Chevy Racing–Sonoma Qualifying

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SAVE MART 350
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 21, 2014
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – POLE SITTER
DESCRIBE THAT FINAL, QUICK LAP:
“I was really shocked that we could run fast on our third run. We made a change, but I’m not sure where that speed came front. That was a really good lap. The biggest thing here is to get off of (turns) 11 and seven with a drive.  I really could never get wide open in any gear – first, second or third – off of those corners. We kind of had all the rest of it down. Really good lap. I’m excited. It is cool. This is my third road course pole. That is pretty awesome.”

DESCRIBE HOW HARD IT WAS TO GET A CLEAN LAP OUT THERE:
“I think everybody in the garage area has been stressed out about trying to get that clean lap in qualifying all weekend long. I was really fortunate that we drew four, and I got to go right out. I didn’t hear of anyone getting in anyone’s way, but for me, I had two really clean laps so it was great.”

WILL WE SEE ANYTHING DIFFERENT TOMORROW?
“I think you are going to see more pit stops when cautions come out. Tires are so important, more important than ever.  Every time we go to a road course, we run backwards. Everyone pits 10 laps before they can make it on fuel hoping you are going to see some cautions, but I think you will see guys putting tires on tomorrow. Should be a good race.”

FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, YOU WILL PACE THE FIELD TO THE GREEN HERE. HOW IMPRESSED WERE YOU WITH THE WAY THE TIRES PERFORMED IN THAT SESSION?
“Our car, I feel like all weekend long, has not been good on the first lap. Even in qualifying it seemed like I could run quicker on my second (lap). And every weekend, in this qualifying format you’re blown away that someone goes faster on older tires than they can on new tires. The drive off of (Turns) 11 and 7 is so hard here. I didn’t feel like I had that, but I feel like we’ve got the balance of the car better. So, it was a great lap. I’m so excited.”
 
BASED ON THAT INFORMATION, HOW WILL YOU SET YOUR STRATEGY FOR TOMORROW?
“Well, I thought our car in race trim was really good. The No. 15 (Clint Bowyer), I don’t know what happened to him in qualifying. I thought maybe he had the best car in race trim. But our car was really good on the long run. Track position is important. I think for the race, I think you’re going to more pit stops than normal because the tires give up so much. But we’re not going to change a whole lot. I feel really good about it.”
 
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KINGSFORD/CLOROX CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 2ND
OH, SO CLOSE, BUT NOT QUITE THERE:
“Yes, Jamie (McMurray) put up a heck of a lap there. Two-tenths. Makes me feel a little bit better that he didn’t beat me by two-thousandths, because two-tenths is tough to find.  Just proud of everybody on the Kingsford Chevrolet No. 47 team. I think we have a good race car. Honestly, I was nervous about qualifying because we were that good in trim yesterday. So to be on the front row, it sure could be worse. We will go racing tomorrow.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 5TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“It was a good lap.  We prepared well for this race with a couple of test sessions and executed a good practice run yesterday.  The lap time we ran put us P1 in the first practice.  We knew we needed to gain a little more and today we got beat by a couple of guys that laid down really good laps.  For us it was a better than average lap.  That gets us fifth and the way the team is bolted together this qualifying set-up I think that gives us a good pattern for what we have to put under it for a race set-up.”
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 OUTBACK/BUDWEISER FOLDS OF HONOR CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 6TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“That was a good lap for us.  Road course qualifying kind of stresses me out because there are so many opportunities to make a mistake.  Our first goal was to get through the first round with a solid lap and we were able to do that.  Second round was good for us too, always want to do better, but we can see the front so that is a good thing on a road course.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 11TH
“The GoDaddy car was pretty good. We only made one qualifying run yesterday, but it felt good in the opening round today. It just got tight in the second session and we ended up 11th. We would have liked it to be better, but we’ll take it. We’ve got a lot of folks from GoDaddy here tomorrow, so I’m happy we are starting up front.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 PANASONIC CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 15TH:
“Some of the things you’ve just got to be aggressive and hope that it sticks and right away the nose started moving around on me. I knew from that point to just not overdrive it. I made one mistake off of (Turn) 4 and I think ultimately that cost us enough to just make it through. The question and concern for us is how all these guys went out the second time and went so much faster. I thought I put together a pretty good lap that second time; I did get loose coming out of the esses, which is not a good place to do it. And we didn’t have enough to make it through. So, we’ll just get it ready to race. I’m excited to have Panasonic onboard this weekend and we’ve got a great race car. But we certainly needed to have a faster car for qualifying. But with the tires the way they are, I think that track position is not going to be nearly as important as it has been in the past.”
 
