NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
CROWN ROYAL PRESENTS THE JEFF KYLE 400 AT THE BRICKYARD
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JULY 26, 2015
Kevin Harvick’s Strong Run Results in Third-Place Finish at Indianapolis
First Time Since 2002 That Chevrolet Doesn’t Reach Victory Lane at Famed Brickyard
INDIANAPOLIS, July 26, 2015 – Not this year. For the first time in more than a decade, a Chevrolet did not end up in Victory Lane after a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).
Kevin Harvick’s third-place finish led four Team Chevy drivers in the top 10 in the Crown Royal presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at The Brickyard on Sunday, snapping a streak of 12 consecutive (2003-2014) victories in the Brickyard 400 for Chevrolet. It was the longest active winning streak for a manufacturer at any track in the series.
Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet SS, led four times for a race-high 75 laps, but lost the lead shortly after a restart with just eight laps remaining. Two more cautions resulted in a green-white-checkered finish.
“We had a great day,” said Harvick, following his 14th top-five in 20 races this season. “I think everybody did a great job, just in that, I think, second- or third-to-last restart where the 22 (eventual runner-up Joey Logano) and 18 (eventual winner Kyle Busch) were able to get hooked up and kind of get by us, and I lost control of the race there.
“Just didn’t pan out there at the end, but everybody did a great job all day.”
Harvick, whose victory in 2003 started Chevrolet’s winning streak at IMS, remains in first place in the 2015 driver standings with a 69 point lead.
Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet SS, ran in the top 10 for most of the afternoon before finishing in fourth place.
Also finishing in the top 10 for Team Chevy: Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, eighth, and Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS, ninth.
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 3M Chevrolet SS, who won the very first NASCAR event at IMS in 1994 and is the only stock-car driver to win five races at the Brickyard, slid into the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4 while trying to avoid a spinning car, and spent 50 laps in the garage for repairs. The accident relegated the four-time series champion to a 42nd-place finish in his last season competing as a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver.
“Today was an unfortunate day,” said Gordon following the race. “It seems like in recent years it’s been kind of feast or famine for us here. But I tell you what, from the first time I came here all the way through last year and even this year the fans have been amazing, the experiences have been amazing, the wins. Everything has been incredible and I feel so fortunate to have just gotten an opportunity to race here. Certainly to have five wins here is just unbelievable as well.”
Kyle Busch (Toyota) earned the victory followed by Joey Logano (Ford) and Denny Hamlin (Toyota) rounded out the top-five finishers.
The series continues next weekend at Pocono Raceway. The race can be seen on NBC Sports Network, starting at 1:30 p.m., and can be heard on MRN and Sirius XM Satellite.
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S/BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
THE MODERATOR: Kevin, you ran up front throughout the race, contending for the win. Just your thoughts about how you thought your team performed, how you thought the car performed and overall your assessment of today’s race by the No. 4 Chevrolet.
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, we had a great day. I think everybody did a great job, just in that, I guess, second‑ or third‑to‑last restart where the No. 22 (Joey Logano) and No. 18 (Kyle Busch) were able to get hooked up and kind of drive by us and I lost control of the race there and didn’t really have what I wanted on the restarts once the No. 18 got control, the speed was too high and I spun the tires on the next one, and just didn’t get the restarts all put together like I needed to. Just didn’t all pan out there at the end, but everybody did a great job all day.
Q. At Indianapolis Motor Speedway, are restarts here more important than any other track maybe?
KEVIN HARVICK: I don’t know about that. I think restarts have become an important part of racing in general over the years, just to get yourself out in clean air and be able to stay out front and do the things that make your car run at the best speed that it can because it’s obviously much faster out front than it is in traffic.
Q. How did the changes to the cars affect the racing today?
KEVIN HARVICK: I think everybody put in a lot of effort to really try to make everything a lot better, spent a lot of money, but I don’t know that we accomplished everything that we were looking to accomplish. Cars are extremely hot inside. That was probably the biggest surprise that crept up on everybody. I know everybody spent a lot of money to get the cars here and put a lot of time and effort into putting the puzzle together. I know my team did a lot of extra work to come to this race after we had already come here and tested and already spent that money to come here and test for a few days, and then to come back and have to race something different was a huge undertaking for the teams for a huge science project that probably didn’t really change that much. But everybody tried real hard, and in the end, I think our ‑‑ our goal is more drafting and more pack racing, so we’ll see if we can get to that.
THE MODERATOR: Kevin, thanks for coming in. Good luck next week at Pocono.
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