MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
BASS PRO SHOPS NRA NIGHT RACE
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
AUGUST 17, 2018
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 DC SOLAR CAMARO ZL1 – Pole Winner:
THAT QUALIFYING SESSION WAS REALLY TIGHT
“Yeah, the top 5 was tight. I saw William (Byron) run his .04 there before I went out and I thought man, that’s going to be tough to beat. And, I would have never thought that three other guys would have squeezed in between him and me. That just shows how tough our sport is and our series is. But, our DC Solar Chevy has been really good all day, both in the Xfinity Series and the Cup Series. I felt a little off in first practice, but we got it going good in the second practice and then was fast every round in Qualifying. It’s my favorite track. I have yet to get a win here. We’ve been close so many times. I feel like Kyle (Busch) and I are the two best here, but he always seems to edge me out. Hopefully this weekend is a little different.”
YOU’VE BEEN VERY CLEAR THIS WEEK THAT BRISTOL IS NOT ONLY YOUR BEST TRACK, BUT YOUR FAVORITE TRACK AS WELL. WHAT HAS BEEN THE DIFFERENCE IN NOT GETTING TO VICTORY LANE HERE?
“I guess a little bit of choking (laughs) at the end of the races. Man, there have been so many that have slipped away; all within the last 10 laps, I feel like. I don’t know. I think Kyle (Busch) has a lot of experience here. Really the closest I’ve been is when I lost to Kyle the first time here. I feel like I get better and better every time I come to Bristol. I feel like our team gets better as well. We’ve just got to keep working hard and being calm and consistent throughout the day and hopefully we put ourselves in position; line up in the right lanes for the re-starts, have good pit stops. The first pit stall is going to be huge tomorrow, so I’m happy I got the pole for that. It seems like everything is kind of falling into place. We’ve just got to capitalize on it.”
ARE YOU SURPRISED EVERYBODY QUALIFIED IN THAT TOP GROOVE AND HOW MUCH OF AN ADVANTAGE WILL THAT BE FOR YOU TOMORROW?
“I actually wasn’t one of the first up there in first practice. Denny (Hamlin) and Kyle (Busch) all went up there before me. Kyle actually texted me during the first practice and said he was disappointed in me that I didn’t go straight to the top. But I said I’m used to all those pavement racers that don’t run the top up until about halfway through the second practice. So, I got fed up with me and (Ricky) Stenhouse being the ones to dust the top off every time we come here that we let the pavement guys finally nut-up and get up to the top.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 KELLEY BLUE BOOK CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 2nd
HOW CLOSE WAS YOUR LAP IN WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR?
“It was close. It wasn’t perfect. But I got through (Turns) 1 and 2 pretty good and maybe gave up a little bit in (Turns) 3 and 4. But I mean, heck, two-hundredths of a second. I don’t really know how to characterize that. But, I just hate we couldn’t grab a pole. We put a lot of effort into it. Our KKB Chevrolet was fast today and if there was ever a place still, with these closer segment times on pit road, that you want that first pit box, this is it. So, that would have been big. But, we’ll go get it from second.”