CHEVROLET NCS AT ATLANTA – Post-Race Notes and Quotes

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:

Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 210.

Finished: 31st

“There was nowhere to go. Nobody had been having tire issues, so I wasn’t even expecting the No. 10 (Aric Almirola) to have a tire issue in front of me. Even if I did, I didn’t have time to react.

It’s a bummer. Just frustrating.. I was finally upfront on this style of race track and still end up with a DNF. I don’t know, just frustrating.”

Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL1

Finished: 4th

“I hope he gives me a shout-out for pushing him (race winner Joey Logano).. gave him a good shot there at the end. I was probably fourth or fifth in the top lane there. I had an opportunity to get down and as soon as I didn’t take it, I was like – man that was the race. That was probably with 18 or 20 to go. That’s why these guys make millions of dollars.. they’re pretty good and know where to put their car.

Fourth-place is a solid day for the No. 7 Celsius Chevy team.”

LaJoie on this style of racing:

“Honestly, I think as this track gets a little more wear and abrasiveness to it, it’s going to be like old Daytona.. where you’re bumping and sliding around, and your car has to be fast. I felt like the track lost 10 to 15 percent of grip from last year, so handling was a big thing. You could really drive or push if you wanted to, or you could be sideways. Our Chevy drove great. We were able to pick the right lanes at the right time, just a little short.”

Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL1

Finished: 10th

“We had a decent day. Our No. 8 Lenovo Camaro was fast enough. I think there were probably 20 of them that were fast enough. It was just a matter of positioning yourself and getting positioned there towards the end. I got shuffled out to around 16th and then made our way back into the top-10. Tried to make a move there with four to go on the outside and just hit a block or a wall of air and just slowed up.

Top-10 finish. We’ll take that and head to COTA.”

Josh Berry, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1

Finished: 18th

“I thought it was a solid day for the No. 9 NAPA Chevy. I feel like we definitely improved. We got up there in the top-10 and we were pretty solid before that wreck. After that, the car was just a little too damaged to be too aggressive. All-in-all, we finished the race, learned a lot and had some fun.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1

Finished: 16th

“I thought we made the best of it. We got a little bit of damage in one of the wrecks and that probably didn’t help our speed, but we were just lacking speed in general which made it tough for us to make moves and we kinda got stuck. Pit stops were really good, strategy was really good. We did everything right and the car handled well, just got stuck there in pack racing and we didn’t have a lot of raw speed in the car. We just tried to make the best there with what we had and we got out with a clean race car.”

William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1

Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident on lap 190.

Finished: 32nd

“It was superspeedway-type racing. I thought for the most part, it was pretty single-file all day. That was a little discouraging because the bottom lane wouldn’t really go that much. But as we all started to save fuel on the top, the bottom started to surge there. It looked like the No. 1 (Ross Chastain) and the No. 4 (Kevin Harvick) just got connected there into turn one and got the No. 4 loose.

It’s just part of racing. That’s the way it goes.. not really in our control. We were up there running in the top-five and doing what we needed to do. Thank you to Liberty University and all of our partners. We’ll go to COTA and hopefully control a little bit more there and get a win.”

Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Camaro ZL1

Finished: 12th

“It was a smooth, solid day for the No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevy team. I felt pretty competitive running in the top-10 or 15 throughout the race. Really felt like we had a decent shot, we were just a little too far back there at the end to really make anything happen. But solid execution and solid job by everyone on the No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Chevy team.

Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1

Finished: 8th

Did you think you’d get a top-10 after that accident?

“Probably not. Just looking at the day, I thought we were just stuck farther back. It was just hard to pass. We didn’t qualify good, so it just took awhile for us to get up there and we never really did, and then we got in a crash there.

Happy to get a top-10 for the No. 43 Allegiant Chevy. We needed that. We just needed a good finish. We haven’t had one this year, so it was nice to do that. I hope we keep it rolling. We just kind of squeaked that one out there at the end with some stuff working out on the last two laps for us. But happy with that; proud of that. Glad we can hopefully get some momentum going and keep rolling.”