NASCAR CUP SERIES
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY
ENJOY ILLINOIS 300
PRESENTED BY TICKETSMARTER
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
JUNE 4, 2023

KYLE BUSCH TAKES THIRD WIN OF 2023 AT WWTR

Chevrolet’s Series-Leading Ninth NCS Win of the 2023 Season

· The win is Busch’s third NASCAR Cup Series win of 2023 – tying fellow Team Chevy driver William Byron’s series-leading win record for the season.

· Busch now sits at 63 victories in 657 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

· The victory is Chevrolet’s first NASCAR Cup Series win at World Wide Technology Raceway – coming in just the series’ second appearance at the 1.25-mile oval.

· The winningest manufacturer in NASCAR Cup Series history, Chevrolet now sits at 842 all-time wins in NASCAR’s premier series.

· Chevrolet swept the NASCAR doubleheader race weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway with Grant Enfinger and the No. 23 GMS Racing Silverado RST team taking the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win.

MADISON, IL (June 4, 2023) – Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch drove Chevrolet to it’s series-leading ninth NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) win of the 2023 season at World Wide Technology Raceway. The victory came after Busch powered his No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1 through a series of five late-race restarts and an overtime finish to collect his third win of the season in NASCAR’s premier series.

The Team Chevy driver proved to be a contender for the triumph throughout the race weekend – also checking off his first pole win of the season. Leading the field to the green flag, the 38-year-old Las Vegas native went on to finish in the top-two in both stages – including a win in the opening stage. Busch took the lead from Team Chevy driver Kyle Larson on lap 184 and went on to lead the last 60 circuits en route to the victory. Busch is now the second driver in NASCAR’s premier series to notch three victories this season – joining fellow Team Chevy driver William Byron on that elite list.

Busch’s victory capped off a winning weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway for Chevrolet. Part one of the NASCAR doubleheader race weekend at the 1.25-mile oval saw Grant Enfinger and the No. 23 GMS Racing Silverado RST team drive the manufacturer to the victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event.

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Sonoma Raceway with the Toyota / Save Mart 350 on Sunday, June 11, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

 
KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1 – Race Winner Quote

Kyle Busch starts from the pole. Had a lot of work in the middle to get there, Kyle, but you complete the perfect weekend.

“Yeah, absolutely. That was pretty awesome. Man, to sit on the pole, lead a lot of laps and have my guys do such a great job today was pretty phenomenal for us. Great for RCR. Just win, baby!

Thanks to Team Chevy, appreciate 3Chi. Don’t forget, guess what, the No. 8 special – free chicken tenders at Cheddar’s on Monday! All the fans go out and celebrate with us. We’re going to have a great time with this one. This one is pretty cool.”

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:

POS. DRIVER

1st Kyle Busch, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1

4th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

7th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Camaro ZL1

8th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:

POS. DRIVER

1st Kyle Busch (Chevrolet)

2nd Denny Hamlin (Toyota)

3rd Joey Logano (Ford)

4th Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)

5th Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 GET BIOETHANOL CAMARO ZL1

Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stage.

Finished: 31st

“It’s just an unfortunate continuation to our season. It was the closing laps of the race and we were well on our way to a top-10 finish. The No. 2 car just flat out took me out. He right reared us and it ended our race. It’s unfortunate. We’ll regroup and give it all we have for Sonoma Raceway next weekend. I want to congratulate my teammate and the entire No. 8 team on the win. The No. 3 team will get over this hump.”

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1

Finished 4th

YOU GUYS WORKED ON THIS ALL DAY LONG. I KNOW FOURTH ISN’T EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT ANY WEEK, BUT THIS HAS TO FEEL PRETTY GOOD.

“It does, it does. I want to be upset with fourth after running second there the last little bit of the race and having a shot to lineup on the front row for a green-white-checkered. For a lot of the day, I thought I was going to run 20th on back. Huge thank you to Cliff Daniels (crew chief) and everybody on the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team for making the right adjustments. I don’t know if we were still amazing, but the strategy calls were perfect and at the right time and the late cautions fell at the right time. I think the car would have been fine had we just ran those last 50 laps under green.

Proud of the effort today. It’s been a couple tough races. We’ve been so good all year long and the last few have been pretty bad and we’ve had to work on it quite a bit. The team got us in a place where we could contend for the win, so you can’t ask for much more than that.

Thank you to HendrickCars.com, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, Valvoline – everybody that helps on this car. It’s a whole team effort. And congrats to Kyle (Busch). It was fun chasing him down. I wish I would have done a better job. When I was the leader, I hadn’t been at the front all day, so I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know where people were running on restarts and I didn’t know how hard they could go. I just got kind of caught off guard and lost the control.”

CARSON HOCEVAR, NO. 7 SCHLUTER SYSTEMS CAMARO ZL1

Broken brake rotor during Stage Two forced the No. 7 Camaro ZL1 team to retire early from the race.

Finished: 36th

What a day you had going. How would you assess your first time in a Cup car today up to that point?

“I thought it was great. I had a blast. Just so thankful for the opportunity. I don’t have a job for next year. I know Al Niece and Cody Efaw wants me to run for them and I will forever run a race or however many. But man, I’m just so thankful that they gave me the opportunity – the opportunity to drive a Xfinity car and now driving a Cup car. I was running 16th.. just so surreal for the first time ever. I thought we were going to have a good day and be in a good spot for Schluter Systems, Celsius, Spire Motorsports, Ryan Sparks and the No. 7 Chevy team. Hopefully that call for a Cup ride isn’t the only one I get in my life.”

JUSTIN HALEY, NO. 31 LEAFFILTER GUTTER PROTECTION CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 16th

“It was an up-and-down day for this No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection team. We fired off tight in traffic, and it was just hard to pass. My crew chief, Trent Owens made some really good strategy calls and we had positive adjustments all day, despite a couple pit-road mishaps. We had another good Chevrolet hot rod, and we will take a 16th-place finish after a hard fought day.”

RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 47 NOS ENERGY DRINK CAMARO ZL1

Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stage.

Finished: 32nd

“Our No. 47 NOS Energy Drink Chevy was really good all day. We kept our track position just like we wanted to. We got stage points and I felt like we had a top-eight or so car, which was a big difference from last year. Obviously we’re striving to be better everywhere. We had a really good streak going of really good runs. It looked like the No. 2 (Austin Cindric) just, for some reason, right-reared the No. 3 (Austin Dillon) and took both of us Chevy guys out, so that’s a bummer. We definitely had a top-10 car today.”

DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 FREEWAY INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1

Finished: 7th

YOU HAD A STRONG RUN AND RAN AROUND THE TOP-TEN ALL DAY LONG.

“Yeah, the entire weekend was very solid for us. We barely missed the second run in qualifying and really, we missed it because of me and not because of the car. The car was capable of advancing. In the race, the car was strong right away. I can’t thank enough everyone at Trackhouse Racing, the No. 99 team, everyone at Freeway Insurance, and all the people that help us have a strong performance on the track.

It was fun today and we really needed this as a team. We needed a result that we deserved, and I felt like lately it’s been a little difficult on us when it comes to that. Today, I felt like we deserved a top-10 or top-five and we came home seventh, so we will take it.”

YOU GUYS HAVE MOMENTUM GOING INTO SONOMA WHERE YOU WON LAST YEAR.. THAT HAS TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD

“Definitely, man. Every time we head to a road course, whether it’s Sonoma (Raceway), or somewhere else, I am excited. I feel at home and I am excited to go back to a place where we had great memories last time and hopefully we can repeat it.”

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1 – Race Win Press Conference Transcript

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by the winner of tonight’s NASCAR Cup Series race, Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

We’ll go right to questions.

Q. Out-dueling Larson on several late race restarts, where does this win do you feel like ranks among maybe some of your best driving performances?

KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, no, I mean, I guess I had a lot of experience of doing the same stuff last year, and unfortunately didn’t make the most of it there at the end and get the win last year. Was able to do it this year just racing against a few of those guys. Larson was up there, Denny was up there, Blaney, all the guys that were fast all day. So I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

Just the restarts kind of went our way. We were able to get through on the outside on that one and push Larson out, then he took bottom of three and four, I was able to carry the momentum around the high side to take the lead. That was really important. I think that was kind of the key moment of us being able to win today. Being able to control the rest of the restarts for the rest of the race.

Kyle is one of the best. It’s good to be able to sit up here and race hard with him, being a Team Chevy partner. He gave me great respect, I appreciate that. That will be given back down the road.

Q. Did you anticipate this level of success so early when you made the move to RCR?

KYLE BUSCH: I’m sorry, one more time.

Q. Did you anticipate this level of success so early?

KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, no, we’ve had some really good runs. We’ve had three wins obviously, which is great. But we’ve also had some of the dismal days as well. We’ve had peaks and valleys so far this year.

We just got to find the greater planes, if you will, and level this thing out a little bit. It’s great to be able to score a win here in St. Louis for Randall’s hometown, that’s really good. So the team is really on a high. The whole organization has been really fighting hard, doing a great job.

Everybody back at RCR, at the shop, ECR, the engine shop, has been doing great. Just been so welcoming and really cool to be able to go out there and succeed for them and to give them back what all the hard work they’re putting in is doing.

Q. Do you kind of feed off of that? It’s like after what you went through last year with Gibbs, to go someplace that just so thoroughly wanted you there, and they’re feeding off of your talent and your success, it just has to pull an organization in the right direction.

KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, I mean, it all kind of stems, too, on the horse you’re riding, right? We were horrible at the All-Star Race. That was probably our worst roll. Being able to come out here and have a good run at a short track, although it was still the normal aero package, if you will. But just goes to show that we’re really putting our head down and digging in and trying to figure out what it’s going to be able to take to get me comfortable to make me fast, right?

You got to have a good horse to ride. So far this year we’ve had a few. Guys have been doing a great job. Last week at Coke 600, we were fast as well. I think I kind of hurt the car a little bit when I spun out. We still drove back to second. Didn’t have anything for the 12. Was a great night for us. Just continuing to show good speed each week.

Q. Now you’ve won in the Cup, Xfinity Series here at Gateway. Is it now a goal to win in the Truck Series?

KYLE BUSCH: Depends on the rules and regulations and stipulations of locking me out. This was a triple truck challenge race. I can’t run in those. It’s a matter of being able to open up the playbook to have more races to choose from. It’s limited on which ones I’m allowed to go do.

Years ago I was slated to run a late model race or something, I think it got canceled or something. I don’t know what it was. Didn’t get a chance to do that one either, but that would have been fun.

Q. You led the most laps in both races here, two different teams, two different makes. Is there anything in particular at this track that you feel you’ve figured out or…

KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know what that really is. I’ve been fast here back in the Xfinity days when I raced with JGR, and the Hendrick days I think we had top five runs here, something like that. This has always been a good place for me. Always fun to come out to Gateway and the St. Louis area and have a good race.

Not sure exactly what it is or what makes me run well here. It’s a fun place to race, so you just go out there and attack it and enjoy it.

Q. On this day 12 years ago, you and Richard had your physical altercation. Richard said he’s put it behind him, you guys have moved on, he’s been proud to have you as part of his team. Wanted your thoughts of how you’ve grown and learned from that, now being a part of this team, to not only be the leader of this team but the face of the biggest threat for the championship?

KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, I mean, people change. People grow up. Whatever happens. The relationship that I have now, and the effort that’s gone into securing me, to get me to go to RCR, the discussions and talks that happened there. Obviously being able to get there and have some really strong runs, winning right out of the gate at Fontana was big for us, a good morale booster. Just proves them right, right? Gives them greater satisfaction in me being part of the team.

It’s been fun to have that group around. They know when we go to places, we struggle at places, that we all want to get better, right? I could do a better job most of the time. Randall and the guys can do a better job as well.

