MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
APRIL 6, 2018
FT. WORTH, TX (April 6, 2018) – Inclement weather halted qualifying for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, and the field will be set per the results of the first session.
TOP TEAM CHEVY QUALIFIERS:
POS. DRIVER
9th JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S FOR PROS CAMARO ZL1
10TH KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1
14TH JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S FOR PROS CAMARO ZL1
15TH DARRELL WALLACE JR., NO. 43 CLICK N’ CLOSE CAMARO ZL1
16TH ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CAMARO ZL1
TOP FIVE QUALIFIERS:
POS. DRIVER
1ST Kurt Busch (Ford)
2nd Kevin Harvick (Ford)
3rd Clint Bowyer (Ford)
4th Ryan Blaney (Ford)
5TH Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
The O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, April 8th at 2 pm, ET. Live coverage can be found on FoxSports1, PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY NOTES & QUOTES:
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S FOR PROS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 9th
“I’m in the top 10 let it rain (laughs). Call a spade a spade, I was just telling Alex (Bowman) we started off and struggled pretty bad. I think the track was just really far off from what we anticipated. At the very end of practice, things started going much better for us and popped off a decent lap there and making good gains. We are excited either way. I think we are going to qualify in the top 10 if we go further rounds or if it sits how it is.”
DARRELL “BUBBA” WALLACE, NO. 43 CLICK N’ CLOSE CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 15th
YOU MADE TWO RUNS IN THAT FIRST SESSION:
“I sandbagged too much that first one, I gave up a lot. No, we tried to find a balance in practice stickers versus scuffs and we knew our second run would be better, so let’s just see what we had on that first one. And I got way too tight over in (Turn) 3, had to really get out of the gas and stuff, but at the same time, I’m trying to figure this place out in a Cup car. This place is fast, awesome. I ran into Clint (Bowyer) after practice in the garage and he was like ‘hell yeah’ going from Martinsville to here is a big difference. But it’s fun our Click N’ Close Chevrolet is pretty fast, we got a lot of speed that second run, shown that. I think we can still pick up more. Our biggest struggle point is (Turns) 3 and 4. I don’t know what we are missing there, but I feel like (Turns) 1 and 2 I feel like we are as good as anybody. We will see. Hopefully, this little rain scare will go away and we can get back out there. I would rather better our position than start 15th.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 16th
YOU WOULD LIKE ANOTHER SHOT AT QUALIFYING:
“Yeah, just kind of under drove that first lap, so keep working at it. I think we can be really good. Everybody has been working really hard. I think the off weeks helped us a little bit. We seemed to have unloaded a little closer, so looking forward to racing on Sunday.”