NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT SHOWDOWN
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 21, 2016
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Winner of Segment #3 of the Sprint Showdown and will make his first NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race start:
“We had a good Target Chevy. I knew Chase (Elliott) was going to be good on four tires and he was going to win the fan vote and I probably wasn’t going to win the fan vote. So, I did what I could do.”
ON THE FINAL LAP:
“Well if was more than just the final lap. Chase got to my inside there with 2 (laps) to go and I was able to run him pretty hard there and get him loose and was hoping I could hold him off to the checkered. I knew he’d get close. I didn’t know he would get that close there coming to the line. I had to squeeze him because I knew he was going to get the fan vote. He has a lot of fans. I knew Danica (Patrick) was going to get the fan vote also. And if Chase was to win, I wouldn’t be in. So, I had to do everything I could do to get to the start/finish line in first and luckily it paid off.”
TAKE US THROUGH TURNS 3 AND 4 WHEN HE STEPPED TO THE OUTSIDE, AND WHAT YOU HAD TO DO TO BEAT HIM
‘Yeah, I was pretty loose there towards the end. So, actually when he got to my right side, my car drove better. I had no more grip or sideforce or whatever. We ran a decent corner but he was able to slow me down enough. And he had the run. I just had to squeeze him. So, I’m sure he’s upset with me. But, it’s a non-points race and we’re going for a million bucks. I felt like I had to get it done; especially knowing that he would be in the race and I wouldn’t.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 3M CHEVROLET SS – Fan Vote Winner and will move on to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race:
YOU WERE RACING HARD AGAINST KYLE LARSON. TELL US ABOUT THAT
‘Yeah, Kyle did what he had to do to beat us back to the line. We had a real good run. I hate to not to race your way in. That’s pretty frustrating on my behalf. I just didn’t do a very good job. Regardless, it was great to have some great fans to get us in this race because I couldn’t get it done for us.”
DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING IN THE SHOWDOWN THAT WILL HELP YOU IN THE ALL-STAR?
“I learned a lot of what not to do. I made some real dumb big mistakes. So, we’ll not do that tonight.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 NATURE’S BAKERY CHEVROLET SS – Fan Vote Winner and will move on to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race:
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO TONIGHT TO MAKE THAT CAR A LITTLE BIT BETTER?
“First and foremost, thank you to the fans. The only thing that would make this any better is if I could deliver a great finish for them and an exciting race and pass cars and make the car better for next week. I definitely felt like there were some things we could learn from getting out there. Obviously we got put in the challenging situation of having zero practice with the new package and just going out and racing. So, there were definitely some issues and we had to kind of Band-Aid them for the couple of segments that we had out there. But, I really want to do better. I feel like I was at the wrong place at the wrong time a few times out there. But on the plus side, I felt like we learned about the car. Even if we didn’t make it through, we were going to be more prepared for next weekend. But, it’s just even that much better to know that I have incredible fans that always come through. Don’t think that I don’t see social media fans. And I see all the times that people said they voted for me. So, thank you very much. I hope you give you something fun to watch tonight.”