NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AXALTA ‘WE PAINT WINNERS’ 400
POCONO RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JUNE 5, 2015
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
“Wow, what a day, today. I feel like there are six corners out there as hard as I was working; corner entry, corner exit. The car was just off-balance, especially with the new bumps in Turn 2. And then we got way loose. I think we were 30th in practice. And we had to drop back and punt. Daniel Knost, his set-up, is what we reverted to from last year when we qualified outside pole. So, that’s what it’s all about, team communication and working hard together as a group. So, that’s to Gene Haas and Tony Stewart and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing to be a pole-sitter today. The circumstances though, I’d like to see everybody finish their lap. I always thought they should freeze the time when somebody spins. That way everybody still gets to get back out there and make their lap. We’re on the pole. Thanks to Haas Automation, Chevrolet, State Water Heaters; great pole position. We’ll take it. We worked hard for it today. I’m very surprised and happy about the teamwork.”
WHAT DO YOU FOCUS ON MOST TOMORROW DURING PRACTICE?
“Ignoring the bumps. I mean the bumps, there’s grocery store parking lots around the country that are jealous of those three bumps that developed. It’s a beautiful tunnel entryway on the underside. The topside struggles with these bumps now. If I could ignore those and get our car dialed-in in (Turns) 1 and 3, then we’ll be a better car.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/VISSER PRECISION CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 3RD
“It was a good day for us. Honestly just right off the trailer we have had a good car all day long. Hats off to the guys again for bringing a great racecar. Really just tweaked on it little things here and there throughout practice and then again throughout the qualifying session made good gains each and every run. We thought our third run was a pretty good lap. Obviously really close to the first two guys, but missed it just a little bit. I’m starting to get this qualifying thing figured out and that is something that is definitely going to help us race better and get better pit stalls. I’m looking forward to Sunday.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA/PENN STATE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 4TH
ON THE QUALIFYING SESSION ENDING EARLY:
“That is unfortunate. You want to see everybody get a chance at it. But that is what I love so much about this format. It creates drama in so many different ways. You are playing the cloud, the track conditions, the time and you don’t know if somebody is going to have an issue and end the session. I’m real proud of our Axalta/Penn State team. We showed how fast the car was in practice as well as backed it up in qualifying. Didn’t have our best session in session two, I missed Turn 1 a little bit, but backed it up and put down a good lap in session three. We are going to start fourth, real happy with that and real happy that Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) chose to go out early there.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER/JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 5TH
YOU WERE FASTEST THE FIRST TWO SESSIONS, BUT MISSED IT THERE AT THE END. DO YOU THINK YOU WERE ONE ADJUSTMENT AWAY FROM WINNING THE POLE?
“We just got loose in the last session. We have been struggling a little bit in the last sessions here trying to decide exactly what we want to do for balance. Still really proud the car is really fast and just go from there.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 6TH
ONE OF THE BEST QUALIFYING EFFORTS OF THE SEASON:
“I am really proud. I wanted a little bit more there at the end. I thought we were going to have a shot at the pole. Those guys just never really slowed up. Our Dow Chevy has been good all weekend long. Hopefully, we can just keep it up and let it overlay to the race and have a good finish on Sunday.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 9TH
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHAT HAPPENED? (QUALIFYING ENDED EARLY DUE TO AN ON TRACK ACCIDENT AND FIVE OF THE TOP 12 CARS DID NOT MAKE A FINAL QUALIFYING RUN)
“Hell that is the best I’ve qualified and I didn’t even make a lap. It is a really bizarre set of circumstances. I guess it is part of the way things work with this qualifying. It’s just unfortunate to the guys that were on the track. But as long as NASCAR is consistent through all three series then we will take our medicine and just deal with it. But again we are ninth. That is the best we have been in a while.”
THERE IS A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING. DO YOU FEEL LIKE IF YOU HAD A CHANCE TO GO OUT, YOU WOULD HAVE BETTERED A NINTH PLACE START ON SUNDAY?
“I’m stoked with ninth the way qualifying has been going for us lately. So, we’ll take that, without even making a lap. The car is fast. The car has been really good. I honestly think we had something for the pole today. It’s one of those things. It’s I guess what happens if you’re trying to cool your car down and go out at the end of the session. The weird thing is on the clock, it still says 39 seconds. So, I’m highly confused on many levels. But, we’re starting the best we have in a long time. So, I’ll take whatever it is in the Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet. And a big shout out to Lowe’s for giving me this chance to put the foundation on the car.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 GRAINGER CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 13TH
WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE TO GET THE CAR INTO THE FINAL ROUND OF QUALIFYING?
“I mean we were two thousandths of a second off, so yeah we were close. That is all it takes to be off just a little bit here to make it to that next round. It was unfortunate we only got one shot at it. I wish we could have had two shots with our Grainger Chevrolet, but we will have plenty of shots at it Sunday. Just need to make sure we make it drive well tomorrow.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 15TH
HOW DID IT FEEL OVER THE BUMPS IN THE TUNNEL TURN IN QUALIFYING?
“I wasn’t airborne. The tires were still on the ground. It’s definitely rough in the Tunnel Turn. They must have had a hard winter here or something because it’s gotten really rough. It’s kind of cool, too, because it adds character to the track and opens up some passing for us there. Qualifying didn’t go like we wanted it to. But the Target Chevy has had okay speed; we’ve just got to work on it some more tomorrow for race trim and hope we have a good race on Sunday.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 20TH
ON YOUR QUALIFYING EFFORT, WHAT DID YOU FIGHT THE MOST?
“I chopped the entrance to (Turn) 1 on the first lap and that cost us a little bit of time. And then the next run we went into Turn 1 and turned sideways and got loose and just kind of killed the lap. So, we had pretty good speed in practice and just didn’t…..the driver didn’t do a good job.”