We just all continue to strive and work hard and bounce off of each other in order to make sure we can come out and have the best possible stuff every time we hit the racetrack.

Q. Tell us about your thoughts of having Braxton in the car going around. A big smile on his face.

KYLE BUSCH: It was. Thank you. Braxton is a huge fan of mine, a great supporter obviously. It’s really fun when your son is there to kind of celebrate and have a great time, being able to jump the wall and come out. I was shocked when he got there. Asked the NASCAR guys if he could go for a ride. We did that in 2009 when I won the championship. That’s a moment we will never forget. We will cherish that one forever. It was really fun, really cool.

Did it again today. Tried to accelerate down the backstretch to give him a little bit of pull on the race car. The rear tires were smoked, so all it wanted to do was spin out. Thankfully I kept it straight.

We had fun. He likes that. So one of these days I’m sure he’ll be reaching for the pedals himself.

Q. This is looking ahead. You led 54 laps last year at Nashville, couldn’t close the deal. Hendrick’s won the last two races. Being part of the key Chevrolet groups, does that give you additional data that might help you win when you go back there in two or three weeks?

KYLE BUSCH: Certainly I would like to think so. I think the 8 car there last year was decent. Not as good as the Hendrick 9 or the 18 where I was. Like you said, we weren’t quite able to close out the deal.

It would be nice to go back there and lean on some of those notes. That’s been a key thing for us to be able to do. It didn’t necessarily bode well at the All-Star Race. Maybe we showed them what not to do. Here this weekend, we were able to excel and we had the good stuff this weekend, if you will.

Look forward to all the weeks ahead, kind of this final stretch before the Playoffs.

Q. (No microphone.)

KYLE BUSCH: It is, but it’s nowhere near the same. Entirely different racetrack. Concrete surface, banking in the corners. Corners more similar, one, two, three, four. So yeah. Fun track, though.

Q. I’m not sure if this is a buzz kill or not. Did you have any concerns about brakes? Was there a big concern or you have a bunch of red flags at a track you don’t have a lot of data on, guys are pushing it, we should have expected some of that today?

KYLE BUSCH: Yeah, I obviously don’t know what package they ran. I’m sure they would run the short track package here for brakes.

I never felt any vibration, never had any issue, never had any long pedal or nothing with mine. I was confident in our stuff and what we had going.

I felt like that was actually a really strong suit for me today, was on the brakes, get in the corner, get whoa’d up in time for the rest of the corner.

RICHARD CHILDRESS, OWNER, RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING; and RANDALL BURNETT, CREW CHIEF, NO. 8 3CHI CAMARO ZL1 – Race Win Press Conference Transcript

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by our race-winning team owner, Richard Childress, team owner of Richard Childress Racing.

RICHARD CHILDRESS: It’s great to be back in the winner’s circle and come here and see all the great media folks that come here and help our sport be what it is today.

Q. You said over the radio after Kyle took the checkered flag, there’s no one I’d rather have in that position than you. What has he meant to the organization?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Well, he’s helped us all around. Number one, he’s winning races, showing we can win races. He’s helped Austin a whole lot. Austin has had some really good runs. He had drove up to about 10th until the 2 car wrecked him in there on purpose, sort of a payback.

But you know, Kyle has been really — he’s such a pleasure to work with. Everybody says, man, how y’all going to get along. Same question they asked me about you and Dale won’t last six months. We lasted 20 years. I want to keep Kyle there, and hopefully we can end his career when he gets ready to.

Q. Was there any concern with your organization with brake rotors when it started to creep in there with a few of the cars? I think we had four broken rotors today?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: You’re talking about breaking rotors?

Q. Yeah, the brake rotors were breaking and there were four broken rotors today. Was there any concern among the RCR cars?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Yeah, I was really concerned on the 3 because he’s really hard on the brakes. Kyle didn’t seem to use it that much, and Austin quit using his a whole lot there at the end. These long straightaways, they have so much time to cool off, and then you get them so hot in the corner — here comes Randall Burnett, the winning crew chief, from local boy from right here in Missouri, St. Louis.

I hope that answered your question.

Q. Mr. Childress, three wins in the first 15 races of the season. From your perspective when was the last time it felt like RCR was this dangerous, to be a winner on such a regular basis?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: You know, we won a lot with Harvick, won a lot with Earnhardt. Our plans is to win a lot with Kyle, and not only be a contender for that championship. If we make the Final Four, we’ll have a shot at winning it for sure.

Q. Richard, I know it’s been a short time, but was that the best race you’ve seen Kyle drive for you?

RICHARD CHILDRESS: You know, anytime he gets in the car, I think he drives a really great race. Anytime we can give him a car capable of winning, he’s going to win with it. I think he just did a great job today.

Those last three or four or however many it was restarts, I felt they were pretty tough, but I knew he would be able to do his job.

Q. For Randall, following up on the brake rotors, did you have any concerns, and is it just something that — red flags and not a lot of data on this track, makes that more challenging?

RANDALL BURNETT: I think people probably came back — I think teams last year came here a little more conservative last year not knowing, and I think we all took data from that and went home and looked. We get options on heavy-duty rotors or light-duty rotors, so we can choose that, and we can obviously choose how much cooling we run to them.

Like Richard said, it’s kind of a tough place because the straightaways are so long and you’re off the brakes for such a long time, and then you apply them really hard at the end of the straightaway, so the cycles of getting really cool down the straightaways and then really spiking up the heat, it takes a toll on the rotors.

We were fortunate enough with the 8 car, we were kind of in the top 5 most all day long, and when you get back further a little bit in the pack, too, and have to work your rotors harder, using brakes, racing people a lot harder, those things happen.

I’m sure everybody will take a look at that and try to understand what happened with those cars.

Q. Richard, 12 years ago this was the day when you and Kyle got into the physical altercation. Talk about how you’ve seen him grow and mature, kind of evolve in the sport, and now racing for you and putting you as probably one of the top teams to be the threat for the championship this year.

