MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES
FEBRUARY 22, 2019

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
7th Kyle Larson, No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1
8th Kurt Busch, No. 1 ComSurv Camaro ZL1
10th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Camaro ZL1
11th Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
16th Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Camaro ZL1

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1ST Aric Almirola (Ford)
2nd Ricky Stenhouse (Ford)
3rd Clint Bowyer (Ford
4th Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
5th Daniel Suarez (Ford)

The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, February 24 at 2 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES:
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 7th
TOP-12 RUN IN QUALIFYING TALK ABOUT IT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE:
“Yeah, I don’t know. I feel like we tried to learn as much as we could throughout practice of what we needed to do just to get momentum built up. Yeah, I feel like we ran about a similar lap time every round there. I felt like that was all we kind of had in it. Yeah, I felt my balance was better in qualifying than it was practice, so that was good.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 COMSURV CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 8th
HOW MUCH DID YOU WORK WITH KYLE (LARSON) TO PREPARE FOR QUALIFYING?
“We were all in the team meetings together and this week there is more of a discussion and action, talking about set-up notes and what drag you feel like you need to take out of your car and still be able to hold it wide-open. I’m happy we are right in that mix. We are the top Chevy’s and sometimes when you are wide-open all the way around in qualifying like this and you are fast, which the SHR cars are fast, they have good horsepower, you don’t have that downforce on your car. I find it odd the No. 4 car is way back and the Penske cars missed the final round too, which tells me they are more geared up for the race.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 10th
YOU WERE FAST ALL DAY TODAY:
“Yeah, our car was fast. We were able to run one lap in both rounds and felt like we had a car capable of running a good lap to run two on the last round. Kind of got screwed up off the start there, Clint (Bowyer) left early before the clock was ended. We had got one the round before that we were close, so I just waited and he didn’t. Just part of it. It kind of screwed our clean air and hurt our lap time, but I’m really proud of the guys. We’ve got a really fast Camaro.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 11th
GREAT QUALIFYING RUN FOR YOU GUYS, TOP 11, WAS IT WHAT YOU EXPECTED AND ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR STARTING SPOT?
“Yeah, handling here was premium. That really kind of played out in the end I believe. I think here, Fontana, tracks with high tire wear, it’s a bit more single file and kind of traditional qualifying and then when we get to Vegas or something like Michigan, it’s going to be trying to time it right and get a bigger run and use the draft. We had a solid day today, learned a lot through the course of our two race runs and two mock runs and then got into qualifying there and made all three rounds. Right now, everything is so new we are learning every time we hit the track.”

HOW MUCH DRAFTING HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?
“Today I haven’t been that close. In Las Vegas in the mock races they had out there in the test session, I could get pretty close, maybe the last four feet from somebody’s rear bumper I would lose the nose. I think here, because handling is such a premium, we will still have an issue running behind another car, but I think tracks with lower tire wear, it will be much easier for us to run competitively behind other cars.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 16th
HOW DIFFERENT WAS THIS QUALIFYING SESSION?
“Yeah, just wasn’t very good. We were a little too free, still running around wide-open, but just wagging the tail a little bit you let the spoiler hang out and these things about stop. That billboard slows them down really quick and we’ve just got to be better than that. A little bit of a bummer, but it should race pretty well.”

WERE YOU SURPRISED JIMMIE JOHNSON WAS ABLE TO POP UP INTO THE TOP 12 AT THE VERY END OF THAT ROUND? DOES RUNNING MORE LAPS HELP?
“Yeah, they are so easy to drive when they are good and even when they are loose, they are super easy to drive, so it’s not like tire fall off is going to be huge in qualifying, making extra runs I don’t think is going to slow you down, so I’m not really surprised that Jimmie was able to get up there.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 17th
WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE?
“We just were kind of I don’t know wide-open, but I felt like we were improved over the course of the day, so that was good. Not really sure what to expect in race trim, we will kind of see what happens when we get there.”

HOW WILL THE WEATHER CHANGE THINGS THIS WEEKEND?
“I don’t know. I really don’t know what to expect here. Qualifying just kind of wide-open didn’t feel like we for whatever reason had enough. I don’t really know, but have to look at where we lost time, but in race trim, hopefully we can get around some guys and try to kind of make something happen when we are in traffic.”

