Here is what drivers said after the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that ended in overtime.
Alex Bowman, winner: “This thing was so fast all day. Just never really had the track position we needed to show it. Man, what a call by (crew chief) Greg Ives and the guys to take two (tires) there. Obviously it paid off. Racing Kyle (Larson) is always fun. Got to race him for a couple wins. We’ve always raced each other super clean and super respectfully. Just can’t say enough about these guys. It’s been a pretty awful start to the year, so to come out here and get a win on a last restart deal is pretty special.”
Kyle Larson — Finished second: “I was happy we made that call. It’s kind of what I wanted to do and when I heard them say we were taking two tires, I was pleased by it. The grip was surprising. I had good grip there on two tires. I just got a little too focused on side-drafting him into (turn) three. Maybe if I could play it back again, I would try and just get a better arc and angle into three because when I got in there next to him, I just got really tight and had to lift out of the throttle.”
Ross Chastain — Finished third: “Yeah, it’s a dream come true. This is what all the work is for. This is why we train and try to build our whole lives and careers once we realize we can race at this level, is to have race cars like that. I couldn’t be more proud of Trackhouse, and thankful for (team owner) Justin Marks and Chevrolet.”
Kyle Busch — Finished fourth: “True testament to everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. Really appreciate my guys on the 18, but also the 11, 19 and 20 – all of them for coming over and pitching in. Everybody had a hand in being able to make us go today. So really appreciate that. … I was fast at the end and trying just to do what I could to hold the lead there with (Martin) Truex (Jr.). Felt like I inched away finally and we were coming to the white or something, I don’t know what it was, but anyways, it wasn’t meant to be. Not our day. See you next week.”
William Byron — Finished fifth: “We had a good run. Congrats to Alex (Bowman). You know we needed a good run. We’ve had a rough couple weeks. We’ve had speed everywhere, but just not the finishes. … Great to get a top five, obviously we want a win and I felt like there were times in this race that we had potential, but we just have to clean up some of the little things. We’ve got to clean up some of those things on pit road and get a little better and I think we will have a shot to win.”
Aric Almirola — Finished sixth: “(Crew chief Drew Blickensderfer) has been doing a great job of making good adjustments throughout the race and just getting the car better and better. We take the first half of the race and it’s really about learning. We make adjustments. If they’re no good, we go back on them and just keep fine-tuning on the car to get it to where we need to get it and, usually, the last few weeks we’ve gotten the car where we needed to have it at the end of the race. … We’ve got to continue to do our homework, but, nonetheless, this is a great start to our season and a lot of fun.”
Tyler Reddick — Finished seventh: “I’m proud of everyone at RCR for helping us salvage a very decent finish in the No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet after a long day at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We had to start the race from the rear of the field due to some issues in the steering system of our racecar. The track position that we forfeited to make that repair certainly cost us a little bit more than we were anticipating during the race. We still had some good speed in our Chevy, but it was definitely very difficult to manage the dirty air and figure out what adjustments needed to be made, and what direction to go with adjustments to our racecar during the race. We made a big mistake spinning off Turn 4, but thankfully we didn’t make contact with anything. We didn’t lose a lap and got back in the game. From there, we clawed a little bit at a time, picking up one or two spots on pit road, a couple of spots on restarts, just whatever we could to claw our way into better track position. I’m proud of the effort of everybody at RCR for that. We’re going to keep digging.”
Christopher Bell — Finished 10th: “I was able to get a decent finish out of it so that’s good to get a top 10. The DeWalt Camry was fast and I felt like we were capable of racing for the win. The 18 and the 19 looked like they had it before the yellow came out and I was every bit as good as them. Just have to put it all together.”
Austin Dillon — Finished 11th: “I’m proud of everyone on this … team for fighting hard all day long at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The racing was intense today, and even though we fell behind early with an on-track incident, we never gave up. We thought strategically to save tires when we got behind, and the team made great calls in the pits today. We were loose in Stage 1 but ended up pretty decent in Stage 2. We were tight by the end of the day and couldn’t keep rotating after a couple of laps. I’m not sure if it was a heat thing, or what, but we really struggled in the air in traffic today. We made the best of the day and finished 11th, so I am incredibly proud of everyone on the team for never giving up.”
