Kyle Larson stayed in control during an overtime restart to win Sunday’s Auto Club 400 for his second Cup Series win.
Here’s what Larson and the rest of the field had to say after the fifth race of the season.
KYLE LARSON – winner: “I was staying as calm as I could be but also (was) frustrated at the same time. It seems like every time I get to the lead at the end of one of these things, the caution comes out, and I’ve got to fight people off on restarts. Our Target Chevy was amazing all day. We were able to lead a lot of laps today. (Martin) Truex was better than us that second stage by quite a bit. We were able to get the jump on him the following restart and led pretty much the rest of the distance. I had to fight them off there after the green-flag stops, and that was a lot of fun. … This is just amazing. We have been so good all year long, three seconds in a row. I’ve been watching all the TV like, ‘He doesn’t know how to win,’ but we knew how to win today, so that was good.”
Brad Keselowski – Finished second: “Just great perseverance by the No. 2 team here with the Wurth Ford Fusion. I wanted to win, but I got out of the car and looked at the damage, and this thing is torn to pieces. I feel lucky to get second. Curious to see what we could’ve done if we weren’t torn up. But great day for us to really persevere. You’re just going to have that in a 36-race season.”
Clint Bowyer – Third: “It was a good weekend for us. We never showed the speed in practice, but I wasn’t worried about it because I knew the car was really comfortable on the long run and things like that. I was proud of the effort that Buga and all the guys give me each and every week. I’m proud to have Rush Truck Centers on our car this weekend. It’s just a great sponsor and a fun guy. I’m just having fun again. That’s what it’s about.”
Martin Truex Jr. – Fourth: “We were right there all day long. I felt like (Kyle Larson) had everybody covered. It was just a matter of who got out front and got clean air. Toward the end, we had a little trouble in the pits. We didn’t take tires, everybody else did, and we were at a big disadvantage those last couple restarts. Definitely happy to come out of here with a fourth with the tires we had on the car at the end. It was a good day, and we have fast cars, and we’ll continue to work on them.”
Joey Logano – Fifth: “It was up and down for sure. Our car was really good on the short runs just like yesterday. Our car was good on the short runs and not good on the long runs. We would lose too much time. We tried to short-pit them and got caught with the caution and got stuck down a lap with 20 to go or so. We were able to recover, and at one point, I thought we were going to win the race and had some trouble on pit road and lost some spots again, but we were able to make some of them back up and end up with a top five out of it with the Auto Club Fusion. It was up and down to say the least for the whole weekend for me.”
Jamie McMurray – Sixth: “Our team and our whole organization has done an amazing job to get to the point that we are. It’s not one thing; it’s hundreds of small things. I’m so happy for all the guys at our shop that have worked hard. In our sport, every team works hard; and you’re not always rewarded for it. It’s awesome to be rewarded for all the work.”
Daniel Suarez – Seventh: “I think the result is very good. That’s exactly what we are here for, but we have to keep working the race in general. I feel like we were not great – we were just OK – and then in the last couple of rounds in the last couple adjustments, the car was much, much better. I wish it was like that the whole race, and if it was going to be like, we were going to be running in the top 10 like we finished the entire race. We have to keep working. I know that there is room to improve it still, but for now we’ll take the top 10.”
Ryan Blaney – Ninth: “I thought we were not great at the beginning, kind of faded at the end of the first stage. I thought at the beginning of the first stage, we were really good. We drove up there. In the early part, we seemed to fade late in runs. In the middle part, we had equipment leave the pit box, and that put us in a big hole back there, but we did a good job fighting back, putting ourselves in a decent position to have a good finish and a decent shot at (the win). Most restarts worked in our favor except the last one. We just got put three wide there and kind of got hurt. Overall not a bad day for us coming back from that pit-road penalty. That was pretty good.”
Chase Elliott – 10th: “We were just trying to do something different. I thought (the unscheduled late pit stop) was going to give us the best chance of winning. (Crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) did as well. We had a good NAPA Chevy, and we were on the same page. He made the right call. And you can’t control when the caution comes out. So that’s just part of it.”
