| QUOTABLE QUOTES:
ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 KUBOTA CAMARO ZL1
How much are you looking forward to racing at Las Vegas?
“We’ve obviously had strong cars for the first two races of the season and Daniel has too. Trackhouse as a whole has had good start to the season with Daniel’s win last week at Atlanta. This weekend is the first mile-and-a-half we’re going to, so we’ll get to see how much our off-season work is going to pay off for us. I enjoy racing at Vegas, and we’ve had some strong runs there in the Cup car with Trackhouse and obviously I’ve won there in the Xfinity Series.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BETMGM CAMARO ZL1
What are your thoughts on Las Vegas Motor Speedway?
“I can’t wait to get to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It’s one of my favorite racetracks. It’s big, fast, bumpy, and it has a lot of lines that you can choose. It’s going to be a great race weekend for everyone coming to check us out. We’re on a mission on the No. 3 team to turn our luck around and Las Vegas is the perfect place to do that.”
How has racing on 1.5-mile tracks with the Next Gen car changed and how do you think it’s improved?
“I think the racing on the 1.5-mile tracks is probably the best racing we have now with this new car. It really seems to put on a good show, and you find certain times and tracks that race really competitively. The restarts are really pretty wild.”
COREY LAJOIE, NO. 7 USANA CAMARO ZL1
LaJoie on the start of the 2024 season:
“I think it’s super-important to start the year out strong, especially to get through the west-coast swing in as good of a points position as possible. Jeff Dickerson’s favorite thing to say is ‘get out ahead of it early.’ We want to try and build ourselves a little bit of a points cushion between our team and the guys who might catch you throughout the course of the year. If you start the year strong, like we have, and we continue that, it’s going to be tough for some of those guys to catch us.
I’m always excited to go to Las Vegas. I’ve had some really good runs there the last couple years. That’s going to be a true barometer of where we stack up as a team with downforce and horsepower. I think we have a lot of the tools we need to bring a really good USANA Chevrolet Camaro to the race track this weekend. I’m excited to go out there and see how we stack up at the first true intermediate track of the season.”
Are you relieved to get Daytona and Atlanta out of the way? Those two tracks are variables and now you can focus on the bulk of the season.
“You’re much less in control of your own destiny at those places. You are, but you aren’t. Someone else’s mistake can take you out of the race. No different than Vegas, with the crazy restarts, but I feel like you’re in control of your destiny a little bit more at Vegas than the first two. The angst is the same no matter what racetrack you go to. You want to perform and you want to do the best you can for your partners, team and fans. I don’t know if I’m excited or happy to get those two out of the way, I just know there are 34 more race where we need to try and make a notch in the win column.”
Are you a fan of mile-and-a-half racing?
“Those tracks have become one of the strengths of our team, which is a little surprising because I’m more of a short-track guy at heart. We’ve had some really good runs at Vegas and Charlotte and some other places like that. Ryan Sparks has a pretty good knack for setting a car up at mile-and-a-halves so hopefully we’ll see that this weekend, as well.”
KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 BETMGM CAMARO ZL1
What do you remember of your first Cup win at Las Vegas in 2009 and what did that victory mean to you? Being in front of the home crowd, what did that mean to you?
“It was huge and such a cool deal. That to me felt like my Daytona 500. I’ve had some big wins. I’ve won Indy. I’ve won the Southern 500. I’ve won the Coke 600, All-Star Race, all that stuff. But the Vegas win, it was just like such a relief, such a monumental win for me because I remember I grew up right down the street watching that place be built.”
Is there less pressure when you go back to Vegas?
“Because I’ve won there, yes, there’s less pressure, but I’ve never backed it up. You still want to win there every time you go, being the hometown. I think I have four or five third-place finishes there in the last six or seven races, whatever the hell it is. We’re right there, we just don’t get it.”
DEREK KRAUS, NO. 16 WESTERN STATES FLOORING CAMARO ZL1
“I’m really excited to make my first Cup Series start with Kaulig Racing, the team that I also made my Xfinity Series debut with! I’m thankful to Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice for believing in me, as well as Western States Flooring, a partner that has supported me throughout my career. I can’t wait to get to work with Travis Mack’s group and see what we can do in Las Vegas.”
DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 31 SOUTH POINT HOTEL AND CASINO CAMARO ZL1
“I’ve said for many years that Las Vegas feels like a second home now. It’s really special to have South Point Hotel Casino and Spa back on the Cup car after a five-year hiatus in the series. They have done so much for me in my career since 2017, so returning to the top level of racing with them feels like having family at the racetrack. Las Vegas is a track that has always been a good one for me. I think this No. 31 team is excited for our first, true mile-and-a-half event to show the work that we’ve put in throughout the off-season. I’m looking forward to seeing where we shake out once we unload and hopefully having a solid weekend.
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
Bowman on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
“I’m excited for this weekend at Las Vegas (Motor Speedway). I went to the simulator this morning trying to get dialed in. There are places we are starting to get pretty consistently good at and (Las) Vegas (Motor Speedway) is one of them. We scored a podium finish last spring (2023) and then I did crash there last fall (2023), but hopefully I won’t do that again. It would be awesome to get the No. 48 team and Ally another win there (Las Vegas Motor Speedway). I look forward to going back and to get back to where we should be running. Getting back to victory lane, winning races, making the playoffs and going to contend for a Championship is really this year’s goal.”
BLAKE HARRIS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
Harris on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
“We had a couple really fast cars there (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) last year. Obviously being a part of the Hendrick Motorsports 1-2-3 finish in the spring (2023) was great. We had a fast car again in the fall and got ourselves in the top-10 before we wrecked. I expect to go back there (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) with speed. It’s a good track historically for Hendrick Motorsports and we hope to kick-off our intermediates the right way.”
ZANE SMITH, NO. 71 FOCUSED HEALTH CAMARO ZL1
Are you excited to get back and race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?
“I’m very eager to get back to Las Vegas and race there. I classify Las Vegas as my home track so it is always a special weekend. Especially because this will be my first start in the Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, so it is bittersweet. I always dreamed of racing in the Cup Series at that track.”
How did you feel leaving Atlanta and what are you looking to capitalize on this weekend in Las Vegas?
“I was disappointed with how our race ended on Sunday at Atlanta. My City of Refuge Chevy Camaro was super-fast and unfortunately, I made some contact with the wall. This No. 71 Spire Motorsports team is special and I know we will have another fast Focused Health Chevy Camaro this weekend in Las Vegas. I’m looking forward to getting on the track and seeing what this team can accomplish together.”
CARSON HOCEVAR, NO. 77 PREMIER SECURITY CAMARO ZL1
“I feel good heading to Vegas, excited to start working on our mile 1/2 package in our No. 77 Premier Security Chevy. I’m even more excited to see where we stack up with all our off season work and preparation and have a solid smooth day after what happened at Daytona and then Atlanta. Wrong place wrong time sometimes but hey that’s racing, and we have another chance this next week to finish better!”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1
What does the Atlanta victory mean to you?
“We have done a lot of work on this race team to make it better and to keep moving forward. This is just the beginning of something amazing that we are going to go through together. I am so happy for all my Amigos at Freeway Insurance who have been with us for so long. That victory was a group effort. Our partners at Chevrolet, all of our sponsors and all of the people at Trackhouse Racing.”
Are you ready to relax now that you have a victory and likely secured a playoff spot?
“No way. Atlanta will be the first of many victories. This makes us want to keep working and win more. I have always said I don’t want to just get in the playoffs. We want to win and advance in the playoffs.”
What are your thoughts on Las Vegas?
“I hope practice and qualifying go better than last year. We had an issue and crashed, but on race day our backup car was pretty quick. I was very proud of my guys. That wreck Saturday put us back and we had to get the backup car ready with no laps of practice. They stayed late Saturday night and came in early on race day. The car didn’t feel like a backup and if we had another 100 miles we would have finished even better than 16th. We passed many cars coming from the back a few times.”
What did you do in the offseason to make Daniel Suarez stronger?
“Well, I did a lot of work with my crew chief Matt Swiderski and the rest of the engineers in the simulator and analyzing myself what can I be better at. This is not just ‘we changed the crew chief’ that’s the solution. No, it has to be way more than that and I think we all need to change a few things here and there. Myself, crew chief, engineering department, pit crew department. With these changes, I believe we’ll be in a different place this year.”
What will it take for Trackhouse to break through?
“There are a lot of young teams like Trackhouse that are getting stronger every year. I truly believe that this year Trackhouse is really going to be stronger than last year. I can’t wait to see that reflected on track and hopefully we can give them a run for the money.” |
