MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
RICHMOND RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
APRIL 20, 2018
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 2nd
HOW WAS YOUR CAR IN PRACTICE THROUGH RACE RUNS?
“Yeah, I thought it was much improved from where we have been. You’ve got to take the small victories every now and then in life and especially in the racing world. We are just trying to take those right now. A much better Friday than we have been having. This has been a ridiculous stretch of races for me and our team. We have just been struggling and kind of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. We have had fast cars at times, just hasn’t seemed to work out. I typically don’t qualify very good, so I’m happy we could have a good qualifying effort and hopefully, our car in race trim is one spot better.”
HOW BIG OF A DEAL IS IT TO START ON THE FRONT ROW AND GET A GREAT PIT STALL SELECTION?
“Yeah, I think more than the front row is the pit stall selection. Obviously, we know Martin (Truex, Jr.) will be good. He ran really well here both races last year. I would have loved to of had that first pit stall. We were just talking so frustrating to be so close to something once again. Just trying to finish stuff off and I think that obviously would have loved to have gotten the pole but starting second is plenty good enough to run well in the race, so we will see.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 5th
HOW WAS QUALIFYING FOR YOU?
“It was okay. I was hoping we’d be a little bit better. We barely made it through into the third round. I just thought I’d be better, but fifth isn’t bad.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S FOR PROS CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 17th
WHAT MORE WERE YOU LOOKING FOR IN QUALIFYING?
“Yeah, the last few trips here we have been really good in Round 1 and just havne’t been able to back it up in the rounds after. We felt like we had some good changes to try to help that for this weekend and unfortunately it didn’t come through. That Round 1 time was strong and good and I just unfortunately couldn’t back it up in Round 2.”
SAME RACE TIRE THIS YEAR THAT WE HAD LAST YEAR, BUT IS ANYTHING DIFFERENT OUTSIDE THE PACKAGE OF THE RACE CARS?
“I would bet that tire is different. It feels different. I know it’s been a big conversation amongst the drivers, but there is a lot that has changed in the infield, the track is kind of status quo with very low grip and a lot of slipping and sliding and tires are king around here right now.”
DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 8 SMOKEY MOUNTAIN HERBAL SNUFF CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 22nd
TALK ABOUT QUALIFYING:
“I think as ready as I’m going to get. Twenty-two years in the making to get to this point. It’s cool to know that not only did I get to qualify for my Cup debut, but I get to go race tomorrow. That is an exciting thing. Just extremely thankful for Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff coming on board. They were with us some last year in the Xfinity Series and stepped up to give me this opportunity here in the Monster Energy Cup Series level. I’m pumped to know that I get to be here and do this. We’ve got a great group of guys. It’s tough when you pull a group that do not go to the race track every week and put them together and say ‘hey go race against these guys’. Because these are the best in the world to do this. Fortunate and blessed to be here and I look forward to what lies ahead tomorrow, but just trying to enjoy it.”
HOW WAS THE CAR?
“Taking off like that in practice first off you are trying to get acclimated to what is going on. The first time you are talking to the guys on the radio, there is a lot of stuff going on. Just try to get my feet wet and run a decent amount of laps in first practice and we did actually switch over to qualifying trim at one point just so I knew what to expect. Not a huge difference from the Cup car to the Xfinity car, but hopefully, tonight we can build some more long-run speed into it.”
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