Here’s what the drivers had to say after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at World Wide Technology Raceway:
Austin Cindric — Winner: “Honestly, I’m heartbroken for the 12 team. I don’t know what happened to them at the end of the race, but they deserved to win this race. Ryan has been a great leader on this team. This weekend was a great weekend for everyone involved. To have two cars in contention and ultimately a one-two there, like I said, I’m heartbroken for those guys, but this is huge for me. This is huge for this team. I am so happy that I was able to achieve a victory in the Cup Series with Brian as crew chief. You never know when it’s going to happen again. I just rode my ass off and hoped for the best.
WWT Raceway Results: Austin Cindric wins after Ryan Blaney runs out of fuel while in the lead
Austin Cindric is going through an 85-race winless drought.
Denny Hamlin — Finished Second: “We had a car in the top five. We didn’t have the best today, but the Yahoo Camry was in the mix and was able to take advantage of the misfortunes of other cars. We would have a top-five day anyway, but we are proud of the team. They did a great job on pit road – Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) and the team brought a great car, but it just wasn’t enough.”
Brad Keselowski — Finished Third: “That was strategy. We definitely fell behind early, but we continued to put ourselves in position to keep moving forward and I wish I could have finished second, but it was a very hard-fought day for everyone on the Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang. We will definitely gain a lot of momentum from this.”
Tyler Reddick – Finished 4th: “A rough first stop there. I slid a little long and just slowed down everyone on the 45 pit crew. We finished eighth and ended up in 28th. It took the whole race to come back from that – just a great effort from the boys. I feel like we were there with (Austin Cindric) to start the race, so obviously it’s a little bit of a shame that we had that problem, but that’s kind of the name of the game when you come to World Wide . Technology Raceway – you have to have a clean race, and unfortunately we didn’t do that.”
Joey Logano — Finished 5th: “We weren’t far off. We were just a few adjustments away from getting our Shell/Pennzoil Mustang as good as our teammates, but not too bad. We were able to get some points, which we have to do, and a Penske car came into Victory Lane, so you have to be happy with that. Obviously we’d rather it be us, but that momentum carries throughout the store. It’s still a good day. We still scored a lot of points today with stage points in both stages. A poor qualifying effort, which probably hurt us a bit when setting up the car and just a bit too loose.”
Austin Dillon – finished 6th: “That was a huge run for this team. I wasn’t expecting it after practice, but the guys made some great adjustments and our No. 3 DOW/Rivers are Life Chevy, with Ducks Unlimited on the side of the car, was very solid all day, even in the traffic. It was just a solid day for the No. 3 Chevy team that we really needed.”
Christopher Bell — finished 7th: “I have no idea what happened. Some kind of engine problem. I’m surprised I made it to the end. Glad we were able to salvage something from it. You don’t often come across racing cars like this. Whenever you do, you should take advantage of it. Disappointing day.”
Carson Hocevar — Finished 8th: “This No. 77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevy team did a great job in everything throughout the race. We had a very slow stop at the beginning of the race where a wheel nut came loose. That really put us behind. We knew we had a great Chevy, so we did everything we could. We played a bit of strategy to make sure we were on the right side. We understood the warning well, but after that our car was really good. We ran as high as fourth place and came in third. Our lights were out, so we drove a little slower on pit road. That was probably the difference between finishing in the top five or not. All in all it was just a really good job by this No. 77 team.”
Justin Haley — Finished 9th: “It was a very good race for the MotoRad 51 team. I am very proud of the strategy that the Rick Ware Racing team has brought. It was a fast, competitive car and we were able to drive it all day and make positive adjustments. When the last stage started we really got up to speed and had a lot of speed in the car. We had a good strategy and ran out of fuel right at the line, but we still managed a top-10 and now we have solid momentum heading into Sonoma.”
Kyle Larson — Finished 10th: “I am very proud of this top 10 finish. I didn’t expect that after the spin. The car almost came to life. The No. 5 HendrickCars.com The Chevy team executed our strategy well. We were on the attack there for the last 25 laps. It went as well as it could, given the circumstances. I’ll take it.”
Chase Briscoe — Finished 17th: “I don’t know exactly what happened. I know there were a lot of different strategies and I don’t know what turned out or how it turned out. Our car was fine. It definitely seemed like we were struggling a little bit more in the long run than some other people, and we were lacking overall traction. Sort of a worst case scenario for us, how it all turned out. But I thought we definitely made our car a lot better compared to yesterday. We will learn from that and go to Sonoma.”
Daniel Hemric — finished 18th: “I think we collectively learned a lot as a team today. Our Poppy Bank Chevy struggled early, but (crew chief) Trent (Owens) kept his efforts and made big changes. We had a bit of luck on the second stage, which gave us great track position to start the final stage. I’m proud of how much we improved throughout the day.
Noah Gragson — Finished 22nd: “We struggled with balance all weekend and struggled with speed, struggled with starting pace and struggled with long-term speed. Everything was just stuck in the dirty air and couldn’t fit on new tires, just had trouble. Appreciate all these SERVPRO guys. Our 10 team, we are frustrated, it is not up to our standard today. We’re going to get back to work and figure it out for Sonoma.”
Ryan Blaney — finished 24th: “I never thought we came up short. It’s one of those things. I am proud of the 12 boys. The Menards/Richmond Ford was fast. I had a lot of work to do to stop Christopher. That was fun. I don’t know what happened to him, but he was only one lap short. That stinks, but congratulations to the 2 team. They did a good job all day. Props to them, Austin. I am proud of Team Penske and Ford. I’m very happy with our show today. I don’t know what to do to get some luck on our side. I messed up the last two points races and thought we had a great chance to win today, but I finished poorly so I just appreciate the effort. We just have to stick with it.”
Derek Kraus — finished 30th: “It’s been a long day here at Gateway. I felt like we had a better car than our results, but I was never able to get the track position we needed or maintain it when we did. I am grateful to Kafka Conveyors and Kaulig Racing for this opportunity, and I look forward to having another shot at the end of the year.”
Kyle Busch — finished 35th: “It looked like he (Kyle Larson) came off the front straight away in the first corner. He was driving on older tires and tried to get us a spot. I’m not sure what that one point would mean for him, but it certainly hurt us a lot. It took away that point, as well as the other points we would get for the podium and then the rest of the day as well. It’s very frustrating. We cannot afford such days. The No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Camaro wasn’t what it was last year, but it was a top 10 car and that’s where we would finish. Now we are not ready at all.”
Josh Berry — finished 36th: “I really don’t know what happened. Obviously, with what our history has been with the rotors here, it makes you think that. I went over and looked at the rotors and it looked like they were still on so it’s that or a tire. … We moved into the top 15 pretty quickly. The car was pretty good and I learned a lot. We pushed the exit a little too hard on the last stretch and were punished there. We were still passing cars and it would have been another good day.”
