‘Challenger’ round Finale Set to Eliminate Four Drivers from Chase Contention at Dover
DETROIT – September 24, 2014 – This weekend’s 400-lap/400-mile AAA 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway is always exciting for Team Chevy. The 1.0-mile track known as the ‘Monster Mile’ is a concrete oval that provides many unique 
challenges for drivers and teams. The self-cleaning, high-banked track makes it difficult to avoid mayhem and one small mistake can lead to a disastrous day.
The racing on Sunday will be even more intense because it is the final of three races in the ‘Challenger’ round, the first elimination for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The current Chase contender field will be reduced from 16 to 12 when the checkered flag flies at Dover. The eight Chevrolet SS chasers are all anxious to transfer to the next segment and continue their individual quests for the championship.
The Monster Mile has been a successful 1.0-mile oval for Team Chevy with Chevrolet SS being victorious four out of the last five races at Dover. Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson has had the most success at this track with nine trophies to his credit.
Solid strategy and fast cars will be key for drivers and teams as they deal with predicted warm temperatures which could lead to a slick race track. For the second week in a row qualifying will be of up most importance in order to get good pit selection on pit road to give the driver a small advantage over the tight competition.
All the action is scheduled to begin Sunday September 28th at 2:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage will be available on ESPN, MRN, Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and NASCAR.com.
ENGINEER EXPERTISE FROM THE GARAGE AREA – PAT SUHY, MANAGER, CHEVROLET RACING – NASCAR GROUP MANAGER:
Pat Suhy
“Congratulations to last weekend’s Team Chevy winners! It’s always nice to add another driver to the long list of drivers who got their first win in a Chevy, and Cole Custer did a great job in the Camping World Truck Series race at NHMS to add his name to that list. In the Nationwide Series race in Kentucky, Brendan Gaughan led a trio of Richard Childress Racing Camaros across line and captured Chevrolet’s 15th win of the season in that series.
“Looking ahead to this coming weekend’s triple header at Dover International Speedway, the big story will be that it’s the final race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship ‘Challenger’ round’ of 16. Chevy has several drivers well positioned to advance into the ‘Contender’ round of 12.
“This concrete one-mile track is challenging enough without the pressure of being a cutoff race within the Chase. With the added pressure to perform, for some teams it will be interesting to see how the race unfolds. With the combined efforts of our teams, engineering staffs, and our Team Chevy engineering group, preparations have been made to have the fastest cars possible heading into the weekend.
“Combining fast cars with strategies developed by the talented lineup of Chevy crew chiefs, along with great execution on the track by drivers and pit crews, should lead to some exciting racing and great results for Team Chevy.”
TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT – CHASE CONTENDERS: KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET SS – 3RD IN STANDINGS
“Dover is definitely one of the most taxing places that we go to for sure. There are just a lot of g-forces as you go off into the corner and it kind of throws you down into a hole. There’s a lot of banking with a lot of speed and it’s hard on your body. I usually leave out of there with sore heels from where my feet have beat on the floorboard through the day. It’s definitely a very taxing race track for a driver.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET SS – 4TH IN STANDINGS
“I love Dover. It’s one of the best tracks for this Lowe’s/Kobalt team. I think it goes back to my off-road days, this track just suits my driving style. It’s good to have the going into this race, especially since it’s a cut-off race, but it doesn’t guarantee us anything going back. It makes the week leading into it feel a little bit better. It gives us some talking points and places to look at and focus on, but we still have to show up there and get the job done.”
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – 6TH IN STANDINGS
“We run well at Dover. I know everybody is looking at us like we are falling off a little bit, but Chicago hadn’t been a great track for us and New Hampshire hadn’t either. Dover has. So I will be surprised if we don’t go there and be competitive. We were racing for a win there last year and ran pretty good there earlier this year. I look forward to going and having a good car. Dover is not a track where we practice well. I just have to keep that in mind while we are out there practicing and not get too distraught because we race pretty well there.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET SS – 7TH IN STANDINGS
“We had a good car last weekend at New Hampshire, but we didn’t get the finish we had hoped for because of the cut tire and damage after hitting the wall. Instead of going into Dover with a good cushion, we have to go there and perform at a high level like we’ve been doing all year to make it to the next round.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 HUNGRY JACK/ACME CHEVROLET SS – 10TH IN STANDINGS
“I feel fortunate about being 10th in the points heading into Dover. We haven’t been at our best to be in that position. Last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, was a good fight out of the team. We fought hard all day. Honestly, 13th was disappointing because we ran better at the end of the race and it didn’t play out. Going into this weekend, I would say that I am not trying to think about it and have all that pressure of advancing to the Contender Round. Things aren’t different for us this weekend. My goal would be no different than if we were 20-something in the points. We just have to have a solid weekend. We haven’t put together a good weekend from start to finish in a while. We have pieced it together and at times have had a good result. Sometimes the first part of weekend is good and the second is not. We need a good overall weekend. I don’t care what’s going around me and where Ryan (Newman) or Greg (Biffle) or any of those guys are. If we handle our business like we are capable of, we should be in.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 QUICKEN LOANS “DESIGN A SCHEME” CHEVROLET SS – 12TH IN STANDINGS
“This obviously is going to be a very important race for a lot of us, including the No. 31 Quicken Loans team. The first two events have not played out as we have hoped. We’re sitting tied with Kasey Kahne in 11th with just six points separating us from the current cutoff spot. With that said, we’re only two points from eighth and 22 out of fifth. It’s close. For us to transfer into the Contender 12 Round, we are going to have to be on top of our game. No mistakes. Dover is a very demanding track but it is usually a track where once we get our car handling right, it stays right because of the concrete. We shouldn’t see the big transition of balance and grip that can really change your day. But if we cannot get the Quicken Loans car to handle, Dover is one of the most frustrating places to race. It’s like a bigger version of Bristol. If you spend the majority of your day looking in the rearview mirror more than the windshield, you are going to have a long day. There is no doubt, Dover is going to be an exciting race to watch and I believe we will have a car capable of contending not only for a transfer spot but a race win. It’s a track I know how to win on, and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure our bid for a championship continues.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – 15TH IN STANDINGS
“It’s called the Monster Mile for a reason – the track can chew up cars and spit them out. And it’s because of the tough transitions into the corners with the high banking and even the high-banked straightaways. It’s tough to do that sharp of a turn on a mile racetrack. It’s like you literally jump down into the corner and then jump back up out of the corner onto the straightaway, and so those points of the track are the toughest part – the transition from straightaway to corner. It’s a fun track to drive. You’re always on that edge and, when you’re fast there, it feels extra fast because of how close you have to cut it on corner exit and not hit the wall.”
