Ford-Chevy-Toyota Quotes from Xfinity Race at Phoenix

TOYOTA

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Extreme Concepts iK9 Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

How does it feel to get your second-consecutive win?

“Kind of like last week. Christopher (Bell) was certainly going to give me a run for my money today. Can’t say enough about our guys at Joe Gibbs Racing. Obviously they build really fast Supras. I want to say thanks to iK9. This is the iK9 Service Dog 200, so certainly really really cool to be able to win for them again and to be able to put them in victory lane back to back and in their race here at ISM Raceway. Super thankful for them for the opportunity to come out here and run a few races each year and to be able to put on a good show. Christopher, I hate it he got caught up in that mess, but it was obviously really going to be a fun run to the end there. Certainly want to give thanks to Mark Cronquist. These JGR engines were strong. Monster Energy, Cessna, Adidas, DVX Eyewear, Black Clover and the fans. It’s always cool to come out with Rowdy Nation and having their support and everybody that backs us and what we’re able to do and what we’re able to accomplish. Obviously we’re doing a lot of those things these days. There’s a lot of talk and all that sort of stuff, but hey, if I’m allowed to enter a race, I’m going to enter a race. I’m going to go out there and race and I’m going to go out there and try to win. If I win, we win. If not, we’ve got to go again the next time. These guys here, they’re great. Congrats to all these guys that works so hard to get me where I’m at.”

What about that last run gave you what you needed to win?

“We worked on it all day. A lot like last week, just trying to put it all together. We certainly were off a little bit early on in the beginning. Christopher (Bell) was super fast and really really good. We kept making the adjustments to get it to where he was. We were doing a good job of that. I hate it that he got caught up in that mess behind us and we weren’t able to race it out there at the end. I figured we were going to and it was going to be a heck of a JGR showdown at the end. I can’t thank the iK9 guys enough. Everybody from iK9 Service Dog 200 here at ISM Raceway. Being able to drive the Extreme Concepts Racing car here with these boys and certainly want to thank everybody that works on this car and does such a great job for me.”

You have 198 victories total in all three series. You’re quickly approaching 200 wins.

“Any race we’re allowed to enter, I try to enter. We pick and choose wisely, but there’s only so many to choose from. Of course, having the opportunity to come out here and race when you do, you try to go out there and win. That’s what we did today. I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to get it there early on, but that’s why we run these things out to the end.”

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Extreme Concepts iK9 Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

How does it feel to get your second-consecutive win?

“Kind of like last week. Christopher (Bell) was certainly going to give me a run for my money today. Can’t say enough about our guys at Joe Gibbs Racing. Obviously they build really fast Supras. I want to say thanks to iK9. This is the iK9 Service Dog 200, so certainly really really cool to be able to win for them again and to be able to put them in victory lane back to back and in their race here at ISM Raceway. Super thankful for them for the opportunity to come out here and run a few races each year and to be able to put on a good show. Christopher, I hate it he got caught up in that mess, but it was obviously really going to be a fun run to the end there. Certainly want to give thanks to Mark Cronquist. These JGR engines were strong. Monster Energy, Cessna, Adidas, DVX Eyewear, Black Clover and the fans. It’s always cool to come out with Rowdy Nation and having their support and everybody that backs us and what we’re able to do and what we’re able to accomplish. Obviously we’re doing a lot of those things these days. There’s a lot of talk and all that sort of stuff, but hey, if I’m allowed to enter a race, I’m going to enter a race. I’m going to go out there and race and I’m going to go out there and try to win. If I win, we win. If not, we’ve got to go again the next time. These guys here, they’re great. Congrats to all these guys that works so hard to get me where I’m at.”

When Christopher Bell and Justin Allgaier fell out of the race, was it just a matter of doing everything right?

“Sure. It looked that way and sure, you could assume that, but our main competition was the 20 (Christopher Bell) and a little bit of the 7 (Justin Allgaier), but mainly the 20 and obviously when he had his issues, that was definitely a change for the race and what was going to happen there after.”

 

How would you assess your chances of hitting 200 at Auto Club Speedway?

