- Kyle Busch (fifth) was the first Toyota driver to the finish line in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick was the race-winner.
- Busch started from the pole and led the field three times for a total of 41 laps (of 334) in the 500-mile race.
- At the halfway point in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup championship playoffs, Busch has recorded top-10 results in all five Chase events thus far this season.
- Busch sits second in the Chase standings as the series heads to the final race of the ‘Contender’ round next weekend at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway.
- Camry driver Denny Hamlin (ninth) led the field once for 22 laps and also earned a top-10 finish at the 1.5-mile speedway.
- Matt Kenseth recorded a 19th-place result.
- In the Chase playoff point standings, Camry drivers are second (Busch), seventh (Hamlin) and ninth (Kenseth) in the standings. Eight drivers advance to the next round of the playoffs after next weekend’s race at Talladega.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Doublemint Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
What struggles did you face tonight?
“Anytime we were second and we thought we had a chance to win — then we would come in the next time and go back out and we would be a 15th-place car. These things are so finicky on pit stops — it’s been that way all year long for us. I don’t know what the heck is going on or what we’re doing. I saw the 22 (Joey Logano) car in my rear view mirror once all night and the rest of the times he wasn’t even close enough to be in my rear view mirror and he beats us. That’s just the way the luck goes — I guess they have plenty of luck on their side right now. It’s frustrating when you’re running good enough that you should be able to challenge better for better finishes and we just can’t.”
What is your strategy for Talladega?
“Run dead last all day — survive. If there’s one big wreck then it puts us in and we’re good.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
What happened on the final restart with Brad Keselowski?
“There’s a corner there so you have to back off and he just plowed into us. He’s just out of control. He’s desperate obviously and it’s either four or five of us are wrong or he’s wrong because he’s pissed off everyone. Just disappointing — but we’re trying to get in this deal. We’re sitting in a decent spot, but we’ve lost six spots or so with the last restart when he ran into us and knocked us up the track. That was unfortunate. Matt (Kenseth) was nearly out of his car and he just plowed into Matt (Kenseth) and then ran into Tony (Stewart) and then went in through the garage and cleared out transmissions and did burnouts in the garage. Just acting like a dumbass instead of a champion.”
What are you expecting at Talladega next week?
“My guess is that he (Brad Keselowski) will probably try to wreck everyone — that’s his only shot. He’ll just be out of control like normal. We’ll do what we have to do to get in and that’s the big picture. Luckily, it didn’t cause us to wreck. If it would have caused us to wreck, I’d be waiting for him right now.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 19th
What happened with Brad Keselowski following the race?
“Besides the race, he (Brad Keselowski) knew I was out there and on that restart wrecked me. I guess I shouldn’t have went out there. Really the safety — he was doing something with Denny (Hamlin) there and I don’t know if he was mad at him. I had my HANS off and my seat belts off — and he clobbers me at like 50 (mph). With the accidents and stuff that we’ve had around here — the race is over and we’re trying to come back to pit road. If he wants to come and talk about it like a man then go do that, but to try to wreck somebody on the race track and to come down pit road with other cars and people standing around with my seat belts off and drive into the side of me is just inexcusable. There is no excuse for that. He’s a champion and he’s supposed to know better than that. I don’t really know, I don’t have anything else good to say.”
How much contact took place between yourself and Brad Keselowski on the earlier restart?
“On the restart I just rolled outside of him (Brad Keselowski) in the dog leg and he knew I was there and just ran me out of room and ran me into the wall because he didn’t want to get passed. I shouldn’t have went there, but there was a lot of guys that you can race like that and they know you’re there and they will give you the room and he’s usually one of them. He did it on purpose and just ran me into the wall because he didn’t want to get passed.”
COLE WHITT, No. 26 Moen Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 28th
ALEX BOWMAN, No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 30th
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 37th
JJ YELEY, No. 83 Burger King Toyota Camry, BK Racing
Finishing Position: 38th
BRETT MOFFITT, No. 66 RoyalTeakCollection.com Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports
Finishing Position: 40th
CLINT BOWYER, No. 15 Pink Lemonade 5-hour ENERGY benefitting LBBC Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing
Finishing Position: 43rd
How frustrating was it to have the race end early?
“It’s been one of those years. It never happens when you need to be put out of your misery and you have a fender knocked off it and you’re just riding around praying for something to blow up so you can go home early. I was actually having fun out there, marching my way up through the field — had a good car and it blew up. That’s kind of been our storyline this whole camp with both organizations this year. It’s frustrating, but in all fairness they’re working their tails off trying to get us where we need to be so we can get back to winning races and sometimes blowing up is part of that process.”
Did you have any warning that the engine was going to break?
“No, I knew it was something in the bottom end. When it breaks a valve stem or something like that it will drop a cylinder and you’ll ride around there limping around for a little while, but I went back to the throttle and it just ‘boom’ — like the old school street stock days used to do. It’s just frustrating.”
