NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
BANK OF AMERICA 500
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
OCTOBER 9, 2014
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 2ND
ON THE SPEEDS:
“Oh my gosh. It’s so fast; so much grip and so much commitment. Luckily our Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet had a lot of grip, too. In (Turns) 1 and 2, the last two runs, I just nailed 1 and 2. But the run before that last one, I got into (Turn) 3 a little bit too hard. Tried to get a little too aggressive through there and washed out the front. So, the guys made an adjustment and I drove in there and I just was a little bit too much. I should have been a little bit more committed because the front end finally, it cut; and I was like ‘No!’ That’s all right. That’s a great effort. Practicing here during the day and qualifying and racing at night is tough. We struggled through a few things today but I’m so proud of this team. That’s certainly a good place to start this race.
“We won’t be quite going this fast on Saturday night. But you definitely get to see the difference between how the car turns and how it sticks and what it does under cooler conditions with the track temps coming down versus what’s happening during the day. We’ll take that into consideration tomorrow when we are going through practice.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 5TH
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“We stepped it up, really didn’t think we were as good as we were there time wise. I really thought it was going to keep getting quicker. The tires fell off a little bit more than I expected. It was a good lap for our Caterpillar Chevrolet. Our most competitive run was our last run. We will take that. It’s not where we want to be, not where I’ve been here before, but a good starting spot for us for sure.”
HOW MUCH BETTER DID YOU MAKE THE CAR AT THE END?
“Oh, I didn’t. It was more me making myself better for a lap, because we really didn’t change the race car. It was just a matter of adjusting to what I saw and needed to be doing better; and picked it up in (Turn) 1 and 2 and kind of held my own in (Turns) 3 and 4. I really thought that the last segment was going to be quicker, just because it cooled off. But evidentially, the tires were falling off more than I expected. But it was a great run for our Caterpillar Chevrolet. To make our best run on the last run was definitely important in this format; but, it’s not where we want to be, for sure.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 STATE WATER HEATERS CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 11TH
“All in all, it was a good day for the State Water Heaters team. You know, one cool thing is with the reduction of horsepower and downforce next year; the track record should stand for a while. It was a really cool feeling to go that fast. The car had a lot of speed in it, but it was just too tight in the final round. It was really good in race trim, so I think we’ll have a really good State Water Heaters Chevrolet for Saturday night’s race.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 21ST
“Just didn’t have the speed there on that final run. I got pretty tight off of (Turn) 4. I thought we had some hope after the first round and our second outing we ran a very good lap. But just didn’t have any more there on that lap through Turns 3 and 4; we got wide and I had to let off a little bit so I didn’t get into the outside wall. It’s disappointing. There’s no way around it.”