Here is what drivers needed to state after the Sunday Cup race at Michigan:
MATT McCALL (CREW CHIEF for Kurt Busch)– Finished 10th: “Another top-10 surface to roundout a doubleheader weekend. Our Monster Energy Chevy was a little bit better on the short-run speed today, which assisted us on a few of those restarts. Well continue to work hard still to be better to compete for wins. We need to stay focused in trying to turn these top-10 into top-five surfaces.”.
Alex Bowman– Finished 36th: “That was not what we wanted or required today. It was just unfortunate events. Greg (Ives) and the men made fantastic modifications from yesterday and got the vehicle respectable. We battled some snug conditions, but the team made great adjustments on pit road. Undoubtedly not the way we desired to end the double header weekend. We will gain from this and move on to next week.”.
Kyle Busch– Finished 4th: “The long terms went away later on in the race whichs just what we had. We got about all we might get out of the day. I seemed like the 4 (Kevin Harvick) was the very best vehicle. The 2 (Brad Keselowski) was second-best. The 11 (Denny Hamlin), there at the end appeared and was pretty quick, but the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) and myself were truly even. That had to do with all we had. We come to Michigan not normally searching for top-five days, however this has been a great 2 days. Ideally we can keep some momentum rolling here and prepare to go next week and turn ideal and turn left. Yesterday and today, the car drove excellent. The very best driving vehicle Ive had here at Michigan.”
Chase Elliott– Finished 9th: “We struggled to get the Mountain Dew Chevy dialed in today. It was pretty tight, and we just werent able to improve the handling. We squeaked by with a top-10 surface. All in all, it was a decent weekend, but we have some work to do.”
Michael McDowell– Finished 28th: “It was just an overall difficult weekend for our No. 34 team at Michigan. We didnt unload how we had actually hoped in race one and after that got gathered in a late-race incident that forced us to a backup vehicle for today. My people combated hard on pit roadway all weekend to try and get our race cars and trucks better, and I felt like we were constantly making improvements, but we just ran out of time at the end of the race.”.
William Byron– Finished 12th: “Hard combated day for us at Michigan today and this weekend general really. After this weekend we came out of Michigan with a bit bigger of a points space than we started which is great. Ideally we can go on to the roadway course at Daytona and keep developing that point buffer. I believe were actually proficient at roadway courses so ideally we can run well there regardless of it being an unknown. Im looking forward to it though and the difficulty it will bring. I will absolutely be doing a great deal of iRacing today to get prepared for it.”.
Denny Hamlin– Finished 2nd: “Just required to maneuver a little bit better and I think that we might be a little better. Overall, our automobile dealt with well. Just needed a little bit more speed there and a little bit more dealing with to pass. Undoubtedly, I believed we were absolutely the fastest car by running him (Kevin Harvick) down there. When we lastly got to 2nd, I knew we had something for him, I simply got stalled there and he was tight, I was tight. We were much better, thats for sure. I believed if I might perhaps get to his quarter panel, I could push him greater and make him tighter, however just couldnt quite do it.”
As soon as we finally got to second, I understood we had something for him, I simply got stalled there and he was tight, I was tight. We got about all we could get out of the day. Chase Elliott– Finished 9th: “We struggled to get the Mountain Dew Chevy called in today. Cole Custer– Finished 25th: “We got the car handling better throughout the race, but at the end all of the unexpected it wouldnt turn. We had to battle back from having to pit once again and got to 10th for the second stage and then got the lead.
BRAD KESELOWSKI– Finished 39th:” I just lost it. I ought to have whoa d way up. I had been running wide-open on the bottom all day and thought I might do it once again, but with that huge push I overestimated the grip and destroyed our day.”.
Kevin Harvick– Winner: “I believe when you take a look at my group weve been together for going on 7 years now and you take a look at the confidence everyone has in each other. The details of the race cars and trucks and the thought of whatever that enters into everything that we do is untouchable. Thats what it takes are information to make these race vehicles go fast. Our car wasnt rather as great as it was the other day. I think it was undoubtedly still actually great, however I had a little bit more difficulty going through traffic today than I did the other day even if of the tight into three that I had today. Like I stated previously, I could still survive one and two truly excellent, but I could not make those fantastic low passes like I could yesterday and remain in the throttle. If I carried too much speed in there I would rise into the center of the corner and just have to pedal the important things on exit.”
Jimmie Johnson– Finished 11th: “We set up an excellent fight today. Track position was necessary, and we fought the balance the majority of the day. Im looking forward to the roadway course and both Dover races.”.
Bubba Wallace– Finished 21st: “Well, today wasnt as excellent as the other day, clearly. I kept getting trapped and whatever. Weve still got a lot of work to do to climb up the ladder, however were heading in the ideal direction from the last couple of races.
