KYLE BUSCH RACES TO WEEKEND DOUBLE AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY WINNER’S CIRCLE FOR THE FIRST TIME

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BUSCH RACES TO WEEKEND DOUBLE AT AUTO CLUB 400, DRIVES JOE GIBBS RACING INTO AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY WINNER’S CIRCLE FOR THE FIRST TIME

Kyle Busch Wins Auto Club 400 PHOTOSAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. (March 24, 2013) – In an afternoon filled with breath-taking action and heart-stopping drama on the final lap, Kyle Busch (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota) recorded his ninth career weekend sweep of the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races and snapped a 31-race NSCS winless streak by taking the checkered flag in Sunday’s 17th-annual Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

A day after winning his 54th NASCAR NNS Series race in the Royal Purple 300, Busch led most of Sunday’s race — 125 of the 200 laps – but regained the lead on the final lap after Joey Logano (No. 22 AAA Southern California Ford) and Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota) took each other out to secure his 25th NSCS victory and put Toyota/Joe Gibbs Racing into Victory Lane for the first time — in 11 NSCS races — at Auto Club Speedway.

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Kurt Busch California Post-Race NASCAR Video News Conference

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KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/SERTA CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 5th

TALK ABOUT YOUR 3RD PLACE RUN AND WHAT IT TOOK TO GET IT THERE

“We worked on it and in the end I could have followed Kyle and just wanted to apologize to him for putting it three and four wide on the restart because I am hungry and going for the win and it’s not normally a move you would make if you are pushing a brother. I could have pushed him out to the lead earlier and maybe he could have held off the 22 and the 11 but I messed him up on the restart and I told him, I am going for the win with this Furniture Row Chevrolet SS and I am not going for anything less.”
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Dale Earnhardt, Jr California Post-Race NASCAR Video News Conference

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DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2nd

THAT WAS A WILD FINISH AT THE END THERE, WHAT DID YOU SEE FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?

“Yeah, that was pretty wild. We had a good car and came real close to winning there but then everybody started taking tires and tires were really big at the end because the place is really slick and worn out. We were lucky there at the end and came in and got some fresh tires and that sort of fixed our mistakes and helped us to get a good finis. We had a good car and had some wheel issues, but was real happy about how we finished and made it up. We had a good enough car to run there, and were happy to get the finish.”

KYLE BUSCH EXTENDS HIS ALL-TIME BEST NASCAR NNS SERIES WIN MARK

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KYLE BUSCH EXTENDS HIS ALL-TIME BEST NASCAR NNS SERIES WIN MARK TO 54 WITH VICTORY IN ROYAL PURPLE 300

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. (March 23, 2013) – Hours after capturing the pole position for Saturday’s NASCAR NNS Royal Purple 300, Kyle Busch (No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota) continued his and Joe Gibbs Racing’s dominance of the 15th-annual NNS race at Auto Club Speedway.

Busch, the pole-sitter, led 92 of the 150 laps to win the Royal Purple 300 race at Auto Club Speedway for the sixth time in the past eight years, pushed his all-time leading NNS race victory total to 54 (over 249 career NNS races), and extend Joe Gibbs Racing’s record NNS win streak at the Fontana track to nine.

Kyle Busch California NNS Winner Video News Conference


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DALE EARNHARDT JR. Fontana Interview

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Auto Club Speedway, and discussed challenges of racing at Auto Club Speedway, the start to his 2013 season and other topics.

ON RACING AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY:

“I really like this track. There are a lot of grooves. We’ve talked about that before like race tracks where you move around and you’ve got to try to find different lines to find a good speed with the car. The balance of the car might be different and you can move either from the top to the bottom or from the bottom to the top to get your car to get going and do some things to get your car competitive. So, I like that. It’s real rough down the straightaways. The corners are fine; not that rough at all, if they just repave the straightaways this place would be a blast. It’s pretty rough, especially down the back straightaway, middle to the end of the back straightaway, corners are in good shape. Should have a pretty good run this weekend if we do everything right. Had a pretty good run last year here. We felt pretty good in race trim this morning when we started out and we’ll do more of that tomorrow to figure out exactly what we need to improve on. Went into qualifying trim and just dragging the splitter trying to get the car low is a real challenge with the bumps. Going down the straightaway, the car is bouncing and bumping and carrying on, you can’t really read shock loads and you can’t really figure out where the splitter is because it’s really hitting on the straightaway, you don’t really get a good gauge of where the splitter is in the corner because it bumps so bad on the straightaway. Really fighting that and didn’t  run any good lap in qualifying that I was happy with so worried about just how we’re going to qualify, but I think we’ll race well and this track is wide enough that if we don’t qualify well then we can move up, if the car is good we can move up.”

 

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO DO A NCAA BRACKET WITH FANS?

“I got asked to do it. I never filled out a bracket before so it was my first time. I kind of like to watch the tournament, it’s interesting to see who the Cinderella teams are and how far Carolina can go. I tend to pull for Carolina in college basketball. I don’t know, I got asked to do. I think Jimmie (Johnson) and I got asked to do it together so Mike Hoag (road manager) came over to the house the other day and we sat down, thought it through and made my picks. I think I was 11 and five this morning, I don’t know how I’m doing today.”

