SONOMA, Calif. — Here’s what the drivers said after Sunday’s Cup race at Sonoma Raceway:
Martin Truex Jr. — WINNER: “I felt like our Bass Pro Shops Camry TRD was really close yesterday in practice, if we could make some adjustments I thought we’d be good. They certainly made the right adjustments. This place is all over the place. about rear-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and being able to handle that and keep turning and keeping the momentum going. We were able to do that today. The car felt really, really good. Just a hard effort. team. Everyone works really, really hard. We were horrible here last year, and on the road course in general, so coming back here – it’s been kind of a playground for us before, and being able to come back here with this car and doing it again feels really, really special. It’s really rewarding. We worked hard on this one.
Kyle Busch – finished 2nd: “I just wish we had a little more. I tried to keep Martin Truex Jr. honest. I felt like I could beat him a little on a lap and then I screwed up and he beat me again more on the next lap. We traded a bit but he managed to get away late. Overall great job by all the RCR and ECR guys on this Camaro. I’m proud of the effort “We gave it everything we had. We made a lot of changes. We had a lucky break with yellow with just three laps on tires. We were able to cycle forward. Once we got there- top, we could keep the pace with some of the good cars and had a good race car in the top three gears. Good luck for us, and it’s nice to finish here with a second place finish after a win last week. We We’ve got three wins at this point in the season, and this team is putting together really good runs, so I don’t know if I want a week off. It will be good to regroup, focus and prepare for the last 18 races of the season, though. Overall I’m really, really proud of the guys on this team, the communication and how they’re able to go to work and fix some of our issues and try to improve what I’m need to be able to feel in a race car and pull off finishes like the one we had today. If we can keep doing these things, we will be a force for the championship.
Joey Logano — Finished 3rd: “If you start at the back, you’re going to get beaten up a bit. Overall, I’m very proud of the Autotrader team today. Yesterday was lousy for all Penske cars, but (crew chief Paul Wolfe) made some good tweaks and got it to where we were top five in speed, legit, and we just had to get there. He made a great call with a four stop strategy and got a lucky warning and went through everything so luck was a bit on our side but also a decent car. It was nothing to get up there and win with, but we’ve maxed out the last two weeks and I’m proud of that, so we’ll go into the rest week with some momentum.
Chris Buescher — Finished 4th: “Everyone did a good job. Our Fifth Third Bank Mustang had really solid speed that day. It was a methodical run. I thought we were well placed at the end and got a bit caught up in the retaliation happening right in front of us and we checked out a fair amount. I don’t know. It’s hard to say if we had anything for (Truex). We never really met him today, so I think we still have a bit of work to do, but everyone did a good job.
Chase Elliott – Finished 5th: “It’s good to be in the top five, no doubt, so proud of that. We were trying to do something a bit different with the strategy. We had done about six or eight laps in the pits before this bet. caution. We just felt like our only game was to stay outside. I was really hoping more people would do this with us so we had three or four rows. That probably wouldn’t have been enough, but I think it would have been nicer to have a few more rows and a buffer for those with tires.
AJ ALLMENDINGRER — Finished 6th: “We started pretty well there. We came fourth there in Stage 1, and I thought at that point we were the third or fourth fastest car. We were about a lap away from being really good. I got really slack in the second moto, so we were going to the pits and just before we stopped the warning came out. It got us restarting 16th and then it was just kind of a dogfight from there. I felt like we had pretty good pace with short-term speed, but I would get super loose in traffic, so I had to fight that. It’s so hard to pass. »
Michael McDowell — Finished 7th: “We raced well all weekend. We had a top-five and top-three car. I think we legitimately had the pace to run with the 19 there. We were starting to push him back on this long run and that last pit stop hurt us. It’s like that. I’m proud of everyone at Front Row. They brought a very fast car and took a chance. We’ve been running almost all day, it’s just that last stop. We came out of pit road 12th or 13th and luckily we were able to move up to seventh and get a top 10 but I felt like we had a car that could compete today so proud of effort.
Christopher Bell — Finished 9th: “The whole Toyota group was much stronger than last year. I’m proud of the effort of these guys and I’m proud of this group of 20. I felt like sometimes we deserved better than a ninth, and sometimes we didn’t deserve the ninth. We got some good stage points and a top 10 with our Rheem Camry, and we’ll go to Nashville.
Ryan Preece – Finished 13th: “Today was a good day for our 41 team. As I said, we are moving in the right direction every weekend. I wish we had a few more places to get a top 10. I don’t I’m not a road racing guy at all, but I still appreciate them and our team has worked very hard to improve our program. I studied and worked a lot in the simulation for this weekend. I’m proud of the efforts that we’ve put in and all the hard work from my team. I’m looking forward to the weekend off and then getting to one of my strong tracks, Nashville.
Austin Dillon – Finished 19th: “We were strong today, but the results don’t show how strong we were. I broke away at turn 11 and thought I could recover, but contact at the right rear of another car sent me into the tire pack and we spun. It’s just very typical of the season we’ve had. After the spin, we were last but we were able to climb up to 19th place before the checkered flag.
Justin Haley – Finished 21st: “Overall, it wasn’t a bad day for this #31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection team. I feel like we were really good in the high speed areas and not so good in the braking areas. I felt like we had speed, but my biggest problem was not being able to pass. We will regroup after the week off for Nashville.
Austin Cindric – Finished 25th: “We worked to improve our Ford Mustang America’s Tire / Discount Tire throughout the day with tire pressure adjustments to make the car last a little longer. It obviously wasn’t the day we wanted, but the last caveat really gave us the opportunity to get some places on the restart and a decent track position with newer tyres. Lots of effort from everyone, but definitely wanting more.
Aric Almirola – Finished 28th: “It felt like we had something like the broadcaster break in the middle of the day. I just lost all grip and couldn’t keep up the pace. I think we had about a 15th place car today. ‘today if we didn’t have to go back down to pit road. I’m glad we were able to do that in the Xfinity Series (Saturday) and that my family is here with me to enjoy it. I’m looking forward to this weekend to relax and we will return fresh and ready for a change this season.
Denny Hamlin – Finished 36th: “I was very close behind 24 (William Bryon) and couldn’t really see where I was going, then I went to turn left to try and get under him, and the wall was there.”
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What the Pilots Said in Sonoma originally appeared on NBCSports.com