NASCAR Cup Series

Austin Dillon and the American Ethanol Team Avoid Melee, Earn Top-20 Finish at Talladega Superspeedway "To he honest, I was worried at the start of the race because the American Ethanol Camaro ZL1 was not handling very well. My crew chief, Justin Alexander, and the team worked hard to fine-tune our Chevy throughout the race and we were able to earn some Stage points at the end of Stage 2. We opted to hang back in Stage 3 in anticipation of 'The Big One.'

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER CLICKLIST CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 6th “I thought prior to the final restart I got myself in a good position on the outside there. It just seemed like every time the line went to move somebody made a move and it checked the lineup. I was just getting pinned out there."

A total of 20 Team Chevy drivers will start the 1000Bulbs.com 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Talladega Speedway. The 188-lap/500-mile contest around the 2.66-mile superspeedway is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

The 1000Bulbs.com 500 from Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled to begin on Sunday, October 14 at 2:00 pm, ET.  Live coverage can be found on NBC, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Qualifying Position: 9th - How does the car feel and what is your outlook for the race tomorrow? “The M&M’s Camry is alright and we certainly qualified better that we expected to. The guys that qualified good are the ones you would expect to. Not too bad all things considering. Hopefully its just good for the first stage to be able to be up front and hopefully we can stay up front, stay out of trouble and get some stage points up there early.”

Sunday’s 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway has prime placement in the NASCAR Playoffs, for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Kurt Busch led a Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) onslaught Saturday in Foodland/Food Giant Qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway, taking the pole for Sunday’s 1000Bulbs.com 500. The top four positions – meaning, the first two rows – will be filled by SHR drivers, in the pivotal NASCAR Playoff race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

KURT BUSCH, No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion – POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE – HOW DO YOU BEAT TEAM PENSKE TOMORROW? “That was the first question I asked when I got out of the car to make sure that all of us were 1-2-3-4 because I saw that after the first round and, man, that’s impressive. It’s impressive teamwork and it’s a commitment level to build restrictor plate cars at this level and to get all four of us up there. It starts with Doug Yates, Roush Yates Engines, the way that our Fords have always worked together since Ford came aboard a few years ago at Stewart-Haas. This is awesome. It’s a great way to celebrate a 10th anniversary and one of the key partners that we have that’s behind the scenes that deserves a lot of credit for today is Mobil 1. They’re a technology partner of ours. We all went on a field trip up to Philadelphia earlier this year to see a lot of the basic chemistry sets and the way they go about developing their new products and the innovation and technology that they pour into our engines. I can’t thank them enough. I’ve been working at this for almost 20 years, to get a restrictor plate pole, and now I have one. I’m really happy about this one. This is a huge bucket list item for myself and I have everybody at Stewart-Haas to thank.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing What did you learn in practice and what is your outlook for tomorrow’s race? “We only ran a handful of laps. Made a qualifying run and then checked travels. Making sure everything looked normal. When we come here, everyone says you always got what you got. It’s hard to learn a whole lot about the car in practice. It all felt normal and fine. Get ready to qualify here soon. Go to sleep tonight and pray for some good luck.”

TALLADEGA, Ala. – All four Stewart-Haas Racing cars were amply endowed with speed for Saturday’s knockout qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway. Kurt Busch was just glad he got the pick of the litter.