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GREG BIFFLE FONTANA POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE

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““TALK ABOUT YOUR LAP OUT THERE TODAY. “That was a spectacular lap considering everything we did today. We were fortunate enough to get an extra hour of practice here and unfortunately we had about eight minutes of practice today before qualifying. The guys worked really hard to get the engine changed. I got out with three minutes to go to make a lap and we made adjustments from that lap and we were able to put down a pretty fast lap. Obviously the car is pretty close. I am anxious to get some track time. I can’t wait to see how my car runs and hopefully we will get that right tomorrow. We are going to get a good pit stall for the race and we will have to start at the back so that is unfortunate but I am proud of the team for how hard they worked and the car that we are going to have for the race.”

DID THEY DIAGNOSE WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE ENGINE? IS THERE CONCERN WITH KESELOWSKI’S ISSUE AS WELL? “I don’t have all the details. They are actually taking the engine apart now. They were going to do it after qualifying. I wish they would have done it right away but maybe I will sleep better tonight finding out what it is. We feel like the issues could be common between the 2 car and my car. I think they are thinking it is the same issue and something mechanical, something parts wise inside the engine at the bottom of the engine I think. I will know and we will know here after we take it apart but right now we are sort of guessing.”
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Brad Keselowski Interview at Fontana

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Brad KeselowskiBrad Keselowski heads into Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway with a nine point lead in the Sprint Cup Series standings over Dale Earnhardt Jr. Keselowski’s move to the top spot this week is the first time Ford has led in 2013, but last season either Matt Kenseth or Greg Biffle were leading the points after 22 of the first 26 races with Biffle holding the top spot after Richmond before the points were reset for the Chase. In 2011, Carl Edwards led the standings for 21 weeks and was the series leader after 15 of the first 26 events. Keselowski spoke about the lead and more during his media time at the track Friday afternoon.

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – YOU ARE OFF TO A GREAT START, TALK ABOUT RACING HERE AT AUTO CLUB AND THE SOLID START YOU GUYS HAVE HAD. “Yeah, it has been a solid start. We have done everything but win a race. That is where our focus is at this weekend for sure. We’ve certainly got a strong, consistent start but we have been in position on the final restart of each race to win and have come up just a little bit short. Hopefully we can close that out this weekend. I think we have got the car to do it and the team to do it. We are ready to get on track and get going. We have practice and qualifying here today and I am curious how this race is going to play out. I honestly think this is going to be an exceptional race. I think this new car, the Generation 6 car acts and reacts a lot like the Nationwide car does. You combine that with a track that has multiple grooves in the corners and a car that I think has a potential to draft really well and I think it could be a great race. I am pretty optimistic about it. I am glad I am running the Nationwide race because it will be good experience before hand. There are a lot of things to look forward to for sure.”
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DENNY HAMLIN CAPTURES SECOND CONSECUTIVE POLE POSITION FOR AUTO CLUB 400

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Denny-HamlinSAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. (March 22, 2013) – Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota) raced to the Coors Light Pole position on opening day Friday at the Auto Club Speedway, posting a lap time of 38.410 seconds (187.451 mph) for Sunday’s 17th Annual Auto Club 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Hamlin was surprised he grabbed the pole because he was third in Friday’s qualifying order. “I thought my chances of grabbing the pole were slim,” he said. “I think our car was really fast. It’s cocky to say, but I was saying I could almost guarantee a pole if we had a late draw.

“I think, except for one exceptional car, the pole would have been later. I knew my lap was really good. I knew it felt good. It’s a good way to start the weekend. Hopefully I won’t see any passing.”
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Kyle Busch Brings Home Solid Runner-Up Finish at Fontana

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Interstate Batteries Team Leads Race-High 80 Laps, Gains Two Spots in the Standings

Kyle Busch NASCARKyle Busch dominated the Auto Club 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., leading twice for a race-high 80 laps. Despite the strong effort, Busch couldn’t hold off the hard charges of eventual race-winner Tony Stewart and brought home a solid second-place finish in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in the rain-shortened event.

“We had a great race car with our Interstate Batteries Camry right from the beginning of the race,” said Busch, who has 10 top-10 finishes in 15 career Sprint Cup starts at Fontana. “I got the lead from Denny (Hamlin) after the first lap, led a lot of laps. I just wish we led 30 more, and we’d be in a different position right now. The Interstate Batteries Camry was fast.

“I can’t say enough about those guys, Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and everybody, for putting together a really good car this weekend. Wish we would have been able to race the whole thing on one hand, but on the other hand I’m kind of glad we’re not because we kind of have a little bit of damage that slowed us down there about 20 laps before the end. All in all, it was a really good day. Glad we were able to run that way and up front like we’re supposed to and to our potential, that we had a day where we didn’t have something else out of our control get in our way.”
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Interview with DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 – FINISHED 3RD

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Dale Earnhardt NASCARTHE MODERATOR: We welcome to the driver meeting room Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who finished third in today’s race.
Dale, talk a little bit about your run out there today.
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: We had a really good car. The car was really quick in practice at the end of the day yesterday. We carried the same car into the race. I was real happy about that. We started off moving forward. Had some really good pit strategies, pitting a little bit earlier than most guys. Steve brought us down pit road and we gained a little bit of time, passed some guys on pit road.
We drove the car up to fifth before the weather came. We had been watching the weather all day. We felt certain if it started to rain it wasn’t going to stop. We made the right choice by staying out and building ourselves into the top three.
Pretty happy. Pretty uneventful weekend. Other than the qualifying miscue we had, we’ve had a really good weekend.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
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