MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
COKE ZERO 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JULY 1, 2017

PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 MOEN/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – Finished 3rd
“We really didn’t want to hang out in the back, but we got involved in a wreck really early and once you get back there, it is really hard to get back up to the front. I was just waiting for something to happen at the end of those stages. We weren’t in the top-15 so I just bailed out of the pack for the stages. I had a really good handling car from yesterday in the draft practice. All weekend long it handled really well. I knew it would race really well tonight. Bowyer gave me a hell of a push that last lap. I wasn’t very good at leading, being the first guy in a line. With Ricky (Stenhouse) breaking the air, I couldn’t run off to the start/finish line. We just have to keep doing this. If you run in the top–five you put yourself in position for wins. We definitely had a shot tonight, I just couldn’t get a run off of turn four even with Bowyer pushing me. I just didn’t have the run I had the lap before. I thought we had a chance to win this one, just couldn’t get the run.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, NO. 95 CHEVROLET SS – Finished 4th
“It was a great run for us. Really building off the Daytona 500 where we were in the top-five and ran out of gas. We really had a fast car. The boys did a great job. It wasn’t without trouble. We were around a lot of the carnage out there. There was just a lot of hard racing out there tonight. Three-wide, bumper-to-bumper all night long. It is great to have a top-five. Really excited about that. Coming to the white, I thought I might have had a shot at it. But Ricky and I were just too far out and those cars behind us had a big run. Very thankful for the opportunity.

“We have great people. They are relentless. They work hard. Everybody back at the shop. ECR power under the hood, that helps.”

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 VELVEEETA SHELLS & CHEESE CHEVROLET SS – Finished 5th
THOUGHTS ABOUT TOP-FIVE FINISH TONIGHT
“I don’t want to say we got lucky, but we got lucky. We did not dominate tonight by any means. We rode around in the back for most of the race and it played out between everybody but Austin. It was a little bit of luck, but it was calculated and it was good enough for a top-five tonight.

WHAT ABOUT THE CARNAGE OUT THERE TONIGHT?
“Just guys driving over their heads tonight and that is what causes accidents. We didn’t have a single accident in practice. So I guess it was a little bit of the emotion that got in everyone’s way for the race there.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CHEVROLET SS – Finished 8th
“We had a plan that we weren’t going to race until 40 to go, and it all worked out. It was crazy back there. You are kind of hanging on. I thought the Quick Lube Chevy had good speed and handled really well. That has always been our strength here and it was again. The guys did such a great job. It was our backup car. I kind of crushed the roof of the primary car at Talladega. They got it ready and it had decent speed in it. You just wish you could re-do it. I thought I was doing everything right. On that first restart I had a big push there on David (Ragan) and thought we were going to get clear that second restart. I couldn’t get to Ty’s (Dillion) bumper as good as I wanted to. I was going to shoot the gap, and Ty went high and the 38 went low and I got pinned in the middle and lost our chance to win.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 COFFEE MATE CHEVROLET SS – Finished 10th
“Really nice to finish Daytona with our Nestle Coffee Chevrolet. We tried to have a smart race and just hang out there in the back so we could have a good piece at the end. The team did a great job on giving me a good race car all weekend. We knew qualifying would be what it was, but the car raced and handled really well and we got a top-10 out of it.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – Finished 12th
YOU GRABBED A 12TH PLACE FINISH THAT MOVED YOU TO SECOND IN POINTS:
“It is nice when you are rewarded with good points and important championship points – points that carry into the bonus rounds with our wins and stage win last week. I really thought we were in a great position and I got smashed into the wall by the No. 95 (Michael McDowell) off of two. But to come back and have the car tore up still in 12th, decent day for us. Excited about that, but really looking forward to the summer stretch. We have some great tracks coming.

“There were a lot of young guys up there. And then guys like David Ragan that just drove a superb race. Put his car in the right places all day long. I could tell at times he didn’t have the fastest car, but he did a phenomenal job working the draft. It’s fun mixing it up with those guys.

“I want to wish everybody a Happy Fourth of July and Happy Birthday America and thank all the men and women that serve our country.”

REFLECT ON DALE’S IMPACT HERE AT DAYTONA: “I have a feeling he will be back. He did win a pole here so maybe we can talk him into coming back for the clash or something. It is hard to believe that it could be coming to an end. He has been a great friend; a great teammate and has done so much for this sport. We have watched the sport and grown within the sport through his eyes – the relationship he had with his Dad, and then his Dad’s tragic death. He is a very entertaining guy, and a very open guy. I know I’ve appreciated the ride along the way and I’m sure the fans have as well.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – Finished 14th
SO HOW WAS THE RACE FOR YOU GUYS OUT THERE?
“So we had probably the best plate car tonight that we have had in four or five years. We got caught up in that wreck and obviously it killed a lot of speed in the car. I didn’t choose good lanes at the end and I got hung out one time and went from a fourth or fifth place finish to 14th.”

TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – Finished 16th
“I wanted to do it so bad for Bob Germain who gave me this opportunity. That is two close ones and if you keep getting these close ones, you will get one eventually. We work hard every week but not every week are we contending for wins, but when it’s our chance we make the most of it. So I am proud of the way we are growing as a team and we are leading a lot of laps any way we can. I just feel disappointed. I had a good run from my teammate and technical partner in Paul Menard and I don’t know as a rookie, when it’s the white flag you go for it. Nobody went with me and so that is kind of the pains of being a rookie, but I would have been mad at myself if I didn’t make a move right there. The move cost me a good finish but didn’t really determine what our day was. Hopefully we earned some respect from a lot of these rookies out here tonight and we will go on to Kentucky.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS – Finished 21st
“We were really fast and made our way up through there on a few occasions. But we were just never in the right place at the right time.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in multi-car crash on Lap 154. Finished 28th
WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE AND ARE YOU OKAY?
“I’m fine. I was just up front there and doing what I could to stay up front. The 38 got to my inside and I saw that in my mirror and I kind of felt it a little bit because you can feel the air. I was just trying to leave him a little bit of room and I just moved up too high and ran across Ricky’s (Stenhouse, Jr.) nose and I hate that I caused that wreck and I feel pretty bad about. It was going to be an extremely good points day and we hurt that a little bit.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 AMERICAN ETHANOL CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in multi-car accident on lap 72. Finished 36th
WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE?
“I didn’t see and am not sure. I tried to slow down, I downshifted and it wasn’t enough. We knocked the oil cooler and radiator out of ours. Fun race for the American Ethanol Chevrolet race team and as part of this deal you have to shove yourself in a bad position. I should have been smarter and rode around like half of the others in the field, but we were trying to get some bonus points there coming to the end of the stage. It didn’t work out.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in multi-car crash on Lap 107. Finished 32nd
DID YOU THINK YOU HAD A SHOT AT THIS?
“Oh yes, as soon as we got our lap back, I knew anything was possible. We were just kind of drafting right back up there and I think the No, 4 (Kevin Harvick) got a flat. I had nowhere to go, but it was fun. We had a pretty strong car. We had some gremlins in there; I’m not sure what was going on with that, but we had the toe-in messed up.

“That first deal we brushed the wall a couple of laps earlier and I thought everything was okay. I came through the tri-oval and I had a right front going down and it was trying to spin out, so I was trying to lift, but there was really nothing I could do because there were so many guys behind me. We got into (turn) one and hit the wall. But the guys worked on the car; we got our laps back and was about to have some more fun – get back up in there and mix it up. Then, that happened with the No. 4.

“It’s been a wild night. I didn’t anticipate this much action and this much torn up sheet metal. There is still a lot of racing left.”

CAN YOU SUM UP THE EMOTION OF THE EVENING?
“I just didn’t expect all that attention all week. My phone buzzing all day long with social media going crazy. Everybody talking about this being my last Daytona race. I hope every weekend isn’t like this as far as that goes. The attention and the reaction from the fans makes me feel great. Hopefully we are able to turn that around and back on them for the rest of the season and thank them for all they had done.

“I wish we had had a good finish tonight if not a win. We were working up in there and having a good time and being aggressive and wearing out the sides of that race car. It just wasn’t to be.

“Everything we do is for the fans. When we came here and won in the No. 3 Wrangler car, that was for Daddy’s fans. When we won here in ‘01 that was for all of our fans – for his fans. They are all here. The grandstands are full. Everything we are doing today and the rest of this race are for the fans. I think they are getting a great show.”

AN UP AND DOWN WEEKEND FOR YOU. YOU STARTED ON THE POLE AND UNFORTUNATELY WE ARE TALKING TO YOU NOW BEFORE THE END OF THE RACE. WHAT HAPPENED?
“The 4 car had a flat and just didn’t have anywhere to go. But we had kind of worked our way back up there after having a little trouble with a flat tire earlier in the race. We got our laps back and I thought things were going to work out to give us an opportunity to give us a run at the end for the checkers. The 4 car turned around there, I think he had a flat tire or something there. I just don’t know where I could have gone or if I could have done anything different. I don’t know.”