WERE YOU IN TRAFFIC AT ALL DURING QUALIFYING?
“Yeah, I mean, the aero push off the cars has been quite a bit. I have noticed that just with certain guys being around each other, but honestly don’t know. I haven’t been around a single car yet, so I was around the No. 95 when he was coming out of pit road when he was starting his lap. Don’t really know what to expect, but hopefully, our car handles pretty well.”

TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 21st
ON QUALIFYING:
“I don’t think any of us really knew what to expect in that qualifying session, but I think handling would have still helped a little bit for some speed. We were just a little too free on our second lap. I’m proud of our GEICO Germain Racing team. Came back with some speed we were fast in practice, so now it’s all focused on the race on Sunday and looking forward to trying to get this thing dialed in for what is going to be a unique race.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 22nd
I KNOW THIS IS A DISAPPOINTING QUALIFYING RUN FOR YOU, BUT WAS THIS WHAT YOU EXPECTED AFTER PRACTICE TODAY?
“Yeah, I mean ran wide-open just didn’t go very fast in doing so. Curious to see kind of what Sunday brings. I don’t know what it will be or if guys have to be slow today to be fast on Sunday. I think that is kind of the big question.”

RYAN PREECE, NO. 47 KROGER.COM CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 25th
WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE MISSING TO MAKE THE NEXT ROUND?
“I don’t know what the right or wrong answer is for qualifying yet. I think we just need to trim it out more. The race is what matters. I’m curious to see in the long run how the cars drive.”

DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 8 RED KAP/ALSCO CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 28th
“We never got to do a qualifying run in practice, so didn’t really know, kind of guessing at the balance. We just did a bad job executing. Left pit road, I had to lift to let a car finish their lap. That put me not up to speed and was kind of a snowball effect from the time we left pit road. Just have to clean it up, but we will be alright.”

WERE YOU WIDE-OPEN?
“Ideally, yes, I’m not sure about my teammate, I haven’t seen it yet, but I was able to run pretty much wide-open everywhere.”

BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 29th
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO IN PRACTICE TOMORROW IN ORDER TO GET READY FOR THE RACE?
“I don’t know. There are a lot of ‘I don’t knows’ going around in the garage. This weekend we simply don’t know. I was texting my spotter Freddie (Kraft) right before qualifying asking ‘should we get a tow, should we not?’ We have seen a big speed increase when we were getting a slight tow at the Vegas test, so I don’t know. It’s just a lot of unknowns. It pumped me up to see the No. 22 and No. 12 back there with us. I was like ‘alright we aren’t far off’, but we are way off. As a group the whole sport we just don’t know what to expect or adjust. We are trying to figure out somethings on our McDonald’s Camaro ZL1. McDonald’s sounds pretty good they should do more with us. Good to be in Atlanta, shake off Daytona, find some speed for tomorrow and go have some fun Sunday.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 SCOTT COMFORT PLUS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 30th
“I kind of liked where we were earlier in practice. I think our race car is good for the hotter part of the weekend. This kind of caught us off guard and unfortunately, it’s just more grip. We didn’t have the speed that we expected, but a hot race track, our race trim was really good and especially when you compare it to other cars, a couple of Penske cars that qualified where we did. I felt like we had good speed, kind of using them as adjustment in race trim earlier in practice. I’m not worried about where we are at. I did not expect to be that bad in qualifying, so we are a little bummed about that.”

COMPETITIONPLUS.COM TO LIVE STREAM
PRO WINTER TEST FROM WILD HORSE PASS
Free Viewing For Closed to Public Preseason Test Session

SPARTANBURG, SC (January 25, 2019) — The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season is less than a month away and dozens of top tier teams are preparing for the 24 race national tour. In advance of the grueling and exciting professional drag racing season a private preseason test session will be conducted January 30 – February 2, at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park near Chandler, Arizona just outside of Phoenix. This year CompetitionPlus.com will be live streaming all four days of the private test session offering fans around the world the first look at on-track action. The daily test sessions will not be open to the public so the CompetitionPlus.com live stream will be the only way to see comprehensive live action. Continue reading COMPETITIONPLUS.COM TO LIVE STREAM PRO WINTER TEST FROM WILD HORSE PASS →

Austin Dillon and The Dow Chevrolet Team Sidelined From NASCAR Playoffs after Mid-Race Incident at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval

“This was a crazy race. I was having a good run in the Dow Chevrolet and the No. 37 car wiggled in the middle of turns 3 and 4. I don’t know if he had damage or what, but he got loose and when he did I was on the outside of him and I lost it after I tried to miss him. 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 we were 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. I’ve got to thank everybody at Dow, American Ethanol, AAA, Chevrolet and RCR/ECR for this year. We’re out of the NASCAR Playoffs and I’m disappointed but we still have a few more chances to win this year.”
-Austin Dillon Continue reading RCR Post Race Report – Bank of America ROVAL 400 →

Austin Dillon Finishes 22nd in Dow Molykote Chevrolet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Enters Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs For Second Consecutive Year

“I thought we were going to have another solid day in the No. 3 Dow Molykote Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. We missed the strategy a little bit because we were right with the No. 2 car and then we ended up pitting. He stayed out and shortly after that the caution came out, which helped propel him to the win. We had some speed today, and it was fun running in the top five for portions of the race. Towards the end of the race, the No. 9 car got into me and I lifted, but I ended up getting into the No. 22 car while trying to avoid crashing the No. 9 car. It cost us a lot. Still, it’s onto the Playoffs and I’m so proud of this RCR team. We’re focused on Las Vegas Motor Speedway because we have had success there in the past, which could help with momentum the rest of the Playoffs.”
-Austin Dillon

Ryan Newman and the Grainger Team Contend for Race Win at Indianapolis Before Crossing the Bricks in 10th Place

“From the start of this race, it was all about track position. Tires didn’t mean a whole lot. Our No. 31 Grainger Camaro ZL1 was decent but really aero-dependent. If I got really close to someone, the car would plow. If someone got behind me, the car would snap loose. Our laps times in clean air were as good as the top-five cars, but we just needed the track position and a shot at the end. Fortunately for us our strategy paid off and we were in contention with 10 laps to go. We lined up sixth on the final restart, but with all that dirty air, it just wasn’t going to happen for us. All in all, we had absolutely no practice or qualifying so great job by my crew chief Luke Lambert and the rest of the No. 31 crew for unloading a competitive car for me at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Our regular season may be over, but our plan remains the same, win. We’ve got 10 races to keep improving on our Camaro and 10 more chances to win.”
-Ryan Newman

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
BIG MACHINE VODKA 400 AT THE BRICKYARD
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

DARRELL ‘BUBBA’ WALLACE, JR., NO. 43 WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CAMARO ZL1 – Sidelined on Lap 57 with brake issue
THAT INCIDENT SEEMED LIKE WHAT HAPPENED AT POCONO, WHAT DID YOU FEEL?
“I felt the same. It scared the hell out of me, for a second; and I spun around so fast and I think I dropped the window net before I even spun out to let everybody know I’m fine. But after it slowed down and got on track I said we’re done. The brakes blew up or broke or something and we got killed there. It felt like an hour and a half later. It’s unfortunate. We’ve got to go back to the shop and figure out if it was brakes or a tire coming apart and ripping the brake line off. But, I had no sign of any indication before. It just went around. So, it’s unfortunate. I thought we were starting to make some headway. We were struggling on center exit, but I’m just glad it wasn’t like Pocono again.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1 – Involved in an on-track accident on lap 66
WHAT HAPPENED?
“I was under Alex (Bowman) just trying to stay off of him. I was hoping I could get clear enough getting into the corner and he didn’t lift. Once he did that, I knew, I was just trying to do everything I could to stay off of him and it’s just so tight there. Once I got loose, there was nothing I could do. I know he is in the Playoff hunt, so I didn’t want to do that.”

ON THE INCIDENT:
“Our Kroger Clicklist Chevy was pretty good. I got a good restart there and I was under the No. 88 and it’s so hard to pass here, so when you have an opportunity I wanted to try to clear him into (Turn) 2 and once he didn’t lift getting into the corner and as much as I was hoping he would. I was side-by-side and I tried to do everything I could to stay low and stay off of him. Once the air kind of started getting taken away I was along for the ride. I knew he was in the Playoff hunt. I didn’t want to do that to him. I was doing everything I could to stay off of him once I got loose I was trying to sacrifice myself and not him and unfortunately I got both of us.”

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
COCA-COLA 600
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MAY 24, 2018

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed the 600 Miles of Remembrance program, the hunt for a sponsor to replace Lowe’s, his thoughts on how the 600 has changed over the years and many other topics. Full Transcript: Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Charlotte–Jimmie Johnson →

(5/19/18, Tulare, CA – Jim Allen) … Shane Golobic pulled off a dramatic late race pass of Kyle Hirst and Bud Kaeding to steal Saturday’s 30-lap Peter Murphy Classic in King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series action at the Thunderbowl Raceway.