“I’d assess it pretty good I guess. It would certainly be nice to get it done on the west coast swing, but it’s not a necessity. It will happen when it happens and you can’t push too hard and do stupid things or make mistakes in order to think too much about that number. You just have to let the race kind of play out and let it come to you and that’s what we did a majority of the day. It was not looking pretty there early on with Christopher (Bell) as good as he was and us not being so great and then we just kept working on it and making adjustments to it, just kept getting our car better and getting closer to Christopher and was actually able to hold him off there the second-to-last restart. Then from there, the last run of the race was really good for us too.”

 

With all the debate over 200 wins, are you just looking forward to hitting that mark?

“I think it’s a pretty cool accomplishment. There’s so many different ways you can argue it or debate it or whatever and it has nothing to do with Richard (Petty), it’s just solely a number. I think it’s an accomplishment of its own. With Richard’s accomplishment and what he’s been able to do and what he’s done for the sport, that’s huge. I feel as though I’ve been in this position to win as many races as I have due to a lot of great people and being able to go out there and celebrate 200 wins, I don’t know that it will happen again, but if it does, that person should certainly cherish that moment. I hate that you get beat up so much about an accomplishment, but I guess that’s part of life. Haters gonna hate.”

 

What’s next after you achieve 200 wins?

“I don’t know. 250 I guess – the race to 250. Certainly as I get older here, it’s going to start slowing down and with the restrictions that I’m under, it already has slowed down. I would have been to 200 a hell of a long time ago if I could have run as many races as I wanted to in truck and Xfinity and what-not. It’s about being able to win on Sundays and I feel like I’ve won a bunch of races on Sundays – I’ve got 51 of them and the race there is going to be the race to 100 on that side. I think that’s kind of what the next goal will be is to try to get 100 Cup wins.”

 

What kind of adjustments did you make on the car in the race?

“I don’t know what they were doing. I think some of it was track bar because I was really free and really loose and typically track bar is a good adjustment here because the track is so flat and it gives you that lateral grip that you’re looking for. Then some air pressure adjustments and air pressure changes to keep the car turning in the long haul. I would guess that those were the things that Ben (Beshore, crew chief) was doing.”

 

Does it matter to you which series your 200th win comes in?

“It kind of does, I think it would certainly mean more if it came in a Cup car than if it did in an Xfinity race or truck, but it is what it is. It’s going to happen eventually and like I said, the opportunity is there and I get to go to Texas and run a triple and Martinsville and run two races and so there’s a lot of double up races or triple up races here in the beginning part of the season so it could happen in a truck at Martinsville. If it does, it does and so be it. We’ll still celebrate win number 200 and we’ll go tackle some more Cup wins as we keep going.”

 

Do you have the celebration planned yet?

“What are you going to do, right? I don’t know, I don’t know what the game plan is. Hopefully NASCAR has something figured out because it’s their sandbox and whether or not they want to blow it up and make it special for someone who’s won 200 races or not, then so be it. You can’t have a self-promotion party, right? Woo-hoo, look at me (laughter)!”

 

Did you ever watch Richard Petty race or is your only view what you’ve seen on tape?

“Pretty much, I don’t recall very much of Richard (Petty) at all when I was a kid. I do remember Jeff Gordon’s first race was Richard Petty’s last race, I do remember that and I think Richard crashed out and I know he had damage for much of that race. When was Richard’s last win? Was it 1984? That was before I was born. Dude won an awful lot of races, but it was all before my time. That’s just kind of the way that it was. Even Darrell (Waltrip) for instance, I remember watching Darrell later on in his career and that was kind of the days when Gordon was coming up and Bobby (Labonte) was becoming better – Rusty (Wallace) was there and obviously (Dale) Earnhardt was there, Mark (Martin) was there, all those – Dale Jarrett, all those guys were big names in the mid to late 90s was my time.”

 

Is it fair to compare what was harder between your wins and Richard Petty’s wins?

“It’s not my job to compare or tell you whether or not what I did was harder or easier, that’s not my job. There’s other people out there that can argue that fact that have seen Richard Petty race races back at the Fairgrounds when he ran 50 lappers and it was a Cup race. There were 16 cars in the field. It’s not for me to argue, I don’t care. Again, what I said from the beginning of all this is it’s not a comparison to Richard Petty’s 200 wins, it is not. It is my own and an accomplishment for myself that should stand alone separate from Richard. Hell, I could say right now that I’m the winningest driver on pavement in NASCAR ever in the top-three series because Richard doesn’t have 200 pavement wins, right. So booyah (laugher), again self-promotion.”

