CHEVROLET NCS AT LAS VEGAS: Post-Race Notes and Quotes (FULL PACKAGE)

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:

POS.   DRIVER

2nd     Ross Chastain, No. 1 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1

6th      Tyler Reddick, No. 8 ALSCO Camaro ZL1

8th      Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Camaro ZL1

9th      AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Celsius Camaro ZL1

10th    Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Camaro ZL1

 

 

 

 

 

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:

POS.  DRIVER

1st      Joey Logano (Ford)

2nd     Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)

3rd      Kyle Busch (Toyota)

4th      Chase Briscoe (Ford)

5th      Denny Hamlin (Toyota)

 

Race Two of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 will get underway next Sunday, October 23, at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Dixie Vodka 400 at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

 

ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 TOOTSIES CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 2nd

What a move that was to take the lead.

“Yeah, I had the same opportunity 30-laps earlier, and I didn’t take it because it just wasn’t the right time. It was putting a lot of risk on the table to do it. We got the lead and did everything we could for our No. 1 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevy. It was all we could do.”

 

I know you think about wanting to win this race, but when you’re thinking about the championship and making the final 4, it’s good to have a day like today.

“It hurts, right? It hurts to lose like that with just a few laps to go to fresher tires. It’s so good to be driving these Trackhouse Racing Chevy’s for everybody at AdventHealth, Moose Fraternity, Jockey and Worldwide Express. To keep bringing this kind of speed in the playoffs is a dream come true.”

 

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 35th

Did his (Bubba Wallace) reaction and retaliation surprise you?

“No, it didn’t surprise me. I obviously made an aggressive move into (turn) three; got in low, got loose and chased it up a bit. He (Bubba Wallace) got to my right front, and it got him tight and into the wall. I knew he was going to retaliate. He had a reason to be mad, but his race wasn’t over until he retaliated.

It is what it is. Just aggression turned into frustration and he retaliated.”

 

 

 

Is retaliation at that speed an acceptable thing?

“I think with everything that’s been going on here lately, with head injuries, fractured ligaments and all that, I don’t think it’s probably the right thing to do.

 

 

We’ve all done it – maybe not all of us – but I have. I’ve let the emotions get the best of me before, too. I know he’s probably still upset. I’m sure with everything going, he’ll know that he made a mistake in the retaliation part and I’m sure he’ll think twice about that next time.”

 

 

 

What about the off-track retaliation when he came up and tried to shove you.. did that catch you off guard?

“No, I saw him walking over, so I figured he would do something. Like I said, he had every right to be upset. I would rather him do that than tear up our cars in a dangerous manner. It is what it is.”

 

 

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 21st

Can you describe what you were feeling out there?

“I just did a really bad job. I’m obviously missing something at places like this to compete with the gentlemen that know what they’re doing.”

 

Homestead-Miami Speedway is another 1.5-mile track, but it’s very different from Las Vegas. Do you feel like you can bounce back; or does this make you more concerned for Homestead?

“Homestead is definitely different, but I need to re-evaluate myself, in general, to have a shot next week.”

 

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 CELSIUS CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 9th

“Overall, I felt like it was a solid day for our No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet team. We fought being a little bit tight most of the day. Track position was critical and we lost that a couple of times. I was fairly happy with the speed we had. The car was fairly comfortable. We had one run where we got really loose, but other than that, we just fought the front issue. We had good speed and it’s something to build on when we come back to Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. To get another top-10 was really solid and I’m proud of both cars. Justin (Haley) was fast. We’ll keep working on that.”

 

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTORTOUGH.COM CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 13th

“We just struggled. We were kind of just bouncing all day and we could never really get our car to stop bouncing, so we just struggled with that. At times, we had the balance OK, but really could never get the right balance to get ourselves to be able to run up front. We just hoovered around the fifth- to eighth-spot all day. It was just unfortunate that we couldn’t really finish there.”

 

How frustrating is that when it’s the first race of this round?

“I thought Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) was going to be good for us, but unfortunately all day, we couldn’t really show that. We had some decent stage points, but never enough to really get up towards the front. Just a struggle all day.”

 

JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 14th

A pit strategy call that didn’t quite work out and you ended up finishing 14th. Take us through those final laps and what more you needed to hang onto that lead.

“I think we would have been fine with those two tires there in clean air. As soon as that caution came out, the tires cycled and they just cycled too tight. I got into some dirty air and just fell back after that.

 

Awesome effort by everyone on this No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet. It’s cool to run up here and start slowly building up these finishes. We started a little slow, but I feel like the speed is where we want it right now at the end of the season.”

 

TY DILLON, NO. 42 LUCKY 29 VODKA CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 33rd

“We had a good day in Las Vegas and were on our way to a strong run, but made contact with the wall late in the race and broke something in the suspension that ended our day early. Thanks to Lucky29 Liquors for coming on board this weekend, wish we could have gotten them a better finish, but appreciate their support and look forward to the next one!”

 

ERIK JONES, NO. 43 FOCUSFACTOR CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 6th

“We had a good, uneventful day in Las Vegas with another solid top-10 finish. We had speed all weekend, didn’t qualify where we wanted, but were able to adjust on our FOCUSfactor Chevy all race to improve throughout the day. We were there at the end, just needed a little more to get up front and be in the mix for the win. We’ll head to Homestead next weekend where I feel like we made gains at the test a few weeks ago and see what we can do.”

TEAM CHEVY RACE QUICK NOTES

Stage One:

·       Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 ALSCO Camaro ZL1 team recorded their third pole win of 2022 to lead the field to the green in Race One of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

·       A caution on lap 79 brought the end of Stage One, with Daniel Suarez leading Chevrolet with a fourth-place finish in the stage in his No. 99 Kid Rock’s Honky Tonk Camaro ZL1.

·       The 80-lap Stage One saw five different leaders, with pole sitter Tyler Reddick leading the most laps of the stage (32 laps). 

·       Stage One Team Chevy Top-10:

3rd   Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Kid Rock’s Honky Tonk Camaro ZL1

7th   Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

9th      Tyler Reddick, No 8 ALSCO Camaro ZL1

10th  William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1

 

 

 

Stage Two:

·       During the stage break pit stops, Phil Surgen (crew chief) brought Ross Chastain down pit road for a four tire and fuel pit stop. A fast stop by the No. 1 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1 pit crew gained Chastain six-positions during the race off pit road.

·       After a top-10 finish in Stage One, Kyle Larson was involved in an accident on lap 96, with damage sustained forcing the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 team to retire early from the race.

·       In similar fashion to the opening stage, Daniel Suarez took another top-five finish in Stage Two, driving his No. 99 Kid Rock’s Honky Tonk Camaro ZL1 to a third-place finish.

·       Stage Two Team Chevy Top-10:

3rd      Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Kid Rock’s Honky Tonk Camaro ZL1

4th      Ross Chastain, No. 1 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1

6th      William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1

 

 

 

Final Stage / Post-Race Notes:

·       Under caution with 71 laps remaining in the race, the majority of the field came down pit road for a round of pit stops. The No. 1 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1 pit crew executed another fast stop, gaining Chastain two spots on pit road to win the race off pit road.

·       Ross Chastain recorded a second-place finish in his No. 1 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1, leading Chevrolet to five top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

·       Chevrolet Playoff driver, William Byron, scored valuable stage points in today’s opening race for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8, piloting his No. 24 RaptorTough.com Camaro ZL1 to top-10 finishes in both stages.

·       Chevrolet Playoff drivers in the points standings following the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8:

Ross Chastain – 2nd in Playoff Standings (+18 points)

Chase Elliott – 3rd in Playoff Standings (+17 points)

William Byron – 5th in Playoff Standings (- 6 points)

GM PR