MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
FORD ECOBOOST 400
HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
NOVEMBER 18, 2018
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
7TH CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
11TH AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW UCON CAMARO ZL1
13TH KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK/DC SOLAR CAMARO ZL1
14TH JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S ROOKIE THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1
15TH RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 E-Z-GO CAMARO ZL1
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1ST Joey Logano (Ford)
2nd Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota)
3rd Kevin Harvick (Ford)
4th Kyle Busch (Toyota)
5TH Brad Keselowski (Ford)
TOP FOUR UNOFFICIAL 2018 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1ST Joey Logano (Ford)
2nd Martin Truex, Jr. (Toyota)
3rd Kevin Harvick (Ford)
4th Kyle Busch (Toyota)
This concludes the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. The 2019 MENCS will kick off with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 2:30 pm ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES & QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 7th
NOT THE RUN YOU WANTED, BUT STILL A SOLID DAY TO END THE SEASON:
“Yeah, it was… we really suck down here. Man, if we make this Final 4 one day, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR SEASON THIS YEAR?
“Yeah, better than the first two for sure, but not what we want.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 13th
DO YOU THINK YOU STARTED RUNNING THE WALL TOO EARLY? WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU HAD THAT TIRE GO DOWN?
“No, I didn’t push it too early because I ran up there every lap, but I don’t know… I guess lost focus or whatever and hit the wall. I’m pretty mad at myself about that because I felt like we had a really good shot to win there and I just gave it away.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S ROOKIE THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 14th
WHAT IS THIS NIGHT LIKE?
“It’s tough. When you think of the relationship with Lowe’s, I hate to see that come to an end. Seventeen, 18 years really when you look at my first three races that I ran for them, everything we accomplished together, their belief in me and the company’s support of me and this team over the years. So that is one piece and then the other piece obviously with Chad (Knaus), you know it’s time for us to move on and have a new project and have new people to work with. But he is my brother, there is just no way around it. So, not an easy situation it sure has not been easy, especially the second half of the year. We knew this was coming prior to the release or the announcement, I should say, but the season is behind us now and I look forward to a good off season and get geared up for 2019.”
CHAD IS NOT GOING TO BE THAT FAR AWAY FROM YOU, I GUESS YOU GUYS CAN STILL BUMP INTO EACH OTHER IN THE HALLWAY:
“No, we will work very close together and I think even on a deeper level than where we have been the last couple of years. The last couple of years have been tough. William (Byron) is a great guy and I’ve been working closely with him and obviously, Chad is going to be working with William. We will all be in there working together without a doubt.”
HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE YOUR SEASON AS YOU LOOK AT IT AS A WHOLE BODY OF WORK?
“That is… in my Cup career that is probably the most difficult year that I have had. I can look back at some other years where I had different challenges of not having a sponsor or maybe not having a ride and dealing with adversity there. As far as having a fully funded high-qualify ride, that was… ’18 was by far the toughest. 2015 was pretty tough, but this was still tougher than that. Especially, to work through the decision to go separate ways with Chad (Knaus) that was probably… early in the year, kind of mid-season when we made that decision and working through that scenario wasn’t easy. Just glad to finish with a respectable result today, but we’ve got a lot of work to do as a company. I’ve got a lot of work to do with my new team, we’ve got a lot of work to do with this new package and we’ve got to come out stronger.”
WERE YOU THINKING ABOUT YOUR TIME WITH CHAD DURING THE CLOSING LAPS?
“Yeah, especially pre-race. Getting bolted in the car, kind of our routine through the different steps there, the reality of today setting in. During the race you just kind of get back in the rhythm of things and just raced along, but I made sure we had a cooler of beer just to have one quick beer with the guys and Chad and a big toast to say thank you.”
NOT TO ADD SALT TO THE WOUND, BUT THIS WILL GO DOWN AS YOUR FIRST WINLESS SEASON IN THE CUP SERIES:
“Yeah, I’ve had such a fortunate career and I would have loved to keep that streak alive, clearly that is not the case. Instead of reflecting on this year and how bad it was because I know that reality, I’ve been living it first-hand. I just think it’s important for me and the team right now to look back on what we have done together over 17 years together. New sponsor, new crew chief, whole new rules package, you know, 2019 is going to be a clean start for myself and this No. 48 team.”
TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 22nd
“I appreciate all of the hard work that this Germain Racing team put in all year long to get our GEICO Camaro ZL1 to the track every week. Our road crew leaves their families behind each weekend, and all of our guys put in countless hours at the shop. We didn’t have the results this year that we wanted, but we had a lot of great racing moments and this team never gave up. That hard work mentality isn’t going to end just because the season is over. They will all be back in the shop tomorrow morning to start building our cars for the 2019 season. We’re in this together, and there’s nobody else that I wanted battling with me tonight in Homestead and come February for the Daytona 500.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HERTZ CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 24th – 2018 Rookie of the Year
“It was a good effort today, but things didn’t go our way. Overall, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs this season, but it’s been a good learning experience. We’ll get back after it in 2019.”