Golobic, who started 12th in the grid aboard the Tarlton Motorsports Tachi-Palace KPC, methodically maneuvered his way through the field into third place on a “rubber-down” dirt track with only four laps remaining. However, it was a caution flag on the final lap that provided the opportunity to score the victory. On the green-white-checkered restart, Golobic proceeded to motor past both race leader Hirst and Kaeding going down the backchute to take the point. Continue reading GOLOBIC STEALS PETER MURPHY CLASSIC AT TULARE →

AUCTION WINNERS ARE FIRST TO DRIVE SANTA POD’S NEW QUARTER-MILE

‘RUN WHAT YA BRUNG’ – Public Track Day

Santa Pod Raceway

Sat.17 March 2018

The two highest bidders in an online charity auction became the first drivers to traverse Santa Pod Raceway’s brand new, all-concrete racetrack on Saturday. The auction, hosted on Ebay, raised funds to benefit two regional air ambulance organisations, The Air Ambulance Service (East Midlands) and Magpas Air Ambulance (East Anglia).

Each of the dragstrip’s two lanes comprised a separate auction lot, and members of the public were invited to post bids for either lane. Car enthusiast Jordan Bradford was the highest bidder for the right, Autoglym-sponsored lane and drove his immaculate Mitsubishi Evo 8 all the way from Sevenoaks in Kent, with his mother in the passenger seat. “I wasn’t going to let this weather beat me,” he said, as an icy overnight front revived mid-winter conditions across the country. Continue reading AUCTION WINNERS ARE FIRST TO DRIVE SANTA POD’S NEW QUARTER-MILE →

4WD Street race
Champion – Dennis Batts

2WD Street race
Michael Gonzales

Dyno – Highest HP
Clay Stewart – 1275 HP

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 23, 2018

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Atlanta Motor Speedway and discussed his week after winning the Daytona 500, why he loves the old surface at Atlanta, his expectations for the Camaro ZL1 on 1.5-mile tracks and many other topics. Full Transcript:

YOU’VE GOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH US:
“Yeah, this weekend we are running the No. 20 GoShare truck. It’s the GoShare App. The best way to explain it is if you are looking for someone to help you out with delivery, pick-up service, it’s like Uber, but for trucks and delivery. It’s very cool and I’ve moved a few times, it’s not a lot of fun, but you can get some help from the GoShare App, check-it out, go on your phone and grab it. It’s a great App to have.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Atlanta–Austin Dillon →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
PRE-SEASON MEDIA AVAILABILITY
CHARLOTTE MEDIA TOUR
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 24, 2018

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at the Charlotte Media Tour and discussed his impression of the new Camaro ZL1 race car, the sharing of data, personnel changes at RCR, the Hawkeye system, and more. Full Transcript:

Q. Yesterday Austin said our show is going to be leaner and meaner. I was wondering if you feel the same way.
RYAN NEWMAN: Yeah, Jimmie was joking earlier about that, and I don’t know that I would describe it as leaner and meaner, but I think it’s a great opportunity for us to take the people that we decided to keep on board and pursue the 2018 season with a new Camaro ZL1. I don’t know that I’ll be leaner. I don’t know that I’ll be meaner. But I’m going to try as hard as I’ve ever tried and do whatever it takes to be as good as we can be. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Charlotte Media Tour–Ryan Newman →

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
PRE-SEASON MEDIA AVAILABILITY
CHARLOTTE MEDIA TOUR
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 24, 2018

DARRELL “BUBBA” WALLACE JR., NO. 43 CLICK N’ CLOSE CAMARO ZL1 met with members of the media and discussed how he feels about competing at the Cup level, moving their shop to the RCR campus, his performance expectations for 2018, the aura of Richard Petty, and more. Full Transcript:

Q. What about 2018, are you excited?
BUBBA WALLACE: I’m beyond excited. I might not show it, but man, this is it. We’re here. We’re at the Cup level. I’m one of the Cup guys walking around today on media day. I’m not an XFINITY guy, like oh, where’s such‑and‑such, he’s in the Cup Series. I’m there now, so it’s good. I’m ready to go. We’ve got a lot of stuff that has obviously changed over the off‑season, switching over to Chevrolet, the new Camaro ZL1 is awesome looking, looks great, especially with our colors on there, that Petty blue touch to it. Moving up camp to RCR, being on campus with them, so I’m adjusting to it all, and it’s all coming together pretty good.

