NASCAR Cup PR

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."

William Byron on the night race at Bristol: “I try not to focus on it too much. It’s a really exciting race as a fan but as a driver it’s a stressful race. You really have to manage yourself and your car for all 500 laps. You can’t put yourself in a position to take yourself out of contention early on because it’s so hard to recover. You try to treat it like any other race but it’s a cool one to win if you can.”

“The night race at Bristol always has such an amazing atmosphere, but being the home track for our owner, it's just a big deal for us at FRM. Bob Jenkins puts his heart and soul into this sport and this team. I really like running strong at Bristol to get Bob and his employees all excited.

Roush Fenway Racing heads to Rocky Top this weekend as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) makes its return trip to Bristol Motor Speedway for 500 laps under the lights Saturday night. An RFR Ford has visited victory lane 18 times at The Last Great Colosseum across NASCAR’s three major touring series.

Thursday’s UNOH 200 (8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) marks the start of the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs and eight drivers – Brett Moffitt, Grant Enfinger, Stewart Friesen, Austin Hill, Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter and Tyler Ankrum – will battle it out over the next seven races for the series title.

Paul Menard and the No. 21 Menards/Knauf Insulation team head to Bristol Motor Speedway hoping for a repeat – or better – of their run at the Tennessee track back in April.