What drivers said after the ISM Connect 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Kyle Busch – Winner: “It was just a great day for our team and for the 18 team we were able to execute all day long and we did everything right. We did everything we were supposed to do and that’s where you end up when we’re able to do those things and it was a great race up front too with the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) there. The 20 (Matt Kenseth) was there for a little. I think he was a little better on that long run that one time, but overall we had some really good short-run speed there at the end. We were able to get out front there and kind of set the field because – set the pace – and that was what we needed to do today.”
Kyle Larson – Finished second: “I felt like on really long runs I was fairly equal to those guys in front of me. But, on the short run there, I could get pointed to the exit, but I couldn’t get the throttle down. I’d get loose. So, he just was really good. I think the No. 78 (Martin Truex, Jr.) was also really good, but he had his trouble. The No. 20 (Matt Kenseth) was also good. We were next best. So, we finished second again (eighth time) with our Target Chevy. That’s a lot of second-place finishes this year, but I’m fine with second. Top fives will get us to Homestead.”
MATT KENSETH – Finished third: “We were decent on the long run, just really struggled getting through the gears and getting through (Turns) 1 and 2, and that really hurt us at the end, obviously, with all those short runs and restarts at the end. I thought we had a third‑place car most of the day. I thought the 78 (Martin Truex) and 18 (Kyle Busch) were better. If I had the track position, I felt like I could do okay with them on the long run, but short run they’d get away from me pretty far, and it was hard to make that distance back up.”
Brad Keselowski – Finished fourth: “It was great execution. The pit crew was really solid today and a pretty good setup too. Paul Wolfe and the engineers did a good job putting the right stuff under the car. I felt like we were where we needed to be to win and to run up front with the pit crew and the setup, just kind of lacking a little bit with aero stuff to keep up, but this type of track aerodynamics are a little less important and I felt like it helped us run a little bit higher this week.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR. – Finished fifth: “I could not see anything and I was just approaching the smoke and I’m like, ‘Oh no, where am I going to go?’ I mean, literally I couldn’t see anything and my spotter said go low. By then, it was kind of too late and I was already like to the smoke and I couldn’t commit. I just kind of like just kept slowing down and the 33 (Jeffrey Earnhardt) just came by me on the outside and hit me and spun me down through there, so just unfortunate, you know? We were coming to the green-white-checkered to win the second stage, which would have been another bonus point, which would be helpful and, of course, you know we had damage and had to fight from the back of the pack the rest of the day, so proud of our effort to run fifth after all that, but it definitely hurt our day.”
Clint Bowyer – Finished seventh: “It really wasn’t a strategy race. We just kept digging and were just off a little bit. The same cars are kicking everybody’s butt every week.”
Ryan Blaney – Finished ninth: “We were kind of in that fifth to 10th range all day and we ended up with a decent finish. We worked hard on this race track. It definitely has not been one of my best, but it’s nice to see a decent run here. We finished OK and go on to a place like Dover, where we run pretty decent. Hopefully, we can survive next week and move on.”
Joey Logano – Finished 10th: “We worked our way up into the top 14 or 15 the first run from last and that was the highlight, and then we just kind of stayed right there around 10th the rest of the day and finished there. I don’t know, you can say if we started a little closer to the front we could hold a few of them off, but we’re just not fast enough really. I sound like a broken record, but we’re just not fast enough.”
Ryan Newman – Finished 13th: “We fight. This 31 team never gives up. After a rough week at Chicagoland Speedway last weekend, we rallied and turned in a respectable performance today. I wasn’t sure how good we would be because we had two tough days of practice here. I was happy to see us race into the top 10 in Stage 3. Everyone on this team turned in a solid performance, made gains and now we’re just one point out of the Round of 12. Dover is a good track for us so we’ll keep fighting.”
Jimmie Johnson – Finished 14th: “We had a lug nut not on our last pit stop on the left-front, so when I went to leave the box I had to stop and back up and put a lug nut on, so I fell from fifth to 15th or something and then just stuck in traffic and couldn’t go anywhere.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Finished 15th: “I think it went as expected. It was a struggle for us all weekend. I told my guys I felt like we were in a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather all week. We just couldn’t find speed, couldn’t find the handle on the car. We made a lot of adjustments for today and was surprisingly a little bit better than we were in practice. I didn’t think we were as capable of a car to finish where we did, but we did what we needed and had some good breaks and some good pit stops and ended up gaining some points. That was our goal, so I feel really good about that. I’d say we’ve had two sub-par weeks and we’re still in this thing, so we’ll regroup and get focused and go to Dover.”
Danica Patrick – Finished 18th: “Billy (Scott) made a good call to wave around, and then we got the free pass, which put us back on the lead lap, and we were able to gain some ground there at the end. Overall though, the Code 3 Associates Ford was just too tight most of the day.”
Austin Dillon – Finished 19th: “We had a decent Chevrolet Accessories SS today but I think that long red flag hurt us. We had a little bit of front end damage, and the brakes getting hot and then cooling down during the red flag certainly did not help. We’re 13th in points now heading into the cut off race, so our goals for Dover are to go out and have a good race. We’ll see where we end up, and hope for the best.”
Paul Menard – Finished 20th: “Everyone on this team fought hard and never gave up today. The SYLVANIA/Menards Chevrolet handled well throughout the weekend, we just got behind on track position and couldn’t really make it up. We had a close call on the backstretch when they wrecked ahead of me and blocked the track. We thought we should have been in the free pass position. I slowed to avoid the wreck, was not involved at all, but for some reason NASCAR determined we were not the free pass. We finally raced back onto the lead lap during the last caution which was a good way to end the race.”
Ty Dillon – Finished 22nd: “We have had some hurdles this weekend in New Hampshire but we were able to make the most of what we had. The backup (car) rolled off the trailer pretty decent especially considering we had no practice laps in it. The GEICO pit crew took a big swing at it under the first stage break caution and we didn’t have to do a lot more to it. It was still a bit too tight but we were able to work with it and learn a lot today.”
Trevor Bayne – Finished 24th: “We kept fighting all race long today. We will keep digging and get ready for next week in Dover. I want to thank all my guys on this AdvoCare Ford for their hard work this weekend. Today wasn’t the result we were looking for but we will rebound next week and look for a solid run in Dover.”
Kasey Kahne – Finished 35th: “Something broke. I think they said track bar, but that is all I know, I didn’t talk to Darien (Grubb, crew chief). But, that is what he had said while we were in the garage. We were working hard. We got really loose that first run and then got control of the car. And then it was really tough to pass, but we worked our way back up and were passing for 12th when that happened. … I think we had a top-10 car if the restarts went the right way.”
Kevin Harvick – Finished 36th: “I know as I got sideways there I tried to get thing whoa’d down and pointed in the right direction and it snapped back the other way. I tried to lock it down and it was too far up across the race track. I knew I was probably worse off at that particular point, so once it turned back right and I was in trouble I should have just tried to keep it left, but I couldn’t really tell where I was with all the smoke and everything that was happening, but just got hit from behind and spun out.”
Kurt Busch – Finished 37th: “I don’t know what to say. It’s tough when you’re running where we were. We were just trying to limp it to the end of stage two and I heard, ‘Car spinning off of two’ in my ear. I saw smoke up ahead. A lot of times they’ll come back up, and I tried to leave the high side or the low side and then, boom, as soon as the smoke cleared I’m looking at Harvick’s door, my teammate. We’re both running for the Playoffs and it’s a shame that the handling is off and we’re both running where we were, but we were still going to fight all the way to the end, but now we don’t have a chance. I cannot understand the bad luck that we’re having.”
