WHAT HAPPENED ON THE BACK STRAIGHTAWAY WITH YOU AND PAUL MENARD?
“Yeah, I knew the rain was coming, so I was trying to set-up my move and make my run on the No. 21 car. I had it kind of set-up down the backstretch a few laps prior to that and then my opportunity came along, I made that move to the inside and then we kind of got together. I’m not sure if just the air breaking his bumper plane pulled his car over or if he was late to block, but it was just really a racing thing honestly. So, I made my move and unfortunately he got sideway and it collected a bunch of cars.”

DID THE IMPENDING WEATHER IMPACT WHEN YOU DECIDED TO MAKE YOUR MOVE?
“Without a doubt. I was going down into Turn 1 looking out into the distance and I could see it getting darker and darker and closer and closer. I knew within that lap or the next lap if I had a run, I had to take it.”

ANYTHING YOU LEARNED THAT YOU CAN TAKE TO THURSDAY OR SUNDAY FOR THE 500?
“Yeah, there is a lot to learn. These restarts are so important which lane you are in really makes a big difference and that is really what led to my success today.”

CONGRATULATIONS. YOU WON THE CLASH. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE BACK IN VICTORY LANE?
“It feels good. I’m just really happy about honestly, a great day for Hendrick Motorsports, for Chevrolet, for Ally coming on board and qualifying third for the Daytona 500 and then to win the Clash. Kevin Meendering, leading this team; there have been a lot of things going on. I’m extremely excited to win. It’s not a points race, but it’s a good start.”

THERE HAS BEEN TALK ABOUT THE SPLIT BETWEEN YOU AND CHAD KNAUS. THE IRONY OF CHAD WINNING THE POLE WITH WILLIAM BYRON TODAY AND YOU WINNING THE RACE WITH YOUR NEW CREW CHIEF, KEVIN MEENDERING, MAYBE THE TWO OF YOU MIGHT BE OKAY WITHOUT ONE ANOTHER
“Yeah, you’re right. I hadn’t thought about that, exactly. But I did mention to Chad that he was able to win me my first pole here for the 500, and did the same for William. I’m really happy for those guys. With this group of Ally team members I have behind me, these guys have been working so hard and we’re off to a great start this year.”

COMMENT ON LAP 55 MULTI-CAR CRASH:
WHAT HAPPENED THERE WITH PAUL MENARD?
“Just knowing the rain was coming. We could see it coming. I knew that was probably my lap to make the move and I had a great run down the back. I got below him before he blocked it, and then I think he came down a little bit to defend and block. I got that move inside of him and was hopeful that the No. 1 (Kurt Busch) was going to be following me through. But I certainly hate to see all these cars torn up. I’m here, I’m making my move; I’m there. And then it just starts coming over. I think it was more of a racing thing than anything. I feel sorry for Paul. I feel sorry for all the teams that lost race cars, but I’m here to win races and this Ally car is fast.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 2nd
YOU FINISHED SECOND, BUT THAT WASN’T REALLY THE WHOLE STORY IN THE RACE. WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THIS RACE?
“It was a pretty crazy day with the rain and just the yellows and the line-up and it was just kind of everybody getting back in the groove, but man, there was a lot to digest especially with me on a new team. I love all the guys at Ganassi, Matt McCall (crew chief), I didn’t know we were quite pitting under green at lap 25, but those are just those little things that we will learn to iron out. Today was a great day for us to finish second, get some bugs worked out and to jump into next week’s qualifiers.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th
TALK ABOUT THE END OF THAT ONE:
“We were running almost last and just got through the crash okay. It is a really frustrating day. We kind of lucked our way into the top groove up there, we could be okay, but just didn’t have any speed. The car drove really good, probably drove too good. We probably have to make it drive bad again and then we will go fast again.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 6th
YOU GOT A LITTLE DAMAGE IN THAT LAST WRECK, BUT HOW DID YOU END UP GETTING THROUGH IT SO YOU COULD FINISH?
“Just tried to hold the wheel straight and punch a hole really. I tried to slow down, but you can’t stop from going 200 mph it’s a hard thing to do. You know we made it back around so I’m happy with that. The car drove well. I was really disappointed in the drafting. Everybody got to the top and it was really about track position, hard to make a move. We were just kind of where we were. I felt like my car was faster than some of the guys I was around, but you can’t really do anything with it unless you get really aggressive. I tried to get aggressive and no one was wanting to work. I think it is good for the (Daytona) 500 to have a handling car because so many things happen. You can get track position other ways than just racing. So, we will do our job.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 40 ADVENTHEALTH CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 11th
WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE?
“I wasn’t as torn up as those other guys, but we were still pretty torn up and I don’t know what happened. I kind of saw a replay but I still know what really happened.”

ARE YOU SURPRISED EVERYONE STAYED IN LINE?
“When we get 40 cars out there it will be way better. It’s hard at plate races when you don’t have enough cars on the track, but I was shocked by that too. I was shocked by that too. I thought that race people usually don’t care if they have to go to the back so they will make it two-wide and it certainly got racier towards the end. The 150’s might be similar, but the (Daytona) 500 will be totally different and hopefully it gets hot. If it gets hot and the track gets slick it will be way different.”