MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
JULY 6, 2018

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CAMARO ZL1 – POLE WINNER
YOU KNEW THE CAR WAS FAST GOING INTO QUALIFYING, BUT DID YOU KNOW IT WAS TWO AND A HALF TENTHS FASTER THAN THE REST OF THE FIELD?
“No, I didn’t know it was that fast. Our Hooters Chevy has been nice all weekend. We made a couple of changes actually at the end of that last practice before the rain and made it go a little faster. I hope that translates to a good driving car tomorrow night. Obviously, a lot of speed in our Chevrolet’s. I’ve said this before, but we have put a lot of effort into our speedway program at Hendrick Motorsports. The engine shop, chassis shop, body shop, we take a lot of pride in coming to these races. They pay the same amount of points as the rest of them, so it matters and our team treats it that way and their hard work pays off.”

SO WHEN A TEAM PUTS IN AN EFFORT LIKE THAT HOW MUCH PEP DOES IT PUT INTO YOUR FOR TOMORROW NIGHT’S RACE?
“Well, I think it gives everybody confidence. Having a good pit stall is certainly nice. That can matter at the end of these races. So, sharing the front row with your teammate is also nice too. So, we will just have to see. The race is a whole different ballgame, but to have speed in our Chevrolet is nice and to have Hooter’s for their first race of the season on the pole is cool too. Looking forward to tomorrow night.”

IS YOUR SPRAINED ANKLE OKAY?
“Well, I wouldn’t call the Infield Care Center the hospital. I didn’t really want to do that so I have been trying to draw as least amount of attention as possible to that. But, it’s all good, yeah, had a little ankle sprain, but we are good and ready to go. So, looking forward to the race and get to race tonight too, so ready to get started hopefully the rain holds off and we can keep the ole No. 23 rolling.”

YOU’VE GOT TO BE PLEASED WITH WHAT YOUR GUYS DO TO BUILD THESE TYPES OF RACE CARS:
“Yeah, they do a great job and in general Hendrick Motorsports we put a lot of effort into our speedway program, as we should, these races count the same amount of points as the rest of them, so they matter. To see everybody’s hard work pay off it is good to see. Anytime you put effort into a situation and it pays off that is refreshing especially for the men and women who do it every day. Our body shop, chassis shop, engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports has been great. We have some fast Chevrolet’s down here this weekend, great to have Hooters for their first race of the season on the pole, so that is pretty cool too, they picked a good one. Looking forward to the race.”