NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
CHEEZ-IT 355 AT THE GLEN
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 8, 2015
AJ ALLMENDINGER PUTS CHEVY SS ON POLE AT WATKINS GLEN
Team Chevy Earns First Seven Starting Spots; 10 of the top 12
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – (August 8, 2015) – AJ Allmendinger ran a lightening quick lap of 127.839 mph in his No. 47 Kroger/Bush’s Beans Chevrolet SS to secure the pole position for Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. This will be the second time Allmendinger will start from the pole this season. The No. 47 Chevy SS also led the field to the green flag earlier this year at the road course event at Sonoma Raceway.
The defending race winner, 34-year old Allmendinger earned his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win on the 2.54-mile, 7-turn Watkins Glen course in 2014.
“Starting up front is so critical here,” said Allmendinger after his pole-winning lap. “Everybody is so close. It’s tough to pass. You start beating and banging on each other. Your fenders get torn up here and you can’t have that. It’s very aerodynamic-dependent. It’s a good start. Strategy plays a lot in this race; fuel mileage and everything. I can’t thank everybody at ECR enough for giving me the horsepower. I don’t know if I’ll sleep any better tonight, or not; but I’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Martin Truex, Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet SS, will start on the outside front row. Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Tony Stewart, No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS and Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS will start third and fourth respectively.
Four-time Watkins Glen winner, Jeff Gordon, will pilot his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet from the fifth starting position. Starting alongside will be Kyle Larson in the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will roll off the starting grid from the seventh starting position, giving Team Chevy the top seven starters overall.
Earnhardt, Jr.’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson will start ninth in the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS next to Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Dow Chevrolet SS, who will start 10th.
Justin Allgaier earned his best starting position of the season at Watkins Glen and will start 12th when the field takes the green for 90 laps of left and right turns on Sunday.