TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
MONSTER ENERGY ALL-STAR RACE
CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA
MAY 20, 2017
BOWTIE BULLETS
CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE:
Chevrolet leads all other manufacturers with 17 victories in the annual prestigious non-points All-Star race.
CHEVY HISTORY MINUTE:
Did you know Darrell Waltrip driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Hendrick Motorsports won the inaugural All-Star race May 25, 1985. Chevrolet has gone on to win All-Star events with multiple brands include the Chevy Lumina, Monte Carlo SS, Impala and most recently the Chevy SS.
CHEVROLET MILESTONE:
With Kyle Larson’s victory at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, April 29, 2017, Chevrolet Racing reached a historic milestone. To date the Chevrolet brand has earned 1,400 victories across all three NASCAR national touring series.
Fun Fact: Chevrolet teams have used almost 24,000 victory lane hats in all of their Winner’s Circle celebrations!
LEADER OF THE PACK:
Career-long Chevrolet driver and seven-time Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, leads all drivers with four All-Star race victories to his credit.
10 YEARS OF SUCCESS AND COUNTING:
The Chevrolet RO7 engine was introduced into use in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 10 years ago as it started making its gradual transition into competition at Texas Motor Speedway in 2007. The RO7 engine captured its first victory at the All-Star race in 2007 via Richard Childress Racing and the No. 29 Monte Carlo SS. The following week, the RO7 earned its first points paying win with Casey Mears behind the wheel of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy in the Coca-Cola 600. Since that first win in the All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway the RO7 engine has powered Chevy drivers to 156 MENCS victories.
TUNE-IN:
The Monster Energy All-Star race is scheduled to begin on Saturday, May 20 at 8 pm, ET. Live coverage can be found on FoxSports1, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
BY THE NUMBERS:
Chevrolet has won 39 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships
Team Chevy drivers have scored 769 wins and 690 poles in MENCS competition
Chevrolet drivers have won 17 of 33 All-Star races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Victories by current Team Chevy drivers are:
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, has four All-Star race victories (’03,’06, ‘12 ‘& ’13)
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS, won the All-Star race once (’00)
Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar/Grainger Chevrolet SS, has one All-Star victory (’02)
Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS, has All-Star race trophy (’08)
Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet SS, has one victory in the Sprint All-Star Race (’14)
A Chevrolet driver has won one of the last three All-Star races
FOR THE FANS:
Fans can visit the Team Chevy Racing Display in the Fan Midway at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Fans can check out great a great assortment of Chevrolet vehicles including: Malibu, Silverado 2500 High Country, Silverado 1500, Camaro SS Convertible, Equinox, Traverse, Corvette Grand Sport, Impala, Cruze, Colorado, SS and Volt
At the Chevrolet Display, fans can view the No, 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, No. 3 DOW Chevrolet SS and No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet Camaro Xfinity Series show cars
Also on display is a Chevrolet R07 racing engine complete with electronic fuel injection. Fans can also see a sample of engines, parts and accessories available for purchase from Chevrolet Performance at their local Chevrolet dealer
Other activities at the Team Chevy Racing Display include a variety of interactive games for adults and kids
TEAM CHEVY QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS AT THE DISPLAY:
Friday, May 19th
1:30 p.m. – Kaz Grala
2:30 p.m. – Justin Haley and Johnny Sauter
2:45 p.m. – John Hunter Nemechek
Chevrolet Display Hours of operation: Fri. May 19th – 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. and Sat. May 20th – 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
NASCAR MONSTER ENERGY ALL-STAR ENTRIES BY CAR NUMBER
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS:
“What more incentive do you need than $1 million to win? This is a super fun race and everyone lays it all on the line for that prize. Charlotte is a track that I really enjoy racing and we have been lucky enough to have success here and win that prize in 2014. Saturday night will be a lot of fun for the fans and it is always a great time for the team to have their families come out and enjoy all the fun. We have been pretty good on the 1.5-mile tracks this year, hopefully we can be in contention on that last 10-lap segment to bring home $1 million again.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET SS:
“Charlotte is a great track. I really like racing there and it’s close to home so that’s nice. I remember how cool it was to win the All-Star Race back in 2008. I’m lucky enough to be locked into the race and it would be neat to win it again.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR/GRAINGER CHEVROLET SS:
