NASCAR Cup Series

RYAN BLANEY, No. 21 , No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion -- Qualified 6th “I thought we had good speed in our car. I really wish we could have gotten one more shot at it because we were getting better and better but we didn't get that third round, which stunk. I think our car has really good speed in it and we will see come tomorrow.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 4TH - DO YOU THINK YOU HAD A SHOT AT THE POLE? WOULD YOU HAVE RATHER RAN THAT FINAL ROUND OF QUALIFYING OR ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR POSITION? “I don’t think you know unless you get to run. With it being a repave and the tire that we are on, tires, like having extra laps on them didn’t seem to hurt. The No. 20 car did that in the first round. We actually ran our best lap on our oldest tires there. Yes, we legitimately probably could have had a shot at the pole, but for us it was all about hitting Turn 3, that is just a really tricky corner and I only hit it one time and it was when it counted the most.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Kentucky Speedway after receiving a Jukebox from the track as a retirement gift that will be given in his name to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., answered questions from the media and discussed this being his final race at Kentucky, his thoughts on NASCAR silly season, and many other topics.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., fresh off his second victory of the season a week ago in Daytona, spoke with media at Kentucky Speedway following both Cup practice sessions. Among the topics were Stenhouse’s post-Daytona win celebration and more.

SPARTA, Ky. -- Kyle Larson topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Kentucky Speedway.

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Circle K Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Talk about coming to Kentucky and what you expect this weekend? “We’ve done okay here. Last year we ran much better than our finishing position. We just – I think there were seven of them that made it on fuel in front of us and we didn’t make it, but it’s been a good track. We’ve performed pretty well here in the past, but this is the third different configuration I guess we’ve raced on - our second repave. I don’t really know what we’re going to have here until really we get going. It’s been a good track. I enjoy it.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Quickest in Final Practice at Kentucky Speedway - ON THE TWO PRACTICE SESSIONS AND WHAT IT MIGHT MEAN IF WE DO NOT GET QUALIFYING IN THIS AFTERNOON: “I thought in race trim we were pretty good."

SPARTA, Ky. -- Matt Kenseth's announcement that he doesn't expect to return to Joe Gibbs Racing next season set off the 2017 silly season domino chain.

SPARTA, Ky. -- Jamie McMurray topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Kentucky Speedway.

Kenseth will be trying for a repeat of his 2013 triumph this weekend. With Joey Logano only three points behind him in points, a win is essential. He has the series third-best driver rating (107.9), three top fives and six top 10s. But did you know that with his win in 2013, Kenseth became the oldest Kentucky winner (06/30/2013 – 41 years, 3 months, 20 days)? Another trip to Victory Lane would be icing on the cake.