When the engine in Byron’s No. 9 Toyota expired on Lap 141 of 150 – ending the championship run for the series’ most prolific winner this year – Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Daniel Suarez took over the race lead and went on to score the first NCWTS victory of his career.
Alex Bowman piloting the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS for the injured Dale Earnhardt, Jr., earned his first career pole after making only his ninth start in the Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.
"Second is not too bad with the Target Chevy it is my best qualifying effort here at Phoenix. We have always qualified well here, just inching our way towards a pole. Would have liked to have gotten a pole, but second is not bad.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion – Qualified 4th - YOU ROLL OFF FOURTH, ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THAT? “No. It is not first, right? We had a fast Shell Pennzoil Ford again in qualifying and didn’t get the pole. That part is frustrating."
ALEX BOWMAN, INTERIM DRIVER, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER - FIRST CAREER POLE, YOU DO IT IN YOUR HOMETOWN HOW DOES IT FEEL? “Man, it’s amazing. We weren’t really that strong in qualifying trim in practice. I don’t really know where that came from, but I just can’t thank everybody at Hendrick Motorsports enough. To do this in Phoenix, so close to home, means so much to me. We have had such fast racecars we haven’t had an ounce of luck, but to get a pole here means a lot.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Core Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - What is your confidence level going into Sunday? “We just need to try to make sure that we can finish ahead of those that we’re racing essentially. It’s kind of what our mindset is and what our goals are. We’ve just got to make sure that we have good enough stuff to be able to go out and achieve those things, so we’ll keep working on what we’ve got.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 AMERICAN ETHANOL CHEVROLET SS, and RICHARD CHILDRESS, OWNER OF RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING, met with members of the media Friday at Phoenix International Raceway. The pairing discussed the use of E15 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the focus of this weekend’s Can-Am 500 and what the team’s performance and future may look like in 2017.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How are you preparing for the quest to make the ‘Championship 4’? “It all starts today, trying to get a good qualifying spot so we can get a good pit selection. That’s all we really concentrated on today was trying to run fast for two laps and we’ll see how it works out tonight.”
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - What is your mindset going into this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway to get into the Championship 4? “You know, really not any different than any other weekend really. Our mindset when we show up is to always try to qualify the best we can on Friday and race the best we can on Sunday, so really no different this weekend. Just try to get a car that will run a fast lap today, hopefully get qualified good and work on our race setup that hopefully is fast and drives good.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 MONSTER ENERGY/HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media Friday at Phoenix International Raceway. He discussed his chances of advancing to the Championship Four, racing against teammate Kevin Harvick, team owner Gene Haas’ participation as of late, and aero and tire changes for the series.
The 2022 O'Reilly Auto Parts Series champion from Charlotte, North Carolina, led the final 25 of 505 over-scheduled laps and utilized a late strategic call to assume the lead with worn tires to beat Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson through two restarts, including an overtime shootout, to become the 207th competitor to win in NASCAR's premier series.
Ty Gibbs earned his first NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway, holding off his competitors in a dramatic two-lap overtime shootout.
Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 7 NationsGuard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, fought hard all day despite handling issues and earned a 12th-place finish in Sunday's 503-lap race at Bristol
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Before the last yellow I was side-by-side for the lead and I slipped into three and that kind of cost us a shot to get it before that last yellow."
