MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
COKE ZERO 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
JUNE 30, 2017
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – Pole Winner:
ON WINNING THE POLE:
“I have to give Hendrick Motorsports a lot of credit, particularly for me personally it has been the No. 24 (Chase Elliott) bunch. We’ve been kind of pushing each other over the last several years in qualifying at Talladega and Daytona. It’s been a healthy competition. That’s why we win poles and qualify so well at some of these race tracks is a healthy competition within the company. Greg and all the guys deserve all the credit for the car. I don’t do anything in qualifying except hold the wheel and make sure I don’t hit the apron. The car does everything. A lot of credit to the power and the body man back at the shop. All that stuff is so critical and they did a great job today.”
HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DO YOU HAVE GOING INTO THE RACE TOMORROW WITH POLE WIN?
“I’ll be honest with you, this track is a little slick and starting to age. I think that all of the competitors and crew chiefs need to probably consider spending a little more time drafting and put a few more laps on the cars. I sure would have liked to have that opportunity to get in a little larger pack yesterday. I saw some things from my car that are concerning as far as the balance and I don’t know if a lot of guys got themselves in that situation. We used to practice and run a lot of laps. But these days with the repave we have kind of calmed down on practice. Nobody really practices that much. The track is getting slick again. I think guys just need to practice more. I would have liked to have done a little more. That’s all I’m saying. Hopefully our car handles good. At night our car is going to have a lot of grip. We’ll see how that all works out.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 2nd:
IS IT ANY BETTER OR WORSE TO MISS WINNING THE POLE TO A TEAMMATE?
“It was definitely close. I’m happy for those guys. It’s so hard to tell when you’re out there making laps how it’s going to be or if you did anything any better. But I’m proud of our NAPA Chevy team. We improved a little bit, I think, from Round 1 to Round 2, which was nice. We just didn’t improve enough. So, we’ll go to work tomorrow. I’m excited for this race. It’s such a cool race here at Daytona under the lights. If you’ve never been here, this is one to come and watch for sure. I think it’s going to be exciting. That guy (Dale Earnhardt Jr., ) starting on the pole is obviously fast and I’ve just got to get in front of him.”
IS THERE AN ADVANTAGE TO HAVING THREE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS CARS IN THE TOP FOUR TO START THE RACE?
“I don’t know. It’s such a long race. I think if we can all be in those positions later in the race and as the race continues to unwind, if we can all show strength, there is certainly strength in numbers and if those numbers are on your side, that’s a good thing. When it comes to making pit stops and the strategies and how all these manufacturers run these racers now, we can run well, not just in qualifying, but throughout the entire race, that’s an advantage; not just qualifying well. So, we’ll see about that.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 UNIFIRST CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 4th
THE CAR LOOKED GREAT OUT THERE. HOW DID IT FEEL?
“It felt really good. It felt good yesterday, The UniFirst Chevrolet felt good again today in both Rounds. I think the Hendrick power shows. We’ve got two in the front row and we’re right there in fourth.”
YOU HAVE THAT CHANCE TO SILENCE EVERYBODY WITH A WIN TOMORROW NIGHT. HOW DO YOU PUT ALL OF THAT TOGETHER TO HAVE THE BEST NIGHT THAT YOU CAN?
“I think it started yesterday in practice. We had a really strong practice. This is the same car we ran in the 500, which I thought was a really strong car. The guys stepped up wherever it needed to in the 500 and it felt that way again yesterday. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. We just need to stay out of trouble and be in a good position late and go for it.”