Austin Dillon and the Dow WE Are Innovators Camaro ZL1 Team Capitalize on Fast Car to Earn Top-Five Finish at Michigan International Speedway

“I want to thank everybody at RCR and ECR for the strong car today. We raced the Dow WE Are Innovators Camaro ZL1, and boy did it feel good having a car fast enough to battle with Kevin Harvick. I’m so proud of the guys for building a car capable of doing that. We were in a position that if something happened to the No. 4 (Harvick), we could have won the race. With two laps to go, I went into Turn 3 and I missed the corner. When I came down the straightaway, the car was shaking like either the tire was unraveling or it was a loose wheel. I didn’t want to lose the great finish we had in front of us, so I held on and fortunately was able to get the top-five finish. Today gave this team a lot of momentum, and I have to thank my pit crew who was fast all day. It just feels good. We have the capability to win when we put our best days together, so we will definitely keep up this hard work.”

-Austin Dillon

Ryan Newman Earns Stage Points and Leads Laps in the Grainger Camaro ZL1 Despite 15th-Place Finish at
Michigan International Speedway

“Our No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 had a lot of speed today at Michigan International Speedway. We started off really strong by running in the top 10 for the entire first stage. Through the first few laps, the car was a little tight but it freed up as we got through the stage. Finishing eighth at the end of Stage 1 was big for this team. It’s crucial to get as many points as possible as we approach the Playoffs, which is exactly what we did. However, the second stage proved to be difficult. Less than 15 laps into Stage 2, the right rear brake line broke. We had to come in several times during the stage to fix the issue. The crew worked their tails off to quickly solve the problem and get the car back on the track. During the final stage, we led the race for several laps and took advantage of it until we needed to come in for fuel with 10 laps remaining. Our team fought hard to keep us on the lead lap which resulted in finishing 15th. The Grainger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was definitely a top-10 car, had it not been for the brake line issue. We’ll gather the troops and regroup as we prepare for the night race at Bristol next weekend.”

-Ryan Newman

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
CONSUMER ENERGY 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
AUGUST 12, 2018

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
4TH AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW WE ARE INNOVATORS CAMARO ZL1
9TH CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
15TH RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 GRAINGER CAMARO ZL1
17TH KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 DC SOLAR CAMARO ZL1
19TH ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL FINISHING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1ST Kevin Harvick (Ford)
2nd Brad Keselowski (Ford)
3rd Kyle Busch (Toyota)
4th Austin Dillon (Chevrolet)
5th Ryan Blaney (Ford) Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Michigan–Post Race →

Matt Tifft Rebounds at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to Record Third Top-5 Finish

“We were so close today with our No. 2 Fanatics / Cleveland Indians Chevrolet Camaro. I knew coming to Mid-Ohio we’d have a really good shot at it, and Randall (Burnett, crew chief) and the team did a great job setting up this week’s car. We qualified fifth, which is our second highest starting spot of the year. Once we fired off for the race, my Chevrolet was a little loose on both directions, but I was able to keep it up front and finish in the top 10 for Stages 1 and 2. We pitted in between Stage 2 and 3 from the second spot and had a miscue on pit road, which shuffled us back in traffic to start the final stage. Luckily, the handling in my Camaro got better throughout the stage and I was able to get back into the top 10 and into the second spot for a while. We just didn’t have the tires at the end to keep up with the leader and fell back to fourth. Overall, it was a really good day at my home track. We were in contention for a lot of it and just need to continue putting together races like this one. I’m really looking forward to getting another shot at the road courses when we go to Road America in a couple of weeks.”

-Matt Tifft Continue reading RCR Post Race Report – Rock N Roll Tequila 170 →

Richard Childress Racing at Michigan International Speedway … In 169 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Michigan International Speedway, RCR teams have earned three wins, two with Dale Earnhardt (1987, 1990) and one with Kevin Harvick (August 2010). Additionally, RCR has claimed 24 top-five and 57 top-10 finishes with 10 different drivers including Richard Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s top division, who recorded top-10 finishes at MIS in June 1978 and August 1979.

RCR in the MENCS … In 2,890 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts dating back to 1969, RCR has amassed 48 pole awards,108 wins, 487 top-five finishes and 1,059 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 17.8 and an average finishing position of 16.2. RCR has earned 15 total championships (six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships with Earnhardt in 1986, ’87, ’90, ’91, ’93 and ’94, six NASCAR Xfinity Series titles, two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series titles and one ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards title) and was the first organization to win titles in NASCAR’s three national series. Continue reading RCR Event Preview – Michigan International Speedway / Mid-Ohio →