Matt Tifft Finishes 11th After Pit Road Miscue at Kentucky Speedway "We had a fast No. 2 Surface Sunscreen Chevrolet Camaro right from the start this weekend. I was really happy with how it handled. I could hug the bottom really well in Turns 3 and 4 to get under people."
Ryan Reed drove his No. 16 Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang to an eight-place finish under the lights Friday evening at Kentucky Speedway. Reed started the race ninth and despite a tight-handling condition was able to drive his Ford through the field to earn a solid top-10 finish at Kentucky.
Austin Cindric qualified and started fourth in the No. 12 LASIK Vision Institute Ford Mustang in Friday night’s Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway, the highest of any rookie in the 40-car field. On lap 5, Cindric reported that his Ford Mustang was tight through the center of the corners, which was hurting his corner exit. However, on lap 13, he reported the handling of the car had started coming back to him, much like it had in practice during the team’s long run.
COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang – “It was tough. We had a lot of cautions there and we weren’t very good firing off so that kind of hurt us. I’m happy that we got our car a lot better throughout the weekend , our Haas Automation Mustang, but we just need to figure out how to get it a little bit better so we can compete for a win. We’re really fast at the end of a run, but we can’t compete at the start of a run, so we’ll go back and figure it out.”
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Ford Fusion – “That’s a good effort for us. I think as you look at this place it’s hard to put a lap together and I just didn’t get off of two like I needed to. I kind of chattered the front end, but it’s still a good lap for us and a good starting spot.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 10th - GOOD RUN FOR YOU TODAY HERE AT KENTUCKY: “Well, it was a good qualifying effort for our Caterpillar Chevrolet. We were definitely improving upon what we did in race trim and qualifying practice and race practice. We were definitely more competitive and that is one of the major goals moving forward. The guys did a good job. I wish we had a little bit more speed, but we will see how good we can make it race now. We never really got a great long run in during practice but I don’t think anybody did either.”
SPARTA, Ky. – Martin Truex Jr. didn’t need a dress rehearsal to put on a pole-winning performance at Kentucky Speedway on Friday. His lack of mock qualifying runs in practice did not affect the ultimate result – his first Busch Pole on the 1.5-mile track.
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing - Where are you on another contract extension with Furniture Row Racing and are you certain you’ll be back with the team? “No. Am I – I don’t know. We’ve got some stuff to figure out for sure, but I don’t plan on anything different, so just give the team some time to figure things out and we’re all kind of trying to figure it out together, so hopefully we can make it happen.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Intense Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How difficult is Turn 3 following the repave? “Yeah, I mean, it’s just so much different here – Turn 3 – than any other mile-and-a-half we go to. Normally other places you get to and you start picking up a little bit of the banking before you get into the corner and here it’s so flat all the way down in there before you pick up the banking that, you know, it’s just has its own characteristics and it’s own challenges that are tough to deal with, you know?"
Following a second straight Sonoma victory, Pro Stock’s Greg Stanfield heads to Pacific Raceways with plenty of momentum for this weekend’s 37th annual Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals.
