QUOTABLE QUOTES:ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1 What are some of the challenges with Bristol? “You can’t control much at Bristol other than your own car, most of the time. It’s happening so fast and you can’t see around the corner to the next straightaway. Something silly can happen. The cars are under immense stress and we as drivers are under stress. Its so loud for the crew chiefs and engineers, spotters and everything is so tightly packed in there. We aren’t as in control at Bristol as we are at some of the other tracks.” Why do people like coming to Bristol so much? “It’s an awesome place. If I wasn’t driving in a Cup car, I would still be there because I went the Bristol night race before I ever raced. And then when I was running in the truck series, I would stay over for the Cup race because the race is so awesome. If I wasn’t racing in it, I would definitely be in the stands with friends.” KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 Larson on racing at Bristol Motor Speedway: “The night race at Bristol (Motor Speedway) is one of my favorites. It’s such a prestigious track and race. The fans always show out there and it’s a great atmosphere. I’ve had some good runs on the concrete track, including a win in the Valvoline Chevy in 2021. Valvoline is back this weekend and it would be great to get another win before the round of 12!” CLIFF DANIELS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1 Daniels on racing at Bristol Motor Speedway: “Our team has great momentum right now. It’s been nice to have two good runs the past two weeks, but there is certainly a lot of racing left ahead in the playoffs. We’ve got to stay focused and stay grounded. We take every week as it comes and this week is at Bristol (Motor Speedway) which is just an amazing track. I love Bristol, Kyle loves Bristol. He’s always just super good at Bristol in anything that he drives. The team’s been executing well and hopefully we have a fast Chevy to be in contingency there at the end. I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting race.” KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 CHEDDAR’S SCRATCH KITCHEN / ALSCO UNIFORMS CAMARO ZL1 Why is the Bristol pavement race your favorite? “Bristol concrete is my favorite track just because I’ve always enjoyed that racetrack. I’ve always enjoyed watching it as a kid on TV and seeing all the races there. And then it being a short track and high banked is cool and fun and reminds me of some tracks that raced at as a kid coming up through the ranks. I look forward to going there. Bristol is a challenging track. You’ve got to be on top of your game all the time. You can really push the car and try to get the most out of it on the bottom or on the top. I’ve always loved being on the bottom there and have found most of my wins from the bottom but still you’ve got to be agile and move around.” Pitting at Bristol is unique with the frontstretch and backstretch pit roads. How difficult is that and how big of a challenge is that since this is the only time all year you do it? “Pitting at Bristol is unique because you have two pit roads, the frontstretch and the backstretch. Typically, you don’t really pit there under green a whole lot but if you did you have only one pit road, so you’ve got to remember if you’re on the backstretch or frontstretch where you would come off of the racetrack and get down to get to pit road. It’s not that big of a deal but I’ve always had my pit selection be on the backstretch just so there’s never any confusion so we’ll see if we can get that pit selection that I prefer.” CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA GOLD FILTERS CAMARO ZL1 Elliott on the unique environment of Bristol: “My favorite (track), I would say, and probably my favorite race of the year. I just think that the environment up there is so unique and it’s so different. I love going (there). It’s close to home and up in the mountains of Tennessee. It’s just a cool deal from top to bottom. And they’ve always done a good job up there making that environment fun and energetic for the drivers and the fans. I think when that’s the case, everybody has more fun.” ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 9 NAPA GOLD FILTERS CAMARO ZL1 Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the Next Gen car at Bristol and what to expect on Saturday night: “It’s hard to say. We’ve had one race there with this car and it seemed ok. The tire’s changing slightly for this race, so that’s always a bit of an unknown. We’ll see what that has in store for us and how it affects the racing. Hopefully, there’s multiple lanes. To me, when we have multiple lanes and the top comes in, the racing’s better and you have more opportunity to pass.” AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 BARGER PRECAST CAMARO ZL1 “Bristol was a really good race for us last year. We had a really strong run, a top-10 finish, and I was very happy with the car. Over the last couple months, we’ve found more speed in our race cars, and I’m look forward to getting back to Bristol with the same aero package and everything as last year. I’m excited to get on track and hopefully have a strong run.” CARSON HOCEVAR, NO. 42 SUNSEEKER RESORTS CAMARO ZL1 You’ve had two top-20 finishes in two weeks with the Club, so what has been the biggest factor in acclimating yourself with the NextGen car? Do you think the Truck Series race will help you prepare for 500 laps on Saturday? “The last two weeks has been a lot of fun, being able to now race a Cup car and truck on the same weekend have just helped myself become better and more in the rhythm lately. Super excited to run a lot of laps at Bristol, the truck isn’t too far away from the Cup car in terms of throttle points and the track stays the same, so looking for a good showing on Friday to get me as up to speed as I can for 500 laps on Saturday night with my No. 42 LEGACY M.C. group.” ERIK JONES, NO. 43 U.S. AIR FORCE CAMARO ZL1 “Bristol has always been fun for me. I’ve come so close there a couple of times to winning that night race and really would love to close that one out. It is always one of my favorite races. The Bristol night race is one that I tell people all the time, ‘If you haven’t been to a NASCAR race, try and make it out to that one.’ It is one of my favorites of the year and one that I have been really close to winning before, so hoping we can close it out.” RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 SCOTT BRAND CAMARO ZL1 “Going into Bristol, just survive. I feel like watching the Playoffs there last year, just surviving 500 laps really hits the nail on the head. There were so many parts failures and crashes in that race last year. For me, Bristol is by far my favorite racetrack, and I’m going to not overthink or overdrive my favorite track. I’ll make sure I put myself in a good position all night. I’ve never run Bristol in the Playoffs. So, it will be the first time for me to race it in the Playoffs at the Colosseum. It’s an intense racetrack. 