Austin Dillon and the Rheem Team Show Speed on the Long Run at Darlington Raceway
“Darlington Raceway is definitely a track where you race the racetrack instead of your competitors and that was our plan heading into this race. Our goal was to race the track until about 15 laps to go and then show everyone what we had, so I was definitely saving my equipment. I had made a lot of ground on the field and was pretty good on the long run. I was able to race my way up to fifth or sixth but I overshot my pit on the last restart and had to backup. We ended up finishing 10th but I know we could have had a shot at it.”
– Austin Dillon
Ty Dillon Rallies from Spin to Take Home a Seventh-Place Finish at Darlington in the Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
"Our Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet team gave me a fast Camaro today. We could've been in a big hole when we spun on Lap 6 and restarted in 37th, but I got back out there and was the fastest car on the track. I was able to race up to third in the first stage. I was a little too loose on entry for the majority of the race, but otherwise my balance was great. We tweaked it with wedge during the final two stages and that helped each time. Just by luck of the draw though, we kept restarting on the bottom lane, and with so many cautions, it really hurt us. The top lane was where I was best all day. It was an overall good day for this team. We practiced well yesterday, qualified in the top five and showed speed throughout the whole race. We'll bring another fast car to Richmond next weekend."
- Ty Dillon
Daniel Hemric's First-Career Start at Darlington Raceway Produces a Top-20 Finish in the No. 21 Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet
"We certainly had higher hopes than an 18th-place finish when we came to Darlington Raceway this weekend. The Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet was good in practice, we qualified third and ended Stages 1 and 2 inside the top 10. Any time I restarted on the bottom lane I would just struggle and we would lose all of our track position. The handling went away when I was stuck on the bottom on that last run and we fell back."
- Daniel Hemric
Brandon Jones Finishes in the Top 25 in the No. 33 KCMG Chevrolet After Starting From The Rear
"Darlington Raceway is always one of the most challenging tracks we visit, and today was no different. We had to fight right from the start of the day with our No. 33 KCMG Chevrolet after I got tagged by the wall in the right rear during qualifying. The car just got away from me in Turns 1 and 2, so my team thrashed and repaired the damage before the start of the race. Even though we had to start in the rear, we fired off pretty well and made it into the top 20 before the end of Stage 1. I just needed more rear grip to get further through the field. Grip seemed to be what we lacked the most and chased throughout the race. At one point it felt like the front of the car and the rear of the car were disconnected over the bumps, making it extremely hard to go into the turns with as much speed as I wanted. We kept working on it as much as possible during our pit stops and we hung onto a top-25 finish. I wish we had been able to get just a little bit more out of today, but we'll take this and move on to Richmond next week."
- Brandon Jones
Brendan Gaughan Keeps the Big Picture In Mind Resulting in a 13th-Place Finish in NAPA Auto Parts Throwback Chevrolet
"All day was about being smart. There was no point in punishing our tires in qualifying. We settled into the top 20 for the first half and I just kept working with my crew chief, Shane, to fine tune our NAPA Auto Parts Throwback Chevy. We got our car dialed in and made a charge there at the end. I'm bummed the No. 96 car got us on the last lap but it's OK. This team kept the big picture in mind and stayed on the right side of the Playoff cut off line because next week is it!"
- Brendan Gaughan