MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA 500 POLE QUALIFYING
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 19, 2017

Chase Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Give Chevrolet Front Row for 59th Running of the Daytona 500
Fifth Consecutive Pole for Chevrolet in the Great American Race

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 19, 2017) – For the second consecutive year, Chase Elliot put the No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet SS on the pole for the season-opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Daytona 500. With a lap of 46.663 seconds/192.872 mph, the 2016 Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year, claimed his third career pole. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Daytona 500 Pole Qualifying →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA 500 POLE QUALIFYING
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES
FEBRUARY 19, 2017

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVROLET SS – Daytona 500 Pole Sitter
TALK ABOUT WINNING THE POLE FOR THE DAYTONA 500 FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR:
“It is awesome. I am just really proud of everybody at our shop – the Hendrick Engine Shop; the Hendrick Chassis Shop; Hendrick Motorsports as a whole and the No. 24 team for sure. I appreciate all of their hard work. It is great to have NAPA on board this weekend. As I said on TV, the No. 24 team here in the past – with Jeff before and with us here and at Talladega has proved they are really good at qualifying at these tracks. They are always trying to find new things with the body, or with the engine and that is proof that they are keeping up with the competition and taking that next step too. Like I said, it is a testament to them, and I am really proud of what they have done. Excited to get started this season and hopefully we can have a good run next week.”
Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Daytona 500 Pole Qualifying–Chase Elliott →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA 500 QUALIFYING
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES
FEBRUARY 19, 2017

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER:
CONGRATULATIONS ON BACK-TO-BACK POLES. THIS IS BIG FOR YOU.
“Yeah, this is really cool. I’m just happy for our NAPA team and it’s great to have Napa on board this weekend; and a big thanks to the Hendrick engine shop and Chevrolet. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports has done a lot of work this off-season. This team definitely has a knack for these plate tracks as they showed with Jeff Gordon and then last year with here and Talladega. But that stuff doesn’t just happen by staying the same as everybody knows. Everyone is always trying to get better and make their cars better and faster; and the engine shop is always finding new things. So, I think that’s just proof that they’re improving with everybody else and taking that next step, which is really impressive. I’m happy to be a part of it and hopefully we can run good next Sunday.”

YOU WEREN’T ABLE TO CAPITALIZE ON THAT STARTING SPOT LAST YEAR. HOW HAVE YOU MATURED AS A RESTRICTOR PLATE DRIVER TO WHERE YOU CAN SCORE YOUR FIRST DAYTONA 500 ON SUNDAY?
“Well, we finished our first Cup race at Daytona today, which was good. We didn’t win the race, obviously, but we finished. Unfortunately, we tore up a lot of stuff here last year. So I hope we can just try to get to the end of the 500 next. We’ve obviously got to get through the Duels, first. But, just making it to the end and having yourself in position, obviously we’d love to have a shot to win this thing. So, it would be great and I think we have a car that can do it. So, we’ll find out.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 2ND
BY THAT PERFORMANCE, YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU’VE BEEN OUT OF A RACE CAR FOR 7 MONTHS. HOW GOOD DOES THAT FEEL?
“It feels good. I think the guys are a little bit disappointed. They really wanted to get the pole. I’m disappointed too, but am absolutely thrilled to have an all-Hendrick Motorsports front row. And we’ll work on the balance practice a lot this week and make sure it’s a good handling car for the race. But, it’s a good way to start the week.”

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CLASH
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 19, 2017

Alex Bowman Leads the way for Team Chevy in “The Clash” at Daytona

Daytona Beach (Fla.) – (February 19, 2017) – Alex Bowman earned a spot in the 2017 Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway by earning his first career pole at Phoenix International Speedway last season in the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS, while filling in for the injured Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The Hendrick Motorsports organization gave the ‘super sub’ the opportunity to run the 75-lap non-points race at Daytona as the 2017 season for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series got underway. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Daytona–Advance Auto Parts Clash Post Race →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CLASH
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
FEBRUARY 19, 2017

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD
HOW MUCH FUN DID YOU HAVE?
“It was frustrating. We kind of struggled all day, a little bit. We couldn’t get the track position we needed. To come home third is solid, and not bad by any means. We will learn from it and hopefully give Greg (Ives, crew chief) and Dale (Earnhardt, Jr.) some information for the Daytona 500. It is a day race. I am just happy to be a part of the Clash. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Daytona–Advance Auto Parts Clash–Alex Bowman →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CLASH
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES
FEBRUARY 19, 2017

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in a single car crash on lap 48:

