Denny Hamlin — Winner: “The weather really didn’t play a factor in our call there. It was really, we were limited on tires. We had just come to take tires, which was our last set, but we had a set of one-lap scuffs. They weren’t glued up in time. We didn’t have time to glue them. The only choice for us was to stay out. We were really the best car on that long run anyway. I think the right car won.”
(Was the field more intense with the shorter race and the threat of weather?) “It was good. The distance was perfect. It’s not too little and it’s not too much. I think the distance was perfect. I think it gives you enough racing to where things work out and you can still make your way from the back to the front and be able to win the race. It’s not too short. I’m in favor of these types of races.”
(On Darlington suiting his driving style) “I run good here. Sometimes I run a different line here than most. It just works and it’s always worked. I don’t know what it is. It’s awesome to win here with the Toyota 500. Ever since I came here for my very first Xfinity start and got a top 10, that essentially got my job in the Xfinity Series, there’s something about me and this track that works.”
Kyle Busch – finished second: “I’m certainly going to reach out (to Chase Elliott). Him and I have always had a cordial relationship over the years. Certainly we’re not near as close, we’re not friends like you’d say him and (Ryan) Blaney are or anything like that. I’ve known him since he was 12 or 13 years old, been racing with him ever since then, late models, super late models, trucks, Xfinity cars, all that sort of stuff.
“Obviously I just made a mistake, misjudged the gap, sent him into the wall. That was entirely unintentional. Yeah, I mean, I’ll definitely reach out to him and tell him I’m sorry, tell him I hate it that it happened. All I can do. That doesn’t change the outcome of the night. I hate it for him and his guys.”
I want to apologize again to Chase & his team. I made a mistake & misjudged the gap. I really hate that it happened for those guys. I have too much respect for Chase and Alan to do that maliciously.
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) May 21, 2020
Kevin Harvick – finished third: “We had to start 20th, battled kind of an ill‑balanced car tonight. The track conditions were just a lot different. We made some adjustments going into the race. Just couldn’t get the front of the car to turn. Every time we tried to adjust the back, it would just take the back out. We never could get the front of the car to turn. Had to use a lot more throttle tonight. The things I could do with the car Sunday (when he won), I couldn’t do tonight. They kept clawing and fighting. In the end we had a great pit stop on the last pit stop, were in position to have a chance to win the race there, and it rained.”
Brad Keselowski – finished fourth: “I thought we were in a really good spot. We had made kind of an aggressive, bold move to stay out on the long run there and it was looking like it was going to pay off. The yellow came out and we hit pit road and lost a few spots there, which was a bummer, but we cycled back to fourth right when the caution came out and were in position to have the optimum lane and be behind a car that had older tires. I was licking my chops, but the rain never gave us a chance. Just part of the way it goes. We weren’t the fastest car today, but I thought we persisted and put ourselves in a spot to potentially steal a race win and just came up a tiny bit short, but that’s a part of it.”
Erik Jones – finished fifth: “We were really strong. We had to start at the back. We had an unapproved adjustment there before the race and had to come from the back. But we made our way up pretty quick and got the car a lot better stop by stop. By the mid-part of the race, we were up contending in the top five and challenging for the lead. Got the lead there and led for a while till I got in the wall hard enough that it made the car drive a little bit worse. Finally got the damage fixed and got back up in the top-five, and then the rain came. Good day, and a disappointing day. Disappointed that I made a mistake and cost us a shot to win a race there, but another good points day for us and our first top five, so hopefully we can keep the momentum rolling. We’ve been a little bit better each race so far.”
We had a fast @StanleyTools #Camry in that final stage. Brought it home P5. We'll regroup and get ready for 600 miles at Charlotte.#TeamTOYOTA #TeamStanley pic.twitter.com/lZQM1l0AzC
— Erik Jones (@Erik_Jones) May 21, 2020
Joey Logano – finished sixth: “Our race was hard fought, blue collar. A lot of it was where you placed yourself, so it was just like last week. Strategy calls that can play out the right way and being on the top lane for the restarts was what it was all about. There was only one long run in these two races. I feel like, overall, I’d say we maximized our day, but I also feel like if we had one more restart being sixth it’s a pretty sure bet you’re gonna get to fourth and with Denny (Hamlin) out there on old tires he was gonna be a sitting duck for Brad (Keselowski) for sure, and, most likely, a lot of cars would have got by him once he lost that clean air. So I wish we ran a little bit more, but, overall, we made improvements from the first race. I’m proud of that and we’re off to the 600.”
Aric Almirola – finished seventh: “I thought we had a really good car tonight. We ran up in the top five quite a bit and had a really fast car on the long runs. Everyone else’s car would slow down a lot and my car wouldn’t slow down nearly as much on the long run. We would start beating all the leaders really good on the long run. If we could have had that race go green to the end, I think it would have been interesting because we were beating the leaders pretty bad. I’m just really proud of all of the guys on our Smithfield team. We came back with some setup changes from what we ran Sunday, and I felt like we made some real improvements to the car and were very competitive. We cleaned up some things on pit road, so I’m really proud of those guys. We’ll just continue to build off of that. I feel like we’re in the game.”
