NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 21, 2016

DALE EARNHARDT JR. LEADS TEAM CHEVY ALL-STAR EFFORT
Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS third; Larson strong in $1 million race

CONCORD, NC. (May 22, 2016) – The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race had a little bit of everything Saturday night, and it ended with one of Team Chevy’s brightest stars in the top-three. Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS, finished in the 32nd annual non-points race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Earnhardt Jr. led three Chevrolet SS drivers who finished in the top-six in the $1 million race. Kurt Busch in the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS placed fifth, and rookie Chase Elliott was sixth in the No. 24 3M Chevrolet SS.

Kyle Larson, driving the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS, won the night’s second 50-lap segment and rocketed to the lead at the start of the final 13-lap run before falling back. He had advanced earlier in the day from the Sprint Showdown and looked like the car to beat in the final segment.

Joey Logano (Ford) was the race winner, Brad Keselowski (Ford) finished second, and Carl Edwards (Toyota) was fourth.

The next race for Team Chevy in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the Coca-Cola 600 at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 25 from Charlotte Motor Speedway.

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 MOUNTAIN DEW CHEVROLET SS – Finished 3rd
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by our third‑place finisher, Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Mountain Dew Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. This was Dale’s best All‑Star finish since 2002, so congratulations on a great finish. Talk us through your race tonight.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Yeah, we started out right around 10th and ran there for most of the night. Just real hard to pass. The middle and the top didn’t get as competitive as the bottom was. As cool as it is outside and the track temp staying low like that, that bottom is going to remain pretty quick, so it was hard to ‑‑ you saw some guys using the top or the middle in the afternoon today, but I couldn’t really get it to work unless somebody was really struggling in front of me.
But it was pretty good strategy by Greg. I don’t even remember what he did, but somehow or another we ended up in the top 5. I don’t know how we passed all them people, but once I got toward the front, the car started obviously driving better in the cleaner air, and right before the last segment, right at the end of the second segment, I thought we had a great car. Not as good as the 42 and the 75, but I thought we had a really good car, much better car than we did the last segment. The last segment we made a couple of adjustments to try to help our car take off a little better and just go on that short run, but it didn’t really handle well, so we got tight immediately on the first lap of the last segment the car was pushing. I knew we were going to struggle to be able to capitalize on our position to win the race, but we ended up finishing okay.
For our team it’s a good step in the right direction to get more competitive. A lot was made about the comments I made in the podcast on Monday. I just want the team to succeed and really like the crew and Greg, and I think we can do it. We did it last year. We started this year off really awesome and hit a little rough patch, but this week was a great opportunity for us to learn, and I think we did. We had about 80 percent of the setup on the car was new stuff, some stuff we hadn’t really ran in a lot of different directions that are outside the box for us and what we were competitive with earlier in the year. So I hope Greg learned a lot tonight. We didn’t get a lot of practice, so we had to learn as much as we could in the race, and I think we learned some stuff.
Next weekend it will be great to actually get some practice and actually tune on the car a little bit more.

Q. NASCAR kind of wanted to change the format to try to increase excitement. Did you feel you increased excitement? There seemed to be a lot of confusion out there about exactly how things would work, and then with only two cars on old tires on that last ‑‑
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Yeah, wasn’t ‑‑ you know, I think that the intent was really positive, and the ideas were great. But I think the simpler we make it, the easier it is to follow. You just have to worry about rooting for your guy.
I was pretty confused right up until it was 13 laps to go, and then I knew, well, we’re racing from here to the end, and this is all the normal rules. But everything before that was really out of my ‑‑ I was out of my element.
But NASCAR did a good job making sure ‑‑ even though all the pitting was confusing and how the lap cars were pitting with the leaders, people weren’t really where they were supposed to be, NASCAR did make sure all the lineups were correct before we went back to green. So you can’t really complain about that too much. It was just an unorthodox way of doing it. I don’t know. I think they ran into some scenarios tonight that they didn’t really anticipate and got caught off guard. I think the 20 obviously not pitting, however that worked out, that threw them for a loop and everybody was confused from that minute on.

Q. What made you think if the All‑Star Race became a race of innovation and you guys just raced whatever you brought to the track?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Well, I don’t know. We probably wouldn’t pass too much because we’d all be wide open. We would all be full throttle. I just think they ought to go back to the original formats that they started with that are simple and make the cars race better, you know? Gimmicks and all that stuff, trying to trick up the race is going down the wrong path. The way to make the racing exciting is to make the cars exciting.

