MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CLASH
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY FINAL DAYTONA 500 PRACTICE QUOTES
FEBRUARY 10, 2018
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 10, 2018) – Today marked the first time all 18 Team Chevy drivers climbed behind the wheel of their all-new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 race cars. The car is a complete redesign from the Chevrolet SS the manufacturer campaigned over the last five seasons. Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 drivers showed strength in the morning practice session for those seven Chevy drivers competing in the Advance Auto Parts Clash which will commence tomorrow, February 11, at 3:00 p.m., ET.
Following the first outing for the Camaro ZL1 drivers, the first practice session for the Daytona 500 consisted of most drivers doing single car runs. Austin Dillon led the way for Team Chevy in his No. 3 Dow Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 putting up the fifth fastest speed during the session. With only an hour between practices, Chevy teams worked diligently to make changes, including changing out gears – a consensus between engine manufacturers to reduce the RPM load on the engines. Once the final practice session took the green flag many drivers started drafting. As the session came to a close, Rookie of the Year contender, William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sat atop the speed charts ending a solid opening day for the debut of the Camaro ZL1 to Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition.
PRACTICE QUOTES:
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 – Ended the day fastest on the speed chart for the final practice session for the Daytona 500
WAS THAT AS CLOSE ON THE RACE TRACK AS IT LOOKED?
“Yeah, that was one of those ‘oh shoot’ moments, but that was a lot of fun. That was the best chance for me to really learn what I needed to do in the draft. I’m really glad we got a pack formed up like that and a chance to also see how our Axalta Chevy Camaro ZL1 handles. It handles good, it has a lot of speed, so hopefully we can keep that going and just learn a little bit. Definitely, the lanes are always jostling, especially in practice you don’t really have a clear lane of where you are supposed to be. It was good for me to learn that.”
HOW DID YOUR CAMARO ZL1 FEEL TODAY? YOU SEEM TO HAVE NOT ONLY SPEED IN THE PACK, BUT ON SINGLE-CAR RUNS AS WELL:
“It was awesome. The car has a lot of speed. The new Camaro is great. The new ride height rule makes it a little different. The cars drive a little different, but a lot of speed in it so hopefully that means good things for the Daytona 500 and we can just kind of get through the week smooth. Learned a lot in that little draft pack that we had right there. Hopefully, that applies in the (Can-Am) Duels and I can keep that going.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 – Thoughts after he was the fastest Camaro in the opening practice session for the Daytona 500
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE FASTEST ENOUGH AND HAVE THE SPEED TO GET ON THE FRONT ROW?
“Well, I don’t know. Everybody is doing different things. Everybody has got different tape on the grill and different programs, but I’m proud of our guys. It drives good and it does have some speed it seems like. I got pushed by the No. 1 (Jamie McMurray) and that gave us a good lap, but even by ourselves I felt like we had top 10 speed. It’s all going to change tomorrow, but I’m happy with it. The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 has been a dream to drive so far, so we will just keep working on it.”