NASCAR PHOTO
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. —Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet team
swept the top of the leaderboard in the opening day of the NASCAR Cup
Series return to Bowman Gray Stadium.
· The 29-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia, native clocked in the
fastest lap of 14.115 seconds in qualifying to secure a front-row
starting position Heat Race One. Elliott went on to lead every lap of
the 25-lap race to ultimately secure the pole position for tomorrow’s
200-lap main event.
· Joining Elliott in the top-10 starting lineup for the main
event includes NASCAR Cup Series rookie Shane van Gisbergen, who drove
his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to a top-10 qualifying effort and
a third-place result in Heat Race Two.
· FOX will telecast from Bowman Gray Stadium on Sunday, February
2, starting with the Last Chance Race at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the Cook
Out Clash at Bowman Gray main event at 8 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also
be found on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet: Post-Heat Race Quotes
You’re one of the handful of drivers that have raced here in the K&N
Series. Do you remember anything from those races, and does any of it
translate to this weekend?
“No, it’s been so long ago, I don’t even hardly remember making
laps. There’s been a lot of laps made since 2012 or whatever it was,
which is a good thing. That means we’ve been racing a lot. But no, I
kind of had to re-teach myself, I guess, or just kind of get familiar
again today. That’s kind of how I’ve approached the day and what I
was expecting. Fortunately, it was pretty similar to what I was kind of
thinking it was going to be based on the L.A. Coliseum and the
differences visually what it looks like from that.”
There’s going to be more cars on-track during the feature tomorrow
night. Did we see just how important track position is going to be right
off the bat in that heat race?
“Absolutely. I mean it’s going to be tough to win from the third or
fourth row. I think the first couple of rows certainly have a massive
advantage on the rest of the field. Obviously anything can happen. You
all have been watching long enough to know that anything can happen and
I’m well aware of that. But I think just in a normal circumstance of
people not totally crashing each other or whatever – yeah, I certainly
would want to be on the first couple of rows and, fortunately, we are.
We’ll try to take advantage of that.”
When you get out on the track, the sun goes down and how much the crowd
is into it, what’s it like to just get in the car and experience that
atmosphere?
“Yeah, it was awesome. Everybody was fired up, which is great.
That’s what they want. It looked like our heat race got kind of rough
at points sometimes and the crowd reaction reflected that. I couldn’t
see it, but I had a pretty good idea that something had happened that
was fairly aggressive. But that’s why we’re here. This is what it
was meant to be, and I think the crowd and the people that support this
race track and the modified events here over the years, this is what
they want. I think they’re in for a good show, so I’m looking
forward to being a part of it. I’m proud of the effort from this No. 9
NAPA Chevy team today and ready to go to work tomorrow.”