TEAM CHEVY FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT – NON-CHASE CONTENDERS: KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – 17TH IN STANDINGS
“My team is looking forward to continuing this late-season momentum this weekend at Dover. As we’ve shown for the past several races, our team is continuing to get stronger and has been really good at overcoming obstacles that pop up at the track. Both of the Ganassi cars have been fast, and I think we should have a really good Target Chevy to race this weekend. I thought our race there earlier was pretty good, even though we gave some spots back over the course of the race. We’ll just look to qualify well and keep the car up front during the race. Me and my Target team are still racing hard for a win this season.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS – 18TH IN STANDINGS
“I’m looking forward to heading to Dover this week. Not only because it is a fun track to race, but also from the standpoint of our team has really been on a roll of late. We have really put together some great runs the last few weeks and I feel like we are as good as we have been all year. We had a good car the first race at Dover and ended up hitting a big chunk of the race track that came apart. Even with all the damage we were able to overcome and have strong finish. This is one of the tracks where things happen so fast, we will just need to focus on track position and have our McDonald’s Chevy poised to hopefully continue our string of top-10 finishes from the last three weeks.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – 20TH IN STANDINGS
“I really like Dover International Speedway because of the physical aspect of the track. You have to muscle your way around that place. With a good car, you can really string out over a long run and gain and pass people. It’s a fast track. It’s a place that aggressive drivers like.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 CERTAINTEED/MENARDS CHEVROLET SS – 21ST IN STANDINGS
“Dover is probably one of the top two or three tracks where you can get a great sensation for speed. There are elevation changes when you drive off into the corner then you drive back up the hill on exit. The tires will fall off a fair amount which means you can move around a lot. It just basically means there are two different ways you can drive at Dover and you can move your car around a little bit to try and compensate for what it’s doing. It’s an exciting track.”
MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVROLET SS – 24TH IN STANDINGS
“I’ve said it many times that I like the speed at Dover. Of all the tracks we go to Dover probably feels the fastest to drive on and I like that. The speed can be pretty scary at times. Dover is closest to home (Mayetta, N.J.) and I have more fans and family at the race than any other track we go to. Honestly our car wasn’t that good back in June but we fought through and finished 6th. For some reason if we can get the car close to a good setup, I can keep it up front at Dover. I don’t know why that is. Maybe it’s home track advantage.”
CASEY MEARS, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – 25TH IN STANDINGS
“Dover is always a fun place for us to go because GEICO’s corporate office is only about 100-miles away. Our Germain Racing team will also be going on a C-17 orientation flight at Dover Air Force Base this week, so everyone’s looking forward to the experience. We’ll have about 20 people from the Air Force base joining us at the race on Sunday, so it will be nice to spend time with the folks that serve in our country’s military. The 
No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS was good there in the spring race before that block of concrete knocked a hole in our grill, which affected our downforce and slowed us down. Hopefully, that’s an issue we will not have to deal with this trip.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS – 28TH IN STANDINGS
“I always like going to Dover. The track is pretty fun. I remember everyone telling me how unique and challenging Dover was prior to my first race. At the time, I didn’t have a whole lot to compare that track to. They said it was like a larger version of Bristol, but I hadn’t raced at Bristol yet, either. It’s nice to have more of a handle on what to expect heading in there now. Dover is fun. It’s fast and it can make for a really long day of racing. I think that’s part of the appeal of it – how demanding it can be. We definitely want to stay out of trouble, which is easier said than done at these types of tracks.”
JUSTIN ALLGAIER, NO. 51 BRANDT PROFESSIONAL AGRICULTURE CHEVROLET SS – 29TH IN STANDINGS
“Dover [International Speedway] has always been a more difficult track for me. I think it’s definitely one of the more difficult tracks for most drivers. One small slip on the track and you find yourself in a bad position really quick. I struggled there a little bit earlier this year, but I feel like Steve [Addington] and the guys have come up with a good plan for us this weekend.”
MICHAEL ANNETT, NO. 7 CYPRESS HQ CHEVROLET SS – 31ST IN STANDINGS
“Last time out at Dover, we were running in the top 20 when we broke a shock mount and that killed our day right then and there. We all feel that there’s unfinished business at Dover. ‘Bono’ [Manion, crew chief] has won there before, I was close to winning there in Nationwide and we had a really good car there in the spring. Hopefully this time we can put everything together and have a good day.”
October 29, 2015 – Jeff Gordon has to love his position in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup now.
AUTO AND TRACK NEWS 