Q. In 2017 you had an opportunity to run some races; talk about your comfort and how you see your responsibility?
BUBBA WALLACE: Yeah, going into those four races last year, it was like, okay, this isn’t my car, this isn’t my ride, no need to throw that extra little bit out there. Let’s just get through, and we ended up having some of the best races. We were on the cusp of fighting for a top 10 there at Kentucky. Just got edged out by my good friend Blaney there, so that was ‑‑ it was good to learn in that whole process. I just wish there was that one more that year to see what we could have done at Loudon. Coming back into this year, it’s been so nice to walk into the shop and be like, hey, man, good to see you again. No restarting over. Maybe just learning names of the people that I didn’t meet from behind the scenes, front office people, parts room, stuff like that. That’s a new process for me. It’s one of those deals like, okay, we’ve got a good thing going here, so I’m excited about that. We’re ready to get to Vegas is our first on‑track test coming up here in two weeks, and then Daytona. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Charlotte Media Tour–Bubba Wallace →

Advance Auto Parts driver Courtney Force still seeking
title as NHRA heads to Vegas for penultimate race

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 24) – It’s crunch time for Courtney Force and the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team.

With two races remaining on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series calendar, Force and team need a strong result in the penultimate race of the season and the Countdown to the Championship this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway if they want a shot at being crowned champions next month. Continue reading Advance Auto Parts driver Courtney Force still seeking title as NHRA heads to Vegas for penultimate race →

CORVETTE RACING AT MONTEREY: Garcia, Magnussen On Doorstep of GTLM Title
Chevrolet leads Manufacturer’s Championship heading to Road Atlanta finale

No. 3 Corvette team needs only start Petit Le Mans to win Driver’s Championship
Chevrolet unofficially four points clear in Manufacturer’s standings

MONTEREY, California (Sept. 24, 2017) – Corvette Racing’s pairing of Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen took a huge step toward the GT Le Mans (GTLM) Driver’s title in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Their fourth-place class finish in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R at the America’s Tire 250 means they only need to start the season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in two weeks to officially claim the GTLM championship.

Sunday was a doubly good day for the Corvette Racing program as Chevrolet extended its lead in the GTLM Manufacturer’s Championship to four points with the result. As long as Chevrolet is the second-highest finishing manufacturer in the 10-hour Petit Le Mans, the Bowtie Brand will clinch its second straight title and 12th since 2001.

Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin had another run of bad luck in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. With aims of moving up through the field like the sister Corvette, the Gavin/Milner pairing placed ninth in GTLM after Gavin was hit from behind at the first corner of the opening lap. The contact damaged the Corvette’s rear diffuser, which impacted the handling and performance throughout.

Once changed, however, the No. 4 Corvette team gathered valuable information for the No. 3 Corvette’s championship run.

Magnussen began the race seventh in class, but that was a product of the team’s qualifying strategy to focus on race setup rather than ultimate pace in Saturday’s time trials. That paid off in the long run, as did a timely full-course caution just shy of the halfway point in the two-hour, 40-minute race. A GTLM competitor went off-track, and No. 3 Corvette lead race engineer Kyle Millay immediately called in Garcia for tires and fuel before the pits closed.

The call elevated Garcia from seventh to second by the time the race resumed. With a mind toward the championship picture and not the race result, the team elected to stay with a strategy that ensured the No. 3 Corvette would finish ahead of its closest title contenders.

