- Toyota driver Kyle Busch was victorious in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
- The Las Vegas-native started fourth and led twice for a total of 95 laps (of 301) en route to his third victory of the 2015 season – he also won at the road course at Sonoma Raceway and the intermediate track of Kentucky Speedway.
- Busch has earned the three victories in the past four races of the season and now sits 58 points out of the 30th position in the point standings in order to qualify for this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.
- This is the fifth win by a Camry driver at the one-mile New Hampshire oval and second career win for Busch at the track.
- Camry driver Carl Edwards started from the pole and led a total of 19 laps en route to a seventh-place finish. Matt Kenseth also scored a top-10 finish for Toyota at New Hampshire with a sixth-place result>
- Four Camry drivers are currently in the top-20 in the unofficial NSCS point standings – Kenseth (seventh), Hamlin (11th), Clint Bowyer (16th) and Edwards (17th).
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Did you ever imagine to have this much success after your recovery?
“I don’t think any of us would have. This is such an awesome win and such an awesome comeback. I just can’t say enough about everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, the work that they’ve put in. Our cars are a lot better than what they were last year. It’s so much fun to win these races and to win with this group of guys – Adam Stevens (crew chief) and this bunch, all my pit crew since 2008, they deserve all this. Can’t say enough about Interstate Batteries – Happy Birthday Norm Miller – and M&M’s Crispy, Toyota, Sprint. This Camry was awesome today. Of course the fans, this is a crazy sport and you never know how it’s always going to turn out, but that coming to pit road I thought I had a tire going down and there was oil on the track. Luckily I got back to the lead lap before the yellow came out, but that saved us right there.”
Did you know and do you feel the pass to get on the lead lap was the pass to ultimately win the race?
“I didn’t know and it did. For five laps I just drove as hard as I could when I got off pit road and knew I needed to get those guys. They were telling me the 38 (David Gilliland) was in the lucky dog spot and once I got there, I was like ok, what else do I have to do to get back on the lead lap. I figured it was the 4 (Kevin Harvick) still and it was. The 4 and the 2 (Brad Keselowski) were really the class of the field I felt like today. Our car was a close third, but on the long runs our frontend would die and we just couldn’t turn. We’ve got some work to do to get better to be able to outright win this thing when we get back here in a couple months.”
How pleased are you with the points gain in the past several weeks with the victories?
“We just have to keep doing our deal every weekend and it’s been getting better and better. It’s certainly the right thing to do is to win races and to gather those points, but to do it in the fashion we have been – just winning these things, that’s just spectacular and that’s awesome.”
How special is it to get another victory in such a short period?
“This is cool. I just can’t say enough about this group of guys behind me, everyone on this team and Adam Stevens (crew chief) and my pit crew. The group we’ve developed and the relationship we’ve had over the years with my pit crew from 2008. This is just an awesome feeling and of course thanks to Interstate Batteries. Have to thank Toyota, this was a fast Camry today. I thank everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing for the work they’ve done and the effort that they’ve put in. We weren’t as good as we needed to be last year, but this year it seems to be that we are.”
What went through your mind when you pitted late believing you had a tire going down?
“I knew I’d been running it hard and I’d been trying to catch (Matt) Kenseth in front of me that entire run and I had just been so tight that I couldn’t get going and couldn’t get a rhythm going to close in on Kenseth and I figured I just chewed the right front off of it because I went into the corner and the thing just went straight one time so I was like, ‘Man, I’m down to cords now, that’s it, it’s done.’ We shot to pit road and got it changed there and evidently it was oil on the race track that just made the car slip so bad from out from under me. We got a lucky break and I hauled butt man, those five laps I ran were five qualifying laps through traffic trying to get back up to the front and pass (Kevin) Harvick to stay on the lead lap. That was our saving bucket right there. That was what we needed to do.”
How special is it to have your family in victory lane with you for the third time in four weeks?
“He’s (Brexton Busch) awake this time, I don’t know if he’s quite happy with it yet, but he’ll figure that out – it’s a good thing. This is awesome just with the whole family and this team is like a family and everybody that works so hard and pulls together. This is such a dream come true. Who would have ever thought with me coming back after my rehabilitation and everything that I’d be able to win three races like this. We had the Lord with us here today, we got a lucky break with that yellow and the way we put tires on and everything and we got out front. That was all it took, we were really good when it mattered.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
How was the race today?
“It was a good day. We got caught on pit road – had a mix up there with our speed and got behind. Really we made up for that. I don’t think that was really a factor at the end. We had a really good car, we just didn’t have as good of a car as the top three or four there. A couple guys got by us on four (tires). It was a good day – you always want more, but it was a decent day.”
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
How strong was your car in the race?
“We had a really fast Sport Clips Camry yesterday when the clouds were out and today the sun kind of threw us off. Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and the guys did a great job though and made the most of what we had. We got another JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) Toyota in victory lane. I’m telling you, I was so hard on that engine throughout the race, I cannot say enough about TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and everything they do. Good day and the Sport Clips car didn’t win, but I’m sure Kyle (Busch) is going to get his hair trimmed there, that’s what he said.”
How hard was it to pass in the race?
“Pretty hard. I’d love to have something closer to that Kentucky package, but NASCAR is working that way so hopefully they will keep going.”
Did you try to keep up with the various strategies from teams during the race?
“There were a lot of different strategies, I didn’t even try to keep track of it. Darian (Grubb, crew chief) does such a great job with that and I don’t even worry about it. It’s kind of neat and that’s kind of fun in a way. We had some long green flag runs and it was kind of fun to be able to work around. Just relying less on that aero I think like we did at Kentucky would help us be able to pass.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
DAVID RAGAN, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 18th
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 34th
MATT DIBENEDETTO, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
JEB BURTON, No. 26 Maxim Fantasy Sports Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 41st
JJ YELEY, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 43rd