BEN BESHORE, crew chief, No. 18 Extreme Concepts iK9 Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

What changes did you make from stage two to stage three with the race car?

“We made minor adjustments at that stage, but I think what we were fighting mostly was at the start of the race we were on the qualifying tires or scuffs and for the majority of segment two, we pitted five or seven laps before the stage break, again on scuff tires there and that was the first time we were on sticker tires for the length of a run. For some reason our car just did not handle well all weekend on scuff tires. Sticker tires were what our car wanted and it fit the handling characteristics of the chassis setup there and kind of gave Kyle (Busch) was he was looking for.”

What is it like to be Kyle Busch’s crew chief at this point in his career?

“It’s obviously high expectations – anything less than wins is a pretty big disappointment to be honest with you. Kyle (Busch) expects to go out there and just stomp everybody to be blunt about it. We have to be on our game and give him a car capable of doing that and not make any mistakes and not letting the team beat itself and just let Kyle go out there and do what he’s best at.”

 

Are you hoping to be the crew chief that helps him go for number 200?

“The 200 number, I don’t care about it, but I’m sure he does. Getting him to 100 Xfinity wins is what we care about at the Joe Gibbs Xfinity shop. We’re just trying to give him fast cars every week and try to take advantage of the opportunities that we have.”

 

BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Juniper Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 7th

Another top-10 finish this season. How does it feel to be so consistent early on?

“I would like to have seen our day go a little better. I think here today, we didn’t really capitalize on our stage points like we have been throughout the year so far, but they stuck with me the whole day and we brought this Supra to seventh. It’s just a testament to the team. I think we’ve got a great group of guys. We’ve been running great so far all year long. Just missed it a little bit here, but we’ve got another race here towards the end of the year and that’s the one that really matters when it’s close to the Playoffs. Looking forward to it and maybe we’ll make our Supra a little better when we come back.”

 

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 30th

What got you in the accident, the smoke or the oil on the track?

“It was definitely both. I saw him blow up going into one and I figured it was going to be slick, I saw the 7 (Justin Allgaier) car start sliding and I started sliding and as soon as I entered the smoke wall, I couldn’t see anything. I lost my bearings of where I was and the next thing you know, I was in the wall. Frustrating and very disappointing because our Rheem Supra was extremely strong. I don’t know, it was weird. My car didn’t really feel that much worse that run, but once I got back behind those guys, I just really couldn’t pass them.”

 

What happened in the accident?

“I saw him blow up so I knew that I was in trouble. I saw the 7 (Justin Allgaier) get sideways and then by that time, I entered the smoke wall and I knew that I was sliding, but I just couldn’t see anything and didn’t know where I was and I backed her into the wall.”

 

Did you have a car capable of winning today?

“It was early, that last run was definitely our worst run of the race. That’s frustrating. I don’t know, my car didn’t feel that much different, but I got behind them and just couldn’t make up any ground.”

FORD

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang – YOU WON STAGE 1.  HOW DOES THAT FEEL IN TERMS OF BUILDING POINTS?  “For me Playoff points are huge, especially moving into the Playoffs.  I’ve done NASCAR racing for two years with not a lot of Playoff points in the Playoffs and I can tell you right now it’s not a lot of fun, so getting the Playoff points and building that up throughout the season and really being able to execute a solid day is great.  Brian had a great strategy call to keep us out and obviously being able to hold off Bell by a small margin at the end was great for us and then just have a top five day with no issues and no mistakes was nice.”

DID YOU GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR MUSTANG TODAY?  “Yeah, I think we did.  I think we made the most with a short run car.  It would have been great to have a late-race restart there because I think later on as we tried to nurse our long-run speed we just kind of learned that our short-run speed we might as well make that the most, so I’m proud of what we did today.  I think we learned a lot and hopefully enough to bring us back in the fall and have a good run again.”

