NASCAR Cup Series

DARIAN GRUBB, crew chief, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - What did you work on while you were away from the race track? “Same thing we work on every week. Just working hard in the shop, working with the guys, everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing did a great job. The entire FedEx Toyota group did a great job at the race track, too. Still fighting hard every week.”

JUSTIN ALLGAIER, NO. 51 BRAND PROFESSIONAL AGRICULTURE CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed Chicagoland Speedway as his home town track, the progress he feels he’s made during the season thus far, and more.

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion, was third fastest in opening Sprint Cup series practice at Chicagoland Speedway Friday afternoon. Edwards spoke with media members after practice to discuss the upcoming weekend, his Chase chances and more.

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - What is it like coming to Chicago as the defending race winner and trying to get the first Chase win this year? “We had a strong start last year. This is a great race track, I love coming here. It’s the closest track to where I grew up. We had a strong start, but Jimmie (Johnson) still beat us at the end. I’m looking forward to getting on the track today and getting to work. It’s been a long week and ready to get started.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed the new Chase for the Sprint Cup format strategies, challenges, approachs, and more.

MICHAEL WALTRIP, Co-Owner, Michael Waltrip Racing - Why is MyAFibStory.com so important to you? “My mom unfortunately suffered a stroke 25 years ago due to AFib (Atrial fibrillation) and September is national AFib Awareness Month and Michael Waltrip Racing has partnered with Janssen Pharmaceuticals to raise awareness of AFib -- 2.7 million people live with AFib."

On Wednesday, Jeff Gordon was in Toronto as part of NASCAR's promotional driver tour to promote the Chase for the Sprint Cup with sending each of the 16 drivers to a different city, titled the "Chase across North America". While all of the Sprint Cup Series races are in the United States, many fans travel from Canada to see the races live, whether traveling to Michigan or Bristol or all the way down to Daytona.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Where do you feel the team is starting the Chase? “I feel like the 18 team is pretty good. We’ve had some not-so-great runs, but still I think we’ve been working through all the mistakes that we’ve made. We’ve been discussing different things as a team that we can do better and what we can work on to overcome those things that have taken us down the last month or so, but all in all I’m looking forward to the Chase starting here."

Ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive. If it was good enough for Johnny, Bing, and Perry, well, gosh darn it, it is good enough for me. I will not even breath a mention of the snore-fest that was Richmond.

The Ontario County Office of Sheriff released a statement Thursday stating that its investigation into the death of Kevin Ward Jr. is complete. The investigation began after the fatal crash that took place on August 9 at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York during a sprint car race.