NASCAR Cup Series

Here are some thoughts I had of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort and Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Sitting center at the podium in the deadline room at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a disappointed Aric Almirola put on a forced smile as he elaborated on his third-place finish.

Camry driver Kyle Busch finished in second place with the top-Toyota entry in Sunday’s rain-delayed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

With five laps to go, Harvick decided to use the chrome horn on Busch, rooting the Las Vegas native from the top spot in turn two. While Busch saved his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota from the wall, Harvick piloted his No. 4 Busch Beer Ford to his sixth win of the 2018 season.

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).