Q. Along those lines, the changes that were implemented, could you tell from the driver’s seat, did they have much effect in this race on the racing in general?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: There was a lot of ‑‑ yeah, I mean, we gained some track position somehow. You know, all the mandatory stops during the segments, then the mandatory stops in between the segments. Somehow or another Greg did some magic and got us into the top 5. Guys were struggling, and I don’t know. You know, it came down to the 22, the 42. That was pretty exciting, and I don’t think that had anything to do with any format, so that was just two guys going at it, and that’s what you really want.

Q. What about the downforce, side force stuff?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Well, you know, I think that taking the skew out of the housing and limiting the toe and doing things like that will certainly slow down the mid‑corner speed a little bit and there will be a little bit more off‑throttle time, and I think that any time we can get more off‑throttle time, there will be more opportunities to out‑drive a guy into a corner, beat a guy into the corner or drive up to a guy’s bumper to get him loose or move him out of the way or however you need to do it. You know, you saw the 22, he could get right up to that 42. Man, if we were running the ’14 or ’15 package, the 42 could have went wherever the 22 was going and kept him about 10 car lengths behind him the whole time. He didn’t ever have to worry about it.
So the fact that the 22 can drive up there right to him and the 42 can’t do anything about it, we’re going down the right direction with all that stuff.
F

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 21, 2016

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – Finished 3rd:
WE HEARD YOU ON THE RADIO EARLIER REMINDING YOU OF THE FIRST TIME YOU FLEW A REMOTE CONTROL HELICOPTER. WAS THAT THE KIND OF CRAZY DAY THIS WAS? “Yeah, I didn’t know what way up and what way was right and left. Lap-down cars were pitting with lead-lap cars and wave-by cars were up front and in the middle. NASCAR did a good job of sorting the lineups out. Everybody was where they were supposed to be when we went back to green so you can’t complain. They were doing it unlike any other way they were doing it before. I’m sure they ran into some scenarios they weren’t really anticipating. That really was probably part of it; guys getting caught a lap down, the 20 not pitting within the first 50 laps. They weren’t anticipating all that. As far as our Mountain Dew and Nationwide Chevy, we got it better. A lot of the setup is new and some stuff we’re trying to find some speed with. We still have some gains to make. We didn’t win the race but we outran a lot of guys who had been outrunning us the last few weeks. We didn’t get to practice so we worked really hard during the race changing a lot of stuff, and I hope Greg (Ives) learned a lot. Next weekend we’ll actually get to practice some and make some changes to see if we can’t get our car better for the 600. I’d love to win that race before I retire.”

THIS WAS A SOLID EFFORT EVEN THOUGH YOU DIDN’T WIN THE MILLION DOLLAR CHECK. “Yeah, we tried to come here and learn as much as we could to get better as a team. Ninety percent of the setup in this car we hadn’t run this year. This is the race to try those things. Heck, we kind of came close. We didn’t have the speed those guys did on that last run. Right before that at the end of the second segment, I really loved our car. We’ll see how it works next weekend when we actually get to practice, try some things and change some things. We’ve learned a lot We’re still not as good as the 22 and the 2 at the end of this race but it’s better a run than we’ve had in the last several weeks.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 3M CHEVROLET SS – Finished 6th:
IT WAS A PRETTY CRAZY AND CONFUSING NIGHT. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THAT RACE?
“I really don’t know. I was just very, very confused, I felt like, for the majority of the race. We had a really good car until we got our damage there. We were trying to play the pit road game. You want to spend the least amount of time you can on pit road and that’s what everybody was doing. I was planning on pitting on that first lap after we got back going and it was just chaotic and if it was my fault and I didn’t do a good enough job getting out of the way, I’ll take the blame. I was just trying to get on pit road.”

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE AERO PACKAGE? IT LOOKED LIKE THE RACING WAS A LITTLE BIT BETTER?
“Yeah, I thought we were able to be side-by-side a little bit more. Obviously you’re at the mercy to your outside. If he wants to race with you he can; if can stick it on your door and make you real free. It’s kind of up to him. If he gives you a little mercy then sure, you can race. But I do think it is a little bit easier to be around guys, I think, is an improvement. Like I said, and improvement doesn’t mean it’s perfect. We need to keep working on things and hopefully find a good stopping point.”