Jimmie Johnson – finished eighth: “It was a solid night for the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet. We had to start in the back because of the crash during the first race. Things were looking pretty good early, we were able to march up through there. But the competition caution, and just so many cautions honestly, affected our strategy and affected us being able to take advantage of our strong race car and move forward. Finally, in the middle of the race, we got some longer runs in and were able to move forward. We were in a nice position and then we were caught a lap down when the caution came out when(Matt Kenseth) spun from his flat tire. So, we had to start all over again. On that last restart, I think I was 14th and, fortunately, I was in the outside line, which was the place to be, and we worked our way up to 8th before the caution happened and the rain came.”
Now it’s time to drive my butt home. ✌️ pic.twitter.com/2gifKxybwf
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) May 21, 2020
Matt DiBenedetto – finished ninth: “We started off the night okay. I thought we made some improvements on the car and had a little track position and moved forward. We pitted under the first caution and thought we might have had an issue. We did not. So that stuck us back in the field. From then on, not having track position with this high downforce racing is a real pain in the butt. We struggled to get it the rest of the day. As the track rubbered up we fought the same issue we did on Sunday of losing rear grip in the car. We were fading at the end and then (crew chief) Greg Erwin just made a good bold call at the end seeing some weather coming and my spotter Doug Campbell as well was in on that. We got lucky and pulled a ninth place out of it. All of the tracks except for Darlington we have had really good speed at so I know we will take a little luck from this one and moving forward we should be fast at a lot of places and be better at Charlotte.”
Martin Truex Jr. – finished 10th: “I was really happy with the car early on. Worked our way towards the front and really the first two stages – or the first stage was good. Passed a lot of cars and got track position and felt like we had a top-three car. Got right there to the two leaders and couldn’t quite make the move. Traffic has been pretty tough there at Darlington. We were able to stay right there. Then Stage 2, we started off towards the front and stayed there again. Pit strategy got a little off there and we stayed out, took the lead and everybody else pitted that we were racing with so it was a little touch-and-go there for a minute, but we were able to hang onto third on that run as well. Got good stage points and then the restarts in Stage 3, our car was still really strong and we just kept getting bottom restarts and every one of them we would go backwards because the bottom is so bad. Just frustrating night. Felt like we had a top-three or four car again and maybe a shot at the lead. When we were out front, we were really fast. Just frustrated.”
Christopher Bell – finished 11th: “We made the most out of those last couple restarts. I was fortunate enough to restart on the top and that’s a big advantage at a place like Darlington. I was able to bounce up through there those last couple restarts and make the most out of it.”
William Byron – finished 12th: “It was a solid night for us. We really just needed a decent result. We’ve had a tough stretch of races with a multitude of things go bad that were really out of our control. Today was good just to be able to put together a solid result. Obviously having to start in the back was a detriment with a short race and short runs. Our pit stall was difficult too, having to go around (Clint Bowyer) who ran really well all night and (Matt Kenseth) was in front of us. So, we had a tough time on pit road there. Overall, it was solid and we got some stage points in Stage 2. We got trapped a lap down in that green-flag sequence which was tough. We rallied though and finished 12th. We’ll take it. Definitely not where we want to be but at least we could put a number up there and go into Charlotte.”
Tyler Reddick – finished 13th: “Man, we had to fight hard for that finish, and I’m proud of my No. 8 Caterpillar team for sticking together tonight. We weren’t exactly where we needed to be to fire off and missed the handling a little bit for the first half of the race. I kept bouncing from being too tight to too loose, but mostly too tight. It honestly felt different every lap we ran, which made it tough to decide which way to keep adjusting. I made a slight rookie mistake at one point and got some damage after a brush with the wall, but my team helped get back after it. I have to hand it all my guys. They kept after it and worked really hard to make the changes we needed to pick our way back through the field.”
Tough night for our team, but we got back rolling and had a shot at a top 10, but settled for 13th on a difficult restart followed by rain 🌧 pic.twitter.com/9x3H3mU1dJ
— Tyler Reddick (@TylerReddick) May 21, 2020
Kurt Busch – finished 15th: “What a tough race. Seems like nothing went our way tonight. The handling was all over the map with our Monster Energy Camaro. After finishing third on Sunday, it is tough to understand how we had such a difficult time finding the handle on the car. The guys had to make a ton of adjustments on pit road, so it was hard to make up any ground on pit stops. We will have to go back and dissect that one and figure out what we had. Ready to move on to Charlotte this weekend.”
Bubba Wallace – finished 16h: “It was an interesting night at Darlington Raceway for the round two race. Position 16 – I’m excited about the finish and I’m bummed about the finish for two reasons. I wish we would have restarted, I know with the weather, but I also wish that caution wouldn’t have come out because we had a big run off of Turn 4. So, I believe we would have finished a couple of spots better, especially with another restart and starting on the top. I was excited about that. But, all-in-all, it was a great day for our No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet team. We pulled some strategy there, led some laps, and got a career-best finish at Darlington Raceway. So, we got a lot of positives that came out of it. I’ve already talked to (crew chief) Jerry (Baxter) on the way home. I’m proud of him and the guys for the efforts they put in. We’ll jump on calls in the morning on how to be better; the grind never stops.”
