MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
PRE-SEASON TEST
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTE SHEET
FEBRUARY 1, 2018
Today concluded the organizational test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the first outing for the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at the 1.5-mile Nevada venue. Both days of testing saw lots of fast Camaro ZL1 race cars atop the speed charts. Kyle Larson ended the test session fastest overall, followed by fellow Team Chevy driver, Ryan Newman in second.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year contenders, William Byron and Bubba Wallace piloted their Chevy Camaro’s around Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first time in 2018 and were pleased with their first test sessions.
TEAM CHEVY QUOTE SHEET:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1:
FASTEST TWO DAYS IN A ROW, FASTEST OVERALL, DID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WERE ABLE TO GAIN SOME MORE GOOD DATA TODAY?
“Yeah, I felt like and I don’t get too involved in the changes they are making, but I felt like whenever we made our long runs, the stuff that we would do on our three and four-lap runs we were able to learn some stuff to be able to put together a good set-up for the long runs that we did. I was happy about that and felt like we had good speed, especially on the last long run I made. Our qualifying trim run we did was obviously really fast compared to everybody else here. You never know how it will be with everyone here, but I felt good about it and nice to get back in a stock car after a couple of months.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ACCOMPLISHED WHAT YOU WANTED TO?
“Yeah, I mean I feel like it was a good test and nice to know that we have a lot of speed still in our cars with all the changes and the new Camaro ZL1, so we will see how it goes when we get to Daytona and on into the season at the 1.5-miles and stuff.”
DO YOU THINK THE CHEVY’S BEING STRONG HERE IS A GOOD INDICATION OF WHAT THE NEW BODY STYLE WILL BE FOR THE 1.5-MILES OR IS IT TOO EARLY TO TELL?
“Yeah, I don’t know if you can read too much into it yet. Just have to wait and see. You don’t really know what everybody has here.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 BASS PRO SHOPS/CABELA’S CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1:
SECOND FASTEST TODAY AND SECOND FASTEST OVERALL, HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THESE TWO DAYS?
“I felt like we got a good start with the new Camaro ZL1 and the guys did a good job. It’s good to see a couple of Chevrolet’s, two or three Chevrolet’s up on the top. It wasn’t a true test to when 40 cars come back so we will go through our notes and see how well we can do with our homework.”
HOW GOOD IS IT THIS TIME OF YEAR TO GET THAT KIND OF DATA AND GET SOME SEAT TIME?
“Seat time I didn’t need so much, but the guys definitely want more data and loads of data with this new car. We definitely collected that and we will get ready for Daytona, but probably more importantly Atlanta.”
WILLIAM BRYON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1:
HOW DOES THE NEW CHEVROLET CAMARO FEEL WITH THE NEW AERODYNAMICS AND EVERYTHING?
“Honestly, I don’t have much to compare to, but the new Camaro ZL1 has been really good so far. It’s shown the speed and that is good and also, we feel like we have it driving pretty good. Hopefully, that is a good thing when we come back here. We race here twice, so hopefully, we can just learn on that and improve and be good this season.”
YOU DID A LOT OF WORK IN THE CHEVY SIMULATOR IN THE OFF SEASON HAS THAT TRANSLATED TO THE TRACK? DO YOU THINK THAT HAS HELPED YOU GET ACCLIMATED?
“Yeah, somewhat, it’s something to use as a tool, but it’s really hard for me to compare anything to. I’ve never been in a car until yesterday, so it’s hard for me to know what it’s going to feel like, but I feel like it did help me kind of get started and know what my lift points were and know how to work with the team, especially. I’m looking forward to just racing this year. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I can’t wait to get back here in the spring.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON YOUR FIRST CUP TEST HERE THIS WEEK?
“It’s been awesome. It’s been really a dream come true to get in one of these cars and have Hendrick Motorsports behind me it’s really cool. It’s been a lot of fun, it’s been a blast.”
WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE WORKING WITH DARIAN GRUBB AND YOUR CREW DURING THIS FIRST TEST? WHAT IS THE CHEMISTRY LIKE?
“He is great. Darian (Grubb, crew chief) has been really good. We have been able to focus with each other and try different things and just be able to learn and improve.”
BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 CLICK AND CLOSE CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1:
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW CAMARO ZL1? WHAT IS IT LIKE OUT ON THE TRACK?
“Yeah, the body style is awesome. It’s beautiful. It’s really mean looking, sexy looking for sure. It’s fast too. It’s the top three of five (in the early morning session on the second day of testing) on the board on the time sheets today. It’s got a lot of speed, so we are going to continue to work on ours and get us up there.”