TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Post-Race Notes & Quotes
Kentucky Speedway – June 28, 2014
· Kyle Busch (second) was the first Toyota driver to the finish line in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Kentucky Speedway.
· Brad Keselowski was the race-winner in the 267 lap, 400 mile event at the 1.5-mile oval in the ‘Bluegrass State.’
· Busch started 18th and led the race once for a total of 31 laps.
· Camry driver Matt Kenseth also registered a top-10 with a fourth-place finish.
· In the championship point standings, Kenseth sits fifth and Busch is in 10th-place.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
How did your car handle during the race?
“We were a lot better than we’ve been all year long and that’s a testament to what the guys did overnight fixing this M&M’s Camry into what I could drive today and making it fast. We had good speed, so I was real proud of that effort. I got so loose there at the end — the loosest I’ve gotten all day and the loosest I’ve been in traffic all day too. I just couldn’t hold on and couldn’t keep it where I wanted it, and was sliding all over the place and just trying not to wreck basically.”
Did you feel the lead you built up would be enough to stay ahead of Brad Keselowski?
“I thought I did and obviously with clean air you have to take advantage of it as much as you can, and so I tried to hustle as much as I could there early to get a big lead and once we got to traffic I knew I would back up a little bit. I was the loosest I was the whole race and the loosest I was there in the end, especially in traffic too. I was trying to hang onto it as best I could and not wreck — I about did probably 10 times in that last run. The guys made some great adjustments, I can’t say enough about the brains of the operation, Dave Rogers (crew chief), and all the guys last night and this morning trying to figure out some good changes and they did that and all the guys here that move all the wrenches and put it all together. The M&M’s guys here, they did a great job for me this weekend — it was a long shot from where we’ve been this weekend let alone this year and the most competitive we’ve been. We’ll see how we can keep that speed going on in the weeks to come.”
How important was clean air during the race?
“Clean air is always king and it was again tonight. You just couldn’t really get into the corners behind people, you’re carrying so much speed here getting into the corners and turn three is so flat that you can’t enter the corner down there. The guys did a great job, this M&M’s Toyota was the best it’s been all year long and we certainly have come a long ways here this weekend — let alone this year. True testament to Dave Rogers (crew chief) and all these guys — they went to work last night and this morning and got it a lot better. Appreciate that and we certainly wanted to win. I tried to stretch it as much as I could there early when I had the clean air and then when we got to traffic I just backed up too much and got way too loose — the loosest I’ve been all race long. We just had to come home second tonight to the best car.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How were you able to come back from the flat tire early in the race?
“Just had a great team. They did a really good job on pit road on the pit stop there and we gained a whole bunch of spots. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) had some good adjustments in the middle of the race that got us back in the game. It was certainly a positive weekend. We ran a lot better — we’ve been struggling at these bigger tracks all year and I thought this was a big step forward. I know Denny (Hamlin) had a problem at the beginning and I thought Kyle (Busch) was real competitive — I thought all three of our cars were pretty good all weekend.”
Is this a sign that the team is getting closer on setups with the new rules package?
“I feel like we’re gaining on it. I felt like overall it was a positive weekend. We were pretty quick yesterday and I didn’t get a good lap qualifying, but I thought we had a pretty good car. We were pretty competitive most of the night tonight. With this aero package, it’s so hard to pass and you get behind and you really can’t go anywhere. You have about four laps after a restart and that’s pretty much all the passing you can get done. They had a great stop and got me good track position and I was able to get up two or three spots for the restart and hang onto fourth.”
What was the team able to adjust during the race to improve performance?
“About the middle of the race, Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) made some good adjustments and got the car a lot better. All weekend I felt like we were much more competitive than we’ve been lately. Overall, it was a positive and you always want to be a little bit better and be up there at the end. When we got that flat tire it got us a lap down and they did a good job coming back from that and getting some track position. After about lap five after a restart, with this aero package — it’s just hard to catch people and really hard to pass. You had your work cut out for you and you had to be real good.”
Are two JGR top-five finishes a good sign for the team moving forward?
“I sure hope so. I felt bad that Denny (Hamlin) had his problem there and we have to get to the bottom of what happened there. Denny qualified really well so I was hoping all three of us would have a good night.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 23rd
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 26th
COLE WHITT, No. 26 Speed Stick Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 28th
RYAN TRUEX, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 33rd
ALEX BOWMAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 36th
JOE NEMECHEK, No. 66 Vydox Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 39th
MIKE BLISS, No. 93 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 41st
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 42nd
What happened to cause your accident?
“It looked like the tire just came apart. A product of a green race track and we were one lap from getting that competition caution. My car really didn’t give me any indication we were burning up the right front (tire). I made sure I kept it under me the entire run. Just couldn’t last the 30 laps that it needed to.”
Are you okay after the hard hit?
“It was a hard hit, but it really feels as good as ever because we’ve really worked on the interiors of our cars trying to work on situations like this. Last year, I had a tire blow out here and it hurt way worse than it did this time.”
Did you have any warning the tire was going down?
“We needed that competition caution one lap sooner. I made sure on the green race track you always want to keep your right front (tire) under you to make sure you don’t over use it and you know tire wear is going to excessive. I didn’t expect that at all. I just heard it pop and when it did it was very reminiscent of last year. We’re starting to get our mile-and-a-half program together — I see our teammates are in the top-10 as well. Joe Gibbs Racing is finishing to take a turn for the better and wish we could have seen how far we could have went tonight, but proud of this FedEx team.”
Do you know exactly what happened to the tire?
“It looked like the right front (tire) just delaminated and blew out. Similar to a lot of the tire problems that we’ve seen throughout the year. A green race track — things like that. It just couldn’t make it long enough for us.”
Did you hurt your foot from the accident?
“Pressing the brake pedal and you are obviously pressing it all the way to the floor and when you take the hit to the right like that it shoves your foot into the gas pedal and the side of my foot hit the pedal. By the time I got in the ambulance it went away — it’s just a stinger really.”
