NASCAR Cup Series

Kyle Larson muscled the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS to a second-place finish in the second round of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) Playoffs ISM Connect 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS). Larson and his Target team had a strong day contending in the top five throughout the 300-lap/317.4-mile event. The run marks his eighth runner-up finish of 2017 bringing his top-five total to 13 on the season. Larson is now assured, via points, advancement into the Round of 12 the second segment of this year’s championship Playoff battle.

KURT BUSCH – No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion – THERE WAS NOWHERE TO GO. “Wow. No. I mean, I don’t know what to say. It’s tough when you’re running where we were. We were just trying to limp it to the end of stage two and I heard, ‘Car spinning off of two’ in my ear. I saw smoke up ahead. A lot of times they’ll come back up, and I tried to leave the high side or the low side and then, boom, as soon as the smoke cleared I’m looking at Harvick’s door, my teammate. We’re both running for the Playoffs and it’s a shame that the handling is off and we’re both running where we were, but we were still going to fight all the way to the end, but now we don’t have a chance. I cannot understand the bad luck that we’re having.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Finished 2nd - YOU HAD A HECK OF A RESTART THERE WITH 25 LAPS TO GO, BUT WHERE DID THE NO. 18 (KYLE BUSCH, RACE WINNER) ULTIMATELY HAVE YOU BEAT? “I felt like on really long runs I was fairly equal to those guys in front of me. But, on the short run there, I could get pointed to the exit, but I couldn’t get the throttle down. I’d get loose. So, he just was really good. I think the No. 78 (Martin Truex, Jr.) was also really good, but he had his trouble. The No. 20 (Matt Kenseth) was also good. We were next best. So, we finished second again with our Target Chevy. That’s a lot of second-place finishes this year, but I’m fine with second. Top 5’s will get us to Homestead, so hats off to everybody on our Target team. The pit crew was great all day. I think we gained spots every time. Normally I’m struggling on short tracks, but this year we were pretty good.”

LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Busch went from the top of the chart to near disaster and back to the top again in winning the pole position for Sunday’s ISM Connect 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN), the second race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff.

Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. qualified fifth and teammate Erik Jones qualified eighth for Sunday’s ISM Connect 300 NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Kyle Larson set the pace for Team Chevy with a second-place qualifying run in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He will start on the outside front row for the 300-lap ISM Connect 300, Round two of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) Playoffs. This marks the 18th top-10 start of the season thus far for Larson, and his fourth in eight races at the track known as the ‘Magic Mile’.

Aric Almirola and the No. 43 Smithfield Ford team found good speed in race trim in Friday morning's practice session. In qualifying trim, the car was tight. The team made some adjustments before qualifying that evening. Unfortunately, the adjustments only helped the exit of Turn Four. The team qualified 29th for Sunday's race and will have two practice sessions on Saturday to dial in their Ford Fusion.

BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – “We missed it everywhere. We couldn’t find what we needed, but we seem to race really well here. I haven’t really qualified all that well here lately, but it’s been one of my best qualifying tracks, but not today.” THE TEMPERATURE WILL BE MUCH HOTTER ON SUNDAY. HOW DIFFERENT WILL IT BE? “It’s definitely not going to gain any grip over the weekend, but that’s part of how it goes and part of the challenge. I think the track will just get more and more difficult to drive and the crutch that is the grip strip will go away and hopefully that will suit us.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 2nd - DID YOU GET THE LAP YOU WERE LOOKING FOR? DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU COULD HAVE MADE UP SOME TIME? “I felt like maybe I got in the corner a little hot and got myself a little bit too loose and to the brakes too hard. But, I feel like overall my lap was pretty good. The No. 18 (Kyle Busch) has been really fast recently, and especially in qualifying all year. So, for us to be second to him is not bad. We had the pole here earlier in the year and got encumbered, but we had to back it up with a front row start. It feels good. We’ll have a nice pit stall selection. Hopefully we can have another smooth day.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) and discussed making his final start as a full-time Cup Series competitor at NHMS, his take on post-race burn outs, traveling commercial and many other topics.