NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AAA TEXAS 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
NOVEMBER 6, 2015

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER/JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 2nd
HOW DID YOU LOOK AT THIS QUALIFYING SESSION TODAY: 
“Well, the first round I didn’t feel like we had the raw speed that a lot of the guys had. I think that shows a lot about what our racecar is going to be like in race trim and just how consistent it was throughout the speed on each round. Our Budweiser/Jimmy John’s team did a great job in keeping up with the changes that we needed throughout the three rounds and we were able to keep it pretty consistent. I got my entry a little bit screwed up into (Turn) 3 that time and got it pointed the wrong direction in the middle of the corner and then I had to put a wheel in it and got it cocked sideways and scrubbed some speed. All-in-all just a continuous improvement throughout the rounds and wound up being pretty good.”

WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING IN THE RACE ON SUNDAY? 
“As you guys have watched my intensity has been picked up since week 1. It probably won’t be like Martinsville I can guarantee you that. This place is tough because the tires wear out, but you still carry a ton of speed. This is a really fast racetrack, but you have to deal with that (tire) fall off. It makes it a little bit tough to keep up with the racecar and try to anticipate what you need from practice to the race.”

GOOD SPOT FOR SUNDAY RIGHT?
“Yeah, it’s a great start for our Budweiser/Jimmy John’s team. The team did a great job. Pretty much ran the same speed in all three rounds there. Didn’t quite have the raw speed in the first round, but this is a racetrack where you want the car to keep going as long as you can. Felt like we had a good start to our race trim practice today and going to have a good spot to start on Sunday.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS TRACK POSITION AT TEXAS?
“Well you want track position everywhere, but this is one of the racetracks that wears the tires out and you can move around a lot. But we will take the track position to start with for sure.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/DENVER MATTRESS CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 23rd
“We never really clicked in qualifying trim today and that’s why we’re starting in the middle of the pack,” said Truex. “But we’ve been there before and fought our way to the front. As I keep on saying this team never quits. We’re always working hard to find the right combination and I am hopeful that our car will perform better in race trim during tomorrow’s two practice sessions.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 7th
“I raised the track bar on that last run and the racecar got tight on me,” said Busch. “I struggled a little bit with getting off turn four all day. The Haas Automation Chevrolet was really good off the truck in race trim and I’m looking forward to the race on Sunday.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 18TH
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN MISSING IN THE CAR? 
“We are just lacking speed. It’s crazy fast right now. It’s ridiculous how much faster it is this time around than earlier in the year. That first time out I was wide open and we were still a few tenths off. Obviously we are looking into that. I felt really good about some race runs that we had today. I’m pretty optimistic, but that was about all we had and obviously want more.”

DIDN’T QUITE MAKE THE FINAL 12, BUT YOU ARE IN GOOD SHAPE AND HAVE HOMESTEAD AHEAD:
“It’s surprising, because I feel like the car feels better now than it did earlier in the year and we made it to the third round fairly easily earlier in the year. A lot of things have changed; the pace is really fast right now. The competition has definitely done their job. The first time out we held it wide open and I knew when we were about three/four tenths off I was like ‘oh boy’. We are going to need to find some speed. I felt like in race trim today we were really good.”

DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 11th
“The front took off on the exit of (turn) two on the last run, so we didn’t get quite as good of a lap as we wanted to. But overall, my GoDaddy team did a great job of improving the car from practice to qualifying today and we were able to get a really good starting spot for Sunday’s race.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 10th
“We made some big, big improvements from practice so I was pretty happy even though we obviously wanted to do better than 10th but I think we made some really good gains from practice so hopefully that can help us for the race. Starting closer to the front is great for your pit selection, but there is a lot of grooves and room here to race, so you can pass and have fun.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET PLAID CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 5th
“It was a really good run. I’m really happy with fifth. We improved from each round, so that is good. The Target Chevrolet has been good; we’ve been happy with it all day. Just have to maximize starting close to the front because this is a very long race and you need to be there at the end.”