Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Phoenix Qualifying

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
CAN-AM 500
ISM RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
NOVEMBER 9, 2018

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER (* = Playoff Contender)
2ND *CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
5TH ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1
8TH KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 DC SOLAR CAMARO ZL1
15TH AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 AMERICAN ETHANOL E15 CAMARO ZL1
19TH WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HERTZ CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER (* = Playoff Contender)
1ST Kevin Harvick (Ford)
2nd *Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)
3rd Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (Ford)
4th Ryan Blaney (Ford)
5TH Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)

The Can-Am 500 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, November 11th at 2:30 pm, EDT. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES & QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 2nd
YOU DIDN’T SOUND TO HAPPY WITH YOURSELF COMING IN, BUT YOU DID A GOOD JOB ENDING UP SECOND
“Yeah, unfortunately not good enough. The guys brought me a great NAPA Chevy this week and one of these days I’ll figure out how to qualify on a non-plate track, maybe. I had a car to do it today, and I didn’t get it done. So, we’ll go to work on Sunday.”

WHAT’S THE DAY BEEN LIKE WITH THE TRACK SORT OF FLIPPED AND HAVING TO MENTALLY CHANGE HOW YOU APPROACH SOME THINGS HERE?
“Yeah, it’s just kind of awkward not having the Start/Finish line over here like it’s always been. But the track is still the same. The same guys are still going to be good and it’ll be the same crowd on Sunday to beat, so I’m looking forward to it

ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“Just had a great car really all day. We were lucky not to have to make a ton of adjustments and was in a good place. Just didn’t get through my lap as good as I had hoped. I had a plenty good enough car to do so, unfortunately, but plenty good enough starting spot for Sunday. It’s a long race and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

THE LAST THREE WEEKS YOUR QUALIFYING EFFORTS HAVEN’T BEEN GREAT…
“That is an understatement.”

AND THEN YOU COME OUT TODAY AND QUALIFY SECOND. WHAT WERE SOME OF THE IMPROVEMENTS YOU FELT LIKE YOU NEEDED TO MAKE AND DID TODAY COMPARED TO THE LAST THREE RACES?
“Yeah, to be honest with you, I don’t know. Just for whatever reason the last few weeks qualifying has been really tough. Yeah, I mean I look back to Martinsville and even times where we have qualified well, I don’t really feel like I’ve done anything different. Speed sometimes comes easier than it does other days and things click for you when it comes time to qualify and push that extra little bit and for whatever reason that has been difficult for us these past few weeks. We obviously need to do everything good this weekend and it was nice to have a good Friday. We will see what Saturday and Sunday bring.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 5th
ON HIS RUN:
“Yeah, it’s not bad. I think the last three times we have been here together we have been first, fourth and fifth, something like that, you always want more, but we have been pretty far off here the last couple of weeks and good to see the No. 9 (Chase Elliott) close to the front and good to be closer to the front than we have been.”

WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED TO HAVE A RUN AT THE POLE?
“That last round we kind of just got split. I was free in (Turns) 1 and 2 and tight in (Turns) 3 and 4. So, our balance is close. We just didn’t have a lot of raw speed there. I’m interested to see how it is in race trim tomorrow though. I feel like this is a place where I know what I need and lead the team in the right direction.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 DC SOLAR CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 8th
WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED TO BE AMONGST THE TOP RUNNERS THERE?
“I messed up my fast lap in (Turns) 3 and 4 here. I started wheel hopping and got up the track. Lost quite a bit of time I felt like there. I don’t even know what the pole speed was, but I probably didn’t have anything for the pole, but I could have been better than eighth. So, just been fighting a little bit of wheel hop issues today, so hopefully we can resolve those for the rest of the weekend.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 AMERICAN ETHANOL E15 CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 15th
YOU HAD A LOT OF SPEED IN ROUND 1 BUT WAS NOT ABLE TO TRANSFER THAT INTO THE TOP 12 AND THE FINAL ROUND. WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED?
“Well, I don’t know. We ran two (laps) and most of those guys ahead of us ran one (lap). We really didn’t have the first lap speed, but we ran a .00 again and that is about all the car had is an .07 and an .09. Big pick up from practice we gained five spots from 20th to 15th, so I’m proud of what we’ve done and that next little spot of speed is just something we’ve got to work on at the shop, at RCR to get to that next level.”