HOW WERE THE RESTARTS?  “Restarts are crazy here.  I think those were the top six or seven at some point coming from the tail after we had to pit at the end of stage two, so it was a lot of fun.  I’m surprised it all went well, but it was definitely a fun day.”

THE WAY YOU CAME BACK IN STAGE TWO WAS BIG FOR YOUR OVERALL DAY.  HOW GRATIFYING WAS THAT COMPARED TO WINNING STAGE ONE?  “I think winning a stage and getting that Playoff point is a big check box for me.  It’s early in the season and this might be the first Playoff point I’ve gotten one on an oval, so I’ll take it.  I’ll take it and run with it and I’m sure there are more firsts in the season, we just have to keep pushing hard.  We’ve got a few things to make our cars better and be able to keep running top five and then top three and then contend for wins.  It’s a long season.  It’s a marathon and it was a good baseline day today.”

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang – AFTER GETTING SHUFFLED BACK ON THE LAST RESTART YOU RECOVERED NICELY FOR A FOURTH-PLACE FINISH.  ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THAT?  “The car was really good there at the end and that’s what makes it so frustrating.  I think we should have finished second or had a shot at the win there, but we gave up so much on the restart.  We just need to do better than that.  We had a pretty good car right there and it’s just a matter of keeping our track position.”


WHAT WAS THE NATURE OF THE RACE?  “I think the restarts, for me, were the biggest thing.  I never got a good one, but I don’t know, they’re crazy.  Everybody is doing something different.  You don’t know what anybody is gonna do on the restarts because there are so many different things you can do.  I don’t know.  It’s just chaos.”

FRUSTRATING FOR YOU AFTER BELL DROPPED OUT BECAUSE THAT JUST LEFT KYLE BUSCH.  “Yeah, I thought we were a fourth-place car all day and there at the end I thought that even if the 20 and the 7 were in the race I thought we were a second-place car.  We just gave up so much on that restart.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 Nutri Chomps Ford Mustang – “We just really struggled all day long.  That last pit stop I came down and came out sixth and thought we were gonna be in really good shape there with track position and ended up getting a speeding penalty and had to go to the back.  To come from the back to sixth in that 60-lap run I felt was really strong.  I honestly thought we were one of the best cars there at the end, I just killed myself with track position.  Sixth is obviously good coming from the back, but I felt like we were probably a top three race car there at the end.  I hate it for all of my Ford Nutri Chomps guys.  We’ll go on to Fontana next week.  It’s kind of home turf for our owner, Fred Biagi, so we’ll go try to have a good run.”

HOW MUCH WAS PATIENCE NEEDED AFTER THAT SPEEDING PENALTY?  “it’s really tough here just because this place is so hard track position-wise and it seems like once we get spread out everybody is the same speed.  It’s kind of a tough balance of getting everything you can on the restart initially, but then trying to save your right-front tire.  This place typically builds pretty tight, so I feel like I got lucky on the initial start there.  A lot of guys got jacked up and I got quite a bit of positions early and then honestly there at the end we were just so much better than everybody through the corner, so we just kind of ran them down.  My crew chief was definitely in my ear all day long and it’s just something we have to keep building on.  This is a new team and me and him are kind of new to each other, so I feel like as the year goes on we’ll get a lot better and hopefully be battling for wins.”

WAS IT TWO STEPS FORWARD AND THREE STEPS BACK ALL DAY?  “There are some things to definitely keep our heads up about, but also we definitely struggled early.  It’s kind of been a whole thing this year where we struggle at the beginning of the race and continually get better, but I feel like today was, by far, the most gains we’ve made throughout the weekend and that speeding penalty at the end kind of shot ourselves in the foot.  That was gonna be the first time all day we really had our track position we needed and restarting sixth was gonna be a really good spot and then having to go to the back – that’s one thing to be really proud about going from the back here to sixth – so I feel like we were really fast there at the end and wish I didn’t speed now obviously, but that’s part of it and we’ll just go on to next week.  I’ve never been to Fontana before, but I feel like it’s gonna fit my driving style, so I’m really looking forward to going there.”

-30-

 

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2019, Issue 3, Posted 11:41 PM, 03.09.2019