Corvette Racing closes the IMSA season with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans from Road Atlanta on Saturday, Oct 7.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “I think we played it really cool today. It felt like instead of being the ones defending, we were the ones trying to go for it. We seemed to be the more relaxed car out there out of the ones in contention. We were not sure about the pace today. For sure the beginning of the race wasn’t really promising when everyone started to pull away. As soon as everyone started to drop off in lap time and I saw Jan before we pitted we were almost within a tenth of them so I thought, ‘Um, we might have a chance here.’ For sure if it had been a green race, I think we had a very good chance to finish second behind the Ferrari. But when it came to strategy, fuel and all of that, we had to be smart and go for the championship and not worry about the race results. I was pretty happy with how our Corvette felt, especially during the last 10 to 15 laps of a stint, which I think the hardest today. It was just really good. I had pressure for sure. I really liked that the closest car to me was Richard (Westbrook) because I knew he wouldn’t do anything strange. We had a fair fight. I kind of knew he would try to catch me and try to pass me, but I also knew he would run out of tires soon. I kept calm and as soon as I saw he was starting to struggle, I put in a little bit more pace to open the gap. At the end of the day, we didn’t know if all the other cars would make it to the end of the race (on fuel), and they actually did. But it doesn’t matter for the championship.
“I think we played all year long, I can’t remember us making a mistake. I don’t know… I would have to go back race-by-race. But I think this has been a perfect season for Corvette Racing and the No. 3 car engineers and crew. Whenever we had the car, we made most out of it and whenever we didn’t, we still made good points… just like today. If you would have told me before the start we would have come out of here with fourth and while not going for the race result of podium, I wouldn’t have believed it. I am very, very happy. I still don’t believe we are mathematically done and as soon as we start Petit Le Mans, that is it. It has been a very long season for us since after COTA. We struggled, but we kept it up there but we proved that we had what it took to win races and the championship.”

JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM: “We’ve managed the whole year largely because of Kyle (Millay, No. 3 Corvette lead race engineer) to get more out of races than we should have. Whenever we haven’t had good pace, we always got good points. Today was no different. We had a good plan for the race but was painful to execute, but it worked. The painful part was in the beginning watching everyone drive away. Then things would turn around at the end of the stint where we would catch everything back and be in the mix. That’s great strategy that got us ahead of both Fords and the No. 25 BMW. It’s a great way to go to Petit Le Mans, where we can work on securing the Manufacturer’s Championship.”

OLIVER GAVIN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: “Unfortunately our race was shaped by contact from another car. It seems like it has been the story of our year unfortunately. As I came into Turn One of Lap One, the No. 24 BMW got turned around. I was right behind Jan; he was checking up and I was just desperate not to hit the back of him. As I braked, the Lamborghini from GTD just came in and obviously didn’t expect me to be going so slow. It just drilled us in the rear which broke our rear diffuser, which flapped for all of my two stints. The vibration just got worse and worse, and we lost performance. The car was tricky to drive, hard to drive and very snappy. Once again, frustrating. We managed to do a couple of things just to try things out to give them (the No. 3 car) the right steer with the right tire choices. It’s been a good team effort. They are in a really strong position now in the championship which is great to see. They just basically have to start and they lock up the championship. It’s been once again a great team effort for Corvette Racing. We haven’t had the fastest car here this weekend but by strategy, execution, hard work, working certain problems, the team has come through with an extended lead in Manufacturer’s points, and an extended lead for Antonio and Jan and the No. 3 car for their championship. So ultimately, we’ve checked the box for the championships and that is fantastic.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R – FINISHED NINTH IN GTLM: “Our race was doomed from the start, in the first corner. That’s just very unlucky. It was just a racing deal – a car spinning ahead of Olly and cars behind getting stacked up. That kind of stuff in inevitable especially in a tight turn like it is here at Laguna. The car was a little bit damaged there at the start. Our Corvette was okay; it definitely didn’t have the pace today to win the race, but could have maybe been fourth or fifth if everything went smoothly. I am super proud of the team. We had super tricky conditions all weekend here. At times it was looking doom and gloom like we were way off the pace. In the end, the engineers did a really did a great job of keeping their heads clear and making good calls with tire strategy and pit strategy. Ultimately we executed as best we could today. That is what makes a championship team even in the face of some super strong adversity. Even under all that pressure there, all those guys did an awesome job. I am super proud of this Corvette Racing team and proud of what we have achieved this year.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “When you put together great race strategy with perfect pit execution and you have drivers of the talent level that we have at Corvette Racing, you’re going to make things happen that ordinarily wouldn’t. Today we showed that again. We qualified seventh and ninth, and we took the No. 3 Corvette to where we needed in order to put a very firm grip on the Driver’s and Team’s championships. Now we will go to Atlanta and do everything we can do to defend our Manufacturer’s Championship. It should be a great race.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
DODGE NHRA NATIONALS
MAPLE GROVE RACEWAY IN MOHNTON, PENNSYLVANIA
POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES
SUNDAY, SEPT. 24, 2017

An interview with Top Fuel winner BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET TOP FUEL DRAGSTER (No. 4 qualifier; second victory of season and fifth in 116-race career; moves to third in the Countdown):

