NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
FEBRUARY 28, 2016

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
THE GUTSY CALL BY CREW CHIEF, CHAD KNAUS, WAS THE GAME WINNER
‘Yeah, definitely a gutsy call. It was just a great team effort. The No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) car was awfully tough and it was going to take some strategy to get by him. When he told me to whip it as hard as I could there, I just felt like I was going to take too much life out of the tires. But, it worked. And I got rolling around the top and got to where I got this Lowe’s Chevy in Victory Lane. I’m so happy for Hendrick Motorsports and for everybody at Chevrolet.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Atlanta–Post Race →

Chevrolet Well-Positioned Heading into Eliminations at Wild Horse Pass

· Butner secures first Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier position of career
· Chevrolet drivers claim five of the top seven Pro Stock qualifying spots
· John Force Racing drivers qualify second, third and fourth in Funny Car

DETROIT (Feb. 27, 2016) – Chevrolet swept the top three qualifying positions Pro Stock and John Force Racing drivers earned the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 qualifying spots in Funny Car at the 32nd CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona.

Bo Butner (Butner Auto Sales Chevrolet Camaro SS) earned his inaugural National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock No. 1 qualifying position in his 19th start and became the 61st driver to achieve the distinction. His pass of 6.618 seconds at 208.88 mph in the opening round held up throughout the succeeding three rounds of qualifying in the Mellow Yello NHRA Drag Racing Series event.

“It’s a dream. I grew up in Super Stock, Stock and Comp and I always wanted to be able to drive a Pro Stock car,” said the longtime sportsman racer, who leases the car from KB Racing. “It’s an honor and cool to have a green hat.”

Butner, a semifinalist at the season-opening Winternationals two weeks ago, will face V. Gaines in a first-round matchup, with the winner earning a bye into the semifinals.

“I’d like to get past V., get to the finals and win. That’s our goal every time when we leave the house,” Butner added.

Courtney Force, who set a track record for elapsed time in her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car with a run of 3.930 seconds in the first round of qualifications, matched her 2015 qualifying effort of second at Wild Horse Pass. Ron Capps vaulted to the No. 1 qualifying position in the fourth round, bumping Force by 0.005 of a second.
John Force, who has a record eight victories at the venue in the desert, moved from eighth to third in the fourth round of qualifying with a blistering pass of 3.938/323.81 in the PEAK Antifreeze/Republic Services Chevrolet Camaro SS. Robert Hight had a best run of 3.945/319.14 in the Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS to qualify fourth.

In Top Fuel, Brittany Force recorded her best pass of the weekend in Round 4 at 3.769/321.04 in the Monster Energy Chevrolet Dragster for John Force Racing to move up one position to fifth. She was the event runner-up in Top Fuel in 2014.

Chevrolet drivers occupy five of the seven positions that constitute the top half of the Pro Stock field heading into eliminations. Jason Line (Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS) faced Butner in Round 4 and remained the No. 2 qualifier with a best run of 6.622/208.17. KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson, who beat Line in the final of the Winternationals, qualified third in the Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS. He recorded a pass of 6.623/207.72, which was the quickest of the session.

Chris McGaha (Harlow Sammons of Odessa Chevrolet Camaro SS) qualified fifth and Drew Skillman, who qualified second and reached the semifinals last year at Wild Horse Pass in his second Pro Stock event, qualified sixth in the Ray Skillman Chevrolet Camaro SS. Alex Laughlin (Gas Monkey Garage Chevrolet Camaro SS), another second-year Pro Stock driver, qualified seventh.

Laughlin is being coached this weekend by 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice, a friend who has been working with the team.

“He told me, ‘You’re the quarterback, and you need to keep your guys in a good mood and keep morale up when times are hard. You have two more shots today. We’ll get it,’ ’’ Laughlin said.

Joey Grose (Skyler Electric/Big Chief Chevrolet Camaro SS) qualified 10th, while Vincent Nobile (Mountain View Tire Chevrolet Camaro SS) qualified 12th and Matt Hartford (Total Seal/CIP1/Nitro Fish Chevrolet Camaro SS) qualified 13th.

In Stock Eliminator, Dan Fletcher (PEAK/K&N/ATI Chevrolet COPO Camaro) qualified 34th (of 57). Fletcher won the class in the opener at Pomona. In Super Stock, Rodger Comstock (MTS/Hoosier/Lucas Oil/MCNX WR Chevrolet COPO Camaro) qualified 50th and Bryan Broaddus (DNB ENGINEERING Chevrolet COPO Camaro) qualified 53rd.

FOX Sports 1 will telecast live coverage of eliminations and finals at 5 p.m. ET Feb. 28.

COURTNEY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, TRAXXAS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “Our Traxxas team came into today the top qualifier and we were trying hard to hold onto that spot. One of the great things about coming out here to Phoenix is we’ve done pretty well I the past and we have qualified well, so we have had some really good data to build on. We pushed too hard on that last pass because it was really all or nothing at that point. We were trying to run in the 3.80s because that’s what we were running in testing.”

JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK ANTIFREEZE/REPUBLIC SERVICES CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “We have four good race cars now and we will see what we can do tomorrow. I am most excited about feeling like we have turned the corner. Our hot rods will run with all the teams now. We still aren’t the quickest but we are excited about the direction we are going. I have no complaints.”

“ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “I am proud of this Auto Club team and really all our John Force Racing Funny Cars. We are 2-3-4 in qualifying and we all got qualifying bonus points. That kind of consistency will help us on race day I hope. I am looking forward to racing Cruz Pedregon (in first round of eliminations) tomorrow. He is a tough competitor and I know I will have my hands full.”

BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER: “That last run was another great run by this Monster Energy team. I have a lot of confidence in this team and I am pumped to go into race day. I will have a tough first round against Shawn Langdon, but we’ll be ready. We are No. 5 in a tough Top Fuel field and I am excited to get back to the track.”

JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “We were definitely OK being second (to Bo Butner). We’re excited for tomorrow and really happy for Bo to get his first No. 1 qualifier. That’s a big deal.”

GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS: “We got after it today versus the pack so I think we’re ready to go tomorrow. I think we’re in great shape. We have a good product for tomorrow again. At Pomona we had great cars, and this weekend we have great cars. I’m excited going into race day.”

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
TEST IN THE WEST PROMOTER TEST
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, AVONDALE, ARIZ.
SATURDAY FEB. 27, 2016

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 11 HYDROXYCUT CHEVROLET, JIMMY VASSER AND JAMES SULLIVAN – KVSH RACING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
THE MODERATOR: We are pleased to be joined by several members of KVSH Racing and KV Racing Technologies. We’re joined by Jimmy Vasser, co-owner of KVSH Racing Technologies, James Sullivan and driver Sebastien Bourdais.
Jimmy, we’ll start with you, a very exciting announcement this morning that Hydroxycut will be the co-primary sponsor for your season and that you’d be returning Sebastien to the team. How did this relationship continue, and what can we expect from 2016?
JIMMY VASSER: Well, it’s probably the worst-kept secret, really. It’s not a surprise to us that we were going to contest the series with Sebastien, particularly after the last couple of years. We really feel that we’re in a position to fight for the championship. We had one win two years ago, two wins last year, in the championship going into the mid-Ohio race and it kind of all went downhill from a yellow flag there that ruined our track position, and it really didn’t finish the season strong. Even running fifth in the points up until the penalty at Sonoma that I thought was a bit shady, Graham was not — wasn’t innocent from any of that. So I really do feel we’re in a position to fight for the championship. Continue reading Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Test in the West →

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
TEST IN THE WEST PROMOTER TEST
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, AVONDALE, ARIZ.
SATURDAY FEB. 27, 2016

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 2 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, press conference transcript:

THE MODERATOR: What are your thoughts of how an IndyCar reacts here on the track?
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: So far it’s been good. We came here and tested before, so yesterday was a really good day for us for what we wanted to do. Today we had a couple… did a little bit of qualifying simulations, nothing too extreme. Just figured out an idea of what we need to do. I think it’s going to be interesting because NASCAR is going to be here about two weeks before we race, two, three weeks, so I think it’s going to change the track a lot with all that rubber they’re going to lay down and everything, so we’ll see how the track changes.
You know, you’ve got to be careful because we’re doing two days of running, cleaning the track, sludging the tires, and the truck it just rubbers up and it’s going to feel great. When you come back here to qualify, you’re going to have, what, one one-hour session and then qualify. I think people — we’re all kind of surprised ourselves.
It’s going to be fun. I think it’s going to be challenging to get to up to speed because you’ve got to really get out all the way to Turn 3 by the time you get into the track. You come by once, and because you run flat, they get up to speed, momentum is going to be key. Continue reading Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Phoenix →

CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
TEST IN THE WEST PROMOTER TEST
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, AVONDALE, ARIZ.
FRIDAY FEB. 26, 2016
TONY KANAAN, NO. 10 NTT DATA CHIP GANASSI RACING CHEVROLET, press conference transcript:
THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Tony Kanaan.
Tony, a back-to-back winner here in 2003 and 2004, another second-place finish in 2005, a track you’ve seen a lot of success at. What does it feel like to be back here at Phoenix International Raceway?
TONY KANAAN: When you have a record like that, it’s obviously nice to be back. A slightly different configuration, but it’s still one of my favorite racetracks.
One of my best recollections, I gave Michael Andretti’s team their first win when they got back to IndyCar. It was here in 2003. A lot of good memories about this racetrack.
So happy to be back and enjoying the Phoenix weather, for sure. Continue reading CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES →

Chevrolet Off to Fast Start in the Desert

· Force sets elapsed time Funny Car record at Wild Horse Pass
· Butner leads Chevrolet drivers to top four in Pro Stock
· Drivers look for more success in second-day qualifying

DETROIT (Feb. 26, 2016) – Courtney Force set a track record for elapsed time in her Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car with a run of 3.930 seconds in the first round of qualifications for the 32nd CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona.

