Official Release

Mid-Race Wreck Relegates Paul Menard to 34th-Place Finish in Richmond/Menards Chevrolet at Kentucky Speedway "The No. 2 Richmond / Menards Chevrolet just got loose while we were on the outside going for position and unfortunately it turned around and backed hard into the wall. We had a solid car in the first half of the race and were able to race our way into the top five early in the race. Randall Burnett and the rest of the crew did a great job working on the car all weekend to get it handling well, and we didn't have to make many adjustments in the race. We were working our way back toward the front when it broke loose."

Camry driver Kyle Busch claimed his second NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) victory of the season in Saturday afternoon’s rain-delayed race at Kentucky Speedway.

Recap: Ryan Blaney and the No.12 Snap-on Ford Mustang team rebounded from a late pit road penalty to finished the rain delayed Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway in the second position. The 23-year-old showed the strength of the No.12 early, qualifying his Ford third during Friday afternoon’s session. Blaney quickly powered to the front, battling for the race lead at the drop of the green flag before settling in to the third position.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Rowdy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Finishing Position: 1st - How does it feel to get back to victory lane again in the XFINITY Series at Kentucky? “It’s certainly nice to get to victory lane anytime you can."

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Snap-On Ford Mustang (Finished 2nd) “I didn’t really have a lot of fun but it was nice to have a good race car that we could pick our way through the field. We got it really good at the end. We were good all day. I thought we were the best car all day, personally. Before that last caution. I thought we were going to get by the 20 and set sail. The caution came out and we were debating on whether to pit or not. It is easy to look back on it now and say that we should have stayed out and seen what happened."

RYAN BLANEY, No. 21 , No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion -- Qualified 6th “I thought we had good speed in our car. I really wish we could have gotten one more shot at it because we were getting better and better but we didn't get that third round, which stunk. I think our car has really good speed in it and we will see come tomorrow.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 4TH - DO YOU THINK YOU HAD A SHOT AT THE POLE? WOULD YOU HAVE RATHER RAN THAT FINAL ROUND OF QUALIFYING OR ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR POSITION? “I don’t think you know unless you get to run. With it being a repave and the tire that we are on, tires, like having extra laps on them didn’t seem to hurt. The No. 20 car did that in the first round. We actually ran our best lap on our oldest tires there. Yes, we legitimately probably could have had a shot at the pole, but for us it was all about hitting Turn 3, that is just a really tricky corner and I only hit it one time and it was when it counted the most.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Kentucky Speedway after receiving a Jukebox from the track as a retirement gift that will be given in his name to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., answered questions from the media and discussed this being his final race at Kentucky, his thoughts on NASCAR silly season, and many other topics.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., fresh off his second victory of the season a week ago in Daytona, spoke with media at Kentucky Speedway following both Cup practice sessions. Among the topics were Stenhouse’s post-Daytona win celebration and more.

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Circle K Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Talk about coming to Kentucky and what you expect this weekend? “We’ve done okay here. Last year we ran much better than our finishing position. We just – I think there were seven of them that made it on fuel in front of us and we didn’t make it, but it’s been a good track. We’ve performed pretty well here in the past, but this is the third different configuration I guess we’ve raced on - our second repave. I don’t really know what we’re going to have here until really we get going. It’s been a good track. I enjoy it.”