Q: GETTING INTO IT IN THE COUNTDOWN MODE?
BRITTANY FORCE: Absolutely. This is a huge win for us. This team had to fight all day long and I’m so proud of them. They are the best team to work with, and I’m so pumped going into the Countdown to work with them. Monster, we’re going after the championship. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NHRA–Maple Grove Post Race →

Royal Purple Raceway suspends
racing to help with hurricane relief efforts
Royal Purple Raceway, site of the annual NHRA SpringNationals, will suspend all drag racing activities through t Continue reading Royal Purple Raceway suspends racing to help with hurricane relief efforts →

Chevrolet Ready to Blaze Title Trail at Gateway

· Team Chevy carries momentum to Gateway Motorsports Park with lead In Verizon IndyCar Series Manufacturer Championship standings
ᴏ Chevrolet coming off four consecutive Series wins
· The 1.25-mile track hosts open-wheel series for first time since 2003
ᴏ Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves won the last race from the pole
· Four Chevrolet drivers among the top five in championship standings
ᴏ Josef Newgarden extends his points lead with three races remaining
· The 248-lap race is the sixth and final of the season on an oval

DETROIT (Aug. 23, 2017) – Asked to describe Gateway Motorsports Park in one word, Verizon IndyCar Series team owner Ed Carpenter chose “character.” Continue reading Chevrolet Ready to Blaze Title Trail at Gateway →

Late-Race Incident Spoils Potential Top-10 Finish for Ben Kennedy

“Our No. 2 Rheem Chevrolet was good all day long, running in the top 10 for a majority of the race. We seemed to keep restarting in the worst of the two lanes, which would shove us back in the field and force us to fight for positions in some of the tougher spots on the track. I was learning a lot out there about road course racing until we got collected in one of the late-race wrecks, cutting our day short. That was a tough one. I’m looking forward to getting back in this No. 2 Chevy in a couple weeks at Road America.”
– Ben Kennedy

Scott Lagasse Comes Back to Finish After a Spin in Closing Laps of Mid-Ohio Challenge

“It was a really challenging day in the SCREEN YOUR MACHINE/American Cancer Society Chevrolet today. These guys worked really hard to get our Camaro handling how we needed it to. It was tight on exit for most of the race, and we made adjustments each time we hit pit road to loosen it up. We were going to get a good run out of today until we just got punted with a few laps to go and spun off the track. I’m thankful for the effort from this team. I’m frustrated that I couldn’t get them the finish we deserved.”

– Scott Lagasse

Daniel Hemric Brings Home an impressive Second-Place Finish in Mid-Ohio

“The whole goal or our team coming to Mid-Ohio was to maximize our day in the Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet, put ourselves in a good position and run all of the laps. We were able to do all of that in what was only my fourth road-course race ever in a stock car. We had a pretty solid day from the start of the race, and we kept the fenders on it. As all road-course races go, people get more and more aggressive as the laps wind down. That’s fine if you start on the front row, but we restarted the third row back a couple of times, and that’s when you start to run into the accordion stack-up. We ran into that a couple of times but were fortunate enough to get out of it. I’m proud of our effort and that we were able to a real shot there at the end. My guys did a great day on pit road sending me out leading after the money stop that mattered to start the final segment. We battled hard with the 22 car all afternoon, and I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to make it happen in the end. I left everything that I had on the race track though, and this entire team should be proud of what we did today.”

– Daniel Hemric

Brandon Jones Avoids Road-Course Chaos to Finish 14th at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

“These road course races are some of the craziest races I’ve ever been in. Today was no different. Nick (Harrison, crew chief) put together a strategy for the No. 33 Bali / Menards Chevrolet team that had us pitting early to make it through the first two stages without any additional stops. We executed it well at the start of the day. Unfortunately, the tires didn’t hold as much grip as we thought they would, which forced us to change our game plan and pit more often than we wanted. There were a couple close calls for us on pit road, but my team never gave up. We kept our heads up, made it clean through the string of late-race cautions and came home with a top-15 finish.”

– Brandon Jones

Brendan Gaughan Makes Incredible Save to Finish Seventh at Mid-Ohio

“We had a really good shot at the win with our No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet today, but the No. 22 car took us out of it at the end there. I have to give my thanks to Shane (Wilson, crew chief) and the boys on putting together this awesome race car they gave me today, That last save was probably one of the most amazing saves I’ve ever had in my 20-plus year NASCAR career. Those are the kinds of saves we learn racing out in the desert, and it came in handy today. ”

– Brendan Gaughan