- Matt Kenseth (third) registered a top-five finish in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Bristol Motor Speedway behind race-winner Joey Logano and runner-up Brad Keselowski.
- Kenseth started 16th and led the field twice for 62 laps (of 500) en route to his ninth top-five finish of the season. He has recorded 19 top-10 finishes in 30 career starts at Bristol.
- Clint Bowyer (17th) also recorded a top-20 result at the half-mile Tennessee bullring.
- Kenseth is currently fifth in the unofficial NSCS point standings, 94 points behind leader Jeff Gordon. Camry drivers Bowyer (10th), Kyle Busch (17th), Brian Vickers (19th) and Hamlin (20th) are also in the top-20 in the point standings following Bristol.
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Why did the team choose not to pit for tires?
“I just knew that new tires for the setup we had tonight and what our car would do in traffic — I just knew that clean air was going to be worth more than new tires. Maybe we could have gotten tires and beaten those guys — we’ll never know. I just had such a hard time. I knew clean air would cover up a lot of problems. We missed it a little bit tonight, but overall it’s a good night for our Dollar General 75th Anniversary Camry. Man, I wanted to win that thing in the worst way, but I just couldn’t hold them off.”
Did you think the ‘no tire’ decision could hold off the cars with four tires on the final restart?
“I knew when they lined up a couple rows behind me that it was going to be hard to hang on with old tires. We had to at least go down swinging. It was a good night for our Dollar General Camry — we were just a little off all night. We were never good enough to go out there and really dominate and control the race. We had a decent car — felt like we had a top-five car and came home third so it could have been worse.”
Was there discussion about pitting for tires?
“It was a discussion — we were still talking about it all the way to the cone. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) told me to pit and I decided at the last minute not to. We were looking over some stats this morning and talking and I just wasn’t sure and he didn’t have a lot of conviction and I wasn’t for sure that he wanted me to pit. I just wasn’t sure the way he said it and I kind of knew what I had and my balance was pretty close so I just felt like he was wanting a little input from me so I just stayed out.”
Is Joe Gibbs Racing continuing to improve?
“I feel like we’re getting better. We just didn’t quite have it today and we still got a decent finish out of it, but we just didn’t quite have the speed we’ve had the last few races here. We’ll keep working on it.”
How did the race track change during the evening?
“At the beginning of the race the top rubbered up and it was like a slot car track and you were just stuck to the race track. The dirty air was just awful with this aero package — you just couldn’t pass at all. We were all stuck at the top of the track, but then the rubber started piling up in the clumps and started getting cleaned off and then the very top of (turns) one and two wasn’t very good so that kind of opened up some passing lanes. It got a little bit better toward the end of the race.”
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 17th
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 21st
How was the race?
“That was a tough night for the Aaron’s Dream Machine. We worked all night and kept getting our Toyota better and better. Our car was great when it would come to me but it just took too long to come to me. We were working on that and were sitting decent for the finish with about 100 to go but the green flag stop just killed us. It was a bad vibration and I had to come in. At the end we had a good car but just two laps down.”
COLE WHITT, No. 26 Speed Stick Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 30th
ALEX BOWMAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 32nd
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Doublemint Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 36th
RYAN TRUEX, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 37th
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 40th
What happened between you and Kevin Harvick?
“Last year he (Kevin Harvick) was just not paying attention and he didn’t know that I had a cut tire last year and he just thinks he knows everything and probably thought he knew everything again. I just wish I had some kind of car left so I could show him the favor back. We’re not even halfway, we’re racing for the lead — it’s a misjudgment. He’s a good driver. He knows better, he just made a mistake.”
What are you most frustrated about concerning the accident?
“I’m just frustrated because we had a good run going. I thought for sure after the first couple runs that we were going to win the race. We were really fast and we were on two tires there holding our own and pulling away from the pack mostly. I got caught up a little bit in traffic, but overall pretty happy with our FedEx Ground Toyota today. Our teammates looked like they were running strong before they had incidents. These are the race tracks we have to capitalize on. With what we’ve got and everything, these are the tracks where we can get wins and get some momentum going for the Chase — it’s still not going to stop our momentum because we ran strong and we had a car that could win tonight. It just didn’t work out. Mistakes happen in racing. Obviously, I believe that Kevin (Harvick) made a mistake tonight and that’s just part of it. I was just on the short end of the stick.”
Was this accident a product of it being a tough Bristol race?
“This is kind of a product of everyone fighting for track position. While I believe, in my opinion, when they tried to fix the race track by grinding the top it just made the top better and now you just see a ring around the top which it was a good thought, it just didn’t work. And, now you almost need to grind the bottom or something to give it some grip as well. It’s still a great race track. I mean, look at the fan turnout that was here tonight. It’s one of the most exciting races all year. This is Bristol. It’s the Bristol night race and that’s why that adds to the emotion and the frustration that I had tonight is that we’re here in front of a big crowd and we wanted to run well.”
Is it the opportunity lost that made you so upset?
“Yeah, that’s the biggest thing is that we’re slowly gaining momentum. We’re top-10 five out of the last six and seven out of the last 11 or something. We’re getting back to being a little bit better and for a team that’s under-performed as a whole we had some cars upfront that I thought could win in any one of the three cars. Two of them look like they’re already out of contention for the most part and we haven’t even got to halfway. It’s more of the opportunity missed. And, hell, I mean I missed three points if we win the race and maybe not a big deal but still it’s a Bristol trophy and it’s another win and a notch on your belt.”
BRETT MOFFITT, No. 66 Land Castle Toyota Camry, NEMCO Racing
Finishing Position: 42nd
