TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Kentucky Speedway – June 27, 2014
· Kyle Busch (third) was the first Toyota driver to the finish line in Friday evening’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Kentucky Speedway.
· Busch crossed the finish line behind race-winner Kevin Harvick and second-place Brad Keselowski in the 200-lap event at the 1.5-mile speedway.
· Busch, who started on the outside of row one, led the field once for 38 laps (of 200).
· Camry driver Elliott Sadler (10th) also registered a top-10 finish.
· James Buescher (14th) recorded a top-15 finish in his No. 99 Camry.
· Sadler’s finish enabled him to move into the lead in the NNS championship point standings. He now holds a four point lead over second-place Chase Elliott.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
What happened during the last few restarts of the race?
“We didn’t have the car to beat so shouldn’t be upset with a third, but there at the end we had the opportunity to win the race and through the middle part of the race I passed the 5 (Kevin Harvick) car and just didn’t have enough on the final restarts unfortunately. Not enough speed for the first five or so laps after a restart and then I could kind of start inching my way away a little bit. Just not enough there to hold Kevin (Harvick) off. He just flat drove right by me on the restart. We’re all wide open so I’d say there’s a problem under the hood a little bit.”
ELLIOTT SADLER, No. 11 OneMain Financial Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
How was the race tonight?
“I think tonight was survival of the fittest. It just seemed like everybody seemed to have some issues or some problems. We had a really fast race car at the beginning of the race — a top-five car. We tried two tires there and it didn’t work on our car. We lost a lot of track position then we had to come in there at the end and I think I restarted either 19th or 20th there — and drove back up to 10th. Chase (Elliott) had some issues and Regan (Smith) had some issues and we just kind of stayed out of trouble and battled back to a top-10. We are the point leader, but we still have a long ways to go starting at Daytona next week. We’ll go down there and see if we can have some of the same success that we had at Talladega a couple weeks ago.”
Did the team plan a two-tire stop before the race or during the race?
“I think it was something that just came up. We looked at our notes last year and we took two tires here at the end and finished second behind (Brad) Keselowski — so we had that in the back of our head. And actually I didn’t know we were taking two until I came in and the car went up on the right side and they said two tires and it was too late for me to call him off. I felt like we were a little too tight at the time, but you have to take chances. These guys, sometimes you have to shake up the dice a little bit and see what happens that you can change the outcome some. It may have just bit us a little bit, but we had to do something.”
How much will you focus on points in the upcoming races?
“It’s too early to worry about points. One good thing about next week, we ran very well there in the spring race at Daytona and we ran very well at Talladega. It’s the Nationwide Series ‘Dash for Cash’ starts next week so we definitely want to be eligible for that so we want to go to Daytona and do good. You can’t play conservative. Yes we have the points lead and I’m happy about that because the last two weeks have killed us. Michigan running second and overheating and have to pit under green with 15 laps to go, and then running fifth at Road America and have a flat tire with four laps to go and come out running 20th. So, for us to sit here right now with the points lead is pretty amazing after the last couple weeks we’ve had. We’re going to go to Daytona and race like crazy and see what happens. That’s a fun track to go and try to run up front, lead laps and go to victory lane. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”
JAMES BUESCHER, No. 99 Toyota Care Toyota Camry, RAB Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
How did the car handle in the race?
“The Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Kentucky Camry was driving okay. We made adjustments throughout the night. The first adjustment we went way too far and tightened it up way too much and had to take some of that back out. Trying to find the happy medium to help our loose entry and tight exit and we tried to free up the exit and hurt the entry more and try to fix the entry and hurt the exit more. It’s kind of a battle with that all night. We came in and got fuel only when a quick caution came out and it played into our favor on those green flag stops and got a ton of track position. It was a great call my Matt Lucas (crew chief) to do that and get us in that position. We’ve been lacking speed all weekend so to get up there and just have to hold everybody off until the end was our best play. All those late-race cautions hurt us — every time there was a caution everybody was bunched back up and I was really, really loose in the pack on the restarts. Good progress for us though and we got more drivability in the car, we just have to find some speed.”
BLAKE KOCH, No. 44 TriStar Motorsports Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 19th
ERIC MCCLURE, No. 14 Hefty Ultimate/Reynolds Wrap Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 24th
MIKE BLISS, No. 19 Trane Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 34th
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Resers Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 36th
What happened that took you out of the race?
“I just spun out and wrecked. It’s just been out of control for three days and I probably just should have slowed down and ran 12th I guess, but it just got away from me.”
JEFF GREEN, No. 10 SupportMilitary.org Toyota Camry, TriStar Motorsports
Finishing Position: 39th