DO YOU THINK IT NOW BECOMES A 3-STOP RACE TOMORROW BECAUSE THE FALLOFF HAS BEEN SO GREAT?
“Yeah, or four or five (laughs). It depends on how the cautions fall. But I think new tires are going to be big and I think having good rear grip on the long runs is going to be big. That’s where our focus is right now and I hate that it didn’t work out for qualifying. I love this new format though and while I wish I was in it, I’m looking forward to watching this next one.”
 
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“We pride ourselves on being good on the road courses especially here at Sonoma.  Sixth hundredths from a second from making it is disappointing. But I think the bigger disappointment for us is how many guys went out and were so much faster the second time out and we didn’t.  That is a bit of a concern. Obviously we will talk to our teammates, and see what they were dealing with as well.  Very disappoint to not have any Hendrick cars in the top-12, so something we are going to have to work on. But I feel really good about the race.  Our car has been really fast. We didn’t show a lot of speed in qualifying trim yesterday, and we didn’t show it again today. But, I feel good about the race.”
 
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 17TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“We had a good lap going, but the No. 66 run in the racing groove on his get up (to speed) lap and didn’t get out of the way.  We missed the top 12.  We would have made it.  We ran about a tenths slower than our best lap going around him on the outside of Turn 9.  That is real disappointing, but the car has been great.  Hopefully, we will be able to have a good run Sunday starting kind of mid-pack.  It’s going to be a little busy where we are going to be, but hopefully we can move forward.”
 
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 18TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“It wasn’t as crazy as we thought it would be.  Everybody was pretty nervous I think going into it, just about getting blocked and not getting a clean lap. Because the tires are so delicate here as far as how many times you run them.  We had a good clean lap.  We picked up a little bit of speed from yesterday which was good.  Just didn’t pic
k up enough. A lot of guys really picked up a lot from yesterday.  Not sure really what we missed there.  I feel like the car is in pretty good shape for tomorrow.  This is a long race it’s all about track position, getting on the right strategy and being up front.  I feel like our car will be good on the long runs and that is what is going to matter here. We will just see how it goes and we will find out tomorrow.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 22ND
“It was sixth-tenths faster than I had gone, so it felt plenty fast. Looking back, a lot of it probably went just me having the right flow and knowing where I can charge. Then you end up out there on warmer tires and scuffed tires, and the grip level changes so fast, you really want to get it on that first lap. We are just focused on the race tomorrow, and hopefully that pays off and get ourselves a nice finish here tomorrow.”
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 GREAT CLIPS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 30TH
“The biggest thing is in Turn 4 when I come off the curb and land off the curb, I had to just stop and wait for the car; it just wants to run right into that wall. So, I’d just have to wait and then pick the throttle up down the road a little bit. So we gave up a lot of time right there. And then all the corners were just a touch snug. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll have really good forward drive in this Great Clips Chevrolet. That’s going to be huge. I’d say we’ll be putting on more tires and wearing tires out quicker here this weekend than what I can remember in the past. Hopefully our car will play into our favor tomorrow and we can have a good run.”
 
WILL TIRE WEAR IMPACT YOUR STRATEGY FOR TOMORROW?
“I think everybody is talking about that. I think it’s just rear drive; I think it has a lot to do with getting into the corner, under braking, and then letting your car turn in and being able to really still enter the corner. Yesterday I noticed I had to back up the corners a ton just to turn into the corner and I don’t remember that nearly as much in the past in practice. So I would imagine tomorrow will be a little bit worse, especially if it stays sunny. Overall, I liked my car yesterday. It wasn’t the fastest car, but I felt like it was pretty consistent.”
 
JUSTIN ALLGAIER, NO. 51 PHOENIX RACING CHEVROLET SS –  QUALIFIED 35TH
“We had a couple of situations on our laps out there. Obviously we weren’t up there battling for the pole or anything, but still trying to improve our spot and got blocked a few times.  In road course racing you obviously have a lot of that in the race, but really frustrating when you have that much in qualifying.”