THIS IS LIKE SHADES OF LAST YEAR DURING SPEEDWEEKS WITH YOUR TEAMMATES HAVING SIMILAR ISSUES, IS THIS MORE OF A HENDRICK AERO ISSUE OR THE TRACK BEING SLICK?
“I don’t know. I guess last year there were a couple of issues there. It’s so bizarre because the car hasn’t been loose anywhere else. The first time I got loose I got into the NO. 41 (Kurt Busch) and crashed him and I feel terrible for that. And then that time, I didn’t think it was going to turn around. I was about half-throttle running along. I’m not sure if the car behind me got close and helped my cause, but it had been very loose off of Turn 4 from the moment I crashed Kurt, on. Maybe the track is changing. We certainly plan to race at night. And it’s weird because I’ve made a living out of a loose race car and to have it bite me this afternoon, and unfortunately take the No. 41 out, I’m disappointed in myself and our situation for that.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Advance Auto Parts Clash–Jimmie Johnson →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CLASH
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES
FEBRUARY 18, 2017

COURTNEY FORCE, DRIVER OF THE ADVANCE AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS IN THE NHRA DRAG RACING FUNNY CAR DIVISION, will serve as the honorary pace car driver for the Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona. Prior to fulfilling her duties as pace car driver, she met with members of the media. Full Transcript:

TALK ABOUT SERVING AS THE PACE CAR DRIVER:
“I’m so thrilled to be here, this is amazing to be here in Daytona. I got to take a couple of laps in the pace car. A little nerve racking obviously, I’m used to a flat, straight track that goes 0-1000 feet in just four seconds. Totally different type of racing for me, but obviously, I’m going a lot slower. It’s really cool. I’m totally not used to the banking here. It’s a lot steeper than it looks for the people that see it from the outside. It was really cool to kind of be on the track and experience that. I’m obviously hoping to not screw up and be able to follow the lines. I got a little advice from (Dale Earnhardt) Junior. He said some people might bump me, so I’m going to watch and make sure I don’t get into too much trouble. I’m really excited to be here. This will probably be the only time I can ever say that there are all those legends of NASCAR in my rear-view mirror. I’m really excited to say that. Just honored to be here with Advance Auto Parts. This is an honor for me and a little bit different from what I do. Hopefully, everything goes well.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Daytona–Courtney Force →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA 500 PRACTICE
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 18, 2017

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS, finished the first practice session back behind the wheel of his Chevrolet SS after missing much of the 2017 season due to injury. The No. 88 team finished the first practice session for the Daytona 500 11th on the speed chart.

DAYTONA IS A PLACE THAT HAS HAD A LOT OF EMOTION FOR YOU DALE, COMING BACK UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES HOW DID IT FEEL TODAY?
“It felt good to just get out there and get to work a little bit and be with the guys and see all the familiar faces in the garage, other drivers and team members and so forth. Yeah, just trying to put as many laps as I can behind me and get further and further into this deal to where the events from last year become more of a distant memory and don’t define me as who I am so much anymore. It will be good to get in the car and get some good wins and good finishes under our belt this season. That is our plan.”

WHAT IS THE 42-YEAR OLD VERSION OF DALE, JR. IN A RACE CAR?
“Well, I don’t really hope I change a whole lot. To be successful, particularly at Daytona you have to drive with zero fear and put your car in places on instinct without wondering and guessing about the repercussions. I have watched a lot of races, replays and stuff where we have had success and I remember that feeling of being invincible. Not even thinking about the dangers or the risks that you are taking, you are just doing. That is when you are at your best. You have to get into that frame of mind for the race and I hope to kind of still be that driver that I need to be. Outside the car though, might not take things quite as, I don’t know if serious is the right word, but don’t sweat the small stuff. Try not to let those little things get under your skin, things that really don’t matter. You get swept up in doing this week after week and it becomes who you are instead of what you do. Trying to keep that under control.”

WHAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FRAME OF MIND YOU ARE IN TODAY?
“I think just getting older and wiser. I’ve been learning so much, trying to be observant and learn and be open-minded to improving. Getting better as a person, as a driver, as a professional, never assuming you’ve got it all figured out and understanding your mistakes and correcting them. Just getting smarter and older and ready to grow-up. I always thought I was kind of mature, but there is always some room to improve. Certainly, made a lot of changes in my life in the last year that has made some big differences on me personally and I’ve enjoyed it and look forward to the future.”

HOW DID IT FEEL GETTING BACK IN THE CAR?
“It felt good. I was, not really nervous, but today went really smooth. Didn’t have any problems, so we just kind of got everything done we wanted to do and the guys will go to work and try to put together a good car for qualifying and hopefully we will get out there and get a good lap in.”