“For me, winning the All-Star Race in 2002 was totally unexpected because we weren’t even in the race. We had to race our way in. I made the cut. We got the inversion on either the first or second segment when they were eliminating cars and then got the inversion again and I was able to stay up front. We stayed out on old tires, which was crazy for Charlotte. Somehow, we were able to hold them off. It was an amazing team victory for us and unexpected.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS:
“Well, last year it was my third attempt to make it into the All-Star race. The final round or whatever of the Showdown I had to drag race Chase Elliott and beat and bang off of him to make it. And then, we were extremely fast in the All-Star race and was leading with two or three laps to go and (Joey) Logano got by me. Came up just a little bit short of winning a big race like that was special. I just hope I can go there again and be competitive. I’m excited about finally being able to do the qualifying with the live pit stops. I’ve always thought that is one of the most exciting things we get to see all year. To be a part of that for the first time will be pretty fun.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS:
“This race is all about the money – no points on the line. It’s usually a crazy night and a fun night where the pit crews get a chance to be in the spotlight more than usual, as well. Last year we were leading on the final restart and our strategy didn’t work out. There are a few different rules for this one, so I am sure (No. 48 team crew chief) Chad (Knaus) will come up with something good.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS:
ON COMPETING IN HIS FINAL ALL-STAR RACE:
“The All-Star Race to me has always been very important. As a kid watching that race and watching my father run it, and hearing him talk about it and explain how important it was to him and what it meant to him and how hard he tried to win it, that really cemented in my mind what it means to the sport.
“It certainly stands alone and has a special meaning, and I’m going to miss the process of the All-Star weekend – the buildup to the race and the preparation and the practice and all the scheming in the garage and the strategies – they change the format every year so it’s somewhat new. I’m going to just miss being a competitor in that atmosphere because you get competitive in the event, but there is also a lot of pride to be in that race and to get that invitation, so to speak. I’ll miss that feeling of accomplishment. Those races are a lot less pressure because there aren’t any points on the line, but it’s a different style of pressure. They are going to have a soft tire, which should be interesting to see just how much better that is and whether that is really going to make a big difference versus the guys that are on a hard tire. It should be a fun weekend. It seems like all the guys on the team really enjoy the pre-race and driver intros. They really include the teams and it’s fun for the drivers to have our guys there with us.”
MONSTER ENERGY SHOWDOWN TEAM CHEVY ENTRIES BY CAR NUMBER:
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS:
“We definitely want to take advantage of our opportunity here and win a race segment to be solidified into the All-Star race. I’d say our team would be feeling pretty great at that point. This would be my first All-Star Race I’ve been able to compete in.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO MILITARY CHEVROLET SS:
“This weekend, I’m making my first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at Charlotte Motor Speedway. I’m glad we get to take the GEICO Military Chevrolet SS there for The Monster Energy Open. It gives this Germain Racing team and me a chance to get set for the Coca-Cola 600. And it gives me maybe a chance to drive a bit more aggressively. The Monster Energy Open is three chances to practice scoring stage points at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That could come in handy for the 600.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET SS:
“Our goal is to race our way in through the Open and with the new format that gives us three chances to do so. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 KNAUF/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS:
“The All-Star Race weekend is always fun. We get to roll the dice and try some different out-of-the-box things. Our goal will be to learn for the next weekend. It’s almost like a test session. We’ll be in the Open on Saturday to transfer into the All-Star Race and I feel really good about what we’re attempting to try. There are very minimal things on the race car we can change, like all of our cooling systems and things will be taken out. We’ll be trying to get as light as we can and we’ll see what we can learn with the set-up. We might try a different spindle or some different ideas that we want to apply but that we really can’t because we can’t test.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CHEVROLET SS:
“The All-Star race weekend is a little more low key. You go out there and have some fun. For us, right now, we will have to race our way in. You know going into it that’s going to be part of the challenge. You go out there and use the All-Star weekend as a test to get some ideas heading into the 600. So, it’s always nice. The All-Star race feel you know it’s kind of a sprint race and you are out there to have a little bit of fun and go try to win some trophies and some money.”