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE FORMAT? SOME WERE CONFUSED ABOUT THE WAVE-AROUND AND IT WAS HARD TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON SOMETIMES
“Yeah, I was confused the whole time. I really was. There was a lot of time I didn’t know what was happening and just a lot of things, but hey, I was really proud of our effort. It was such a long day and my guys did such a good job fixing our car; not once, but twice, today. So, I’m proud of them for that. I thought we had a good car from the start of the race until we got our damage and I think that’s encouraging for next week.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUSCH LIGHT CHEVROLET SS – Finished 11th:
“We just had something that went wrong. It’s unfortunate, because we had a really fast Busch Light Chevrolet. It was really, really fast, but I just got to a point where I couldn’t steer anymore in traffic or in the corner. It just made it tough.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Finished 16th:
TELL US ABOUT THE LAST RUN. “I’m super disappointed. I hate that I keep letting my team down. They did everything right. They worked their tails off after I got all the damage in the Showdown. We had a really, really good Target Chevy and were able to get to the front pretty quick there to be in the best position possible there for the last restart. I got clear right away and thought I could cruise. I was getting looser throughout the race. We were making adjustments but weren’t making big enough ones. I just got loose and Joey (Logano) caught me. He did a really good job side-drafting me. I tried to hang on his quarter panel like I did with Chase (Elliott) earlier today. I got really loose as soon as I got in the corner. We were going so fast that I couldn’t correct it and ended up drilling the wall. I’m really disappointed but congrats to Logano and their team. Hats off to my guys. They’ve worked their tails off. We’ve had fast cars the last few weeks where we had struggled with that recently. I’m having fun but this will be hard to get over.”

YOU WERE THE DOMINANT CAR IN THAT LAST 10-LAP SHOOTOUT BUT JUST LOST OUT THERE AT THE END. WHAT HAPPENED? “First off, thanks to my team for repairing our car after the Showdown where we had quite a bit of damage. Our car was really good from the start. I was able to go from 18th to I think ninth pretty quickly. We kept working on it and getting farther forward and better. I started getting looser as the race went on and thought I’d be OK for that 13-lap run we had there. I was too loose to start and you had to start pedaling it too soon in the run. Joey was able to get close to me. I tried to move around at that point, and he did a good job of side-drafting me and getting me slowed down enough to get kind of ahead of me. I just got loose getting into that corner. I definitely didn’t over-correct. I was just going fast, got loose, lost control and hit the wall. I’m disappointed. I feel like I keep letting my guys down but thanks to them and everyone at the race shop for working hard and getting our race cars a lot better. It’s been fun recently to run up front and contend for wins. I just have to figure out how to do it.”

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER CHEVROLET SS – Involved I multi-car crash on Lap 72 – Finished 20th
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I got in a wreck. I mean, the No. 24 (Chase Elliott) wrecked everybody and put everybody behind him in jeopardy and we got caught on the outside of it. I shouldn’t have been back there in the first place. We couldn’t even get clarification after the pit stop as to where we were even supposed to be and then we restarted and find out we’re a lap down and it’s like, how did that happen? How did that happen? It’s the dumbest damn thing I’ve ever been a part of.

CHASE ELLIOTT WAS WAVING OFF CARS BEHIND HIM THAT HE WAS GOING TO PIT. BUT IT’S BEEN ONE OF THOSE INDESCRIBABLE NIGHTS.
“I’m as baffled as everybody. I don’t know how in the hell we were scored a lap down after they stopped the 20 car (Matt Kenseth) and the pit everybody together a lap down then lead lap and then lap down. It’s the most screwed up All-Star race I’ve ever been a part of. I’m glad it’s my last one. I’m all right. I’m just madder than hell because I don’t understand how the hell they’ve officiated this from start to finish.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
NHRA KANSAS NATIONALS
HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA, TOPEKA, KANSAS

Chevrolet Drivers Qualify No. 1 in Two Pro Classes at Topeka
· Brittany Force sets Top Fuel national elapsed time record
· Two-time winner this season earns fifth career No. 1 qualifier position
· Jason Line gives Chevrolet its eighth straight Pro Stock No. 1 honor
· Funny Car points leader Courtney Force is No. 4 qualifier

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 21, 2016) – Two dragstrips had been the site of sub-3.7-second Top Fuel runs. Brittany Force, driving the Monster Energy Chevrolet Dragster, added Heartland Park Topeka to the list during qualifications for the NHRA Kansas Nationals. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NHRA–Kansas Qualification →

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
100TH RUNNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFICATIONS DAY 1
MAY 21, 2016

The first day of qualifications for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 brought drama for the 33 drivers vying for a spot in the Fast Nine. Nine drivers locked themselves into position to compete for the coveted pole winner for the Indy 500 and lead the field to the green flag across the yard of bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Continue reading Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Indy Qualifications →

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
100TH RUNNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFICATIONS DAY 1
MAY 21, 2016

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET:
ON STRATEGY TODAY IN QUALIFYING:
“It rained last night and when you get an early draw like I did, , which was great initially if it didn’t rain. But the fact that it did rain made the track really slick because it took away all the rubber we put down yesterday. We had to put some down force in the car from where we were yesterday to at least see how the car was behaving and put a lap in really. I know we are going to go back out tonight. At 6:00 the track will be amazing, and the wind is going to die down at the end of the day. That will be the time to be on the track. I think we are going to see some big numbers. That run was just a balance check really. It went pretty well. We have good balance and it was a good start.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER SERVICES ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
ON HIS QUALIFYING EFFORT:
“I’m happy. We had a great first effort. It was a strong four laps. I wish the last three were as strong as the first one. We put up a good number there then dropped about one-half of a mile-an-hour but we maintained. Strong first run. Don’t know if it is good enough to stay in the top-nine, we will have to see. I don’t want to go back out. But if we have to, I think we can find some more speed and get after it if we have to. But it is all about getting in that fast nine. Today has been hard. I think everyone had a false sense of security after practicing so good. The track was so good – the best conditions possible. Then we get to today, and I think it is even going to be worse tomorrow.