RICHARD CHILDRESS: Yeah, we put that totally behind us. We talked about it. That was one of the first things we talked about. That’s history. We’ve both grown a lot. I know I’ve grown up. I’ve grown older, but I’ve grown up, too. There’s an old song out there, I’m still growing up but I’m getting older.

Q. Randall, winning in your home track here in St. Louis, you being a St. Louisan, do you have any initial memories of being here at Gateway and all the tremendous improvements Gateway has made?

RANDALL BURNETT: Yeah, I was here, I was still in St. Louis, living here when this place — it used to be a road course here and part of the dragstrip was a road course, and I actually raced karts on that track a handful of times, and then they built this place, and I’d come watch INDYCARs when they would come, any events they would come here. So we always came over for that when I was a kid.

I was fortunate enough to run some shifter karts here on this track through the road course on the infield and then part of the big track.

It means a lot to me to come home. I moved away from here when I was about 20 years old and moved to Charlotte to do what I’m doing, to go race, and I did some driving down there and grew up racing go-karts here with my mom and my dad, off Telegraph Road at Woodman Raceway Park, the St. Louis Karting Association my father and some of them built down there for us to have a place to even go race.

To come home and win here, it means a lot. It’s a pretty big deal for me.

Q. Randall, can you look at just the first 14, 15 races and have an idea or a sense what the potential is for that team?

RANDALL BURNETT: I think we’ve got a lot of potential. I think we’ve got a lot to clean up, too, and we talk about it repeatedly. We’ve had some really fast cars and taken ourselves out of races with some mistakes and things like that, me and Kyle, and our whole group have talked about it, and we know we’ve all got to clean it up on our end, especially if we’re going to compete for the championship.

We are fast with this intermediate package. We’ve struggled really bad on the short tracks, haven’t got the feel for him of what he needs in a car on a short track yet, so that’s one of our biggest hindrances right now I would say as a team to be where we really want to be.

But really proud of this 8 bunch. They dig in hard. Great group of guys, great group of racers, and Kyle has fit right in with them. He’s done a great job of adapting over here and lent plenty of insight on his side to how to make things better, as well, so we’re all working together towards that.

RICHARD CHILDRESS: I want to say one other thing. Chevy has really supported us a lot, and I don’t think we could do what we do today without all the support — all the manufacturers support the teams, but I feel like Chevrolet gets behind us stronger than anybody else, all the three key partners.

Thank you all.

TEAM CHEVY RACE HIGHLIGHTS:

Stage One

· Kyle Busch and the No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1 team led the field to the green in today’s Enjoy Illinois 300 Presented by TicketSmarter at World Wide Technology Raceway – Busch’s first NASCAR Cup Series pole win of the 2023 season.

· With just three laps in the books, the race was brought under red flag conditions for a lightning hold – lasting 1:45:10.

· Once the race resumed, Stage One continued caution-free with polesitter Busch taking the green-white checkered flag at the stage end – his first stage win of the season.

· Team Chevy Stage One: Top-10

1st Kyle Busch, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1

7th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1

8th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Moose Fraternity Camaro ZL1

10th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Camaro ZL1

Stage Two

· The first round of pit stops took place during the stage break with crew chief Randall Burnett calling Kyle Busch to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Winning the race off pit road, Busch elected the outside lane of the front-row to take the green for Stage Two.

· In his first career NASCAR Cup Series start, Team Chevy’s Carson Hocevar was running in the 16th position when a broken brake rotor brought the No. 7 Schulter Systems Camaro ZL1 team’s day to an early end.

· Busch and the No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1 team led Bowtie brand to the end of Stage Two in the second position. Six Team Chevy drivers collected stage points in the stage:

2nd Kyle Busch, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1

4th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1

5th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Camaro ZL1

6th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 NOS Energy Drink Camaro ZL1

9th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Moose Fraternity Camaro ZL1

10th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1

Final Stage

· During the stage break, the lead pack hit pit road for the next round of scheduled pit stops. William Byron pit from the fourth position for four tires and fuel with the No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 team picking up two spots on pit road for a front-row restart position.

· Byron quickly powered his No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1 to the lead on lap 149. Holding onto a strong gap in front of second-place, a timely caution fell allowing the No. 24 team to address a concern of a possible right-front tire going down.

· Crew chief Cliff Daniels opted a pit strategy for track position, calling Kyle Larson down pit road for a two-tire only stop. The No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team picked up seven spots on pit road to lead the field back to the green with 58 laps to go.

· With four fresh tires, fellow Team Chevy driver Busch quickly contended Larson for the lead, ultimately taking the top position with 55 laps to go.

 

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY

RACE: ENJOY ILLINOIS 300 DATE: JUNE 4, 2023

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 FREIGHTLINER FORD MUSTANG

START: 10TH STAGE ONE: 9TH STAGE TWO: 21ST FINISH: 13TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric finished 13th at World Wide Technology Raceway in what turned out to be an eventful afternoon at the St. Louis-area track. Cindric started 10th after a strong showing in qualifying and gained two positions early before lightning in the area forced the red flag to halt competition. After a nearly two-hour delay, engines were fired again, and the race resumed. Cindric remained on track until the end of Stage 1, where he finished ninth, before venturing to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. Unfortunately, the No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang was handed a speeding penalty during the trip to pit road and was forced to restart at the tail of the field. Scored in the 23rd position, a caution on Lap 92 brought Cindric to pit road for four sticker tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment to help tighten up the No. 2 Ford. Cindric marched on to finish Stage 2 in the 21st position. Crew Chief Jeremy Bullins called for right-side tires, fuel, and another adjustment at the Stage break. Cindric navigated various late-race cautions in Stage 3, gaining valuable positions on track to take the checkered flag 13th.

CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “Yeah, definitely frustrating having a speeding penalty…I’m a little frustrated with myself with that. You think something at the end of Stage 1 isn’t going to affect your race, but it just puts us behind. We tried a bunch of strategy calls to get our Freightliner Ford Mustang up there. Had some good restarts at the end and made the most of it, I feel like. Those restarts got really scrappy. Proud of the team effort, proud of the recovery. Definitely a lot to clean up on my end to maximize what I thought was a top-10 race car.”

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/RICHMOND FORD MUSTANG

START: 2ND STAGE ONE: 2ND STAGE TWO: 1ST FINISH: 6TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney started second and finished sixth in Sunday’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway, just outside St. Louis. Blaney would run side-by-side with Kyle Busch for much of the opening five laps prior to a caution and subsequent red flag on lap 5 for lightning. After nearly a two-hour red flag, racing resumed and so did the battle between Blaney and Busch. The Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang would struggle with dirty air and Blaney would come home second in Stage 1. Blaney would restart Stage 2 from the runner-up spot. Following a caution for the No. 7 car on lap 92, Blaney would opt for right side tires; quick service would get him out into the lead, and he maintained position to collect his second stage win of 2023. Blaney would restart fifth for the final stage of the race. Adjusting his Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang for tighter conditions, a bevy of cautions near the end of the race would lead to multiple restarts, climaxing with NASCAR overtime. Try as he might Blaney would bring The No. 12 Ford Mustang home in the sixth position. As a result, Blaney now becomes the NASCAR Cup Series point leader by 13 markers over William Byron.

BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “Yeah, we ran pretty good today. Won the second stage which was good, second in the first stage. Just kind of lost track position, lost the lead. Through a couple stops and restarts, we could just never really get it back. I thought that the No. 8, No. 11, and I were similar. It was just a matter of who was out front. I just got a bad restart at the end and fell to sixth. But overall, it wasn’t a bad day. It was a good points day too, and we’ll keep going.”

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG

START: 6TH STAGE ONE: 5TH STAGE TWO: 7TH FINISH: 3RD

RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang crossed the finish line third in Sunday evening’s race at Gateway to pick up his fourth top-3 finish of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. The defending winner at the 1.25-mile oval started sixth and ran in the top-10 for the entirety of the 243-lap event, capitalizing on a consistent pit strategy and strong restarts to climb to the front. Logano spent the first stage settling in and finding his preferred line as the No. 22 eased his way into fifth for the first race break. The start of Stage 2 saw Logano’s lap times match the leader. Although the veteran driver was still in search of the perfect balance that would propel him beyond the top-five. A two-tire pit stop gave him that advantage, and he achieved a race-high second-place to finish the remaining 40 laps of Stage 2. Still, the No. 22 battled a tight entry and was relegated to seventh for the second Stage break before the final 100 laps to the finish. An inconsistent balance continued to have Logano and the No. 22 team finding their rhythm as the laps ticked away. The Shell-Pennzoil team continued to push forward with both car and driver syncing up in the remaining 40 laps of the 300-mile race. A flurry of late-race cautions followed and gave Logano a chance to strategize his lane selection and charge to the front, picking up three spots in the final few laps of the race. When the checkered flew, the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang sporting a special scheme commemorating Team Penske’s and Shell-Pennzoil’s collective 100 wins together, was just two spots shy of victory 101, finishing third.

LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “I’m proud of the fight. We were mediocre – just outside the top-five all day long. There was a group of cars that were a tick better than us. Then we executed at the end and beat a few of them. We tried some new things from last year, and we learned some lessons. But overall: Good. We needed a solid run. We’ve been going through hell here lately. So, it’s nice to get a top-five, third place, and some points there in each stage. Good day.”

WHAT’S NEXT: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 11. Coverage begins at 3:30 pm E.T. on FOX, PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Enjoy Illinois 300 Presented by TicketSmarter

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions FARMSMART Camaro ZL1

• AJ Allmendinger qualified 11th for the Enjoy Illinois 300 Presented by TicketSmarter.
• On lap two, a caution came out for the No. 45 spinning in front of the No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions FARMSMART Chevy. The restart was called off and the red flag was displayed on lap five due to lightening in the area. When the race restarted on lap nine, Allmendinger consistently ran in 11th place until his car continued to tighten up in the middle of the corner and the rear began to fade. With four laps remaining in stage one, Allmendinger was passed resulting in a 12th-place finish in stage one.
• The No. 16 team made air pressure adjustments to help the handling of the car during the stage break, and Allmendinger started the second stage in 11th place. Allmendinger battled with the No. 47 for the 10th spot, with Allmendinger holding onto it for several laps before falling to 12th. Allmendinger’s No. 16 Chevy continued to tighten up, and he struggled to carry speed through corner. Under caution on lap 99, the team gambled and pit for right side tires. Allmendinger restarted third, but quickly fell back, telling the team on lap 125 he had no grip, and his car was loose as he fought to stay in the top 15. Allmendinger continued to fade and finished stage two in 22nd.
• The No. 16 team had a slow stop under caution at the stage break, and Allmendinger restarted 30th for stage three. He continued to battle a loose race car as he tried to climb back through the field, making his way up to 25th by lap 154. Under caution on lap 200, Allmendinger reported his car was now too tight, and the team pit for an adjustment and four tires. From the restart on lap 203, Allmendinger moved through the field as the cautions continued to come out, making his way up to 15th before NASCAR overtime, ultimately finishing 14th for the second-consecutive week.