15 second laps. You’re on edge all the time. You’re constantly pushing your car to its limits whether you run the bottom or top of the racetrack. You also have to look super far ahead. I’ve had a crash well in front of me take me out because you just can’t get slowed down in time. Every battle there is super intense and we’re ready for battle with our No. 47 SCOTT Brand Camaro.” CHASE PURDY, NO. 4 BAMA BUGGIES SILVERADO RST Even though you didn’t get the result you wanted, does showing speed last week at Kansas build confidence? “I think some of the struggles I’ve had this year have been from some of my execution. We showed up for practice and we were fast in practice and the fastest one in qualifying and sat on the pole. Those are the kind of things that we’ve had to improve on, and we did a good job of that at Kansas. We’re hoping to bring that same pace and execution to Bristol.” Do you enjoy racing at Bristol? “Yeah, it’s a really neat place to go race. We had a lot of speed this past weekend at Kansas and the weekend before at Milwaukee. We’re hoping to bring that same speed into Bristol, a high-banked short track, more of my wheelhouse. Like I’ve mentioned before, Kansas and Bristol are two of my favorites. I’m really excited to get there and get a little redemption after our weekend in Kansas and have a race where we execute as a team to our capability and reach our full potential. It seems like we are a little bit snake bitten with our luck and the weeks that our Bama Buggies Silverado is really fast we have something go wrong like it did last week with the loose wheel. I’m just excited to get to Bristol.” What does it take to be fast at Bristol? “Well, if it’s anything like last year, I feel like the driver who qualifies up front and can wrap the bottom the best is going to be the one to beat there. It’s so hard to pass there, so qualifying is very crucial. Track position will be everything this weekend.” CHRISTIAN ECKES, NO. 19 GATES HYDRAULICS SILVERADO RST Eckes on beginning the second round at Bristol with momentum: “We performed really well as a team in the first round, but we need to do it all over again now. Bristol is one of the most demanding tracks that we go to, but I have all the confidence in our Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet, Charles (Denike), and our entire team that we can keep this momentum going. Last week was a big moment for our team to win a playoff race at Kansas after running so well for the last couple months. We’re all focused on continuing to do the things that got us here and hopefully we can be one of the trucks to beat at the end of the night at Bristol.” GRANT ENFINGER, NO. 23 CHAMPION POWER EQUIPMENT SILVERADO RST How much pressure, if any, are you putting on yourself in the Round of 8? Which race is going to be the most important to shine in? “Obviously this Round of 8 is tough, and we have three very different tracks in this round. Our GMS team puts a lot into every race, but we’ve put everything we have into Bristol. It’ll be important to have speed, but it’s just as important to have a truck that you can drive hard every lap. Everything happens so fast at Bristol so you have to be on your game all race long. GMS Racing has had a lot of success at Bristol in the past, and we are hoping to add to that on Thursday.” RAJAH CARUTH, NO. 24 WENDELL SCOTT FOUNDATION SILVERADO RST Has anyone given you any advice for preparing for a double duty weekend at a physically-demanding track like Bristol? “Double duty shouldn’t be too much of a challenge this weekend. I prepare just as diligently as I would for any other race weekend, and having had a few doubleheaders under my belt certainly helps. This weekend at Bristol, I feel a really good opportunity is in place for us at a track that both myself and Chad have a great track record at.” JAKE GARCIA, NO. 35 QUANTA SERVICES SILVERADO RST Garcia on his second start on Bristol’s concrete: “I love short track racing, so it’s always exciting when these races come up on the schedule. Bristol is such a different short track than most and everything happens so quickly. You really need to stay on your toes and be able to find a rhythm quickly once the green flag drops. Our Quanta Services Chevrolet has been really fast the last few weeks, but we need to execute through the whole race on Thursday. 200 laps goes by really fast at Bristol, but we’re looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we can be up front at the end of the night.” DANIEL DYE, NO. 43 CHAMPION CONTAINER SILVERADO RST You’ve had the chance to race at Bristol a few times in the past, so do you like this track? What do you think is going to be the most important goal for you on Thursday night? “I like Bristol for the most part, for sure. Having two ARCA races under my belt is going to be helpful, I also ran fourth there in a Super Late Model as well a couple years ago, so I’ve got quite a few laps around that joint. Just looking forward to getting there with Champion Container on board. It’s their last race with us for this year, and it’s been a pleasure having them at the racetrack. I think one of the most important things will be track position. You hear that about a lot of places on our schedule, but Bristol is so tiny and fast, so we have to make sure that we can turn well enough to get under guys and pass them, but we also have to qualify good and maintain our track position.” JACK WOOD, NO. 51 ROWDY MANUFACTURING SILVERADO RST Where does Bristol rank on your list of favorite tracks? “I’ve run there a couple times. It’s a pretty cool venue, it’s tough to race around, it’s tough to pass there. I think our trucks are going to be good. For me, I am just mentally preparing on how I’m going to run up front and what I want to do on restarts. Running both the truck race and ARCA race will be a long day for me running 400 laps. I’m just trying to get prepared to go out and have ourselves a good weekend.” How beneficial will it be to you to run the ARCA race before the Truck Series race? “Hopefully it will be very beneficial. I think every time I’ve done it this year it has helped me knock the rust off, especially at a track that I haven’t been to since last year. Hopefully the ARCA car will be good, and we can go out and make laps and run up front the whole race. It’s really just to compliment what we’re doing in the truck and if it can help us just five percent than it’s more than worth it.” What are your goals for the rest of the season? “I just want to put together four solid races to end the year on a high note. I think we just need to turn the tide. We’ve shown speed most weeks and there’s just things that have happened that have kept us from reaching our full potential with our finishes — some of it being my own doing and some of them random things that happen like a pit gun breaking in the middle of a stop last week.” | 
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