The John Force Racing driver is the provisional No. 1 qualifier for the second event of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. The first round time held on to the top spot for her at the conclusion of round two. Continue reading Chevrolet Off to Fast Start in the Desert →

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST-QUALIFYING TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 26, 2016

FRONT-ROW SWEEP FOR CHEVROLET SS AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Kurt Busch takes first career Atlanta pole position in Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS

· Team Chevy drivers take three of first four starting positions
· Chevrolet going for 40th victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway
· Jamie McMurray on outside front row in McDonald’s Chevrolet SS

HAMPTON, Ga. (Feb. 26, 2016) – Chevrolets will fill the front row for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway as Kurt Busch drove his No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS to the pole position for the second race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Atlanta Qualifying Transcript →

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST QUALIFYING QUOTE
FEBRUARY 26, 2016

KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 MONSTER ENERGY/HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
ON BEING THE POLE SITTER AND POST QUALIFYING INSPECTION:
“It’s an awesome run that the car had in it. The team did a good job to dial it in for the three rounds. I was just trying to make sure I didn’t slip a tire any extra. It’s really easy to overdrive Atlanta Motor Speedway. The track challenges the driver, the car and the tires. It’s a fun place to come and try to lay down a lap.

“Overall with the way the developments came up from tech inspection this shows the amount of enforcement that NASCAR is ready to imply to their technical procedures on what a car has to do to comply to all specs.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
QUALIFYING NOTES AND QUOTES
FEBRUARY 26, 2016

KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 MONSTER ENERGY/HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 2nd
“It was a good, consistent car and I hope that translates into race speed, as well. But thanks to Tony Gibson and everybody at Stewart-Haas, it’s a matter of preparing the best car during the off-season to come to these 1.5-mile tracks and seeing what you’ve got. Monster Energy is on the hood and Haas Automation. It’s just great to feel this right away with the speed and the energy from the car.”

IS TODAY A GREAT BUILDING BLOCK FOR SUNDAY’S RACE?
“That’s what I was congratulating the guys on. When we go through Daytona, and that’s 10 days of trying to find a little bit of speed here and there, and then boom, today you’ve got to do everything in 80 minutes. So, it’s great to see our team in a nice rhythm already and we’ll just try to capitalize on beating that No. 18 (Kyle Busch). He got us just by a little bit and I know I was a little bit tight out there on both ends of the race track, and so I’ll ask Gibson and the guys what we can do to fix that and dial her in for 500 miles.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Atlanta Qualifying →

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 26, 2016

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Atlanta Motor Speedway and discussed what he expects from Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend, his expectations of the new low-downforce package and many other topics. Full Transcript:

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING YOU ARE ONE OF THE BEST HERE AT ATLANTA. TALK ABOUT COMING BACK TO THE TRACK AND EXPECTATIONS THIS WEEKEND:
“Expectations are high. We are very excited to get to a 1.5-mile track. I’m excited about the new rules package. I think these cooler temperatures are going to add a lot of grip and maybe not show the real potential. The drivers are so excited about the rules package. I’ve always had great success here. It’s been a lot of fun. I think this track with the high tire wear and the bumpy conditions and the fact that you have to search around for lines really suits my style, and suits my upbringing racing on the dirt. It’s been a great race track for me. Looking forward to a strong performance.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Atlanta–Jimmie Johnson →

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 26, 2016

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Atlanta Motor Speedway and discussed the pressure of performing in front of the hometown crowd, rebounding from Daytona and many other topics. Full transcript:

THIS IS YOUR FIRST NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE AT YOUR HOME TRACK. TALK ABOUT BEING HERE THIS WEEKEND AND RACING IN FRONT OF YOUR HOME CROWD.
“I’m excited, first off. We want to try and get things going and have a little better week than last week. We’re all excited about it. I know Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and everybody has been working hard in the offseason to improve our mile-and-a-half program. I think they feel really confident in it with some things they’ve been working on. I’m excited to get out there today in practice and see how we stack up.” Continue reading Chevy Racing–NASCAR–Atlanta–Chase Elliott →

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY 26, 2016

TY DILLON, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Full transcript:

TY, YOU’RE RUNNING DOUBLE-DUTY THIS WEEKEND IN THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES AND THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES. TALK ABOUT EXPECTATIONS HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND.
“It’s a huge weekend. First of all, I have to thank Stewart-Haas Racing for the opportunity to be in the 14 car. I think everyone wants to see Tony (Stewart) in this car. With those unfortunate circumstances, I was able to be in the car this weekend, which is good for me to get the experience in such great equipment. I can’t thank them enough for the opportunity. It’s an honor to drive the 14 for Tony. I have high expectations for this weekend. I said it earlier in the week that I always set my goals high. I want to run good in this car. I want to do good for Tony and Stewart-Haas Racing. I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to run in the top-10 or top-15. I’m going to give it all I have. I’ve been talking with (crew chief) Mike (Bugarewicz) all week. I want to go out there and impress a lot of people and show people what I’m made of and what I can do in these race cars. Going back and forth will help me a lot, especially in my Xfinity car. It would be nice to get two good finishes here in Atlanta.” Continue reading TY DILLON, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Atlanta Motor Speedway. →