Kevin Harvick — Finished 12th: “We struggled with traffic on the restarts, but we worked through it and everyone on the crew did a good job.”
Joey Logano — Finished 14th: “We were tight and at the start we just weren’t very good. We made some adjustments and got better to where we were a sixth- or seventh-place car, which would have been a decent recovery all things considered and then we just gave up a bunch at the end.”
p15. Solid day and I’m proud of the gains we’ve made @SpireMotorsport. My guys have been working their guts out so it’s great to start the year with a couple top 15s. #s7ackingpennies pic.twitter.com/yarvRkdoVK
— Corey LaJoie (@CoreyLaJoie) March 7, 2022
Harrison Burton — Finished 16th: “I felt like we had a real up-and-down day. We ended up in the wall trying to miss a crash and then ended up hitting somebody trying to miss a crash. Every time we would get any track position, we seemed to lose it. It’s a track-position race and lots of challenges trying to pass, but overall it was a pretty decent day for us. The finish at least was better than where we had been at times and worse than what we had been quick enough to run at times, but at the end of the day we’re building, so this is a step. We actually finished the race and got some points and we’re just trying to build towards the right direction as a group and try to make our group better as quick as we can.”
Justin Haley — Finished 17th: “Overall, it was a pretty good day for us. We were able to repair the No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet from California, so to come away with a top 20, I think, is a win for us. We made some great gains, but there’s still some things we have to work on as a team to capitalize on the effort.”
Austin Cindric — Finished 19th: “Obviously not an ideal day for our Discount Tire Ford. We really struggled being tight early on in the race and lost a little bit of our track position. I felt like we were hanging tough in the top 15 and had a lot of potential to make the car a little bit better. We decided to go off strategy and keep scuffs on the car and unfortunately that played out and had us getting fenced for some position outside the top 20. Then we had a right-rear tire come apart and had to pit right before the yellow came out, which trapped us two down. Recovering for a top 20 is I guess a decent recovery, but definitely not what we were wanting or hoping for today, but definitely learned a lot and hopefully it’s something we can carry forward.”
Daniel Hemric — Finished 22nd: “We fought some adversity again this week with some brake issues and sustaining some damage to the nose of the car. That’s not how we drew it up, but I’m really proud of the effort everyone at Kaulig Racing made today. Sometimes 22nd feels like a win, and that’s what today felt like in this No. 16 South Point Camaro ZL1. “
P26, got caught on pit road when the caution came out, was fighting lead lap all day until that. Really proud of the continual improvement by @RickWareRacing and coming back strong after a tough fontana w/ the @NurtecODT @FordPerformance mustang 👊🏻
— Cody Ware (@CodyShaneWare) March 7, 2022
Denny Hamlin — Finished 32nd: “We broke the transaxle. Just killed every gear when I left pit road. We had the best car today. Just got back there and was working our way forward and made mistakes.”
Fastest car in the track today. Worst driver on the track today. Great improvements by everyone @JoeGibbsRacing and @ToyotaRacing. Get me to Phx.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) March 7, 2022
Cole Custer — Finished 33rd: “Something happened under the hood. I’m not sure what it was. It was a very eventful day for sure. We started in the back and then we started making progress, but had to go to the back again. Then we spun and had to go to the back one more time, so it was just an eventful day and didn’t end very well. We’ll just move onto the next one. I think we had a solid car. We finally got running good at the end and it was shaping up to be a solid day, but it didn’t work out.”
Bummer for our 44 car today…we had another fuel pump issue…we were making gains still on the lead lap. Thought we could have had a top 20 finish…although I did lead my first lap in 6 years! 😀
— Greg Biffle (@gbiffle) March 6, 2022
Ryan Blaney — Finished 36th: “The 6 (Brad Keselowski) spun out on his own right in front of me and I plowed into him. I’m not happy about anything and I don’t mean to be happy about anything when someone loses it right in front of you and ends our day. I won’t call it bad luck, but when someone just spins out in front of you and wipes you out, there’s nothing to be happy about. We had a pretty fast car and nothing to show for it.”
Daniel Suarez — Finished 37th: “I don’t know what to say. He (Chase Briscoe) got loose and he clipped me. He didn’t do it intentionally, but it was unfortunate.”
