NASCAR Cup Series

VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – WALK ME THROUGH THE MOVE ON THE 18. “I just didn’t know if I was gonna get there at the end and I felt like that was my best opportunity to do what I had to do to win. I didn’t want to wreck him, but I didn’t want to waste a bunch of time behind him. I just got to thank everybody on this No. 4 Busch Beer/Jimmy John’s Ford for everything that they do – Mobil 1, Haas Automation, Hunt Brother’s, everybody from Stewart-Haas Racing. What a great weekend.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th - YOU IN THE PAST, BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT NOW? “I was shocked, to be honest with you, that we ran even that good. Our whole NAPA group did a great job overnight. I really have no idea where that came from. I hope it wasn’t dumb luck. Hopefully we can keep it rolling because it’s really nice to be able to go up there and lead some laps. I know it wasn’t the right part of the race, but still, leading laps for us is big compared to what we’ve been doing. I’m proud of the effort. I appreciate everybody’s effort back at Hendrick and the chassis shop and engine shop and Chevrolet and all the folks that are working hard to try to get better. We took a step in the right direction.”

NASCAR and track officials have moved up the start time for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to 1 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) because of the potential of wet weather.

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing - Starting Position: 2nd - What did you miss out there that cost you? “I just missed Turn 1 just slightly there in that last run on the first lap, but overall lit was a solid day. We had a decent practice – a short practice, you know, because we waited a little bit for the VHT to kind of get run in and we went out there and ran and were probably a little bit off further on balance more than we needed to be at the end of practice."

KURT BUSCH, No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion – “It was a perfect scenario for us on how we didn’t have to adjust the car in the three rounds. When you have a game plan going in and it sticks, that’s when it feels the best. I’m happy with exactly what Billy Scott told me to do and that was in that third round we didn’t wait, we just went right away, went out there and set the tone, didn’t give ourselves a chance to double-think or hesitate on the PJ1, the VHT, the compound that they spray down.

LOUDON, N.H. — Early bird Kurt Busch ran his best lap of the day in the final round of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to earn the top starting spot for Sunday’s Foxwoods 301 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 8th - VERY NICE QUALIFYING EFFORT FOR YOU HERE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE: “Yeah, it’s really good for me here. I struggle here quite a bit. A little off of where we were, I thought, in practice as far as handling went, but to come here and qualify a solid top 10 means the car is probably a whole lot better than that, which is a good thing for me come Sunday.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Is Darrell Wallace Jr. back in the basketball league? “I noticed he (Darrel Wallace Jr.) left his hat, so it’s in our lost and found, so he’ll have to come back and get it. I actually tweeted a picture of it, but the tweet didn’t go through. That was a shame, but, yeah, he’s left his hat, so there’s evidence of him being there.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and discussed his broadcast debut during the Eldora Dirt Derby, other dirt tracks that might work for Truck Series racing and beyond, his thoughts on New Hampshire Motor Speedway and many other topics. Full Transcript:

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing - What was it like to be honored at the ESPYs? “Yeah, sure. It was – yeah, a huge honor. Really definitely excited for that and the team to be recognized and definitely a great list of drivers that were up for that award, so to win it was quite a thrill for me and definitely a big honor and something hopefully we can use for a little motivation and keep the roll going.”