JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – “It was kind of interesting to watch it in the mirror. I was watching him drive in and I was like, ‘He’s going to get me eventually,’ so I just wanted to make sure I stayed at least three or four car lengths up on him so he didn’t get to me.” MORE THOUGHTS ON THE RACE. “Kyle was good at time."
With Kevin Harvick hounding him mercilessly for 63 laps, Joey Logano kept his No. 22 Team Penske Ford out front after taking the lead on a Lap 438 restart and held on to win Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Ty Dillon finished fourth and was the highest finishing Richard Childress Racing driver in the Bristol 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Brian Scott finished sixth, Brendan Gaughan 10th and Brandon Jones 13th.
A bold pit call by crew chief Scott Graves had Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher in contention for the win Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Buescher restarted in the lead in his No. 60 Roush Performance Mustang for the green-white-checker finish, but ultimately ran out of fuel, finishing 11th.
CHRIS BUESCHER – No. 60 Roush Performance Products Ford Mustang – IF IT WOULD HAVE GONE GREEN THE REST OF THE WAY COULD YOU HAVE MADE IT ON FUEL? “Oh yeah, but it didn’t. It’s unfortunate. I’m really upset. It was a really good day for our Roush Performance Tindol Ford Mustang."
"This is home—this is where I’m supposed to be," Busch said, standing outside the car in Victory Lane. "I wish I was here Wednesday night (after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race), so we could continue the sweep lookout for (Saturday), but that was a second place. Oh, well."
If it’s pole day in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Joe Gibbs Racing must be celebrating. Denny Hamlin powered his No. 11 Toyota around .533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway in 14.602 seconds (131.407 mph) on Friday to win the pole for Saturday's Irwin Tools Night Race (on NBCSN at 7:30 p.m. ET).
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 2nd - How close were you to knocking your teammate from the pole position? “We were just a little too free there the second segment and the first run of the third segment."
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 24TH - IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE JUST LACKING A LITTLE BIT OF SPEED. WHAT WERE YOU MISSING? “Well, I don’t know what the other guys are fighting, but my car is just real tight on the exit and pretty loose getting in. We didn’t qualify very good here the last time we were here and heck, I think this time we were worse than we were the last time."
Ryan Blaney managed an up-and-down night in Wednesday’s season-opening Clash at Bowman Gray, coming away with a third-place finish in the No. 12 Menards/Great Lakes Flooring Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
William Byron earned his career-best Clash finish under the Wednesday night lights of “The Madhouse” – driving his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to a runner-up finish in the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Ryan Preece delivered a career defining performance at Bowman Gray Stadium, charging from 18th to score his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Cook Out Clash. A win that validated years of perseverance.