“We had an up-and-down day today fighting the balance in our No. 16 Chevy. I felt like we had a top-15 car most of the day, but we had to play defense to stay there. I wasn’t able to roll speed through the corner like I needed to be more aggressive and keep moving forward. We made a strategy call to take two tires, which didn’t work in our favor. Then we got caught up on pit road and restarted pretty far back at the beginning of the third stage. We’ll take a 14th- place finish after everything we battled with our car today and move forward to Sonoma.” – AJ Allmendinger

Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1

• Justin Haley qualified 23rd for the Enjoy Illinois 300 Presented by TicketSmarter.
• In the opening stage, Haley’s No. 31 was tight-handling in traffic, making it difficult for him to pass. Finishing 27th in the stage, crew chief, Trent Owens, came up with a plan to free up the No. 31 Chevy. The team made a long pit stop, making adjustments to both the left and right front of the car.
• With the adjustments seemingly helping, Haley climbed his way back up to 21st and thanked his team for the positive adjustments before a caution came out on lap 91. The team decided to make a minor adjustment and put four fresh tires on the No. 31 Chevrolet. Haley restarted inside the top 20 with 38 laps remaining in the stage. In the final 20 laps of stage two, Haley reported his No. 31 car began handling tight in traffic. He went on to finish the second stage in 18th place.
• During the second stage break, the team decided to go back on previous air pressure change when Haley pitted for four tires and fuel, as the balance of No. 31 regressed during the last run. A pit stop mishap lost him a few positions. The race went green until a caution with 66 to go. Haley reported the No. 31 became very aero tight. He pitted for four tires and a right rear adjustment. With 11-total cautions, the final stage ended in overtime with Haley finishing 16th.

“It was an up-and-down day for this No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection team. We fired off tight in traffic, and it was just hard to pass. My crew chief, Trent Owens, made some really good strategy calls and we had positive adjustments all day, despite a couple pit-road mishaps. We had another good Chevrolet hot rod, and we will take a 16th-place finish after a hard fought day.” – Justin Haley  

Pacific Office Automation 147

Chandler Smith, No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet

• Chandler Smith qualified seventh for the Pacific Office Automation 147 after advancing to the final round of the qualifying session by topping Group A.
• In the first corner of the opening lap, Smith was hit from behind by the No. 24, resulting in severe damage to the right-rear of the No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet. Smith spun as a result, sending him to the back of the field.
• After serving a drive-through penalty for not re-entering the track through the chicane run-off area pathway, Smith went on to finish 22nd in the first stage.
• Smith started crawling his way through the field, reaching 13th-place in the second stage before a spin sent him back to 20th, where he’d finish the stage in the waning laps of the second 25-lap stint.
• In the final stage, Smith fought his way up to ninth place after multiple late-race cautions to solidify a top 10 from a hard day’s work.

“I’m proud of the Quick Tie team for fixing some of the damage we sustained in the first stage and keeping a fast hot rod fast throughout the day. Things didn’t go the way we wanted them to with not getting any stage points, but after a day like today, I’ll happily take ninth place.” – Chandler Smith

Jordan Taylor, No. 10 Leaf Home Water Solutions Chevrolet Camaro

• With minimum time behind the wheel of his first NXS start, Jordan Taylor qualified sixth for the Pacific Office Automation 147.
• Quickly advancing to the top three at the start of the race, Taylor flexed his road racing muscles and settled into the field.
• While running in the top five, Taylor tried different lines throughout the course to see what suited the No. 10 Leaf Home Water Solutions Camaro, but was unable to make significant gains.
• Taylor finished the first stage where he started, sixth and the second stage one position better in fifth.
• After sustaining right-front fender damage and losing second/third gear in the final stage, Taylor pitted on lap 69 from the 11th position for tires and repairs to the fender. Taylor limped the No.10 to a 27th-place finish.

“It was a fun day overall. Stage one was a lot of learning, and in stage two we made some adjustments that I felt like gave us a top-three car. Unfortunately, we got some damage in the last stage on that restart and lost second and third gear. Not the day we wanted, but the Kaulig guys brought a great car. I had a great first experience in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and it was fun racing with everybody. Hopefully we get another shot at it one day.” – Jordan Taylor

Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet

• Daniel Hemric topped the chart in group A qualifying, transferring the No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet to the second round where he went on to qualify 10th for the Pacific Office Automation 147.
• Hemric was able to quickly gain spots and settle in the top 10 for a majority of the first stage until he suffered a mechanical issue on lap 21 while running ninth under caution.
• The No.11 headed to the garage for repairs. Hemric ended stage one behind the wall in 36th place.
• Hemric spent stage two behind the wall while the team made repairs. Hemric was able to get back on track in time for the final stage.
• Hemric continued to log laps in his No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet and finished the race in 33rd place.

“I had high expectations going into the race. I felt like our Cirkul Chevrolet was going to have a lot of potential and had a lot of speed. I felt good inside the race car. We missed a bit of balance there in stage one, but we were still going to salvage a decent first stage. Coming to the restart zone, I had a couple interesting things happen with the throttle pedal and fuel. Then, the next thing you know, something with the fuel system caught on fire. Incredible work by the 11 team to get everything changed out and the car back on track to log some more laps. It wasn’t an ideal day, but we will regroup and get ready for Sonoma.” – Daniel Hemric  
 
About Kaulig Racing™

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and has won back-to-back regular-season championships. Before becoming a full-time NCS team, Kaulig Racing made multiple starts in the 2021 NCS season and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team expanded to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 with Justin Haley piloting the No. 31 Camaro ZL1, and an all-star lineup featured in the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. Haley will continue to drive the No. 31 full-time in 2023, alongside AJ Allmendinger, who will drive the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. The team will continue to field three, full-time NXS entries; the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by an all-star lineup, the No. 11 Chevrolet driven by Daniel Hemric, and the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by Chandler Smith. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Enjoy Illinois 300

Date: June 4, 2023

Event: Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter (Round 15 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois (near St. Louis)

Layout: 1.25-mile oval

Format: 240 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/95 laps/100 laps)

Note: Race extended three laps past its scheduled 240-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)

SHR Race Finish:

● Kevin Harvick (Started 4th, Finished 10th / Running, completed 243 of 243 laps)

● Ryan Preece (Started 29th, Finished 17th / Running, completed 243 of 243 laps)

● Aric Almirola (Started 24th, Finished 19th / Running, completed 243 of 243 laps)

● Chase Briscoe (Started 25th, Finished 34th / Running, completed 193 of 243 laps)

SHR Points:

● Kevin Harvick (3rd with 473 points, 22 out of first)

● Aric Almirola (25th with 251 points, 244 out of first)

● Ryan Preece (27th with 245 points, 250 out of first)

● Chase Briscoe (31st with 175 points, 320 out of first)

SHR Notes:

● Harvick made his 805th career NASCAR Cup Series start on Sunday when he took the green flag at Gateway, tying NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for ninth all-time. Harvick is on track to finish the year with 826 career starts, which will put him eighth all-time. He’s part of an impressive lineup that includes Richard Petty (1,185 starts), Ricky Rudd (906), Terry Labonte (890), Dave Marcis (883), Mark Martin (882), Kyle Petty (829), Bill Elliott (828), Darrell Waltrip (809) and Gordon (805). At age 47, Harvick was the fifth-youngest driver to make 800 starts.

