NASCAR Cup PR

WITH DARLINGTON COMING UP, IS IT STILL A BIG EVENT ON THE SCHEDULE FOR YOU? “I think the older guys kind of see it as a highlight. Before I was even a part of the sport, I didn’t even watch it. I’m not knocking it at all, it’s a special place and it’s the Southern 500. For me to sit here and say this a huge event for me personally, not really. Any race is good for me to go out and win.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang – WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUR CAR IN PRACTICE TODAY? “The power-steering pump had a big issue and blew all the fluid out of it right at once. I’ve never seen one do that before, so it was kind of in the worst spot, right in the middle of three and four, kind of when you’re max load, so I haven’t had one do that before. You have ones that kind of slowly go bad. I had that happen a couple years ago, but I’ve never had one that abrupt. That was a weird spot to do it, but luckily we didn’t wreck it and it’s something you can replace.”

RYAN PREECE, NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 Media Breakout Session Highlights: HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR DARLINGTON, ONE OF THE BIGGEST RACES OF THE SEASON? “I’m excited about it. Obviously having a Modified driver as our ‘throwback’ scheme with Ron (Bouchard) is pretty cool. So, I’m excited about that."

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1 Media Breakout Session Highlights: GOING INTO ONE OF THE BIGGEST RACES OF THE SEASON AT DARLINGTON, HOW ARE YOU FEELING? “I feel good. We did some simulator work for Darlington this past week. I don’t think you’re going to be wide open there. I think in Turns 1 and 2, we will be lifting a bit and in Turns 3 and 4, it’s going to be pretty normal."

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media at Bristol Motor Speedway:

KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1, met with media to discuss the challenges of the current Playoff format, what it takes to be successful at Bristol Motor Speedway, the expectations of the traction compound, and more. Full Transcript:

CLINT BOWYER, No. 14 Peak Lighting Ford Mustang – DO YOU LOVE THIS PLACE? “Anybody that hates this place shoudn’t be in racing because this is the mecca of all race tracks. This is the granddaddy of them all. There’s no question. Look at this place. Look at the grandstands. Look at that picture right there and then look at one of what it looks like today’s day and age."

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Mustang – WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR MOST MEMORABLE WIN?  “For me, I think winning the Daytona 500 is probably the one that sticks out the most.  I think that’s our sport’s biggest race and it’s a difficult race to win.  You see several of our great past champions and drivers that haven’t won that race and so I was fortunate to win that one and, for me, winning at Indy was pretty neat just for me wanting to grow up and being a huge Rick Mears fan and winning there was neat for me, and then winning the championship race in Homestead.  Those would probably be my top three if I had to pick.”

Ryan Newman does not want to just make the playoffs; His intentions are clear - to compete in the playoffs and ultimately achieve his goal of winning a championship.

DAVID RAGAN, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford Mustang – “Over the last six or 12 months I’ve thought a lot about what my future looked like on the race track with my race team and my partners and me as a race car driver, and a lot of what my future looked like as a husband and a father and a leader of our household, and over the past couple of months it was really clear to me that it was time to take a step back and be home a little bit more, and it’s pretty simple as that."