NASCAR Cup PR

Qualifying for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENSC) race at Daytona International Speedway was cancelled due to inclement weather at the 2.5 mile track.

Kyle Busch, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Can you talk about your brother’s (Kurt Busch) role as a veteran leader amongst the drivers? “I mean he certainly has a voice. He’s a champion in the sport and has been around a long time and he has seen things and been a part of a lot of things as well."

Today’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session was cancelled due to weather, meaning Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang will start on the pole for tomorrow night’s scheduled Coke Zero Sugar 400. Logano addressed the media about starting up front.

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang – HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS RACE? “They say it’s anybody’s ballgame, but it’s really the same winners a lot here. We’ve run well and I think that’s the thing I look forward to the most is Daytona is an opportunity race for a lot of people and we know that for sure, but it’s still the same 10 guys up there at the end typically."

TAKE US THROUGH WHAT HAPPENED IN PRACTICE YESTERDAY WITH BRAD KESELOWSKI FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW “I’ve kind of watched it a couple of times and I just feel like it was unnecessary still. I talked to Brad and got his opinion and I really appreciate him talking to me because that kind of helped just understand where he was coming from. But, I still feel like it was unnecessary for practice.”

The No. 18 M&M’S Toyota with NASCAR’s “Candy Man” Kyle Busch behind the wheel has found their way to Victory Lane four times this season, but this weekend fans will see the iconic No. 18 M&M’S paint scheme in an entirely new setting as an M&M’S NASCAR Euro Series Toyota Camry takes on the iconic hill climb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The good news is it’s not a race that’s going away from the speedway. This race track is definitely deserving of two dates and will have it for a very long time. As far as moving the schedule around, I don’t mind that at all. I think I’m more motivated to win the second race here. The July race has always been pretty tough on us, finish wise, I think a lot of it is, you are getting to the point of the season that this is going to be some of the last great opportunities for the underfunded teams to go out there and get a win so they are a lot more aggressive. The racing itself seems to be more chaotic. It’s tough to avoid those crashes. Sometimes you’re in it, sometimes you’re not. In the summer, we’re in it, so we’ve got to figure out how to play it, to win it. Because obviously, being a Coke family driver, it’s important for me to win a race that they sponsor.”

“Well, I remember that whole last sequence of restarts. The last one, the green-white-checkered, we were stuck side-by-side with Martin (Truex Jr.) on that first lap. Then coming around to take the white, I could see the top line forming behind me and I was hoping they would stick with me and I would get a big push. Going down the backstretch, Martin was trying to side draft hard and we got a really big push from behind from the 37 (Chris Buescher) and got clean of Martin there, and I knew at that point the only way we were going to lose it was a catastrophic failure so I was defending the last move that Martin could make and getting to the checkered. Coming out of four, I would say I knew it was pretty locked in. I remember everything about those last laps for sure.”

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Jacob Companies Ford Mustang – HOW DO YOU INSPIRED AND KEEP GOING AT THIS TIME OF YEAR WHEN IT REALLY BECOMES A GRIND? “Winning races. I think that’s pretty much the biggest thing. You’ve got to find a way to do your homework every single week and have a good idea of what you need when you show up at the race track and what you need to be doing, and then from there it just kind of takes car of itself. You have to have good people around you to also show up to the track strong, but it’s all about doing your job every week.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 VALVOLINE PATRIOTIC CAMARO ZL1 met with media to discuss coming off of his first-career Cup series win, reflecting on the momentum to carry into the Playoffs, what to expect at Daytona this weekend, and more. Full Transcript: