TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Bristol Motor Speedway – March 15, 2014
· Toyota driver Kyle Busch won his second NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race of the 2014 season at Bristol Motor Speedway.
· Busch now has 16 NASCAR national series points race wins at Bristol, which is more than any driver at any track in NASCAR national series history — five Sprint Cup wins, seven NNS victories and four Camping World Truck Series triumphs.
· The victory is the seventh triumph by a Toyota NNS driver at the Tennessee short track — Busch has won six of the seven and former Camry driver Joey Logano won once.
· Busch led a total of 120 laps (of 300) en route to his third consecutive race win at the half-mile speedway.
· Fellow Camry driver Matt Kenseth led a race-high 178 laps in the race en route to his fifth place finish.
· Busch’s win is his 65th career and 54th driving a Camry in the NNS.
· Other Toyota drivers in the field included James Buescher (13th), Elliott Sadler (17th), Joe Nemechek (19th), Will Kimmel (22nd), Mike Bliss (26th), Eric McClure (27th), Ruben Garcia Jr. (33rd), Kelly Admiraal (35th), Matt Carter (37th) and Blake Koch (40th).
· Two Camry drivers are currently in the top-10 in the NNS unofficial point standings – Sadler (fifth) and Buescher (eighth).
KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position:
What did you battle in the race?
“The biggest thing was just how much the track changed from practice — it was entirely different, not even close. We really had to change our car a lot today. Adam (Stevens, crew chief) made some really good calls on the pit box and tried to get me freed up and trying to get me to where I could roll and make some speed up. This Monster Energy Toyota Camry was awesome. It was in practice and it was again here in the race. A couple of those guys got close — (Matt) Kenseth, he was really fast. He was lightening fast there much of the day and I was having a hard time catching him. I was just able to bide my time through traffic a little bit better than he did and he got stuck and I passed him kind of the same way he did to me earlier in the race. Hopefully, we can sweep the weekend.”
Is it special to have won three Nationwide Series races in a row at Bristol?
“It’s cool and anytime you’re able to succeed it’s obviously fun. I have a great bunch of guys and everyone on the A-team and the B-team here — the whole 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry race team does a great job. Everyone at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), JGR Engines, chassis, bodies — Nationwide Insurance and the fans, we appreciate their support and being with us here today and cheering us on or cheering others on — it’s always fun to win here in Bristol for us and for anybody. Glad it was us today.”
Did you spend a lot of time loosening the car up during the race?
“We did. The track was entirely different from practice. Practice it was all along the bottom, everybody was running down there or maybe a half a groove off the bottom or so. Really it was just nowhere near where it was today. We had to make a lot of adjustments to our race car throughout the race and make it better. It came in and it worked and the guys did a great job. Adam Stevens (crew chief) made some really great calls for us — I appreciate him and being able to get ourselves here in victory lane again.”
What makes you so strong at Bristol?
“I definitely like coming to Bristol — I always have — my first time here I remember was 2004 and it was a test with my Hendrick Nationwide guys at that time. The throttle hung getting into turn one and I just killed a car. That wasn’t any fun. Coming back and learning, I’ve definitely gone through some trials here with the Cup cars. The first couple of times here was a rough go around for me. Then sort of got it figured out and was just able to start running up front, started leading laps, started winning races and that’s been the biggest thing. Why all that is? I don’t know, I just enjoy coming to Bristol, to the banked race tracks. This reminds me of one of my favorite race tracks — Winchester Speedway in Indiana that I raced late models at and just a real high speed race track. It takes guts to go fast I guess, especially at Winchester for sure. This is a place that’s just like it and now with the top side being what it is versus the bottom, it seems like guts prevail here little bit more as well.”
Do you expect the Cup race to run on the high line with the same type of tire wear?
“The line, it’s going to be just like it was here the last couple of times. It’s going to be up high. The Nationwide cars for some reason, I think it’s motor, but they just don’t quite have the motor that the Cup cars do where you don’t have as much deceleration time and as much acceleration time. The Cup cars will actually start running higher — they will get all the way almost up to the wall. You’ll see like it was here last fall, probably last spring was somewhat like that, but last fall was definitely way up there. I think we’ll see some of that definitely. It’s crazy because the grind they meant to screw it up and it actually added grip to the race track. Once you get it rubbered in and once you fill in that concrete it’s faster than the bottom because it’s so much smoother. The tires aren’t chattering across the race track just developing heat and developing air pressure — they adhere to the race track better up there. That’s why the top is so good and trying to go low and trying to pass somebody on the bottom, you just go down there and you have to stop because you’re car just won’t turn. That’s kind of why the top was so good. I think if we race tomorrow with no rain, I think tire wear isn’t going to be a problem, but I think with a little bit of rain I think you’ll see the first run on tires for guys is going to be a little bit worse than the rest of the race. Whenever that happens, we’ll find out.”
