MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
BANK OF AMERICAN ROVAL 400
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROVAL
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER (* = Playoff Contender)
2ND JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 DC SOLAR CAMARO ZL1
4TH *ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1
6TH *CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 SUNENERGY 1 CAMARO ZL1
7TH AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1
8TH *JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S FOR PROS CAMARO ZL1
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER (* = Chevy Playoff Contender)
1st Ryan Blaney (Ford)
2nd Jamie McMurray (Chevrolet)
3rd Clint Bowyer (Ford)
4th *Alex Bowman (Chevrolet)
5th Kurt Busch (Ford)
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season continues next weekend at Dover International Speedway. The Gander Outdoors 400 is scheduled for Sunday, October 7 at 2:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
POST RACE NOTES & QUOTES:
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 DC SOLAR CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 2nd
I GUESS THE KEY WAS TO BE IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME AND THE SEAS JUST PARTED FOR YOU:
“Yeah, our DC Solar Chevy was really good all day long. We got a little bit off in the last pit sequence. We got a little bit behind, but had a really good car and then we had the one restart when Brad (Keselowski) was on the front row and I happened to be on the inside and that was the lane to be in so you could avoid the wreck. And then on the last restart, I got a good restart being on the outside… a little bit disappointed only because my left-side mirror fell off in the chicane with like 25-laps to go and I ended up having to let the No. 12 (Ryan Blaney) go because I couldn’t see if he was inside of me. I don’t think he was. I’m like, if that wasn’t the case, you would be the guy in Victory Lane now versus finishing second, but overall it was a pretty fun day. I thought Marcus (Smith) and the team here did a really good job getting the track ready. It’s crazy that we ran a road course inside of this facility, but really great place.”
*ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 4th – Advances to the next Playoff Round
YOU GET IN TO THE SECOND ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS UNOFFICIALLY. HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?
“Yeah, it makes up for the fact that we probably should have won there. We just got boxed in that last restart. We had 20 lap fresher tires than all the guys in front of us. Things kind of fell our way there at the end to get us up front. Just got boxed in and couldn’t make it happen. Congrats to the No. 12 (Ryan Blaney) we were on the same strategy as them. It is what it is. Glad to make it in. A lot of people said we were going to be one of the guys out and to make it in and prove some of those guys wrong, definitely makes me feel good.”
*CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 SUNENERGY 1 CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 6th – Advances to the next Playoff Round
NOT AS EVENTFUL A DAY FOR YOU GUYS AS IT WAS FOR OTHERS, BUT YOU GOT THROUGH TO THE NEXT ROUND:
“Yeah, it was still kind of eventful for us. You look at how the day went there and just anything can happen. It’s just hard and you can’t feel comfortable in those situations there at the end. I wish I had been a little more aggressive on that last restart. I felt like I was just kind of playing defense. It’s just not worth busting your butt and not making it through to the next round when you had a little bit of cushion. So, I am just glad we are moving on and I am looking forward to the next three because there are some good tracks for us.”
*JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S FOR PROS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 8th – Does not advance to the next Playoff Round
TELL US ABOUT THE LAST LAP RACING MARTIN TRUEX, JR.?
“Yeah, I had been so good into that final breaking zone, I really felt like I could put some pressure on them and take a shot at it. I got out of the chicane on the back straightaway better than he did and put some pressure on him. Got him loose and off the bottom and I thought that was my chance. Unfortunately, down here through the bumps coming into that breaking zone, I just locked up the rears and couldn’t control my car and spun. I didn’t think that I initially got into him, but clearly, I did and spun him around. Took myself out of a shot at the championship and obviously affected their day which I feel bad about. (Sigh) I wish I wouldn’t have been so focused on a race win and I could have transferred and kept my championship hopes alive, but we had such a good car and just one of those split-second decisions to race for the win instead of for the points and it bit me.”
HOW CLEAR WAS THE SCENARIO? HOW CLEAR WERE YOU ON THE MATH OR DID A RACERS RACING GENES JUST TAKE OVER?
“I knew where I was on the math. I didn’t think that I was going to crash or spin trying to overtake him like I did. I thought I was making a calculated move and giving myself the chance to win and unfortunately it didn’t turn out that way.”
DESCRIBE FOR US, COMING TO TURN 15 AND KNOWING THERE WAS ONE SHOT FOR THE WIN
“Yeah, I was more worried about the win than anything else. I hate that I started wheel-hopping and took Martin (Truex, Jr.) and me out. That’s the last thing I wanted to do. I put pressure on him into Turn 3. He washed up and I thought I was going to be in the prime braking zone going into that final turn and have a shot at it. I’m on to the brakes and started locking the rears and wheel-hopping and then, I didn’t think I hit him at first. I knew I was spinning, obviously, but I guess I collected him in my spin. I certainly regret doing that. And then, ultimately, we were in a transfer position and didn’t get it. I was just going for the win. Wins are so important. And the veteran could have taken a safe route and didn’t, and unfortunately took us out of the Playoffs and took out the No. 78 (Truex, Jr.)”
*KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CLOVER/FIRST DATA CAMARO ZL1 – Involved in late-race multi-car pileup in Turn 1. Finished 25th – Advances to the next Playoff Round
WHAT DID YOU SEE IN THAT MESS IN TURN 1?
“I knew that it was going to be tough to turn getting into (turn) 1. I didn’t know that all of us were going to go in there and not be able to turn at all. I was going to struggle to make the corner and then the No. 2 (Brad Keselowski), he just went head on into the wall. I was hoping I would have enough room to squeak by him, but I got into him and destroyed the right-front of our car. So, I mean I still don’t really know if we are in or not, but we had a great Clover by First Data Chevy today, led a bunch of laps, would have liked it to have played out there and just run to the end there. I was saving fuel and it sounded like the No. 2 was really short on fuel. I felt like I could have won, but the No. 17 (Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.) ended up spinning out and the caution came out. Obviously, we all went down on that restart and couldn’t turn, so like I said, I hope we made it, pretty hectic last lap for me. They said they were all crashing there at the end and I ran really hard and blew a right-front and hammered the wall twice and got at least one extra point. So, it sounds like we might be in a tie. Not sure who the tie breaker goes to, but hopefully it’s us.”
WHEN YOU FIRST GOT OUT OF THE CAR YOU WERE OUT, AND THEN OFFICIALLY FOUND OUT YOU WERE IN WITH A THREE-WAY TIE. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS?
“I had kind of given up there the last lap. I saw the No. 88 (Alex Bowman) made a couple of passes and that’s who it sounded like we were in the points battle with. I knew I was screwed. And then they said they were all crashing and it had to have been 45 seconds by the time I got back over there. I ran really hard through (Turns) 1 and 2. We had a lot of right-front damage and we kind of knew the right front would blow if I ran hard. But, I ran hard through (Turns) 3 and 4 and blew a right front and got into the fence. I could see the No. 96 (Jeffrey Earnhardt) and I knew I needed that point to get to the tie-breaker and hit the wall again. Thankfully, we got the tie-breaker. At the same time, I’m happy to make it to the next round. I’m disappointed we didn’t get the win today. I felt like I had the fastest car. I would have liked the race to play out there and stay green because it sounded like Brad (Keselowski) was short on fuel and we going to be able to make it, I thought, after all the saving we had been doing. But, it didn’t work out and then we had that re-start. I knew it would be tight through (Turn) 1 and wouldn’t turn great, but I didn’t know we’d all go in there and not be able to turn at all. I was even going to be lucky to make the corner. And then the No. 2 (Keselowski) came straight through and hit the wall head-on. And, I ran into his back bumper and destroyed the right front. I was pretty mad at myself there. But, I guess we’ll move on to next week and try and get a good second round. There are some good tracks coming up for us aside from Talladega. Anybody can be good there. But, we’ll see how it goes.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 UNIFIRST CAMARO ZL1 – INVOLVED IN MULTI-CAR CRASH ON LAP 103:
“We were having such a good run today – staying in the top-10 most of the day. It was definitely disappointing to have this happen so late in the race. We’ve run so good on the road courses. This was a good challenge, and I felt like we were making the most of it. The Roval is a good, new challenge, maybe we do better figuring out the restarts and clean up the track a little better because nobody could get any grip on the restart. But it was a good challenge.”
*AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined on Lap 62 – Does Not Advance to the next Playoff Round
THIS IS NOT WHERE YOU WANTED TO BE. WHAT HAPPENED THAT LED TO THE INITIAL CONTACT WITH THE WALL?
“Well, first of all I’ve got to thank everybody at Dow, American Ethanol, and Chevrolet for this year. Hopefully something happens. This is a crazy race. I was having a good run and the No. 37 (Chris Buescher), I went through (Turns) 3 and 4 and I knew I didn’t even make a mistake and I didn’t think that was how I was going to make a mistake. He flicked the wheel right in the middle of the corner, and when he did, I checked and smacked the outside wall and just couldn’t save it, there. And, we fixed it. And I came back up through there and jumped the curb and I think that’s what cut my tire down going into (Turns) 3 and 4. I should have just been more patient and waited for more attrition to go out. But I actually felt pretty comfortable and running good. It’s just hard to hold back in a treacherous race; and I guess I didn’t do what we needed to do.”
FOR AWHILE IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE GOING TO SHOCK SOME PEOPLE AND ADVANCE. GOOD RUNS IN THE FIRST TWO RACES, WHAT FINALLY KNOCKED YOU OUT TODAY?
“I just… really wasn’t a mistake by me, the No. 37 (Chris Buescher) through NASCAR (turns) 3 and 4 I don’t know if it was damage or what, he got loose and when he did I was on the outside of him and I lost it after I tried to miss him. I hit the right-side wall and the damage ended up cutting our right-front (tire) down.”