● Harvick earned his seventh top-10 of the season and his first top-10 in two career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Gateway.

● This was Harvick’s fourth straight finish of 11th or better, a run highlighted by a second-place drive May 14 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

● Harvick finished sixth in Stage 1 to earn five bonus points and eighth in Stage 2 to earn three more bonus points.

● This was Preece’s third straight top-20. He finished 15th at Darlington and 13th in the series’ prior race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Race Notes:

● Kyle Busch won the Enjoy Illinois 300 to score his 63rd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his first at Gateway. His margin over second-place Denny Hamlin was .517 of a second.

● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 67 laps.

● Twenty-eight of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Ryan Blaney leaves Gateway as the new championship leader with a 13-point advantage over second-place William Byron.

Sound Bites:

“That was a really long day. I fought a tight racecar all day long and every time we came down pit road, my guys made really strong adjustments. It just wasn’t enough to get us to the front and stay there. There were so many cautions there at the end, I was just trying to save the car. Overall, it wasn’t a terrible day for us after qualifying 29th. The fans were out in full force today, too. That was awesome to see. We’ve just got to keep grinding for better finishes.” – Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang

“We battled handing issues all day and just couldn’t find it. We were loose to start the day and it felt like our car was tight on aero and loose mechanically. Our long-run speed was really all we had today and we could pass cars late in the run, but we had so many cautions in the final stage we didn’t have the chance to run those cars down. Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) put me on offense on the last 20 laps with fresh tires and I thought we could’ve driven up to 15th, but someone missed a shift on the last restart and stacked us up and put us behind. Just one of those days. We had to battle to get all we could get.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Save Mart 350k on Sunday, June 11 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick came away from Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway with a 23rd-place finish.

Burton started Sunday’s race from 14th place and moved up one spot in the early going before the race was stopped after just six laps due to lightning in the St. Louis area where the track is located.

After a delay of nearly two hours, the green flag was displayed again, and Burton remained in the top 15 for the remainder of the first 45-lap Stage, ending that segment in 15th place.

Returning to the track after a stop for two fresh tires and fuel, the No. 21 Mustang was posted in 12th place for the restart.

A long green flag run worked against the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team and Burton finished the second Stage in 24th place.

In the third and final segment of the race, he worked his way back into the top 20, then stayed out when the caution flag – and the red flag – flew for a wreck by Noah Gragson.

That moved him up to 15th place with just under 40 laps left to run. Burton stayed among the top 20 but was shuffled back after a restart with 15 of the scheduled 240 laps left to run.

When a late wreck set up an overtime finish, Burton pitted from 27thplace for fresh rubber and gained four spots over the final two laps to finish 23rd for his eighth top-25 finish in 15 races this season.

Next up for Burton and the Wood Brothers team is a trip to the road course at Sonoma Raceway for next Sunday’s 110-lap race on the 1.99-mile track.

About Motorcraft®
Motorcraft offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to underhood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer value with high quality and the right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford Dealers and Lincoln Retailers, independent distributors and automotive-parts retailers, and are backed by the Service Parts Limited Warranty* of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com.
*See your dealer for limited-warranty details.

About Omnicraft®
Omnicraft is part of the Ford lineup of parts brands: Ford Parts, Motorcraft and Omnicraft. Omnicraft is the exclusive non-Ford/Lincoln parts brand of premium aftermarket parts. With over a century of parts heritage to build upon, Omnicraft provides excellent quality and fit and is a preferred choice of professional automotive technicians. To find out more about Omnicraft, visit www.omnicraftautoparts.com or contact your local Ford or Lincoln Dealership.
*See your dealer for limited-warranty details.

About Quick Lane® Tire & Auto Center
Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center offers extraordinary service for routine maintenance, serving all vehicle makes and models. Quick Lane provides a full menu of automotive services, including tires, oil change and maintenance, brakes, batteries, alternator and electrical system, air conditioning system, cooling system, transmission service, suspension and steering, wheel alignment, belts and hoses, lamps and bulbs and wiper blades plus a thorough vehicle checkup report. Service is performed by expert technicians while you wait at any of nearly 800 locations in the U.S., with evening and weekend hours available and no appointment necessary. For more information about Quick Lane, please visit www.quicklane.com.
*See your dealer for limited-warranty details.

About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, that is committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company’s Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for and deepen the loyalty of those customers. Ford develops and delivers innovative, must-have Ford trucks, sport utility vehicles, commercial vans and cars and Lincoln luxury vehicles, as well as connected services. Additionally, Ford is establishing leadership positions in mobility solutions, including self-driving technology, and provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. Ford employs about 176,000 people worldwide. More information about the company, its products and Ford Credit is available at corporate.ford.com.
*See seller for limited-warranty details.

Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glenn Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glenn’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Harrison Burton in the famous No. 21 racer.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Enjoy Illinois 300 | Sunday, June 4, 2023

Ford Finishing Results:

3rd – Joey Logano

6th – Ryan Blaney

9th – Michael McDowell

10th – Kevin Harvick

12th – Chris Buescher

13th – Austin Cindric

15th – Todd Gilliland

17th – Ryan Preece

19th – Aric Almirola

23rd – Harrison Burton

24th – JJ Yeley

28th – Brad Keselowski

29th – Gray Gaulding

34th – Chase Briscoe

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang (Finished 3rd) – “I’m proud of the fight. We were mediocre – just outside the top-five all day long. There was a group of cars that were a tick better than us. Then we executed at the end and beat a few of them. We tried some new things from last year, and we learned some lessons. But overall: Good. We needed a solid run. We’ve been going through hell here lately. So, it’s nice to get a top-five, third place, and some points there in each stage. Good day.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford Mustang (Finished 6th) – “Yeah, we ran pretty good today. Won the second stage which was good, second in the first stage. Just kind of lost track position, lost the lead. Through a couple stops and restarts, we could just never really get it back. I thought that the No. 8, No. 11 and I were similar. It was just a matter of who was out front. I just got a bad restart at the end and fell to sixth. But overall, it wasn’t a bad day. It was a good points day too, and we’ll keep going.”

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 FR8Auctions.com Ford Mustang (Finished 9th) – YOU STAYED ON A TWO-TIRE PIT STRATEGY THROUGHOUT THE RACE. DID YOU FEEL LIKE THAT STRATEGY WORKED AT THE END? “We kind of learned last year that track position is super important. Taking two tires was an option last year, so we knew it’d be one this year. We did it early on and got track position, but we got spun out. So, went all the way to the back and then we put four on, and then you’re just buried back there. So, we had to go for it again, put two on and just left two on. We never took four again. There were a lot of laps on the left-side tires, but track position was super important. We had a great FR8 Auctions Ford Mustang, so I knew we could kind of hold our ground. Those last few cautions kind of hurt us a bit, but still came away with a Top-10. So, it was a good day.”

FOUR CARS FELL VICTIM TO BROKEN BRAKE ROTORS THROUGHOUT THE RACE. WAS THAT EVER A CONCERN? “I don’t know exactly what happened to the other cars. Obviously, there were a lot of brake rotor failures, and I didn’t have any issues braking wise. But, this place you have really hard braking and really strong straightaways. So, you’re heating and cooling, and a lot of times that creates fractures – and those cracks sometimes explode. I think that’s what you saw today. I don’t know. I’m not an engineer. But, typically too much tape on the grill will get them hot and then too cold. We had a pretty good balance on brakes – never had any shake. So, there wasn’t any issues or concerns.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang (Finished 12th) – “That was a long day – long race. There were a lot of cautions and red flags. It really started yesterday. I was in a little bit of a hole after qualifying, and I just didn’t do a good job. I had to dig out of that today. We had pretty good speed in our Fastenal Ford Mustang. I was pretty happy with it, and at times, had to move around the track quite a bit. I figured out Gateway really quickly. Not being able to run here last year, I felt a little behind getting going. Definitely found something there at the end. Honestly wish it was a 600-mile race because I felt like we could have kept getting better.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang (Finished 13th) – “Yeah, definitely frustrating having a speeding penalty…I’m a little frustrated with myself with that. You think something at the end of Stage 1 isn’t going to affect your race, but it just put us behind. We tried a bunch of strategy calls to get our Freightliner Ford Mustang up there. Had some good restarts at the end and made the most of it, I feel like. Those restarts got really scrappy. Proud of the team effort, proud of the recovery. Definitely a lot to clean up on my end to maximize what I thought was a Top-10 race car.”

RYAN PREECE, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang (Finished 17th) – “That was a really long day. I fought a tight race car all day long and every time we came down pit road, my guys made really strong adjustments. It just wasn’t enough to get us to the front and stay there. There were so many cautions there at the end, I was just trying to save the car. Overall, it wasn’t a terrible day for us after qualifying 29th. The fans were out in full force today, too, that was awesome to see. We’ve just got to keep grinding for better finishes.”

HAMLIN RUNNER-UP IN WILD GATEWAY RACE
Truex joins Hamlin inside the top-five finishers

MADISON, Ill. (June 4, 2023) – In a race that featured lightening delays and multiple red flags, Denny Hamlin battled through to a runner-up finish to lead Team Toyota at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Sunday evening. Martin Truex Jr. (fifth) joined his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate inside the top-five finishers.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
Race 15 of 36 – 300 miles, 240 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, Kyle Busch*

2nd, DENNY HAMLIN

3rd, Joey Logano*

4th, Kyle Larson*

5th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.

11th, CHRISTOPHER BELL

20th, TY GIBBS

30th, BUBBA WALLACE

34th, TYLER REDDICK

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

What is your take on today where we saw a little bit of everything?

“Yeah, I thought we were super dialed if it was 95 degrees like it was supposed to be with those delays – it kind of took away from the advantage I thought that we had. I’m proud of this whole Sport Clips Toyota team – pit crew did a phenomenal job keeping us in it and doing really good on the money stop with about 60 to go. We are going to have to wait another to get that 50th (win).”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

What was the race like with everything you had to deal with?

“It was interesting for sure. For us, we had a really strong Auto Owners Insurance Camry. Started off the race near the front and stayed there through stage one and thought we could get a little bit better and maybe have a shot at the couple, three in front of us. We had a pit road penalty and had to go to the back, and it was just an uphill climb from there. Just really tough to get through the field. We got some damage from when someone’s brake rotor exploded, that slowed us down even more. Really with all we went through today, a top-five is a really good day for us. I’m proud of the effort.”

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 McDonald’s Toyota Camry TRD, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 34th

What happened?

“Our day kind of went bad early on, but our McDonald’s Camry was able to get through traffic pretty well, but as the track stated to cool off, it just started going away from us. It was starting to get frustrating out there for sure, to have a car that good, and it feltlike it was just going away. I had a bad feeling that was coming soon. I was just getting ready to have to back off with how soft the brakes got, but I obviously should have been thinking about that a lap or two sooner.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 22 electrified options.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.