Kurt Busch Claims Runner-Up Result in Music City
NASHVILLE (June 26, 2022) – Kurt Busch claimed the runner-up result at Nashville Superspeedway in Sunday night’s rain-delayed NASCAR Cup Series race after a late-race caution forced the leading Toyota Camrys of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. to make a call to pit road for fresh tires. But when much of the field stayed on the track, including race-winner Chase Elliott, the Camry TRD group had to settle for finishes outside the top-five.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Nashville Superspeedway
Race 17 of 36 – 399 miles, 300 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Chase Elliott*
2nd, KURT BUSCH
3rd, Ryan Blaney*
4th, Kyle Larson*
5th, Ross Chastain*
6th, DENNY HAMLIN
8th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
12th, BUBBA WALLACE
21st, KYLE BUSCH
22nd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
KURT BUSCH, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What more did you need to beat Chase Elliott on the final restart?
“I got soft on him. I should have been throwing some fenders and moving some momentum around. I didn’t stick with our strength. We didn’t have many strengths tonight. We just executed really well. The restarts were so-so and long run speed was good. I just needed to stick with our strength and I messed up. I want to thank all my guys at 23XI. We have a great group of guys and girls. The way that we’re running, a second is cool, but we’re here for wins with the Playoff situation. Thanks to Monster Energy, Toyota and all of our associate sponsors. This Camry and all the TRD Camrys were awesome. I just hate it when we don’t get into victory lane and I was right there.”
What did you want to do differently on the restart?
“I wanted to throw some fenders, but I didn’t get the job done. Everybody will be smiling, but I let them down. I should have come up with a better plan.”
Were you always staying out on the final caution?
“We were going to stay out no matter what and I needed to start throwing fenders to move people around. I didn’t get after it and I made too many mistakes and didn’t stick with our strength. I’m not going to say what our strength was, but we did a lot of things good. We didn’t have one exceptional item. We’re second with our Toyota Camry. I want to do it over, but you don’t get those at this elite level and Chase (Elliott) got the job done.”
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