Ryan Blaney– Finished 38th: “Its just regrettable for the entire Penske organization. We had 2 quick cars fighting for the lead and it just stinks that happened. He had a run, like he said, and he didnt believe he had as huge of a run as he had and simply got loose and, unfortunately, got us both. Its a pity to end our day like that with the Knauf/Menards Ford Mustang. We were so fast. We had to battle back from needing to pit once again and got to 10th for the second stage and then got the lead. I resembled, All right, we can finally go back at it, and simply got together there. Thats regrettable, but its not gon na carry over. Things take place. Mistakes occur. Its just a shame both people got gotten.”.
Ty Dillon– Finished 18th: “My GEICO-Germain Racing people did a great job this weekend. We ran our fastest lap of the race in the final 10 laps, so I think if we had a couple of more, we would have ended up even better. Im happy to leave with a top-20 surface.
Tyler Reddick– Finished 24th: “We combated hard today at Michigan International Speedway, however our No. 8 Chevrolet Accessories Camaro ZL1 1LE was an obstacle throughout the race. My crew chief, Randall Burnett, made some excellent adjustments throughout the race that assisted loosen me up, but we just required a little bit more today.
Aric Almirola– Finished 6th: “Today is how were expected to run. We drove from 32nd to the leading 10 and had a great Smithfield Hometown Heroes Ford Mustang. We were able to rally there at the end from 22nd to sixth in 12 laps. It felt like we were going to get to third and simply lacked laps. Truly happy with Mike Bugarewicz and everyone on our team. Yesterday was a difficult day and a character structure day. The team worked their guts out last night and we had a fantastic day with the outcome of it. Were back on track with our top five and top-10 ability. Congrats to Kevin Harvick on back-to-back wins here and keeping the heritage trophy in Fords yard.”
Cole Custer– Finished 25th: “We got the automobile handling much better throughout the race, however at the end all of the abrupt it wouldnt turn. That dropped us back several spots, however I believe we found out a lot today. We needed to get rid of some misfortune with beginning in the back and then getting the pit road charge, but were growing as a group and well move on to the Daytona road course next week.”.
Clint Bowyer– Finished 14th: “We had a pretty excellent DEKALB Ford today. Leading laps is a lot of fun. We could run large open out front, however we needed to lift behind other cars. We were OK up until we got hit which required us to make an extra stop and that put us in the back. It was excellent to get some stage points today. We need to do that once again next weekend in Daytona.”.
Daniel Suarez– Finished 26th: “It was an excellent job by Dave (Winston, crew chief) making changes, an excellent task by the pit team, a good task by everyone. We got the most out of what we had. I simply want I might have some more straightline speed to race some of those people ahead of us, however I know well get there.
John Hunter Nemechek– Finished 23rd: “We had a hard time today. We were tight at the start and dragged a lot, particularly when I would get within a few automobile lengths of another automobile. We made modifications throughout the day, and the last one definitely helped us get more speed at the end, but we came home P23. My crew did an excellent job of staying with it to the end and never ever giving up.”.
Matt DiBenedetto– Finished 7th: “It was tough. The cars and truck had our tongue hanging out all day, so its excellent we made enhancements from yesterday. We were really struggling the other day and our team worked super-hard and made some excellent enhancements so we could at least run even more up there. We didnt play a great deal of defense all the time and had to drive the important things for all it was worth, so just grateful we had the ability to get a top 10 out of it finishing seventh. You can take a cars and truck thats a struggle and something that were not satisfied with and fought with all weekend and make some improvements with, but if we take a cars and truck like that and end up seventh with it and carry on, that simply shows the strength of our team and how we keep getting much better. If you can make your bad days a leading 10, sometimes thats all you can wish for.”
Joey Logano– Finished 5th: “Overall we found out some things this weekend. Both races we were just a little too far off to start. A top-five surface today was good. Were beginning to develop some momentum and when you start clicking off top-five finishes you understand wins are simply around the corner. Obviously next week is a big unidentified for everybody decreasing to Daytona to run the roadway course. A lot has gone into that so it ought to be an interesting race for the fans.”
Martin Truex Jr.– Finished 3rd: “We do not do anything easy, thats for sure. We were dreadful at the start of the race. I dont know, we didnt make a lot of changes from (Saturday). We tried to do different things to try to improve. We absolutely were even worse. Just have to grind them out, thats what we do. Its great to be grinding out top-three surfaces, thats what the Playoffs are everything about. We require to get some more points before that starts. We battled back. The automobile was quite away to begin the race. Were all pretty disappointed in that clearly, but truly proud of the effort to get the Auto Owners Camry back up front.”
Austin Dillon– Finished 8th: “It was a great day. In spite of the obstacles, we remained on the lead lap in Stage 1, which simply reveals how quickly our Chevy was today. It feels great to work as a group to overcome what we had to, and to end up the race as the first Chevrolet in the field.”
