Thursday, July 15, 2021

Hendrick Motorsports driver quotes for New Hampshire

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway: “I’ve always enjoyed going to Loudon. I wouldn’t say it’s one of my best tracks, but I do enjoy going there because it’s different. It reminds me of a longer, bigger Indianapolis Raceway Park the way you race it. With the traction compound application there, it seems to wear out for the last couple runs so you have to adapt and search and find where there’s more grip.”

Larson on his contract extension and announcement with HendrickCars.com: “The chance to extend my contract with Hendrick Motorsports and have such an awesome sponsor in HendrickCars.com are things I don’t take for granted. I feel like I’m driving for the best team and the best sponsors in the sport. To know that our on-track performance is having positive business influence off the track is very important because I want to return the incredible support they’ve given me. Everyone at Hendrick Automotive Group has made me feel like part of their team, and it’s exciting to be able to represent a company that loves racing like I do. I feel like we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible.”

Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the challenges of setting the car up on a flatter track: "New Hampshire is definitely a challenging track – high importance on stopping and going while also having your car turn properly in the center of the corner. It’s a tough place to figure out, but a great race track with great fans in a great area.”



Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on racing at New Hampshire: “New Hampshire has been a really hit-or-miss place for us; it’s just a different track. It takes a different driving style, I feel like, than some of the other places. I look at Loudon at being more of its own animal. We’ve had a couple solid runs there, but never a dominating performance. It hasn’t been my best place, I don’t feel like, personally.”

Elliott on the upcoming “CHASE” documentary: “I was looking forward to having Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) down and showing him a little bit of our home state. I feel like people think about Georgia and they think about Atlanta. They don’t think about the greater Atlanta area and the northern side of the state, which is where I have lived and grown up in for the majority of my life. I got to show him a little bit of my day-to-day life and some of the things that I do. We talked a lot about racing and my career, which I really enjoyed. It was great to have him in town and for him to make the trip. I’m looking forward to everyone having the chance to watch and enjoy it.”




William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on returning to New Hampshire: “New Hampshire is fairly difficult. I feel like it’s a track that, historically, the veteran drivers do really well at with their experience there. It’s just a tough racetrack. You have to have a lot of grip in your car to run well. And honestly, this is one of the tracks that Rudy (Fugle) and I have done the best at in our careers. We have some testing notes there and know what works well and what the car needs to do. I’m honestly pretty excited about going to New Hampshire this weekend. It’s a track that Rudy and I have been looking forward to going to all season long.”

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on heading to New Hampshire: "This race at New Hampshire has been circled on my calendar since I started the job at Hendrick Motorsports. That’s how much I enjoy going there. It’s a track that I’ve just taken to, honestly, and I don’t know exactly why that’s the case, but I’ve been able to figure it out early on. I enjoy the challenge it brings with how crucial grip is, and like most short tracks, how important it is to have drive off to set yourself up on entry for the next set of corners. It’s a fine line. I feel like we have a good idea what want to have in the car when we unload. Plus, I feel like Hendrick Motorsports has made quite a few gains with its short track program which only helps heading to a track like this.”



Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on taking on New Hampshire Motor Speedway: “We’ve really improved our short-track program for the No. 48 Ally team. We struggled at Richmond Raceway for a long time and this year we went and won there. Hopefully, we can take some of what we learned there to be good at New Hampshire.”

Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on preparing for Sunday’s race at Loudon: “New Hampshire is just like any other racetrack. When you run well, it is a lot of fun to drive and when you struggle, it is not a lot of fun to drive. Coming off of a Richmond (Raceway) win and some of our road course success, I feel like we can go into this weekend’s race at New Hampshire with some positive confidence and compete for a top five, if not a win. As a team, we have to stay focused and positive on Sunday.”

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