Toyota NNS New Hampshire Post-Race Notes & Quotes

TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
New Hampshire Motor Speedway – July 13, 2013

Camry driver Kyle Busch won Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS)

Busch started from the pole in the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 54 Monster Energy Camry and led the field three times for 141 laps.

In his 150th Nationwide Series start driving a Camry, Busch registered his 47th win behind the wheel of a Camry and his 58th career series victory, as well as his seventh triumph this season.  Earlier this season, Busch picked up first- place trophies at Phoenix (March 2), Bristol (March 16), California (March 23), Texas (April 12), Darlington (May 10) and Charlotte (May 25).

The Las Vegas-native also picked up his fourth win of the season from the pole position — tying Sam Ard’s record for wins from the pole in a season (1983).

The 28-year-old driver also earned his fourth NNS win in eight races at the New Hampshire track.  He has won four of the last five NNS events at NHMS, and Busch is the only driver with more than one series victory at the facility.

Camry driver Brian Vickers finished as the runner-up to his teammate Busch at the 1.058-mile speedway.

Toyota drivers led every circuit in the 213-lap event.  In addition to Busch’s 141 laps led, Vickers led the field twice for 63 laps and Matt Kenseth (ninth) was at the front of the field for nine circuits.

By leading 141 laps, Busch exceeded 1,000 laps led for the season and has now paced 1,114 laps in 2013.  The Camry driver also extended his record for NNS laps led to 12,085.

Other Camry drivers in the field at NHMS included Alex Bowman (10th), Mike Bliss (17th), Elliott Sadler (18th), Parker Kligerman (20th), Chad Hackenbracht (21st), Joe Nemechek (22nd), Tony Raines (29th), Eric McClure (31st), Brett Butler (36th), Blake Koch (37th) and Jeff Green (40th).

Three Toyota drivers are in the top-10 of the unofficial NNS point standings — Sadler (fifth), Vickers (sixth) and Kligerman (10th).

KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position:  1st
How does it feel to be in victory lane?
“Well, got to thank the Lord for one, and thank my beautiful wife Samantha for everything she does.  It’s obviously a lot of fun to come out here and enjoy what we love to do most and participate in this sport, but this Monster Energy Camry was awesome today.  We’re just working as we could here at Loudon and this flat race track you definitely have got to feel everything — whether it’s in the steering wheel or in your butt.  At the start of practice, it didn’t start that well, but Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and these guys they never gave up.  They dug in.  They worked really hard this weekend.  They worked hard for this one.  Although it seemed like we were really good, we had to work for it.  Good day for JGR it seemed like — Brian (Vickers) coming home second and I don’t know where the other ones were, but all in all pretty happy with us being in victory lane here.”

Did you have to save fuel at the end of the race?
“We did.  I guess I did a good job saving.  I don’t know.  Man, this was a great race car.  It didn’t start out great, but these guys worked really hard and did a good job and was able to really work on the race car to make it a lot better for me to get rid of some of the bouncing — the bumps — and be able to turn through the center.  Monster Energy Camry was awesome, so these guys did a great job.  Can’t say enough about Toyota, TRD, JGR engines, Nationwide Insurance, of course the fans – we appreciate them being here today and supporting us and supporting NASCAR and just we’re looking forward to tomorrow too — so everybody come on back.”

Was it difficult to recover from the pit road error?
“When I had to come back through there was a little bit harder than I wanted it to be, especially when I got to (Brian) Vickers.  He was fast enough to hold us a little bit, but I knew I was the faster car if I could just get by him I could go away. Just so hard to pass here, especially on a teammate, you know.  You don’t want to rough them up any, get into them or take a chance of wrecking two cars.  There was a lot of bold moves out there today with some lapped cars and stuff like that.  It was certainly interesting to pass and try to work your passes and time them up right, but it just — that’s what this race track is all about.  It’s certainly not easy.  It’s a difficult one and when you win here you certainly get your worth.”

Has New Hampshire been a good track for you?
“Yeah, it certainly has.  Unfortunately, I thought we had a good car last year, but had some fuel pickup problems, so wasn’t able to run the whole race.  But all in all, great to be back in victory lane here at Loudon (N.H.).  Just tough race, especially passing people.  When I got back in traffic there after our bad pit stop it took me a little bit to pass the leader and it was really tough, especially being a teammate — you don’t want to get into them, rough them up any.”

Was fuel a concern at the end of the race?
“Yeah, it was, of course.  It was for everybody.  You just never know how much you’re saving when you’re out there running around making laps.  I felt like I was doing a good job of rolling out of the gas early and just letting the car roll when I was out there leading and just trying to protect everything I had — save fuel, save brakes, save tires in case there were late cautions there I could get out and get a jump on everybody and be able to have something to race with.  Felt like that worked out for us and it was really good.  We had a really fast car.”

