NASCAR Cup Series

After contact in the first 20 laps cut a tire forcing the Fifth Third Ford to pit-road, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rebounded earning a 26th-place finish in Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Kentucky Speedway.

Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. was victorious at Kentucky Speedway in Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race.

Early Vibration Hinders Austin Dillon and the No. 3 AAA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Team at Kentucky Speedway "I hate that we had problems early. We had a vibration as soon as we started the race and we had no option but to pit for four tires on the AAA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. I actually started feeling it during the pace laps at the start of the race, but I thought it was just a cold set of tires."

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Fusion - Finishing Position: 3rd “It was a good call from my crew chief, Paul Wolfe. We had better speed than we’ve had at the mile-and-a-halves, but not enough to run with the 78. He eventually got by us there and I thought we might have had a shot at it if we could have restarted fourth there, but we kind of cycled back to sixth and it wasn’t enough to be able to make something happen there. All in all, a decent day. I hate that I kind of dug a hole early in the race with the speeding on pit road. We were just racing the 18 off pit road and tried to get a little bit too much, but we’ll take this and hopefully build off of it for the mile-and-a-halves in the Playoffs. It’s gonna be really important and I’m looking forward to next week in Loudon. I think we’ll be really good there.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 9th - IF YOU HADN’T HAD THE TRACKBAR ISSUE DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE HAD ANYTHING FOR THE TOP GUYS? “It’s hard to say if I would have had anything to win. I drove by the No. 78 and then right after that we had our trackbar issue there and went plowing tight. Then we had to crutch it with wedge there the last run and it drove okay, just built being back really tight at the last 25 laps or so. So, yeah, it’s hard to say if I would have won or not, but I would have at least liked to have had the shot.”

Chad Knaus, Crew Chief of the No. 48 Lowe’s For Pros Camaro Zl1 discusses his contract extension: So, you have resigned your contract to continue to crew chief the no. 48. Did you have any thoughts of not extending? “No, not really. Obviously, Jimmie (Johnson) and I have a, although going through a bit of a slump right now, we have a great time racing together. We have a long relationship and enjoyed everything 48. So, no not really it was pretty easy.”

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Ford Fusion – “That’s a good effort for us. I think as you look at this place it’s hard to put a lap together and I just didn’t get off of two like I needed to. I kind of chattered the front end, but it’s still a good lap for us and a good starting spot.”

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 10th - GOOD RUN FOR YOU TODAY HERE AT KENTUCKY: “Well, it was a good qualifying effort for our Caterpillar Chevrolet. We were definitely improving upon what we did in race trim and qualifying practice and race practice. We were definitely more competitive and that is one of the major goals moving forward. The guys did a good job. I wish we had a little bit more speed, but we will see how good we can make it race now. We never really got a great long run in during practice but I don’t think anybody did either.”

SPARTA, Ky. – Martin Truex Jr. didn’t need a dress rehearsal to put on a pole-winning performance at Kentucky Speedway on Friday. His lack of mock qualifying runs in practice did not affect the ultimate result – his first Busch Pole on the 1.5-mile track.

We are at a point in the season where it is time for the Chevy’s to step it up. If they don’t step up now, it might be hard to do it later in the season.