN
Martin Truex Jr. leads four Joe Gibbs Racing Camrys in the top seven

WATKINS GLEN, NY (August 8, 2021) – Martin Truex Jr. (third), Kyle Busch (fourth), Denny Hamlin (fifth) and Christopher Bell (seventh) put all four Joe Gibbs Racing Camrys inside the top-seven finishers in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) race at Watkins Glen International. Hamlin is tied for the lead in the regular season points championship with race winner Kyle Larson with three races remaining before the Playoffs begin.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Watkins Glen International
Race 23 of 36 – 90 laps, 220.500 miles

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, Chase Elliott*
3th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
4th, KYLE BUSCH
5th, DENNY HAMLIN
7th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
23rd, BUBBA WALLACE
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

How much of a battle was it for this third-place finish?

“It was quite a battle. James (Small, crew chief) did a great job with our Reser’s Fine Foods Camry to get track position to put us where we needed to be. We didn’t quite have the speed on the longer runs to take advantage of that track position. We tried hard and thanks to everybody for working hard. We’re a little behind those two (Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott) right now on road courses, they’re really, really fast. I just had to burn my tires off to try to stay with them and then in 20 laps they’re gone. Heck of a fight, but we’ll take a third or a podium as they say in road course racing and go to work and try to get better.”

What did you need to beat Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott today?

“A little bit of everything. Honestly, I felt like through the esses and through the carousel, off the carousel was my weakest point. Just couldn’t quite turn as good as them in turn two and then turn three I would get loose and couldn’t get the power down at all off the carousel. Just a little bit of everything. When I asked it to turn, they would out-turn me and when I ask it to go, they’re out-going me. Nonetheless, all the guys did a great job. We had a replacement or fill-in tire changer on the front and he did a good job so thanks to him. Overall, it was a solid day for our Reser’s Fine Foods Camry. Thanks to Toyota, TRD and everybody that works with us to make the cars better. Just need to find some more. We were second to those two guys at Sonoma as well. I think the 20 (Christopher Bell) had a good car as well, but those two (Larson and Elliott) were just strong. I don’t know exactly how we’re going to get there, but we’re going to keep working.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 4th

How was the track for you today?

“Slick. We just didn’t quite have what we needed. That was not fun. The guys gave me a pretty decent Snickers Camry. Just not quite where we needed it and not quite good enough. Just couldn’t really hang on during the long runs. We’d lose too much time off the corners and be too slick. Fought hard all day. A lot of green flag action today and a lot of long runs. As much as I workout, I’m out of shape.”

How do you feel about your finish today?

“Not as good as we wanted. We didn’t quite have the car we needed. It was just all on top of the race track. We haven’t been here in a few years and the track fall off to the grip fall off with the tire being too hard – we kind of missed all of that for the package that we needed, but I’m good here and the cars are good here. We kind of overcame the downfall of what we had for car setup, but can’t blame anybody. Got to go to work, figure it out and make it better for what’s going to be here next year.”

Was this the most challenging road course race of the season thus far?

“It was for us. The car being really up on top of the race track just sliding all around and you’re trying to keep it under control and keep it under you so you don’t spin or don’t wreck or whatever. We just kind of missed it today. It was a lot of work and driving the hell out of it. Overall, we know we’ve got good stuff and we know we always run well here, but we hadn’t been here in two years, the asphalt is older, same tire and really hard tire – wrong tire for this track. Just made for a challenging day.”

You seemed very hot when you got out of the race car, was it hot today inside the car?

“I’m not hot, it wasn’t hot. I’m not even really sweating all that much. It’s just I’m sore. Everything from being tensed up all day and all we had were the three competition cautions and that was it. The rest was all green flag runs and it was hard, it was long.”

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

Finishing Position: 5th

How will you approach the next three races being tied with Kyle Larson for the regular season championship?

“It’s going to be a battle all the way to the end I think. Really proud of our effort today. We passed, had to be the most cars. We were really, really fast all day. Proud of this whole FedEx Express team. We’ve come a long way on the road courses. I thought we had equal pace with the 5 (Kyle Larson), especially on the long run. Obviously, we made an extra stop there for whatever reason. It’s an encouraging day when we can be as competitive as what we were.”

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 STANLEY Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 7th

What is your take on that contact in turn one with Kyle Larson?

“I haven’t seen it so I don’t know if I crowded him (Kyle Larson) at all, but he shouldn’t have been in there in the first place. He didn’t really have a run coming off of (turn) seven. We were all packed up. I was faster than the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) but never could make a run on him to get by him, and same thing with him. It’s very disappointing. Our STANLEY/Pristine Auction Camry was extremely fast and definitely capable of winning the race today. Extremely frustrating, but a lot more racing to go.”

How did you feel about the race today overall?

“Just pretty disappointed. Our STANLEY/Pristine Auction Camry was every bit as capable of winning the race and finished seventh. Very happy that we’ve turned a corner and now we’re frustrated with seventh. It should have been a lot more today.”

When did you become so good at road racing?

“I don’t know, I guess just more experience and getting more laps on it and having really fast Camrys to drive. In this sport, you’re only as good as your race car and I’ve had really fast race cars he last couple of weeks.”

How does this race set you up for Indy next week?

“It should be good. Indy, we have practice so have a little more time to tune on it and make it better, but been really proud of Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and this 20 group to give us really fast Camrys and I expect that to be similar next week.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 38 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.8 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2018.

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 ToyotaNewsroom.com

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series — Go Bowling at The Glen
Watkins Glen International | Sunday, August 8, 2021

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
8th — Kevin Harvick
9th — Chase Briscoe
11th — Matt DiBenedetto
14th — Ryan Blaney
16th — Aric Almirola
17th — Chris Buescher
18th — Cole Custer
21st — Michael McDowell
22nd — Joey Logano
25th — Ryan Newman
26th — Anthony Alfredo
30th — Kyle Tilley
33rd — Josh Bilicki
35th — Brad Keselowski

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang — Finished 8th

“Our Busch Light Apple Ford was decent today. We just had to go into fuel mileage savings as soon as we came in the pits that last run, and just kind of ran our pace and finished where we finished because we couldn’t afford to run out of gas. So, they did a good job and had a good strategy. We scored a few stage points and had a solid finish, so we’ll go to the next one.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang — Finished 9th

“We’ve only got three top 10s now, so you’ll take any of them you can get. I felt like we ran up front a lot of the day, but still weren’t quite good enough. I felt like earlier in the race I was a little bit better and as the race went on I don’t know if the other guys got better or we just got worse. Obviously, we’re in a position where we’ve got to go win, so ninth doesn’t necessarily cut it for us, but, overall, it was a good day. We got stage points and finished in the top 10, so we’ll go on to Indy. We know we’ve got to get it better if we’re gonna win one of these and just from a balance standpoint I’ve still got to get better, too. We’ll go on to Indy and back home next week. Obviously, that one is super special, so we’ll try to capitalize there.”

MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 21 Menards/Moen Ford Mustang — Finished 11th

“I think we were an eighth to 10th-place car. We probably finished a couple spots further back than what we could have got. We caught that whole group of cars at the end and just ran out of time. It was solid. We were lacking a little bit of speed, but it was a day I thought we maximized. We made good adjustments. Hassler made the perfect adjustment there at the end and it was as good as our car was gonna be without practice. There were things I wanted to change, but you can’t when you don’t have practice.”