Austin Dillon – 11th: “I wish we could have done more with the position we were in with tires. On the outside lane, we cannot fire off the first couple of laps. We struggle with that, and I’m going to start practicing it and figuring out why we can’t turn. I’m proud of my guys, but I guess we just wanted more.”
Erik Jones – 12th: “We were fast. We just don’t complete the races that well, so we have to go to work and get a little bit better and figure out how we ran all day.”
Kevin Harvick – 13th: “I feel like we won. Those are the days that championships are made out of right there. To wreck before we even get to the start-finish line, I don’t know exactly what happened in front of me, but, obviously, we got a caved-in grille. They did a great job fixing it. We got some wavearounds and made the car better and made something out of the day. That’s why these guys are who they are and won championships and races because they can make days like that happen.”
Denny Hamlin – 14th: “Race was pretty good. Our cars were a little bit slow overall. I mean, that’s the biggest thing now is that our car’s just slow. We’ve got to work on that and try to get our balance a little better and get out engines a little bit better, and we’ll be all right.”
Ryan Newman– 15th: “It was a tough and long day for us. We got a hole in the front nose on the first lap that cost us our track position. Then we battled an extremely tight-handling car that put us a lap down. We finally raced back onto the lead lap with 19 to go. It certainly wasn’t the finish we wanted, but it was a decent recovery.”
A.J. Allmendinger – 17th: “We definitely started off really loose which, kind of thought we might just go into the race just trying to get on the other side of it. I was still a little bit tight trying to roll the center, which is kind of where we have been struggling a little bit, but made good adjustments and thought we got the car as good as we could have gotten it. It was kind of right in that area. I thought we maximized the speed of the car today and wish we would have had one less yellow. I really thought I had made a good move and gotten clear of the next group behind me and thought maybe we would pick off a couple more.”
Ty Dillon – 18th: “My No. 13 Chevrolet team fought hard all day. We really struggled with the balance in the first two stages. I was tight through the center and loose on exit. Crew chief Bootie Barker worked with different adjustments to get us where we needed to be. Our Chevy SS was the best it had been all day there in that last segment. We made a strategy call and stretched our gas mileage to try and make it with only one green-flag stop to end the race while the leaders would need another, but late-race cautions kept that from working. We battled hard and, despite handling issues, it was a good end to the day.”
Aric Almirola – 19th: “We struggled. We just don’t have the overall grip and speed in our cars, but we’re working hard. Everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports has been working really hard. It’s a big improvement from Atlanta. We gained on it when we went to Vegas and then we’ve kind of gotten flat and stagnant and we haven’t been making as many gains and strides since Atlanta, so we still have some work to do. I’m proud of the effort. We just have to dig deep. We have to keep working hard and get speed in our car and more grip in our car so we can go and compete.”
Jimmie Johnson – 21st: “Man, we definitely didn’t have the fastest car out there today. I think we used up all the good luck in the season finale last season. We battled all day long to get back on the lead lap, but we have got some work to do. I’m looking forward to spending the week with my girls and heading to Martinsville next weekend with this Lowe’s team.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 22nd: ”It’s just unfortunate. Our Fastenal Ford started out tight early on in the runs but would come around later in the run, and we were able to pass some cars. Overall we had a solid day, and the pit crew did a great job on pit-road just unfortunate we didn’t get the finish we deserved.”
Trevor Bayne – 23rd: “I hate that that happened at the end of the race. We had a really fast AdvoCare Ford all race long and were able to really make some gains and passes out there. It’s just unfortunate that our day ended the way it did. We’ll recover from this and get after it next week in Martinsville.”
Chris Buescher – 25th: “It was a long afternoon in our No. 37 BUSH’s Beans Chevy. We got a decent starting spot but got shuffled back early and struggled to gain spots back. Then on the last restart, everyone got fanned out from another car getting in the wall, and we just lost all momentum. Next week, we’ve got a completely different setup as we go short-track racing, and I’m looking forward to racing with the short-track program at JTG Daugherty Racing.”
Matt Kenseth – 36th: “Yeah, I’m fine. I just didn’t do the best job getting through the gears, and I think (Jamie McMurray) got stuck outside of me, so I was trying to leave room for him on the top, and then I just got hit in the left-rear quarter panel off of Turn 2 and got spun out, and I was just kind of along for the ride.”f