How did strategy play into saving fuel?
“We pitted two laps after Brian (Vickers), so I think that was part of it.  I think the other part of it too was Brian and the 3 (Austin Dillon) were running really, really hard trying to beat each other, obviously, and race really hard there where when I got out front when the two-second lead or whatever like that I started rolling out of the gas early getting into the corners, not using a whole lot of brake and just kind of saving my tires, saving my brakes, saving the fuel and doing what I could to just be ready like Adam kept saying on the radio in case there is a green-white-checker to have something left to go race at the end.  I think that all just compounded.  I bet you there’s still probably a couple gallons left.”

ADAM STEVENS, crew chief, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What were you thinking during the final laps?
“Once you get in that situation at the end, there’s nothing you can do except ride it out.  Nobody knows if you’re going to have one or multiple green-white-checkers and how many laps you’re going to go.  I knew we had a buffer of fuel.  I didn’t know exactly how much it was and when you get down to the small numbers there, the calculations get a little fuzzy.  If he’s able to save a little bit under green or you don’t know how much exactly he’s saves under yellow — you just don’t know. You’ve just got to go for it and hope for the best, but we had enough for a burnout and he drove it in.  He must have done a good job saving when he didn’t have to push it too hard, but that whole deal was setup by the green flag stop to be honest with you where guys started short pitting, trying to make time on us and he was able to run some good lap times when it came down to it there.  Got through traffic pretty well, so we kept him out there as long as we felt safe to set it up for that situation at the end.  That’s probably what sealed the deal for us I think.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position:  2nd
What was the difference between first and second?
“Track position I think was most definitely.  These guys did a great job with the Dollar General Toyota.  We had a really good car there at the end of the race.  I think whoever is going to be on the front was going to win the race and the 54 (Kyle Busch) was probably a little bit better than us.  The run before he couldn’t get by us.  I thought we were equal to him on the last run.  I got something on the grill.  We were right there with him racing him on the beginning of that last long run and I got something on the grill.  The temps went to 260.  I just started losing power down the straightaway.  He got away from us. Once I got that off the grill we were okay.  But, the restarts were a mess and then I ran out of fuel on the last restart — it started stumbling.  Then I ran out of fuel coming to the line.  I really want to win one of these races.  This team deserves it — these guys just gave me a great car today and I hate it’s not in victory lane.”

How nervous were you about fuel at the end of the race?
“Nervous.  These guys do a great job.  Kevin (Kidd, crew chief) does a great job with the fuel mileage.  They gave me a great Dollar General Toyota today.  The car performed well all day.  I think it came down to track position.  Kyle (Busch) and I were pretty event at the end.  He drove a great race.  Whoever didn’t make a mistake and whoever had the track position was going to end up with a win.  It was a great battle most of the day.  There at the end of the race we had some trash on the grill and the engine temp got really hot.  We started losing a bit of power and we lost some track distance to Kyle.  Once we got that off we were okay.  But, I ran out of fuel there at the end.  I felt like he (Kyle) was able to save a little bit more.  I stumbled a bit on the restart and then coming out of (turn) four to the line.”

Could you have caught Kyle Busch if the race stayed green at the end?
“Maybe.  Like I said, I think our cars are pretty comparable.  And if he would have had one slip, we would have been there to pounce on it.  We got inside, and inside’s definitely not a preferred line unless you have the full fender in front of him.  I’m not sure if we could have got that, but we would have given it a heck of a effort and it would have been a great race for the fans.  I hate that caution came out because I think we had a shot at it.  It is what it is.  We really want to win one of these races.  The team deserves it.  These Dollar General guys just do a great job with this car.  It was a solid points day, but we still want to win.”

MATT KENSETH, No. 18 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position:  9th

ALEX BOWMAN, No. 99 Toyota Camry, RAB Racing
Finishing Position:  10th
How was your race?
“I think if anybody would have told me I’d be sitting in the media center for anything after how we were in practice and throughout the beginning of the race, I would have laughed.  Just got to thank everybody at RAB Racing for working really hard and never giving up because we struggled pretty hard here.  But, just got thank School Tip Line for staying on board. Chris Rice (crew chief) made a lot of really good calls that race and some people kind of decided to take themselves out at the end and we were just there and capitalized on the opportunity and brought it home 10th.”

MIKE BLISS, No. 19 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position:  17th

ELLIOTT SADLER, No. 11 SportClips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position:  18th

PARKER KLIGERMAN, No. 77 North American Power Toyota Camry, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position:  20th

CHAD HACKENBRACHT, No. 44 Tastee Apple Inc. Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position:  21st

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Starting Position:  22nd

TONY RAINES, No. 70 Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Finishing Position:  29th

ERIC MCCLURE, No. 14 Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position:  31st

BRETT BUTLER, No. 24 5 Star Toyota Camry, SR2 Motorsports
Finishing Position:  36th

BLAKE KOCH, No. 00 Toyota Camry, SR2 Motorsports
Finishing Position:  37th

JEFF GREEN, No. 10 Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position:  40th