Michael McDowell – finished 17th: “It was a solid night for our No. 34 CarParts.com Ford Mustang. We definitely made improvements from our first race at Darlington Raceway, unfortunately the last restart didn’t go our way. The inside line was just really hard to get going and we lost a couple of spots, finishing 17th. We raced around a lot of competitive cars today and I felt really good. Everybody at Front Row Motorsports did a really good job this week, we just need a little bit more and we’ll be right where we want to be. All in all, it was a really good day. We built some confidence and my guys did a really good job on pit road.”
Ty Dillon – finished 19th: “My GEICO guys are awesome. They build and prepare solid Chevrolet Camaros each and every week, which gives me the confidence to dive it into Turn 1 like I did at the beginning of the race without any practice laps. For four years now, I’ve trusted them and it just builds confidence as a driver. I appreciate all the hard work everyone at Germain Racing is putting in, especially with racing so close together right now. A pair of 19th-place finishes isn’t a bad way to get this thing restarted and it was so cool to lead laps early, especially in the GEICO Hump Day car.”
Alex Bowman – finished 18th:
We had a solid race car but tonight just didn’t go our way… Bring on Charlotte pic.twitter.com/JO5W9dtzDv
— Alex Bowman (@AlexBowman88) May 21, 2020
Austin Dillon – finished 20th: “We started off the race with a tight-handling Dow Keep America Beautiful Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and that proved to be our challenge all race long. Handling issues plagued us in Stages 1, 2 and 3. I thought for sure that we were going to be able to get our Chevy freed up, but we never could. It wasn’t for lack of effort. The team never gave up and made adjustments all race long. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.The weather was much different than it was last Sunday. Cooler weather, rain and temperatures dropping didn’t play into our hands. We wanted a little more heat in the track. Even though it turned into a long race and we didn’t get the finish we were hoping for, I know we have it in us.”
Ryan Blaney – finished 21st:
12 group made big progress from where we were Sunday. I ruined it by getting loose and fencing it. Onto Charlotte.
— Ryan Blaney (@Blaney) May 21, 2020
Clint Bowyer – finished 22nd: “Very proud of the car the guys brought for me on a short turn around. Fast hot rod. Thing just took off behind two cars racing for lucky dog and smoked the wall and blew our night. The No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford was fast. We keep doing that our day will come.”
Chris Buescher – finished 23rd: “Unfortunately that wasn’t as much fun as we were hoping to have. We were better tonight with our Mustang but we were still fighting a little bit of handing and some mistakes on my part that I need to clean up and try to get back in a rhythm there. We are trying to work to be better but it is tough without practice right now. We are working hard on simulation and do what we can to dial in and get ready for Charlotte. We have a long race coming for us and it was a good race for us last year. I am glad we got the race in tonight, a little late, but better late than never.”
Daniel Suarez – finished 27th: “We are building, so from that standpoint, I think Dave (Winston, crew chief) and the team did a good job. Compared to Sunday, I think we brought a lot more speed with our Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry this time. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to capitalize. I was surprised from the early to the middle part of the race how the car was getting more and more free. Darlington is a track that always gets tighter and tighter as the race goes. I thought the loose car actually seemed to be working for us on the longer runs. Then we made some big changes in the middle part of the race and the car got too tight. We were kind of stuck with that because of the long run. Other than that, I feel like we’re heading in the right direction.”
Post race 💭 #TeamTOYOTA #SuarezNation pic.twitter.com/nkYbxVBYit
— Daniel Suárez (@Daniel_SuarezG) May 21, 2020
Matt Kenseth – finished 30th: “It was an up and down day today. It ended on a down note, unfortunately. We had some good runs and some bad runs. I made a couple mistakes. I had a good run going and just scraped the wall a little bit off of Turn 2. We ran another 10 laps; we didn’t really think we had any damage. We came in and got new tires, got a tire rub and cut a right rear down. So, it got us a couple of laps down and pretty much ended our night. It was a disappointing finish to the day, for sure. But I felt like we learned a lot the last five days or so, and I’m ready to give it another shot at Charlotte!”
Cole Custer – finished 31st:
Was looking to have a lot better day than last Sunday and had a RR go down and ruin our day… We’ll move onto the Coke 600, we’re definitely getting better with this package, just gotta put the whole day together 👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/jBzvIQcFzr
— Cole Custer (@ColeCuster) May 21, 2020
John Hunter Nemechek – finished 35th: “For as good as our day was on Sunday, we swung to the opposite end of the spectrum tonight. It was a long night. You never want to be that guy who goes out early. Not sure if I cut a tire or just drove it too hard and got loose. I really hate it for my crew and our No. 38 Scag Power Equipment team. These guys have been working their tails off over the last two weeks, and it’s obviously very frustrating to have the kind of race we did tonight. It happens sometimes, but I’m still happy to be here. We’ll take it as a learning experience and move on to Charlotte. Thank you to everyone at Scag Power Equipment and all of our Front Row Motorsports partners for continuing to support us race after race.”