ADAM STEVENS, crew chief, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How challenging were the conditions today in order to make adjustment calls?
“I think Kyle (Busch) hit on something big there. The practice track conditions — it was so cold after opening inspection day on Thursday that they made us load our cars in the truck because it was going to get below freezing and we were worried about the blocks freezing. Today it had to be pushing 70 and the affect that had on the track and the track temp and the way the track took rubber was tremendous. Tires were a big deal until the track really, really rubbered up there at the end — as it was taking rubber that rubber was coming off the tires so you had to really watch your tire wear. The top groove opened up — it wasn’t really there at all in practice, which is a bit unusual. Putting that rubber down was wearing the tires aggressively. We were borderline shocked when we saw the tires off the first set. That kind of played into our pit strategy there. We had a plan for that. Was surprised that the balance was as tight as it was given practice, but I think we had good cars and had good drivers here and have got a good notebook so we don’t typically make a bad adjustment and have to second guess it or get it back out as we go. Thankfully, Kyle’s feedback was spot on and we were able to get it dialed in.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 GameStop Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How was the race?
“We had a good car early in the whole race and just kind of got picked in lapped traffic. I was being as aggressive as I could without wrecking. Kyle (Busch) got by me in lapped traffic and that was kind of the difference honestly. After that we had four or five restarts or something — we were on the bottom in every one. We would lose two or three spots like everybody would that started on the bottom and just could never get it back. These guys gave me a car to win today and I didn’t get it done, but it was a good run for us and hopefully we’ll get some yet this year.”
What was the traffic like during the race?
“It was crazy, it was just like Vegas. There were seven or eight of them that were really struggling today so you caught them a lot. Every 25 laps it seemed like you would catch that same group racing. It was tough to get through there. They all gave you a lot of room, but the track changes a lot during the day and then I got by Kyle (Busch) for the lead early in lapped traffic and he got me back like that. Once he got the lead, it was hard to beat him unless we could have got back to the outside lane somehow.”
JAMES BUESCHER, No. 99 Rheem Toyota Camry, RAB Racing
Finishing Position: 13th
How did the car handle in the race?
“It started off the car was handling pretty good and then on old tires it just kept getting tighter and tighter — losing front grip in the left and right front tires. Just had to fight to hang on until we could get some adjustments in it. We made it a little bit better on the first stop and we kept fighting. Lapped traffic was really difficult because the top line ended up being the fastest line and if you were on the bottom trying to pass somebody then it was hard to make the move and get clear because the top had so much momentum. Even if it was a car that was significantly slower. It was a long day for us, but after the last stop we thought we freed it up more and the car was way tighter and it turns out that we had something break on the sway bar. We had to work hard today and we’re not down working because we’re the random in tech. Almost got a top-10. We’ll keep digging and go on to California.”
What happened between you and Ryan Reed?
“The top is where the momentum is and that’s where I was running. He (Ryan Reed) was working hard to pass me on the bottom and I was leaving the bottom wide open and he bounced off my door at the start-finish line. Welcome to Bristol — if you bounce off somebody’s door at the start-finish line on the inside then you’re going to hit the inside wall. It’s just the nature of this place. Momentum is on the top and if you get too aggressive on the bottom then you can lose it pretty easy.”
ELLIOTT SADLER, No. 11 OneMain Financial Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 17th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 Pelletgrillusa.com Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Finishing Position: 19th
WILL KIMMEL, No. 44 Ingersoll Rand Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 22nd
MIKE BLISS, No. 19 TriStar Motorsports Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 26th
ERIC MCCLURE, No. 14 Hefty Ultimate/Reynolds Wrap Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 27th
RUBEN GARCIA, No. 24 Be/More Toyota Camry, SR2 Motorsports
Finishing Position: 33rd
KELLY ADMIRAAL, No. 29 Swan Rentals Toyota Camry, RAB Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
MATT CARTER, No. 13 Head Rush Clothing Toyota Camry
Finishing Position: 37th
BLAKE KOCH, No. 10 SupportMillitary.org Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 40th