SCOTT DIXON, NO. 9 TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET:
ON TRACK CONDITIONS DURING QUALIFYING:
“Conditions were pretty tough. They are affecting everyone. This time going into turn one this is the first time this month going in to turn one with that much direct wind coming behind the car. Track temp and air temperatures were up too from the last couple of days when we have been at lower downforce levels. It was tough. I thought we were going out pretty light which is going to be hard to maintain.”
MAX CHILTON, NO. 8 GALLAGHER CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET:
INVOLVED IN AN ON-TRACK ACCIDENT DURING THE MORNING PRACTICE SESSION:
“I’m fine. A bit battered and bruised. Your first accident on an oval is never a great one. The timing is pretty bad, but that’s the issue with practice before qualifying. You just want to make sure the car is right. I felt like it was a little bit strong in the front but I don’t have the experience to know what’s too much. Now I know, I know for future reference. It was my fault. I was driving the thing, so that’s the way it goes.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT SHOWDOWN
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER RACE NOTES & QUOTES
MAY 21, 2016

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Winner of Segment #3 of the Sprint Showdown and will make his first NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race start:
“We had a good Target Chevy. I knew Chase (Elliott) was going to be good on four tires and he was going to win the fan vote and I probably wasn’t going to win the fan vote. So, I did what I could do.”

ON THE FINAL LAP:
“Well if was more than just the final lap. Chase got to my inside there with 2 (laps) to go and I was able to run him pretty hard there and get him loose and was hoping I could hold him off to the checkered. I knew he’d get close. I didn’t know he would get that close there coming to the line. I had to squeeze him because I knew he was going to get the fan vote. He has a lot of fans. I knew Danica (Patrick) was going to get the fan vote also. And if Chase was to win, I wouldn’t be in. So, I had to do everything I could do to get to the start/finish line in first and luckily it paid off.”

TAKE US THROUGH TURNS 3 AND 4 WHEN HE STEPPED TO THE OUTSIDE, AND WHAT YOU HAD TO DO TO BEAT HIM
‘Yeah, I was pretty loose there towards the end. So, actually when he got to my right side, my car drove better. I had no more grip or sideforce or whatever. We ran a decent corner but he was able to slow me down enough. And he had the run. I just had to squeeze him. So, I’m sure he’s upset with me. But, it’s a non-points race and we’re going for a million bucks. I felt like I had to get it done; especially knowing that he would be in the race and I wouldn’t.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 3M CHEVROLET SS – Fan Vote Winner and will move on to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race:
YOU WERE RACING HARD AGAINST KYLE LARSON. TELL US ABOUT THAT
‘Yeah, Kyle did what he had to do to beat us back to the line. We had a real good run. I hate to not to race your way in. That’s pretty frustrating on my behalf. I just didn’t do a very good job. Regardless, it was great to have some great fans to get us in this race because I couldn’t get it done for us.”

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING IN THE SHOWDOWN THAT WILL HELP YOU IN THE ALL-STAR?
“I learned a lot of what not to do. I made some real dumb big mistakes. So, we’ll not do that tonight.”

DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 NATURE’S BAKERY CHEVROLET SS – Fan Vote Winner and will move on to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race:
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO TONIGHT TO MAKE THAT CAR A LITTLE BIT BETTER?
“First and foremost, thank you to the fans. The only thing that would make this any better is if I could deliver a great finish for them and an exciting race and pass cars and make the car better for next week. I definitely felt like there were some things we could learn from getting out there. Obviously we got put in the challenging situation of having zero practice with the new package and just going out and racing. So, there were definitely some issues and we had to kind of Band-Aid them for the couple of segments that we had out there. But, I really want to do better. I feel like I was at the wrong place at the wrong time a few times out there. But on the plus side, I felt like we learned about the car. Even if we didn’t make it through, we were going to be more prepared for next weekend. But, it’s just even that much better to know that I have incredible fans that always come through. Don’t think that I don’t see social media fans. And I see all the times that people said they voted for me. So, thank you very much. I hope you give you something fun to watch tonight.”